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SWITZERLAND, AUGUST 14 – Businessday newspaper has apologised to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo over the publication of a report wrongly alleging his involvement in an illegal N10bn withdrawal from the Treasury Single Account (TSA).

In a statement published on its online platform, Businessday said that the story failed to meet its editorial standards and acknowledged that it was baseless, unfounded and unsupported by any factual substance.

“We hereby convey our sincere, profound and unstinted apology for allowing our newspaper to be used as a platform by which the said news item was conveyed. The said publication is highly regretted by us and we urge our esteemed readers and the general public not to ascribe or attach our reputation for disseminating accurate information that we expect the public to trust to it,” the statement partly reads.

The report was also published by The Sun newspaper, which the vice president has threatened to sue to court if it does not retract the story and tender an apology within seven days.

Read the full statement below:

“On 9th August 2020, businessday.ng published a story titled “Ex APC spokesman asks Buhari to probe Osinbajo, AuGF over alleged N10bn withdrawal from TSA.”

“That story failed to meet the editorial standards of Business Day Newspaper, as we have since discovered that the story was baseless, unfounded and unsupported by any factual substance.

“We have already disabled the links to the story and hereby retract it completely and unreservedly.

“Business Day apologises to His Excellency, Professor Yemi Osinbajo SAN, the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, his family, friends, colleagues and well-wishers for the unwarranted inconvenience and embarrassment the publication has occasioned.

“We hold the Vice President in very high esteem and appreciate his enormous worthy and enviable achievements in the private sector as a respected Professor of Law – of multiple decades standing and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, amongst others; and the worthy and enviable strides he has made in public service as the former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice Lagos and presently Vice President of Nigeria.

“We hereby convey our sincere, profound and unstinted apology for allowing our newspaper to be used as a platform by which the said news item was conveyed. The said publication is highly regretted by us and we urge our esteemed readers and the general public not to ascribe or attach our reputation for disseminating accurate information that we expect the public to trust to it.

“A letter conveying our unreserved apology has since been sent to the Vice President.”

The Board of the National Broadcasting Commission has distanced itself from the six edition of the NBC code announced by the commission in June.
The Board said the new broadcasting code was singlehandedly reviewed by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed without consulting any member of the Board.

Ikra Bilbis, the Chairman of the NBC Board disclosed this on Thursday, August 13, 2020, during a press conference in Abuja.

Bilbis said the procedure for the NBC code review, which usually involves staff of the NBC, former DGs, retired Directors and all other relevant stakeholders in broadcasting was flouted by the minister.

He said, “The minister’s version of the revised code does not meet any known criteria of due process and inclusiveness of stakeholders.”

Bilbis further said that Mohammed sidelined the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria, Independent Broadcast Association of Nigeria, private media outfits, broadcasters, notable media intellectuals, communication experts, digital team and the academia and singlehandedly carried out the review.

According to the Board Chairman, the sixth edition of the NBC code was borne out of observations made by members of the Federal Executive Council to Mohammed at one of their meetings in 2019.

The FEC members were said to have expressed worry about the divisive broadcasts engaged in by some broadcast media before, during and after the 2019 general elections, and also urged the NBC to strengthen its operations to avert future recurrence.

Bilbis said instead of directing appropriate authorities to act on the observation, the minister went ahead to review the broadcasting code all alone.

He said, “This noble observation of Mr. President was unfortunately misunderstood by the minister of information. Instead of studying and following the law, relevant rules and regulations, and direct the appropriate authorities as stipulated by the law to act on, he erroneously embarked on the review alone.

“From the history, traditions and the convention of the NBC, no Minister of Information has ever interfered in any NBC Code review. After the 2019 presentation of the 6th code (which is the present one), the minister has acted alone with just a handful of his loyalists who have written a new NB Code that has created uproar in the industry, threatening to destroy investments and lead to job losses.

“The NBC Code is a regulatory framework put together jointly by stakeholders to guide their operations in the industry. It is therefore not a unilateral government instrument and is already covered by law hence, not requiring any further Presidential approval. This might be the reason why till date the Hon. Minister cannot show us a copy of the Presidential approval.

“President Buhari is a stickler for due process and he always insists on organisations doing the right thing. The Minister’s version of the revised code does not meet any known criteria of due process and inclusiveness of stakeholders.”

source: https://www.gistmania.com/talk/topic,469967.0.html

The action plan was presented at the virtual meeting of the FEC that was presided by President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday, August 12, 2020.

While paving a way for gender responsive climate change initiatives in the country, the National Action Plan is expected to provide guidance to the implementation of different environment and climate change actions to Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of government at all levels, including the private sector.

The National Action Plan is the outcome of a collaboration involving the Department of Climate Change of the Federal Ministry of Environment, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Women Environment Programme (WEP) and Both Ends.

environewsnigeria

The Unity Bank Plc admitted on Thursday that the $2.2 million received from former Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mr Bello Adoke SAN, was for repayment of a N300M naira he obtained from the bank.

Former Acting Managing Director of he bank Mr Rislanudeen Mohammed made the confirmation at the federal high court in Abuja during the ongoing trial of Adoke and oil magnate Alhaji Aliyu Abubakar on alleged corruption changes.

This is coming as trial judge, Justice Inyang Ekwo, warned reporters to stop linking the trial with Malabu Oil issue, adding that they have access to court records and should ask if they need clarification.

Adoke and the businessman, Abubakar are standing trial on a 14 count amended criminal charge bordering on alleged money laundering and corruption preferred against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Mohammed, a second witness of the EFCC in his evidence told the court how Adoke obtained a loan of N300M from the bank and the efforts he made to ensure Adoke repaid the loan.

He said that the loan was finally liquidated when Adoke handed over to him a sum of $2.2 million and that when converted to naira, it exceeded the principal loan amount.

The EFCC witness further disclosed that the former AGF collected the balance and closed the account after the bank deducted all necessary interest regarding the transaction.

Under cross examination by Adoke’s lawyer, Chief Kanu Agabi SAN, the witness admitted accepting $2.2 million dollars on behalf of the bank to liquidate the loan.

He further stated that the $2.2 million was not a proceed of crime because it was in repayment of a loan Adoke obtained from the bank.

“I received the money as an agent of the bank. The money is not available to be confiscated because it is not a proceed of crime.

“I have no reason to believe it is a proceed of crime. The money is not in Adoke’s account because it belongs to the bank”, he said.

The witness further told the court that collecting the money from Adoke’s house did not in anyway constitute an offence because he acted as an agent of the bank.

Testifying further, the witness said upon the full payment of the loan, the title deed used as security by the bank was released by the bank to the second defendant as an indication that the loan has been fully defrayed.

Earlier, the first prosecution witness, a Manager in charge of foreign exchange trade at the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr Clement Osagie, tendered foreign exchange transaction rates covering August, September and October, 2013 and was admitted as exhibits.

Under cross examination by Olalekan Ojo SAN, lawyer to the second defendant, the witness who stated that the documents tendered were generated from the electronic system of the CBN, said he was not a personnel of the Information Technology (IT) department of the CBN.

Answering a question, Osagie said that the CBN’s licenced Bureau de Change (BdC) operators file report of transactions in CBN forex which are kept by the Trade and Exchange department but he cannot talk on the activities of the BdC.

While admitting that he does not know the defendants in the case, he disclosed that his statement to the EFCC was made after the last court’s proceedings, adding that, “I thought I would just come and tender the documents before the court and go”.

Trial however has been adjourned to September 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 for continuation of cross examination of the second prosecution witness.

Director-General of Nigerian Copyright Commission, Mr John Asein, has replied his detractors and accusers, who alleged that he was keeping another employment and drawing salaries from both ends long after his retirement.

The NCC boss was accused of keeping the position of the Executive Director of Reproduction Rights Society of Nigeria, a collective management organisation regulated by the commission, a practice, which outrightly violates the public service rules and the code of conduct for public officers.

The economic confidential search further reveals that contrary to the said allegations, Mr Asein had on January 15, 2019 formally resigned from REPRONIG through a letter addressed to Chairman of the Board, Prof Olu Obafemi.

Further investigation reveals that in accepting Asein’s resignation, Obafemi appealed to him to continue rendering a free service of assisting REPRONG in the collection and disbursements of incoming funds as pro-bono project coordinator to receive and distribute project funds to the beneficiary partners.

Meanwhile, in an official memo written to the Board and sighted by Economic Confidential, Mr Asein among other things said the board could not meet because the Chairman of Copyright Commission, Dr. Tonye Clinton Jaja, said he was waiting for a formal report of an investigation by the Federal Ministry of Justice on a petition of conflict of interest against the DG.

The DG NCC’s memo to Jaja further reads, “ With due respect, I wish to note that while the Chairman has repeatedly drawn the attention of the board members to a petition against me, he is not placing the matter before the board to determine the next line of action. Rather, the Chairman has severally by-passed the supervisory Ministry and the Board to initiate his own petitions based on the documents he claimed to have ‘received’”

He also said that he was aware that the Chairman in the month of May 2020 again wrote to the DSS office and he has since lodged a report of the development with the parent ministry of justice.

According to him, he has no doubt that the same letters must have gone to the presidency as well as security and anti-corruption agencies in line with the proclamation of Chief Tony Okoroji at a press conference that he held at COSON House, Ikeja, Lagos on March 10, 2020.

The memo to the Board Chairman further stated that on or about Sunday, February 2nd, 2020, the Chairman of the Board called him to tell him that based on damning petitions from stakeholders, the minister was considering suspending him from office. He said in view of his reputation and goodwill, he should not risk having Chief Okoroji go public and smear his reputation and suggested he should instead consider putting in a letter of resignation to avoid embarrassment that would follow a ministerial action, only to discover later that the minister’s intended actions were not true.

In the said memo, the DG also said the Chairman had reached out to the various in-house unions in the commission with a view to obtaining information from them or instigating them against management all in a bid to have him removed from office as D-G and to reverse the decision to audit the accounts of COSON.

Checks also reveal that the DG of NCC in the memo accused the Chairman of plagiarising his manuscript sent to him in the course of his duties with him. He said In August 2019, the Chairman published a book: Compendium of Nigerian Copyright Law Reports 2019. He noted that two cases out of the 6 cases in that publication were plagiarized from the manuscript he had emailed to him on June 23, 2019. He said rather than own up to the infraction, even though he was willing to overlook it, the Chairman treated him with disdain and brushed the matter aside and later threatening further action against him.

Meanwhile, Asein told the Board members that intelligence report indicate that high-profile pirates have resolved to mobilize all resources available to support the ongoing fight against the commission in the hope that they can work together to remove him from office.

The National Broadcasting Commission has fined Nigeria Info 99.3 FM the sum of five million naira for unprofessional conduct.

According to a statement signed and released by the management of NBC, the action was due to the radio’s programme that aired on Monday, August 10.

Recall that in an interview with a Lagos-based FM Radio aired on August 10, Mr Mailafia, a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, had alleged that one of the Northern governors is a Commander of Boko Haram in Nigeria

Read the full statement below:

THE NATIONAL BROADCASTING COMMISSION FINES Nigeria Info 99.3FM FOR UNPROFESSIONAL BROADCAST

The National Broadcasting Commission has noted with grave concern, the unprofessional conduct of Nigeria Info 99.3FM, Lagos, in the handling of the Programme, “Morning Cross Fire”, aired on August 10, 2020, between 8.30am and 9.00am. The station provided its platform for the guest, Dr. Mailafia Obadiah, to promote unverifiable and inciting views that could encourage or incite to crime and lead to public disorder.

The Commission, again, wishes to reiterate that Broadcasters hold Licenses in trust for the people. Therefore, no Broadcast Station should be used, to promote personal or sectional interests at the expense of the people.

Dr. Mailafia Obadia’s comments on the “Southern Kaduna Crisis”, were devoid of facts and by broadcasting same to the public, Nigeria Info 99.3FM, is in violation of the following sections of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code:

3.1.1 No broadcast shall encourage or incite to crime, lead to public disorder or hate, be repugnant to public feelings or contain offensive reference to any person or organization, alive or dead or generally be disrespectful to human dignity;

3.1.2 Broadcasting shall promote human dignity, therefore, hate speech is prohibited;

3.3.1 (a) The broadcaster shall ensure that any information given in a programme, in whatever form, is accurate;

3.3.3.1(b) The Broadcaster shall ensure that all sides to any issue of public

interest are equitably presented for fairness and balance;

3.11.1(a) The broadcaster shall ensure that language or scene likely to encourage or incite to crime, or lead to disorder, is not broadcast;

3.11.1(b) No programme contains anything which amounts to subversion of constituted authority or compromises the unity or corporate existence of Nigeria as a sovereign state;

5.4.1(f) The Broadcaster shall not transmit divisive materials that may threaten or compromise the indivisibility and indissolubility of Nigeria as a sovereign state.

Consequent on these provisions and in line with the amendment of the 6thedition of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code, Nigeria Info 99.3FM Lagos, has been fined the sum of N5,000,000.00 (Five Million Naira), only.

This is expected to serve as a deterrent to all other broadcast stations in Nigeria who are quick to provide platform for subversive rhetoric and the expositions of spurious and unverifiable claims, to desist from such.

The Commission wishes to put it on record that it will not hesitate to suspend the Broadcast Licence of broadcast stations that continue to breach the Code.

Stations are, by this statement, admonished to desist forthwith, from airing unwholesome content, or be ready to face appropriate sanctions.

Signed:

MANAGEMENT

Aliyu Umaru, who chained his 12-year-old son, Jibrin, for two years in Kebbi has been charged for cruelty.

Kebbi Police Public Relation Officer (PPRO), DSP Nafiu Abubakar, disclosed this in a statement.

According to him: ”The Kebbi State Police Command wishes to inform members of the general public that on the 09/08/2020 at about 1440hrs, information revealed that, one Jibrin Aliyu,male, aged,12 years of Badariya area, Birnin Kebbi was tied with a rope alongside with animals and chickens for a period of two years after demise of his biological mother without treatment and feeding in their residence.

“On the receipt of the report, detectives attached to the Divisional Police Headquarters, Birnin Kebbi, swiftly rushed to the scene, rescued the victim and took him to Sir Yahyah Memorial Hospital, Birnin Kebbi for medical attention.

”In the course of investigation, it was discovered that the victim, Jibrin Aliyu is a patient of Down Syndrome and his father, Aliyu Umaru has admitted to have tied him with a rope because he had taken him to various native doctors for medication up to the extent of selling some of his properties but all in vein.

“Instead of his father to continue with his medication, he decided to subject him to such inhumane and degrading treatment in order to prevent him from roaming about in the town, stoning peoples’ vehicles as well as injuring himself which could lead to his death.

”In the light of the above Aliyu Umaru was found culpable of being cruel to his son and has been charged to Court accordingly.”

Thenigerialawyer

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) says it generates N3 billion revenue weekly from stamp duty collection.

This stamp duty revenue is generated weekly from May 2020 to date from Deposit Money Banks (DMBs).

Executive Chairman of the FIRS, Muhammad Nami told the House of Representatives Committee on finance on Tuesday in Abuja.

The purpose of the meeting with the legislators was to resolve the face-off between the FIRS and the Nigeria Postal Service (NIPOST) over stamp duty collection, and the fate of the N58 billion revenue generated from February 2016 to April, 2020.

The Session which was chaired by the Chairman Finance Committee of the House of Representatives, Hon. James Abiodun Faleke include other members of the committee, Post- Master General of the Federation Dr. Ismail Adebanjo Adewusi, NIPOST board Chairman Barr. Maimuna Yaya Abubarkar and other top officials of the postal agency and FIRS officials.

Nami said the FIRS was able to generate this much revenue from a single stream of stamp duty collection from DMBs because the Service had deployed a new technology to track and capture such revenue straight into the federation account.

The technology deployed by the FIRS Nami said is the Application Programming Interface (API) technology solution, an – online real time technology that makes collection of Stamp Duties easier.

Nami said when he assumed office in December 2019, the FIRS discovered over N30 billion in the NIPOST Stamp duty Account with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The account was opened in 2016 specifically to warehouse revenue from stamp duty collection.

However, by April 2020, the balance in the account had grown to N58 billion because of the deployment of the API by the FIRS. Money in the stamp duty account by May 2020 was transferred to the federation account following instructions given to the CBN by the FIRS to do so.

Since then, both the FIRS and the NIPOST have been at daggers drawn over who controls stamp duty collection and invariably the money which accrues from the collection.

Nami said payment of Stamp Duties collection in Nigeria dates back 94 years ago, stressing that stamp duty had always been part of the revenue schedule of tax authority.

He regretted that the differences in who controls stamp duty collection between both NIPOST and FIRS had degenerated a public spat to between the two agencies describing the development as “unnecessary and unhelpful”.

According to him, “the FIRS regrets that as agency of the government, FIRS and NIPOST allow a simple situation to degenerate to media exposure”.

In his submission, Postmaster General/Chief Executive Officer of NIPOST, Dr. Ismail Adebanjo Adewusi described the feud between FIRS and his agency as needless.

According to him, “as prelude, it’s important to make this remark. NIPOST is not a tax collecting agency. We are not in the business of collecting taxes, that’s not our mandate. But our role in stamp duty is clearly stated in the law.

“The issue is, the Finance Act, 2019 did not in any way stop NIPOST from its mandate. In spite of amendment to finance Act, it has not affected the responsibility of NIPOST. There is no fight between NIPOST and FIRS over tax collection”, he said.

He however insisted that, the responsibility of procuring stamp rests with NIPOST but appealed that, the agency is entitled to its share of the stamp duty proceeds it collected and domiciled in the CBN from 2016 to 2020.

He told the Finance committee that “all the monies that accrued to the account include proceeds of stamp sales. In the spirit of peace, we want FIRS to look at the issue. We deserve in sharing cost of collection. At the initial meeting, FIRS said they will give us 30 percent and take 70 percent, we said no”.

Earlier in his opening remarks by Chairman, Finance Committee of the House of Representatives Hon. Abiodun Faleke said the committee was embarrassed by the open engagement of the two government agencies in addressing the issue.

According to him, “as a committee responsible for overseeing finance agencies, we decided to call for this dialogue to see if the agencies are doing the bidding of the law”.

He said having heard presentations by both sides; it would be fool hardy for the committee to just take a decision. “We will go back, look at all legal issues raised and reconvene.”