Category: Finance - Page 16 - African News Today

Pandora Papers: EFCC Opens Probe Of Obi, Oduah, NPA Boss, Others

18Oct

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Finance, News, Nigeria

Pandora Papers: EFCC Opens Probe Of Obi, Oduah, NPA Boss, Others

There are indications that the Economic and Crimes Commission has commenced investigations into the alleged tax evasion by some Nigerians named in the Pandora Papers. It was gathered that a former governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, has already been summoned for questioning by the commission over his secret assets and financial deals exposed in the Pandora Papers. Apart from Obi, the acting Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority, Mohammed Bello-Koko; and a former minister and serving senator, Stella Oduah, mentioned in the report are also being probed. Others include Governor Abubakar Bagudu of Kebbi State, Governor Gboyega Oyetola of Osun State as well as his associates including former Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu, and Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun. Read Aso: 1...

FIRS To Spend N2.8bn On Uniforms, N550m On Meals

17Oct

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Finance, News, Nigeria

FIRS To Spend N2.8bn On Uniforms, N550m On Meals

The tax body has also budgeted about N550m for refreshments and N200m for sporting activities. The FIRS, which is one of the highest revenue-generating government bodies, set aside N262.5m for security votes while N17.8bn would be spent on “miscellaneous” expenses. The details are included in the 2022 budget proposal the agency submitted separately to the National Assembly. Already, there are concerns over the cost of governance and the percentage of the annual budget that goes into recurrent expenditure. Read Also: Naira Dips To Record Low At Official Market In the 2022 budget proposal the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), presented to the joint section of the National Assembly on October 7, a whopping N4.69tn out of the total N16.39tn budget was appropriated ...

Naira Dips To Record Low At Official Market

15Oct

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Economy, Finance, News, Nigeria

Naira Dips To Record Low At Official Market

The value of the naira fell further by 1.68 per cent against the dollar at the official market on Thursday. At the Investor & Exporter foreign exchange window, the local currency opened at 413.15/$1 on Thursday but closed at 422.07/$1. Read Also: Nigeria Can’t Get New Dollars When Exchange Rate is Artificially Low -Osinbajo The naira had depreciated by 0.19 per cent to 415.10/$1 on Wednesday after closing at 414.30/$1 on Tuesday. At the parallel market, the dollar was bought at N565 and sold for N570, according to some operators in the black market. The Central Bank of Nigeria, however, maintained N410.91/$1 as its official rate on its website. In July, the CBN stopped forex sales to the Bureau de Change operators and assured that it would supply forex to legitima...

Nigeria Can’t Get New Dollars When Exchange Rate is Artificially Low -Osinbajo

12Oct

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Economy, Finance, News, Nigeria

Nigeria Can’t Get New Dollars When Exchange Rate is Artificially Low -Osinbajo

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo says that Nigeria cannot get new dollars into the system when the exchange rate is “artificially low.” Osinbajo said this on Monday in Abuja at the opening of a two-day Mid-Term Ministerial Performance Review Retreat organised to assess progress made towards the achievement of the nine key priorities of the Buhari administration. Osinbajo, who said the artificially low exchange rate was a deterrence to investors from bringing foreign exchange into the country, noted that, “As for the exchange rate, I think we need to move our rates to be as reflective of the market as possible. This, in my own respective view, is the only way to improve supply. “We can’t get new dollars into the system where the exchange rate is artificially low. And everyone knows by ...

Budget Deficit Rises to N20.64tn Under Buhari

11Oct

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Finance, News, Nigeria

Budget Deficit Rises to N20.64tn Under Buhari

The budget deficit has risen to N20.64tn under the president, Muhammadu Buhari, according to analysed data from the budget office. The data covered periods from 2016 to 2020. According to the budget office, more than N7.97tn was borrowed from foreign and domestic sources to fund these deficits. According to Investopedia, a budget deficit occurs when expenses exceed revenue and indicate the financial health of a country. The budget office said the Federal Government generated a revenue of N3.42tn to fund the budget in 2020. It said total government spending for the year was N10.02tn, 0.43 per cent above the N9.97tn budgeted. Hence, the budget deficit for the year was N6.59tn (14.17 per cent of the 2020 GDP), and this was partly financed through domestic borrowing of N2.06t...

12.5kg Cooking Gas May Sell for N10,000 By Dec – Marketers

10Oct

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Finance, News, Nigeria

12.5kg Cooking Gas May Sell for N10,000 By Dec – Marketers

Marketers of Liquefied Petroleum Gas, well known as cooking gas, on Saturday, expressed worry over the supply shortage leading to a persistent increase in the price of the commodity. They warned that 12.5kg of cooking gas currently selling between N7,500 and N8,000 could rise to N10,000 before December if nothing was done to address the crisis. The marketers lamented that more Nigerians had resorted to using firewood, charcoal, sawdust, among other unrefined energy sources whose prices have also begun to rise. The Executive Secretary of the National Association of LPG Marketers, Mr Bassey Essien, disclosed this during the weekly e-discourse organised by a leading Pan-African forum, Platforms Africa, a statement on Saturday by the organisation’s Team Lead, Adeola Yusuf, said. Re...

Niger Delta Students To Shut NDDC Headquarters Over Bursary

10Oct

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Education, Finance, News, Nigeria

Niger Delta Students To Shut NDDC Headquarters Over Bursary

Nigerian students under the aegis of the Niger Delta Students Union Government have scheduled a protest against the Niger Delta Development Commission for Tuesday, October 12, 2021. The protest is an agitation for the students' bursary payment and proper funding of the education sector in the Niger Delta region. According to the students, NDDC has failed to honour several promises and agreements signed with the students' body. “The Niger Delta Students have fixed their protest for Tuesday. The venue is the NDDC New Headquarters, Eastern Bypass Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Time is 12noon.” In 2020, SaharaReporters reported that many scholars abroad were at risk of having their institutions terminate their academic programmes as the NDDC had refused to pay their tuition for about...

FG Considers Taking States to Supreme Court Over VAT

7Oct

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Finance, Judiciary, News, Nigeria

FG Considers Taking States to Supreme Court Over VAT

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, on Wednesday insisted that the anti-open grazing laws of some states infringed on the freedom of movement as enshrined in the nation’s constitution. Malami said this while answering questions from State House correspondents after the meeting of the Federal Executive Council at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. The minister, who explained that his office had not taken any stance outside the scope of the constitution, also disclosed that the Federal Government, may at the Supreme Court challenge states that legislated on the Value Added Tax. Commenting on the anti-open grazing laws of southern states, Malami said, “On the issue of farmers-herders clashes, no position was taken by the Office of the Att...

Pandora Papers: How Kebbi Governor, Bagudu Amassed Billions For Late Sani Abacha

5Oct

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Finance, News, Nigeria

Pandora Papers: How Kebbi Governor, Bagudu Amassed Billions For Late Sani Abacha

An investigation into the secret businesses of Abubakar Bagudu, the current governor of Kebbi State, has revealed how he dispatched a delegation to Singapore in search of a new haven to shelter his controversial wealth, which is a target of ongoing forfeiture proceedings by the United States Department of Justice. The investigation is part of the global International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ)-led Pandora Papers project, which Premium Times is a part of. The investigation reveals that the huge funds, warehoused offshore, is part of billions of dollars Bagudu helped the Sani Abacha family to steal from Nigeria in the 1990s. Referred by Farrer and Co., a prestigious centuries-old London law firm that has represented the British royal family, Bagudu’s choice of se...

10 Nigerian politicians implicated in Pandora Papers

4Oct

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Finance, News, Nigeria

10 Nigerian politicians implicated in Pandora Papers

No less than 10 Nigerian politicians have been implicated in the Pandora Papers. At least eight African countries are featured in the document. In all, there are 336 politicians listed in the document, according to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which published the earth-shaking papers on Sunday. The ‘Pandora Papers’ is an investigation based on one of the biggest-ever leaks of financial documents which, on Sunday, exposed a hidden world of shielded wealth belonging to hundreds of politicians and billionaires. Read also: Pandora Papers: Investigation Reveals How Ex-Nigerian Governor, Peter Obi Repeatedly Broke The Law Amid Many Secret Businesses Considered as one of the largest ever global media investigations, the Pandora Papers involved more tha...