Stanbic IBTC Pension lifts Kaduna Prisons

Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers Limited has inaugurated three blocks of toilets at the Nigerian PrisonsTraining School, Kaduna.

The company, a Pension Fund Administrators ( PFA), said the renovated facilities would lift the living conditions of personnel of the Nigerian Prisons Service (NPS).

NPS Controller-General, Ahmed Ja’afaru, represented by the Zonal Coordinator Zone B, NPS Kaduna, Musa Mayaki, an Assistant Controller-General, expressed appreciation to the company for the gesture.

He noted that a prison service is community in the security-maintenance architecture with the relevant personnel, their families and inmates, all constituting part of the larger society.

He added that the project would bring relief to the personnel and trainees as the community hitherto had to make do with less than fitting sanitary facilities.

He stressed that the project would be useful to the cadets and officers as clean and satisfactory sanitary facilities means better disposal of human waste, reduced chances of disease outbreak and better living condition.

The firm’s Executive Director, Investments, Mr. Oladele Sotubo, said: “The project, which is line with the Stanbic IBTC Group’s CSI focus areas, falls under the health pillar, others being education and economic empowerment. Its decision to renovate the toilets is part of a business strategy to support the well-being of the people and communities where it operates.

‘’A celebratory mood enveloped the community following the commissioning of the project.

SOURCE: http://thenationonlineng.net/stanbic-ibtc-pension-lifts-kaduna-prisons/

Nigeria needs strong fiscal, monetary policies to exit recession – CBN

The Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria on Tuesday warned that the economy might relapse into protracted recession if bold monetary and fiscal policies were not activated immediately to sustain the programmes of the Federal Government.

The committee stated that available forecasts of key macroeconomic indicators pointed to a fragile economic recovery in the second quarter of the year.

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that the contraction in the economy moderated to 0.52 per cent in the first quarter.

The MPC identified the downside risks to economic outlook to include weak financial intermediation, poorly targeted fiscal stimulus and absence of structural programme implementation.

The CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, while reading the communique after the end of the committee’s two-day meeting, called for more fiscal measures to stimulate the economy.

He said there was a need for improvements in economy-wide non-oil exports, especially agriculture, manufacturing, services and light industries.

He also said the expected fiscal stimulus, non-oil federal receipts and other measures that were expected to drive the growth impetus for the rest of the year must be pursued relentlessly.

SOURCE: http://punchng.com/nigeria-needs-strong-fiscal-monetary-policies-to-exit-recession-cbn/

Boko Haram kill five, steal 120 cows in fresh Borno attacks

Suspected Boko Haram insurgents, in a convoy of armed motorcycles, have attacked Dagu village in Askira/Uba Local Council of Borno State, killing five persons and rustling 120 cattle in the process.

The leader of the civilian Joint Task Force (JTF), Papka Madu, who confirmed the development to The Guardian yesterday in a telephone chat, said communications had been disrupted in the community following the destruction of the telecommunications masts in Dagu-Kilikasha axis of the council area.

He narrated that the terrorists invaded the settlement from the south flank of Sambisa Forest, before stealing 120 cows from two herdsmen.

His words: “The armed insurgents burst into the remote village of Dagu near Kilikasha in Askira Uba Local Government Area of Borno and killed three family members and two herdsmen.”

On the casualty figure, he said: “We lost three of our members (local vigilantes) and two herdsmen on Sunday afternoon, after the terrorists attacked Dagu village. Over 120 cows have also been stolen from deceased herdsmen. Their bodies were buried on Monday morning, before you called this morning on Dagu attack and rustling.

“Our appeal to villagers and members of the public was not to buy cows from the suspected Boko Haram insurgents.”

In the meantime, the troops of 233 Battalion, 27 Task Force Brigade of Operation Lafiya Dole, in collaboration with the local vigilance group, have arrested four fleeing insurgents while patrolling the outskirts of Damaturu, the Yobe State capital.

The arrests, according to military authorities, were made in two villages of Kurnari and Nayinawa. The Director, Army Public Relations, Brig-Gen. Sani Usman, confirmed the incident in a statement yesterday.

“During preliminary investigation, they claimed that they were fleeing from the terrorists’ hideout at Talala and Buk in Damboa Local Government Area of Borno State because of the unbearable military onslaughts and bombardments on their various locations.”

He also confirmed the arrest of a robbery suspect, Salisu Ibrahim, by officers of the 33 Brigade during an operation, tagged FOREST KUNAMA II, along the Bauchi-Gombe road.

Usman said the arrested terrorists and robbery suspect were undergoing further interrogation.

SOURCE: http://guardian.ng/news/boko-haram-kill-five-steal-120-cows-in-fresh-borno-attacks/

Finally, N’Assembly passes controversial Peace Corps bill

Despite a contrary legal advice, the Senate on Tuesday passed the bill seeking to establish the Nigerian Peace Corps in concurrence with the House of Representatives.

The Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, in its report, which was considered at the plenary on Tuesday, strongly criticised the establishment of the corps.

But the lawmakers adopted the report of the Senate and the House of Representatives’ Conference Committee, which was presented by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Interior, Bayero Nafada.

The NPC bill was passed in the House of Representatives in June 2016, while it was passed in the Senate in November of the same year.

The two chambers set up a conference committee to reconcile the areas of differences in the bill.

But a debate on the bill at the Senate on May 2, 2017, was marred by controversy, forcing the chamber to refer the conference report to the legal committee.

In the report represented by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, David Umaru, at the plenary on Wednesday, the panel picked holes in the creation of the NPC but said there was the need to reciprocate House’s passage of the bill.

The report stated in part, “The powers, functions, e.t.c., of the Peace Corps call for concern and this committee would wish that they are subjected to further examination.

“The creation of jobs through this platform is laudable but this can be achieved by strengthening existing agencies and not necessarily creating a new one so as not to overburden the Federal Government; and that the Committee noted that the House of Representatives has adopted the Conference Report and the need for reciprocity.”

It’s difficult for investors to come to Nigeria – Kachikwu

There is some level of latent difficulty for investors to come and invest in Nigeria due to security concerns, among other issues, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, has said.

This is coming as the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Maikanti Baru, announced that the country’s current crude oil production had risen to 2.2 million barrels per day.


Kachikwu, who spoke at the 6th Sustainability in the Extractive Industries Conference organised by CSR-in-Action on Wednesday in Abuja, noted that although most countries of the world were faced with security issues, it was important for Nigeria to invest more in securing its citizens and investors.

The minister stated this while suggesting measures through which the economy and the oil sector could be revamped for the greater benefit of Nigerians.

He said, “Now, the second aspect of this discussion is that how do you open your economy in terms of foreign participation? There is almost some level of latent difficulty for investors to come into this country. First of all, they deal with the issue of security.

“Now, when we say security, every country has its own difficulties. You may find that if you take a crime-to-crime analysis, I’m sure that we are not necessarily worse than most countries. But it is just the publicity that we give to certain things that happen here.

Nigeria’s debt rose by N4.76tn in 2016 – DMO

Nigeria total debt rose by N4.76tn in 2016, the Debt Management Office has disclosed.

The DMO disclosed this in its 2016 Annual Report and Statement of Accounts obtained by our correspondent in Abuja on Wednesday.

According to the office, Nigeria’s debt as of December 2016 stood at N17.36tn, up from N12.6tn a year earlier. This reflects an increase of N4.76tn or 37.74 per cent within a period of one year.

The significant increase, according to the DMO, is mainly in the domestic debt component and is attributable to additional issuance of debt securities to fund the 2016 budget deficit and the refinancing and redemption of matured securities.

The DMO explained that the increase in borrowing could be looked at from the deficits contained in both the 2015 and 2016 budgets in relation to the Gross Domestic Product.

Thus, the deficit contained in the 2016 budget reflected 2.14 per cent of the GDP, while that of 2015 reflected 1.09 per cent of the GDP.

Court orders seizure of Diezani’s $37.5m Lagos house, funds

The Federal High Court in Lagos, on Wednesday, ordered the temporary forfeiture of a property at Banana Island, Lagos, bought for $37.5m in 2013 by a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke.

The property, designated as Building 3, Block B, Bella Vista Plot 1, Zone N, Federal Government Layout, Banana Island Foreshore Estate, has 24 apartments, 18 flats and six penthouses, according to court papers presented on Tuesday by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

According to Bawa, when Nwokedi was questioned by the EFCC, the lawyer explained that he had approached Diezani for opportunities in the oil and gas industry but the ex-minister told him that being a lawyer, she did not have any such opportunity for him and asked him whether he could, in the alternative, manage landed properties, an offer which Nwokedi accepted.

Bawa said Nwokedi later registered Rusimpex Limited at the Corporate Affairs Commission, and named a lawyer in his law firm, Adetula Ayokunle, and a Russian, Vladmir Jourauleu, as the directors.

He added that the address of Nwokedi’s law firm in Ikoyi, Lagos, was registered as the business address of Rusimpex Limited.