Business

Owen Paterson to fight to avoid suspension for breaking lobbying rules

Owen Paterson, the Tory MP found to have committed an “egregious” breach of lobbying rules, will fight to clear his name and to avoid a 30-day suspension from the Commons that could trigger a byelection.

Paterson hopes to launch an appeal against parliament’s sleaze watchdog by seeking a judicial review of its decision, and it is likely other Tory MPs will aid him by voting against a motion to enforce it.

The former environment secretary was found on Tuesday to have breached paid advocacy rules, two years after the Guardian published documents revealing how he lobbied for two companies he was paid a total of up to £112,000 a year to advise – Randox and Lynn’s Country Foods.

Kathryn Stone, the parliamentary standards commissioner, concluded her investigation by finding that Paterson made three approaches to the Food Standards Agency (FSA) relating to Randox and the testing of antibiotics in milk; seven to the same agency concerning Lynn’s Country Foods; and four to ministers at the Department for International Development about Randox and blood testing technology.

A follow-up investigation by the standards committee, which contains MPs from different political parties including several Conservatives, revealed Paterson used his parliamentary office on at least 16 occasions for business meetings with his clients between October 2016 and February 2020. The committee also found he sent two letters relating to his business interests on taxpayer-funded Commons-headed notepaper and failed to uphold the seven “principles of public life”.

“No previous case of paid advocacy has seen so many breaches or such a clear pattern of behaviour in failing to separate private and public interests,” the committee said in its final report, which was unanimously endorsed by all its members – apart from Sir Bernard Jenkin, who recused himself given he is a close friend of Paterson’s.

Paterson, the MP for North Shropshire, was revealed to have emailed FSA officials in November 2016 and praised Randox’s “superior technology”, which the committee said was an attempt to “confer a benefit on Randox, to whom he was a paid consultant”. Other messages sent by him to the FSA in November 2017 promoting Lynn’s Country Foods were found to be potentially directly beneficial to the company.

The committee said Paterson should be suspended from the Commons for 30 sitting days, meaning a recall ballot would be triggered. This would mean that if 10% of his constituents signed a petition demanding a byelection, one would automatically be called.

Notionally, motions to censure politicians based on recommendations from the standards committee require a formal vote, but one is not normally called, and it goes through “on the nod”.

But Paterson said the investigation was biased and “offends against the basic standard of procedural fairness”, adding it played a “major role” in driving his wife, Rose, to kill herself last summer.

He said: “Parliament’s internal system of justice needs to operate properly within the principles of natural justice.” Paterson is expected to contest the committee and commissioner’s report when the government calls a vote on the floor of the Commons next week on adopting their findings.

One ally of Paterson’s said he had been “stitched up”. They said: “He’s already lost everything. His reputation and seat are the only things he has left, so he’s going to fight this.”

The MP also said they were certain colleagues would join Paterson in voting against the motion to suspend him. They said the fact the commissioner and the committee had declined to take oral evidence from 17 witnesses was evidence of a dodgy investigation. However, the committee said it already had written statements from them.

Downing Street offered no direct criticism of Paterson, with Boris Johnson’s spokesman saying “the standards regime is a matter for the House of Commons” and that the prime minister was “mindful of the pain faced by the Paterson family”. The spokesman also refused to confirm he thought the standards commissioner and committee’s system of scrutinising MPs’ behaviour was fit for purpose.

Another veteran Conservative backbencher said Paterson’s lobbying “would have been fine, if he wasn’t being paid”, adding: “These rules are in place for a reason. What was he thinking?”

Business

CAC threatens to shut down PoS operators as deadline for registration expires

The Corporate Affairs Commission has said it will work with law enforcement agencies and other legal means to shut down recalcitrant Sales Operators who fail to register their businesses as its 60-day deadline lapses.

The Commission disclosed this in a notice Friday on its official X handle.

This comes after CAC on July 7, 2024, issued a 60-day deadline which expired on Thursday, September 5, 2024, for all PoS operators to register their businesses.

CAC noted that there was inadequate compliance with its directive, noting that those who decided not to register may be engaging in unwholesome activities.

“The Commission notes inadequate compliance with the directive for formalization when viewed from the background of the large number of POS operators in the country. Those who have taken steps to formalize in line with the Commission’s directive are commended for their positive attitudes.

“Recalcitrant operators have refused to adhere to the advice for formalization due possibly to engagements in unwholesome activities or for some reasons best known to them.

“We are here to make it clear that the Commission is working with Law Enforcement Agencies and other relevant stakeholders to deploy a comprehensive enforcement and sanction framework that may include not only possible shutdown but other severe legal Consequences.”

Meanwhile, the Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria, AMMBAN, recently challenged the CAC’s registration directive.

Business

Dangote’s petrol to flood market from Sept 15 — NNPCL

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has announced that Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, from the Dangote Refinery will begin to flood the market starting on September 15, 2024.

This development follows the refinery’s commencement of petrol refining earlier in the week.

In a statement signed by the NNPCL’s Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye, on Thursday in Abuja, the company clarified that petrol prices would now be determined by market forces.

The statement addressed speculations about price control, reiterating that the downstream sector had been fully deregulated and that NNPCL would no longer fix fuel prices.

Adedapo Segun, NNPCL’s Executive Vice President of Downstream, emphasised that foreign exchange (forex) illiquidity had been a major factor influencing PMS price fluctuations, which are now regulated by the free market as mandated by the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).

Segun also noted that the current fuel scarcity should ease within a few days as more filling stations recalibrate their systems and resume selling PMS.

He cited Section 205 of the PIA, which established that petroleum prices are governed by market forces rather than government intervention. The exchange rate, he added, significantly impacts fuel prices.

Regarding the supply of petrol from the Dangote Refinery, Segun stated that NNPCL was preparing for the September 15 timeline when products would be available for distribution.

He assured Nigerians that NNPCL is working closely with fuel marketers to ensure stations remain open and well-stocked to meet demand, while measures are being taken to prevent product diversions.

Segun’s comments come on the heels of the Federal Government’s announcement of an impending boost in petrol supply over the weekend, as vessels had started offloading while reaffirming that PMS prices would not be fixed by the government.

Business

PMS Prices are determined by free market forces—NNPC Ltd

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) has stated that foreign exchange (forex) illiquidity has been a significant factor influencing the fluctuation in prices of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), which are governed by unrestricted free market forces, as provided for in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), 2021.

Speaking on TVC News’ “Journalists’ Hangout” show on Thursday, the Executive Vice President of Downstream, NNPC Ltd., Mr. Adedapo Segun explained that the current fuel scarcity was expected to “subside in a few days as more stations recalibrate and begin selling PMS.”

He said Section 205 of the PIA, which established NNPC Ltd., stipulated that petroleum prices were determined by unrestricted free market forces.

According to him, “The market has been deregulated, meaning that petrol prices are now determined by market forces rather than by the government or NNPC Ltd. Additionally, the exchange rate plays a significant role in influencing these prices.”

On the commencement of lifting PMS from the Dangote Refinery, Segun said that the NNPC Ltd. was awaiting the September 15th timeline provided by the Refinery.

Segun, who said no right-thinking individual would be comfortable with the current fuel scarcity, added that the NNPC Ltd. has nearly a thousand filling stations nationwide and was collaborating with marketers to “ensure that stations open early, close late, in order to maintain adequate fuel supply to meet the needs of Nigerians.”

He assured Nigerians: “We are also engaging relevant authorities to ensure products diversions are prevented and timely deliveries to all stations are ensured. The scarcity should ease in the next few days as more stations recalibrate and begin operations.”