Business News
PenCom to offer bonds, offset arrears
The National Pension Commission (PenCom) is in talks with the Debt Management Office (DMO) to offer pension bonds on behalf of FG.
The National Pension Commission (PenCom) is in talks with the Debt Management Office (DMO) to offer pension bonds on behalf of the Nigeria Government in a bid to offset unpaid pension arrears
The Acting Director-General, PenCom, Aisha Dahir-Umar disclosed that the commission had been in contact with relevant authorities to secure funding for the outstanding accrued right liabilities but to no avail.
She added that the bonds when raised are expected to be used to offset the pension arrears of federal retirees, as a result of accumulated accrued rights.
“The commission had been in talks with the DMO on how to raise the pension bonds to clear the pension arrears. While the discussion was still ongoing, the Federal Government had said some of the funds should be released, but as the funds have not been released, we are still trying to see the possibility of raising the pension bonds to clear the backlog,” a source in PenCom said.
Dahir-Umar stated that as an alternative to budgetary allocations, which were not forthcoming, the commission had suggested to the Federal Government to consider issuance of bond through the DMO to fund the arrears.
The commission cited that according to “Section 39 (2) of the Pension Reform Act 2014 mandates the Federal Government to pay into the Retirement Benefits Bond Redemption Fund Account an amount not less than 5% of the total monthly wage bill payable to employees in the public service of the federation towards the redemption of the accrued pension right of FGN retirees.
[READ MORE: PenCom seeks bonds to clear N400 billion arrears as retirees groan)
However, in the last five years, budgetary funding/releases had not been regular and adequate for the payment of outstanding accrued pension rights over this period as a result of the decline in government revenue.
The Federal Government had in August 2019 expressed its readiness to put a stop to delay in pension payment to the workers who joined the Contributory Pension Scheme before retirement, The Nation reported.
Business
Update: FG extends second phase of eased lockdown by another 4 weeks
This is the third time the second phase of the eased lockdown is being extended.
President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the extension of the second phase of eased lockdown by another 4 weeks.
According to a monitored media report, this is the third time the second phase of the eased lockdown which is currently observed across the country is being extended
The disclosure was made by Boss Mustapha, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, during the Task Force briefing in Abuja on Thursday.
The Federal Government had on July 27 extended the current lockdown by an additional one week due to the Sallah celebration on July 29.
Mustapha disclosed that the extension followed the briefing and recommendation to President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday on the progress made so far by Presidential Task Force in containing the spread of Covid-19 and keeping citizens safe from contracting the virus.
The PTF Chairman noted that they made a couple of recommendations to the president and the extension of the current phase of ease of lockdown was one of the ones approved.
He revealed that in the recommendation that was made to the president about retaining the current phase of the lockdown, the PTF made some minor changes to address the economic, socio-political concerns of Nigerians.
Under the current extended second phase, the current curfew of 10 pm to 4 am is still in force, civil servants on grade level 12 and above are now to resume work fully and close by 4 pm and no longer 2 pm that currently operates. He, however, said that virtual meetings by government officials and parastatals will be maintained.
He also said that while the restrictions on recreational parks have been lifted for non-contact physical activities, the ban on entertainment centres will be sustained.
Mustapha explained that despite the accomplishments and challenges, some challenges continue to pose a considerable concern. Some of them include increased non-compliance with non-pharmaceutical prevention measures, lack of enforcement of necessary guidelines issued to preserve lives, insufficient engagement by some states with the national response, and lingering concern about the gap between identified cases and the actual burden of disease.
He also talked about apathy, fatigue and disbelief combining to challenge public enlightenment, compliance and behaviour change.
The SGF said that to address these challenges, the PTF decided that it was important to ensure that restrictions were not completely relaxed in order to control transmission.
He noted that it was also important that at this Community Transmission Phase of the pandemic, sub-national governments should step up to take more responsibilities by owning the response.
The various state authorities and the Federal Capital Territory were mandated to enforce non=pharmaceutical guidelines, the use of face masks in public appearances and places.
Corporate deals
Just In: Access Bank acquires Zambian Cavmont Bank Ltd
The statement from Access Bank says that the deal is a highly complementary transaction.
Access Bank Zambia, a subsidiary of Nigeria’s Access Bank Plc, has reached a ‘definitive agreement’ with Cavmont Capital Holdings Zambia Plc (CCHZ) to acquire Cavmont Bank Ltd.
The tier-1 bank announced this latest development regarding the merger talk which has been ongoing for a while, in a statement that was signed by its Company Secretary (Sunday Ekwochi) and issued to the Nigerian Stock Exchange earlier today.
According to the statement by Access Bank, the deal is a highly complementary transaction that is expected to combine Access Bank Zambia’s wholesale and trade finance capabilities with Cavmont Bank’s retail and commercial banking operations.
The proposed transaction which, in the meantime is still subject to relevant shareholder and regulatory approvals, is also expected to better position Access Bank Zambia as one of the top 10 banks in the Southern African country.
Customers from the enlarged bank will benefit from greater security offered by what will be one of the most capitalized banks in Zambia with a more diversified product and service offering and a broader geographical footprint and infrastructure.
Access Bank on its notification stated, ‘’Subsequent to our announcement on July 8, 2020, the Board of Access Bank Plc announces today that its subsidiary, Access Bank (Zambia) Limited, has entered into a definitive agreement with Cavmont Capital Holdings Zambia Plc (CCHZ) regarding proposed acquisition of Cavmont Bank Limited, a subsidiary of CCHZ and subsequent merger of Cavmont Bank’s operations into Access Bank Zambia. The proposed transaction, which remains subject to relevant shareholder and regulatory approvals, will position the enlarged Access Bank Zambia as one of the top 10 banks in Zambia and create the momentum to advance its strategic objectives.’’
‘’Under the terms of the agreement, Access Bank Zambia will acquire the entire issued ordinary share capital, assets and liabilities of Cavmont Bank while Capricom Group Limited, the ultimate majority shareholder of CCHZ will invest at least ZMW300 million ($16.5 million) of preference shares into Access Bank Zambia. Capricorn will hold preference shares in the enlarged Access Bank Zambia for a period of five years, after which the preference shares will be acquired by Access Bank Plc.’’
The statement also notes that the enlarged bank will be well placed to participate in the long-term economic growth of Zambia and will be predicated on the country’s vast reserves of natural resources and fast growing young population.
The transaction is expected to be completed during the fourth quarter of 2020.
Appointments
Nnaemeka Ewelukwa assumes office as new MD/CEO of NBET
Dr, Eweluka replaced the sacked Dr. Amobi as NBET Chief before full assumption in August 2020.
Dr Nnaemeka Ewelukwa has assumed office as the new Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET) Plc. This was announced earlier today by the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The new Managing Director and CEO of the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading PLC (@nbetnigeria), Dr. Nnaemeka Ewelukwa, has assumed office: https://t.co/lzIdxKLfrl pic.twitter.com/smgqb885J4
— Government of Nigeria (@NigeriaGov) August 6, 2020
The Backstory: In December 2019, the former CEO of NBET, Dr Marilyn Amobi, was suspended by Nigeria’s Minister of Power. This followed a series of complaints made against Dr Amobi who was appointed to the position in 2016. Following her sack, the Minister of Power also noted that he was seeking to bring sanity back to the system. A committee was also set up to investigate the many complaints against the former NBET CEO.
“In view of this, the minister has also directed the Constitution of a 5-man investigative committee to look into the myriads of complaints against the MD/CEO (of NBET) with the view of restoring sanity in the management of the company. Consequently, she is to handover to the most senior director in the organisation,” a statement issued by Aaron Artimas, the spokesman of the Minister of Power had read.
Interestingly, President Muhammadu Buhari reinstated Dr Amobi in January this year, but then finally sacked her later in June. Now, Dr, Eweluka, who was earlier announced as Amobi’s replacement, has now taken over.
Before now, Eweluka was appointed the General Counsel and Company Secretary of NBET in march 2012. He has also served as a Technical Adviser with the Presidential Task Force on Power (PTFP) where he was a member of the Regulatory and Transactions Monitoring Unit.
He graduated with an LLB from the University of Nigeria Nsukka, an LLM in International Business Law from the London School of Economics and a PhD from Queen Mary, University of London.
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Abioye, Victoria Olufunke
January 8, 2020 at 9:42 am
Pension, a confuse human-animal syndrome. Pay to insurance companies to give retirees benefits when needed. Government involvement is still on? If government owns those insurance companies then the contributions of citizen to pension funds are in vain. God forbids. Make funds available from bonds, minting as last resort and the retiree will not die of hunger and they will not curse this government and the nation. Well spoken.
Samuel Torduega
March 29, 2020 at 4:01 pm
With the Corona Virus making things more difficult, Pencom should please also find a way of paying retirees who are yet to get their entitlements after more than a year of retiring. With this non payment, what is the faith of those who retired December last year? Waiting for another two years?