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Finance minister raises issue of recession during Senate

Abuja - Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, has stated that Nigeria is in a tough place because of recession during a Senate briefing in Abuja, Vanguardreported.

Adeosun was briefing the Senate on the state of the economy in the country and how the 2016 budget was implemented.

According to the minister, the President Muhammadu Buhari led government inherited negative reserves of heavy salaries and a wage bill of N165 billion.

She added that if you two periods of negative growth you are technically in recession.

The International Monetary Fund reiterated that Nigeria is heading into a recession due to weakened investor confidence over plunging oil revenues.

For more on this story visit Vanguard

FG to audit, overhaul NIMASA

The Federal Government has said that it will overhaul the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency in order to bring about effective performance in the organisation.

The government also stated that the Abuja-Kaduna rail project would be officially inaugurated on July 26, 2016.

The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, disclosed this when he received the Ministerial Committee on NIMASA for Restructuring and Effective Performance led by the agency’s Director-General, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, at the headquarters of the ministry in Abuja on Monday.

Amaechi said, “One of the reasons why I set up the committee was my visit to NIMASA. I asked a question, what does NIMASA do? They had what they call ‘Search and Rescue Centre,’ they also had what they call ‘Search and Rescue Clinic.’

“If you go there, even when I asked the lady doctor who was there, I said do you work here? She said yes, and I asked again, ‘do you like this place?’ She said no. Now, all the billions we hear, may be its right, may be its wrong, that’s what I need to know when the auditor goes round.

“We are in the process of appointing an auditor to audit NIMASA and the Nigerian Ports Authority. Maybe when the auditor goes round and comes back, the responsibility of the matter will be clearer.”

The minister added, “If you go to their office near Kirikiri, that’s worse. It was actually as if you are in Kirikiri (prison) itself. They had a resource centre and there was nothing there; they had a poor library and I said to myself, what is NIMASA actually all about? So, the essence of setting up this committee was to actually know what NIMASA was all about.

“It is not a witch-hunt. We should ask ourselves the question, has NIMASA at any point in time discharged its responsibility beyond the collection of revenue? And all those revenues that NIMASA has collected where are they? What did they do with the revenues?”

Amaechi stressed that the essence of setting up the committee was to see how the government could reposition NIMASA to perform its responsibility to the benefit of Nigerians.

“There has to be a change in NIMASA. The change shouldn’t be only in the Ministry of Transportation, it should also be in NIMASA. The way things are in NIMASA is such that people don’t even go to work,” he stated.

…moves to generate electricity from uranium

Okechukwu Nnodim, Abuja

The Federal Government has commenced moves to generate electricity from nuclear materials, particularly uranium.

To achieve this, it invited experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency to conduct a one-week training for nuclear practitioners as well as security officers in the country on the extraction, exploitation and utilisation of uranium.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the national training course on nuclear security for the uranium extraction industry in Abuja, the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, stated that it was important for Nigeria to exploit available resources in order to meet its power needs.

Fayemi, who was represented by a deputy director in the ministry, Mr. Wuyep Karnap, said, “Last week at the National Council on Power conference in Kaduna, the issue of uranium for power generation was actually canvassed as a vital component in the energy mix equation.

“So, this training is coming at the right time where capacity to explore, exploit and utilise uranium for power generation and other uses cannot be overemphasised. And apart from the exploration, exploitation and utilisation, the security and health aspects of uranium need to be taken care of, and that is why we have security delegates here.”

In March, the Federal Government announced that it was working towards generating 4,000 megawatts of electricity from nuclear sources.

It stated that the plan was to start a programme in the coming years that would give the country 1,000MW in the first instance, which would be increased to 4,000MW thereafter.

This, according to a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, was disclosed during a meeting President Muhammadu Buhari had with the Director-General of the IAEA, Mr. Yukiya Amano, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Food prices soar as inflation hits 11-year high

In the past six months, the prices of essential food items have risen significantly in consonance with the rising level of inflation in the country, which hit an 11-year high of 16.5 per cent last month.

The National Bureau of Statistics on Monday released the Consumer Price Index, which measures inflation, stating that the country’s inflation rate rose from 15.6 per cent in May to 16.5 per cent in June.

June’s rise in the inflation rate represents one of the highest to be recorded by the country over a decade.

Stakeholders in the food supply chain, in separate interviews with one of our correspondents, attributed the hike in food prices to the poor state of the economy occasioned by the declining supply of commodities, rise in fuel price and the devaluation of naira.

Wholesale and retail traders in Lagos complained that every time they decided to stock new supplies of food items, the prices would have been increased by the suppliers.

Surveys across some markets in Lagos revealed that the prices of semovita, vegetable oil, palm oil, fish, spaghetti, macaroni, rice, beans and garri, among others, had soared in the last six months.

It was observed that the prices of 500g packs of spaghetti and macaroni had increased from N120 to N180 between February and July this year.

On the average, semovita has experienced about 70 per cent rise in price from N200 for the 1kg bag, to N340; while a 1kg bag of processed wheat has doubled to N280 from N140 at the beginning of the year; garri has also recorded 100 per cent increase within the same period.

Sellers, food vendors, housewives, the tomato crisis is troubling many people across the country

Following the same trend, the price of the 100kg bag of red beans has increased from N20,300 to N23,000; while a 50kg bag of rice recorded about 40 per cent price hike from N10,300 to N14,000 in the same period.

For imported vegetable oil, the owner of Okikiola Ventures at the Ipodo Market, Ikeja, Mrs. Aboidun Adefolami, said that a 25-litre container of the product imported from Malaysia was being sold for N10,000 instead of N6,200 in January, while 25 litres of palm attracted N7,000  instead of N6,000.

A wholesale trader of fish at the Agege Market, Mrs. Abosede Moshood, explained that a carton of Alaska brand of fish cost N11,300, a 22 per price increase from N9,300 that it sold for in February.

Within the same period, she added that Titus mackerel fish, which was selling for N10,400, now  cost N13,000, while the price of Blue whiting had risen from N8,400 to N8,700.

However, the NBS attributed the rise in inflation to the increase in the prices of electricity, kerosene, furniture and furnishing materials, passenger transport by road, fuel and lubricants as well as transport equipment.

The inflation rate had been experiencing an upward swing in the last seven months, a development that analysts described as worrisome.

The implication of the resurgence in inflation, according to analysts, is that consumers will experience tougher times ahead due to the reduction in their purchasing power.

The NBS stated, “In June, the Consumer Price Index which measures inflation continued to record relatively strong increases for the fifth consecutive month. The headline index increased by 16.5 per cent (year-on-year), 0.9 percentage points higher from rates recorded in May (15.6 per cent).

“During the month, the highest increases were seen in the electricity, liquid fuel (kerosene), furniture and furnishings, fuel and lubricants.”

The report said while imported foods continued to increase at a faster pace, the food sub index on the aggregate increased at a slower pace in June relative to May.

The food index, it added, increased by 15.3 per cent (year-on-year) in June up by 0.4 percentage points from rates recorded in May.

Commenting on the latest inflation statistics, the Executive Director, Corporate Finance, BGL Capital Limited, Mr. Femi Ademola, said the country’s inflation was being induced by lack of infrastructure.

He called on the Ministry of Finance and the Federal Government’s economic management team to come up with workable fiscal policies that would help address the infrastructure challenge facing the country.

He said any attempt by the Central Bank of Nigeria to fight inflation would mean increasing the Monetary Policy Rate, which would lead to a rise in the lending rate.

Ademola said, “The rate of inflation currently is not caused by too much liquidity. It is structurally induced, because most of the factors that are causing the increase in inflation are what can be addressed by fiscal policies.

“To check the rate of inflation now means that the CBN would have to increase the MPR, and doing this at a time when the government wants to simulate local production will affect the rate of output.

“So, this is the time for the Ministry of Finance to come up with fiscal policies that will stimulate the economy particularly in the area of infrastructure such as road, electricity and so on.”

The Head, Department of Banking and Finance, Nasarawa State University, Keffi, Uche Uwaleke, said the rise in inflation did not come as a surprise as the factors driving inflationary pressures had yet to be addressed.

Uwaleke, an Associate Professor of Finance, said, “The CBN should not increase the rate of the MPR, because it has not worked in the past as the inflation is not demand pull, but cost induced. The economy is approaching recession and the factors that are responsible for inflation such as high electricity prices, imported items and the rest are still there.

“The CBN should scale up its developmental function rather than increasing the MPR so that more funds can be channelled to agriculture to scale up production so that the cost of food items can reduce.”

Uwaleke also called on the Federal Government to as a matter of urgency increase the rate of spending on critical projects approved in the 2016 budget, adding that this would assist in making the business climate less hostile.

Agitation by of workers for salary increase in view of the rising inflationary trend appears not to be feasible now, as some states are slashing the salaries of their employees, while many others are finding it difficult to fulfil their obligations to the workers for several months, in addition to massive job losses in the private sector.

The Director-General, Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association, Mr. Olusegun Oshinowo, explained that salary increase for workers to cushion the effect of inflation would not be feasible due to poor sales by manufacturing industries.

He urged workers to rather pray for job security and regular salaries.

Oshinowo said, “This is not a time for salary increase, because most employers are struggling to keep their current staff strength on account of low demand for their products. And beyond the low demand for their products, some of them are finding it difficult to source for foreign exchange to bring in the inputs for production in spite of the liberalisation of the forex market.”

The price of kerosene, used by most Nigerians for cooking, has risen to as much as N300 per litre from N50; while Automotive Gas Oil (diesel), used largely by businesses to power their operations, has been selling for between N185 and N200 per litre from around N120 per litre earlier.

Economic and financial experts said the recent partial deregulation of the downstream petroleum sector and devaluation of the naira had pushed the prices of goods and services higher.

The Chief Executive Officer, Financial Derivatives Limited, Mr. Bismarck Rewane, noted that the inflation rate had increased sharply, but said it had almost got to a point where it would begin to ease up.

Rewane, said, “We are going to to see the effect and a downward pressure on prices from July. It is the exchange rate that drove the inflation to this point. I think that it will start to stabilise as from next month. It will still increase but it will begin to come down.”

A Professor of Financial Economics at the University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Leo Ukpong, said, “I am surprised that the inflation rate rose to 16.5 per cent; I thought it would probably jump to 18 per cent. I think, in reality, it will be higher than that.”

The Head of Research and Investment Advisory at SCM Capital Limited, Mr. Sewa Wusu, said, “The rise in inflation is not a monetary phenomenon; it is not caused by increased level of liquidity in the system. It is more or less a structural defect, which I think the government should look into.”

No more dismissal of corruption cases without trial – CJN

President Muhammadu Buhari, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, and other stakeholders, on Monday jointly spoke against corruption and identified the roles of the judiciary and other institutions in the fight against the scourge in the country.

Against this background, the CJN said the judiciary would no longer dismiss cases of corruption against high- profile persons without trial.

The CJN said the judiciary had put a stop to giving verdicts that exonerated high-profile citizens accused of corruption without undergoing trial.

Justice Mohammed said this amid calls by President Buhari and other stakeholders, on the judiciary to join the Federal Government’s efforts to rid the country of corruption.

The President called on the judiciary to put its house in order, tackle judicial corruption, be impartial and politically-neutral, remove causes of delays in adjudication of cases and stop tolerating the dilatory tactics of defence lawyers that prolonged high- profile corruption cases.

The President, the CJN and others including the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, the Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), among others spoke at the opening ceremony of an ‘International Workshop on the Judiciary and Fight against Corruption.’

 The two-day event was jointly-organised by the National Judicial Institute and the Sagay-led PACAC and it was with the theme, ‘The Roles of Judges in the Fight Against Corruption:

Sagay, who had earlier spoken at the event, had identified four reasons for the “unconcluded-trial syndrome” that had kept the corruption cases against about 15 ex-governors  in court since 2007 to include, “the reluctance or failure of the judiciary to take control of their own courts and to exercise their powers firmly and decisively.”

But the CJN in a veiled response to Sagay, while delivering his speech, said one of the reasons the cases against the politically-exposed persons had remained in the court’s dockets was because of lack of will by government to get them prosecuted.

He said, “I must emphasise that the fact that these cases still remain on our case list was because of lack of will on the part of government to have these cases prosecuted.

“Also, as corresponding action from the judiciary, we are determined not to strike out or dismiss the cases or discharge and acquit accused persons without trial.

“That is why these cases remain on the list because of virile determination to have them prosecuted  when the will to do so arises such as now.”

The CJN said since 2013, various levels of court in the country had “initiated and introduced Practice Directions on Kidnapping, Corruption and other Serious Offences, that provides framework for the fast-tracking of major crimes and corruption cases.”

He added,  “The issue of undue delay by technicality, which hitherto plagued the criminal justice system, has also been addressed by the enactment of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015.”

He urged “all parties to proceedings to avail themselves of the innovations introduced by the Act in order to ensure that delay becomes obsolete in our courts.”

He assured Nigerians that the judiciary would continue to play its role in the fight against corruption, adding that due punishment would be meted out to anyone found guilty.

Reiterating the role of diligent investigation in the successful prosecution of corruption cases, the CJN commended the acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Magu, in that regard.

 President Buhari said his administration made the war against corruption one of its priorities in order to restore the economy and build a new Nigeria.

UPDATE: Court remands Obadina in prison for N2.4bn scam

A Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday ordered the remand of an owner of Almond Projects Limited, Olugbenga Obadina, in Kuje prison, Abuja.

Justice Nnamdi Dimgba made the remand order after Obadina was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on eight counts of money laundering.

The judge ordered that the accused be kept in prison pending when his bail application would be heard and determined.

The judge then fixed the hearing of the bail application for July 18.

The EFCC on  Friday arraigned Obadina and his company, Almond Projects Limited, on eight counts of money laundering involving alleged criminal breach of trust and corruption to the tune of N2.4bn.

‎Obadina allegedly collected a sum of N2.417bn from the account of the Office of the National Security Adviser under Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd) without any contract award.

He allegedly collected the sum of N2.417bn through his company’s bank account in tranches between 2013 and 2015.

The accused pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

The alleged offences were said to be contrary to Section 15(2), (d) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011 as amended in 2012 and punishable under Section 15(3) of the same Act.

After the accused pleaded not guilty to the charges, the prosecuting counsel, Mr. Aso Peters, urged the court to remand the accused in prison and fix date for trial.

‎But Obadina’s lawyer, Chris Uche (SAN), informed the court that he had  filed a bail application for his client and same had  been served on the prosecution.

Peters said that the prosecution was only served on July 13 and that he was entitled to 48 hours to respond.

He also said that a further affidavit deposed to by the defence mentioned by defence lawyer had not been served on the prosecution.

The judge then fixed July 18 for the bail application.