Business News
Unity Bank Plc refutes alleged N7 billion indebtedness to the Government
Unity Bank Plc has refuted alleged claims of N7 billion indebtedness leveled against it by the Special Presidential Investigation Panel for Recovery of Public Property (SPIPRPP).
Unity Bank Plc has refuted alleged claims of N7 billion indebtedness leveled against it by the Special Presidential Investigation Panel for Recovery of Public Property (SPIPRPP).
In a statement made available to the public, Unity Bank vehemently clarified that the allegations of indebtedness are unfounded.
The backstory: According to an earlier statement signed by SPIPRPP’s Head of Media & Communication,¸ Lucie-Ann Laha, the presidential panel had threatened to charge Unity Bank with offences of economic sabotage if the bank refused to return the about N7 billion the bank was owing to the Federal Government.
According to SPRPRPP, the N7 billion represents the sum of $15,561,769.99 and N1,488,455,810.90, being excess and arbitrary charges on accounts of some agencies of government by the bank before the institution of Treasury Single Account (TSA).
The agencies from whose accounts the “excess and arbitrary charges” were supposedly deducted are the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), the Kaduna Refinery, and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).
The presidential panel had also stated that the bank had agreed on the amount earlier in February, this year, but “has neither proffered a payment plan nor demonstrated good faith by actually initiating payments”. The SPIPRPP statement further disclosed that the bank has since “has severed all communications with the Panel in this regard.”
Unity Bank’s Refutation: While refuting claims of owing N7 billion to the Federal Government, Unity Bank Plc clarified that in September 2018, a team from the SPIPRPP visited the Bank as part of “special” investigation into the banking transactions of the Government between 2009 to 2018. This culminated in a total of three (3) meetings held with the Panel on January 24, 2019, on January 31, 2019, and February 6, 2019, within the premises of the Federal Ministry of Justice, Abuja.
At the meetings, the Panel requested the Bank to provide certain information and solely relied on the information provided for the “special” investigation. Throughout the review, the Panel refused to invite the MDAs to any of the meetings to corroborate the Bank’s records neither was any ad-hoc investigative process initiated to validate the SPIPRPP findings.
The Panel in an earlier letter requested the Bank to accept culpability and pay off a certain sum deemed outstanding which the Bank objected and insisted on completing the reconciliation exercise on the basis that the claims presented against the Bank were unfounded.
According to Unity Bank, instead, the Panel unilaterally halted the reconciliation exercise by refusing to admit further documentary evidence from the Bank, establishing that there were no balances kept in its books for the MDAs.
Unity Bank said its reconciliation team was made to sign a register of attendance at every reconciliation meeting, and at no time did the team admit to any liability because the process was still on-going and inconclusive.
Furthermore, while noting the constitutional power of Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Allocation Commission (RMFAC) as the sole agency of government to investigate, review, reconcile and collect revenue for the Government, Unity Bank said its co-operated fully with SPIPRPP and its consultants in the investigation process in demonstration of its non-culpability.
Unity Bank maintained that it has transferred all the balances of the MDAs in its books to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as far back as 2016, in line with the directive of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
Coronavirus
COVID-19 Update in Nigeria
On the 7th of March 2021, 269 new confirmed cases and 5 deaths were recorded in Nigeria
The spread of novel Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) in Nigeria continues to record significant increases as the latest statistics provided by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control reveal Nigeria now has 158,506 confirmed cases.
On the 7th of March 2021, 269 new confirmed cases and 5 deaths were recorded in Nigeria.
To date, 158,506 cases have been confirmed, 137,875 cases have been discharged and 1,969 deaths have been recorded in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
A total of 1.54 million tests have been carried out as of March 7th, 2021 compared to 1.49 million tests a day earlier.
COVID-19 Case Updates- 7th March 2021,
- Total Number of Cases – 158,506
- Total Number Discharged – 137,890
- Total Deaths – 1,969
- Total Tests Carried out – 1,544,008
According to the NCDC, the 269 new cases are reported from 19 states- Enugu (78), Bauchi (37), Rivers (22), Imo (18), Ogun (16), FCT (15), Akwa Ibom (13), Kaduna (13), Kebbi (11), Kwara (9), Edo(7), Ekiti (6), Borno (5), Yobe(5), Kano (4) Nasarawa (3), Osun (3), Anambra (2) and Plateau (2).
Meanwhile, the latest numbers bring Lagos state total confirmed cases to 56,444, followed by Abuja (19,350), Plateau (8,944), Kaduna (8,658), Oyo (6,766), Rivers (6,680), Edo (4,670), Ogun (4,437), Kano (3,844), Ondo (3,066), Kwara (2,962), Delta (2,582), Osun (2,457), Nasarawa (2,251), Enugu (2,156), Katsina (2,060), Gombe (2,010), Ebonyi (1,951), Anambra (1,813), Akwa Ibom (1,610), and Abia (1,588).
Imo State has recorded 1,569 cases, Borno (1,308), Bauchi (1,274), Benue (1,188), Adamawa (942), Niger (919), Taraba (863), Ekiti (834), Bayelsa (779), Sokoto (769), Jigawa (496), Kebbi (412), Cross River (334), Yobe (293), Zamfara (222), while Kogi state has recorded 5 cases only.
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Lock Down and Curfew
In a move to combat the spread of the pandemic disease, President Muhammadu Buhari directed the cessation of all movements in Lagos and the FCT for an initial period of 14 days, which took effect from 11 pm on Monday, 30th March 2020.
The movement restriction, which was extended by another two weeks period, has been partially put on hold with some businesses commencing operations from May 4. On April 27th, 2020, Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari declared an overnight curfew from 8 pm to 6 am across the country, as part of new measures to contain the spread of the COVID-19. This comes along with the phased and gradual easing of lockdown measures in FCT, Lagos, and Ogun States, which took effect from Saturday, 2nd May 2020, at 9 am.
On Monday, 29th June 2020 the federal government extended the second phase of the eased lockdown by 4 weeks and approved interstate movement outside curfew hours with effect from July 1, 2020. Also, on Monday 27th July 2020, the federal government extended the second phase of eased lockdown by an additional one week.
On Thursday, 6th August 2020 the federal government through the secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 announced the extension of the second phase of eased lockdown by another four (4) weeks.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State announced the closed down of the Eti-Osa Isolation Centre, with effect from Friday, 31st July 2020. He also mentioned that the Agidingbi Isolation Centre would also be closed and the patients relocated to a large capacity centre.
Due to the increased number of covid-19 cases in Nigeria, the Nigerian government ordered the reopening of Isolation and treatment centres in the country on Thursday, 10th December 2020.
On 26th January 2021, the Federal Government announced the extension of the guidelines of phase 3 of the eased lockdown by one month following the rising cases of the coronavirus disease in the country and the expiration of phase 3 of the eased lockdown.
On 28th February 2021, the federal government confirmed that the first tranche of Covid-19 vaccines will arrive in Nigeria on Tuesday, March 2nd, 2021.
On Tuesday, 2nd March 2021, the National Primary health Care Development Agency announced the arrival of the expected COVX Astrazeneca/Oxford covid-19 vaccines.
On Saturday, 6th March 2021, President Muhammadu Buhari and his vice, Yemi Osinbajo received vaccination against the covid-19 as the State House in Abuja.
READ ALSO: Bill Gates says Trump’s WHO funding suspension is dangerous
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