By Frank Momoh

The federal government through the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy on Friday debunked allegations that it procured hybrid radio spectrum monitoring equipment for N654 billion.

Mrs. Philomena Oshodin, the Director of Public and Press Affairs in the ministry, in a statement made available to SHARPEDGENEWS Online, said the ministry sought approval before one hybrid radio spectrum monitoring equipment for Anambra State was bought for N654 million, to reduce coverage areas for both Ogoja and Abuja.

Beneath is the Ministry’s Full and Unedited Statement:

The attention of the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, has been drawn to the misrepresentation of the approval granted to the Ministry to purchase and deploy Radio Spectrum Monitoring Equipment to the South-East Geo-political Zone of the Country.

The issues raised by some of the socio-cultural organizations to the approval granted for the procurement of the Hybrid Mobile Radio Spectrum Monitoring Equipment are that:

The approval was intended to monitor illegal radio communications in the South-East Zone.

The purpose was to curb the activities of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in order to monitor and shut down their communication.

The amount approved is a humongous sum of N654 billion.

All the issues raised in Paragraph 2 above are false and a complete misrepresentation of the facts.

There is the need to state the facts as follows:

Radio Spectrum Frequency is a scarce natural resource of a country and is allocated after payment of fees for use by individuals, corporate and government organisations including security agencies after the application and approval by the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy. This is done after the payment of relevant fees.

The Licence is renewable every year.

To ensure compliance by users of assigned frequencies, the ministry obtained an approval in 2017 to acquire 5 Radio Spectrum Monitoring Equipment and two (2) Denial of Service Equipment.

The 5 Radio Spectrum Monitoring Equipment were deployed to monitor the whole Country as follows:

Azare – to cover Bauchi, Borno, Kano, Jigawa, Adamawa,

Taraba, Gombe and Yobe States

Gusau – to cover Zamfara, Sokoto, Kebbi, Kwara, Katsina

and Kaduna States.

Ogoja – to cover Cross River, Rivers, Akwa-Ibom, Ebonyi,

Benue, Enugu, Abia and Imo States.

Lagos – to cover Lagos, Ondo, Ogun, Oyo, Ekiti and Osun

States

Abuja – to cover FCT and Niger, Plateau, Nasarawa, Kogi,

Edo, Bayelsa, Anambra and Delta States.

During the Monitoring Exercise, it was discovered that the Abuja and Ogoja Stations were being over stretched as coverage areas was too large for effective and efficient monitoring.

Consequently, the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy sought and obtained approval to acquire 1 additional Hybrid Mobile Radio Spectrum Monitoring System in the sum of N654 million to be sited in Anambra State to reduce the coverage area for both Abuja and Ogoja Stations.

This will reduce Abuja Station coverage and enable Abuja to cover Kwara and Ekiti thereby reducing the coverage areas for Lagos and Gusau Monitoring Stations.

These monitoring systems can and will actually detect any un-licenced frequency user. However, any intended user (Individual, Corporate and Government Organisations) is required to apply and obtain Licence to operate within their assigned frequency range without any hindrance. The purpose of the Licence is to avoid the incidence of harmful interferences to duly licenced users.

The public may wish to note that the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy does not have the mandate of monitoring radio broadcasting stations and their services.

Nothing in the above narration has anything to do with activities of any socio-cultural organisation(s). (sharpedgenews)

The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami on Friday insisted that the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) is the right agency to be in charge of postage stamp and stamp authentication on transactions.

Pantami at the 2020 World Post Day and Launching of Compendium of Nigeria Postage Stamps (100years)1914 -2014, said he would continue to fight to revert the decision that gave collection of stamp duty to Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).

“We will continue to fight within the confine of the law to get NIPOST what belongs to it. I have written to my boss Mr. President (Muhammadu Buhari) five times, I have raised the issue at FEC meeting four times and I have written to the Minister of Finance three times over the issue. We will not stop until justice is done”, the minister said.

He said the federal government had commenced reforms in NIPOST to make it a huge revenue generating agency.

According to him, two limited liability companies have been carved out of the postal service and a third one would come up before December.

In his address, the Postmaster General of the Federation, Dr Ismail Adebayo said the Post Service occupies a very unique position in every country.

“To underscore that the Post continues to serve as an essential instrument of economic and social development in Nigeria, the Federal Government has embarked on a comprehensive reform of the Postal Sector to make it responsive to customers’ demands through provision of high quality and affordable universal postal service to the citizenry”, he said.

He however said the reform has brought positive changes in NIPOST operations.

He said in the last three years, over 120 motor bikes were purchased for the last mile delivery and 32 Toyota Corolla vehicles were purchased with the IGR of the organization and distributed to the Zonal Heads and District Managers for marketing purposes.

He said a total of 5,310 metric tons of mail items were redistributed across the country in the last one year.

Mr. Vijah Eldred Opuama has dragged Chief Benson Agadaga (the Chief of Staff, to the Bayelsa State Government) to court in a bid to enforce his Fundamental Human Right.

The application with suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/1325/2020, and which was filed at the Abuja division of the Federal High Court also has ASP Mohammed Gimba (IPO, IGP monitoring unit) Adamu Abdullahi Ellesman, ACP (Head, IGP monitoring unit), the Inspector General of Police and the Attorney General of the Federation; as 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th defendant respectively.

Opuama who is asking the court for a N30 billion naira damages against the defendants alleged that his Human Rights as recognized and protected by sections 34, 35, 37, 39, and 41 of the 1999 constitution, as well as Articles 5, 6, 9, and 12 of African Charter on Human and People’s Right; were all breached by the actions of the Respondent.

The Fundamental Rights application which was taken out by the Abuja based law firm of Messrs P. D. Pius & Associates has the Applicant praying the court for the following reliefs;

1) A DECLARATION that the arrest and handcuffing of the Applicant at the Bayelsa State Governorship Election Tribunal at Wuse zone 5, Abuja, by the Respondent is illegal, unlawful, and unconstitutional and a breach of his right to dignity, personal liberty, movement, private life and fair hearing.

2) A DECLARATION that the detention of the Applicant at the will of the Respondents from the 15th of August 2020, until his release by an order from the Federal High Court on the 10th of September, 2020 was unlawful, illegal and unconstitutional.

3) An ORDER that the Respondents pay the Applicant the sum of Thirty Billion Naira (N30,000,000,000) for breaching his fundamental Rights.

4) An ORDER OF PERPETUAL INJUNCTION restraining the Respondents, their agents, officers from ever arresting or detaining the applicant.

Mr. Opuama alleged that, in exercise of his constitutional Rights he had initiated an election Petition seeking to disqualify and remove Governor Doue Diri of Bayelsa State from office. However, he was arrested and handcuffed in the Tribunal and later detained.

As at the time of filing this report, the suit is yet to be assigned for hearing.

ATIKU Abubakar, a former Nigerian Vice President has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to withdraw the 2021 budget proposal which he presented to the National Assembly on Thursday for consideration and passage into law.

Ahmad Lawan, Senate President had already assured Buhari of a quick passage of the budget but Abubakar, in a statement he personally signed on Friday, said the proposed 2021 appropriation bill should be recalled and revised for contravening provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007.

Buhari proposed N13.08 trillion total expenditure for 2021. Total federally distributable revenue for 2021 is estimated at N8.433 trillion, while the total revenue available to fund the budget, including grants and aid of N354.85 billion as well as the revenues of 60 Government-Owned Enterprises, is estimated at N7.886 trillion.

The N5.21 trillion deficit in the 2021 budget, representing 3.64 per cent, is to be financed with new borrowings amounting to N4.28 trillion.

Described as a budget for ‘Economic Recovery and Resilience’, the proposed 2021 appropriation bill is based on an estimated oil price benchmark of 40 dollars per barrel, daily oil production estimate of 1.86 million barrels (inclusive of condensates of 300,000 to 400,000 barrels per day) and an exchange rate of N379 per dollar. Oil revenue is projected at N2.01 trillion and non-oil revenue is estimated at N1.49 trillion.

A total of N3.12 trillion was earmarked for debt servicing in 2021, rising with about 50 per cent from the sum of N2.1 trillion allocated for the same purpose in 2020.

However, although some experts had already raised concerns over Nigeria’s public debt stock, with the country certain to sink deeper into debt with the planned N4.28 trillion new borrowings that will fund the 2021 budget deficit, Abubakar weighed in on the matter with an unusual call for the withdrawal of the budget.

“I call on the President, to recall this budget, and recalibrate it to reflect the provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2007, and the current economic realities of the nation.”

“To do otherwise will not only be unpatriotic, it will also be catastrophic for our nation’s economy,” the former Vice President said in the statement entitled ‘2021 budget proposal contravenes Fiscal Responsibility Act, by Atiku Abubakar’.

Arguing his case for the withdrawal of the budget, Abubakar said the proposed 2021 appropriation bill gave rise to a number of ‘very grave and perhaps disturbing issues’.

Specifically, he noted that the N5.21 trillion budget deficit amounted to just over 3.5 per cent of Nigeria’s 2019 GDP, and thereby contravening provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007.

The Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007, provides in Part II, Section 12, sub-section 1 that “Aggregate Expenditure and the Aggregate amount appropriated by the National Assembly for each financial year shall not be more than the estimated aggregate revenue plus a deficit, not exceeding three per cent of the estimated Gross Domestic Product or any sustainable percentage as may be determined by the National Assembly for each financial year”.

Abubakar added, “Nigeria had a GDP of approximately $447 billion in 2019. Three percent (3%) of this amount is $13. 3 billion, which at the current official exchange rate of N379 to $1, gives you a figure of N5.07 trillion. So clearly, the budget deficit of N5.21 trillion, as announced by President Muhammadu, is above three per cent of our GDP and is therefore in contravention of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2007.”

“Even more disturbing is the fact that our GDP has fallen sharply from its 2019 figures, and has been projected by the World Bank and other multilateral institutions at somewhere between $400 billion and $350 billion. Meaning that in actual sense, the N5.21 trillion budget deficit is actually far above the three per cent threshold stipulated by the Fiscal Responsibility Act,” he observed.

The former Vice President, who lost the 2019 presidential election against the incumbent, Buhari, of the All Progressives Congress (APC), while contesting as the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), expressed concern that the Buhari-led Federal Government could not spot the violation of provisions of the FRA, 2007, in the proposed 2021 budget.

He also used the opportunity to knock Buhari for engaging a series of borrowings that had dragged the country into massive debt. Nigeria’s debt stock has risen from N12.12 trillion in June 2015 to N31 trillion ($85 billion) as of June 30, 2020, according to data from the Debt Management Office.

The amount includes N11 trillion external debt stock, and N19 trillion domestic debt portfolio.

The country’s debt stock is certain to continue rising with the new borrowings planned to fund the 2021 budget deficit.

Hitting Buhari for not taking provisions of the FRA, 2007, into consideration in the preparation of the budget, Abubakar said, “That this escaped the notice of the Buhari administration shows a glaring lack of rigour in the formulation of the budget. A very disturbing development.

“Furthermore, this deficit shows the precarious state of our national finances, which have since been overburdened by excessive borrowing on the part of the Buhari administration.”

The former Vice President went ahead to caution the National Assembly against raising the threshold of the budget deficit to a higher figure, an action which they are entitled to take by virtue of provisions of the FRA, 2007.

Should the National Assembly exercise the power, Abubakar argued that they would only be serving the interests of the Buhari government, and not that of the nation.

He said, “It has not escaped my attention that the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2007 makes provision for the National Assembly to raise the threshold of the budget deficit from 3 per cent to a higher figure. However, if this is done, they will be serving this administration’s interests, not Nigeria’s, because the Act says that such a threshold must be sustainable. Is it sustainable when our budget makes almost as much provision for debt servicing, as it does for capital expenditure?”

Abubakar was Vice President of Nigeria from 1999 to 2007, during the presidency of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Although he has not formally declared his intention to contest in 2023, all indications suggest that Abubakar, who has contested in all elections since Nigeria returned to democratic rule, would run for president again in the next general election.

One of his sons, Adamu Atiku-Abubakar, said Abubakar will contest for the number one office in 2023, and PDP National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, had said the floor is open for the former vice president to seek the party’s presidential ticket, once again, for the next election.

In what appears to be a calculated move to water the grounds for another bid for the presidency in 2023, Abubakar has, of late, been speaking out on most national issues.

thenigerialawyer

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has disclosed recorded created 2,686 new jobs I’m less than 24 months through the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR).

The Agency who made this known on Friday at its first annual NDPR Performance Report 2019-2020, said that 76% of Data Protection Compliance Organisations (DPCOs) complied with the regulation.

At the unveiling of the Report, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Pantami, expressed satisfaction on how NITDA provided support for industry adoption of the NDPR. He said: “I have reviewed the report and I am proud to see that we have through the NDPR, 2,686 job roles, thereby creating massive opportunities for young Nigerians to be recruited as Data Protection Officers, Data Protection Compliance Organisations, Compliance officers among others.

“The DPCOs have also earned over N2 billion in the first year of implementation. This is the intent of our digital economy policy- empowering Nigerians in a way that ensures global competitiveness.”

While giving his speech, the Director-General of NITDA, Mallam Kashifu Abdullahi, stated that the goal of the report is to give all stakeholders the opportunity to understand how the agency has fared in the implementation of the NDPR. He added that understanding between industry players would generate further research and provide guidance to other regulators, partners, data controllers, data processors and other stakeholders.

He said NITDA made a compilation of all the organisations who filed their annual audit report for the year 2019.

“Submission of an audit report does not conclusively indicate compliance with all tenets of data protection, this list shows organisations who have complied with the audit filing requirement of the NDPR, which is a key milestone towards compliance. It is important to note that non-filing of the NDPR audit report is a breach of the Regulation,” he said.

The DG added that, “the Report, being the first of its kind is aimed at highlighting key initiatives, successes and challenges of implementing the Regulation. The NDPR being a flagship of the NDEPS, is expected to be used as a learning curve for Nigeria and Africa on how to effectively implement global laws with due consideration of local peculiarities and opportunities.”

The NDPR was issued on 25th January, 2019 pursuant to Section 6(a,c) of the NITDA Act, 2007. The Regulation covers every person subject to the laws of Nigeria, whether resident in Nigeria or not. It is aimed at safeguarding the rights of persons to privacy; fostering safe conduct for the transactions involving the exchange of personal data; preventing manipulation of personal data; and ensuring that Nigerian businesses remain competitive in international trade through the safeguards afforded by a just and equitable legal regulatory framework.

The federal government has cautioned the Zamfara state government over making impressions of owning gold deposits in the state.

Olamilekan Adegbite, minister of mines and steel development, who issued the warning on Friday, said mineral products remain exclusively that of the federal government.

Zamfara government on Tuesday said it started its gold reserve to reduce dependence on federal allocations.Rabiu Garba, the state commissioner for finance, told journalists that, though, there was a federal government ban on mining activities in the country, “the state government was able to purchase the commodity from licensed miners”.“At the moment, we have a pure gold reserve of over 30 kilos and as time goes by, we will continue to invest in this regard so that, like other states and other nations, we will be having our mineral reserves and ours will be in gold,” Garba said.“When the ban is lifted and mining activities resume fully, we are hopeful that we will be receiving royalties from miners while the federal government will also be giving us something.”Joseph Onu Silas, a lawyer, had accused the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) of trading in gold with the state government, seeking the cancellation of the purchase of gold worth N5 billion from Zamfara by the apex bank.But while briefing the press on the forthcoming 5th Nigerian mining week, Adegbite said what the state government is doing is right but the portrayal to the public is wrong.

“I had a meeting with the Zamfara people yesterday or day before yesterday, they need to get their narrative right to the public,” Adegbite said.

“We have what we call private mineral buying centres, we issue licences, in fact, anybody that is interested should come to us and once you meet the criteria, we give you a licence to purchase the mineral and that is the angle the Zamfara Government is exploiting.

“From their own fund, they are buying gold from their people and I spoke with the governor, you need to explain these to the people properly. It’s not as if they are cornering the resources that belongs to the federal government.

“All mineral resources in country is vested in the federal government and that is in the exclusive list and that stays. And the right royalty should be paid to the federal government.

“People feel that some parts of the nation are cornering the wealth of the nation to themselves which belongs to all of us and I will always say this, everybody has partake in the lunch of the Niger Delta’s people, we have taken from the oil and gas and it has been used to develop this country and the mineral wealth of this country will also be used collectively to develop this country and not exclusively by one section.”

The state government has denied the allegations against it.

Zailani Baffa, spokesperson to Bello Matawalle, the state governor, said the state government is not directly mining the gold by itself.

“It will rather purchase the gold from the mining companies registered by the Federal Government in the state,” Baffa said in a statement.

He also said the CBN did not enter into any trade agreement with the state government as claimed by the lawyer.

“The fact is that the CBN, just like in agriculture, is willing to invest in mining, as part of its Anchor Borrowers’ Programme whereby the apex bank will invest an amount for the state government to supply it with the gold as proceeds of the investment,” he said.

“This is aimed at boosting the mining sector in the country which is within the provisions of the scheme.” (thecable)