Business

How EFCC prevented Naira from further depreciation against Dollar

Published

2 years ago

August 22, 2022

By Matthew Denis Abuja

The value of Naira against the dollar has risen to the highest tune of N710 to $1 towards July ending, 2022 which became an outcried among Nigerians bearing the skyrocketed inflation in the purchasing value of goods and services.

This experiences crippling the economy witnessed a swiped drastic intervention to salvage the situation by the anti-corruption agency. This intervention by the anti-corruption agency has made the Naira appreciated thereby closing at N428 per dollar on the official side of the market recently.

Though, the Central Bank of Nigeria had threaten to deal severely any BDC operator that goes against the stipulated rules but there wasn’t respite until the the effective Leadership the Chairman of Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa came to create headway by taking the ‘bull by the horns.’

The anti-corruption agency swung into action by summoning the Bureau De Change traders in Abuja and Lagos by threatening to clampdown on those found wanting of stockpiling and hoarding forex as authorities activates desperate measures to salvage tumbling economy.

The Chairman of the anti-graft agency issued the caution while meeting with representatives of Bureau De Change operators in Abuja on Friday, early August, 2022.

He noted that the agency had intelligence about Nigerians stockpiling foreign currency which the agency will not leave any stone unturned in dealing mercilessly with saboteurs.

During an interactive session with some selected journalists at a workshop on ‘the Effective Reporting of Economic and Financial Crimes’ last Wednesday, Mr. Bawa revealed that “one achievement which most of you may not easily recognise is the impact which EFCC’s intervention in the Forex market has had on the value of the Naira. From well over N710 to the Dollar, following the Commission’s intervention, the Naira has appreciated significantly against the dollar in the parallel market, and we are not relenting in our efforts to check harmful speculative activities in the sector.”

On the aspect of prosecution so far, he noted, “I cannot end this remarks without updating you on some of our recent activities. Some of you will recall that at the end of 2021, the Commission announced that it recorded a total of 2220 convictions. I am pleased to inform you that we are poised to improve on that figure as the record of convictions as of August 5, 2022 was 2210.

“The war against corruption is a worthy fight for the soul of Nigeria, and for the future generation; it should not be left to the EFCC alone. Without doubt, the media’s ability to inform and sensitize the people on the ills of corruption and economic crime is crucial for us. So far, the media has been helpful. If nothing else, the Commission enjoys a visibility that makes it the reference point for effectiveness in law enforcement in Nigeria.

“This event is therefore one of the interventions by the Commission to improve the capacity of the media to deliver on its constitutional mandate as the Fourth Estate of the Realm.

“As a worthy, dependable and reliable ally, I want to use this opportunity to further urge media practitioners to put the interest of our Country at heart, particularly as it relates to a conscientious effort not to celebrate the corrupt in our midst, but to expose them on the pages of your newspapers, screens of television or our various online platforms.

“Nevertheless, there are issues in the media profiling of the Commission that are less than desirable. The notion, for instance, that the Commission is draconian in its approach to fighting cybercrime is perhaps borne out of poor understanding of its modus operandi. But I am convinced that at the end of this workshop we will all be better educated on the processes and procedures of the EFCC. As watchdog of society, you must be mindful that your reportage is a mirror that shapes global perception of our institutions and nation. It logically follows that this sacred duty is one that must be discharged with a lot of responsibility and, of course, patriotism.

“I urge you to also beam your searchlights on this area as it is in our collective interest to have a national currency whose value is not subject to the whims of crooked speculators.

“Gentlemen of the press, with the carefully selected resource persons, I have no doubt most of us will leave this engagement better equipped to perform our duties as journalists.”

Calls for 1999 constitution amendment

The anti-corruption agency has enlisted some constraints in prosecuting criminals who are found guilty of money laundering and Constituting economic sabotage in the country thereby calling for amendment of the 1999 constitution.

The Head of Legal and Prosecution Department of the agency, DCE Sylvanus Tahir stressed that the 1999 constitution needs to be amended to remove those constraints in the enforcement of economic and Financial crimes.

He emphasised that it must balance the right of the citizens against those of the state and victims.

According to him, some of the challenges are cooperation from those who should furnish relevant information during investigation, non-cooperation of potential prosecution witnesses, incompetence of the counsel, attitude of the trial judge.

“Various lacuna in the Constitution as indicated in sections 35 (2) and 36 (11), inadequacy of existing procedural and evidence laws, congestion of court dockets and slow pace of court proceeding, cost of investigation and prosecution.”

Mr. Tahir appealed to members of the National Assembly to be proactive in amending the laws mentioned above in order to rid the country from economic and Financial crimes.

He equally stressed that there’s need to amend the Evidence Act, the Administration of Criminal Justice Act to accommodate the technological advancement and challenges of the contemporary times.

Business

Oyetola in Lagos, defies downpour, embarks on inspection tour

Published

53 mins ago

May 17, 2024

NewsDirect

By Seun Ibiyemi

The rain in Lagos began very early on Thursday morning. But the torrential rainfall did not stop Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, CON, from embarking on the tour of two key institutions that were recently brought under his ministry — the Nigerian Institute for Oceanography and Marine Research (NIOMR) and the Liaison office of the Department of Fishery and Aquaculture, which houses College of Fishery, Lagos.

His first port of call was NIOMR, where the Chief Executive of the institute, Prof. Abiodun Sule, took the Minister through some of its strategic breakthroughs, including unveiling some of the different species of fish in our waters.

The Minister charged the Institute to take up the challenge of mapping out the country’s various marine resources, saying the country needs to know what it has and in what quantity.

He charged the staff to redouble their efforts and ensure they find a solution to the rising cost of fish feeds in Nigeria. The Minister reiterated his desire to increase local production of fish, while reducing dependence on importation.

From the Institute, Oyetola and his entourage, which included the Permanent Secretary, Oloruntola Olufemi; Director, Maritime Safety and Security, Babatunde Bombata, and the Executive Director, Engineering and Technical Services, Engr. Ibrahim Umar, who represented the the MD of NPA, headed for the Department of Fishery and Aquaculture, where the delegation inspected the Laboratory and charged the staff not to lower the standard of monitoring and inspection so as to ensure the country’s exporters are not blacklisted by the International community and also ensuring that those being imported meet required standard.

He assured the staff of both institutions of his commitment to their welfare, while urging them to also increase their capacity and productivity, as he wants to see the fishing contribute to job creation and increase in revenue of the FG.

The elated members of staff promised the Minister not to let him down and pledged their commitment to the vision and mission of the Minister with respect to the maritime sector.

Business

CPPE urges CBN to halt interest rate tightening, as businesses are yet to recover from previous hikes

Published

1 hour ago

May 17, 2024

NewsDirect

The Centre for the Promotion of Public Enterprise (CPPE) has called on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to slow down on monetary policy tightening ahead of its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting this month, stating that businesses are yet to recover from the hawkish monetary policy stance in the last two months.

The Centre stated this in its reaction to the latest inflation figures published by the NBS where headline inflation rose to 33.69 percent in the month of April from 33.20 percent in March.

According to the statement signed by the Director-General of the CPPE, Dr Muda Yusuf, monetary policy tools should be paused for the fiscal side of the economy to work towards addressing the supply issues affecting the inflation dynamics in the country.

He stated, “Meanwhile we urge the monetary policy Committee to soften its monetary tightening stance for the time being. Businesses are yet to recover from the shocks of the recent bullish rate hikes. The monetary instruments should be put on pause while fiscal policy tools address supply-side factors in the inflation dynamics.”

Furthermore, the Centre appreciated the slowdown in inflation for the month, especially headline and food inflation, but noted that the main drivers of price hikes (food, transport, insecurity in farming communities and other structural problems) are yet to cool down.

He explained that the drivers of inflation are supply-based and being addressed by the fiscal authorities. Also, Dr. Yusuf doubled down on his call to the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) to set a quarterly exchange rate between N800 and N1000 for import duties assessment, noting that the continuous fluctuation has a pass-through effect on inflation.

In his words, “Meanwhile the exchange rate benchmark for the computation of import duty continues to be a major concern to businesses as it has become a major inflation driver. We again urge the CBN to peg the rate at between N800 -N1000/dollar to be reviewed quarterly. This is necessary to reduce the pass-through effect of heightening trade costs on inflation.”

Meanwhile, the CPPE also lauded the commencement of refining by the Dangote refinery, stating that it would help slow down inflation in the short term.

Recall that Nigeria’s inflation rate rose to 33.69 percent in April on the back of an increase in food and transport prices. The rate is one of the highest in about 28 years.

The CBN, in an effort to rein in inflation, has increased

Business

April 2024: FG, States, LGs share N1,208.081trn

Published

1 hour ago

May 17, 2024

NewsDirect

The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), at its May 2024 meeting chaired by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, shared a total sum of N1,208.081 Trillion to the three tiers of government as Federation Allocation for the month of April, 2024 from a gross total of N2,192.007 Trillion.

From the stated amount inclusive of Gross Statutory Revenue, Value Added Tax (VAT), Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL), and Exchange Difference (ED), the Federal Government received N390.412 Billion, the States received N403.403 Billion, the Local Government Councils got N293.816 Billion, while the Oil Producing States received N120.450 Billion as Derivation, (13 percent of Mineral Revenue).

The sum of N80.517 Billion was given for the cost of collection, while N903.479 Billion was allocated for Transfers Intervention and Refunds.

The Communique issued by the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) at the end of the meeting indicated that the Gross Revenue available from the Value Added Tax (VAT) for the month of April 2024, was N500.920 Billion as against N549.698 Billion distributed in the preceding month, resulting in a decrease of N48.778 Billion.

From that amount, the sum of N20.037 Billion was allocated for the cost of collection and the sum of N14.426 Billion given for Transfers, Intervention and Refunds. The remaining sum of N466.457 Billion was distributed to the three tiers of government, of which the Federal Government got N69.969 Billion, the States received N233.229 Billion, Local Government Councils got N163.260 Billion.

Accordingly, the Gross Statutory Revenue of N1,233.498 Trillion received for the month was higher than the sum of N1,017.216 Trillion received in the previous month of March 2024 by N216.282 Billion. From the stated amount, the sum of N59.729 Billion was allocated for the cost of collection and a total sum of N889.053 Billion for Transfers, Intervention and Refunds.

The remaining balance of N284.716 Billion was distributed as follows to the three tiers of government: Federal Government got the sum of N112.148 Billion, States received N56.883 Billion, the sum of N43.855 Billion was allocated to LGCs and N71.830 Billion was given to Derivation Revenue (13 percent Mineral producing States).

Also, the sum of N18.775 Billion from Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) was distributed to the three (3) tiers of government as follows: the Federal Government received N2.704 Billion, States got N9.012 Billion, Local Government Councils received N6.308 Billion, while N0.751 Billion was allocated for Cost of Collection.

The Communique also disclosed the sum of N438.884 Billion from Exchange Difference, which was shared as follows: Federal Government received N205.591 Billion, States got N104.279 Billion, the sum of N80.394 Billion was allocated to Local Government Councils, while N48.620 Billion was given for Derivation (13 percent of Mineral Revenue).

Oil and Gas Royalties, Companies Income Tax (CIT), Excise Duty, Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT), Customs External Tariff levies (CET) and Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) increased significantly, while Import Duty and Value Added Tax (VAT) recorded considerably decreases.

According to the Communique, the total revenue distributable for the current month of April 2024, was drawn from Statutory Revenue of N284.716 Billion, Value Added Tax (VAT) of N466.457 Billion, N18.024 Billion from Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL), and N438.884 Billion from Exchange Difference, bringing the total distributable amount for the month to N1,208.081 Trillion.

The balance in the Excess Crude Account (ECA) as at May 2024 stands at $473,754.57.