š§š½āāļø Fraud and the power of positive thinking
The Federal Government reopened COVID-19 vaccinations for the first dose. The current batch will expire by the 9th of July but donāt worry, Nigeria expects 3.92m doses of Oxford/Astrazeneca by the end of July or early August via the World Bank and African Union.
In todayās issue
Telcos attempting to take on the government
How the Corrupt Practices Commission will end fraud
On poverty: Buhari vs World Bank
Insecurity and the FGās solution
Nigeria has a debt problem
Telcos attempting to fight the government
Lai Mohammed, who last week said twitter sucks because it helped mobilise people during the #EndSars protests, wants lawmakers to grant the government power to regulate the internet.
Media execs donāt like it. They said the government is trying to constrict broadcast business and the media space.
The Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON), International Press Centre (IPC) and other stakeholders said some provisions in the proposed bill would grant too much power to the NBC, which would hurt the industry's operations.
One of the provisions: If they want to sue, telcos would need to give NBC a 30-day notice.
The bill also proposes giving NBC sole right over tariff issues, which would provide it with power over the entire media industry.
The minister insisted that it was the responsibility of the government to monitor broadcast content, even on the internet.
Telecom services have already lost over 15.5 million mobile subscribers this year due to the SIM registration ban in Nigeria.
TheĀ Private Telecommunications and Communications Senior Staff Association of Nigeria held a 3-day strikeĀ from Wednesday, 16th of June to Friday 19th to protest the working conditions and job insecurity they've suffered due to the FG's erratic politicking.
If your phone lines were iffy, on Wednesday to Friday, that might be why.
Speaking ofā¦ EndSARS panel update:
The judicial panel to hear victims of police brutality and human rights abuse in Imo has asked the government to pay 120 victims in Imo stateĀ N770 million in reparations.
After receiving and reviewing 145 petitions (102 successful), the panel chairman, Florence Duroha-Igwe, said the government should pay the 770million for the trauma the police has caused citizens.
She noted that many people are still suffering the trauma of missing family members found dead in police custody.
This is just the panel's recommendation. There is no report on if Imo's governor has acknowledged or approved the verdict.
Fraud and the power of positive thinking
After a 10-year court trial, the Ikeja High Court (now open) convicted Francis Atuche, the former MD of Bank PHB, and the former CFO Ugo Anyanwu, forĀ defrauding the bank of N25.7 billion.
CBN revoked the bank's licence in 2011 because it had not "shown the capacity to recapitalise", and Keystone Bank took over all its assets soon after.
An EFCC team led by Kemi Pinheiro (SAN) charged Atuche and Anyanwu with defrauding the bank using fake loans and shares.
The court sentenced them to 6 and 4 years in prison, respectively.
EFCC chairman Abdulrasheed Bawa revealed thatĀ 90% of money laundering is done through real estate.
He said the EFCC is working with the National Assembly to stop the real estate "gatekeepers". He believes looting will reduce if thereās nowhere to pass it through.
The gatekeepers, according to Bawa: looter's lawyers, property developers and property owners.
Also, the EFCC claimed that this year, theyāveĀ recovered $261 million and Ā£13,000 from suspected criminals. They will start prosecuting the suspects (about 800) from next week.
I imagine people like these will immediately stop it when the Independent Corrupt Practices CommissionĀ implement the National Ethics and Integrity Policy.
The policy aims to create awareness among Nigerians on the need to identify moral value reorientation as a vital tool to fight corruption.
They're going to appeal to Nigerian citizens and government officials to put the country's development first and just stop it, please!.
The EFCC and Code of Conduct Bureau claim thatĀ Nigeria loses N100 billion annuallyĀ to "tax-related corruption". Don't worry; the National Integrity Policy will fix that too.
On poverty: Buhari vs World Bank
In its latest Nigeria Development Update, the World Bank stated that inflationary pressure in Nigeria pushed aboutĀ 7 million Nigerians below the poverty lineĀ in 2020 alone.
The update was released days after Buhari gave his Democracy Day speech claiming his government had lifted 10.5 million people out of poverty.
The World Bank says food prices account for over 60% of the increase in inflation.
They also said that although the economy started to grow again, prices are increasing faster than it is possible to recover.
In addition, the reduction in opportunities as a result of the increase in insurgency is translating to economic stagnancy.
Meanwhile, The Nigerian Guardian disclosed that people wereĀ paid N1,500 to pose as pro-Buhari protestsĀ on Democracy Day.
Insecurity
136 students were abducted in Salihu Tanko Islamiyya School, Tegina, in Rafi local government area of Niger State two weeks ago and are demanding N200 million ransom.
The case bears some similarities to the Chibok kidnapping from 7 years ago:Ā the Majority (108) of the children abducted are girls; the school is one of those in Niger that integrate Islamiyya (a program developed as a form of affirmative action for female students).
The abductors are believed to haveĀ contacted the school authoritiesĀ to tell them some of the kids were ill and renegotiate their ransom N150million.
The Niger State government claim to be doing all they can to rescue the children but won't pay a ransom.
In Kebbi, 40 female students and 3 teachers have been abducted from a school Government Girls College in northeastern Kebbi State.
How FG is responding
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Army Ali Ndume confirmed that the FG allocated aĀ supplementary budget of N800billion to the militaryĀ to support the war against Boko Haram.
Ndume described it as a "light at the end of the tunnel". He said the money means more weapons for the military, which is what they need. (Buhari claimed in April that they already bought weapons and were expecting their delivery).
Buhari meanwhile claims that theĀ military has a clear sense of directionĀ under him. He says they have in his 6 years as president.
Trigger warning: jungle justice
In Awka, Anambra State, a group of non-governmental security agents are believed to have come into the state to "help the governmental security" apprehend some criminal elements.
Eyewitnesses told The National that the unknown security agents apprehended andĀ burnt 6 suspected cultistsĀ in Awka.
The National said a Senior Police Officer confidentially confirmed that the unknown security agents were there but didn't confirm if they were government-supported or traditional security agents.
The anon police agent told The Nation these exact words: āIf they engage in jungle justice, nobody will talk, especially the Lawyers and Human Rights groups, but when Police engage in such, the whole world will tumble, and thatās what the State deserves at this momentā.
Basically, some men claiming to be security agents went to Awka and killed 6 people they identified as cultists, and the police source is upset that the police can't kill people.
Nigeria has a debt problem.
In an interview withĀ Arise TV, Nigeria's Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amechi said Nigeria is planning on taking more loans from the Chinese lenders (let's call them "The Agency"). The Debt Management Office (DMO) says Nigeria owed The Agency $87.239 billion as of March 31, 2021.
Last Thursday, Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, admitted that the federal government exceeded its borrowing plan for 2021.Ā She said it was due to COVID-19 and a fall in global prices.
When asked how Nigeria intends to manage loans and escape Zambia's fate (The lenders areĀ seeking Zambia's mining assets as collateralĀ for the defaulted loans), the Minister said Nigeria is already paying back loans and has never failed to fulfil loan obligations, so we're good.
Amaechi said: āWhen you take the loan, you are expected to pay back, and as we are talking today, we are paying back". He also said he is not aware of any agreements to use country assets as collateral.
He stated that the federal government had paid back over 20% of loans secured under Goodluck Jonathanās presidency for the Abuja-Kaduna railway. The revenue from that project, he said, has increased from N70 million to N350 million as of May, so there's money to pay back the rest.
The additional loans now being negotiated, he said, is to expand railway services in more states.
General elections update
Don't forget: PVC registration starts on the 28th of June. In addition, the commission said that the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) will also begin on the 28th.
INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said creating a portal for CVR would enable Nigerians to begin registration online before concluding the process physically at designated centres.
Ekiti, Osun, get ready! Professor Yakubu saysĀ the commission has set Ekiti and Osun Governorship electionsĀ date for June 18 and July 16 2022.
INEC has unveiled new polling unitsĀ ā meaning more voting point options.
Other news items:
Buhari says he instructed Sanwoolu to tell Lagosians to walk after burnt buses during EndSars (The Cable)
FG and ministers meet over power supply, discuss electricity improvement and income generation via power sector (Today NG)
CBN considering slashing importation by 35%- Emefiele says that Buhari's insistence to diversify Nigeria's economic base has started to yield positive results (Arise TV)
Recommended reads:
The Atlantic: Leagues are seeing the downside of treating vaccines as simply a matter of personal choice.