Entities
Bulgaria to set up its own ‘blacklist’ after U.S. graft sanctions
Bulgaria will set up its own “blacklist” of companies and people associated with three Bulgarians and 64 entities that the United States has imposed sanctions on over alleged corruption, preventing state dealings with them, the interim government said late on Friday. The United States this week blocked assets and cut off access to its financial system to former lawmaker and media mogul Delyan Peevski, government official Ilko Zhelyazkov and fugitive gambling tycoon Vassil Bozhkov. The interim government, in office until a July 11 parliamentary election, is setting up a group of financial and interior ministry officials as well as tax and intelligence officers to identify and list people and entities associated with those under U.S. sanctions. State administrations and companies with state ...
NNPC selects 26 firms to lift Nigeria’s crude oil
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has picked 26 foreign and local companies as well as 12 countries to lift the country’s crude oil for the next two years. The crude term contracts, expected to run from 2021 through 2023, would see the firms and the selected nations, which would operate on a Government-to-Government (G2G) basis to purchase the commodity from the national oil company. The deal is coming less than a week after the corporation chose 16 oil and gas consortia for its new crude-for-fuel swap contracts for one year starting in August. The contracts, known as Direct Sale, Direct Purchase (DSDP) are high-stakes agreements used to supply nearly all of Nigeria’s petrol needs as well as cover some of its diesel and jet fuel consumption. However, in the fresh crude oil...
Report: Nigerian politicians own 800 assets worth $400 million in London, Dubai
File Photo An Associate Fellow of Chatham House, London, Mr. Matthew Page, said yesterday that 800 property worth $400 million and owned by Politically Exposed Persons (PEP) in Nigeria were located in London and Dubai. The revelation is coming as the Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Prof. Bolaji Owasanonye, said it dragged about 2,000 corporate entities into the country’s tax net. A statement issued by ICPC said Page made the disclosure in his paper presentation titled: “IFFs through the Real Estate and Education Sectors: Implications for Investigators,” at an event organised by the agency in Abuja. He urged the investigators of the ICPC to pay attention to real estate and education sectors-linked illicit financial flows. He noted ...
Nigerian government mulls TCN’s unbundling, partial concession to boost power supply
The federal government is considering the unbundling and partial concession of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to boost its efficiency in the government’s bid to improve power supply. Director, Energy, Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Mr. Yunana Malo, said during the March edition of “the Electricity Hub” conversation series on power that the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) had directed that a proper strategy should be mapped out for the unbundling of TCN. He stated that the government believed that all the players in the energy value chain should be able to align with the needs of the power sector seamlessly, adding that the right environment is being created for the transmission component to match generation and distribution. Malo said data was key to making decision...
President Buhari directs security chiefs to recover areas being occupied by criminals
President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the nation’s security chiefs to recover all areas being occupied by insurgents, bandits and kidnappers across the country. The National Security Adviser (NSA), retired Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno, told State House correspondents that the president gave the order during the just concluded meeting of the National Security Council. The meeting was presided by Buhari at the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Tuesday. According to him, no sovereign nation will allow a group of non-state actors to bring it down to its knees and render the state in state of panic, apprehension, mistrust and disorder. “Therefore, both the defence and intelligence organisations have been charged that while we look forward to having a peaceful, non-kinetic reso...
Crypto ban: We acted in Nigerians’ best interest – CBN
The Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, says the Bank’s decision to prohibit deposit money banks, non-banking institutions, and other financial institutions from facilitating trading and dealings in cryptocurrency is in the best interest of Nigerian depositors and the country’s financial system. Mr Emefiele made the declaration on Tuesday, February 23, 2021, while briefing a joint Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions; ICT and Cybercrime; and Capital Market, on its directive to institutions under its regulation. Describing the operations of cryptocurrencies as dangerous and opaque, the CBN Governor said the use of cryptocurrency contravened an existing law. He said given the fact that cryptocurrencies were issued by unregulated and...
UNODC: General Marwa’s NDLEA appointment a positive sign
Oliver Stolpe, country representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), says he is confident Mohammed Marwa, chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), will excel in his new position. According to a release signed by Jonah Achema of the public affairs unit of NDLEA, Stolpes said the appointment of Marwa is a positive sign and has renewed global confidence in Nigeria’s drug control capability. “We have every confidence in your ability to deliver,” Stolpe said during a courtesy visit to the NDLEA headquarters in Abuja on Monday. He said the UNODC is in support of the National Drug Control Master Plan and other drug control documents being developed by NDLEA in its bid to wipe out illicit drugs in the country. “As a technical assistance provider, whic...
PHED begins distribution of 77,000 meters to customers
File Photo The Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Plc, PHEDC, has begun the distribution of 77,000 Prepaid Metres to its Customers within its area of operation. The Head, Administration, Ngozi Koroye, in a statement in Port Harcourt, noted that the metres were installed under the National Mass Metering Programme, NMMP. Koroye explained that the initial scheme, Meter Asset Provider, MAP, which runs concurrently with the NMMP was launched in 2019 and operated by independent entities licensed by the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, to provide metering services which may include meter procurement, supply, installation, maintenance, and replacement. Koroye noted that MAP was introduced to specifically eliminate arbitrary estimated billing through accelerated meter rollout, s...
160 Almajirai rescued in Kaduna State
No fewer than 160 children have been rescued by Kaduna State Government COVID-19 Task Force officials from locations that are neither authorised and licensed as schools nor as children’s homes in the state. According to a statement issued by Muyiwa Adekeye, the Special Adviser to the State Governor on Media and Communication, on Friday, some of the rescued children are toddlers who aren’t yet able to properly identify themselves. He noted that the rescued children are from thirteen states in the northern and southern parts of the country. Adekeye added that some of the kids are from Benin Republic, Burkina Faso, and Niger Republic. The statement read in part, “The locations in which the children were found were operating in violation of regulations that had ordered the closure of all schoo...
Mikel Arteta delighted with new football chief appointment
Arsenal boss, Mikel Arteta, is delighted with the imminent arrival of new football chief Richard Garlick. Arteta has revealed his excitement at the appointment of Richard Garlick as the club’s director of football operations. Garlick, who currently holds the role of the Premier League’s director of football, will replace Huss Fahmy, who left the Gunners board in November. “We lost Huss at the start of the season,” said the Spaniard. “He had a really important role because it is a very important link between myself, Edu the technical director, the board, Vinai [Venkatesham]. “We needed a person with a lot of experience, who knows the job really well, has all the connections in English and international football. “As well, someone that can bring some ideas and some qualities that we believe ...
US slaps sanctions on two foundations linked to Iranian supreme leader
The United States on Wednesday blacklisted two Iranian foundations controlled by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and their subsidiaries, saying the institutions enabled Iran’s elite to sustain a “corrupt” system of ownership over large parts of the economy. The designations announced by the US Department of the Treasury target Execution of Imam Khomeini’s Order (EIKO) and Astan Quds Razavi (AQR), their leaders and subsidiaries. These are the latest actions to reinforce the “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran pursued by US President Donald Trump’s administration. “These institutions enable Iran’s corrupt leaders to exploit a system of ownership over a wide range of sectors of Iran’s economy,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement. US-Iranian tensions have risen since T...
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Understanding the strength of small businesses
The number of small businesses keeps growing in the formal and informal sectors of the Nigerian economy, due to the role of small businesses as the live-wire of any economy and the backbone of major developed economies the world over. Though Nigeria rely majorly on oil and revenues derived from it, from context observation the economy is largely supported by small businesses covering almost all spheres of activities within the country, ranging from Nano, kiosk, and Micro businesses most importantly. A visible reference usually includes the vulcanizers, corner shop owners, single retail marketers, repairers, painters, business center operators, restaurants, market women, and men in the various open markets, among others. and the formal operations such as the law firms, accounting firms, con...