Business

Senate asks NPA to refund $37.6m, N67.51bn ‘unremitted’ revenues

Published

3 years ago

July 15, 2021

The Senate has asked the Nigerian Ports Authority to refund the sum of $37.67 million to the Federal Government coffers having discovered lack of diligence in the review of the agency’s charges on a contract of towage services.
The upper chamber said the non-remittance of N67.51 billion for 2013 and 2014 into the consolidated revenue fund (CRF), being 25 percent of its internally generated revenue (IGR) contravened the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007.
It added that the failure to remit capitalised interest to the CRF, “totalling” N99.71 million, between 2013 and 2014 contravened Rule 236 of the Financial Regulations.
In May 2021, the senate committee on finance had invited heads of 60 government-owned firms, including the ports authority, to explain the failure to remit various funds running into about N3 trillion to the federal government’s account.
In a statement signed by the Special Assistant (Press) to the Senate President, Ezrel Tabiowo, on Wednesday, the upper chamber mandated the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate the accounting officer under Rule 3112 (I and II) of the Financial Regulations.
The Senate demanded that the director-general who authorised the disbursement of contingency provision on the contract for the rehabilitation of Lagos Habour moles to the tune of N417,099,309.06 without federal executive council approval to be reported to President Muhammadu Buhari under Rule 3103 of the Financial Regulations.
It also directed the NPA to refund diverted funds of N1.08 billion, $2.30 million (N946.35 million), and €196,257.42 (N94.90 million) meant for the presidential implementation committee on marine safety and security (PICOMSS) to the account of the National Security Adviser (NIA) to the president.
The Senate said the funds were diverted contrary to a directive approved by FEC on February 21, 2007.
These are part of the 59 recommendations adopted by the Senate on the annual report of the auditor-general for the year ended 31st December 2015.
On unretired advances involving 39 ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to the tune of N2,296,567,084.37 billion, the upper chamber demanded the sanctioning of accounting officers of MDAs in accordance with the provision of rule 3124 of financial regulations.
It also called on the accountant-general of the federation, Ahmed Idris, a deadline of 90 days to identify and sanction officers responsible for the mismanagement of public funds to the tune of N54,151,360,000 billion ($274,280,000.00) as exchange loss on external loans.
The accountant-general is expected to report back to the senate committee on public accounts within ninety days.
In addition, the Senate gave another 90 days timeline for the office of the accountant-general of the federation to set in motion the process of recovery of internal loans made from other funds, which stands at N390,288,085,668.92 billion and to be paid back into the special funds accounts.
The source of the loans is from the Development of Natural Resources Account, Stabilization Fund Account, 25 percent Husked Brown Rice Levy, one per cent Comprehensive Supervision Scheme (CISS) Pool Levy, 15 percent Wheat Grain Levy, and 10 percent Rice Levy.
The upper also chamber directed the accountant-general of the federation to recover the sum of N378,879,674.99 tax revenue from Webb Fontaine Ltd and remit same to the Federal Inland Revenue Service within six months.
It also called for a review of all companies that were paid from the out-flow of one per cent CISS Account, which amounted to N39,557,671,843.97.

Business

Food price, transport fare hike push Nigeria’s inflation to 33.88%

Published

4 hours ago

November 15, 2024

Trends Admin

Food price, transport fare hike push Nigeria’s inflation to 33.88%

Rising cost of living based on the increase in food prices and transport fares among others has reflected in the latest inflation figures in Nigeria, put at 33.88 per cent.

Nigeria’s headline inflation rate rose to 33.88 per cent in October 2024, up from 32.7 per cent in September 2024, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released on Friday.

Newstrends.ng observes that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has raised interest rates five times this year in an effort to rein in inflation.

The NBS in its latest report attributed the rise in inflation to increased transportation costs and higher food prices.

On a year-on-year basis, the rate was 6.55 percentage points higher than the 27.33 per cent recorded in October 2023, highlighting a substantial increase in inflation over the past year.

On a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in October 2024 stood at 2.64 per cent, representing a 0.12 per cent increase from the 2.52 per cent recorded in September 2024

This indicates that the rate of increase in the average price level in October 2024 was higher than the rate of increase observed in September 2024.

Aviation

Disaster averted as bird strike hits Abuja-Lagos Air Peace flight

Published

1 day ago

November 14, 2024

Trends Admin

Disaster averted as bird strike hits Abuja-Lagos Air Peace flight

An Abuja-Lagos flight was on Thursday aborted following a bird strike on the airplane belonging to Air Peace, forcing the authorities to ground the aircraft.

The bird strike experienced in the early hours reportedly prompted a ramp return to ensure the safety of passengers onboard.

All the passengers quickly disembarked and were calmed down before they were moved into another plane for the one-hour journey.

A bird strike is a collision between a bird and an aircraft, or other airborne animal, while the aircraft is in flight, taking off, or landing. And it can be a significant threat to aircraft safety.

Air Peace in a statement by its Head of Corporate Communications, Ejike Ndiulo, said the bird strike occurred at 6:30am, and all passengers disembarked normally.

The statement read, “We wish to inform our esteemed passengers that our Abuja- Lagos 06:30 flight experienced a bird strike before take-off, prompting a ramp return as a safety measure. All passengers disembarked normally.

“We have deployed a replacement aircraft for the affected flight in order to minimize disruptions, thus ensuring that passengers continue their journeys promptly.

“We appeal for the understanding of our valued passengers impacted by this development, as well as those on other flights that may experience delays.

“At Air Peace, we are committed to providing safe, comfortable, and reliable air travel for all our passengers.”

Business

NNPC achieves 1.8mbpd crude oil production

Published

1 day ago

November 14, 2024

Trends Admin

NNPC achieves 1.8mbpd crude oil production

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) and its partners have revved up crude oil and gas production to 1.8million barrels per day (mbpd) and 7.4standard cubic feet per day (scfd).

The company which announced this at a press briefing said the feat was achieved in compliance with the mandate of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Speaking on the development, the Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Mele Kyari, congratulated the Production War Room Team that anchored the production recovery process.

“The team has done a great job in driving this project of not just production recovery but also escalating production to expected levels that are in the short and long terms acceptable to our shareholders based on the mandates that we
have from the President, the Honourable Minister, and the Board,” Kyari explained.

Giving details of the efforts of the Production War Room, the Chief War Room Coordinator and Senior Business Adviser to the Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Lawal Musa, disclosed that the feat was achieved through the collaborative efforts of Joint Venture and Production Sharing Contract partners, the Office of the National Security Adviser, as well as government and private security agencies.