FG vows to recover N37bn from airlines, restates Emirates’ ban by Stephen Angbulu

The Federal Government has vowed to recover a total of N37bn from airlines still owing various categories of debts. This is just as the government stated that the ban on Emirates Airlines will continue. The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, revealed this at this week’s ministerial press briefing organised by the Presidential Communication Team at the presidential villa, Abuja. Sirika who said airlines owe federal agencies N37 billion also explained that Arik owes between N13 billion and N14 billion. The minister added that construction firm, Bi-Courtney, owes the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria about N14 billion. He said the aviation service provider had not repaid any part of that amount in its last 13 years of operations. This, he said, contravenes the existing agreement between it and the government. Sirika stated that the debt is spread across government agencies including the FAAN, the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, among others. When asked about the disbursement of the N5bn COVID-19 palliative to aviation stakeholders, the minister said it was initially decided that airlines owing aviation parastatals should not benefit but the President wanted to cushion the effect of the pandemic on businesses. Sirika added, “So, this brings us to the question of the money owed to the parastatals. It is about N37bn that they owe them, especially, Arik, the culprit. I know they owe us about N13bn, N14bn “If you owe FAAN, you owe the government. Bi-Courtney owes about N14bn as of the last count. It has not paid a single dime since the time he started to run the terminal building. “And we have not ceased giving him electricity, water, fire cover, and so on and so forth. He hasn’t paid a dime for 13 years. And if we go to shut his doors, the media, of course, and Nigerian people will say we’re killing businesses but he is killing our services too because we have to have that money to provide for that toilet that you’re seeing in Lagos airport. Most of these are living by their IGRs and so, we need the money but we will go after the money.” Sirika explained that the company flouted government regulations from its inception when it built the Lagos terminal in the wrong location. He explained, “They did not build in the original location that we gave. They moved to another location. They also annexed what is not part of the agreement, like the car park and the school and so on and started to build a hotel, which is not part of the agreement. But that’s another issue. “So, they produced a terminal. But when you produce a terminal, you should be paying the agreed money back to the government over time to a point where you will return the terminal building. “In this case, it was supposed to be 12 years because he didn’t do anything ab initio. After two years of doing nothing, he now quickly built when already two, three, four years has gone from 12 years.” Sirika added that in those 13 years, the firm had not paid FAAN or any agency a single dime for operating the terminal. “So, yes I said, he has not paid a dime to us and is still there and we are providing electricity for him. We are providing security to him. We are providing fire cover to him, and so on so forth. And we’re providing our own runway for him to land. We are also providing our own apron because it is our space, our land. He is not paying a dime yet,” he said. Speaking about the suspension of Emirates Airlines’ operation in Nigeria, the minister said the government took that step because the company is “discriminatory against our country and it is not acceptable.” He said there is no resumption date yet. According to him, Dubai demands that Nigerians cannot fly to UAE except through Emirates airline and if they choose to do so through other airlines like Ethiopia, Qatar, Turkish or other airlines, they must remain in the country of that airline for two weeks if they are Nigerians before they continue to Dubai. “Nigeria considers this as discriminatory and will not allow that to stand,” Sirika said. He said with the 200 million travelling population from Nigeria, and the huge foreign exchange from travellers, “we cannot afford to be hoodwinked to their own terms and conditions.”

Grass-cutting Contract Scam: Ex-SGF, Babachir Lawal’s lawyer questions EFCC’s phone evidence

The former SGF’s lawyer tries to suggest that a phone brought by the EFCC as evidence in the grass-cutting contract scam trial may have been hacked. The legal team of Babachir Lawal, a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), on Thursday, took a prosecution witness to task over pieces of phone evidence tendered against him in his ongoing corruption trial. Fatima Umar, a deputy head of Digital Forensic Laboratory of the EFCC, who earlier gave her evidence-in-chief as the third prosecution witness in March, was cross-examined by Mr Lawal’s defence team on Thursday. Mr Lawal and his co-defendants are being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) before the FCT High Court in Jabi, Abuja, on amended 10 counts of criminal conspiracy, fraud, and diversion of over N544million belonging to the federal government. The defendants were accused of fraudulently converting the N544million proceeds of the grass-cutting contracts which Mr Lawal, as then SGF, allegedly awarded to the companies in which he had interests. Mr Lawal is being prosecuted along with his co-defendants, comprising his younger brother, Hamidu Lawal, Suleiman Abubakar, Monday Apeh, and two companies – Rholavision Engineering Ltd and Josmon Technologies Ltd. They all pleaded not guilty to the charges when they were re-arraigned on November 30, 2020, before the new trial judge Charles Agbaza, who was assigned the case after the first one died last year. Mr Lawal, the first SGF appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari, was removed from office because of the scandal in 2017. Evidence Ms Umar’s evidence-in-chief, in essence, tried to link Mr Lawal to one Musa Bulani, whose roles in the transactions leading to the charges are not immediately clear. The EFCC’s digital analyst tried to achieve this examining an iPhone 7 collected from Mr Bulani. She told the court how she received a request from the anti-graft agency’s investigation team to search for deleted SMS, iMessages, phone logs, documents and any other item that could have been possibly deleted on the device. She described how she used ‘manual and logical extraction’ to extract the deleted items, adding that she came across the name “SGF” using the cellebrite camera. The results of the extraction were burned into a CD using the HP workstation, printed out using the HP LaserJet Pro m402dn, and handed over to the investigators, she said. Cross-examination on hacking At the resumed hearing on Thursday, Mr Lawal’s legal team led by Akin Olujinmi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, suggested while cross-examining Ms Umar that the phone analysed by her could have been hacked and data implanted into it. Fielding questions from the defence lawyer, Ms Umar confirmed that as a digital expert, she knew that the internet offered various possibilities in terms of use. She admitted being aware of the activities of hackers on the internet and their ability to take over a third party’s device without physically touching it or obtaining the consent or authorisation of the owner. Ms Umar, however, said that before a device could be hacked and data transferred into it using Bluetooth facility, pairing of devices must be achieved first. She said this ultimately meant that the owner of the device would have knowledge of the transfer. Mr Olujimi also asked Ms Umar to confirm if there is a possibility of such pairing and subsequent transfer of data happening when the device is in the possession of another person without the knowledge of the owner. She confirmed the possibility, but said it was not the case in the suit. More questions on hacking The defence lawyer noted that the phone which was taken from one Musa Bulani by one Ibrahim Ahmad, an EFCC’s operative in November 2017, did not get to Ms Umar until March 9, 2018. He then asked Ms Umar to confirm the chain of custody of the device during the period and confirm if the phone was not tampered with and incriminating evidence planted in it during the period. Responding, Ms Umar confirmed that the phone was in perfect condition when it was brought for data extraction and analysis, accompanied by consent, specific analysis and chain of custody forms. Ms Umar said she had to interact with the owner of the phone as he needed to be brought to the laboratory because the phone had a pass code. “He was brought to the lab because in the consent form which was supposed to know the state and information of the device, whether it had a password or not and in this case. “In filling the form, he included a password that was wrong, so I requested him to be brought to give the correct password,” she explained. Mr Olujinmi, in response, pointed out that the evidence about the phone being passworded was not in any document tendered before the court. In conclusion, Mr Olujinmi asked Ms Umar if she could hack into another person’s phone with her knowledge as a digital forensic expert. She answered in the affirmative, but added “not in this case.” Adjournment The judge, Mr Agbaza, on Thursday, adjourned the matter till October 6 and 7 for cross-examination of the witness by the remaining four defence lawyers. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that at the previous proceedings in June, the court rejected some documents tendered by the prosecution following the objection raised by the defence. Agreeing with the defence, the judge ruled that the documents failed to meet the conditions of admissibility. (NAN)

Inbound traveller imports COVID-19 Delta variant into Nigeria by Dayo Ojerinde

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control on Thursday said it had detected a confirmed case of the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant, also known as lineage B.1.617.2. The NCDC in a statement said the variant was detected in a traveller to Nigeria, following the routine travel test required of all international travellers and genomic sequencing at the NCDC National Reference Laboratory, Abuja. The deadly Delta variant is recognised by the World Health Organisation as a variant of concern, given its increased transmissibility. The variant has been detected in over 90 countries and is expected to spread to more countries, according to the NCDC. The NCDC Head of Communications, Dr Yahya Disu, in the statement said the variant had been linked to a surge in cases in countries where “it is the dominant strain” in circulation. “There are ongoing studies to understand the impact of the variant on existing vaccines and therapeutics. As part of Nigeria’s COVID-19 response, NCDC has been working with the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, African Centre for Genomics of Infectious Diseases, and other laboratories within the national networ, to carry out genomic sequencing. “This is to enable the detection of variants of concern, and initiate response activities. All data on variants from Nigeria have been published on GISAID, a global mechanism for sharing sequencing data. Given the global risk of spread of the Delta variant, positive samples from international travellers to Nigeria are sequenced regularly,” the statement partly reads. Meanwhile, the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, has said the state would not relent to punish international travellers evading isolation. He said, “Anybody who tries to bypass the Presidential Steering Committee regulations will have their passports deactivated and will face sanctions when they are brought to the attention of the law enforcement agencies. “We have a number of people that we published in the newspapers who need to present themselves to the Lagos State Government and explain why they have chosen to beat the guidelines. We are in the process of applying sanctions to many people or deactivate their passports. “We are expecting a large number of children returning to the country from Europe for the summer vacation. We know that the Delta strain is circulating in Europe and, therefore, these sanctions are very important.” PUNCH.

Madam Kemi Adeosun: Please don’t push your luck, By Wale Oloko

Mrs Adeosun deserves our collective gratitude in taking the courage to go to court to challenge a grey area in the NYSC law. Importantly, Madam Adeosun must know that what led to the uproar and strident calls for her removal was not whether she had a NYSC certificate or needed the certificate to be able to hold the office of a minister, but the fact that she presented a forged Exemption Certificate to the authorities. The forgery was not discovered until the press exposed the lie. On July 7, a Federal High Court in Abuja ruled that Mrs Kemi Adeosun, as of the time she was appointed a Minister in the cabinet of President Muhammadu Buhari, did not need an NYSC Discharge Certificate or any form of waiver to be able to hold such a high public office or contest any election in Nigeria. The Presiding Judge, Honourabe Justice Taiwo Taiwo, declared that, as a British citizen who graduated from a United Kingdom university at 22 years of age in 1989, Mrs Adeosun was unqualified to participate in the NYSC programme meant for Nigerian graduates. As reported in online edition of This Day newspaper of July 8, Honourabe Justice Taiwo argued that when Mrs Adeosun returned to Nigeria and became a Nigerian citizen at over 30 years old, she had become ineligible to participate in the NYSC scheme, adding that it would have been a criminal offence if she had participated in the NYSC under any guise. For clearly understandable reasons, the former Minister took a victory tour across the social media to congratulate herself, family, lawyers and just about every other person in her orbit. Hear her: “The court, presided over by Honourabe Justice Taiwo Taiwo, ruled that the constitution does not require me to present my first degree certificate or any other certificate, including the NYSC certificate, to be appointed a Minister. More importantly, he also ruled that I was not eligible to perform NYSC by virtue of the constitution.” The triumphant former minister went further to declare that “the ruling vindicates me after a very traumatic spell.” Basking in victory, Mrs Adeosun made sure to throw in a veiled threat, declaring that “in light of the court’s ruling, I will at the appropriate time and without hesitation, take all further steps necessary within the law to protect my reputation.” Mrs Adeosun deserves our collective gratitude in taking the courage to go to court to challenge a grey area in the NYSC law that affects many young Nigerians born to Nigerian parents abroad with the right of dual citizenship. Like many Nigerian parents and their offsprings who would benefit from Honourable Justice Taiwo’s ruling, I must congratulate Mrs Adeosun on her legal victory. Indeed, Madam Adeosun has every right to protect her reputation, but she must not push her luck too far by threatening legal action against her traducers. Nigerians have come to accept the fact that she was unfortunate to mix with the wrong crowd or some persons who sought and got the forged NYSC certificate on her behalf, only to expose the big lie when apparently they could not bend her to do their bidding. Such shenanigans are some of the reasons not a few decent Nigerians stay far away from politics to protect their reputations. Apparently Madam Adeosun could not resist the lure and glitter of politics; hence she was forced to swallow a poison pill in the public square. On a personal level, my unsolicited advice to you, Madam, is to not push your luck. Even in your treatise on social media, you conveniently choose not to answer whether you presented a forged certificate or not; a question that agitated the minds of not a few Nigerians while this debacle lasted. You do not need to answer that now, because even though the past may be a prologue, it is not destiny. Importantly, Madam Adeosun must know that what led to the uproar and strident calls for her removal was not whether she had a NYSC certificate or needed the certificate to be able to hold the office of a minister, but the fact that she presented a forged Exemption Certificate to the authorities. The forgery was not discovered until the press exposed the lie. The former Minister must not also forget that the judgment was silent on the vexatious issue of a forged NYSC certificate, because that was never an issue before the court. The court only made a ruling based on the relief she herself sought, namely, that she did not require the NYSC certificate to be appointed as a Minister. That should be good enough for Madam Adeosun, especially because the threat to retrieve a ruined reputations from a highly charged public interest disputation can be a slippery slope. Nigerians are a very forgiving people; they have moved on, so Madam Adeosun should let sleeping dogs lie. On a personal level, my unsolicited advice to you, Madam, is to not push your luck. Even in your treatise on social media, you conveniently choose not to answer whether you presented a forged certificate or not; a question that agitated the minds of not a few Nigerians while this debacle lasted. You do not need to answer that now, because even though the past may be a prologue, it is not destiny. Your colourful launch of the DashMe Foundation, with the Vice President in attendance, amply demonstrated your continuing star power and potential for a great comeback. Keep your eye on the ball and do not look back, for the past is gone and only the future beckons. And now, Madam Adeosun, whatever be the case, accept my best wishes for a glorious future where NYSC certificates do not rule the roost.

MultiChoice has never paid VAT since its inception ― FIRS By Emma Ujah

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has raised alarm over the level of non-compliance by Multi-Choice Africa (MCA), the parent Company of Multi-Choice Nigeria (MCN). According to FIRS, the company which provides services to MCN has never paid Value Added Tax (VAT) since its inception. This was revealed in a statement by the Executive Chairman, Muhammad Nami. Nami also revealed the FIRS has appointed Nigerian Deposit Money Banks as agents to freeze and recover the sum of N1.8 trillion from accounts of Messrs MultiChoice Nigeria Limited (MCN) And MultiChoice Africa (MCA). The FIRS boss explained that the decision to appoint the banks as agents and to freeze the accounts was as a result of the group’s under-remittance of taxes and continued refusal to grant FIRS access to its servers for audit. “The level of non-compliance by Multi-Choice Africa (MCA), the parent Company of Multi-Choice Nigeria (MCN) is very alarming. The parent company, which provides services to MCN has never paid Value Added Tax (VAT) since its inception. “It was discovered that the companies persistently breached all agreements and undertakings with the Service, they would not promptly respond to correspondences, they lack data integrity and are not transparent as they continually deny FIRS access to their records. “Particularly, MCN has avoided giving the FIRS accurate information on the number of its subscribers and income. The companies are involved in the under-remittance of taxes which necessitated a critical review of the tax-compliance level of the company.” The chairman said that the group’s performance does not reflect in its tax obligations and compliance level in Nigeria. “The issue with Tax collection in Nigeria, especially from foreign-based Companies conducting businesses in Nigeria and making massive profits is frustrating and infuriating to the (FIRS). “Regrettably, Companies come into Nigeria just to infringe on our tax laws by indulging in tax evasion. There is no doubt that broadcasting, telecommunications and the cable-satellite industries have changed the face of communication in Nigeria. However, when it comes to tax compliance, some companies are found wanting. “They do with impunity in Nigeria what they dare not try in their countries of origin,” Mr Nami said. According to the FIRS boss, Nigeria contributes 34% of total revenue for the Multi-Choice group. The next to Nigeria from intelligence gathering is Kenya with 11%, and Zambia is in 3rd place with 10%. The rest of Africa where they have a presence accounts for 45% of the group’s total revenue. “Information currently at the disposal of FIRS has revealed a tax liability for relevant years of assessment for ₦1,822,923,909,313.94 (One trillion, eight hundred and twenty-two billion, nine hundred and twenty-three million, nine hundred and nine thousand, three hundred and thirteen naira, ninety-four kobo only) and $342,531,206 (Three hundred and forty-two million, five hundred and thirty-one thousand, two hundred and six dollars only). “Under FIRS powers in Section 49 of the Companies Income Tax Act Cap C21 LFN 2004 as amended, Section 41 of the Value Added Tax Act Cap V1 LFN 2004 as amended and Section 31 of the FIRS (Establishment) Act No. 13 of 2007, all bankers to MCA & MCN in Nigeria are therefore appointed as Collecting Agents for the full recovery of the aforesaid tax debt. “In this regard, the affected banks are required to sweep balances in each of the above-mentioned entities’ accounts and pay the same in full or part settlement of the companies’ respective tax debts until FULL recovery. “This should be done before the execution of any transaction involving the companies or any of their subsidiaries. It is further requested that the Federal Inland Revenue Service be informed of any transactions before EXECUTION on the account, especially transfers of funds to any of their subsidiaries.” The chairman insisted that Nigeria must put a stop to all tax frauds that have been going on for too long. “All companies must be held accountable and made to pay their fair share of relevant taxes including back duty taxes owed especially VAT”. Vanguard

Fury, Wilder fight postponed. Agency Report

Tyson Fury’s heavyweight title defence against Deontay Wilder has been postponed after the champion and members of his camp contracted Covid-19, the World Boxing Council confirmed on Friday. In a brief post on Twitter, the WBC confirmed the July 24 bout had been postponed but did not say when the trilogy fight would be rescheduled. “Fury vs Wilder III will be postponed,” the WBC said. “We wish Tyson Fury’s team and him speedy recovery from COVID.” Multiple reports in the US and Britain have said Fury and several members of his team had tested positive for Covid-19 at their Las Vegas training base. ESPN reported that the fight at Las Vegas’s T-Mobile Arena had been tentatively rescheduled for October 9. The positive test was the latest twist to what has been a torturous year for Fury. The undefeated “Gypsy King” had been set to face a money-spinning heavyweight unification fight against fellow Briton Anthony Joshua. However, that fight was scuppered after an arbitrator ruled that Fury was legally obligated to face Wilder in a third fight. Fury handed Wilder a brutal beating in seven one-sided rounds in their second fight in February 2020. Their first fight, in December 2018, ended in a controversial split-decision draw in which Fury was knocked down twice. Neither Wilder, 35, nor Fury, has fought since their bout in Las Vegas last year. AFP

South-West govs propose six regions, demand LG autonomy, resource control by Leke Baiyewu

Governors in the South-West geopolitical zone have proposed conversion of the present six geopolitical zones into federating units, as part of the ongoing review of the 1999 Constitution by the National Assembly. The South West Governors’ Forum, in a document presented to members of the National Assembly from the geopolitical zone, also made other proposals to weaken central government, while allocating more powers to the federating units and states. Our correspondent obtained the document containing the proposals by the governors, which was presented to the South-West caucus of the National Assembly on Tuesday. The governors had met with the lawmakers in Abuja behind closed doors last week. The governors at the meeting were Rotimi Akeredolu (Ondo State), who is also the Chairman of the South West Governors’ Forum; Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti State), Gboyega Oyetola (Osun), Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos) and Dapo Abiodun (Ogun). Afer the meeting, Akeredolu had said the South-West would be approaching the constitution amendment with a common front. He added that the meeting had set a committee made of up senators led by the caucus chairman (Opeyemi Bamidele) and House of Representatives caucus chairman (Femi Fakeye) and attorneys-generals of the South-West states. “The committee is to harmonise our position so that we can present it when necessary before the two Houses and at the end of the day, have a constitutional amendment and have our serious input. Thank you all,” he had said. The PUNCH reliably learnt on Friday that the joint Senate and House committee would fine tune the proposals and ensured that they were captured in the constitution review exercise. In the document titled, ‘Proposals for the Review of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (As Amended): Presentation by South-West Governors’ Forum’ and dated July 5, 2021, the governors sought amendment to Section 3(1) and (3) of the constitution. The present Section 3(1) reads, “There shall be 36 states in Nigeria, that is to say, Abia, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Gombe, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna,Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe and Zamfara.” The governors added, “We propose that Section 3(1) be amended as a federation consisting of six geopolitical zones constituted from the states. The federating units or regions are divided into the following geopolitical zones: North-West Zone, North-Eastern Zone, Middle – Belt Zone, South-East Zone, South-South Zone, South-West Zone and the Federal Capital Territory. The forum added that “the geopolitical zones have been recognised and accepted by Nigeria’s political class.” It also said, “Section 3(6) be amended to provide for a number of local governments or such autonomous administrative units to be created by the respective federating units or states, the criteria of which shall include population, taxable capacity, ethno-religious or other cultural and social affinities.” Another major proposal in the presentation is an amendment to Section 7 of the constitution which is about local government. The governors asked that the section “include an additional (sub)section prohibiting the dissolution of elected local government councils.” “This will be in compliance with the Supreme Court decisions in ALGON v. Oyo State Government; AG Plateau State & Others v. Goyol & Others; Governor, Ekiti State v. Olubunmo & Others,” the forum added. Also, the South-West governors proposed that Section 8 be amended by deleting Subsections 5 and 6, thereby removing the powers to create state from the Federal Government. The proposal reads, “Section 8(5) and (6) should be expunged. Section 8 (1) and (2) provides for the procedures for creation of state while Section 8(3), (4), (5) and (6) provides for the procedure for creation of local governments. “However, Section 8(5) and (6) should be expunged to make local government creation the exclusive duty of the state government.” The governors also wanted the wordings of Section 14(4) changed. The present version reads, “The composition of the government of a state, a local government council, or any of the agencies of such government or council, and the conduct of the affairs of the government or council or such agencies shall be carried out in such manner as to recognise the diversity of the people within its area of authority and the need to promote a sense of belonging and loyalty among all the people of the federation.” The proposed version reads, “The composition of the government of the federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, fair representation of individuals and groups and also command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of a particular gender and also to command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that government or in any of its agencies.” If the proposed amendment to Section 15 eventually becomes law, Nigeria’s motto would be changed to ‘Unity and Faith, Equality, Peace and Progress.’ The forum also called for deletion of Section 29(4)(b), which confers adulthood status on a married under-18 woman. Explaining the proposal, the governors say, “Section 29(4)(a) and (b) contradicts each other. While (a) says ‘full age means the age of 18 years and above’, (b) says ‘any woman who is married shall be deemed to be full of age.’ This reinforces child marriage which negates the Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989 and the Child’s Rights Act 2003, which outlaws child marriage.” The governors also want the states to be in charge of mineral resources within their respective territories. Consequently, they have proposed an amendment to Section 44(3) that vests exploitation of mineral oils and natural gas in the Federal Government. PUNCH.