Security operatives whisked away the former Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, Patrick Akpobolokemi, from the Federal High Court, Ikoyi on Monday.
One of the counsel to the embattled former NIMASA boss, Wilson Ajuwa, made this known to PREMIUM TIMES in a telephone interview.
Mr. Ajuwa said he feared for Mr. Akpobolokemi’s life.
The legal practitioner said the ordeal of the former NIMASA boss started shortly after President Muhammadu Buhari took over power.
“For some reasons, he has been under investigation for the last six months since President Muhammadu Buhari came into power,” Mr. Ajuwa told PREMIUM TIMES.
“He has been going to the EFCC back and forth and all sort of things are happening. The EFCC has invited the wife, his brothers and maltreated them.
“Eventually, they charged him to court before Justice Salihu Sa’idu on a 30 count charge and penultimate Friday while he was in their custody; they charged him again before Justice Mohammed Buba, all of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi Lagos.
“Both courts granted him bail after he was remanded in Ikoyi Prisons for seven days. His trial was supposed to start last week Tuesday but the court was adjourned for today.
“While we were in court, they filed a 2000 page proof of evidence and the counsels were unable to review the document and prepare their defence.
“The judge was averse to a prolong adjournment but decided to give the defence the benefit of the doubt by adjourning further hearing on the matter till January 18, 2016.”
Just as the former NIMASA boss stepped out of the courtroom, Mr. Ajuwa said persons suspected to be SSS operatives appeared with a detachment of policemen and beat up Mr. Akpobolokemi.
He said the operatives used force to re-arrest his client even then he had secured bails from two different court where he was charged by the Federal Government.
“It took us seven days to perfect the bail in both courts and so he is under two bails at the time they took him away,” he told this newspaper.
Asked if the government prosecutors had sought to squash the bails granted Mr. Akpobolokemi during the court sitting, Mr. Ajuwa responded in the negative.
Already, he said the matter had been reported to Justice Buba and a motion filed for the former NIMASA boss to be produced in court on Tuesday.
“With the way they treated him, we don’t know whether the man is alive or not. They beat him thoroughly before bundling him into their vehicle. The video is there for people to see,” Mr. Ajuwa said.
TonyeBarcanista: Let's say God works in mysterious ways. Since 1992 our Igala brothers them no wan allow others to govern the state. My prayer is that Fakeye live up to expectation. All eyes now on him!
OnReflection: I subsequently returned to shore up base, when I noticed that some supporters of the last government were mounting a frightening onslaught against the Yoruba commonwealth (online). Having paid close attention to how much they have saturated Google's cache over the years, once a particular threshold was crossed, I simply had to sign up again.
One must never underestimate the capacity of those who are determined to curtail our nascent renaissance, brethren.
abubs: Thank you 4 splitting it out, ppl re just talking about remita forgetting dat CBN, banks also get their share of d 1%, am sure after d splitting a reasonable amount of money will acrue to remita. But I see issues in the 8th Senate, corrupt senators trying to claim innocence, trying to make us think dey re clean. Dino has helped in putting out a propaganda just becos he's not careful enough to gather information about the real situation on ground.
this is just a smoke screen to cover their main objective which is to either scuttle TSA or find a way to exclude national assembly accounts from the TSA so that they can continue with their corrupt tendencies
smuth: You are too daft to know the Remita Software was built by developers abroad. What stops this government from doing same instead of allocating that huge amount as commission on every transactia Software they can purchase...na why I dey even waste m time to reply person wey no get sense.
Contrary to the alarm raised by the Senate over the alleged illegality and exorbitant commission charged for the deployment of Remita, an e-payment software, used for the transfer of Federal Government’s funds from financial institutions into a single treasury account (TSA), PREMIUM TIMES can authoritatively report that the use of the software is not only legal but also represents a drastic cut of the commission previously charged by banks for collection of government revenues.
Also, findings reveal that the commission collected by SystemSpecs, the owners/developers of Remita, is nowhere near the N25 billion Dino Melaye (APC, Kogi West) alleged to have been collected by the firm. It was Mr. Melaye, who originally moved the motion on the Senate floor for the payment to be investigated.
Last Wednesday, following Mr. Melaye’s motion, the senate ordered its committee on finance and public accounts to immediately commence an investigation into use of Remita (which it erroneously described as an e-collection agent) for remitting government funds into the TSA; and its alleged collection of N25 billion commission being one per cent of the alleged N2.5 trillion it remitted into the TSA.
Mr. Melaye had argued that the use of Remita was a violation of Section 162(1) of the constitution, which stated that “the federation shall maintain a special account to be called the federation account into which all revenues collected by the government of the federation except the proceeds from the personal income tax of the personnel of the Armed Forces of the Federation, the Nigeria Police Force, the ministry or department of government charged with foreign affairs and the residents of the FCT, Abuja.”
Mr. Melaye further stated that the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, could only appoint a registered bank as an agent for collecting and disbursing the funds.
He said that since Remita is not a bank, its appointment as a collection agent is in violation of the CBN Act and the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 2007.
According to him, Remita collected N25 billion “for doing nothing.”
However, documents, including the service agreement between SystemSpecs and CBN; correspondence between the company and the office of the Accountant General/ CBN as well as a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, seen by PREMIUM TIMES show that not only was the commission charged backed by law, it is shared by the company, commercial banks and the CBN.
Though the commission is nowhere near the exaggerated N25 billion touted by Mr. Melaye, the one per cent charge also represent a drastic reduction from between 2 per cent and 46 per cent commission charged by commercial banks in some instances for collecting government revenues.
In a telephone interview with PREMIUM TIMES, the CBN Director for public communications, Ibrahim Muazu, dismissed the amount quoted on the floor of the senate as “completely misleading.”
“That is false. That is false,” he repeated for emphasis.
“It is grossly exaggerated. We are talking of one per cent. What is one per cent of the money? Have we collected up to a trillion? That is a completely misleading information. Even at the beginning of the TSA the estimation of all the movement of federal government funds into the account is N1.2 trillion,” he added.
When asked to tell the total amount moved into the TSA, Mr Muazu said: “I cannot give you the exact amount now but I know it is far, far, far lower than N2.5 trillion.”
THE AGREEMENT
According to the service agreement between the parties, signed by Eunice Ikekhuah and Aderemi Atanda of SystemSpecs on December 4, 2013, and H.M Yusuf and R.A Olaniyan of the CBN on December 11, 2013, Systemspecs, the CBN will deploy Remita, a T24 banking application, for executing payment instructions and collection of government revenue.
Apart from the collection of revenue, Remita is also used for payment of salaries, payment of taxes, payment of pension, payroll processing biometric verification, among other uses.
In a letter dated November 6, 2015, to Mr. Buhari, SystemSpecs explained that “all commercial banks and over 400 Micro Finance Banks in Nigeria” are connected to the software. The company also explained that 705 Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDA) are currently using the software as payment and collection platform.
So, contrary to Mr Melaye’s argument in the senate, Remita is indeed a software that facilitates the payment of government revenue from financial institutions to a TSA in the CBN and not a revenue collection agent.
Also, contrary to Mr. Melaye’s submission, the entire 1 per cent commission does not go to SystemSpecs, the commission is shared between the CBN, commercial banks, and the CBN.
]“A tariff of 1% of the funds collected shall be charged for the government revenue collections: i. Platform Owner/SystemSpecs: 50%, ii. Collecting Agents/DMBs (banks): 40%, iii. Introducer? CBN: 10%,” the agreement reads.
SystemSpecs further explained that at a seminar organised by the CBN and the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) between May27-28, 2013, it actually proposed a commission of 1.5 per cent, It explained that commercial banks actually proposed 5 per cent, while a committee set up by the CBN and the OAGF, actually proposed 2.5 per cent. It explained that it was the then Accountant-General of the Federation that actually overruled all the suggested commission and reduced it to 1 per cent.
However, the company said it was surprised to receive a letter from CBN signed by Dipo Fatokun, Director, Banking and Payments System Department, on October 27, 2015 directing it to refund all charges it collected from MDAs for implementation of the TSA.
“I have been directed to inform you that you should refund all charges (1% cost of collection) made into the MDAs accounts as a result of the implementation of the TSA,” the letter reads.
“The total amount should be credited into the account mentioned below:
“FGN Revenue e-Collection Pool Account at the Central Bank of Nigeria Account Number: 0020054161043 “Since the cost of the collection must have been shared by all the stakeholders, you Are hereby required to also provide a schedule of the total amount collected and the portion that was shared to each of the three participants. The schedule should be prepared on month by month basis, from the commencement of the TSA implementation in March 2015, to date. We will recover the share to the CBN and the DMBs,” the letter explains
SystemSpecs explained that after the kick off of the TSA following a deadline announced by Mr Buhari, it was invited for a meeting by OAGF where they were told that following the enlarged scope of the TSA, the government wanted to review the charges.
“We wrote to the CBN to give a brief on the meeting with OAGF and said inter-alia that, while on our part, SystemSpecs is not averse to a review of the existing transaction fee to a figure that is agreeable to all parties, we would however, advise of the need to carry along the DMBs as you will recall that the current fees were agreed with the banks and communicated by CBN via a circular in December 2013,” the firm stated in a letter to the CBN governor.
REDUCTION OF COST
In the same letter to the CBN Governor, SystemSpecs further explained that the 1 per cent charge actually represents a drastic reduction of the amount the Federal Government had to pay for the collection of its revenue before the implementation of the TSA.
“Your Excellency will recall that one of the primary focus of the TSA project is to retrieve funds from the banks who were indirectly lending the government money back to government at about 15%. Hidden cost to government? Arguably 15%.
“Remita provided a technology to empower government retrieve her funds immediately customers pay at Deposit Money Banks. No overnight stay at any bank. Is 1% to be shared by all parties really too high to pay for such a service?”
For instance, the firm explained, banks charge as high as 46 per cent for National Open University (NOUN) charges, nine per cent for Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) fees, and six per cent on Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) National Drivers’ License charges.
Thus in its letter to the President, SystemSpecs appealed for the return of its fees and those earned by the partner banks seized by the CBN.
Mr. Muazu corroborated SystemSpecs position during the telephone chat with Premium Times
“The information you are given is in line with the agreement dating back to 2011. That is a fact. They started it actually when the TSA came up. The one per cent was, yes, agreed at that time. But now with the issue at hand everything needs to be reviewed and agreed.
“But truly the banks, the CBN and themselves are stakeholders. What is it that we are talking about? It is the software or the platform. You can’t do everything free for doing any business. The banks that are doing the e-collection they pursue agencies and other sources of revenue. Not just taking the value. So it is actually an arrangement for the service to be provided. That software that is being used by the platform has to be maintained apart from the initial design,” he said.
He said CBN asked SysytemSpecs to return the commission already collected to enable it renegotiate the terms of the contract.
“Now we are having a new arrangement. It’s not just e-collection. Central bank is now in charge of government revenue. So the old arrangement cannot continue. So when the issue started the central bank gave the order and the money were all paid back to the government.
“Look at it this way, you have a product that you are allowing someone to use, it can’t be free,” he said.
MizMyColi: You just gotta love the hypocrisy and double standards of these folks.
One question please.
While they were busy celebrating the TSA as Buhari's sole achievement, why did they sweep the 1% agreement under the carpet? Why didn't they make this known at the time? Why are they coming out with all these information now that the milk has been spilt?Agreed, the 1 percent rate is exorbitant. Okonjo and co might have gaffed on that.
But let's remember that they never quite brought the project to fruition, perhaps if they did and saw the amount being raked in, they would have called for a downward review.
Under PMB, 2.5 trillion has been remitted... In the spirit of transparency and prudency, he owed Nigerians the duty to call for an immediate downward review seeing as they (REMITA) were getting a rather exorbitant fee.
He didn't have to wait for Saraki and Melaye to blow the whistle (I suspect they both have interests).
But what do I know...
Blame Buhari for the right. Employ every means possible to heap all the wrongs on GEJ.
You are wrong not up to that amount has been remitted thus far and the government as started moves to review the charges already
Contrary to the alarm raised by the Senate over the alleged illegality and exorbitant commission charged for the deployment of Remita, an e-payment software, used for the transfer of Federal Government’s funds from financial institutions into a single treasury account (TSA), PREMIUM TIMES can authoritatively report that the use of the software is not only legal but also represents a drastic cut of the commission previously charged by banks for collection of government revenues.
Also, findings reveal that the commission collected by SystemSpecs, the owners/developers of Remita, is nowhere near the N25 billion Dino Melaye (APC, Kogi West) alleged to have been collected by the firm. It was Mr. Melaye, who originally moved the motion on the Senate floor for the payment to be investigated.
Last Wednesday, following Mr. Melaye’s motion, the senate ordered its committee on finance and public accounts to immediately commence an investigation into use of Remita (which it erroneously described as an e-collection agent) for remitting government funds into the TSA; and its alleged collection of N25 billion commission being one per cent of the alleged N2.5 trillion it remitted into the TSA.
Mr. Melaye had argued that the use of Remita was a violation of Section 162(1) of the constitution, which stated that “the federation shall maintain a special account to be called the federation account into which all revenues collected by the government of the federation except the proceeds from the personal income tax of the personnel of the Armed Forces of the Federation, the Nigeria Police Force, the ministry or department of government charged with foreign affairs and the residents of the FCT, Abuja.”
Mr. Melaye further stated that the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, could only appoint a registered bank as an agent for collecting and disbursing the funds.
He said that since Remita is not a bank, its appointment as a collection agent is in violation of the CBN Act and the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 2007.
According to him, Remita collected N25 billion “for doing nothing.”
However, documents, including the service agreement between SystemSpecs and CBN; correspondence between the company and the office of the Accountant General/ CBN as well as a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, seen by PREMIUM TIMES show that not only was the commission charged backed by law, it is shared by the company, commercial banks and the CBN.
Though the commission is nowhere near the exaggerated N25 billion touted by Mr. Melaye, the one per cent charge also represent a drastic reduction from between 2 per cent and 46 per cent commission charged by commercial banks in some instances for collecting government revenues.
In a telephone interview with PREMIUM TIMES, the CBN Director for public communications, Ibrahim Muazu, dismissed the amount quoted on the floor of the senate as “completely misleading.”
“That is false. That is false,” he repeated for emphasis.
“It is grossly exaggerated. We are talking of one per cent. What is one per cent of the money? Have we collected up to a trillion? That is a completely misleading information. Even at the beginning of the TSA the estimation of all the movement of federal government funds into the account is N1.2 trillion,” he added.
When asked to tell the total amount moved into the TSA, Mr Muazu said: “I cannot give you the exact amount now but I know it is far, far, far lower than N2.5 trillion.”
THE AGREEMENT
According to the service agreement between the parties, signed by Eunice Ikekhuah and Aderemi Atanda of SystemSpecs on December 4, 2013, and H.M Yusuf and R.A Olaniyan of the CBN on December 11, 2013, Systemspecs, the CBN will deploy Remita, a T24 banking application, for executing payment instructions and collection of government revenue.
Apart from the collection of revenue, Remita is also used for payment of salaries, payment of taxes, payment of pension, payroll processing biometric verification, among other uses.
In a letter dated November 6, 2015, to Mr. Buhari, SystemSpecs explained that “all commercial banks and over 400 Micro Finance Banks in Nigeria” are connected to the software. The company also explained that 705 Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDA) are currently using the software as payment and collection platform.
So, contrary to Mr Melaye’s argument in the senate, Remita is indeed a software that facilitates the payment of government revenue from financial institutions to a TSA in the CBN and not a revenue collection agent.
Also, contrary to Mr. Melaye’s submission, the entire 1 per cent commission does not go to SystemSpecs, the commission is shared between the CBN, commercial banks, and the CBN.
]“A tariff of 1% of the funds collected shall be charged for the government revenue collections: i. Platform Owner/SystemSpecs: 50%, ii. Collecting Agents/DMBs (banks): 40%, iii. Introducer? CBN: 10%,” the agreement reads.
SystemSpecs further explained that at a seminar organised by the CBN and the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) between May27-28, 2013, it actually proposed a commission of 1.5 per cent, It explained that commercial banks actually proposed 5 per cent, while a committee set up by the CBN and the OAGF, actually proposed 2.5 per cent. It explained that it was the then Accountant-General of the Federation that actually overruled all the suggested commission and reduced it to 1 per cent.
However, the company said it was surprised to receive a letter from CBN signed by Dipo Fatokun, Director, Banking and Payments System Department, on October 27, 2015 directing it to refund all charges it collected from MDAs for implementation of the TSA.
“I have been directed to inform you that you should refund all charges (1% cost of collection) made into the MDAs accounts as a result of the implementation of the TSA,” the letter reads.
“The total amount should be credited into the account mentioned below:
“FGN Revenue e-Collection Pool Account at the Central Bank of Nigeria Account Number: 0020054161043 “Since the cost of the collection must have been shared by all the stakeholders, you Are hereby required to also provide a schedule of the total amount collected and the portion that was shared to each of the three participants. The schedule should be prepared on month by month basis, from the commencement of the TSA implementation in March 2015, to date. We will recover the share to the CBN and the DMBs,” the letter explains
SystemSpecs explained that after the kick off of the TSA following a deadline announced by Mr Buhari, it was invited for a meeting by OAGF where they were told that following the enlarged scope of the TSA, the government wanted to review the charges.
“We wrote to the CBN to give a brief on the meeting with OAGF and said inter-alia that, while on our part, SystemSpecs is not averse to a review of the existing transaction fee to a figure that is agreeable to all parties, we would however, advise of the need to carry along the DMBs as you will recall that the current fees were agreed with the banks and communicated by CBN via a circular in December 2013,” the firm stated in a letter to the CBN governor.
REDUCTION OF COST
In the same letter to the CBN Governor, SystemSpecs further explained that the 1 per cent charge actually represents a drastic reduction of the amount the Federal Government had to pay for the collection of its revenue before the implementation of the TSA.
“Your Excellency will recall that one of the primary focus of the TSA project is to retrieve funds from the banks who were indirectly lending the government money back to government at about 15%. Hidden cost to government? Arguably 15%.
“Remita provided a technology to empower government retrieve her funds immediately customers pay at Deposit Money Banks. No overnight stay at any bank. Is 1% to be shared by all parties really too high to pay for such a service?”
For instance, the firm explained, banks charge as high as 46 per cent for National Open University (NOUN) charges, nine per cent for Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) fees, and six per cent on Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) National Drivers’ License charges.
Thus in its letter to the President, SystemSpecs appealed for the return of its fees and those earned by the partner banks seized by the CBN.
Mr. Muazu corroborated SystemSpecs position during the telephone chat with Premium Times
“The information you are given is in line with the agreement dating back to 2011. That is a fact. They started it actually when the TSA came up. The one per cent was, yes, agreed at that time. But now with the issue at hand everything needs to be reviewed and agreed.
“But truly the banks, the CBN and themselves are stakeholders. What is it that we are talking about? It is the software or the platform. You can’t do everything free for doing any business. The banks that are doing the e-collection they pursue agencies and other sources of revenue. Not just taking the value. So it is actually an arrangement for the service to be provided. That software that is being used by the platform has to be maintained apart from the initial design,” he said.
He said CBN asked SysytemSpecs to return the commission already collected to enable it renegotiate the terms of the contract.
“Now we are having a new arrangement. It’s not just e-collection. Central bank is now in charge of government revenue. So the old arrangement cannot continue. So when the issue started the central bank gave the order and the money were all paid back to the government.
“Look at it this way, you have a product that you are allowing someone to use, it can’t be free,” he said.
kayalcomp: Is it not better the 1% charge be stopped and instead adopt service fees payments for the parties involved. Imagine deducting 1% from 1trillion naira, dont you know how much will be accrued to them if transanted regularly. Such companies or organisation will just become billionaires overtimes from our Tax payers money. Let our government be careful with this TSA.
i have edited the quote with detailed stats. please read again.
DeLaRue: No, the Minister's statement does not resolve the issue. It seems your priority is to clear the air on whether Buhari's government was at fault or not. That is not the issue that concerns most people. The issue is that this contract has all the signs of a shady PDP contraption schemed to funnel 1% of the contry's entire internally generated commonwealth into the hands of a handful of people. For this reason alone, I am in full support of the Senate investigating this contract.
The Presidency or Ministry of Finance must initiate its own investigation into the motive of the people in the previou.s administration who agreed to this fee. Afterall, the government is revisiting a number of other shady deals signed by the previous government
You are getting it wrong the 1% charge is to be shared btween three parties 1.systemspecs 50% 2.central bank 10% 3.all commercial banks involved 40%
i will put a figure to this if i can get the link to the letter written to mr president by systemspec
Contrary to the alarm raised by the Senate over the alleged illegality and exorbitant commission charged for the deployment of Remita, an e-payment software, used for the transfer of Federal Government’s funds from financial institutions into a single treasury account (TSA), PREMIUM TIMES can authoritatively report that the use of the software is not only legal but also represents a drastic cut of the commission previously charged by banks for collection of government revenues.
Also, findings reveal that the commission collected by SystemSpecs, the owners/developers of Remita, is nowhere near the N25 billion Dino Melaye (APC, Kogi West) alleged to have been collected by the firm. It was Mr. Melaye, who originally moved the motion on the Senate floor for the payment to be investigated.
Last Wednesday, following Mr. Melaye’s motion, the senate ordered its committee on finance and public accounts to immediately commence an investigation into use of Remita (which it erroneously described as an e-collection agent) for remitting government funds into the TSA; and its alleged collection of N25 billion commission being one per cent of the alleged N2.5 trillion it remitted into the TSA.
Mr. Melaye had argued that the use of Remita was a violation of Section 162(1) of the constitution, which stated that “the federation shall maintain a special account to be called the federation account into which all revenues collected by the government of the federation except the proceeds from the personal income tax of the personnel of the Armed Forces of the Federation, the Nigeria Police Force, the ministry or department of government charged with foreign affairs and the residents of the FCT, Abuja.”
Mr. Melaye further stated that the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, could only appoint a registered bank as an agent for collecting and disbursing the funds.
He said that since Remita is not a bank, its appointment as a collection agent is in violation of the CBN Act and the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 2007.
According to him, Remita collected N25 billion “for doing nothing.”
However, documents, including the service agreement between SystemSpecs and CBN; correspondence between the company and the office of the Accountant General/ CBN as well as a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, seen by PREMIUM TIMES show that not only was the commission charged backed by law, it is shared by the company, commercial banks and the CBN.
Though the commission is nowhere near the exaggerated N25 billion touted by Mr. Melaye, the one per cent charge also represent a drastic reduction from between 2 per cent and 46 per cent commission charged by commercial banks in some instances for collecting government revenues.
In a telephone interview with PREMIUM TIMES, the CBN Director for public communications, Ibrahim Muazu, dismissed the amount quoted on the floor of the senate as “completely misleading.”
“That is false. That is false,” he repeated for emphasis.
“It is grossly exaggerated. We are talking of one per cent. What is one per cent of the money? Have we collected up to a trillion? That is a completely misleading information. Even at the beginning of the TSA the estimation of all the movement of federal government funds into the account is N1.2 trillion,” he added.
When asked to tell the total amount moved into the TSA, Mr Muazu said: “I cannot give you the exact amount now but I know it is far, far, far lower than N2.5 trillion.”
THE AGREEMENT
According to the service agreement between the parties, signed by Eunice Ikekhuah and Aderemi Atanda of SystemSpecs on December 4, 2013, and H.M Yusuf and R.A Olaniyan of the CBN on December 11, 2013, Systemspecs, the CBN will deploy Remita, a T24 banking application, for executing payment instructions and collection of government revenue.
Apart from the collection of revenue, Remita is also used for payment of salaries, payment of taxes, payment of pension, payroll processing biometric verification, among other uses.
In a letter dated November 6, 2015, to Mr. Buhari, SystemSpecs explained that “all commercial banks and over 400 Micro Finance Banks in Nigeria” are connected to the software. The company also explained that 705 Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDA) are currently using the software as payment and collection platform.
So, contrary to Mr Melaye’s argument in the senate, Remita is indeed a software that facilitates the payment of government revenue from financial institutions to a TSA in the CBN and not a revenue collection agent.
Also, contrary to Mr. Melaye’s submission, the entire 1 per cent commission does not go to SystemSpecs, the commission is shared between the CBN, commercial banks, and the CBN.
]“A tariff of 1% of the funds collected shall be charged for the government revenue collections: i. Platform Owner/SystemSpecs: 50%, ii. Collecting Agents/DMBs (banks): 40%, iii. Introducer? CBN: 10%,” the agreement reads.
SystemSpecs further explained that at a seminar organised by the CBN and the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) between May27-28, 2013, it actually proposed a commission of 1.5 per cent, It explained that commercial banks actually proposed 5 per cent, while a committee set up by the CBN and the OAGF, actually proposed 2.5 per cent. It explained that it was the then Accountant-General of the Federation that actually overruled all the suggested commission and reduced it to 1 per cent.
However, the company said it was surprised to receive a letter from CBN signed by Dipo Fatokun, Director, Banking and Payments System Department, on October 27, 2015 directing it to refund all charges it collected from MDAs for implementation of the TSA.
“I have been directed to inform you that you should refund all charges (1% cost of collection) made into the MDAs accounts as a result of the implementation of the TSA,” the letter reads.
“The total amount should be credited into the account mentioned below:
“FGN Revenue e-Collection Pool Account at the Central Bank of Nigeria Account Number: 0020054161043 “Since the cost of the collection must have been shared by all the stakeholders, you Are hereby required to also provide a schedule of the total amount collected and the portion that was shared to each of the three participants. The schedule should be prepared on month by month basis, from the commencement of the TSA implementation in March 2015, to date. We will recover the share to the CBN and the DMBs,” the letter explains
SystemSpecs explained that after the kick off of the TSA following a deadline announced by Mr Buhari, it was invited for a meeting by OAGF where they were told that following the enlarged scope of the TSA, the government wanted to review the charges.
“We wrote to the CBN to give a brief on the meeting with OAGF and said inter-alia that, while on our part, SystemSpecs is not averse to a review of the existing transaction fee to a figure that is agreeable to all parties, we would however, advise of the need to carry along the DMBs as you will recall that the current fees were agreed with the banks and communicated by CBN via a circular in December 2013,” the firm stated in a letter to the CBN governor.
REDUCTION OF COST
In the same letter to the CBN Governor, SystemSpecs further explained that the 1 per cent charge actually represents a drastic reduction of the amount the Federal Government had to pay for the collection of its revenue before the implementation of the TSA.
“Your Excellency will recall that one of the primary focus of the TSA project is to retrieve funds from the banks who were indirectly lending the government money back to government at about 15%. Hidden cost to government? Arguably 15%.
“Remita provided a technology to empower government retrieve her funds immediately customers pay at Deposit Money Banks. No overnight stay at any bank. Is 1% to be shared by all parties really too high to pay for such a service?”
For instance, the firm explained, banks charge as high as 46 per cent for National Open University (NOUN) charges, nine per cent for Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) fees, and six per cent on Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) National Drivers’ License charges.
Thus in its letter to the President, SystemSpecs appealed for the return of its fees and those earned by the partner banks seized by the CBN.
Mr. Muazu corroborated SystemSpecs position during the telephone chat with Premium Times
“The information you are given is in line with the agreement dating back to 2011. That is a fact. They started it actually when the TSA came up. The one per cent was, yes, agreed at that time. But now with the issue at hand everything needs to be reviewed and agreed.
“But truly the banks, the CBN and themselves are stakeholders. What is it that we are talking about? It is the software or the platform. You can’t do everything free for doing any business. The banks that are doing the e-collection they pursue agencies and other sources of revenue. Not just taking the value. So it is actually an arrangement for the service to be provided. That software that is being used by the platform has to be maintained apart from the initial design,” he said.
He said CBN asked SysytemSpecs to return the commission already collected to enable it renegotiate the terms of the contract.
“Now we are having a new arrangement. It’s not just e-collection. Central bank is now in charge of government revenue. So the old arrangement cannot continue. So when the issue started the central bank gave the order and the money were all paid back to the government.
“Look at it this way, you have a product that you are allowing someone to use, it can’t be free,” he said.
naptu2: The Telegraph has also reported the story, but it's not on the Clay Institute's website. Therefore, I think that the professor has submitted a solution, but it hasn't yet been verified by the Clay Institute. I'd rather wait for the Clay Institute to verify it and make the announcement.
masseratti: This will be interesting, but what exactly is going on,is the man a ghost? Are we saying there is no nairalander in his school or one of his students?
dominique please dont lock this thread. This will will finally lay to rest the controversies as to whether or not The Riemann Hypothesis was finally solved by a Nigerian. BBC just broke the news. thanks .
A maths problem, which has gone more than 150 years without a solution, has finally been solved by Nigerian academic Dr. Opeyemi Enoch. The Riemann Hypothesis was first proposed by Bernhard Riemann in 1859. As the first person to provide a solution, Dr. Enoch has scooped a million dollar prize.
dominique this is a new perspective to this news BBC WOLD SERVICE just brought it to mainstream. thanks
A maths problem, which has gone more than 150 years without a solution, has finally been solved by Nigerian academic Dr. Opeyemi Enoch. The Riemann Hypothesis was first proposed by Bernhard Riemann in 1859. As the first person to provide a solution, Dr. Enoch has scooped a million dollar prize.
(Photo: Dr Opeyemi Enoch in the classroom. Credit: Opeyemi Enoch
Orikinla: . Great genius and a believer too. Those who know their God shall do awesome things. Congratulations to him and Nigerian government should not waste time in celebrating his genius and using his inventions in tracking evil missions and catching oil thieves.
Nigerian government? i apart from speeches, accolades and rhetorics i doubt if they are gonna do anything meaningful with his talent.
Politics › Re: Patrick Akpobolokemi Bundled Into A Van By Security Operatives - Video by yomexp(op): 7:29pm On Dec 14, 2015*. Modified: 7:47pm On Dec 14, 2015
under BUHARI "stealing is kworupshion"
