HIGHLIGHTS
- Arms deal: South Africa to return $9.34m to Nigeria in November.
- Anti-terrorism: We need you to be stonger – Osinbajo urges NGOs, CSOs
- Not all nominees cleared will be Ministers – Buhari
- Buhari reportedly fixes Wednesday for Ministers appointments, swearing-in
- Nigeria, India, 45 others restrict Internet freedom — Report
- NNPC records N38.67bn from sale of petroleum products in Sept.
- CAN vows to resist Cross River attempt to ban prayers in schools
- South East roads needs urgent attention – Osinbajo
- Wema Bank records gross earnings worth N32.57bn in third quarter
- Pay N1trillion fine or face immediate sanctions – NCC warns MTN
- Brazil will be tough -Amuneke
- U-17 World Cup: Nigeria can’t underrate Brazil – Nwakali
- Glo Nigeria Premier League | FIXTURES: Sunday 01 November 2015
Arms deal: South Africa to return $9.34m to Nigeria in November.
The South African government has resolved to hand over the sum of $9.34m to the Nigerian government on November 30, 2015.
DAILY POST recalls that the money was confiscated by the South African authorities from an Israeli arms dealer, Eyal Mesika, of Cyprus-based ESD International, while he was acting on behalf of the Federal Government for arm procurement.
According to beta.iol.co.za, a South Africa online newspaper, on Friday, Nigeria would will receive the confiscated sum on November 30, 2015.
The paper reported that the arms dealer would be released without prosecution and the South African government would be open to discussions with Nigeria on further deals on arms.
“That is the result of a quiet deal finalising a year-long international wrangle after South African Customs officials and police stopped a man who flew into Lanseria Airport from Nigeria carrying bags stuffed with $9.34m cash for a ‘humanitarian’ arms deal,” the report said.
It was further revealed that two weeks ago, the National Prosecuting Authority of SA resolved to release the cash to the Defence Adviser at the Nigerian High Commission in Pretoria.
“The high court in Pretoria order technically declares the money forfeited to the state, but also refers to the Nigerian government as “the innocent victim” and excludes its interests from the forfeiture order, which means Nigeria gets the money. The handover is on November 30 if there is no further legal challenge,” it added.
Anti-terrorism: We need you to be stonger – Osinbajo urges NGOs, CSOs
The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has charged Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to contribute to the rebuilding, reconstruction, reconciliation and resettlement of victims of insurgency in the North East.
Osinbajo gave the task at the Northeast Humanitarian Multi-stakeholder Engagement meeting in Maiduguri, Borno.
He said that the situation in the region would have been worse without the intervention of the CSOs and donor partners. “The many civil society groups, funding partners, regional and international partners, have given up their time, resources and even lives in some cases and deserve to be commended.
“But for you, first responders we would have been far worse off than we are today. “The CSO community is the heart and conscience of underserved people and communities. “You have shown uncommon compassion and offered a voice to the most vulnerable, especially when others were nowhere to be found.
“You have supported governments at all levels, in this region in particular, when things were very tough.
“As we deal with what is evidently the greatest human challenge in Nigeria’s recent history, we will need you to be even stronger. “This challenge will require dedication, innovation and creativity especially from the NGO and CSO community.
“This meeting is more important for the fact that it is taking place here in Maiduguri. “The city that has suffered the most loss of lives and property in the past six years of the Boko Haram scourge.
“Your being here underscores not just our empathy for the victims of the terror but also demonstrate the outreach that we all feel about the mindless killings, abductions and wanton destruction perpetrated by the sect.
“Our been here was equally a collective determination to find the most cost effective ways to intervene in restoring the dignity of the tens and thousands of IDPs from the North East. “We may not know them by their names or faces, we may speak different faith but we are in the eyes of our Creator one and the same.
Not all nominees cleared will be Ministers – Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday hinted that not all ministerial nominees attend federal executive council sessions as substantive ministers.
In an interactive session with journalists in New Delhi, capital of India, on Friday, Buhari lamented state of the economy, saying Nigeria is broke.
His words: “There used to be 42 ministers but we will be lucky if we can have half of that now, others may not be substantive ministers but they will sit in the cabinet because that is what the constitution says and we cannot work outside the constitution.
“Where is the money? Nigeria cannot pay salaries. The federal government had to assist 27 out of the 36 states to pay salaries… The country was materially vandalized and morally sucked.”
Buhari commended India for setting aside a grant of $10 billion for African countries, adding that the assistance will go a long way in helping to shape the continent.
The president disclosed that he had been able to facilitate some deals that will end up benefitting the country.
Buhari reportedly fixes Wednesday for Ministers appointments, swearing-in
President Muhammadu Buhari may assign portfolio and administer the oath of office on his ministers “most likely on Wednesday.”
A source at the Presidency told Daily Trust on Friday.
“The first major official assignment before Mr. President in November is the inauguration of his cabinet.
“Arrangements have already been made for this and this will most likely happen on Wednesday,” the source said.
An aide to one of the ministers-designate also disclosed that his principal had received a message from the Presidency that the inauguration would take place on Wednesday.
Reacting, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity,Femi Adesina, said he could not confirm, advising the media and Nigerians to wait for an official communication.
Nigeria, India, 45 others restrict Internet freedom — Report
Nigeria, Angola, Ecuador, India, Mexico and 42 others have been identified as countries restricting internet freedom in varying forms.
This was contained in a recent wide-ranging report released by US-based Freedom House titled ‘Freedom On The Internet’ featuring 65 countries.
Nigeria was, however, listed among countries where Internet freedom is ‘partly free’ while Pakistan, Cuba, Iran, Syria, China, The Gambia, Egypt, Thailand, Belarus, Bahrain, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan, Russia and Ethiopia were included in the “not free’ category.
Also in the report, Iceland, US, South Africa, Kenya, Argentina, UK, Brazil, Armenia, Canada, Germany Australia, Italy, France, Georgia, Hungary, Estonia and Philipines were tagged ‘free,’ suggesting countries placing no censorship on internet use.
The 65 countries covered in the report represent 88 per cent of the world’s Internet user population.
NNPC records N38.67bn from sale of petroleum products in Sept.
Abuja – The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), says it recorded N38.67billion from the sale of downstream petroleum products in September.
This is contained in the corporation’s report for September obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)in Abuja on Sunday.
It stated that the amount was in respect of revenue from “white products” sold by the Pipelines and Product Marketing Company (PPMC).
The white products include Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), Household Kerosene (HHK), and Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).
The report also indicated that NNPC generated N44.2 billion from the sale of white petroleum products in August.
According to the report, the total revenue for white products sold from January to September 2015 stood at N461.1 billion.
It stated that the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) contributed about 86 per cent of all the revenues collected from January to September with a value of N395.68 billion.
It stated that the combined value of output by the three refineries in Nigeria amounted to N9.9 billion for crude processed in September.
The report said that the associated crude plus freight cost stood at N6.3 billion, representing a loss of N8.8 billion after an overhead cost of N12.4 billion.
The report also indicated that 75.78 million litres was produced compared to 200.2 million litres in August in respect of products from domestic refineries.
It stated that the total crude processed by the three refineries in September was 261,371.14 bbls (35,648 MT) translating to a combined capacity utilisation of 1.96 per cent
According to the report, only Port Harcourt refinery produced 31,008 million MT of petroleum products, out of 35,648 million MT of crude processed at an average capacity utilisation of 5.77 per cent.
It said the petroleum product supplied and distributed into the country from Off-Shore Processing Agreements (OPA), stood at 763.90 million litres of white products against 701.29 million litres supplied in August.
The report said Dual Purpose Kerosene (DPK), receipt in September was 196.30 million litres compared with zero litres imported in the previous month.
It stated that 507.90 million litres of downstream petroleum products were distributed and sold by PPMC in September 2015 compared to 606.84 million litres sold in the previous month.
The report stated that the sale comprised of 456.81 million litres of PMS, 31.41 million litres of Kerosene and 19.68 million litres of diesel.
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Cross River State has threatened a showdown with the state government over the ban on morning devotion in all primary and secondary schools.
A statement on Thursday by the state CAN chairman, Archbishop Joseph Edra Ukpo stated that such was against freedom of worship in the state.
The statement said: “Sequel to the letter from the Ministry of Education with reference No MOE/S132/VOL 1, by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education dated October 21, directing public and private primary/secondary schools across the state to suspend all assemblies (morning and afternoon) till further notice, the Christian Association of Nigeria, Cross River State chapter, hereby, says that such directive is totally unacceptable.
Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, at the weekend affirmed that the worst problem bogging down people of the south East zone is the area’s dilapidated road networks.
Speaking while fielding questions from journalists in Enugu, where he attended
a function at the Cathedral Church of the Good Shepherd, AnglicanCommunion, Professor Osibajo said the situation is clear to the federal government.
He noted that despite government financial constraint at the moment, there is a need to make improvements on roads in the South East where commerce thrives and people move about a lot to earn their living.
The Vice President disclosed that he had discussed the issue of the roads with Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State, adding that the issue was not unknown to the federal government.
” Not just only one problem that the people of the South East have in terms of roads, you know what our financial constraints are, there is a need for improvement on roads where there is a lot of commerce and movement of people.”
Prof Osinbajo noted that there is need to raise the value of naira by discouraging importation of some items.
Wema Bank Plc on Friday said that its gross earnings grew to N32.57 billion in the third quarter of 2015.
This is contained in the bank’s unaudited 2015 third quarter financial results released by the Nigeria Stock exchange in Lagos.
The figure represents a three per cent growth on the N31.65 billion recorded in the same period in 2014
It also said that its interest income on loans and advances also grew to N26.58 billion, compared to N26.13 billion in the corresponding period in 2014.
The growth represents a two per cent increase.
However, profit before tax stood at N1.53 billion in the third quarter of 2015, down from the N2.51 billion recorded in the same period of 2014.
Mr Segun Oloketuyi, the Managing Director of Wema Bank Plc, explained that the micro-economic challenges affected the bank’s performance.
Oloketuyi said, “During the period up to Q3 2015, the challenging macro-economic headwinds which pervaded the business environment no doubt took its toll on the performance of the bank.
“Though we were able to grow top-line earnings by three per cent, compared to the third quarter of 2014, our margins reduced slightly.
“This is as a result of the additional liquidity demands placed on the industry by the restrictive monetary policies of the regulator.”
He added that the slowdown within the retail segment due to a decline in disposable income, especially among the middle class customers, also affected the bank’s performance.
“Despite the restrictive policies, we were able to maintain the core of our deposit volumes after adjustments for the Treasury Single Account (TSA) payment.
“Deposit volumes closed at N221 billion, with cost of funds about five per cent.
“Looking forward to the rest of the year, we are cautiously optimistic that there will be more clarity on the economic direction of the new government.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has given MTN Nigeria an ultimatum of two weeks to pay the N1.04 trillion fine slammed on it.
The penalty was imposed on the mobile phone company for failure to cut off users with unregistered SIM cards.
Tony Ojobo, NCC spokesman, told Reuters that MTN had until November 16 to make the payment, but that the two parties were in talks to resolve the matter.
According to Ojobo, the outcome of the discussion may affect the date. He said that’s why they are having the discussion so that they can reach a solution.
Another source told Reuters that the presidency and internal security agency were also involved in the talks.
The Estadio Sausalito in Vina del Mar will come alive again today when Nigeria and Brazil for the first time in the history of the global cadet championship clash for a semi- final ticket at the FIFA Under-17 World Cup Chile 2015.
There is a healthy rivalry between both countries with Nigeria slightly ahead of Brazil with four titles as against three under the belt of the South Americans and Golden Eaglets’ Head coach, Emmanuel Amuneke has admitted that it will be a battle royale when the two most accomplished teams at this level ‘meet.’ “
Our match against Brazil on Sunday is not a cup final but I agree with you that it is not going to be an easy match either,” Amuneke told thenff.com.“
This is one more game towards our objectives ; the Brazilian team is very good and over a month ago, we beat them 2-1 at the Suwon U-17 Youth International Tournament in South Korea.
“We have seen the stuff they are made of but it would be a totally different ball game on Sunday because this is a World Cup match and not a friendly match or a pre-World Cup tournament .
“ But I’m hopeful, we are going to put up a good fight against them on Sunday,” Amuneke said.
Nigeria and Brazil have seemingly had an identical route to the quarter final stage after both lost once at the Estadio Francisco Sanchez Rumoroso in Coquimbo at the group phase.
Golden Eaglets captain, Kelechi Nwakali, has warned his team cannot afford to underrate Brazil in Sunday’s FIFA U-17 World Cup quarter final clash although the team defeated the South American champions recently.
Nigeria pipped mighty Brazil 2-1 at the Suwon International tournament in South Korea prior to the World Cup in Chile and while the Eaglets had cruised through to the last-eight of the World Cup, three-time champions Brazil labored to reach the stage, africanFootball.com reports.
But skipper Nwakali said what will matter most on Sunday night will be what both teams do on the pitch.
“It was just a friendly (Eaglets 2-1 win over Brazil in Korea), and this game will be totally different. It doesn’t matter what others say because we’ll never underestimate anyone, least of all Brazil,” africanFootball.com quoted Nwakali as saying in an interview with FIFA.com
FIXTURES: Sunday 01 November 2015
Wikki Tourists v Dolphins
Heartland v Giwa FC
FC Ifeanyi Ubah v 3SC
Nasarawa United v Sharks
FC Taraba v Kwara United
Abia Warriors v Enyimba
Warri Wolves v Bayelsa United
Sunshine Stars v Lobi Stars
Rangers v Akwa United
kanemi Warriors V Kano Pillars
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