Business

Presidential aircraft: Ogun moves to vacate seizure order, faults fraudulent legal process by Zhongashan

Ogun State Government, on Thursday, faulted the judicial process that led to the provisional attachment of three Nigerian government owned aircraft in France by the Judicial Court of Paris on 7th March and 2nd August, 2024.
It would be recalled that a Chinese company, Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Ltd, had sought several orders from the court over an aborted underlying contract between the company and Ogun State Government, which was initiated in 2007.
In a statement signed by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Strategy, Hon. Kayode Akinmade, the Ogun State government described the latest development as the new antics by the Chinese company to appropriate Nigerian assets in foreign jurisdictions, as past efforts had continually failed.
The statement described the whole legal process as nothing but a total charade with fraudulent notion, adding that the company deliberately concealed the litigation from both the Nigerian government and Ogun State, as well as their legal counsels before hurriedly securing orders of seizure.
It added that the company must have misled the Judicial Court of Paris as to the use and nature of the assets it sought to attach and not made full disclosure to the court as required by law.
According to the statement, Ogun State, together with the Federal Government, had already taken immediate action to ensure that those provisional attachments are lifted quickly, even as it accused the company of reneging on the earlier discussion for an amicable resolution of the case.
It likened the case to that of P&ID, describing it as very unfortunate case of unscrupulous individuals masquerading as foreign investors with the sole aim of defrauding Ogun State and Nigeria at large.
The statement said: “On 14 August 2024, the attention of the Ogun State Government was drawn to the provisional attachment of three Nigerian government owned aircraft in France by the Chinese company, Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Ltd. (Zhongshan). Ogun State also learned of two orders of the Judicial Court of Paris dated 7 March 2024 and 12 August 2024 respectively, both obtained by Zhongshan without notice being duly given to the Federal Government or Nigeria, Ogun State or their legal counsel.
“This is the latest in a series of ill-advised attempts by Zhongshan to attach Nigerian-owned assets in foreign jurisdictions, none of which have to date led to the recovery of any sums from Nigeria.
“Each of the three aircraft is used solely for sovereign purposes and as such are immune from attachment under international and French laws. In obtaining the provisional attachments, Zhongshan deliberately withheld information from the Federal Government of Nigeria, Ogun State and their legal counsel.
“Just like the P&ID case, this is another unfortunate case of unscrupulous individuals masquerading as foreign investors with the sole aim of defrauding Ogun State and Nigeria.
“It should be recalled that the underlying contract between Ogun State and Zhongshan was executed in 2007, 12 years before the present administration, for the management of a free-trade zone. The parties entered into a dispute in 2015 with arbitration commencing in 2016.
“By 2019, when the current State Administration took office, the hearing at the arbitration had been all but concluded. The Arbitral Panel awarded over 60 million USD against the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) which was a co-Defendant, when all Zhongshan had done was to build a perimeter fence around the free-trade zone. Needless to say this was a bad/unfair decision.
“The present State Administration could not in all good conscience allow such an unconscionable and baseless decision, which would dissipate the commonwealth of the good people of Ogun State, to stand.
“Accordingly, and based on erudite legal advice, this Administration resolved to resist the enforcement of the award. The resistance was successful in 8 different jurisdictions. Currently, there are pending appeals against recognition orders issued in both the US and UK,” the statement read.

Business

CBN begins implementation of controversial Cybersecurity levy on transactions

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has confirmed the enforcement of the controversial cybercrime levy at 0.005 percent on all electronic transactions under its new guidelines for the 2024-2025 fiscal year.

Apex Bank disclosed this in its recently released Monetary, Credit, Foreign Trade, and Exchange Policy Guidelines for Fiscal Years 2024-2025.

The development comes after the levy was purportedly suspended after it sparked debate among Nigerians.

The Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act of 2015, is aimed at bolstering the nation’s cyber security infrastructure.

Meanwhile, the percentage has been reduced from 0.5 percent earlier announced in May 2024 to 0.005 percent in the new guidelines.

CBN reaffirmed its commitment to mandating banks and other financial institutions deduct the levy from all electronic transactions.

The revenue generated from this levy is directed towards a cybersecurity fund, intended to support measures that safeguard Nigeria’s banking system from the growing threat of cyberattacks.

“The CBN shall continue to enforce the payment of the mandatory levy of 0.005 percent on all electronic transactions by banks and other financial institutions, by Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015″, the document said.

Business

FAAC: FG, States, LGs share N1.203trn August revenue

A total sum of N1.203 trillion in August 2024 Federation Accounts revenue has been shared among the Federal, State, and Local Governments in the country.

The balance in the Excess Crude Account (ECA) was $473,754.57.

The revenue distribution was announced at the September 2024 meeting of the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC), held in Abuja.

The N1.203 trillion total distributable revenue comprised distributable statutory revenue of N186.636 billion, distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue of N533.895 billion, Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) revenue of N15.017 billion, and Exchange Difference revenue of N468.245 billion.

In a statement on Tuesday, Bawa Mokwa, Director (Press and Public Relations) in the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF), said a communiqué issued by the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) indicated that total revenue of N2.278 trillion was available in August 2024.

Total deductions for the cost of collection were N81.975 billion, while total transfers, interventions, and refunds were N992.617 billion.

According to the communiqué, gross statutory revenue of N1.221 trillion was received for August 2024, which was lower than the N1.387 trillion received in July 2024 by N165.994 billion.

Gross revenue of N573.341 billion was available from Value Added Tax (VAT) in August 2024. This was lower than the N625.329 billion available in July 2024 by N51.988 billion.

The communiqué stated that from the N1.203 trillion total distributable revenue, the Federal Government received a total sum of N374.925 billion, the State Governments received N422.861 billion, and the Local Government Councils received N306.533 billion.

A total sum of N99.474 billion (13% of mineral revenue) was shared with the benefiting States as derivation revenue.

Regarding the N186.636 billion distributable statutory revenue, the communiqué stated that the Federal Government received N71.624 billion, the State Governments received N36.329 billion, and the Local Government Councils received N28.008 billion.

A sum of N50.675 billion (13% of mineral revenue) was shared with the benefiting States as derivation revenue.

From the N533.895 billion distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue, the Federal Government received N80.084 billion, the State Governments received N266.948 billion, and the Local Government Councils received N186.863 billion.

A total sum of N2.252 billion was received by the Federal Government from the N15.017 billion Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL), while the State Governments received N7.509 billion, and the Local Government Councils received N5.256 billion.

From the N468.245 billion Exchange Difference revenue, the communiqué stated that the Federal Government received N220.964 billion, the State Governments received N112.076 billion, and the Local Government Councils received N86.406 billion, while N48.799 billion (13% of mineral revenue) was shared with the benefiting States as derivation revenue.

In August 2024, Oil and Gas Royalty, Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT), Value Added Tax (VAT), Import and Excise Duties, Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL), CET Levies, and Companies Income Tax (CIT) all recorded decreases.

Business

Inflation rate drops to 32.15%

Nigeria’s inflation rate drops to 15.60% in January

The Nigerian headline inflation rate dropped to 32.15% in August. This is according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

In its latest report, the NBS said the August 2024 headline inflation rate showed a decrease of 1.25% points.

It said: “In August 2024, the headline inflation rate further eased to 32.15% relative to the July 2024 headline inflation rate of 33.40%. Looking at the movement, the August 2024 headline inflation rate showed a decrease of 1.25% points when compared to the July 2024 headline inflation rate.

“However, on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 6.35% points higher compared to the rate recorded in August 2023 (25.80%).

“This shows that the headline inflation rate (year on-year basis) increased in August 2024 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., August 2023).

“Furthermore, on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in August 2024 was 2.22%, which was 0.06% lower than the rate recorded in August 2024 (2.28%).

“This means that in August 2024, the rate of increase in the average price level is lower than the rate of increase in the average price level in July 2024”.