Shell Nigeria has said it exclusively paid a total of $1.09billion in corporate taxes and royalties to the Nigerian government in 2023, through the operations of the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited and Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company of Nigeria Limited.

The company’s media relations manager, Abimbola Essien-Nelson, in a statement said similar payments made by the two companies in 2022 amounted to $1.36billion.

The figures, announced in the just published 2023 Shell Briefing Notes, showed that the SPDC paid $442m, while SNEPCo remitted $649m.

SPDC Managing Director and Country Chair, Shell Companies in Nigeria, Osagie Okunbor said the payments are Shell’s exclusive and do not include payments made by other partners.

“These payments are Shell exclusive and do not include those made by our partners,” said Okunbor.

Okunbor explained, “Shell companies in Nigeria will continue to contribute to the country’s economic growth through the revenue we generate and the employment opportunities we create by supporting the development of local businesses”.

He added that Shell has invested in Nigeria for more than 60 years, adding that the Briefing Notes report on the progress of the businesses of Shell Companies in Nigeria – SPDC, SNEPCo, Shell Nigeria Gas and Daystar Power for 2023.

The reports, he said, showed that the companies continued to power progress, working closely with stakeholders and communities to promote socio-economic development and providing cost-effective and cleaner energy solutions.

“It is important to emphasise that Shell is not leaving Nigeria and will remain a major partner of the country’s energy sector through its deep-water and integrated gas businesses. Our collective focus remains on delivery of safe operations and care for our people,” Okunbor maintained.

The Central Bank of Nigeria has ordered banks operating in the country to start charging a cybersecurity levy on transactions.

A circular from the apex bank on Monday disclosed that the implementation of the levy would start two weeks from today.

The circular was directed to all commercial, merchant, non-interest and payment service banks, among others.

The circular revealed that it was a follow-up on an earlier letter dated June 25, 2018 (Ref: BPS/DIR/GEN/CIR/05/008) and October 5, 2018 (Ref: BSD/DIR/GEN/LAB/11/023), respectively, on compliance with the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) Act 2015.


The recent public engagements by the Office of the National Security Adviser on the above subject, also refers.

Following the enactment of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) (amendment) Act 2024 and under the provision of Section 44 (2)(a) of the Act, a levy of 0.5 per cent (0.005) equivalent to a half per cent of all electronic transactions value by the business specified in the Second Schedule of the Act, is to be remitted to the National Cybersecurity Fund which shall be administered by the Office of the National Security Adviser.

The CBN said that all banks, other financial institutions and payment service providers are now required to implement the directive, saying, “The levy shall be applied at the point of electronic transfer origination, then deducted and remitted by the financial institution. The deducted amount shall be reflected in the customer’s account with the narration, ‘Cybersecurity Levy’.



“Deductions shall commence within two weeks from the date of this circular for all financial institutions and the monthly remittance of the levies collected in bulk to the NCF account domiciled at the CBN by the fifth business day of every subsequent month.”

Exempted from the levy include loan disbursements and repayments, salary payments, intra-account transfers within the same bank or between different banks for the same customer, intra-bank transfers between customers of the same bank.

Also exempted from the levy were inter-branch transfers within a bank, cheque clearing and settlements, ⁠Letters of Credits, ⁠Banks’ recapitalisation-related funding only bulk funds movement from collection accounts, savings and deposits including transactions involving long-term investments, among others.

The CBN, in recent times, has been making an effort to sanitise the financial sector. It recently issued a directive which barred fintechs from onboarding new customers.

The fintechs have in turn warned their customers against engaging in crypto transactions on their platforms.

This also comes barely a week after the Federal Government had directed Deposit Money Banks to immediately begin the deduction of 0.375 per cent stamp duty charge on all mortgaged-backed loans and bonds.

ednut1:
they have been selling off this onshore assets since Buhari time. They want to focus on offshore which is safer and no oil theft or community wahala

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has disassociated itself from a circulating report in the media alleging the release of a list of 58 ex-governors, under investigation for corruption, to the tune of N2.18 trillion.

In a press statement on Sunday, the EFCC clarified that it has not issued any such list nor discussed the investigation of the former governors with any media outlet.

According to the statement signed by EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, the report titled ‘EFCC Releases Full List of 58 Ex-Governors that Embezzled N2.187 Trillion,’ was “a phantom report,” deemed “false and mischievous.”

“The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, feels obliged to dissociate itself from a phantom report circulating in sections of the media, claiming it has released a full list of ex-governors being investigated for alleged corruption.

“The report headlined ‘EFCC Releases Full List of 58 Ex- Governors that Embezzled N2.187 Trillion,’ in one of the news outlets, is false and mischievous as the commission neither issued the said list nor entertained discussions on the investigation of ex-governors with any news medium.


“This invariably means that the so-called list is a disingenuous fabrication designed to achieve motives known only to the authors,” the statement read.

Oyewale urged the public to disregard the report and advised the media to verify information regarding ongoing investigations directly with the commission, to prevent the spread of false and inaccurate information.

The EFCC had said it would consider the fresh petition it recently received over the alleged N70 billion corruption case of Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle.

The EFCC’s acting Director of Public Affairs, Wilson Uwajuren, stated this while addressing protesters under the aegis of the APC Akida Forum who were at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja on Friday to demand the reopening of the pending case.

On May 18, 2023, the EFCC, through its Director, Media and Publicity Affairs, Osita Nwajah, had said it was probing corruption activities, award of phantom contracts, and diversion of over N70bn allegedly carried out by the minister during his tenure as Zamfara State governor between 2019 and 2023.

The Chairman of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote has described the floating of naira by President Bola Tinubu’s administration as the biggest mess that affected his company and other business owners in 2023.

Floating the naira allows market forces to determine its value in relation to other currencies.

Dangote said this on Tuesday during his remarks at the Annual General Meeting of Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, adding that many businesses were affected by the policy.

Dangote said several manufacturing enterprises were impacted and suffered operational losses due to variations in the naira's value against the US dollar.

He said, “The biggest mess created was the devaluation of the naira from N460 to N1,400.

“You can see that almost 97 per cent of companies in the food and beverage business, none of them will pay dividends this year. But we will try and get out of it.”

Shortly after Tinubu implemented the policy, the country’s prominent billionaires, Dangote and Abdulsamad Rabiu, who were listed among the 500 world’s richest men, both lost $5.85 billion

Data available on the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, BBI, a daily ranking of the World’s richest people portal as of June 15, 2023, showed negative changes in the calculations of the wealth of the Nigerian businessmen.

A Bloomberg report in April noted that Nigeria was burning through its foreign exchange reserves at a rate not seen in four years.

This situation raised concerns that the central bank was depleting its dollar holdings to support the naira after pledging it would allow the currency to float more freely.

Liquid reserves declined 5.6% since March 18, when the naira started its rebound from record-low levels against the dollar, to $31.7 billion as of April 12, according to Bloomberg’s calculations based on the latest available data from the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, however, said the shift in the reserve was found in “any country’s reserves situation, where for example, debts are due and certain payments need to be made, and they are made because that is also part of keeping your credibility intact.”

Man102:


Source : https://politicsnigeria.com/2027-no-vacancy-in-aso-rock-ganduje-tells-opposition-parties/

The Biscuit and Bakery Products sub-sector of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria has said that half the players in the business have crashed out in the last three decades.

The revelation was made by the chairman of the sub-sector, Fola Osibo, during the group’s annual general meeting held recently in Lagos.

According to Osibo, over the years, biscuit manufacturing in Nigeria has gone through challenging periods, some of which have threatened the continued existence of local manufacturers in the country.

Those challenges, he said, had ranged from strangulating policies, to uncontrolled raw material costs and availability, and unfair competition with mostly cheap foreign biscuits imported into the market.

Osibo said, “Looking back about 30 to 40 years, biscuit manufacturing operations was thriving in this country, policies were supportive of local manufacturing, raw materials were readily available, and our association had up to 40 members scattered all over the country.

MAN, LCCI hail FG over expatriate levy suspension
“Then suddenly, the economic situation started going southwards, and our sub-sector started facing economic disruptions, and unfavourable policies which impacted negatively on our operations. Most companies could not cope as margins were completely eroded caused by rising costs of operations, and they started closing shops.

“Unfortunately, our sector has been neglected over the years, and the various government policies have impacted negatively on our operations. Growth of local biscuit production has therefore been stunted and the number of those still in operation has shrunk to only about 15 to 20 companies.”


He called on the Federal Government to initiate responsive and local production-friendly policies to save the sector and prevent it from completely collapsing.

Part of the group’s prayers to the government included the removal of Value Added Tax (as was the situation between 1999 to 2007), reduction of net import duty on biscuit flour to 20 per cent and import duty reduction on some key raw materials such as liquid glucose, hydrogenated fat, and flavourings.

In his presentation, the Plant Director, Cadbury Nigeria Plc, Akinwande Owen, outlined fluctuation in foreign exchange rate, low consumer purchasing power, talent development and migration/relocation, multiple taxation, and government policies as the key challenges facing the manufacturing industry.

Former Governor of Sokoto state, Attahiru Bafarawa, on Monday spoke on how bandits made him abandon his 10,000 hectares of land in Kaduna State.

Speaking to newsmen on the high cost of foodstuff in the country, he said the people of Bafarawa usually seek permission from bandits before going to farm.

Bafarawa is a district under Isa local government area in the eastern part of Sokoto state.

The politician told journalists that bandits were the ones who decide which farm to be cultivated or not in his community.

“I used to have a farmland which is over 10,000 hectares in Birni Gwari of Kaduna State. I have been cultivating that land since 1979 but I cannot reach there now because of the bandits.”

“The maize I produced that time is in commercial quantity that, I used part of it for my flour mill which is also out of production. The issue of insecurity is behind the high cost of food items because many farmers have been displaced.

“There was a time I warned the federal government about the impending food insecurity in the country but my advice was ignored,” he said

He called for a genuine collaborative efforts between the federal government, state and the local government to tackle insecurity, particularly in the north.

“The state governments cannot do it alone without the support of the federal government,” he said

On the general situation in the country, Bafarawa cautioned leaders on the need to wake up before it is too late to save the situation.

On whether he has quit active politics, he said he would remain in politics but would not hold any political appointment.

Former Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, has tackled Northern governors over their recent trip to the United States.

Daily Trust had reported how the Northern governors recently traveled to the US to attend a peace summit organized by the United States Institute of Peace (USIP).

Reacting to the development, Lamido, in a Facebook post, said the trip exposed the governors’ ignorance of the country’s constitution.

The former governor said security is solely the responsibility of the federal government because it is on the executive-legislative list.

The statement, titled, ‘Advancing our shame and embarrassment beyond our frontiers!’ reads: “Our Northern Governors as concerned leaders traveled all the way to the United States of America to attend a lecture at the American Institute for Peace titled ADVANCING STABLITY IN NORTHERN NIGERIA as to find a lasting solution to the intractable problems of insecurity bedeveling their respective states.

“Their concern commendable as it were, ended up exposing their ignorance at understanding the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria the very instrument which gave them the legitimacy and the authority to be Governors!

“If the Governors had traveled to the US to engage on how to boost agriculture or health issues or any other pressing local problems listed on the Concurrent List of our Constitution this could be quite understandable! But to engage on issues which are on the Exclusive Legislative List such as Security says a lot of the substance they are made of.

“Security is a very wide subject which their Excellencies must have capacity to grasp. Most urban towns in their State lack portable drinking water, refuse dumps have taken over some streets; all these have precipitous Security health hazards. Our children attend primary schools under the trees and where there are built classes, they take their lessons sitting on the floor, yet the Security implications of this can not be discerned by their Excellencies. Deliberate and harshly induced poverty by unplanned government policies have made citizens lose their esteem, honor and self worth by lining up scrambling to collect palliative from patronizing and condescending leaders yet the Insecurity of this is of no worry or concern to them.

“You have Governors with no human empathy or respect for dignity or decency in an open show of shame throwing money like confetti from an open Jeep and people scrambling to pick it like the Governor of Niger State. Yet they fail to see the security implications of all these!

“If the Governors were serious and wanted to have a lecture on security, they needed not have embarked on such a wasteful journey with the accompanying expenditure of flight tickets, hotels with all their aides and above all the valuable time wasted at the expense of running their States.

“Certainly they could have gotten more than they wanted from our resourceful institutions such as NIPSS in Kuru Jos or ASCON in Badagry or even NIA! These three Institutions have more than enough materials, essays and templates on the problems on Security in Nigeria more than the far fetched American Institute.”

liasmiram2567:


[It is not about supporting our oppressors.The pro lem is you did not understand what was said or you gave your own interpretation.

OAFMods:
Do you know Anambra civil servants in this 2024 are not earning the old minimum wage of ₦30,000.

This are the legacies of Peter Pandora Obi ipob n obidient miscreant won't disclose on social media. Do not take my word for it, simply ask Labour Party which Peter Pandora Obi is now a member.



My brother if earning ₦70000 in Lagos is oppression what will you now call those earning ₦18000 in this 2024 in Anambra

Bintabisiriyu2:

You are hearing nonsense - voices!

OnionBandit:
https://twitter.com/gbenga_omo/status/1783574773911449984?t=p3-8ufZzNrBPfA_PeMA1Iw&s=19

The Lagos State Government has not increased the minimum wage, contrary to the impression in some media reports, which emanated from the unveiling of Eko Cares – the umbrella for the various interventions to protect the poor against the effects of the prevailing economic hardship. The event was held at the Governor’s Office in Ikeja on Wednesday.

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has been erroneously quoted as saying that a new minimum wage of N70,000 had been announced. This is wrong. Mr. Governor never said so. He said since January, civil servants had been earning the N35,000 wage award directed by the Federal Government. In other words, those earning N35,000 now earn N70,000. He did not announce a new minimum wage of N70,000.

His words: “I know that by the grace of God very very soon we'll see a new minimum wage that will be approved for the Federal Government and for the state government

The civil servants and all public officers, they know that since January we have continued to pay the wage allowance of minimum of N35,000 over and above what they were earning before.

“People that were earning a minimum of N35,000 to N40,000 before, they are now earning over N70,000. So, it’s important for people to know and for us to lay this thing very clearly. This government has doubled up and has not left its citizens on their own…”.

Gbenga Omotoso
HC, Information & Strategy

Nlfpmod
Mynd44
Lalasticlala
Seun

iwaeda:


https://dailytrust.com/just-in-glo-mtn-airtel-others-move-to-raise-tariff/

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has arrested former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, over an ongoing N8,069,176,864.00 money laundering probe.

The indicted former Minister of Aviation arrived at the Federal Capital Territory Command of the EFCC at about 1:00 pm on Tuesday, The PUNCH can confirm.

Our correspondent, who was at the Wuse office of the EFCC, observed the embattled former minister’s arrival at the anti-graft agency’s Abuja office.

Following his arrival at the command, Sirika is currently meeting with EFCC investigators to answer questions on alleged fraudulent contracts awarded by him to a company known as Engirios Nigeria Limited, owned by his younger sibling, Abubakar Sirika.

Impeccable anti-graft sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity, because they were not authorised to speak, confirmed the development to our correspondent on Tuesday.

“Yes, that was Hadi Sirika who was taken into our FCT custody. He is currently meeting with EFCC investigators over the alleged N8,069,176,864.00 aviation ministry contract fraud,” a source revealed.

Another source noted, “The N8,069,176,864.00 aviation ministry contract fraud was carried out in connivance with his younger brother, Abubakar Sirika, through the latter’s company.”

In February, The PUNCH exclusively reported that the EFCC was investigating the activities of the Aviation Ministry under former Minister Sirika for conspiracy, abuse of office, diversion of public funds, and contract inflation.

A credible source who spoke with our correspondent on Tuesday revealed that the anti-graft commission is investigating the activities of the Aviation Ministry for conspiracy, abuse of office, diversion of public funds, and contract inflation.

Others are criminal breaches of trust and money laundering amounting to N8,069,176,864.00 during Sirika’s tenure in office.

The sum is said to be for four aviation contracts from the former minister to a company known as Engirios Nigeria Limited, owned by his younger sibling, Abubakar Sirika.

Apart from being listed as the company’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Abubakar is said to be the sole signatory to the company’s two accounts, domiciled in Zenith and Union Banksy.

It was further revealed that the ex-minister’s younger brother, Abubakar Sirika, has been arrested and detained by the commission in connection with N3,212,258,930.18 paid to his company, Engirios Nigerian Limited’s, bank account by the former minister.

It was noted that there is no trace of work done on any of the contract items to date.

The source said Abubakar Sirika, who was arrested on Sunday, February 4, has since been assisting the commission in its probe of the Aviation Ministry’s financial expenditures during Mr Sirika’s tenure.

The EFCC investigator said, “We’re investigating an N8,069,176,864.00 money laundering case linked to former Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika.

“Hadi awarded contracts to his brother Abubakar, knowing that the latter is a civil servant, a deputy director on Level 16 in the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, where he has been working since 2000 till date.

“The first of the contracts from the former minister to Engirios Nigeria Limited was on August 18, 2022, for the construction of the Terminal Building in Katsina Airport, at a cost of N1,345,586,500.00. The second was awarded on November 3, 2022, for the establishment of the Fire Truck Maintenance and Refurbishment Center in Katsina Airport, valued at N3, 811,497,685.00.

“The third contract was on February 3, 2023, for the procurement and installation of lifts, air conditioners, and a power generator’s house in Aviation House, Abuja, at the cost of N615,195,275.000, while the fourth was awarded on May 5, 2023, for the procurement of Magnus aircraft and a simulator for the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology, Zaria, at the cost of N2, 296,897,404.00.

“Out of the total contract sum, the ex-minister paid out N3,212,258,930.18 to his younger brother’s Engirios Nigerian Limited, who, upon receipt of the payment, transferred it to different companies and individuals. There is no trace of work done on any of the contract items to date.

“Abubakar Sirika is currently in our custody at the Headquarters, and he is providing us with more useful information on the financial activities of the Aviation Ministry under the supervision of his older brother, Hadi Sirika.”