As Nigeria continues to clamp down on tax defaulters, it has ordered some foreign oil and gas companies to pay nearly $20 billion in taxes owed to states, industries and government.
A letter sent to the companies earlier this year via a debt-collection arm of the government, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), cited what it called outstanding royalties and taxes for oil and gas production.
Specifically, Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Eni, Total and Equinor were each asked to pay the federal government between $2.5 billion and $5 billion, said the sources.

Norway’s Equinor, which produced around 45,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil in Nigeria in 2017, confirmed the request. “Several operators have received similar claims in a case between the authorities in Nigeria and local authorities in parts of the country,” an Equinor spokesman said. Exxon “is currently reviewing the matter”, a spokeswoman for the U.S. company said.

Shell, Total, Eni and Chevron declined to comment, as did the Presidency, petroleum ministry and NNPC. The charge came after the federal government and states settled a dispute over the distribution of revenue from hydrocarbon production. The sides agreed last year that Abuja would pay the states several billion dollars, three company and government sources said. The companies were expected to dispute their respective payment claims. “Equinor sees no merit to the case,” the company spokesman said.

A source at another company said: “This looks like an internal dispute between the federal and local governments. The central government is simply trying to shift to the IOCs (international oil companies) money it owes.”

The tax demand adds a fresh challenge to energy companies investing in Nigeria, which have been negotiating production-sharing agreements with the government to develop and operate giant offshore fields.

Nigeria uses several types of contract with energy companies including the establishment of joint ventures and production sharing, the two most common partnerships for international oil companies in the country. The companies pay the government in the form of royalties and tax as well as providing the state with oil and gas.

SOURCE: https://www.trendingaccounting.com/2019/02/fg-hits-foreign-oil-firms-with-20bn.html

Remittances by Nigerians living abroad provided a boost to the economy in 2018 as the total value of remittance from migrants amounted to $25 billion, (about N9 trillion), the highest diaspora inflow into the country in the last 13 years.

The global accounting giant, PricewaterhouseCopers, PWC, gave this information in a report titled: “Nigeria Economic Outlook: Top 10 Themes for 2019”. They noted that the amount translates to 83 percent of the federal government’s budget in 2018 and 11 times the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) during the same period. The figure represents 6.1 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Nigeria’s migrant remittance inflow was also seven times larger than the net official development assistance (foreign aid) of $3.359 billion received in 2017. The Report showed that remittance by Nigerians in diaspora rose steadily in the last 13 years and peaked last year in 2018 by 71.3 percent from $14.640 billion in 2005, while also outpacing FDI inflow by huge 1,036 percent.

Conversely, FDI inflow into the country, which stood at $2.200 billion within the period (2018), was 1,036 percent slower than the migrant remittance inflow.

Detailed breakdown of the migrant remittance during the 13 year period showed tremendous increase in the last three years, as it grew by 11.79 percent to $22.001 billion in 2017 from $19.679 billion in 2016, before recording another 14 percent growth in 2018 to the current figure. According to the Report, leading countries worldwide by value of remittance outflows comprise the United States of America, Germany, Russia and China.

Andrew S. Nevin, Chief Economist, PWC, said: “Nigeria’s biggest export is not oil; it is actually people, because of the remittances coming in. Election uncertainty coupled with lacklustre execution of policy reforms impact FDI inflow.”

“Global FDI flows fell by 19 percent in 2018. However, 2018 FDI flows to Africa increased by six percent from $38 billion to $40 billion. South Africa grew by 446 percent; Egypt by seven percent. Nigeria, on the other hand, fell by 36 percent (to $2.2 billion) and was overtaken by Ghana with $3.3 billion,” PWC said in the Report.

SOURCE: https://www.trendingaccounting.com/2019/02/nigerians-abroad-remitted-n9trn-in-2018.html

dominique:
Hope Tinubu's companies are paying taxes as well? I bet Atiku's schools and companies ain't paying taxes as well. Top government officials are the worst when it comes to tax evasion yet they impose stiffening taxes on struggling private businesses, so unfair

I totally supoort taxing but it should apply to all and sundry.

Give this babe 3 dildos, she just spoke my mind.

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has generated over N23billion in unpaid taxes from the recently suspended substitution exercise on corporate bank accounts, marked by the imposition of restriction on the accounts of tax-defaulting organisations.

The Chairman of FIRS, Mr Babatunde Fowler revealed this in Lagos yesterday at the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) Interactive Forum on Tax Matters. He said the focus of exercise was 3,000 frims deducting Value Added Tax (VAT) and Withholding Tax (WHT) on behalf of the Federal Government without remitting such.

He said the companies had no tax identification and therefore could not remit the deducted taxes to government, making them treat such deductions as part of their cash flow.
Fowler stated that the suspension of the exercise for 30 days, announced last weekend, was occasioned by the deluge of corporate taxpayers visiting FIRS offices to regularise their tax affairs and make payments, a situation that stretched the service administratively, as it could not lift the lien on their accounts as quickly as it wished. Thus, the FIRS directed banks to lift restrictions on such accounts to allow affected tax companies regularise their tax status within 30 days and begin to make arrangements for the liquidation of their tax liabilities.

According to the FIRS chief, the Service’s decision to restrict bank accounts of businesses, corporate organisations and partnerships with an annual banking turnover in excess of N1billion, but without tax identification, was announced at a stakeholders’ meeting last September.

Fowler said: “Our position was that if you charge VAT, which is not your money; or deduct Withholding Tax from vendors and you have no tax identification, you cannot even pay tax to the FIRS because you can’t pay without tax identification. So these operators were defrauding the society and the nation by charging consumers VAT, by deducting Withholding Tax and not remitting on behalf of other taxpayers. We had over 3,000 of such and we said if they do not come forward, we’d follow the law and do what they call substitution.

Service made some administrative errors, which made banks place restrictions on accounts of a few companies with tax identification. This, he explained, arose from wrong information from the banks. But restrictions on such, he added, were lifted within 24 hours in addition to tendering of formal apology to those impacted.

SOURCE: https://www.trendingaccounting.com/2019/02/firs-gets-n23b-unpaid-tax-from.html

The European Union has given reasons why they included Nigeria in the expanded 23 ‘dirty money’ blacklist released last Wednesday. The Commission said the Nigerian authorities had failed to take steps to strengthen the nation’s anti-money laundering and terrorist financing regimes despite the menace.

The Commission, on February 13 listed Panama, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia as fresh additions to the list of countries that have not done little or nothing to address the high rate of money laundering and terrorist financing.

The EU Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, Vera Jourová, said the list was an update of third world countries the EU identified earlier as jurisdictions where money laundering and terrorism financing are allowed to flourish. The new categorisation, was perhaps, a direct response to the assessment of the impact of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists’ Panama Papers investigation.

The global investigations, which spanned over a year, were conducted by over 100 media organisations across the world. The investigations, which covered financial transactions of various offshore entities, exposed hundreds of companies linked to more than 140 politicians, businessmen and world leaders in more than 50 countries.

The 23 countries include 12 listed by the Financial Action Task Force and 11 additional jurisdictions. Some of the countries were already among 16 on the current EU list issued since July 2018.

A total of six African countries on the new list, include Libya, Tunisia, Ethiopia, Botswana, Ghana, and Nigeria. Also on the list are five Middle East countries, including Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

Others from the far-East region, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Puerto Rico, Samoa, American Samoa, Guam, Trinidad and Tobago, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Bahamas joining Panama on the list in the Caribbean Sea or South Pacific regions.
In 2018, Chairman of the Africa Union high-level panel on Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) and former South African President, Thabo Mbeki, said Africa’s annual loss through IFFs increased from $50 billion in 2015 to over $80 billion.

This was as the Chairman of Nigeria’s Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Tunde Fowler, said at least 40 per cent of the total IFFs in Africa, come from Nigeria. The Commission said the new list followed a review of the process of these third world countries with strategic deficiencies in their anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing frameworks.

The decision, the Commission said, was to protect the EU financial system by better preventing money laundering and terrorist financing risks. Under the new arrangement, the Commission said banks and other financial entities covered by EU anti-money laundering rules would be required to apply increased due diligence on financial operations involving customers and financial institutions from the affected countries.

Mr Jourová said although the Commission has established the strongest anti-money laundering standards in the world to ensuring dirty money from other countries did not find its way to the EU financial system.

SOURCE: https://www.trendingaccounting.com/2019/02/why-we-included-nigeria-in-23-dirty.html

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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has injected 210 million dollars into the various segments of the market to sustain its intervention in the Inter-Bank Foreign Exchange Market.

The CBN Director, Corporate Communications, Mr Isaac Okorafor made this known in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja.

Mr Okorafor revealed that the apex bank offered 100 million dollars as wholesale interventions and allocated 55 million dollars to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

He further said that another 55 million dollars was allocated to customers requiring foreign exchange for business and personal travels, tuition or medical fees.

The director explained that the Tuesday’s interventions were in continuation of the bank’s resolve to sustain the high level of stability in the foreign exchange market.

According to him, it is also to continue to ease access to the currency by customers in different sectors.

Okorafor said the CBN was optimistic that the Naira would sustain its run against the dollar and other major currencies around the world, considering the level of transparency in the market.

SOURCE: https://www.trendingaccounting.com/2019/02/cbn-injects-210m-into-foreign-exchange.html

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Nigerian Breweries, NB Plc, has announced a profit after tax of N19.4 billion for the 2018 financial year.

According to the audited financial results released to the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE yesterday the Company also made revenue of N324.4 billion during the period.

The statement from the company stated that the Board of Directors will be recommending to the company’s shareholders at the annual general meeting coming up on the 17th of May, 2019, the declaration of a total dividend of N19.4 billion, that is, N2.43k per share representing a hundred percent dividend pay-out ratio.

The Company had earlier, in 2018, paid an interim dividend of N4.8 billion which translated to N0.60 kobo per share; thus, the final dividend will be N14.6 billion, that is, N1.83kobo per share. If the proposed final dividend is approved, this will become payable on the 20th of May, 2019 to all shareholders whose names appear on the company’s register of members, at the close of business on the 6th of March, 2019.

In the statement signed by the Company Secretary/Legal Director, Uaboi Agbebaku, the 2018 profit after tax was lower than the N31.6 billion recorded in 2017 representing a forty one percent decline, while the revenue also dipped from the N344.5 billion recorded in 2017, a six percent decline.

SOURCE: https://www.trendingaccounting.com/2019/02/nigerian-breweries-declares-n19bn.html

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has written to banks, directing them to lift the lien on tax defaulters’ bank accounts for 30 days following outrage by Nigerians and industry experts.

The directive, which takes immediate effect, was contained in a letter from the Chairman, FIRS, Mr Babatunde Fowler to bank Managing Directors.

FIRS made the announcement in a statement posted on its official Twitter account on Friday night.

The income generating agency explained that it issued the directive because of the large number of taxpayers, who have besieged itself offices in their bid to regularize their tax positions and the inconveniences they are going through.

KPMG had on Thursday stated that FIRS gone draconian by giving fiats to banks to freeze accounts of suspected tax defaulters.

In a statement, KPMG said: “Nothing in the CITA or FIRSEA authorises the FIRS to impose a freeze order on a taxpayer’s bank account beyond the amount of tax proven to be due and payable by that taxpayer”.

It added that the move was in contravention of CITA, and breaches the confidentiality between the banks and their clients.

“Generally, a bank has a fiduciary obligation to maintain the confidentiality of its customers and their transactions, and to prevent third-party access to the customers’ account information,” KPMG added.

SOURCE: https://www.trendingaccounting.com/2019/02/firs-directs-banks-to-unfreeze-tax.html

The Saint Valentine’s Day celebration marked globally may have cost Nigerians about N30 billion spent on purchase of gifts and luxury items to loved ones.

Valentine’s Day, or St Valentine’s Day, is celebrated yearly across the world on February 14. It is the day when people show their affection for one another or people by sending cards, flowers or chocolates with messages of love.

Speaking on a live Television programme- Business Morning monitored on Channels TV yesterday, Senior Economist, SPM Professionals, Mr. Paul Alaje, said that it was estimated that about 40 percent of the country’s 200 million population will spend an average of N5,000 to celebrate St Valentine’s Day.
Alaje explained that the confectionary, entertainment, telecommunications, beverages and drinks and the flower industry will be major beneficiaries of N30 billion figures to be spent. Many families and loved ones would buy cakes, visit the cinemas, restaurants and also purchase Rose flowers in bid to make the celebration a memorable one.

The economist further explained that the Information Communication Technology (ICT) sector is also a major beneficiary as many Nigerians will make voice and internet calls while others will opt to send text messages, adding that those without internet subscription and call credit would be forced to recharge same.

A member of the economic think tank, Financial Derivatives Limited, Temitope Olugbile, said those in the business of ballons and chocolates will equally be making brisk business.
However, she regretted that Nigeria was not getting much value from its cocoa as the major chunk of it are exported and later imported back into the country as chocolates, thereby creating jobs for other citizens of the world.

In Lagos, some of the restaurants and confectionary outlet visted by Daily Sun, recorded huge turn out of customers as long queues of customers were seen making frantic efforts to make payments for products bought. At the popular Ikeja City Mall at Alausa, Ikeja, young lads were seen in most stores buying perfumes and clothings, while others in the restaurants were having fun time with their friends and loved ones as at launch time.

The Shoprite store at Alausa also made huge sales as all the cashier points had long queues of customers waiting in line to make payment for items bought. Meanwhile, Americans according to a new survey, will be collectively spending a whopping $30 billion on gifts for their families, partners, and themselves for the Valentine Day.

SOURCE: https://www.trendingaccounting.com/2019/02/valentines-day-nigerians-spend-n30bn-on.html

The Debt Management Office has has disclosed that the Federal Government would auction N150bn worth of bonds by subscription on February 20.

This is contained in a circular by the DMO on Wednesday, which also showed the breakdown of the figure to include a N50bn five-year reopening bond that would mature in April 2023 and be offered at 12.75 per cent and another N50bn seven-year reopening bond to mature in March 2025 and be auctioned at 13.53 per cent.
The final one was another N50bn 10-year bond that would mature in February 2028 and be auctioned at 13.98 per cent. According to the DMO, the bonds to be auctioned have a settlement date of February 22.

The DMO had earlier auctioned a N150bn bond on January 30 with a settlement date of February 1. The circular said the DMO, on behalf of the Federal Government, was offering the amounts for subscription by auction and was authorised to receive applications for them.
The DMO said,“ The units of the sale will be N1,000 per unit, subject to a minimum subscription of N50,001,000 and in multiples of N1,000 thereafter.”

On the interest rate, it stated, “For re-opening of previously issued bonds, (where the coupon is already set), successful bidders will pay a price corresponding to the yield-to-maturity bid that clears the volume being auctioned, plus any accrued interest on the instrument.”

On the securities, it added that the FGN bonds were backed by the full faith and credit of the Federal Government and were charged upon the general assets of Nigeria.

As part of its operations, the DMO recently disclosed that the Federal Government successfully issued a N100bn Sovereign Sukuk in December 2018, which was oversubscribed to the tune of N132.2bn or 132.2 per cent.

The offer, it noted, was opened to the general public and subscriptions were received from a wide range of investors such as retail investors, pension fund administrators, deposit money banks, fund managers, non -bank financial institutions and other institutional investors.

SOURCE: https://www.trendingaccounting.com/2019/02/fg-to-auction-another-n150bn-bond.html

Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP, grew by 2.38% in real terms (year-on-year), In the fourth quarter of 2018, the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, report obtained by Vanguard on Tuesday says.

The growth, according to National Bureau of Statistics, “represents an increase of 0.27% points when compared to the fourth quarter of 2017 which recorded a growth rate of 2.11%.

The report also said that the growth “indicates a rise of 0.55% points when compared with the growth rate recorded in Q3 2018. On a quarter on quarter basis, real GDP growth was 5.31%. The fourth quarter growth performance implies that real GDP grew at an annual growth rate of 1.93% in 2018, compared to 0.82% recorded in 2017, an increase of 1.09% points.”

The report also said, “during the quarter, aggregate nominal GDP stood at N35,230,607.63 million, which is higher than N31,275,354.08 million recorded in Q4 2017, a nominal growth rate of 12.65%.

“For 2018, nominal GDP was therefore recorded at N127,762,545.58 million representing a nominal growth rate of 12.36% when compared to N113,711,634.61million recorded in 2017.”

SOURCE: https://www.trendingaccounting.com/2019/02/nigerias-gdp-grows-by-238-in-q4-2018-nbs.html

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI) has yesterday expressed concern over reports by corporate bodies that their accounts were being frozen and debited by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) because of tax defaults.

Its Director-General of LCCI, Mr. Muda Yusuf, in a statement, said the FIRS derives its powers from section 31 of the FIRS Act that gave it powers to appoint collection agents for the recovery of tax payable by the taxpayer.

He said though LCCI is a strong proponent of regulatory compliance by private sector players it is however, important to note that tax administration should be in consonance with the basic tenets of the rule of law and the fundamental principles of a good tax system.

He further noted that “Taxpayers should be given ample opportunity to defend their positions on tax matters before a lien is placed on their bank accounts. There are instances where company accounts were frozen in error because there was no proper engagement, documentation or communication with the tax payers.

SOURCE: https://www.trendingaccounting.com/2019/02/lcci-faults-freezing-of-tax-defaulters.html

There are rules by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for banks planning to establish correspondent banking relationship with foreign lenders.

The Nigeria's apex bank, in the Anti-Money Laundering/ Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Policy and Procedure Manual released yesterday insisted that it will guard against establishing correspondent banking relationships with high risk foreign banks such as shell banks, with correspondent banks that have historically allowed their institutions to be used for Money Laundering / Financing Terrorism (ML/FT).

The regulator said that all banking products that are used to convert cash to a monetary instrument and electronic products that permit rapid value movement such as electronic transfers, forex transactions followed by payment into an account in another jurisdiction can be abused by criminals.

The CBN further said: “For trade transactions, Export Letters of Credit have been ranked as high risk because of the possibility of presentation of false shipping documents when no goods are actually shipped.

“Another factor in this ranking is the possibility of over-inflated invoicing for low value or worthless merchandise. All other trade products have been risk ranked either medium or low risk. ”The regulator said that transactions conducted through correspondent banking relationships shall be managed in accordance with a risk-based approach, and Know Your Correspondent (KYC) procedures shall be established to ascertain whether or not the correspondent bank or the counter party is itself regulated for money laundering prevention.
Also, where regulated, the correspondent shall verify the identity of its customers in accordance with Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards, and where this is not the case, additional due diligence shall be required to ascertain and assess the correspondent’s internal policy on money laundering and KYC procedures. The CBN said that care should be taken when doing business with third parties located in geographic locations with a history of supporting terrorism, bases for drug production/distribution, suffering from civil unrest/war.

“These include jurisdictions that have been identified as high risk countries by standard setting institutions such as FATF; countries on designated sanction lists such as the United Nations Consolidated list and US Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) List,” the bank said.

The CBN said it shall accept customers after due verification of customers’ identities, address and/ or place of business, after ascertaining their source of income/funds and after considering the level of risks they pose to the bank, based on the kind of business under consideration (such as bureau de change operators).

The apex bank said care will be taken to apply appropriate level of due diligence, depending on customers’ risk profiles adding that no accounts shall be opened for anonymous of fictitious customers.

“The CBN should not enter into a relationship with a prospective customer until the person/entity has been duly identified and verified. The customer acceptance process also includes ensuring that the prospective customer is not on the ‘watch-list’ which includes names of sanctioned persons as well as known fraudsters.”

SOURCE: https://www.trendingaccounting.com/2019/02/new-rules-for-banks-on-money-laundering.html

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) is to sell of the properties of 52 companies over tax debts valued at about N3.4bn. Investigations by our correspondent in Abuja showed that already, the Legal Department of the Service had begun the process to sell the properties in a bid to effectively implement the initiative.

It was gathered that apart from the 52 companies, ten other companies are still under investigation for tax evasion while enforcement action is expected to be carried out on another 10 companies in Lagos with a total tax value of N727.42m.

Our correspondent also revealed that based on an investigation conducted by the FIRS, some private organisations that own properties in Nigeria had not been paying any form of taxes. Following this discovery, it was learnt that the agency took a review of all properties that were under corporate ownership.

By law, where a company has not filed or paid any taxes, the tax authority used an estimated assessment based on the company’s turnover.
In order to ascertain the level of turnover, the FIRS wrote to commercial banks asking for details of the turnover of some of the affected companies. The first letter to commercial banks from the FIRS, findings showed, was written in May last year. The letter requested a list of companies, partnerships and enterprises with a banking turnover of N10 bn and above.
The move was aimed at ascertaining those companies that are compliant with the tax laws and those that are not compliant.

The second letter according to findings was written to all commercial banks in October 2018, and the responses from the banks are currently being reviewed by the FIRS. It was learnt that the move was part of the special programme to drive compliance. The special programme is targeted at recovering tax liabilities from non-compliant companies that are currently being assessed for tax under the Company Income Tax Act.

The FIRS Chairman of FIRS, Mr Tunde Fowler, had on Thursday during a meeting with the acting Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, explained that the agency would collaborate with security agencies this year to go after wealthy tax defaulters. He had requested the Nigeria Police to assist the FIRS to bring the tax defaulters to pay their taxes.
He said, “We looked at businesses, partnerships of any activity that has banking turnover between N100m and N999m. We have done a review of this group of businesses. “We have about seven more banks that we are still waiting for the return from and to review their information. “So far, we have 45,361 that have TINs and are making payments. We have 40,611 that have TINs, that made tax payment and, we have 44,504 that have no TIN and no payment.
“So, when you look at it from a glance, we have close to 75,000 in this group that are still not taxpayers and we have said the payment of tax is not only for the civil servants. it’s for all Nigerians. “So, the millionaires and the billionaires will pay tax on behalf of what is due to the national coffers.”

Fowler also commended the Nigerian Police Force for its support and collaboration over the years, which he said, had helped the FIRS to achieve its target and requested for more support to enable it to recover taxes due to rich tax evaders in 2019.

SOURCE: https://www.trendingaccounting.com/2019/02/n34bn-tax-debt-firs-to-sell-properties.html

A leading bank in Nigeria, Keystone Bank Limited has introduced “Cheque Deposit” feature in its mobile banking application, the new “Keystone Mobile App”. The feature, which is another first from the bank and in the banking sector in general, enables customers to pay cheques into their accounts at their convenience through their mobile phones even with zero data.

The Group Managing Director/CEO of Keystone Bank Limited, Obeahon Ohiwerei, said the new feat is in demonstration of the bank’s commitment to continuously deliver superior and innovative banking solutions to its customers.

“The Keystone Bank brand is built on meeting and exceeding customer expectations by providing simple and convenient banking services at all times. “With the new cheque deposit feature, you have one less reason to make that trip to the bank.

“In our fast-paced and evolving digital world, service literally has to be at the speed of thought; the rules of engagement are changing so fast that customer expectations are as diverse as our lifestyles and choices. “It is no longer a question of stepping out to the bank but about the convergence of innovative services, digital technology and Omni-channel platforms coming to us at breakneck speed.
“Mobile Banking for one isn’t entirely new in the industry, but there is no end to innovation in delivering customer convenience at Keystone Bank that’s what sets us apart and that shall continue to be our strength.

“We are determined to be your preferred bank; dependable, responsive and always within reach,” Ohiwerei stated.

OVER eight million Naira worth of substandard products have been destroyed by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) at Yankatsari Yangongon in Kano, in its ongoing efforts aimed at stopping trade in substandard goods in Nigeria.

The details of the substandard and life-endangering products include, 83 bags of 25kg expired foreign rice, 257 bags of substandard mosquito coil, 190 cartons of fake Dorco brand of shaving sticks, 96 rolls of fake NOCACO electrical cables, Six (6) bags of substandard fertilizers, 146 trays of substandard Automobile Break Fluid, and Seven Vails of empty sacks of rice.
The SON Regional Coordinator North West, Alhaji Abba Adamu Bauchi and the Kano/Jigawa States Coordinator, Alhaji Yunusa Muhammed, coordinated the exercise.

Briefing reporters before the destruction exercise, Muhammed disclosed that patriotic Nigerians, including genuine manufacturers and consumers assisted in locating and confiscating the substandard products through provision of classified information.
In addition, SON market surveillance activities and the cooperation of market associations like the Singer market and Kano Electrical Dealers Association (KEDA), provided other avenues to the substandard products, he said.

He acknowledged their cooperation and collaboration as well as those of security and sister regulatory agencies in apprehending the life-endangering and substandard products.

According to him, necessary laboratory tests and analysis were carried out on all the products to ascertain and confirm their quality status as being substandard and life endangering, while necessary approvals have been secured to destroy the items in line with the provisions of the SON Act 14 of 2015.
Muhammed reiterated the SON’s continued commitment to the fight against the circulation of substandard and life endangering products, stressing that the purveyors should either quit or be ready to face the full wrath of the law, through prosecution.

The exercise was witnessed by the Vice-Chairman, Dawakin Kudu Local Government, Yakubu Musa, Muhammed Baba Ahmad and Ado Uba of the Kano State Ministries of Environment and Commerce respectively, representatives of sister regulatory and security agencies as well as the media.

Representatives of the agencies at the destruction exercise were Hamza Abubakar of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Kano/Jigawa Command; Mukhtar Abdullahi of the Department of State Services (DSS); CSP Salihu Daiyabu, Nigeria Police, Kano State Command; and Umar Abdullahi of Nigerian Environmental Standards Regulatory Agency (NESREA).

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has warned the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Nigerian Telecommunication Commission (NCC) and other companies involved in the transaction for the sale of troubled telecom firm, Etisalat (9mobile) against taking further steps to conclude the sale.

The warning was informed by claim by some aggrieved investors that despite a subsisting order of the court, made on October 10, 2018 by Justice Binta Nyako, barring parties to the transaction from taking further steps pending the determination of the suit, the CBN, First Bank and others have allegedly sold the firm and transferred its ownership.

The warning by the court is contained in a Form 48 issued by the court’s Registrar, on institutions listed as defendants in the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/288/2018 filed by the aggrieved shareholders, through Afdin Ventures Ltd and Dirbia Nigeria Ltd.

The Form 48 reads: “Take notice that unless you obey the directions contained in the order of the Federal High Court number three, Abuja, made on the 10th of October 2018 ordering parties to maintain status quo, with regard to the sale of Etisalat Nigeria Limited (rebranded 9mobile), you will be guilty of contempt of court and will be liable to be committed to prison.”

The affected defendants are Karington Telecommunications Ltd, Premium Telecommunications Holding NV, First Bank of Nigeria Plc, Central Bank of Nigeria, Etisalat International Nigeria Ltd (trading under the name and style of 9mobile) and the Nigerian Communication Commission.

The aggrieved subscribers, who claimed to be major investors in Etisalat, said they were excluded from the firm’s decision making and therefore want a refund of their investment estimated at $43,330,950.

Afdin and Dirbia, in newly filed court documents, alleged that the defendants have not only sold the company, despite the existing restraining order, they have effected a transfer of ownership to a new set of buyers. They exhibited newspaper publications, indicating that the defendants have allegedly proceeded with the sale in breach of the pending court order.

The aggrieved shareholders, in a pre-action notice issued by their lawyer, Mahmud Magaji (SAN), are threatening to institute fresh suits against the CBN, NCC and First Bank in an effort to retrieve their investment and accrued interest. The pre-action notice, copies of which were sighted in Abuja, are addressed to the Governor of CBN and The Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, NCC.

Part of the notice reads: “The intending plaintiffs, who are shareholders in Etisalat Nigeria Ltd, having purchased a total number of 1, 300,391 at $13,003,910 only and 3,300,004 Class A shares at $30,030,040) intend to sue for the recovery of their investment, dividends on their shores, and damages for breach of contract.

“Please kindly recall that, by the custodian agreement, all the shares certificates of the plaintiffs, were kept under your custody.
However, you have failed to exercise your role in good faith leading to the sale of Etisalat Nigeria Limited to Teleology Nigeria Ltd, at the detriment of our clients. The intending plaintiffs aver that First Bank of Nigeria Plc was both a receiving bank and also a custodian of the shares acquired by the intending plaintiffs from Karington Telecommunications Ltd.

“The intending plaintiffs aver that, under the private placement memorandum (PPM), First Bank of Nigeria Plc, as custodian of the intending plaintiffs’ shares in Karington Telecommunications Ltd, has the obligation to ensure that the shares held by the intending plaintiffs, as beneficial owner, has the duty of custody, safekeeping, warehousing and preservation of the property (shares) of the intending plaintiffs, amongst others
“First Bank, in allowing the shares of Emerging Markets Telecommunications Services Ltd (EMTS) to be so charged as security for the syndicated loan by fixed charge, failed to keep the shares of the intending plaintiffs separate and/or segregated, but has allowed the intending plaintiffs’ shares to be co-mingled with the shares of other investors and thereby failed In its custodial duties in clause 5.1.2 at page 71 of the PPM.

“First Bank also failed to observe and perform its warranty that it shall ensure the observance and performance of its custodial duties in the private placement memorandum (PPM) and also as contained in the application form.
“The intending plaintiffs have suffered the liability of the complete loss of their investment in the shares of Karington Telecommunication Ltd and indirect economic interest in the shares of EMTS which are to be sold to recover the unpaid syndicated loan from the thirteen banks, of which First Bank of Nigeria PIc is a part.

The intending plaintiffs also never received any dividend payment since 2009; have completely lost their investment or indirect holding/economic interest in the shares of EMTS, which First Bank of Nigeria allowed to be used as a fixed charge to secure the repayment of the loan by the syndicated banks to EMTS and which loan has remained unpaid and the security is being enforced.

The Chartered Institute of Forensic and Investigative Auditors of Nigeria (CIFIAN) has revealed that Accounting practices are aiding fraud and corruption in the country.

The protem president of the professional body, Dr Enape Ayishetu, said this at a press conference in Abuja, yesterday, added that it is wrong for financial accountants to regulate the preparation of corporate financial accounts, perform the audit and at the same time conduct the forensic and investigative audit of corrupt and fraudulent accounting practices thereof.

“The law was even helpless in the case of collapsed banks in Nigeria which were audited by some accounting firms because no act empowers them to carry our fraud investigation.
Dr Enape also disclosed that “Forensic and investigative auditors’ work starts where traditional auditors’ stopped. We are fraud auditors, and the type of audit we do is different from that of accountants or traditional auditors,”

She said fraud and fraudsters had gone sophisticated and now engaged digital technologies to perpetrate fraud. In this case, our system requires a forensic and investigative auditing which has to do with use of science and technology for fraud prevention and detection.

"There is a need for a paradigm shift. For this reason, the Chartered Institute of Forensic and Investigative Auditors of Nigeria (CIFIAN) has arisen in Nigeria to salvage the Nigerian economy from total collapse.

"The era of using analogue in handling serious issues in Nigeria is over, because this is an era of technology which our nation must key into in order to compete in the global market,” the CIFIAN president noted.

She appealed to the House of Representatives to pass the CIFIAN Bill pending before it.

SOURCE: https://www.trendingaccounting.com/2019/02/accounting-practices-aiding-fraud.html

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) has said that sluggish investment decisions that may arise as a result of expectations from the general elections among other factors will moderate the growth prospects for Nigeria in 2019.

ICAN's President, Alhaji Rasak Jaiyeola, revealed this during the institute’s economic discourse series titled, ‘2019 economic outlook’ which was held in Lagos on Thursday.

“The growth prospects for Nigeria may be moderated with the likely late passage of the 2019 budget, sluggish investment decisions that may arise as a result of expectations from the general elections, the security challenges in the country, projected relatively low crude oil prices in the global market and other uncertainties that may be caused by the general elections and developments in other trading economies with the country" Jaiyeola said.
According to Jaiyeola, there are divergent views on the growth prospects across countries and regions for 2019. While the projections for some were encouraging, he said others had been predicted to experience some downward spiralling in the year.

He noted that the world economic outlook by the International Monetary Fund projected a global growth of 3.5 per cent in 2019 and 3.6 per cent in 2020, which represented 0.2 and 0.1 percentage fell below the 3.7 per cent average growth in 2018. In sub -Saharan Africa, he added, growth was expected to pick up from about 3.1 per cent in 2018 to 3.8 per cent in 2019.

He said this, however, would still be a far cry for stimulating the expected jobs to meet the demand of the growing population in the region.
According to him, the programme creates a platform for accounting and non-accounting professionals as well as other economic watchers to do a dispassionate critique of the major indices of growth and development in the economy. Over the years, he added, the programme had made significant contributions to various social, financial and economic issues influencing the country’s growth experience.
He said, “Through these series and other knowledge events of the institute, we have made profound contributions to budget planning process, banking reforms, tax and fiscal management, forensic, financial technology and corporate governance among several others.

The recommendations that emerged from past series had served as important policy tool for government at all levels and other stakeholders in the economic value chain.” The Chief Executive Officer, Economic Associates, Ayo Teriba, said,“ Nigeria must strategically re-build domestic liquidity buffers to regain countercyclical monetary policy capacity. Nigeria must strategically deepen the four financing buckets in the economy.” According to him, the financing buckets are banks, bonds equity and foreign exchange.

SOURCE: https://www.trendingaccounting.com/2019/02/sluggish-investment-decisions-others.html

A good number of us get bitten by the entrepreneurial bug when working as employees on an 8-4 job, and we get that zeal to start our own business venture. While this can be an extremely rewarding decision, it can also be tasking one, it is very important to keep some vital things in mind before quitting your job to start a business.

PREPARE FOR THE REALITIES OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Becoming an entrepreneur has its good sides, like becoming your own boss, not answerable to anyone, making your own rules, building things up from the ground etc., but it also has its difficult and ugly sides too. For one, most entrepreneurial ventures fail and the entrepreneurs end up having to go back to work as employees in another firm. Also, some of the most successful entrepreneurs of today have had to deal with a lot of setbacks sometimes becoming broke in the process, coming to the brink of failure, or even eventually failing and having to pick up the pieces and get back up multiple times. Entrepreneurship is definitely not for the weak hearted and as rewarding as it can be, it can also be hard and extremely tasking.
HAVE A SOLID PERSONAL FINANCIAL PLAN
Quitting your job to start a business means that you have to come to terms with the fact that your line of sustainable income is gone, and you will thus have to prepare for the hit your personal finance is going to take through the period of you trying to build up your business into one that you can draw reasonable revenue or income from. You first should consider how much money you need to continue your current lifestyle and compare it with how much money you actually have (savings included). If what you have can’t sustain your lifestyle, then it’s best you make more prudent adjustments to your current lifestyle. Also, you should have backup options to explore if you do run out of money in the meantime.

DON’T BURN BRIDGES
A good number of people quit their 8-4 jobs to start a business on very bad terms with their employers. They damn their employers and tell them off, exiting the job in an anything but smooth process. This should not be so. You should never burn your bridges in the professional world, especially with former employers, because you might need them in the future as clients, as partners to your business in a mutually beneficial relationship, or to even come back to work for them if your business idea doesn’t pan out as well as expected. Whatever the reason, you should never end things with your employer on bitter terms, and when you decide to leave, try as much as possible to make your exit from the company as smooth as possible to preserve important relationships.

GET ADVICE
As viable and spectacular you think your business idea or business plan is, you should talk to others especially people who successful entrepreneurs and get advice before you quit your job to start a business, don’t just rush into it. Talk to trusted friends and mentors about what they think of your business idea and how promising they believe it is. Reach out to people that have experience in building entrepreneurial ventures and those that have quit their jobs for it, ask them for practical advice and guidance on how to go about yours. Most importantly, talk to your spouse, children or close family members (especially those that you are financially responsible for), and explain to them the financial implications of what you are about to do, so they can prepare for it the best way they can.

SOURCE: https://www.trendingaccounting.com/2019/02/4-vital-steps-to-take-before-quitting.html

THE management of the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, has raised its staff gratuity to 280% of total emolument, from 180% after long negotiation with the staff union.

Revealing this in Lagos during the 40th anniversary celebration of the Maritime branch of the Senior Staff Association of Statutory Corporations and Government Owned Companies, SSASCGOC, held weekend, the group’s President, Comrade Adamu Yau, said the union and management agreed to commence the implementation of the approved salary structure adding that payment of arrears of the new salary structure to staff and officers has also started.

However, he said the struggle for improved workers’ welfare is not yet over as the package could be better than it is currently. The union’s boss also called on the government to rehabilitate the port access roads with a view to increasing its revenue from the port industry. He stated: “Achieving quick delivery of cargo and improved turn-around of vessels had been in the front burner of the NPA management.

Meanwhile, the management of the NPA has commended the SSASCGOC for improved industrial harmony currently being experienced in the port industry.

Speaking at the same ceremony, Managing Director of the agency, Ms Hadiza Bala Usman, said that the relative peace has brought about improved productivity and earnings for the NPA. Usman said that welfare of workers of the agency is top priority for management adding that the management will remain committed to this.

She stated: “As an association of senior employees, management of NPA appreciates your contributions to the smooth operations at the ports. “It is gratifying to note that the industrial harmony that pervades the nation’s maritime industry is a product of your commitment to the vision and mission of the Authority”.

Nigeria's Apex Bank, The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has denied allegations that some faceless agents in Nigeria are exploiting the country’s multiple exchange rates to devastating effects and allegedly with the backing of regulators.

The Apex bank, in a statement on Monday, reacted to a publication titled “Exposed: The sleazy face of N306/$, …inside Nigeria’s Fx racket where faceless agents pocket over N32bn annually”.

It stated that, “The forex rates across various markets governed and regulated by the CBN, have been converging, leaving no room for arbitrage opportunities in Nigeria’s forex market.
“For avoidance of doubt, the CBN will continue to act in the best interest of Nigeria and shall ensure it remains focused on its core mandate of sustaining the stability in the forex market.”

The United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) has open a new branch in the ancient historic land of Mali, a string into North Africa.

The Spokeswoman for UBA’s Malian subsidiary, Maimouna El Oumarany said the bank aims at expanding its footprint in a region where it already operates in a dozen countries.

She stated: “Mali is a large market with a low (bank) account penetration rate. We’re hoping to do better than the 13 banks already established in the country.”

According to El Oumarany, UBA’s strategy in Mali, a landlocked country on the edge of the Sahara, was focused on digital products that clients could access from their smartphones.
UBA Africa is one of Nigeria’s largest banks with more than 700 branches, has subsidiaries in about 20 countries across Africa and also has subsidiaries in London, Paris and New York.

Meanwhile, UBA, in a ground breaking corporate governance, last week became the first quoted company to turn in year-end audited results to the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, with its 2018 full year accounts. It also emerged the first in the history of the Stock Exchange to turn in full year ended December 31 audited results in January, less than one month after year end.

This was the same record it hit in 2017 when it came out first with announcement of a full year audited results on February 11, 2017 for the year ended December 31, 2016. In a notification to the NSE, UBA said its Board of Directors has approved its financial statements and payment of dividend to shareholders, subject to the approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

South African retailer, Shoprite looked set for its biggest fall in almost 20 years on Wednesday after it warned of a steep drop in half-year headline earnings citing foreign exchange setbacks and other factors.

Shoprite in a trading statement released after the market close on Tuesday said it expects headline earnings per share (HEPS) including an adjustment for hyperinflation to fall by as much as 26 percent to 388.6-441.1 cents for the 26 weeks which ended on Dec. 30.

It reported HEPS of 525.6 cents in the prior comparable period. Excluding the hyperinflation adjustment, HEPS is expected to fall to 334.9-387.4 cents, the company said.

“The low turnover growth resulting from low food inflation, temporary stock availability challenges and currency devaluations combined with lower non-RSA (non-South Africa) gross margins and inflexible expense growth have adversely affected profitability,” Shoprite said in its trading statement.

The supermarket operator and furniture retailer also recorded numerous once-off costs. At market open, shares in Shoprite plunged more than 16 percent before paring loses to trade 10.7 percent weaker at 159.47 rand at 0936 GMT. They were on track for their biggest one-day drop since July 1999.

Last Tuesday, Shoprite, which owns more than 2,800 outlets across Africa, reported flat half-year sales, held back by a strike at its largest distribution centre in South Africa and sharp currency devaluations elsewhere.

“Now we are seeing the impact of those poor sales on their earnings numbers. It makes sense, when a company is facing increasing costs but sales are flat, earnings are going to decline,” Vestact equities portfolio manager Byron Lotter said in a note.

In South Africa the retailer has seen cost increases in rent, electricity, security, transport and depreciation, it said.

“January 2019 has seen the improved trading trend continue and we are confident of an improved second half as the impact of various once-offs continues to ease,” Shoprite said.

Finance Minister of Nigeria, Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed has assured Nigerians that there is no cause for panic over the Federal Government’s borrowing, saying it still remains within the fiscal limits.

Mrs. Ahmed made this known in a paper, ‘Revenue Growth and Economic Development: Expectations for 2019,’ which was delivered at the Deloitte Economic Outlook conference in Lagos on Thursday said government was already prioritizing revenue generation to sustain the growth trajectory. “Revenue is the problem we have. By prioritizing revenue generation, the Federal Government intends to continue significant investments in human capital and critical infrastructure to sustain the growth trajectory,” she said.

The minister also said: “According to the historical performance analysis, it shows that we are succeeding in growing our revenue. We have chosen to be strategic in our response and we recently launched the Strategic Revenue Growth Initiatives to achieve sustainability in revenue generation. “Our targeted revenue to GDP ratio is 15 per cent as set out in the Economic Recovery Growth Plan (ERGP).

“We will continue to invest in the ERGP implementation by leveraging finance for critical infrastructure and our social investment programmes. These investments, we believe, will guarantee a sustainable future.

“In 2019 and in line with the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) 2017 – 2020, we will continue to invest resources in achieving our fiscal priorities which are: enhancing revenue generation, collection and monitoring; fiscal consolidation by optimising priority capital and recurrent expenditure; optimising management of both domestic and global fiscal risks; and increased coordination of fiscal, macroeconomic, monetary and trade policies”, she said.

The non alcoholic beverage market is set to witness a revolution as the leading beverage company, Coca-Cola, fully acquires Chi limited.

President Coca-Cola West Africa, Business Unit, Peter Njonjo, said that Coca-Cola had earlier in January 29th 2016 acquired 40 per cent of Chi Ltd but has now completed the acquisition by taking over the remaining 60 per cent of Chi company on January 30th 2019.

He revealed this while making the announcement at Eko Hotels, Lagos, at a press briefing attended by top officials of Coca-Cola and Chi companies and other stake holders.
While describing the acquisition as a testament to the company’s commitment to being a total beverage company to meet the changing tastes and needs of consumers, he said the acquisition was spurred by a shift in the taste and needs of consumers. He also said that a majority of the customers of Coca-Cola were of the lower income cadre, adding that Chi, on its part, was relevant to the Nigerian market, especially in terms of low prices.

“We will support the Chi management team in building on the company’s remarkable heritage and achievements while using the scale of the Coca-Cola system to replicate their success in more markets across Africa.” The visibly elated Njonjo noted that the acquisition was an investment of great interest because of how the brand has been built and made relevant in the Nigerian economy emphasising that it will be further grown into a global million dollar brand over the next 10 years, adding that towards that end, “Coca-Cola recently launched Hollandia yoghurt drink in South Africa.”

Responding to a question on if any products in the two companies may be collapsed, Njonjo said that none of the products in any of the companies will give way, rather “all the products will coexist. Already Chi sells high quality products so we shall continue with that quality and affordable pricing.” Continuing, he explained that the company Chi will still be left to operate with their staff. “We shall not interfere with the day-to-day running of the company but we shall maintain and grow it. Its products would be distributed internationally.”

“Our objective is to grow both the Chi and Hollandia units to a global multi-billion dollar brand.” Lending credence to what Njonjo said, Coca-Cola’s Public Affairs & Communications Director West Africa Business Unit, Clem Ugorji, reaffirmed that “This acquisition is a testament to how we will achieve our objectives and it is also a celebration of entrepreneurship.”

Speaking further, he said “We will not collapse the Chi brand or any of its products. Doing that will only make the company lose the attractiveness that it had before the acquisition. Rather, we will continue to grow both brands and employees in order to grow our customer base and strengthen our market share.”

Chi Limited was founded in Lagos in 1980. It produces juice under the Chivita brand, Caprisonne and value-added dairy under the Hollandia brand. In a September 2018 interview, Njonjo had said that the company’s drive to diversify its product range would give it some flexibility.

SOURCE: https://www.trendingaccounting.com/2019/02/coca-cola-finally-acquires-chi-ltd.html

Freshfish4:
If Osinbanjo didnt survive that crash, Apc would have replaced him with Tinubu sharp sharp then Lie Mohammed will come out and tell us theres nothing wrong with Muslim / Muslim candidates.

What is wrong with Muslim/Muslim candidates?