Business News
FG approves posting of treasury officers to key revenue agencies
Key revenue agencies get new officers
President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the posting of treasury officers from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) to key revenue agencies.
The Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Alhaji Idris Ahmed confirmed this development during a meeting with the leadership of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN).
The President Buhari-led administration also approved that the tenure of the heads of these agencies will be performance-based in line with revenue targets set out for them.
According to Ahmed, the treasury officers from the OAGF are to serve as directors of revenue and investment departments in the revenue generating agencies.
The agencies where the treasury officers will be posted include: the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) among others.
Ahmed stated that the posting was borne out of the need to block revenue leakages in the revenue generating agencies.
He said,
“As part of our roles as drivers of the reforms in the public finance sector and in line with the present government’s commitment to diversify sources of income, strengthen controls as well as boost revenue generation of government, the Treasury has come up with a restructuring of its functions and departments.
“This will ensure that Treasury officers are assigned to key revenue generating agencies, such as NPA, NIMASA, CBN, NNPC, NCS, NCC, and FIRS.
“Government is not unmindful of the level of revenue leakages in some of these key revenue generating agencies and has come up with this policy that will ensure that treasury officers take charge of these revenues so that they can be tracked and accounted for using ICT tools and automation platforms.”
He, therefore, called on ICAN and other professional accounting bodies in the country to support the government’s efforts by coming up with strategies for the government to generate more revenues.
The AGF also urged ICAN to come up with measures to assist the government in reducing the level of corruption in both public and private sectors of the economy.
Energy
NNPC signs agreement with CNOOC, SAPETRO to end OML 130 disputes
The agreement is expected to help resolve disputes stemming from Oil Mining Lease (OML).
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), said it has signed a Head of terms (HoT) agreement with China National Offshore Oil Corporation(CNOOC) and an indigenous oil production firm —South Atlantic Petroleum (SAPETRO).
A statement that was issued by the state-owned oil company via Twitter, yesterday, noted that this is part of the efforts that have been undertaken towards resolving all the disputes stemming from Oil Mining Lease (OML) 130 Production Sharing Contract.
📸 NEWS:
Today,@NNPCgroup signed a Head of Terms (HoT)with its partners CNOOC & SAPETRO,signifying a major milestone towards the resolution of all disputes related to Oil Mining Lease (OML)130 Production Sharing Contract.OML 130 consists of producing fields such as Akpo & Egina pic.twitter.com/VnLga9qmm9
— NNPC Group (@NNPCgroup) August 6, 2020
Nairametrics understands that the agreement, which is temporary, could also be instrumental towards resolving similar disputes between the NNPC and other oil companies. The NNPC had previously accused some of these oil firms of under-declaring crude exports for three years between 2011 and 2013.
Specifically, the NNPC alleged that the likes of Shell, Total, Chevron, and Eni under-reported crude oil exports in their oil fields to the tune of 57 million barrels. The NNPC even sought repayments valued at $12.7 billion from the oil companies, according to a suit filed before the Federal High Court in Lagos. The companies denied the accusations.
The new agreement is now expected to help resolve such disputes. Even the NNPC’s Group Managing Director, Mele Kyari. was quoted to have said the agreement is “a major milestone toward the resolution of all disputes.”
Tech News
America’s Trump finally bans TikTok, WeChat
President Trump issued directives banning any U.S. transactions with Chinese tech companies.
China’s tech industry is having a rough time right now. The stock price of China’s tech juggernaut, Tencent, lost 5.04% on Friday morning after America’s President Donald Trump issued executive orders targeting TikTok and WeChat.
The Hang Seng Tech index, which tracks the 30 largest technology companies listed in Hong Kong that pass the screening criteria, also fell 2.51% to close at 7,386.66. On Mainland China, the Nasdaq-style start-up board Chinext slipped 2.065% on the day to about 3,059.87.
Note that WeChat, which belongs to Tencent, and TikTok whose parent company is ByteDance, are both based in China.
What happened: President Trump, yesterday, issued directives banning any U.S. transactions with the Chinese tech firms —Tencent and ByteDance. The ban will take effect in 45 days and could attract retaliation from the Chinese.
According to Trump, WeChat “automatically captures vast swaths of information from its users. This data collection threatens to allow the Chinese Communist Party access to Americans’ personal and proprietary information.” He went on to say that the application also captures personal information of Chinese nationals visiting the U.S.
China’s response: China’s foreign officials disclosed on Friday at a media briefing that it was strongly against President Trump’s executive orders. It said that China will defend the legitimate rights and business interests of China according to foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin.
Economy & Politics
INEC to introduce election results viewing portal
INEC says the policy would be tested at the Nasarawa State Constituency Bye-Election.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has announced the introduction of a dedicated public portal called the INEC Result Viewing (IreV), which would enable Nigerians to view real-time results in polling stations.
This was announced Thursday evening in a statement signed by Festus Okoye, INEC’s Commissioner and Chairman of Information and Voter Education Committee.
READ MORE: FIRS boss wants to tax street traders, artisans, others
PRESS RELEASE#INEC Introduces Election Result Viewing Portal pic.twitter.com/VOVWagi6pW
— INEC Nigeria (@inecnigeria) August 6, 2020
“ The Commission is aware that result management has remained a major source of mistrust in our electoral process. INEC is determined to address any source of this concern through enhancing the level of transparency in the conduct of elections,” INEC said.
READ ALSO: Buhari orders payment of stranded NDDC scholarship students, commission gives reason for delay
INEC also said that it is an important principle for votes during elections to be correctly counted. This new initiative is a major step towards achieving that goal. However, INEC said this does not constitute electronic collation of votes just yet. Instead, “the collation of election results shall remain as provided for by law, a manual process of completion.”
IreV would be tested during the Nasarawa State Constituency Bye-Election scheduled for August 8th, INEC said.
READ MORE: 4.48 million beneficiaries apply for N-Power jobs in 16 days
Concerned Nigerians are advised to visit inecresults.com, create an account, and fill in their details which will lead them to the portal to oversee the collation of votes.
NNPC signs agreement with CNOOC, SAPETRO to end OML 130 disputes
Daily Parallel Market exchange rate – ₦486/$1
America’s Trump finally bans TikTok, WeChat
Telecoms sector remains resilient as broadband subscriptions climb
INEC to introduce election results viewing portal
List of Dividends announced so far in 2020 (August)
COVID-19 Update in Nigeria
Daily Parallel Market exchange rate – ₦486/$1
Update: FG extends second phase of eased lockdown by another 4 weeks
Access Bank acquires Zambian Cavmont Bank Ltd
