The Federal Government has announced that the sale of Crude Oil to Dangote refinery in naira will commence on October 1.

Federal Ministry of Finance made this known in a statement via its X handle on Monday.

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, emphasised the need for transparency and directed the Technical Sub-Committee to finalize details and prepare a report for the President, noting that his directives are on track for implementation from September.

The latest development comes amidst controversies on the sale of crude oil to the Dangote refinery, with claims of sabotaging the refinery operations.

The statement reads, “The Honourable Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, today led the Implementation Committee meeting on the transition to Crude Oil Sales in Naira. The meeting reviewed progress on key initiatives, including the upcoming commencement of Naira payments for crude oil sales to the Dangote Refinery starting October 1, 2024.

“Dr. Zacch Adedeji, Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service @FIRSNigeria and Chairman of the Technical Sub Committee, reported that the first PMS delivery from Dangote is expected next month under existing agreements.

“Key roles were outlined for stakeholders, including the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority @NMDPRA_Official Central Bank of Nigeria @cenbank Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission @NUPRCofficial
and the African Export-Import Bank @afreximbank to ensure smooth implementation. Updates on the Port Harcourt and Dangote Refineries were also provided, with significant production increases expected from November 2024.

“The Honourable Minister emphasized the need for transparency and directed the Technical Sub-Committee to finalize details and prepare a report for the President, confirming that his directives are on track for implementation from September.”

Former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen, is set to resume his legal proceedings against the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) judgment that led to his removal from office in 2019.

This action will take place on Tuesday, 20th August 2024, at the Court of Appeal in Abuja.

Naija News reports that the legal action was initiated in April 2019.

Justice Onnoghen is seeking the Court of Appeal’s intervention to nullify and annul the CCT’s decision issued against him on April 18, 2019, on several grounds.

In his appeal, which is designated CA/ABJ/375 & 376 & 377/2019, Justice Onnoghen, represented by his lead counsel, Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN, is petitioning the appellate court to overturn his conviction, primarily on the grounds of lack of jurisdiction, bias, and absence of a fair hearing.

A notice for hearing of the appeal just sighted by newsmen on Monday is entitled, “CA/ABJ/375 & 376 & 377/2019 BTW: Justice Onnoghen and FRN”.

It read, “Please take notice that the above matter is listed for hearing on Tuesday the 20th day of August 2024 at 9 o clock in Court Appeal, Abuja Division.

“Please take note that this serves as a hearing notice”.

In 2019, the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) convicted Onnoghen on all six counts of breaching the Code of Conduct for Public Officers, which were brought against him by the federal government during his tenure as the head of the judiciary in the country.

In the preliminary ruling delivered by the Chairman of the CCT, Danladi Yakubu Umar, it was mandated that Onnoghen be immediately removed from his position as Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN).

Furthermore, the Tribunal revoked his previous positions, including Chairman of the National Judicial Council (NJC) and Chairman of the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC).

Additionally, the Tribunal ordered the forfeiture of his five bank accounts and the assets within those accounts that Onnoghen failed to disclose in his asset declaration form submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), an agency of the Federal Government.

Despite being on suspension since January 25, 2019, and having resigned on April 4, the Tribunal still mandated his removal from office as Chief Justice of Nigeria and Chairman of both the National Judicial Council and the Federal Judicial Service Commission.

However, in response to the decision of the CCT, Onnoghen approached the Court of Appeal in Abuja in 2019, presenting 16 grounds for seeking the quashing of his conviction by the Tribunal.

He argued that the Danladi Umar-led CCT panel committed errors in law and caused a miscarriage of justice against him by failing to decline jurisdiction over the six-count charges against him. He contended that the Chairman of the CCT should have recused himself from presiding over his trial.

In his application for relief, Onnoghen sought an order to set aside his conviction, quash the order for the forfeiture of his assets, and discharge and acquit him of all the charges levelled against him.

Onnoghen also highlighted specific errors in the verdict of the CCT, arguing that as a judicial officer at the time the charges were filed on January 11, 2019, he could not be subjected to the jurisdiction of the lower tribunal.

The former CJN’s application reads: “On the authority of Nganiiwa v. FRN (2018) 4 NWLR (Pt. 1609) 30: at 340. 341, only the National Judicial Council (NJC) has the power to discipline the Appellant for misconduct and not the lower tribunal.

“The lower tribunal had in the case of FRN V. Sylvester Nwali Nguta in charge No: CCT/ABJ/01/2017 delivered on 9th January 2018, affirmed the position of the Court in FRN Nganjiwa v. FRN and dismissed the charges and acquitted and discharged Justice Ngwuta being a Judicial Officer subject only to the discipline of the National Judicial C0uncil.

“The lower tribunal has no jurisdiction over serving judicial officers such as the appellant, save the National Judicial Council.

“The Motion on Notice dated 14th January 2019, challenging jurisdiction, ought to be granted in all material particular as it purports to save the lower tribunal of a needless futile exercise.

“The lower tribunal erred In law when it dismissed the Appellant’s Application seeking the chairman to recuse himself from further proceedings on the ground of real likelihood of bias and thus occasioned a miscarriage of justice.

“The Appellant has alleged that the chairman of the lower tribunal is biased towards him as a result of open remarks in the tribunal as well as the manner in which the proceedings were being conducted.”

Contrary to the CCT finding, Onnoghen, said he did not admit the fact of non-declaration of Assets from 2005 as the Justice of the Supreme Court, adding that he only stated that he did not declare in 2009 as required because he forgot.

Onnoghen challenged the order for the confiscation of his assets on the grounds that the assets were legitimately acquired, as against the provisions of paragraph three of section 23 of the CCB Act, which only permits the seizure of such assets “if they were acquired by fraud.”

He faulted the failure of the prosecution to present the petitioner, Denis Aghanya, before the tribunal whose petition led to the charges against him.

Onnoghen maintained that all the allegations brought against him “constitute no offence and should therefore not have formed the basis for his conviction”.

The former CJN asked the Court of Appeal to issue some orders against the CCT judgment among which are that the tribunal lacks the jurisdiction to entertain the case and that its Chairman ought to have recused itself from the proceedings.

Onnoghen therefore applied for an order setting aside his conviction and another one setting aside the order for forfeiture of his assets made by the Tribunal as well as to discharge and acquit him from the charges.

Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana has accused the National Assembly of contempt and illegality over the revelation that Nigerian Senators are receiving a monthly “running cost” of ₦21 million.

Recall that Senator Abdurrahman Kawu Sumaila of Kano State had disclosed that he receives ₦21 million every month.

Reacting, Falana threatened legal actions if the payments are not halted.

Speaking via a press statement, the human rights activist condemned the National Assembly’s decision to increase the monthly allowances of Senators from ₦14 million to ₦21 million, describing the move as “illegal and contemptuous.

He referenced a 2021 Federal High Court ruling by Justice Chuka Obiozor which stated that only the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation, and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) is authorised to determine the salaries and allowances of federal legislators.

“The Senate, the House of Representatives, and the National Assembly Service Commission have no power, close or semblance of power, and cannot determine, direct, command, and/or instruct the RMAFC or any person howsoever to make, determine, and/or fix the salaries, wages, remuneration, running cost, or allowances of the National Assembly,” Falana stated, quoting the court judgment.

Speaking further, the legal practitioner said that despite the court order, the current leadership of the National Assembly disregarded the ruling by further inflating Senators’ running costs, saying that this is not only illegal but a blatant contempt of court.

“In utter contempt of the orders of the Federal High Court, the current leadership of the National Assembly increased the salaries and allowances of a Senator from ₦14 million to ₦21 million per month,” he stated.

He highlighted the inconsistencies between the 2024 Appropriation Act and the alleged payments, stressing that there is “no provision whatsoever for monthly payment of ₦21 million running costs to every Senator.”

He added, “Since the running cost was not fixed by the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, it is unconstitutional and contemptuous of the valid and subsisting order of the Federal High Court.”

Falana’s statement also drew attention to the contrast between the legislators’ jumbo pay and the newly enacted Minimum Wage Act, which sets the minimum wage for workers at ₦70,000.

“Having just enacted the Minimum Wage Act that stipulates N70,000 for workers, the jumbo emolument of N21 million for federal legislators will compound the crisis of inequality in the country,” he warned.

Falana then called on the National Assembly to immediately comply with the court’s ruling and adjust the Senators’ remuneration to reflect the country’s economic realities.

“The lawmakers should comply with the law of the land. Otherwise, we shall soon embark on contempt proceedings as the legislators are not above the law of the land,” he added.

The executive chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Zacch Adedeji, has disclosed the Federal Government’s intentions to enact a new law aimed at transforming the revenue administration framework in Nigeria by the forthcoming month.

Naija News reports that Adedeji revealed this development in his address at the 2024 stakeholders’ engagement, a forum organized by the Intergovernmental Relations Department of the FIRS, under the auspices of the Senate and House Committees on Finance, with the theme “Repositioning The FIRS To Achieve Its Mandate”.

Speaking at the event, the FIRS boss expressed dissatisfaction regarding the absence of a legal framework governing the digital market, particularly in the realm of cryptocurrency within Nigeria.

Adedeji elaborated on the government’s strategy to regulate cryptocurrency in a manner that would not hinder the country’s economic growth, emphasizing the objectives of revenue harmonization, simplification, and modernization of the tax laws currently in place.

He highlighted the irony of Nigeria’s continued reliance on the Stamp Duty Act of 1939 in the absence of internet connectivity, attributing this to the rationale behind President Bola Tinubu‘s establishment of the tax and fiscal reform committee to review and amend the existing laws.

Adedeji said: “We are on the path of making sure the target of N19.4 trillion target we were given is achieved. We commend the recent windfall levy passed to increase FIRS’ ability to meet targets and get more revenue and redistribute the wealth.

“By September, we are bringing the law that would overhaul all the process of revenue administration in Nigeria, harmonising the revenue, recording and simplifying the tax law that we have. For instance, the Stamp Duty Act of 1939, when there was no internet or connection, is what is still in use.

“Today, we cannot run away from cryptocurrency, but as we stand currently, there is no law anywhere in Nigeria that regulates cryptocurrency, and it is a new thing that is happening, and we cannot run away from it.

“The law we are using today is the 1939 law. At that time, there was no state or local government. That is the reason the President set up the tax and fiscal reform committee to check and change all these laws.’’

Furthermore, during the discussion, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Mohammed Musa, expressed that the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the legislative bodies are collaborating to develop legislation aimed at maximizing revenue collection to effectively tackle the myriad challenges confronting Nigeria, including infrastructure development and the enhancement of human capital.

Musa said: “When you are talking of revenue, in every clime, you need the right legislation, and there cannot be right legislation until there is a synergy between the agency collecting this revenue and the people making these laws.

‘’We, the Senate and the House of Representatives, work with the FIRS to give this country the proper legislation for tax collection.

“Those laws are so old that they have been before the independence of this country; they would be modified. I am sure by the time we resume from our recess; the executive will submit the executive bill for us to amend the Act, repeal it and re-enact the one that would go with the current system in the environment.

“Cryptocurrency has become the largest way to make money today, and in Nigeria, we do not have a law to guide them. The FIRS and the legislators are synergising to come up with legislation that would give Nigeria the best in getting revenue to address all the changes that we have, both in infrastructure and human capital development.

“As soon as we resume, we will work on it, and we expect the cooperation of Nigerians, corporate Nigerians and individuals. This is a country of over 250 million people, and less than 15 per cent are paying tax.

“This engagement is both timely and crucial as we continue our collective efforts to strengthen Nigerians’ physical framework.

“The collaboration between the Senate and the House committees on finance underscores the importance of a unified approach in addressing the challenges and opportunities before us.

“The FIRS, as the bedrock of our revenue generation, has a mandate that is vital to the financial health and sustainability of our nation.”

“Ensuring that the agency is not only effective but also agile in responding to the dynamic demands of our economy is a responsibility that we all share.

“As the global economy evolves and as our own economic landscape undergoes transformation, there is a pressing need to assess, to reassess, realign and reposition to meet these new realities.

“This means not only adopting best practices but also fostering an environment where transparency, accountability and innovation are at the forefront of revenue generation efforts,” the lawmaker added.

In his separate remark, the Chairman of the House Committee on Finance, James Faleke, said everybody wants improvement and development in the nation but noted that nobody wants to contribute to that purse.

“We are much more interested in sharing; nobody wants to contribute, forgetting that the developed world we always make reference to are developed, based on the resources that every citizen put into the box,” Faleke said.