The Federal High Court sitting in Abeokuta, Ogun State Capital, has dismissed a suit instituted by a legal practitioner, Olumide Babalola, challenging the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) policy on Current Account maintenance Fee contained in the Guide to the Charges by Banks and other financial Institutions of January 2020. Babalola had instituted the action in the name of his law firm, Babalola LP, in which he contended that the policy and guidelines of the CBN violated his fundamental human rights. The CBN, through its Counsel, Adeleke Agbola, of Cheakley Chambers, however challenged the suit on the ground that the plaintiff lacked the legal capacity to institute the suit on a policy that affects the public. In his Notice of Preliminary Objection to the Suit, Agbola had contended that the ...
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, has declared a trading surplus of N13.43billion for November 2020, 54 per cent more than the N8.71billion recorded in October 2020. This is contained in the November 2020 edition of the NNPC Monthly Financial and Operations Report (MFOR), according to a press release by the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of the Corporation, Dr. Kennie Obateru Obateru said the trading surplus or trading deficit is derived after deduction of the expenditure profile from the revenue in the period under review. The report indicated that in November, NNPC Group’s operating revenue as compared to October 2020, decreased slightly by 0.02 per cent or N0.09billion to stand at N423.08 billion. Similarly, expenditure for the month decreased by 1...
Pfizer and BioNTech said Saturday they will limit the delays of their vaccine deliveries to just one week, after fears in Europe that shipments of the jabs could be slowed for up to a month. The US drugmaker and its German partner “have developed a plan that will allow the scale-up of manufacturing capacities in Europe and deliver significantly more doses in the second quarter,” they said in a joint statement. “As a result, our facility in Puurs, Belgium will experience a temporary reduction in the number of doses delivered in the upcoming week.” Pfizer and BioNTech pledged that deliveries would be back to the original schedule to the European Union from the week of January 25, with increased delivery from the week of February 15. “To accomplish this, certain modifications of production pr...
Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) has welcomed the plan by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Alhaji Muhammad Bello to harmonise tax policies within the territory in order end multiple taxations on by businesses in the territory. The President of ACCI, Alhaji Abubakar, in a statement yesterday, commended the minister for acknowledging the challenges faced by businesses within the territory due to series of levies, charges and taxes from Federal, FCTA and Area Councils. “Multiple taxations within the FCT and the larger national economy has imposed crippling consequences on businesses. “The fallout has been many failed businesses, the rising level of inflation, the non-thriving of existing ones and the lack of capacity to engage many unemployed youths. “We want ...
Governor Abubakar Bello of Niger on Tuesday ordered a 30 per cent slash in the salaries and allowances of all political officers in the state. Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Ahmed Matane, in a statement in Minna, said that the directive was “with immediate effect”.“Those to be affected by the order include the governor, his deputy, commissioners, special advisers and all other political appointees,” the statement said. It said that the “temporary” slash was in view of the economic situation occasioned by the Coronavirus pandemic. “Government will transparently resume full payment of salaries and allowances when the economic situation improves,” the statement stated and quoted the governor as regretting the inconvenience the reduction might cause affected persons. Get more storie...
Nigerian National Assembly spends billions of naira on constitution review
The perennial constitution amendment exercise by the National Assembly is characterised by proposals that keep resurfacing despite gulping billions of naira yearly, an analysis has shown. The federal parliament had from the 5th to the current 9th National Assembly made several attempts to amend some provisions of the 1999 Constitution to no avail. At every session, the parliament officially spends N1 billion shared equally between the Senate and the House of Representatives. There are reports that the lawmakers spend more than what is appropriated for the exercise. While some amendments were successful, several others suffered serial failures but kept appearing in new proposals. Considering the huge spending, lawyers and civil society groups have pointed out that no significant amendments ...