President Muhammadu Buhari has given an indication that very soon, he would expand the Federal Executive Council (FEC), even as he assured that members of the Boards of Federal Institutions will also be appointed soon. The President, in his relatively short address at the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abuja today, Tuesday, described the present FEC as a compressed one. “By the same token the compressed Federal Executive Council will be expanded to bring in more supporters at Federal Level, with fresh ideas to be injected into the government. “Last year I said we would re-constitute the Boards of Parastatals. I must regret the fact that we have not done so, for many reasons. “Some of us in this meeting may know I had given instructions since October 2015 for this exercise to start. But there have been inordinate delays through several Committees in an attempt to get the balance right and to make sure all parts of the country are equitably represented.” Buhari said that he is aware that the party’s supporters are very eager for these appointments to be announced. “By the Grace of God, these appointments will be announced soon. Especially now that the economy is improving, we will have the resources to cater for the appointees.” The President told APC NEC that a lot of progress has been made by him government in the implementation of the programs of government and the Party Manifesto. He said that the party leadership can be proud of such achievements in the last two years, especially in the area of Boko Haram defeat, return of relative peace to Niger Delta region, regular supply of fuel, improved power supply, implementation of the TSA, improvement in agriculture and supply of fertilizer and above all, the knowledge that corruption will not be tolerated in his government. “We all know there is CHANGE. Nigeria’s prestige has gone up, Nigeria is now credit–worthy, a clear testimony of which was the over-subscription of the Euro-Bond by 4 times. “Nevertheless, we are not resting on our achievements. I am quite aware of the challenges before us.” [myad]
The new Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha has made it clear that President Muhammadu Buhari is fully in charge of the affairs of Nigeria, contrary to insinuation in some quarters that the government is being run by cabal. Boss Mustapha, who spoke to news men shortly after a close door meeting with the President at the Aso Villa, Abuja, said that Buhari looks more robust and dynamic than ever before. “The President, in his normal candor and humor, just cracked jokes and he was in very high spirit. I was pleasantly gladdened in my heart when I saw how robust and how uplifting he is in his spirit and in spite of the enormity of the fact that he has to deal with navigating the affairs of this nation. “But he looked in-charge, quite calm and calculated, and the beauty about it is that his recovery process has been very very remarkable. It is just a miracle and I just want to thank God for that. Boss Mustapha said that he hoped to hit the ground running immediately the oath of office is administered on him
What are we expecting to see very different? “Once that is done, I will now begin to take briefings from the office and begin to chart a roadmap. It is always not too fashionable to begin to talk about an office you have never occupied. That will be too presumptuous and I wouldn’t want to do that at the moment. “I will want to step into the office first. But I have a general picture of where we should be going, and I can assure you that my responsibility is that of coordination and ensuring the implementation of government policies as generated.” The new SGF said that Nigeria is not in lack of information and policy formulation, but that sometimes, it is the synergy of those policies for the purposes of attending the goal that has been lacking. He said that those are some of the things that he will bring to the office, even as he stressed that there should be coordination and synergy “so that we can have a thrust that can move us forward. “We need an emergency acceleration to get out of where we are, and I can assure you that Mr President is focussed on the three-pronged approach to take his government to fight corruption, diversify the economy and also the other aspect of security. “We have done so much in the area of security. Even the diversification of the economy so much has been achieved. “There are no poor farmers in Nigeria again. Honestly, for anybody that is able we can deploy our hands and our energy to growing our agriculture. “I have spoken to some of the governors, they are doing remarkable work with the ANCO grower outgrower scheme and other schemes that are coming up. “I believe that if we can do that consistently for a number of years, we’ll get out of this quagmire. Because a nation that cannot feed itself has a long way to go in terms of institutional and industrial development. “So, like I said, I will not be too quick to say what I am going to do in office, but I have a general picture. Mr President has cast the vision, all of us that are appointees of government have the singular responsibility to ensure that we run with that vision. “He has made it plain and whichever vision that has been made plain for those that are being charged with responsibilities we are supposed to run with that vision to ensure that at the end of the day, the dividends of democracy is delivered to the people of Nigeria.” Boss Mustapha recalled how he and others went round campaigning and seeking for the mandate of Nigerians, adding that those of them charged with responsibilities would their best to ensure that they do not disappoint the citizenry. “The expectations are great out there. You live with families and you know the expectations of families. You live in communities, you know the expectations of those communities. You live in geographical jurisdictions and you know the expectations of those people. But we’ve come at a time when the resources are very very lean, in some cases not available, but I believe with prudent management as being put in place by Mr President, we’ll be able to navigate these very difficult terrain and at the end of the day, every Nigerian will have a smile on his face. “We are not promising heaven on earth, but we can move our people from this state of squalor in which they are to a state where there will be hope. And hope does a lot of things, because your desire for living for tomorrow is to rekindle back hope. And if there is hope that things will be better, the people of Nigeria are very understanding people and I can assure you that they will continue to give this government the kind of support that will require to push the nation ahead.” [myad]
Any internet investment scheme promising you more than 24% Return On Investment (ROI) annually is never registered and must not be taken seriously, especially when they are trading with Bitcoins or any other cryptocurrency.
Don’t allow excitement, greed and quest for quick money to blindfold you.
Ask yourself the following questions:
Are they registered and regulated by any investment or financial authority? If yes, in which country (ies) are they permitted to operate?
What do they invest your money in?
How do they make the money they share with you?
How much do they earn to be able to pay you this high daily, weekly or monthly?
Do they have a physical office or virtual address?
Do they have real and registered phone numbers?
Who are their directors and major stakeholders?
What’s their history in the financial industry?
Go to www.who.is/whos/theirwebsite. com to see when their domain name was registered and when it will expire.
If their domain name was registered some months or years not up to 5yrs or at least 3yrs, they are most likely scammers
Is their domain registration having Domain Privacy
Registration? If yes, they are scammers.
Is their business covered by any insurance to protect your
investment with them?
Most of these investment schemes are own and operated by Nigerian Yahoo Boys who have diversified their business from the regular email scams.
They use cryptocurrency because no cryptocurrency is fully not regulated by any authority for now (not even Bitcoin), so they could get away with your money easily.
Investing in cryptocurrencies involves very high risk, as prices have been extremely volatile.
Many experts are sceptical about bitcoin as an investment primarily because there is nothing for them to analyze.
Vivek Belgavi, Partner and Fintech Leader, PwC says, “There isn’t enough of an ecosystem surrounding bitcoins to allow fundamental analysts to study it as an investment…”
Bitcoin is neither commodity nor currency. The lack of clarity about its origin is another big issue related to bitcoin. In olden days, highly priced metals like gold, silver, etc. were used as
currencies. Then came currencies printed by governments (or central banks) and these are called ‘fiat currencies’.
Though its proponents claim that cryptocurrency is ‘mined’ using complex mathematical formulae, they are reluctant to call it a commodity.
They also claim that it is not controlled by any government and so, it is ‘democratic’.
Therefore, cryptocurrencies don’t fall into the ‘currency’ category either.
“It can be very risky for businesses, industry and people to trade or invest in bitcoins as it is just a formula, not backed by any tangible asset, but by sheer demand,” says S.P. Sharma, Chief Economist, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Don’t invest if you don’t understand.
Some global bankers and experts have warned investors against investing in cryptocurrencies because they are of the opinion that it is nothing but a bubble that is just about ready to burst.
Jamie Dimon, CEO, JP Morgan, for instance, has recently expressed his doubts about the value of bitcoins, saying “It’s worse than tulip bulbs. It won’t end well. Someone is going to get killed.”
Unlike other investment avenues, cryptocurrencies are not regulated by government entities or banks.
“There is no authority like Sebi that you can approach for grievance redressal,” says Vikram Pandya, Director, Fintech, S.P. Jain School of Global Management.
Sharma concurs: “If we buy something with a credit card and get ripped off, we can call the bank and ask to be compensated.
What is cryptocurrency?
A cryptocurrency (or crypto currency) is a digital asset designed to work as a medium of exchange using cryptography to secure the transactions and to control the creation of additional units of the currency.
Cryptocurrencies are classified as a subset of digital currencies and are also classified as a subset of alternative currencies and virtual currencies.
Bitcoin, being the most popular of them, was created in 2009, and the first decentralized cryptocurrency. Since then, numerous cryptocurrencies have been created If you get ripped off in a cryptocurrency transaction, or if your bitcoin wallet is hacked and your money is stolen, it is impossible to get the money back, and there’s virtually no one or authorities to report to, even if you report to security agencies, it’s always almost impossible to track down cryptocriminals.
This is because opening a cryptocurrency account or wallet doesn’t require KYC, so anyone can open an account with just an email address and any name and the account is ready for use within seconds, and you can have as many accounts as possible, use them for any business and abandon them anytime.
As I write this, a lot of illicit financial flows are happening between Nigeria and Hong
Kong, China, others, even as I would urge the federal government of Nigeria through the CBN to look into it befeore it gets out of hand.
What these guys are doing is simply what I call ‘digging a hole to fill a hole and robbing Peter to pay Paul kind of business model.
Initially, some will earn and get paid, but ultimately it will crash and people will lose money.
Even before it they crash, they usually allow those with little investments to keep earning and withdrawing their profits and even capital, just to make them believe and have the confidence to invest more.
Then once you are convinced, generally, you want to invest more to earn even more. For example, if you invest N100,000, you get as much as N150,000 in profits alone @ 5% daily interest; and if you compound your daily interest in reinvesting daily, you could earn as much as N500,000 in 30 days (including your initial capital).
So naturally, you want to invest big to make it big too, but once you invest big money and you are not in a hurry to withdraw, they will allow your account to keep generating interests but would have provisioned not to be able to perform withdrawals.
Then when you write them, it takes forever for them to reply so you’ll continue to write and complain until they disable your account or shut down their website, if they have made enough money already.
The usually create another new website and platform with a different name, phone numbers and sometimes modify their investment plans.
Some of them go as far as registering their Business name with business registration authorities, which is easy to do online these days, just to make investors believe they are real.
They also hire people online to do a video showing their office with their signpost on the wall and staff working. They make it so real that you’ll hardly know they are scammers.
That was how I got trapped and lost N500,000 to one of them and learnt the hard way. I later followed up on them and realised they are Nigerian Yahoo! Boys who have formed a formidable syndicate and are highly connected with a strong financial base.
Further investigations revealed that Nigerians lose millions of dollars weekly to these investment schemes, even as most of them are shy to share their experiences.
So if you can hear the voice of God, I would encourage you to run away from them and run as fast as you can, especially if the word “Integrity” means anything to you because the day it will collapse, all those you’ve introduced or referred to the business will hardly trust you again.
Avoid Ponzi and pyramid schemes with little or tangible products or services to sell.
Learn to work hard and earn your money and avoid get rich quick programs, like MMM and Bitcoin mining investment. There’s actually no such ‘Bitcoin mining.’
If you must do network marketing business which can sure give you big money and helps you attain financial freedom, you have to be ready to work hard and willing to invest adequate time and resources, as multi-level marketing business, especially, is designed to favour only 3-5% of the entire members of the network, and this they will never tell you, but if you work hard enough to fall within that tin line of 5%, you’ll never know poverty again in your life, especially if you work with a strong team, established, tested and trusted MLM companies with tangible products and services, such as GNLD, Forever, or Club080.com which is registered 100% Nigerian with physical address, phone numbers, with Nollywood credible Actor Zack Orji as brand Ambassador.
Good advice is like a mini skirt. It may be short but covers the vital part of your body.
Philip Obin is a certified Mobile Money Agent and financial consultant. [myad]
Nigeria has signed agreements Russia’s state-owned Rosatom for the construction and operation of a nuclear power plant and research centre in Africa’s biggest economy.
According to Anton Moskvin, Rosatom’s vice President for overseas marketing and business development, the deals are the latest signed by Russia’s state nuclear agency as it looks to expand in Sub-Saharan Africa beyond a planned bid to build nuclear power plants in South Africa.
“The development of nuclear technologies will allow Nigeria to strengthen its position as one of the leading countries of the African continent,” said in a statement.
Nigeria, which first signed a broad nuclear cooperation agreement with Rosatom in 2009, is turning to nuclear power as Africa’s most populous nation tries to end decades of blackouts that have hindered its economy.
Moskvin signed the agreements with Simon Mallam, chairman of Nigeria’s Atomic Energy Commission, on the sidelines of a nuclear conference in Abu Dhabi.
Feasibility studies for the new nuclear power plant, which would be the first in the continent’s main crude oil exporter, include site screening and financing schemes, Moskvin said.
Rosatom, South Korea’s Kepco, France’s EDF and Areva, Toshiba-owned Westinghouse and China’s CGN are competing for South Africa’s project, which could be worth tens of billions of dollars to develop up to 9,600 megawatts, should it get the green light amid cost concerns in a stagnant economy.
South Africa’s Koeberg power plant is the only commercial nuclear site in Africa. [myad]
President Muhammadu Buhari has made it clear that he would not give cover to the sacked Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir David Lawal and the Director General of the Nigerian Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ayo Oke after being removed from offices.
Reacting to deluge of reactions to the sack of the two officers over some alleged frauds, the President said that what he had done by sacking them was an administrative action, adding that all other actions will be taken by relevant government and security agencies.
A statement by the senior special assistant to the President on media and publicity, Garba Shehu said that investigation agencies which have already commenced the investigation of the two officers removed from office will go on without any interference or hindrance.
The statement said that President Buhari is fully conversant with the provisions of the constitution and “will not stop the investigation of anyone because he has no such power under our laws. This is a decision of the Supreme Court.
“The President, under our laws, can, through the Attorney General, enter a nolle prosequi to stop an on-going trial. He may, upon conviction, order a pardon. Beyond these, the president cannot order investigation agencies to not investigate anyone and does not intend to do so in this, or any other circumstance.
“Based on his wish and desire for a strict observance of the law, the President expects the EFCC, ICPC and such agencies to proceed with ongoing investigations. When and where they have reasonable grounds to charge former or serving officers to court under our laws, they do not require the permission of the President to do so.” [myad]
A Federal High Court Abuja has disowned Governor Willie Obiano as the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) gubernatorial candidate in the November 18 Anambra State governorship election.
The governor will be served with the judgement through substituted means on a prayer asking him to stop parading himself as the governorship candidate of APGA..
The Court affirmed that Chief Martin Agbaso remains the authentic national Chairman of APGA.
With this development, Obiano is no longer allowed to continue his re-election campaign as that will be deemed illegal and a contempt of court.
Meanwhile, Anambra citizens are awaiting the Supreme Court ruling that will determine who, between Obiano and Hygers Igwebuike, is the authentic candidate.
The court will also decide who, between Martin Agbaso and Victor Oye, is the authentic APGA national Chairman. [myad]
Director-General of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Asishana Okauru has said that despite the recession, 23 States in the country recorded overall growth of 20% in internally generated revenue (IGR) last year – from N687 billion in 2015 to N821 billion in 2016.
Okauru said that this growth was far up from a 3% contraction recorded previously, even as he pledged that the NGF Secretariat would continue to play more active roles in supporting the 36 States of the Federation to boost their IGR and other areas in public financial management.
The Director-General who was speaking at the opening of the 2017 IGR National Peer Learning Event in Abuja with the theme: “Achieving Effective Tax Administration,” attributed the development to the few steps so far taken by the NGF Secretariat to provide a level playing field for States to share practical and effective measure of boosting revenue generation in the country.
“Over the course of the year, we have played a more active role and have made significant inroads through our IGR Dashboard and HelpDesk programmes to provide technical assistance to States. This event is the third component of the framework in which these programmes stand – peer learning – the basis for agenda setting and prioritization of reform actions. Governors now receive regular briefings based on evidence and recommendations from the Boards of Internal Revenue.”
Okauru, who did not give the list of the 23 states that have geberated such amount of internal revenue, said that the 2017 IGR National Peer Learning Event which marked another milestone for the NGF, was a follow-up from the last learning event in 2015 which brought over 120 delegates from the 36 States.
“Today’s even will bring together lessons since our last learning event, by combining the findings of our work and experiences from states. It is also an opportunity for us to disseminate some of the knowledge resources our teams have put together, based on their interactions with states, including guides and checklists to support the implementation of reforms and process changes.”
He said that in recent times, a number of states had recorded landmark reforms that are leading to significant improvements in revenue generation.
“Major reforms implemented have targeted the use of technology to revolutionize collection and remittance systems, the implementation of the Joint Tax Board presumptive tax regime, the review and update of rates and charges, and the institutionalization of Revenue Boards.
“For instance, State-level MDA laws have been developed in Kaduna (where there was a focus on autonomy of the State Board of Internal Revenue) and in Kano (where there was a focus on strengthening MDA operations and streamlining rates and charges). Cross River and Kano have also reviewed their tax policies to promote voluntary compliance. As these laws develop, models for harmonised tax laws have also emanated to address issues of tax distortions and double taxation. In Benue State, there is a real time Dashboard that monitors the flow of remittances. These are commendable practices, and we are already seeing the results.”
Okauru thanked the NGF’s partners, particularly the Department for International Development’s PERL programme, the World Bank and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, “for buying into our vision and for their ongoing work in bringing reforms to states.”
Through the support from these partners, Okauru said, the NGF Secretariat now has an opportunity to strengthen the reform environment, by replicating these reforms across other states.
There were goodwill messages from the Executive Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Babatunde Fowler; Statistician-General, National Bureau of Statistics, Yemi Kale; Country Director of the World Bank, Rachid Benmessaoud and; Head of DFID in Nigeria, Ben Mellor. [myad]
The wife of former Governor of Gombe State, now a Nigerian Senator, Danjuma Goje, has died.
According to a statement issued by her son, Ahmed Mohammed, the former first lady of Gombe State died in the United States of America after a long battle with an undisclosed illness.
The brief statement reads:
“With gratitude to Allah (SWT), I regret to announce the death of Her Excellency, Hajiya Yelwa Danjuma Goje, Wife of the former Governor of Gombe State, Senator Mohammed Danjuma Goje. Aged 55, she died in a Hospital in the United States of America. She is survived by her husband, Senator Goje, six children, 10 grandchildren, many relatives, supporters and admirers’
In a condolence message today, Monday, President Muhammadu Buhari expressed sadness over the news of the death of of Hajiya Yalwa, adding that he was deeply touched by her death.
The President said that her death had saken the foundation of the family unit because of her role in the upbringing of the children and in keeping the family happy.
Buhari commiserates with Senator Goje and other members of the family even as he prayed to Allah to bless the soul of deceased and grant those she left behind the fortitude to bear the loss.
A Facebook post has landed one Ibrahim Garba Wala of Citizens Action to Take Back Nigeria (CATBAN) in court as Chairman of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Abdullahi Mukhtar Muhammad is claiming the sum of N100 Million for alleged defamation of character. Abdullahi Mukhtar, in his statement of claim, asks a High Court in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to award the amount as general damages suffered by him arising from the said defamation of character and reputation by the defendant. In the suit filed by his lawyer, Professor Yusuf Dankofa, the complainant alleged that Wala accused him of stealing and converting the sum of N3 billion for himself as an aftermath of the 2017 Hajj operations. Wala allegedly wrote on Facebook: “Corruption in Hajj Commission! Official documents made available to CATBAN reveals that the chairman of NAHCON, after the 2017 Hajj operations, made not less than N3 billion for himself.” Mukhtar, himself a lawter, said that the post on Facebook which was widely circulated has defamed and injured his reputation and lowered his integrity in the eyes of the public because it has portrayed him as someone who is inordinate and untrustworthy.” He is also seeking for an order of the court directing the defendant to tender an unequivocal apology to him and an order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendant” from further publication of any other defamatory statements against him.
The immediate past governor of Edo state, Adams Oshimhole, has described the new Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha as a seasoned party man in the All Progressives Congress (APC). According to Oshiomhole, Boss Mustapha is not just a seasoned party man who understands the dynamics of party management but also very much abreast with governmental administration and responsibilities. In a statement congratulating the new SGF, who appointment was announced today, Monday by President Muhammadu Buhari adter sacking the embattled Babachir David Lawal, the forme Edo chief executive said that, Boss Mustapha is coming in at a very auspicious time when the Party and government are making efforts to rejuvenate and retool the system for enhanced service delivery to the people. “Mr. Boss Mustapha saw the entire processes of the formation of the Party, electioneering and management of all the factors that led to the victory of the party at the 2015 General elections. “As a calm, collected and silent organiser, he is very much at home with all the critical elements of the party and knows how to coordinate effortlessly without carrying any air around himself. His appointment would no doubt rekindle the strong determination of the present APC government in delivering the dividends of democracy for the good of all. “Mr. Boss Mustapha is coming into this job with a lot of experience in administration and management. He will no doubt be a huge resource and engine room for the APC-led Federal Government. I wish to record my congratulations on this appointment which I consider as a square peg in a square hole.” [myad]
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