Business
Reps accuse Malami, Ahmed of frustrating $2.4bn oil revenue probe
Reps accuse Malami, Ahmed of frustrating $2.4bn oil revenue probe
The House of Representatives has summoned Abubakar Malami, Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, and Zainab Ahmed, Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, over alleged loss of over $2.4bn revenue from illegal sale of 48 million barrels of crude oil.
The two ministers are accused of frustrating the House ad hoc committee investigating the case.
The committee demanded the appearance of Malami to give evidence on allegations that he approved the payment of $200 million to two private firms as consultancy services fees on whistleblower recoveries.
They are invited to provide necessary documents and information that would help the House in its assignment.
Chairman of the committee, Mark Gbillah, said the House might be forced to invoke its powers to compel the duo to appear.
He stated this in Abuja on Wednesday during the session at the House.
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“We’ve not been getting any form of cooperation from the Ministry of Finance and Attorney-General’s office regarding this investigation despite series of correspondents sent to them on this matters we’re investigating.”
He said documentations from the Accountant-General’s Office had revealed that the Minister of Finance approved the payment of substantial amounts of money to whistleblowers without providing details of the monies recovered.
He also cited media reports where the Federal Government confirmed recoveries of millions of dollars through whistleblower revelations on behalf of the country.
He, however, noted that the legislature had not seen “where those monies were routed through the constitutional appropriation process before they were expended.
“The constitution is very clear about the receipt and expenditure of Nigeria’s money. We’ve looked at the functions of the Attorney-General’s office and we’ve not seen any statutory powers provided for the Attorney-General by the constitution to determine how Nigeria’s money should be spent.
“There was an incident about a whistleblower who made a formal report to Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit about $200m paid into two companies account Biz Plus, and GSCL allegedly for consultancy services, which allegedly were approved by the Attorney General’s office on the approval of Mr President.
“We need the Honourable Minister of Finance and the Attorney-General of the Federation to appear before this House to provide clarity on the inflows that have come in from whistleblowers recoveries, and about these monies that were recovered, and the CBN is required to provide information that has been provided by these whistleblowers about substantial amounts of monies that were paid supposedly and allegedly for consultancy services when there’s no record of any agreement entered into by those companies regarding any services.
“These are very weighty allegations and as a responsible House, we owe everybody fair hearing and a benefit of doubt, and this is what we’ve been seeking to accord those who have been mentioned in these allegations.”
Reps accuse Malami, Ahmed of frustrating $2.4bn oil revenue probe
Business
PH refinery: 200 trucks will load petroleum products daily, says Presidency
PH refinery: 200 trucks will load petroleum products daily, says Presidency
No fewer than 200 trucks are set to load petroleum products at the government-owned Port Harcourt Refinery, the presidency has said.
A presidential spokesperson, Sunday Dare, made this known in a statement through his official X handle on Tuesday.
Newstrends had reported that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company on Tuesday announced that Port Harcourt Refinery has resumed operations and crude oil processing after years of inactivity.
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Reacting, Dare said, “200 trucks are expected to load products daily from the refinery, Renewing the Hopes of Nigeria.”
He added that “the Port Harcourt refinery has two wings.
“The Old Refinery comes on stream today with an installed production capacity of 60, 000 barrels per day of crude oil.”
PH refinery: 200 trucks will load petroleum products daily, says Presidency
Business
Breaking: CBN increases interest rate to 27.50%
Breaking: CBN increases interest rate to 27.50%
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has raised the lending interest to 27.50 per cent from 27.25 per cent.
This latest increase in the Monetary Policy Rate came after a meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Monday and concluded Tuesday.
The Monetary Policy Rate measures the benchmark interest rate.
The CBN Governor, Yemi Cardoso, announced this in Abuja on Tuesday after the MPC meeting, last for the year, held at the apex bank’s headquarters.
He said the MPC voted unanimously to raise the MPR by 25 basis points from 27.25% to 27.50%; and retain the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 50% for Deposit Money Banks and 16% for Merchant Banks.
The CBN governor also said the MPC retained the Liquidity Ratio (LR) at 30% and Asymmetric Corridor at +500/-100 basis points around the MPR.
Business
Nigeria’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.3% in Q2 – NBS
Nigeria’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.3% in Q2 – NBS
Nigeria’s unemployment rate stood at 4.3 per cent in the second quarter of 2024, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said in its latest report.
The report released on Monday said the unemployment rate decreased compared to the 5.3 per cent recorded in the Q1 of 2024.
The NBS defined the unemployment rate as the share of the labour force (the combination of unemployed and employed people) who are not employed but actively searching and are available for work.
“The unemployment rate for Q2 2024 was 4.3%, showing an increase of 0.1 percentage point compared to the same period last year,” the report stated.
“The unemployment rate among males was 3.4% and 5.1% among females.
“By place of residence, the unemployment rate was 5.2% in urban areas and 2.8% in rural areas. Youth unemployment rate was 6.5% in Q2 2024, showing a decrease from 8.4% in Q1 2024.”
Report also said the unemployment rate among persons with post-secondary education was 4.8 per cent; 8.5 per cent among those with upper secondary education, 5.8 per cent for those with lower secondary education, and 2.8 per cent among those with primary education in Q2 2024.
Employment rate – 76%
The report showed that the employment-to-population ratio, which measures the number of employed workers against the total working-age population, increased to 76.1 per cent in Q2 2024.
“In Q2 2024, 76.1% of Nigeria’s working-age population was employed, up from 73.1% in Q1 2024,” the report stated.
Self-employment – 85.6%
The report further showed that Nigeria’s labour market saw a notable shift as the proportion of self-employed individuals increased in Q2 2024.
It stated, “The proportion of persons in self-employment in Q2 2024 was 85.6%.”
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