Maid flees with baby, dumps her in Kaduna garden

A maid, Cynthia Shamang, has been arrested in Kaduna for absconding with Amarachi, the one-year-old baby of her employer, Mrs. Kachi Mbagwu.

The 17-year old was arrested alongside her father in Kaduna and handed over to the police in Abuja.

Cynthia was apprehended by the police on Wednesday in Kaduna. She fled with Amarachi on December 10, 2016 after her boss went for the annual Shiloh service at the Living Faith Church, Dutse Alhaji, Kubwa, some kilometres away.

Mbagwu told Northern City News on Thursday that the maid abandoned Amarachi at a deserted garden in Kaduna, saying the baby cried throughout the night, adding that a security guard around the area rescued her the next morning.

It was learnt that the guard was afraid to rescue the child that night because the garden was known be infested with snakes and other dangerous animals.

The relieved mother stated that Cynthia had barely spent three days with her when she absconded with her daughter.

She said she returned from the church to find the house deserted and her daughter and the maid nowhere to be found.

“We circulated the incident on WhatsApp and other social media platforms asking people to assist in finding the girl. We later learnt that a security guard who heard my baby’s cries at a deserted garden rescued her the next morning and took her to the NTA station in Kaduna which broadcast it,” she narrated, adding that she was contacted by those who identified her child.

Mbagwu said Amarachi was in good condition, noting that she was however dehydrated. “I am about taking her to the hospital for check-up, but she seems alright,” she said.

Asked the reason Cynthia gave for her action, she said, “The maid said she didn’t want to work as a maid anymore and that she went away with my child because she didn’t want to leave the girl alone in the house.”

The Federal Capital Territory police spokesman, Anjuguri Manzah, confirmed the arrest of the maid, saying investigation had commenced into the matter.

Rivers rerun: Controversy trails leaked audio tape

Controversy has greeted a leaked audio recording in which a voice bearing a striking similarity with that of Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, was heard admitting bribery and threatening to kill electoral officers in the December 10 rerun elections in Rivers State.

The All Progressives Congress on Thursday said the leaked audio recording confirmed its worst fears that the elections were rigged.

It noted that revelations contained in the said recording, made public by an online newspaper, Sahara Reporters, on Thursday, provided evidence of alleged unwholesome practices.

The party also said the audio recording was a pointer to the fact that the governor might have compromised the integrity of the electoral process and the integrity of his office as Chief Security Officer.

This was contained in a statement signed by the APC’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, in Abuja.

He said, “The leaked audio recording showing the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, admitting to bribing some electoral officials and threatening to kill them if his instructions were not followed, has confirmed the fears raised by the All Progressives Congress in the countdown to the recently conducted December 10, 2016, legislative rerun elections in the State.

“Going by the revelations from the leaked audio recording, it is obvious that Governor Wike might have engaged in unwholesome conducts that might have compromised the integrity of the electoral process and undermined his office as the Chief Security Officer of a state.

“The only logical conclusion from this, therefore, is that the electoral victories of the Peoples Democratic Party might have been achieved through underhand dealings and intimidation of officials.”

The statement recalled that the APC alerted security agencies to reports of massive arm build-up and sinister plots by Wike and the PDP.

It said, “On December 6, 2016, the APC alerted security agencies to reports of a massive arms build-up and other sinister plots that Wike and the PDP planned to execute on the day of the legislative rerun elections in Rivers State.

“Nigerians have watched with grave concern how the process of the just concluded legislative rerun elections has led to the deaths of ordinary citizens in the state, including security officers. The statement that Governor Wike appeared to have made on the record has now pointed directly at where responsibility should be placed for the violence that attended the election.”

The APC also argued that the audio recording provided evidence that the allegation by the Rivers State Government and the Peoples Democratic Party of an assassination threat on Wike and the allegation by Wike that APC governors funded violence in the state during the election might have been deliberately contrived to hide the role the governor played in the violence that attended the election.

It also urged security agencies to do the needful and ensure that the sponsors and perpetrators of violence, no matter how highly placed, were brought to justice.

But the Rivers State Government has denied the allegation that Wike threatened to kill an official of the Independent National Electoral Commission.

The Rivers State Commissioner for Information, Dr. Austin Tam-George, said on Thursday that the governor never made any contact with INEC officials in person or through the telephone.

Tam-George argued that the online outfit, Saharareporters.com, engaged in an audio impersonation of the governor, using a voice changer technology.

 “We categorically deny these latest allegations as a sick fabrication, an outright lie. Governor Wike never made any contact with INEC officials in person or by telephone.

“Saharareporters.com is the online propaganda bullhorn of the All Progressives Congress. Their publications are typically false and the writers are professional hawkers of fiction.

“No one would have thought that the APC and its cowardly media allies would resort to an audio impersonation of Governor Nyesom Wike, using a voice changer technology.

“The voice changer technology is often used by teenagers mainly in South Korea and Japan to launch innocent technological pranks at each other, mainly for laughs.

“The APC and Saharareporters.com are inmates in the prison of their own lies. We reject the latest blackmail by the APC,” he added. - Punch

Rivers rerun poll: Police officer, orderly beheaded

The 6 Division of the Nigerian Army on Saturday said that a deputy superintendent of Police, Alkali Mohammed, of the Mobile Police Unit 48 was beheaded along with his orderly at Ogba/Egbema/ Ndoni Local Council during Saturday’s bloody Rivers rerun elections.

“The patrol vehicle was taken away with weapons, three policemen escaped while five were missing in action. This is the same area where soldiers of 34 Brigade were ambushed on November 20, 2016 when a soldier was killed," said
the General Officer Commanding the 6 Division of the Nigerian Army, Major General Kasimu Abdulkarim.

“Also on November 21, 2016, four personnel of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) were killed and their weapons carted away. These attacks are reasonable evidence of violations of breach of law and order, which portray the area as a flashpoint.

“Despite these barbarism, soldiers acted with civility and professionally guaranteeing peaceful election.”

Abdulkarim said the alleged killing and mass arrest by soldiers in Tai, Ogoni, Gokhna-Ogoni local councils were false. He stated that it was true that soldiers of 6 Division Nigerian Army provided security during the Rivers State Legislative Re-run election, but the allegations made by some respected politicians regarding deep involvement of soldiers during the elections were aimed at tarnishing the positive image of the Army.

“Several shooting were recorded in some communities such as Bodo, the home town of the secretary to the State Government, B-dere and Mogho in Gokhana LGA, including snatching of ballot boxes,” he said.

“He explained that Nigerian Army troops were in no way involved in any form of ballot box snatching, neither were they involved in the escort of politicians as alleged. According to him, the army acted swiftly in response to security breaches in order to enforce the law, provide aid to the Nigeria Police and other security agencies especially in areas like Abonema, Etche, Gokhana, Ikwere, Eleme, Tai, Khana and Omoku, among others.

Recession: FG Unveils 10-Point Roadmap to Reset Economy

The federal government has unveiled a 10-point fiscal roadmap, designed to stimulate the economy and set it on the path of recovery and growth.
Highlights of the roadmap were rolled out by the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, who represented the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, at the annual dinner of the Lagos Business School. Adeosun itemised the fiscal policies and actions being taken to tackle the key barriers to economic growth.

A major component of the roadmap is to replace administrative measures on the list of 41 items with fiscal measures to reduce demand pressure on foreign exchange (forex) at the parallel market. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in its wisdom, had barred importers from assessing forex, particularly the United States dollars, for the 41 items via the official window, a measure, which had generated intense controversy. Though the measure was applied in good faith by the monetary authority, it pushed importers to sourcing forex from the parallel market, which led to forex shortage and inadvertently affected the value of the naira and the economy.

But with the federal government’s decision to reconsider its policy on the 41 items, the expectation, according to the roadmap, is that there would be a reduction in the demand for US dollars to ramp up forex supply.
Speaking at the session, which was attended by industry leaders across key sectors of the economy including oil, banking and telecoms, Adeosun said, “The Federal Government’s Fiscal Roadmap is addressing barriers to growth that will drive productivity, generate jobs and broaden wealth creating opportunities to achieve inclusive growth.”

She stated that the President Muhammadu Buhari administration was determined to convert Nigeria to a productive economy from the one that is consumption driven. To do so, she pointed out, the federal government would tackle the infrastructure deficit to unlock productivity, improve business competitiveness and create employment. The minister stated that the government would actively partner the private sector to achieve this by use of a number of new funding platforms. These, according to her, include the Road Trust Fund, which will develop potentially tollable roads, and the Family Homes Fund, which is an on-going PPP initiative for funding of affordable housing.

In addition, Adeosun detailed a revision to the tax provision that allows companies to receive tax relief for investment in roads on a collective basis. She explained that the existing provision that enabled companies to claim relief for road projects had only been taken advantage of by two companies, Lafarge and Dangote Cement. This was because few companies were large enough to fund roads alone.

The revision, she noted, would now allow collective tax relief such that companies would be able to jointly fund roads, subject to approval by FIRS and the Ministry of Works, and share the tax credit. This would be particularly attractive to firms in clusters such as industrial estates, many of which are plagued by poor road conditions.

She emphasised the role of infrastructure in creating inclusive growth, explaining the current barriers to growth in agriculture, solid minerals and manufacturing. She stated that the drivers of inflation were structural and were being addressed through the focus on power, rail and road infrastructure.

Adeosun also outlined measures planned to deal with the problem of hidden liabilities, which were affecting the banking sector and efforts to revive the economy. The minister explained that the conversion from cash accounting to IPSAS (International Public Sector Accounting Standards) had unveiled unrecorded debts owed to contractors, oil marketers, exporters, electricity distribution companies and others. These liabilities were estimated at N2.2 trillion and would be addressed with a 10-year Promissory Note Issuance programme in conjunction with the Central Bank of Nigeria. This measure would be subject to a rigorous audit process of all claims to ensure validity and mitigate fraud and the impact of past corrupt practices.

Henceforth, the minister said that measures would be put in place to prevent recurrence of such a problem by ensuring that contracts are managed in a manner that firms have assurance over when they would be paid. She cited the fact that many contractors were owed as a reason that many of those recently paid by government were slow in remobilising to site. According to her, “Some contractors had not been paid in the past 4 years and in some cases the banks they were owing, refused them access to the funds released, causing delays.”

She explained further that those receiving the Promissory Notes would be expected to provide a material discount to government. The issuance was a solution to a long term problem that was ‘a drag on economic activity’.

Adeosun gave assurances that, despite the current challenges facing the Nigerian economy, the outlook is positive due to the strong fundamentals and the on-going reform programme. She reiterated that the federal government was determined to create an enabling environment and put in place supportive policies to return to growth in 2017 including greater alignment of monetary and fiscal policies.

HAPPY Eid-El Maulud

CBN to unveil N30bn agric/SME fund in January

The Central Bank of Nigeria has said it will, together with the Deposit Money Banks, set up a new fund to boost agriculture and the Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in the country, targeting at least N30bn for the first year.

The Governor, CBN, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, disclosed this on Saturday at a press briefing after the eighth Bankers’ Committee annual retreat in Lagos.

He said the Agriculture/SME Fund would be unveiled on January 1, 2017, but the money would not be available until around March or April after the DMBs’ audited accounts would have been presented to the public.

Emefiele, who is also the Chairman of the Bankers’ Committee, said the committee would continue to promote an efficient and stable economy to deliver price stability, financial system stability, financial inclusion and economic growth.

According to him, the committee has defined goals for 2017 to include supporting government’s efforts to develop adequate infrastructure to engender viable and productive SMEs, and increasing access and cost of funding, particularly to the agriculture and manufacturing SMEs.

He said, “We will identify opportunities to provide funding and necessary support for agriculture and manufacturing SMEs, including structures and systems to improve the ease of regulatory compliance.

“The central bank will, together with the banking sector, establish an agriculture/SME fund from contributions of a portion of profit after taxes of Deposit Money Banks as a deliberate strategy to support the funding and access to finance by the SMEs and primary agriculture.”

The governor said the modality for the fund, which will operate as an equity fund, would be worked out by the Bankers’ Committee and communicated in due course.

He said the committee would continue to focus on capacity building and expansion as well as deepening awareness of available information infrastructure.

The communiqué issued at the end of the retreat, “Efforts will include providing industry-focused SME financial skills curriculum to develop financial and business capacity; promoting the need for capacity building; promoting the use of payment systems; providing shared structures for basic financial records; and providing the use of new and existing financial infrastructures for access to credit.

“Over the next few days, the Bankers’ Committee will finalise the strategy, governance framework action plan and assign responsibilities for implementation of the committee’s programme for 2017 that will achieve the desired results and outcomes.” - Punch

Oil prices soar to $58 on global output cut deal

Oil prices shot up over four per cent to their highest level since 2015 early on Monday after OPEC and other producers over the weekend in Vienna reached first output cut deal since 2001 .

They jointly reduced output in order to rein in oversupply and prop up the market.

Brent sweet crude futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, soared to 57.89 dollars per barrel in overnight trading between Sunday and Monday, its highest level since July 2015.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures also hit a July 2015 high of 54.51 dollars a barrel.

With the deal finally signed after a year,the market’s focus will now switch to compliance with the agreement.

ANZ bank said that Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s state-controlled oil company, had informed customers that their allocations would be reduced in January 2017, in line with the recent OPEC production cut agreement.”

OPEC has said it will slash output by 1.2 million barrels per day from Jan. 1, with top exporter Saudi Arabia cutting around 486,000 bpd in a bid to end overproduction .

Oversupply has dogged markets for over two years and pushed the economies of many oil exporting countries into crisis.

On Saturday, producers from outside the 13- country OPEC group agreed to reduce output by 558,000 bpd, short of the initial target of 600,000 bpd .