Business
EFCC: Administrative, Personnel Costs Gulp N2.8bn
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission spent N2.8bn on administrative and personnel costs between 2007 and December 31,2008.
But it recovered assets worth N15bn during the period.
Expenses incurred by the agency appreciated to the present level of N2.8bn from N2.4bn incurred 2007.
A breakdown of the expenses revealed that N1.1bn was spent on administrative costs, N1.7 on personnel costs, and N1.3m on bank charges. Of this amount, N206.17m was spent on local transportation and trips while N134.64m was spent on overseas travels.
Uniform and dress code allowance jumped from N10.67m in 2007 to N130.87 in 2008.
These figures were contained in the EFCC’s annual report obtained exclusively by our correspondent in Abuja on Thursday.
The 62 page report, which was signed by the chairman of the commission, Mrs. Farida Waziri, noted that the problem of corruption was huge and had continued to manifest.
This, it said, made the result achieved easily whittled down.
According to the report, “in the last one year, the commission recorded 74 criminal convictions recovered assets worth over N15bn and filed 123 cases in courts of which 30 involved politically exposed persons”.
The level of seizures of funds from suspicious transactions also rose from N3.98bn in 2007 to N9.31bn in 2008.
Of recoveries made by the EFCC in 2008 N2.9bn was deposited in Access Bank Plc and 2.3bn in Intercontinental Bank Plc.
The commission also deposited N139.6m in a domiciliary account in Access Bank; Afribank also has N1.036bn in its vaults for the anti-graft agency.
The sum of N2.5bn was lodged at the Central Bank of Nigeria branch in Lagos and N309.72m at the CBN headquarters in Abuja.
Commenting on the rule of law, Waziri said, “This is a major policy issue which I appeal for consideration at the highest level of government. “We must not espouse the rule of law and open it up for unbridled abuse by the same people who ought not to take advantage of it.
“The application of the rule of law in a manner that gives the common man a reasonable impression that the rule of law is a respecter of certain categories of persons is certainly the rule of gone wrong”.
Waziri, who had earlier opposed the methods employed by her predecessor, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, admitted that the fight against corruption could not be fought without “Sometimes” adjusting basic right of the accused.
Explaining that it was time for soul-searching on the part of policy makers, she stressed the need for political parties to scrutnise the source of wealth of their candidates.
The EFCC boss admitted that there was still a lot more work to be done.
She said a report by the African peer review mechanism issued in May 2008 referred to Nigeria as a country where “corruption and fraudulent practices are rampant and remains a cause for concern”.
Waziri stressed that the EFCC had substantially overcome some of its initial challenges and observed that some ongoing high profile investigations and prosecutions involving top executives in the public and private sector were yielding results.
According to her, “The commission has so far recovered N108bn from the five banks under bailout by the CBN”.
She attributed the improvement in the nation’s corruption rating to the effort being made by the current administration to fight corruption.
Business
Food Vendors, Others Relocate To New Site At PH Airport
The raging controversy between the Port Harcourt International Airport Management and restaurants/canteen operators and theirallies over relocation has been brought under control, as the operators have commenced relocation to their structures at the new site.
Recall that there had been serious feud over a directive by the Manager of the airport, Mr. Michael Area, for food vendors and their allies to relocate to the new site.
They insisted that the new site was too distant and hence, would negatively affect patronage from customers, with possible loss.
They further also insisted that it wouldcost them much money to put up another structure, given the economic situation in the country, since the airport management did not build any structure for them, apart from providing the empty land they have to also pay for.
The situation had led to flexing of muscles, which made the Airport Manager to order for sealing of all shops, resulting in scarcity of food, as airport users could not find a place to eat, apart from the only Genesis fast food spot available.
As at last Friday, The Tide observed that most of the food vendors had transferred their structures to the new place, and had started doing business there already.
Meanwhile, customers have started settling down at the new location as they were seen patronising shops for foods and drinks, in spite of the distance.
Few of the remaining structures at the old site, The Tide further gathered, will also be removed as quickly as possible, and the owners are making efforts to get funds for the job to be done.
One of them, Mrs Aka Love explained that she was going to relocate to the new place before the end of March.
Currently, business activities at the old site have come to null, as the place which was usually a beehive of food, drinks and relaxation, has completely winded down.
By: Corlins Walter
Business
MOWCA Strengthens Maritime Crime Prevention
Secretary General of the Maritime Organisation of West and Central Africa (MOWCA), Dr. Paul Adalikwu, has stepped up interaction with the United States Government to lift restrictions placed on some member countries allegedly implicated in illicit shipping activities.
Adalikwu, who led a delegation from the MOWCA Secretariat to the US Embassy in Abidjan for a first leg of the strategic consultation aimed at promoting seamless participation of MOWCA countries in international trade within the global maritime space, reiterated the organisation’s commitment to the best ethical and lawful maritime practices.
Addressing the U.S Ambassador to Côte d’Ivoire, H.E Mrs Jessica Davis Ba, the MOWCA SG stated the organisation’s interest in promoting the International Ship and Port facility Security (ISPS) code which aims at enhancing security of vessels and their ports of call.
He expressed the commitment of MOWCA in promoting environmentally friendly, safe and cost effective shipping without any encumbrance that may limit the economic potential of member countries.
Dr Adalikwu recalled that at the instance of the U.S. Department of State invitation, MOWCA participated in the 2023 Registry Information Sharing Compact (RISC) Conference in Larnaca, Cyprus, on February 28–March 1, 2023, and a virtual meeting held on June 6 2023, with Mrs Jennifer Chalmers, Officer in change of Counterproliferation Initiative.
He recalled The U.S. DOS willingness to support MOWCA’s effort for preventive maritime security through the establishment of the Center for Information and Communication (CINFOCOM) with the aim to ensure a maritime situational awareness domain within MOWCA’s member states’ waters.
He added that MOWCA under his watch is committed to training and retraining of maritime practitioners and experts to enhance the human capital capabilities of member states.
The CINFOCOM will help prevent transnational crimes committed at sea like sanctions evasion by North Korea and other state actors, who exploit poor enforcement due diligence by ship open registries to circumvent United Nations and U.S. trade restrictions.
By: Nkpemenyie Mcdominic, Lagos
Business
Nigeria’s Public Debt Hits N97.3trn – DMO
The Debt Management Office (DMO) has hinted that Nigeria’s public debt increased by 10.7 per cent from N87.87 trillion in the third quarter of last year, to N97.34 trillion as at December 31, 2023.
DMO, in an update data released last Friday, said the increase in the debt stock was largely due to new domestic borrowing by the Federal Government to part finance the deficit in the 2024 Appropriation Act and disbursements by multilateral and bilateral lenders.
The office noted that the N97.3 trillion public debt comprises of domestic debt of N59.12 trillion and external debt of N38.22 trillion. The sum of $3.5 billion was used to service external debt during the review period.
“Nigeria’s Public Debt Stock as at December 31, 2023 was N97.34trillion or $108.229 billion. This amount comprises the domestic and external debt stocks of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN), the 36 States Governments, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
“There was an increase of N9.43 trillion over the comparative figure for September, 2023, which was largely due to new domestic borrowing by the FGN to part finance the deficit in the 2024 Appropriation Act and disbursements by multilateral and bilateral lenders.
“At N59.12 trillion, total domestic debt accounted for 61 percent of the total public debt stock, while external debt at N38.22 trillion accounted for the balance of 39 percent.
“Consistent with the debt management strategy, Nigeria’s external debt stock was skewed in favour of loans from multilateral (49.77 percent) and bilateral lenders (14.02 percent) or total of 63.79 percent which are mostly concessional and semi-concessional.
“Whilst the DMO continues to employ best practice in public debt management, the recent and on-going efforts of the fiscal authorities to shore up revenue will support debt sustainability”, DMO stated.
By: Corlins Walter
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