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Shallow, insignificant – NLC, CSO, others knock Nigerian Govt over N18 electricity tariff reduction
AFOLABINigerians, the organised labour, Civil Society Organisations and power sector experts have knocked the Nigerian Federal Government and Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, over the N18 downward review of electricity tariff for end-users under Band A.
Recall that NERC announced a tariff decrease for customers under Band A feeders on Monday.
The Commission slashed electricity to N200.6 per Kilowatt-hour from N225.
Ikeja Electric, Abuja, Kaduna, Ibadan, Enugu, and other discos effected the new tariff implementation on Monday.
The development comes a month after NERC approved a 240 per cent tariff hike for electricity customers getting between 20-24 hours of supply.
However, Nigerians, organised labour and other organisations have kicked against the hike, insisting on its reversal amid Nigeria’s economic hardship.
Recall that on Sunday, TUC issued a two-week ultimatum to NERC to reverse April tariff hike.
But, contrary to Nigerians and Organized Labour’s demand for an immediate electricity hike reversal, NERC settled for a downward tariff review.
NERC sighted Improved macroeconomic parameters as the reason for the downward review.
The Naira appreciated N1353.21 per Dollar on Monday at the foreign exchange market, up from N1400.4 on Friday last week.
Explaining the decision, NERC said, “The Commission has considered changes in the macroeconomic parameters over the preceding month of April 2024 and especially the appreciation of exchange rates – consequently, the Commission has approved a downward review of end-user tariffs for Band “A” customers from NGN225/kWh to NGN206.8/kWh”.
Barr Dafe Akpeneye, Commissioner of Legal, Licensing and Compliance at NERC, stressed that, “It is based on other macroeconomic variables that the tariff was reduced”.
Meanwhile, the development did not go down well with NLC, Civil Society Organisations and many other Nigerians.
They described the reduction as silly, insignificant, tokenism, and shallow.
In an exclusive interview with DAILY POST on Monday, Benson Upah, the spokesperson of NLC, described the development as tokenism, stressing that it would not positively impact consumers.
He said the downward review of electricity for end-users under Band A fell short of Nigerian workers’ demands and expectations.
He called for a total reversal of April’s tariff hike and a review of Nigeria’s power sector privatisation.
“This is tokenistic. It falls far below our demand or expectations. Doubtful if this will make a positive impact on consumers.
“A total reversal and a review of the privatisation of the power sector is our demand”, he told DAILY POST.
On his part, the national secretary of the Network for Electricity Consumers Advocacy of Nigeria, Uket Obonga, said NERC was confused and was making a mockery of the sector.
“NERC is confused. You wake up to issue electricity price hike. Is that the methodology of tariff fixing? NERC should not mock themselves.
“A methodology designed by the Commission has yet to be followed. All their claims about the benefit of electricity subsidy removal are scams,” he noted.
According to the 2023 Electricity Act, Section 116(6) provides that the proposed tariff will be published in Newspapers and the official gazette to enable stakeholders to raise concerns and representation to the Commission.
Additionally, it provides that the Commission shall issue notice to relevant stakeholders to submit their input within the timeframe determined by the Commission for consideration before the Commission updates the tariff methodology, which is why Obonga alleged that NERC failed to follow due process in issuing May’s tariff order.
Also, Ewetumo A A, a retired staff member of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, formerly the National Electric Power Authority, NEPA, said the recent review shows how shallow and misdirected NERC personnel have become.
“It only shows how shallow and misdirected our bureaucrats and technocrats in NERC headquarters are.
“They refused to condemn a Gas-to-Power Policy denominated in US Dollar but are quick to pass on to hapless Nigerians the Forex fluctuations.
“NERC has no feasibility studies on Load Demand or a blueprint for building Power Plants to meet citizens’ energy needs nationwide but only to ration and price the little Megawatts remaining on the Grid”, he stated.
Similarly, the Lead Director of the Centre for Social Justice, Eze Onyekpere, said the tariff reduction is a silly manoeuvre by NERC.
He urged for a reverse to status before April’s tariff hike.
“It is a silly manoeuvre. It is above the market cost of electricity. How sustainable is the Naira appreciation?
“If the Naira slumps tomorrow, will the tariff be increased? That is why I call it a silly manoeuvre.
“They should go back to the status quo. Nigerians should know the actual cost of electricity. I am not impressed”, he told DAILY POST.
Nigerian government received $1.36 billion and $1.09 billion in corporate taxes and royalties from Shell Nigeria through its operations of the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited and Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company of Nigeria Limited in 2022 and 2023.
The company disclosed this in its recently published 2023 Shell Briefing Notes, according to a statement by the firm’s Media Relations Manager, Abimbola Essien-Nelson.
The figure showed that the SPDC paid $442 million, while SNEPCo remitted $649 million in taxes in 2023 alone to the Nigerian government.
However, the figure showed a $27 billion tax remittance decline in 2023 when compared to 2022.
“These payments are Shell exclusive and do not include those made by our partners,” said SPDC Managing Director and Country Chair, Shell Companies in Nigeria, Osagie Okunbor.
He noted that the firm was focused on Deepwater and Integrated Gas investment in Nigeria.
The development comes months after Shell Nigeria announced in January 2024 that it would exit onshore oil production in Nigeria.
The Central Bank of Nigeria has announced 44 lists of licensed deposit money banks in Nigeria.
The apex bank disclosed this in a list released on its official website on Tuesday.
According to CBN, Seven banks, including Zenith Bank, Access Bank, First Bank, First City Monument Bank, United Bank of Africa, Fidelity, and Guaranty Trust Bank, have Commercial Banking licenses with international authorization as of April 26, 2024.
Also, fifteen banks have commercial banking licenses with National Authorization.
Similarly, four banks have commercial banking licenses with regional authorization, and four non-interest banks have national authorization.
The bank said the country has six merchant banks licensed with national authorization.
It stated that financial holding companies increased to seven.
CBN added that the country has a Mauritius commercial bank representative office.
The list comes months after the CBN raised the minimum capital requirement for all banks in Nigeria to strengthen the country’s financial sector.
Ahead of the 2027 general elections, the Lagos State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party has initiated plans to reconcile all warring members of the party in a bid to wrest power from the ruling All Progressives Congress in the state.
This was according to a chieftain of the party, Chief Olabode George, during Tuesday night’s edition of Newsday on Arise TV.
Since the poor performance of the party at the 2023 general elections, growing discordant tunes among stakeholders in the party have lingered on.
Even after a committee was set up by the leadership of the party to reconcile warring and aggrieved members, the party crisis lingered.
Recall that in February 2024, a chieftain of the PDP in Lagos State, Dr Adetokunbo Pearse, attributed the poor outings of the party in recent elections in the state to a lack of unity in the Lagos chapter.
He said the political party had also not been functioning well in the state because its structure had been weakened and had no leader serving as a rallying point in the chapter.
However, after several indoor meetings, some stakeholders of the party last Wednesday held a reconciliatory meeting to put the state chapter of the party in order ahead of the 2027 general election.
At the stakeholders’ meeting, which was held in Ikeja, the party chieftains stressed the need for forgiveness and unity within the party to increase the party’s chances at the forthcoming elections.
Shedding light on the series of efforts made at uniting the party ahead of the 2027 elections, the party stalwart noted that there was light at the end of the tunnel.
He, however, admitted that though there were some pockets of aggrieved members yet to be sorted out, the reconciliatory process was making meaningful headway.
He said, “In any organisation, any political party, you will have a kind of turmoil immediately after you lose an election; but the ability of the party and the managers of the party to get everybody back to a discussion table where we will do an in-depth postmortem analysis of what happened. How did we lose the elections, who were the people who were committed and loyal to the party, who were the other people who didn’t perform, who are the other people who are pretending that they are members of your party when they are working for your opposition?
“This is what we are going through now and I’m very happy that yesterday’s meeting in Ibadan that was chaired by the governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, and with all the other leaders from all the states of the Southwest came out to be a brilliant move. It shows that we still have leaders with the ability to rise above the pettiness, the inuendos of those who are struggling to get into positions in the party. You’ve got to work for it.”
Speaking further, George affirmed that efforts at ensuring the party was well-positioned for the 2027 general elections have been so far successful.
He stated, “We have been very successful in trying to move forward, it’s still a long time, 2027, the national meeting we had, the NEC meeting we had, plus the caucus meeting, the Board of Trustees meeting, to me was quite successful. So, we we told ourselves some truths, we are setting up committees for reconciliation, we had started our own in Lagos, and it’s been very highly successful.
“The one we did in Ibadan yesterday ended up on a very high note, very successful and I pray that by the next few months, people will see that unity, because once you are not united and you go to war as a General, you know you’ll be defeated. The same if we are not united to go into an election, we will be perpetually defeated.
“It’s high time, the electorate in Lagos are now fed up, they are looking for an alternative and if they see that we can weave ourselves as an indivisible group, they will now want to see how we can manage ourselves. One thing I will say is that there are discordant voices, a few that are throwing tantrums all over the whole place, those who got the ticket who were candidates, they collected humongous amounts of money, how they managed it and what they did were not quite plausible and the national itself, the managers at the national level they have realized it and they have given us the go-ahead to start mending fences.”
George said at the Ibadan meeting, they were able to close ranks for the leaders in Ondo, and it would be a reflection on state by state.
He added that the leadership of the party was determined to wrest power from the ruling APC in 2027.
“But we are determined that we are going to forge ahead, even if the numbers who are going to remain as members of the party are small. The members of the public can see that yes, these people are managing themselves very well.
“You can see even the party in government. Are they also completely trouble-free? No. Anytime you have any organisation, people will come with different tones and different voices, but the leaders first must respect their constitution and work according to the constitution.
“Yes, people will have interests in one thing or the other, but play the game according to the set rules. Once you do that, then you have no problem,” he said.
The Central Bank of Nigeria has ordered banks to stop charges on cash deposits.
The apex bank disclosed this in a May 6, 2024, circular signed by its Director of Banking Supervision, Adetona Adedeji.
The apex bank noted that the suspension will last until September 30, 2024.
The development comes as Nigerian banks charge two per cent on deposits above N500,000 for individuals, while corporate account holders were to be charged two per cent on deposits above N3 million.
However, according to the latest circular to financial and non-financial institutions, CBN said the processing fees have been suspended.
“Please refer to our letter dated December 11, 2023, referenced BSD/DIR/PUB/LAB/016/023 on the above subject, suspending processing charges imposed on cash deposits above N500,000 for individuals and N3,000,000 for corporates as contained in the ‘Guide to Charges by Banks, Other Financial Institutions and Non-Bank Financial Institutions’ issued on December 20, 2019.
“The Central Bank of Nigeria hereby extends the suspension of the processing fees of 2 per cent and 3 per cent previously charged on all cash deposits above these thresholds until September 30, 2024,” the circular reads.
The development comes as money outside the banking system rose by 10.67 per cent to N3.63 trillion in March 2024.
[STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE] President Tinubu Condoles with NSA Nuhu Ribadu Over Brother's Passing
AdminPresident Bola Tinubu has condoled with the National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, over the passing of his brother, Salihu Ahmadu Ribadu, who died on Sunday in Yola, Adamawa State.
The President was represented by his Chief of Staff, Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila, who led a federal government delegation on a condolence visit to Yola, on Tuesday.
Speaking at the Ribadu family home in Yola, the Chief of Staff said President Tinubu is saddened by the loss and describes it as "painful and irreparable."
"Mr. President has mandated us to come to Yola and condole with a valued member of his team, the National Security Adviser, and by extension the rest of the family over the sad loss suffered by them.
"The loss of a close family member like this is very painful, and it is therefore important for friends and family to come together and commiserate with the bereaved family," Honourable Gbajabiamila said.
The Chief of Staff was accompanied by the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, Senator Ibrahim Hadejia; Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris; Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman; Minister of Arts and Creative Economy, Barrister Hannatu Musawa; Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Tunji Alausa, and Special Adviser to the President on General Duties (Office of the Vice President), Dr. Aliyu Modibbo Umar.
Chief Ajuri Ngelale
Special Adviser to the President
(Media & Publicity)
The CEO of Binance, a popular cryptocurrency platform, claimed that some unknown persons, claiming to be agents of Nigerian officials demanded huge payments in cryptocurrency to make their problems in the country “go away”.
Richard Teng, the firm’s chief executive officer (CEO) who took over from founder and former CEO Changpeng Zhao, made the claim in a blog post released Tuesday, May 7, on Binance's website.
He added that the request was made through a local firm it hired.
Speaking on Binance’s issues with the Nigerian government, Teng detailed how the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange tried to engage with the Nigerian authorities, including a meeting on January 8 in Abuja, where it was confronted with criminal allegations.
Teng said despite multiple requests, Binance had still not received details of the allegations, “and our employees, therefore, inquired if there was an opportunity to submit our responses in writing and in the absence of a public hearing”.
“There were a number of reasons for that, including the sensitivity of the information and getting the opportunity to see the allegations in full and prepare a thorough substantive response,” he said.
“The meeting ended with the Chair confirming they would consider the matter and revert through Binance’s local counsel.
“However, as our employees were leaving the venue, they were approached by unknown persons who suggested to them to make a payment in settlement of the allegations.
“Later that day, our local counsel — representing us at that time — was summoned by the Committee through someone purporting to be their agent, who relayed the Committee’s terms and instructed our local counsel to advise us.
“Counsel reported back that he had been presented with a demand for a significant payment in cryptocurrency to be paid in secret within 48 hours to make these issues go away and that our decision was expected by the morning.
"Our team grew increasingly concerned about their safety in Nigeria and immediately departed.”
Teng said the payment request was declined “via our counsel, not viewing it to be a legitimate settlement offer”.
The CEO said Binance clarified that it would engage in settlement negotiations on the conditions that the relevant petition or the details of all allegations were seen.
He wrote: "We, of course, declined the payment demand via our counsel, not viewing it to be a legitimate settlement offer, and clarified that we would engage in settlement negotiations on the following conditions:
"Binance needs to see the relevant petition and/or the details of all allegations.
"Any settlement must be official, recorded in writing, and signed by all relevant parties.
"Any settlement must encompass all relevant agencies and be in full and final settlement of all allegations, including any potential historic tax liabilities, if applicable, with guarantees.
“While the exact terms of any settlement may have to remain private, there would have to be some public acknowledgement that a resolution has been reached.”
The Binance boss also requested that the company's “contractors and employees are not to be intimidated, harassed, or detained.”
He said the Binance counsel relayed its conditions which Nigerian authorities initially objected to before they later agreed.
In continuation of its engagement with Nigeria, two Binance officials, Nadeem Anjarwalla, a 37-year-old British-Kenyan and Binance’s regional manager for Africa; and Tigran Gambaryan, a 39-year-old US citizen and Binance’s head of financial crime compliance, arrived Nigeria to discuss further terms with the Nigerian government but they were arrested on February 28.
Anjarwalla later fled detention and left Nigeria.
On March 25, Nigeria’s government filed a criminal charge against Binance for “tax evasion”.
Teng appealed to the government to “Let Tigran go home to his family, and then Binance will work through the same process that we have done with Nigeria’s law enforcement community voluntarily more than 600 times in the past.”
He added: "We will always work to protect innocent users, and bad actors are not welcome on our platform. We will work tirelessly with public and private partners to remove them. Furthermore, we will continue engagement with Nigeria’s Federal Inland Revenue Service on resolving potential historic tax liabilities.”
A total of 252 graduating students of the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), Enugu State, will bag first-class honours degrees at the 52nd convocation ceremony of the institution billed to hold between Thursday 9th and Friday 10th, May 2024.
The vice-chancellor of the university, Prof Charles Igwe, while addressing a press conference on the activities lined up for the event in Enugu on Tuesday, disclosed that a total of 12,526 students will be graduating from the university on that day.
He added that out of the total, 4,834 graduates will receive 2nd class Honours upper division, 5,883 will be awarded 2nd Class Honours (Lower division), 747 will be conferred with 3rd Class Honours, 25 with Pass, and 746 unclassified.
He noted that the unclassified degrees are awarded to graduates of some courses, such as medicine, pharmacy, and veterinary medicine which are not usually classified into first, second, or third class.
The VC also announced that a total of 1,438 postgraduate degrees and diplomas from the University of Nigeria will be awarded at the 52nd convocation ceremony.
Giving a further breakdown, Igwe said: “412 persons will earn the Doctorate, while 961 persons will be awarded the Master’s Degrees. A total of 75 postgraduate diplomas of the university will also be awarded at the convocation.
“Four persons have been found deserving of the honorary doctorate degrees of the University. They are Professor El Anatsui who would receive the Doctor of Letters (Honoris Causa) and Brigadier General J. O. J. Okoloagau, rtd, who would receive the Doctor of Public Administration. The other awardees are Mr Igor Weli, who would receive the degree of Doctor of Public Administration (Honoris Causa), and Sir. Emeka Chuka Wilson Orakwue Offor, who would receive the degree of Doctor of Business Administration (Honoris Causa)”.
He also disclosed that in keeping with the university’s tradition, two former Vice Chancellors of the University – Professor Bartho N. Okolo and Professor Benjamin C. Ozumba and elder statesman and pioneer Chief Executive Officer, Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG), Professor Anya O. Anya seven other deserving retired professors of the university will be elevated to the distinguished status of Professor Emeritus.
The vice-chancellor, however, revealed that Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State will deliver the convocation lecture on Thursday, May 9th, with the theme: “Why Nigerian universities should lead the way to a new country.
“The lecture will be chaired by another distinguished Nigerian, General Ike Nwachukwu (Rtd). General Ike Nwachukwu is a distinguished Nigerian who has served the country in various capacities, namely as the military governor of old Imo State, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
[TheNation]
The leadership of the All Progressives Congress in Rivers State has called on the 27 members of the State House of Assembly loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, to immediately commence an impeachment process against Governor Siminlayi Fubara.
The State APC Caretaker Committee Chairman, Tony Okocha, made the call at a news briefing in Port Harcourt on Tuesday.
He said the Governor has continued to disrespect President Bola Tinubu by refusing to implement all the eight-point peace agreement reached in Abuja on the political crisis in the state, to which he appended his signature.
He further stated, “A state as crucial and all-important as Rivers State churned out a dunderhead. We cannot accept that. Our charge to the Assembly is to immediately commence an impeachment process against the Governor.
“And if they don’t do that there is what they call party discipline. We shall invoke the relevant section of the constitution.”
Details later…
[Punch]
Senate President Godswill Akpabio says since the name of the Nigerian Prison Service was changed to Nigerian Correctional Service there have been more jailbreaks in the country.
Akpabio spoke on the floor of the senate on Tuesday while commenting on two pieces of legislation billed for concurrence.
The bills for concurrence were one to repeal and enact the law establishing Revenue Mobilsation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, and another to repeal the Fire Service Act and enact Federal Fire and Rescue Service.
Abba Moro, senate minority leader, argued that there was no need to change the name because the “rescue component” is already part of the responsibility of the fire service.
“I do not think there is a need for that,” Moro said.
In his response, the senate president said there is a need to examine such laws.
“This is something to be looked at. When you are convicted, you are supposed to learn a skill,” Akpabio said.
“But since we changed the name to the correctional centre, there have been more jailbreaks.”
In 2019, former President Muhammadu Buhari signed into law the bill that changed the name of the Nigerian Prison Service to Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS).
The law provides that the correctional service is split into the custodial service and non-custodial service.
In the non-custodial service, convicts are eligible for community service, probation, and parole.
Since Buhari signed the bill into law, more than 1,000 inmates have escaped from correctional centres across the country.
On April 25, 119 inmates escaped from the Medium Security Custodial Centre in Suleja, Niger state, following a downpour.
[TheCable]
More...
[PRESS RELEASE] Solid Start to 2024, UBA Consolidates Gains as Gross Earnings Rise by 110%, Profit for [Quarter] Hits N156bn – delivering a YoY growth of 165%
AdminUnited Bank for Africa Plc (UBA), Africa’s Global Bank , released its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31st, 2024, showing very strong growth across key performance measures.
The Group’s results, which were released to the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) on Friday May 3rd, 2024, saw outstanding year-on-year increases: Gross Earnings rose by 110%, from N271.1billion to N570.2 billion; Interest Income grew by 130%, to N440.7 billion. Operating Income increased by 115%, from N175.7 billion in 2023, to N378.59 billion.
Further consolidating the record performance delivered in the Group’s 2023 Full Year Audited Financials, UBA again saw Profit Before Tax rising significantly by 155% from N61.7 billion in Q1 2023, to N156.34 billion in Q1 2024; while Profit After Tax jumped from N53.5 billion to N142.5 billion, representing an impressive rise of 165% year-on-year.
Commenting on the results, UBA’s Group Managing Director, Oliver Alawuba, said the Group delivered strong first quarter performance, building on the solid momentum of 2023, as well as the ongoing execution of its long-held strategy of customer focus, geographic diversification and effective risk management and governance.
He said, “Our record Q1 profit before tax was delivered with triple digit gross earnings growth, supported by very strong interest and non-interest income. Fees and Commissions rose by 118% year-on-year on the back of improved efficiencies and continued digital adoption. This has helped drive improvement in efficiency and customer satisfaction, with the Group’s cost-to-income ratio held at 57.8%.”
“The Group’s balance sheet grew steadily with Total Assets increasing by 23% to N25.4 trillion. Customer deposits closed at N18.4 trillion, recording a 23% increase year-on-year, largely attributed to growth in current accounts and savings accounts.”
“Our unwavering commitment to sound governance, robust risk management, and financial strength positions us for continued growth, while we contribute meaningfully to inclusive economic development across our network.”
Also speaking on the performance, UBA's Executive Director, Finance and Risk, Ugo Nwaghodoh, said the Group’s operating results for the quarter showed the actions taken to enhance the Group’s performance continued to deliver.
He said, “Our first quarter results highlight our relentless customer focus and the strength of UBA’s geographic and product diversification, with good performance across all our regions. We continue to differentiate ourselves across all key financial metrics, with a keen focus on high-quality risk adjusted revenues and cost discipline, while maintaining very sound asset quality.“
“We remain committed to reducing both interest expense and operating expenses and expect to make steady progress as we move through the year toward our stated profitability targets,” Nwaghodoh stated.
United Bank for Africa Plc is a leading Pan-African financial institution, offering banking services to more than twenty-five million customers , across over 1,000 business offices and customer touch points, in 20 African countries and across 4 continents.
With presence in the United States of America, the United Kingdom, France and the United Arab Emirates , UBA connects people and businesses across Africa through retail; commercial and corporate banking; innovative cross-border payments and remittances; trade finance and ancillary banking services.
The Federal government has said the country’s healthcare system is attracting foreign patients, including Indians seeking medical treatments.
In an interview on Arise TV on Monday, Minister of State for Health, Dr Tunji Alausa, claimed that the nation’s healthcare was no longer in crisis.
He claimed that with improvements in the healthcare system, the country was witnessing a reversal of the ‘japa syndrome,’ suggesting that medical personnel were returning home from abroad.
The Minister pointed out that Nigeria had become a preferred destination for medical tourism, particularly for surgical procedures, which were more cost-effective compared to other countries.
According to him, the proliferation of aesthetic hospitals, numbering close to 900 across Nigeria, also contributes to attracting patients seeking services such as plastic surgery.
“Today, we have almost 900 aesthetic hospitals around Nigeria. People are coming to get plastic surgery,’’ he said.
He noted that the administration’s commitment to prioritising public health led to positive changes in the healthcare sector.
“We have a President now that believes a healthy nation is the core to harnessing our biggest asset, which is our human capital,” Alausa said.
He added that the government allocated dedicated funds and initiated collaborations to enhance primary healthcare services and expand health insurance coverage.
“The President has mandated us to increase coverage from about seven million to about 50 million people to have health insurance in the next two to three years. This marks the highest budget allocation for the health sector in almost 24 years”, he said.
Buhari’s Close Associates Conspired With Emefiele To Engage In Manipulations, Fraudulent Approvals – Ex- Minister, Shittu
AFOLABIAdebayo Shittu, a former Minister of Communication under former President Muhammadu Buhari, has said his former principal’s administration was full of manipulations and fraudulent approvals.
Recall that presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, had also said many approvals for releasing funds within the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) under Godwin Emefiele did not have Buhari’s signature.
During an interview with Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Tuesday, Shittu said many persons close to Buhari manipulated things to their favour, plunging the country’s economy into a downward slide.
Commenting on the reports that the previous administration was printing money to run the economy, Shittu said Buhari was unaware of some things.
The former Minister called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to wade into the matter and ‘probe properly.’
He said, “Let me tell you, there were a lot of manipulations and we even heard that a lot of the so-called approvals did not emanate from President Buhari.
“There were a lot of manipulations and fraudulent approvals which did not emanate from the President.”
“I am telling you confidently that a lot of it did not get his attention. There were a lot of people around the President who exploited their relationship with the President and conspired with the then-CBN governor.
“I hope the EFCC will probe properly as to how these things happen without the President knowing.”
A Nigerian House of Representatives member has called for mercenaries to tackle insecurity in the country.
The lawmaker from Borno State, Ahmed Jaha claimed that the Nigerian security forces have failed.
Jaha, who represents Chibok, Gwoza, Danbuwa made the call on Tuesday while reacting to a motion moved by Obinna Ginger.
Speaking on insecurity, Jaha said the foreign mercenaries almost wiped out the Boko Haram insurgents during the Goodluck Jonathan administration.
He stated that Buhari was wrongly counselled to expel the mercenaries in 2015, adding that insecurity has spread to other parts of the country.
Jaha said Nigerian security forces failed to address insecurity despite the billions of naira spent. He said the House must present a clear position on the deployment of foreign machinery.
“The mercenaries almost wiped out the Boko Haram insurgents during Jonathan’s administration but Buhari sent them out of the country,” he said.
It would be recalled that former President Jonathan invited South African mercenaries to lead the charge in the fight against insurgents.