Without prejudice to the possibility of any good that was intended in the decision of the Federal Government to make the @cenbank (CBN) take over the responsibility for crude oil sales proceeds from the @nnpclimited (NNPCL), it must be clearly stated that the action is not legal in its application.

Although, as usual, of the current administration, little has been communicated to the public about explaining details of the decision.

According to what is publicly available, the President has issued a directive that henceforth, the NNPCL would submit receipts for crude oil sales to CBN for vetting and documentation.

Whatever may be the merit of the new arrangement, the presidential directive is a violation of the legal status of the NNPCL.

It is an arbitrary order capable of undermining the operational independence of the NNPCL.

By this order, Mr. President has wrested control of the finances of the NNPCL and donated the same to the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Nigeria.

This is an unprecedented act, without any legal or ethical basis. It is also a violation of the principle of due process in public administration.

State-owned enterprises are not subject to such arbitrary orders and have full control over their finances within the confines of their respective establishment laws.

The NNPCL is a creation of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 (PIA), which was signed into law by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on 16 August 2021.

The PIA makes extensive provisions for the formation, structure, governance, and operation of the NNPCL as an independent limited liability company in Sections 53 to 65 of the Act.

The government must, therefore, respect the provisions of the law and allow the NNPCL to run as an independent company based on sound commercial objectives and in line with international best practices and standard principles of corporate governance.

Only then would the new NNPCL grow into a formidable institution with track records, requisite technical and financial capacity, and readiness to operate in public space.

Any attempt to undermine the operational independence of the NNPCL will be a hindrance to any chances of attracting investments and attaining global relevance in the Petroleum Industry.

Let it also be stated that the Central Bank Act 2007 does not confer on the Central Bank of Nigeria, any responsibility for vetting the transactions of, or formulating and maintaining the internal controls and internal audits in state-owned enterprises, public or private.

The CBN should be allowed to perform its core functions as provided in the extant law.

To enhance transparency and accountability in the operation of the NNPCL, its bank accounts for crude sales proceeds (for example at Morgan Stanley) and the entire crude sales conversion circle can be trailed by Nigeria Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI) and CBN.

Amongst other supportive measures to enhance transparency, the NNPCL board members can be better selected and reconstituted to include, if desired, representatives of the CBN and NEITI. -AA

Ali Ndume, chief whip of the senate, says although he has a child that works in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), his comments on the proposed movement of the headquarters of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and some offices of the apex bank to Lagos are “the truth”.

Last week, the senator representing Borno south said there would be “political consequences” for moving the aforementioned offices.

The senator made the comments following the recent announcements that these offices will be relocated to Nigeria’s commercial centre.

The development elicited varied reactions, with northern stakeholders like the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and Ndume’s who outrightly rejected the decisions.

Particularly, the whip’s intial comment elicited outrage in some sections of the social media.

While Doyin Okupe, a former presidential aide, said Ndume’s comments were capable of sparking a crisis, Sunday Karimi, senator representing Kogi west, said his colleague spoke for himself and not for the senate.

However, Okupe backtracked later, saying the Borno senator meant well for the country.

In his defence, Ndume said his comments were borne out of patriotism for the country.

‘I SPOKE THE TRUTH’

Speaking with TheCable on Monday, Ndume said his comments that there would be political consequences were the truth.

“Even if my ward is working in CBN, is she the only person that is going to be transferred to Lagos? There are hundreds of people that they planned to move to Lagos. Whenever an issue like this crops up, instead of addressing the issue, the people and some of the reporters will now concentrate on the messenger, not the message,” he said.

“So this is the kind of distraction, let us discuss. Is it necessary at this time to relocate some of these departments and agencies of government back to Lagos. Why was the capital moved from Lagos to Abuja, was it not because of congestion, because of inconveniences, because of inefficiencies?

“And since then, Lagos has been expanding. This argument that they are forwarding, that it is for efficiency. What efficiency? In today’s world where you can do transactions electronically, you can do meetings by Zoom, you can communicate by WhatsApp, you can transfer documents by PDF. There is no excuse there [decision to move CBN, FAAN to Lagos].

“Coming to the political issue, yes, it must have consequences because when Tinubu was elected, he was not appointed, he was elected.

“Then even if I have a ward there, my daughter or my son or whatever, which I do, I should not say anything if I see something wrong going on, I should not speak because my daughter is there, that does not work.

“You see, somebody has to stand up to speak the truth. That is what I am trying to do.

“Let’s say I have a ward in CBN. Is there anything wrong with that? My daughter for example or my son or whatever, because I am a politically exposed person, does that take the right of my ward or my relative to work in CBN? That is one.”

‘STAUNCH SUPPORTER OF TINUBU’

The Borno senator expressed confidence that Tinubu will take the right action on the issue.

“I am in APC and proud of APC. One of the staunch supporters of Mr President,” he said.

“Unfortunately, the people outside are trying to be more catholic than the pope. The pope knows me very well, that is Tinubu, he knows I speak the truth. Tinubu will do something because he knows I spoke the truth. There will be political consequences.

“Haven’t you seen the reaction from the Katsina elders, northerners generally, are against this move. Is it not true that he will seek the votes of northerners in 2027?

“Is it not true that northerners again or the opposition will take advantage of this too? Now they [section of the north] are telling us ‘we told you that this man is a tribalist, look at what he is doing. In one year he has started making moves to hurt the north’.”

In a significant move to enhance Nigeria’s military capabilities in the face of escalating security challenges, the United States Department of Defense has confirmed a groundbreaking arms sale to Nigeria.

The deal, valued at $1 billion, includes the acquisition of 12 AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters, a formidable addition to Nigeria’s military assets.

The contract also encompasses 32 mission computers supplied by Northrop Grumman, with an additional contract valued at $7.7 million awarded in December to further bolster Nigeria’s defence capabilities.

Nigeria has been grappling with multifaceted security threats, including the persistent Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast and rampant banditry in the northwest.

The acquisition of the state-of-the-art AH-1Z Viper helicopters, scheduled for completion in June 2024, marks a crucial step in fortifying Nigeria’s military prowess to address these complex security challenges.

The AH-1Z Viper is a versatile attack helicopter designed for various missions, including reconnaissance, escort, and strike operations.

Nigeria’s ongoing military procurement strategy includes a range of sophisticated weaponry, such as m-346 attack aircraft, T-129 ATAK helicopters, Agusta 109 Trekker multi-role helicopters, and Chinese-made Wing Loong II drones.

Military experts say the acquisition of the AH-1Z Viper helicopters aligns with Nigeria’s broader effort to address and counteract the diverse security threats within its borders.

The Accountant General of the Federation has said federal workers will start receiving their January salaries from Thursday evening (today), attributing the delay to a glitch from the Government Integrated Financial Management System (GIFMIS) platform.

There have been rising concerns over delay in the payment of January salaries of federal workers. The delay was blamed on the non-conclusion of the 2024 appropriation on the GIFMIS platform by the Office of Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF).

A January 31 memo titled, “Delay in the payment of January 2024 Salary”, from the bursary department of the National Mathematics Centre, Abuja, to all its staff informed them of the development.

The memo referenced NMC/BUR/GC/Vol.1, and was signed by the acting Bursar, Pius Ukwah, who said, “We wish to inform you that January 2024 salaries will be delayed beyond normal”.

“As of today, the OAGF is still working on finalising the 2024 appropriation on the GIFMIS platform and as a result, the personnel warrant for January is yet to be released”.

The memo which copied the Director/CE, the Registrar and pasted on all notice boards stated further, “The same situation applies to all MDAs and not just the centre. We regret the inconvenience caused by this delay.”

Responding to enquiries by Daily Trust on the delay, the Director Press and Public Relations at the Office of the Accountant General, Bawa Mokwa, said the issue had been sorted out and payment would commence today.

“We have sorted out the issue and workers will start receiving their payment from this Thursday evening,” he said.

The Federal High Court in Abakaliki on Thursday, February 1, nullified the candidacy of Silas Onu as the PDP candidate for the Ebonyi South senatorial bye-election scheduled for 3rd of February.

Ruling on the matter, Justice Hyeladziya Ngajiwa affirmed that the party failed to conduct the required three-man ad-hoc and one-man national delegates who were mandated to vote in the primary election.

The Court, therefore, ordered the immediate removal of Onu’s name from the INEC portal.