Frustration as customers besiege banks over BVN deadline

Residents of Kubwa, Bwari Area Council of the FCT have continued to besiege banks in the area to meet up with the June 30 deadline expiration date of the registration of the Bank Verification Number (BVN) by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Most of the banks visited by our reporter were flooded by customers, who trooped to the banks in their numbers to get registered.

While some complained that they were asked to wait as the registration forms had been exhausted, others who said they had earlier registered said they were yet to receive their numbers via SMS as promised.

One of the residents, Adeola Mercy, said she was in the bank as early as 7.45a.m. for the exercise, but was surprised to meet people already queued up waiting for the bank to open for the day’s business.
“I left my house as early as 7:30a.m. thinking I would be one of the first to be attended to. But up to this time (after 11a.m.), we are yet to be attended to,” she lamented.
Ekene Ugochukwu said he was not ready to wait for the 2p.m. they said the forms would be issued to them, saying he had other important engagements to catch up with.

A staff in one of the banks, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they had enough forms contrary to the notions of some customers, explaining that they were asked to wait till 3p.m. in order to attend to the ones that had earlier been issued out.

He, however, blamed the customers for waiting till the dying minutes before they could come for the exercise.

Buhari sacks NNPC board

President Muhammadu Buhari has dissolved the board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) with immediate effect.

The directive to that effect was conveyed in a letter signed today 26th June 2015 by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Barr.Danladi Kifasi, himself a member of the old board constituted by former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2012.

The old board had nine members, with former petroleum minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke as chairman.
Other members were the Group managing director of NNPC, former Head of Service, Mr. Steven Oronsaye, Professor Olusegun Okunnu, Arc. Daniel Wadzani, Mr. Bernard O.N. Otti (Group Executive Director, Finance & Accounts), Dr. Peter S. Nmadu (Group Executive Director, Corporate services.

Nigerians call for discontinuation of fuel subsidy payment

 

A cross section of Nigerians on Wednesday urged the Federal Government to discontinue its subsidy payment policy to marketers importing fuel.

The respondents said in Lagos that removal of petroleum subsidy would be good for Nigeria’s prosperity.

The Director, Centre for Bee Research and Development, Bidemi Ojelewe, said that the controversy about the fuel subsidy payments was demoralising to the populace.

He said the country’s economy would rapidly develop and prosper if normalcy reigned over subsidy payments to marketers.

"Removal of fuel subsidy is inevitable if our government wish to meet the pressing anticipation of the masses,’’ he said.

Prof. Michael Akur, who lectures at the Department of Political Science, University of Jos, said: "The discontinuance of subsidy on fuel consumption will reduce the inflationary pressures our economy is facing.

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NNPC yet to remit $1.48bn into Federation Account –FG

Four Months after former President Goodluch Jonathan directed the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to refund $1.48bn (N291.56bn) into the Federation Account, the corporation has yet to do so.

An international audit firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers, was last year hired to carry out a forensic audit of the corporation following an allegation by the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Lamido Sanusi, that $49bn was not remitted to the Federation Account by the NNPC.

Sanusi, who is now the Emir of Kano, had written a letter to Jonathan that the amount was not remitted to the Federation Account by the NNPC.

But following the controversy, which the letter generated, a committee was set up to reconcile the account.

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Sanusi later recanted and said the unremitted fund was $12bn. He again changed the figure to $20bn.

PwC had stated in its report that while the total gross revenues generated from crude oil lifting was $69.34bn between January 2012 and July 2013 and not $67bn as earlier stated by the Senate Reconciliation Committee, what was remitted to the Federation Account was $50.81bn and not $47bn.

Within the $69.34bn, the audit report revealed that $28.22bn was the value of the domestic crude oil allocated to the NNPC, adding that the total amount spent on subsidy for Premium Motor Spirit amounted to $5.32bn.

But speaking on Tuesday shortly after this month’s Federation Account Allocation Committee meeting, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance, Mrs. Anastacia Nwaobia, said no amount had been refunded as directed by Jonathan.

She said, “On refund from the NNPC, that was not discussed but you can see that from the breakdown, we have a refund of what we have been expecting from the NNPC to the Federal Government. We had a refund of about N6.33bn.

“The refund that you are asking about, maybe it is a fallout of the forensic audit; that has not been done. The forensic audit is still being considered and I am sure that when a decision is taken, it will be communicated and you will have that information.”

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Nigerian Senate To Investigate State Of Refineries

The Senate has summoned the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to find out the true condition of the country’s refineries.

At plenary on Wednesday Senator Gbenga Ashafa moved the motion for the investigation of the state of the refineries that have not been operational for years now.

The motion was moved with an intention to address the incessant fuel tanker tragedies on Nigeria’s highways.

In the last one month, there have been several incidents of tanker explosions and subsequent fire outbreak that has claimed lives and led to the loss of property work millions of Nigeria.
Senator Ashafa urged the Senate to address, with urgency, the repeated incidents of fuel tanker crashes in some Nigerian States.

He said: “Within the space of one week, four fuel tanker accidents occurred in two major cities in Nigeria, claiming lives and destroying property”.

The Senator further pointed out that the tragedies would have been avoided if the refineries were functional.
Lack of adequate maintenance of the refineries in Nigeria has led to so much reliance on imported petroleum products, making the nation the only major oil producing country in Africa that imports finished petroleum products from other countries.

To move the products from their landing states to other states, marketers rely solely on tanker.
On June 2, several shops and vehicles were destroyed by fire after a tanker loaded with petrol veered off a bridge at Iyana Ipaja area of Lagos State and exploded.
The fire burnt the line of shops, covering over 50 metres by the road side. Few days after, another fuel tanker explosion occurred in Idimu area of Lagos State.

Reports say the tanker fully loaded with automotive gas oil otherwise known as diesel exploded around Idimu at about 12:30am on June 6.

During his political campaign, President Muhammadu Buhari promised to fix the refineries and shore-up its capacity to reduce and eventually end importation of finished products.

Chevron selling 40 pct stakes in two more Nigerian oil blocks

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U.S. oil company Chevron Corp said on Wednesday it was selling its 40 percent stakes in two Nigerian shallow water offshore oil blocks.

Chevron Nigeria Limited said in a statement it was offering Oil Mining Leases (OML) 86 and 88 in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria for sale.

Nigeria tightens controls on foreign exchange

The Central Bank of Nigeria has imposed new foreign exchange controls to try to curb the flow of dollars out of the country.

The CBN in a statement in Abuja, stated that the implementation of the policy will help conserve foreign reserves as well as facilitate the resuscitation of domestic industries and improve employment generation.

This means that  importers will not be able to get hard currency to buy a list of 40 items ranging from rice to cement. 

The list includes Indian incense, plastic and rubber products, soap and even Private Airlines/ Jets private jets. Others are Margarine, Palm Kernel/ Palm oil products/ vegetable oils, Meat and Processed Meat Products, Vegetables and Processed Vegetable Products, Poultry - chicken, eggs, Turkey, Tinned Fish in sauce, (Geisha)/Sardines, Galvanized steel sheets, Roofing sheets amongst others.

The bank added that the importation of these items are not banned, however importers desirous of importing these items can do so using their funds without any recourse to the Nigerian foreign exchange markets.

You would recall that the apex bank had in April, restricted the amount that Nigerians could spend on credit cards abroad.

List of Items not Valid for Foreign Exchange at the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Window.

 1. Rice

2. Cement

3. Margarine

4. Palm Kernel/ Palm oil products/ vegetable oils

5. Meat and Processed Meat Products

6. Vegetables and Processed Vegetable Products

7. Poultry - chicken, eggs, Turkey

8. Private Airlines/ Jets

9. Indian incense

10. Tinned Fish in sauce (Geisha)/Sardines

11. Cold Rolled Steel Sheets

12. Galvanized steel sheets

13. Roofing sheets

14. Wheelbarrows

15. Head Pans

16. Metal Boxes and Containers

17. Enamelware

18. Steel Drums

19. Steel Pipes

20. Wire Rods (deformed and non deformed)

21. Iron Rods and Reinforcing Bars

22. Wire Mesh

23. Steel Nails

24. Security and Razor Wire

25. Wood Particle Boards and Panels

26. Wood Fiber Boards and Panels

27. Plywood Boards and Panels

28. Wooden Doors

29. Toothpicks

30. Glass and Glassware

31. Kitchen Utensils

32. Tableware

33. Tiles- vitrified and ceramic

34. Textiles

35. Woven Fabrics

36. Clothes

37. Plastic and Rubber Products

38. Soap and Cosmetics

39. Tomatoes/ Tomatoes paste

40. Euro bond/ foreign currency bond/ share Purchases

ECA to the rescue: States unable to pay salaries to get lifelines

Nigeria's 36 states are in debt to the tune of 658 billion naira ($3.3 billion) and one way out of the crisis would be for banks to extend loans made to states to up to 20 years.

Chairman the governors' forum and governor of Zamfara state, Abdulaziz Yari told newsmen in Abuja on the sideline of a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday. The governors had earlier demanded a refund of monies used in the execution of Federal Government projects in the various states, which runs into billions of Naira.



President Muhammadu Buhari, who said on Monday the country's treasury was "virtually empty", said after a meeting with the governors on Tuesday that the government could recover billions of stolen dollars while some money from the Excess Crude Account could be used to cover unpaid salaries.

"The total indebtedness of all the states including FCT (Federal Capital Territory) is put at 658 billion naira. Of course, you know that some of these states are owing salaries, and collected loans from banks," Zamfara state governor Abdulaziz Yari Abubakar told reporters after the meeting.

Several states obtained loans from the domestic bond market and banks when oil prices were high to fund infrastructure projects. But the price of crude, Nigeria's main source of revenue, has since plunged leaving the government with funding challenges and unpaid salaries.

On an immediate lifeline for states that owe salaries running into many months, President Buhari said that a committee headed by the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, will look at the Excess Crude Account and see what can be shared immediately.

NAFDAC Warns Against Consumption of Imported Chicken, Turkey

The National Agency for Food And Drug Administration And Control (NAFDAC) has come out to strongly warned against the consumption of imported or smuggled frozen poultry frozen meat, even as it has said that imported poultry products, especially chicken and turkey have been discovered to be causative factor in non- communicable diseases (NCDs) and antibiotics resistance.

Although NCDs are non-infectious but they are deadly. Health conditions under NCDs include cancer, kidney disease, and hypertension among others.

NAFDAC Director General,Dr Paul Orhii, who gave the warning at media briefing in Lagos, urged Nigerians to avoid imported smuggled chickens and turkeys, because they have been found to contain substances that can predispose one to kidney, liver and lung diseases as well as certain types of cancers and drug resistance- bacterial infections.

At the briefing, a study, titled "Prevalence, Quality and Acceptability of Frozen Poultry Meat in Major Cities in Nigeria" carried out by experts from University of Ibadan titled ", was presented.

Multichoice Nigeria Under Investigation For Consumer Rights Abuse

The Consumer Protection Council, CPC, has began investigation into consumer rights abuse by Multichoice Nigeria concerning its Digital Satellite Television services.

The CPC, in a notice of commencement of investigation signed by its Director-General, Mrs. Dupe Atoki, said that it had been inundated with a barrage of complaints by consumers, who alleged wide-range abuse of their rights.

These complaints in effect allege that the DStv service does not conform with international best practice and is specifically designed to exploit Nigerian consumers who have suffered loss by not being able to fully enjoy or receive the benefit or actualise the full purpose for which they purchased or subscribed to the service.

 According to the council, Multichoice is expected to prepare a written response on the allegations contained in the notice of investigation as well as provide other relevant documents and information that may be necessary.

Atoki said the action is in line with FG's resolve to ensure a saner market for the Nigerian populace.
        

President Buhari advised to end fuel subsidy: sources

President Muhammadu Buhari, has been advised by his transition committee to end a fuel subsidy programme and privatise Nigeria's four refineries, senior sources in his party told Reuters on Sunday.

The federal government heavily subsidises gasoline and relies on imports for the bulk of its domestic demand due to an under performing refining system.

The subsidy, which was revealed to have paid out more than $6 billion in fraudulent claims in 2012, is proving to be increasingly costly.

A second APC source also told Reuters that these recommendations were contained in the report given to Buhari earlier this month.