The recent e-invoicing policy that was launched by the Central Bank of Nigeria will worsen Nigeria’s already bad international trade transactions process, increase transaction cost, entrench red tape, increase uncertainty, escalate business disruption, weaken investors’ confidence and heighten corruption risk. This was made known in a statement sent to Nairametrics by Dr Muda Yusuf, CEO of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise and former President of the LCCI. He warned that there is no compelling justification for their introduction in the first place and urged the CBN to collaborate with the Nigeria Customs to address any gaps in…
Author: Temitope Nlewemchi
Okomu Oil Plc has confirmed incidence of a gunmen attack on the company’s rubber plantation on the 1st of February 2022. The notice which was signed by the Company’s secretary, Chukwuebuka Omerole, and filed with the Nigerian Exchange Limited, was addressed to shareholders and the investing public. The company specializes in the cultivation of oil palm and in the extraction, refining, and processing of fresh fruit bunches into crude palm oil for resale. According to the notice, the incidence occurred in the early hours of Tuesday, 1st February 2022, in which a number of gunmen armed with rifles stormed the…
Africa needs $484 billion over the next three years to address the socio-economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and support economic recovery. This was made known by Dr Akinwumi Adesina, African Development Bank Group President at the opening of the 35th African Union Assembly in the Ethiopian capital. He stated that investing in health is investing in national security, citing that the most important lesson of the Covid-19 pandemic for Africa is the need to build a defense mechanism against external shocks, especially in healthcare and financial security. Adesina warned that Africa cannot afford to outsource the healthcare security of…
Massive anxiety and confusion in Lagos as fuel scarcity appears to have hit some parts of the state, especially the island axis. There were unusual long queues of vehicle at various filling stations in Ikoyi, Victoria Island and Lekki, over the weekend trying to buy the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol, which was thought to have been caused by increased demand of the product due to power blackout. The long queues at the filling stations which has been causing traffic in those locations seem to have persisted on Monday morning despite improved power supply. However, the situation…
The Ad Hoc Committee on Unclaimed Funds in Nigerian Commercial Banks and Infractions by the Central Bank of Nigeria of the House of Representatives has commenced an investigation into funds stuck in commercial banks due to the alleged failure to link the account holding the funds to a Bank Verification Number and the Federal Government’s Treasury Single Account policy. The committee is looking into the over 45 million accounts that are reported to be holding funds worth over N1.2 billion. On January 26, 2022, the House passed a resolution establishing a committee to investigate suspicious and unclaimed funds held in…
The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has assured residents that train rides will be affordable and accessible ahead of the completion of the red line rail project of the government, as the regular fare would be between N200-N300 per trip. This is as he has disclosed that the 2 new high-speed trains recently purchased by his administration will be on track latest by the fourth quarter of this year. The assurance was given by Sanwo-Olu on Friday during an interview on a Channels Television programme, Sunrise Daily, as he was highlighting his administration’s efforts at tackling the gridlock on roads…
The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) issued tax credit to the tune of N147.8 billion in 2021, to some private investors and the NNPC. This was disclosed by Tolu Ogunlesi, the special assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Digital and New media on his verified Twitter handle. Mr Ogunlesi said in 2021, FIRS issued N147.8 billion in tax credit to private investors and NNPC under Executive Order 007. Ogunlesi tweeted, “I’ve written a lot here about Exec Order 7, under which @NigeriaGov issues tax credits to companies pre-approved to invest in building/fixing federal roads. “In 2021 @firsNigeria issued a total…
Currency outside banks (COB) reached an all-time high ((ATH) of N2.95 trillion in December, money and credit data released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has revealed. Last year, the size of COB rose by 18 per cent, from N2.5 trillion recorded in December 2020. From the end of 2019 to December 2020, currency outside banks increased by a similar magnitude, from N2 trillion to N2.5 trillion, translating to 23 per cent expansion in the fund. Similarly, the money supply increased 13.8 per cent year-on-year (YoY), from N38.6 trillion recorded in December 2020 to approximately N44 trillion in December…
The Nigerian House of Representatives has requested that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to pauses its implementation of e-evaluator and e-invoicing for imports and exports businesses. This was prompted following the adoption of a motion moved by Leke Abejide (APC, Kogi) on Tuesday. According to the House, the CBN has increasingly shifted away from its basic role as a banker to the government, focusing more on fiscal policy measures, which are the responsibility of the Federal Ministry of Finance. The Central Bank of Nigeria implementation of e-evaluator and e-invoicing for imports and exports businesses was meant to commence…
The National Economic Council has established that investing in adolescent girls in Nigeria can deliver massive economic growth, poverty reduction and human development. This was made known in a presentation by Hon. Nasir Isa Kwarra, Chairman, National Population Commission on Thursday, the meeting of the Council in Abuja. The report went on to suggest ways by which adolescent girls in Nigeria can be empowered The NEC was called to note that a “demographic dividend” can deliver massive economic growth, poverty reduction and human development. The demographic dividend arises when there is a favourable age structure with larger shares of workers…
In a bid to improve the Nigerian economy, the Federal Government of Nigeria launched the NG-CARES programme implementation with the World Bank’s $750 million loan. This was made known by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, on Thursday in Abuja at the National Launch of the NG-CARES programme. NG-CARES is a multi-sectoral program that, together with the ongoing execution of the Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP), includes programs such as State Cash Transfer Units, Agriculture Development Agencies, and Job Creation Units/MSE Support Units funded by the Administration’s Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP). Prof. Osinbajo stated that the initiative would focus on…
The Nigerian Labour Congress has warned that the planned removal of fuel subsidy and subsequent increase in fuel price will affect every facet of life, including transportation, cost of food items, clothing, housing and others. This was made known by Mr Ikechukwu Nwafor, NLC chairman in Ebonyi, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abakaliki. This comes after the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan had claimed that the removal of fuel subsidy was not a directive from President Muhammadu Buhari. Nwafor stated that It is high time Nigeria fixes its own refineries, adding that Nigeria…
The Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, has established that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the InterPol to combat illegal tax evasion, stop leakages and boost government revenue. This was made known in a statement by the FIRS as the Executive Chairman of the agency, Mr Mohammad Nami signed the agreement on behalf of the FG. Also at the agreement-signing ceremony was the Vice President (Africa) of INTERPOL, Assistant Inspector General of Police, AIG Garba Baba Umar, who signed the MoU on behalf of the Interpol. Nami said, “We signed an MOU with the INTERPOL. This marks an…
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has established the introduction of e-evaluator and e-Invoice to replace hard copy final invoices as part of the documentation required for all import and export transactions. With these new regulations, imports and exports with unit prices that are more than 2.5% of the verified global checkmate prices would be queried and will not be allowed for successful completion of either Form M or Form NXP. This disclosure was made by the CBN in a circular titled, “Guidelines on the introduction of e-evaluation, e-invoice for import and export in Nigeria” addressed to all authorised dealers…
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has established that its intervention in the Nigerian agricultural sector has led to the massive reduction in imported rice from Thailand from 2014 when Thailand exported 1.3 million metric tons of rice to Nigeria to just 58,000 metric tons at the end of 2021. This was made known by CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, today at the unveiling of the FCT mega rice pyramids under the RIFAN-CBN Anchor Borrowers’ Programme. The CBN’s Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) was started in November 2015 to provide aid to farmers and influence the value chain of various commodities in…
At the Facts Before the Listing of BUA Foods held on Tuesday, January 18th 2021, the Acting. Managing Director of the company, Ayodele Abioye, established that the BUA Rice division will resume operation before the end of the year. He stated this while emphasizing the structure of the business and the different divisional operations under the company. In addition to this, he also confirmed the company’s intention to commence production of edible oil as well. He said, “Highlighting once again that three of our five business division namely Sugar, Flour and Pasta, are currently and fully operational and are contributing…
The Lagos State Government and transportation stakeholders, which includes the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), on Tuesday, January 18, 2021, introduced and signed a consolidated levy of N800 daily for transporters in the informal transport sector in the state. The harmonized levy which is outside the normal statutory dues collected by these unions was introduced in order, not to over-burden transporters with exorbitant levies. This was disclosed by the Lagos State Commissioner for Finance, Dr Rabiu Olowo, who at the signing ceremony and ticket unveiling at Ikeja, said that there…
The Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS) has established January 31, 2022, as the deadline for the filing of annual tax returns by employers of labour. The LIRS said that the filing of the annual income tax returns in the state can only be done through the e-Tax portal, which has been built for the convenience of the taxpayers. According to a press statement issued and signed by the Head, Corporate Communications of LIRS, Monsurat Amasa, this was made known by the Executive Chairman of LIRS, Ayodele Subair, who urged employers of Lagos residents to comply with the January 31…
The Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, has established that President Muhammadu Buhari has not directed anyone in his administration to implement the removal of petroleum subsidy. This is coming just after the statement made in October 2021, by the Minister for Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, that the federal government would only make provision for petroleum subsidy for the first 6 months of 2022 as the administration moves towards the complete deregulation of the downstream sector of the oil industry. This was made known by Lawan, while briefing State House Correspondents after meeting with President Buhari at the Presidential…
The Federal Capital Territory Internal Revenue Service (FCT-IRS) has publized for individual and cooperate organizations to respectively file their tax returns by March 31 and January 31 in its bid to meet up with the N200 billion revenue target for the year. Haruna Abdullah, FCT-IRS Acting Chairman said this during the week while leading the tax sensitization drive on Tuesday, in Abuja to create awareness on the existence of the body, according to NAN. The chairman also established that FCT-IRS has a call centre that helps in addressing challenges such as language barrier which could arise in the process of…