…Seeks due process, increased investments in gas projects

By Emmanuel Atokolo

Speculations have emerged that the appointment of a Co-Chairman for the Governing Council of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) by President Tinubu may not be unconnected with a ploy to check the Ministerial power of the Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri.

This is as stakeholders suggest that this may not be unconnected with the face-off between the Minister (Lokpobiri) and the NCDMB since his appointment as Chairman of the board.

Earlier, NewsDirect gathered from staff who pleaded anonymity alleging that “the Minister was trying to take full control of the agency and treat it like his own.”

There had also been reports by some sections of the Nigerian media of a face-off between the Minister and the NCDMB Executive Secretary, Felix Ogbe, over the reversal of the decision of the Executive Secretary, redeploying some staffers of the Board.

Similarly, the Minister had most recently been embroiled in an argument of facts regarding the effectiveness of the board’s investments in certain projects alleging that the NCDMB under Simbi Wabote mismanaged $500 million on various projects and loans.

This is as Wabote, a former NCDMB ES accused Lokpobiri of asking him in December 2023 to increase the NCDMB budget by N30bn for the Office of the Minister and he refused; a claim Lokpobiri described as untrue.

The former NCDMB boss said Lokpobiri’s “reckless statements” in the past months were not new to him.

He said, “My problem as the Executive Secretary started with Lokpobiri in December 2023 when he sent one of his undocumented aides within his ministry to my office in Yenagoa (Blackson) requesting me to increase the NCDMB budget by N30bn for the office of the Minister and I said it had never been done before.”

Wabote claimed he told the oil minister he had served two ministers and none of them ever requested such a thing from the NCDMB, saying the board only made provision for the office of the Chairman of the Council which covers his travel expenses.

“I said to him that the maximum the NCDMB budget has ever got to in the past is circa N80 billion for all our activities, adding N30bn will be too much for his office and I was not going to do it,” he stated.

In the latest development, President Tinubu appointed the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Hon. Ekperikpe Ekpo as the Co-Chair of the Governing Council of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB).

The NCDMB in a statement yesterday however stated that the appointment of Hon. Ekpo as the Co-Chair of the Governing Council of the NCDMB had been approved by Mr. President in mid-April, and announced publicly on Thursday via a statement by the Special Adviser Media & Publicity to the President, Chief Ajuri Ngelale.

The new Co-chair received in audience the Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe yesterday providing an opportunity for the Executive Secretary and the Board’s top management to brief the Minister on the agency’s mandate, activities and initiatives.

The presentation dwelt extensively on the Board’s third-party investments, over 60 percent of which are gas based. The NCDMB team informed the Minister that the investments are in furtherance of the Federal Government’s plan to power the Nigerian economy with gas resources as well as the provisions of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act.

In his remarks, the Minister commended the Board for investing in worthy third-party projects, which have helped to create jobs and deepen local content, with some beginning to yield return on investments. He pledged his commitment to support NCDMB to achieve its mandate, which is key to meeting the economic aspirations of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.

He stressed that due process must be followed in carrying out the operations of the Board, in line with the instructions and example set by Mr. President.

He also promised to visit the Board’s third-party projects as well as the beneficiaries of the Nigerian Content Intervention Fund, especially the projects that focus specifically on gas.

The Co-Chair of the NCDMB’s Governing Council also commended the Board for its strategic role in approving the Nigeria LNG Train 7 project, noting that the project had brought a lot of benefits to the Nigerian economy.

Some of the senior management of the Board at the meeting included the Director Monitoring and Evaluation, Mr. Abdulmalik Halilu, Director, Projects Certification and Authorisation, Engr. Abayomi Bamidele, Acting Director Legal Services, Mr. Naboth Onyesoh, Esq and Acting Director Finance and Personnel Management, Mr. Ifeanyi Ukoha.

The House of Representatives has expressed concerns over possible abuse of the recently issued cybercrime levy by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

This among other things prompted the lawmakers to order the Apex Bank to halt the implementation of the levy on Thursday.

This followed the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance moved by the House Minority Leader, Kingsley Chinda (PDP Rivers), and 359 others.

Addressing the plenary, Chinda said CBN through a circular to all commercial, merchant, non-interest and payment service banks; other financial institutions, mobile money operators, and payment service providers (“CBN Circular”) dated 6th May 2024 informed Nigerians of a proposed 0.5 percent levy on electronic transactions in line with Section 44(2)(a) of the Cybercrimes (Amendment) Act, 2024.

He noted that Section 44(2)(a) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) (Amendment) Act, 2024 provides that “a levy of 0.5 percent (0.005) equivalent to half percent of all electronic transactions value by businesses specified in the Second Schedule to the Act it be paid into the Cybersecurity Fund.

Adding that “businesses which the said Section 44(2)(a) refers to are listed in the Second Schedule to the Cybercrimes Act to be: a) GSM Service Providers and all telecommunication companies; b) Internet Service Providers; c) Banks and Other Financial Institutions; d) Insurance Companies and e) Nigerian Stock Exchange.”

He posed concern “that the CBN circular mandates all Banks, Other Financial Institutions and Payments Service Providers to implement the Cybercrimes Act by applying the levy at the point of electronic transfer origination as Cybersecurity Levy and remitting same.”

Chinda further added “that the wordings of the CBN Circular leaves the CBN directive to multiple interpretations including that the levy be paid by bank customers, that is, Nigerians against the letters and spirit of Section 44(2)(a) and the Second Schedule to the Cybercrimes Act, which specifies the businesses that should be levied accordingly.”

The lawmaker expressed worry that this act has led to apprehension as Civil Society Organisations and citizens have taken to conventional and social media to call out the Federal Government, and give ultimatums for a reversal of the “imposed levy on Nigerians” among other things.

He argued that unless immediate pragmatic steps are taken to halt the proposed action of the CBN, the Cybercrime Act shall be implemented in error at a time when Nigerians are experiencing the aftermath of multiple removal of subsidies from petroleum, electricity, and so on and the rising inflation.

Consequently, the House directed the CBN to withdraw the ambiguous circular in existence and issue an unequivocal circular in line with the letters and spirit of the Cybercrimes (Amendment) Act, 2024.

The Green Chamber also mandated its Committees on Banking Regulations, and Banking and other Ancillary Institutions to guide the CBN properly.

…Approve N94.179bn dividend for 2023

By Seun Ibiyemi

Shareholders of Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) Plc on Thursday at the third Annual General Meeting approved the company’s plan to establish a capital raising programme of $750 million either through public offerings, private placements, rights issues and/or other transaction modes.

Also, the shareholders endorsed the management’s N94.179 billion dividend payouts for the year ended December 31, 2023, comprising of N2.70 per share final dividend and 50 kobo interim dividend paid last year, making a total dividend paid for the 2023 financial year to N3.20 per share.

Speaking at the meeting, Chairman of the company, Mr. Hezekiah Sola Oyinlola, said, “After three years of reorganising and fitting all the business verticals into a holding company structure, we successfully made the first wave of progress in our drive to broaden and diversify our revenue streams and solidify our standing as a leading financial services provider in Africa.”

Oyinlola noted that “in 2023 the Group’s Balance sheet remained well structured and distributed with loans and advances accounting for 25.4 per cent in full year 2023, investment securities at 25.3 percent in 2023 and placement 16.1 percent in 2023. The Group grew its total Assets by 51.3 percent to N9.8 trillion in 2023 due to increases posted on key asset lines including investment securities, cash & bank balances, loans and advances, and restricted deposits.”

He added that “beyond the bottom-line, we understand that building an enduring institution is also about the underlying drive to make a sustainable impact in the communities we serve and operate in.

“Through strategic initiatives and partnerships, we strive to address pressing social and economic challenges, enriching lives and fostering better outcomes for people and businesses across Africa.”

The Group CEO of GTCO, Segun Agbaje stated that in spite of the varying challenges in the operating environment and headwinds that weighed on growth in 2023, the Group delivered a strong performance posting a PBT of N609.3 billion representing a growth of 184.5 percent from N214.2 billion achieved in full year 2022.

According to him, this result was on the back of impressive growth in gross earnings, increasing by 120 percent to N1.186 trillion in the year under review, underpinned by the growth on funded and non-funded income lines.

He added that “our Nigerian Banking operation accounts for 77.5 percent of the Group’s profitability, West Africa constitutes 17.5 percent, East Africa contributes 2.2 percent, UK 1.9 percent, and Non-Banking Entities make up 0.9 percent.”

Responding to questions at the end of the meeting, Agbaje said the board and management of the company is happy at the performance of the company in 2023 financial year and promised that the company will do better in 2024 to continue with the tradition of upward trajectory already in place in the company over the years.

He said, “I think for us, it is a good result. We looked at the volatility in the environment and we balanced profitability with some conservatism. We are happy at how we ended 2023. For us, we have a tradition of increasing dividend, every year, so I can say categorically that in 2024, dividends will be up. Already, profit is up in the First Quarter of 2024, we have posted N509.3 billion, I think this is an indication that we will have bigger dividend in 2024.

 ”If look now, from outside Nigeria, we recorded 25 percent to 30 percent of the profit. We have also diversified geographically. We also have three new businesses which we started which are our PFA, HabariPay and our asset management company. They are already at 1 percent of Group profit in one and a half years. I think our diversification away, both banking and geographically, is going on well.

“The next thing is to work hard and hopefully with the support of Nigerians we will raise the money.”

Shareholders commended the company’s 2023 performance. The National Coordinator of Progressive Shareholders Association, Okezie Boniface, said that the performance was excellent, with growth in its earnings per share of N19.70 and the company paying N3.20 per share, saying that the group’s diversification is paying off.

On the Capital raising, Okezie anticipated a successful exercise for the company due to their good track record of paying dividends.

Also, the National Coordinator of Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN), Moses Ibrude noted that the company performance in the year under review was impressive, considering the situation of the country.

He said GTCO is at the forefront of good corporate governance, appealing to GTCO to continue to run the business well in order to deliver good returns to the shareholders.

On the recapitalisation, Ibrude urged the minority shareholders to take up their rights in supporting the company growth.