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  • INEC, CBN inaugurates committee on election logistics management

    INEC, CBN inaugurates committee on election logistics management

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have inaugurated a committee to work out modalities for collaboration on key aspects of election logistics management.

    Mr Aliyu Bello, the commission’s Deputy Director, Voter Education and Publicity said this in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.

    He said the decision to set up the committee was taken when INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu visited the CBN headquarters, Abuja on Wednesday.

    Bello said nine INEC National Commissioners and the Secretary to the Commission were part of the chairman’s team during the visit.

    He said the committee comprised two CBN Directors and the Secretary to the commission.

    According to him, the committee is to discuss the requirements for the printing, storage and transportation of sensitive election materials and their disposal thereafter.

    Bello quoted the INEC chairman as commending CBN for the timely production of the commission’s sensitive election materials, especially those used for the recent Anambra governorship election and the by-election in Borno.

    Yakubu also expressed appreciation to the Bank for providing sufficient security for all sensitive election materials.

    He canvassed for the Bank’s continued support in the effective management of electoral logistics involving transportation and storage of sensitive election materials

    Yakubu, however, drew CBN’s attention to the huge volumes of unused and obsolete sensitive election materials lying in different parts of the country.

    He appealed to the CBN governor to assist INEC with the incineration of such materials to create space for the storage of new ones.

    The CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefele, also expressed appreciation for the visit and pledged to support the commission on identified focal areas.

  • Alleged kidnapper of CBN governor’s wife dies in Police custody

    A suspect, Umar Abubakar, who, in September 2016, allegedly led four others to kidnap Margaret, the wife of the Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, has died in police custody.

    Abubakar, also known as Kerewa, was said to have died due to the injuries he sustained during a gun duel with policemen in his bid to evade arrest last year.

    The deceased as well as Mohammed Yusuf, Edwin George, Musa Maidabara, and Ernest Uduefe, was to be arraigned before Justice Babatunde Quadri of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday.

    But the arraignment could not proceed due to Abubakar’s death, which the lead prosecuting counsel, Mr. Aminu Alilu, announced to the judge during the proceedings.

    Alilu of the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation, said, “This charge was filed on October 7, 2017, but on October 24, we were informed of the demise of the first accused who died as a result of injuries he sustained while in the course of exchanging gunfire with the police.”

    Justice Quadri directed Alilu, an Assistant Chief State Counsel in the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation, to amend the charges to reflect the new set of defendants.

    He then adjourned until December 14 for the arraignment of the surviving defendants.

    In the five counts filed against the defendants, the prosecution alleged that the late Abubakar and the four other defendants took hostage of Margaret along with others in her entourage – Odion Anthony, Ngozi Omoile, Uju Anthony and Gladys Omoile – at Ugoneki village, along the Benin/Asaba Expressway on September 28, 2016.

    The AGF filed five counts under the Terrorism (Prevention) (Amendment) Act 2013 against the alleged kidnappers.

    The defendants were said to have demanded N100m ransom from the victims’ family members, but upon negotiation, reduced the ransom to N80m, which they allegedly took before releasing the victims.

    All the five defendants were named in counts one to three which have to do with conspiracy and hostage taking.

    But the trio of George, Maidabara, and Uduefe, were accused in count four of aiding and abetting the act of hostage taking.

  • CBN weakens naira to dollar for the first time, now exchanges for N307/$1

    CBN weakens naira to dollar for the first time, now exchanges for N307/$1

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Monday weakened the naira marginally, selling dollars at 307 for the first time on the official interbank market.

    Foreign exchange traders said the development signalled a gradual move to merge the regulator’s multiple exchange rates.

    According to a report by Reuters, the country’s convoluted exchange rate system has been used to manage what the CBN described as “frivolous” demand for dollars at the peak of a currency crisis which began two years ago.

    Nigeria currently has at least five exchange rates including the official rate which the CBN uses for masking pressure on the currency.

    In April the CBN allowed foreign investors to trade the naira at market-determined rate through the establishment of the Investors and Exporters FX window, which has weakened the naira to around 360/dollar.

    The CBN has sold $500,000 almost on daily basis on the official spot market since creating several exchange rates to alleviate dollar shortages.

    However, it had sold the United States currency at rates of between 305 and 306 for months before Monday’s move. ”It’s possible the central bank is working towards a gradual convergence of rates, one trader told Reuters.

    Earlier this month the central bank sold dollars at 306 for the second time after maintaining a level of around 305 on the spot market for two months.

    Dollar shortages gripped the economy as crude sales, Nigeria’s mainstay, plunged at the start of an oil price rout in 2014. That triggered a recession last year and frustrated businesses, which had to find dollars on the black market as a result.

     

  • Naira appreciated by 30 percent against dollar in 10 months

    Naira appreciated by 30 percent against dollar in 10 months

    The naira has appreciated by 30.3 percent since February when the Central Bank of Nigeria began its aggressive interventions at the foreign exchange market, the News Agency of Nigeria reports.

    The Nigerian currency had exchanged at N520 to the dollar at the peak of onslaughts by currency speculators before the CBN started intervening by injecting foreign exchange in the market.

    The CBN injection of over 3.6 billion dollars to meet the demand for foreign exchange which resulted in the convergence of rates at the parallel market and the Bureau De Change segments.

    The apex bank’s intervention led to the current flattening of the rate at 362.5 to the dollar at the parallel market.

    Prof Sheriffdeen Tella, a Senior Economist at the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, said that the CBN interventions were made possible by the increase in the price of oil at the international market.

    Tella said that the crude oil production output of two million barrels per day also meant more money for the nation.

    He, however, said that the recent production cut by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries to 1.8 million barrels per day might affect the nation’s crude oil earnings.

    He urged the CBN to continue to intervene at the official foreign exchange market to sustain the appreciation of the naira across board.

  • Inflation drops by 15 per cent in 11 months – Emefiele

    Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele on Thursday confirmed that inflation rate declined by about 15 per cent over the past 11 months as fiscal and monetary reforms continue to impact positively on the Nigerian economy.

    Emefiele revealed this while delivering the 47th Convocation Lecture of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, (UNN) entitled “A Mindset for Succeeding in Today’s Nigeria.”

    He pointed out that inflation had declined from a peak of 18.7 per cent in January 2017 to 15.9 per cent in November.

    The apex bank chief lauded the improvements in the macro economy noting that the Gross Domestic Products (GDP) recovered after five quarters of continuous contraction, recording positive growth of 0.7 per cent and 1.4 per cent respectively in second and third quarters of 2017.

    He added that the exchange rate has appreciated significantly from N525/$1 in February 2017 to about N360/$1 now, tapering premium across various windows and segments of the market.

    “Foreign exchange supply has improved since the establishment of the Investors & Exporters Window, with autonomous inflows of over $10 billion through this window alone from April 2017 to date. Foreign Exchange Reserve has recovered significantly from a low of just over $23 billion in October 2016 to about $35.2 billion by November 27, 2017,” Emefiele said.

    He pointed out that the World Bank’s “Doing Business Indicators” for 2018 indicated improvement in Nigerian macro economy as Nigeria rose by 24 places to rank 145 out of 190 countries.

    According to him, there has been a significant boost in local production, which is due to CBN’s development finance efforts and the dogged implementation of its foreign exchange policies.

    “Today many local manufacturers are reporting major boosts to their revenue and profit,” Emefiele said.

    Emefiele said that the growing Nigerian population presents additional opportunities for economic empowerment for Nigerians.

    He noted that Nigeria is now estimated to have a population of over 180 million people and this population is predicted by the United Nations to grow to 398 million people in 2050, which would make Nigeria, the third largest in the world by that time.

    According to him, the population trend presents a significant opportunity for Nigerian graduates to turn whatever challenge they may be facing into opportunities that can harness these demographic shifts.

    “Imagine what would happen if Nigeria and Nigerians cannot provide food, shelter, clothing, health, education, and other basic things for this teeming population. Even though these trends should already begin to bother current leaders in our country today, I believe that young Nigerians can begin today to see these trends as opportunities and think of what they can do take advantage of the situation,” Emefiele said.

     

  • FG set to seize funds in accounts without BVN

    FG set to seize funds in accounts without BVN

    Justice Nnamdi Dimgba of the Federal High Court in Abuja has granted a request by Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, for a temporary forfeiture of all funds held in bank accounts not linked to BVNs.

    The latter are accounts without sufficient know-your-customer credentials, PREMIUM TIMES has reported. .

    The order followed an originating motion of notice filed by Mr. Malami on behalf of the Nigerian government on September 28. Justice Dimgba granted all the nine reliefs sought by Mr. Malami —himself represented by a lawyer, Usman Dakas— on October 17.

    The court ordered all the 19 deposit money banks, DMBs, operating in the country to release to Nigerian government names of accounts not yet connected to BVN; account numbers; their outstanding balances; domiciling locations; and domiciliary accounts without BVN and where they are domiciled.

    Nigeria deposit money banks that were listed as respondents in the ex-parte suit are: Access Bank, Citi Bank, Diamond Bank, Ecobank, Fidelity Bank, First Bank and First City Monument Bank. Others are: Guaranty Trust Bank, Heritage Bank, Keystone Bank, Skye Bank, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Sterling Bank, Union Bank and United Bank for Africa.

    The remaining three are: Unity, Bank Wema Bank and Zenith Bank. The court also ordered all of them to disclose any investments made with funds and to withhold authorisation for any outward inflow of funds from the accounts.

    All the details are to be submitted to Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System, NIBSS, and the CBN for authentication.

    The banks were also directed to publish all bank accounts not linked to BVN in national newspapers with a 14-day notice for individuals with interest in such accounts to come forward and justify why their funds should not be forfeited to the Nigerian government.

    Mr. Dimgba also ordered the CBN, which was joined as 20th respondent alongside the 19 DMBs, to appoint an official who will examine all the details submitted to the apex bank for compliance. The government argued the matter under Section 3 of the Money Laundering Act, 2011.

    The section said banks must “ensure that documents, data or information collected under the customer due diligence process is kept up-to-date and relevant by undertaking reviews of existing records, particularly for higher risk categories of customers or business relationships.”

    The Bank Verification Number is a unique identification number that can be verified and used to transact business across all the banking platforms in Nigeria.

    The CBN imposed the policy to capture customers’ data for financial transactions and check fraud in the banking system. Registration for BVNs commenced on February 14, 2014, across the country.

    The CBN said over 20.8 million customers enrolled 40 million bank accounts before the October 31, 2015, final deadline for customers residing within the country.

    The CBN extended the deadline for Nigerians in the diaspora to December 2016 to sign up for the BVN system. But hundreds of thousands home and abroad are still believed to be left behind.

  • BVN: CBN directs banks to keep database of fraudulent customers

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Thursday ordered banks to establish a database of customers identified through their Bank Verification Numbers (BVNs) as fraudsters.

    The directive was contained in the Regulatory Framework for Bank Verification Number (BVN) Operation and Watch-list for Nigerian Financial System released by the CBN.

    According to the apex bank, the implementation of the framework takes immediate effect.

    The Director Banking & Payments System of the regulatory bank, Dipo Fatokun, who signed the framework, said bank customers are to abide by the regulatory framework for BVN operations and the watch-list for the Nigerian Banking Industry and also report all suspicious or unauthorised activities on their accounts.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that recent data from the CBN showed that Nigeria experienced a total of 3,500 cyber-attacks with 70 per cent success rate and loss of $450 million within the last one year mainly through cross channel fraud, data theft, email spooling, phishing, shoulder surfing and underground websites.

    Although e-fraud rate in terms of value dropped by 63 per cent, after the BVN introduction and improved collaboration among banks via the fraud desks, the total fraud volume rose significantly by 683 per cent.

    The new regulation is expected to assist the CBN to a great deal, in curbing the menace of fraudsters

    According to Fatokun, the new framework is in exercise of the powers conferred on the CBN, by Sections 2 (d) and 47 (2), of the CBN Act, 2007, to promote the development of efficient and effective payments systems for the settlement of transactions.

    He said the framework provides standards for the BVN operations and watch-list for the Nigerian Banking Industry. The watch-list comprises a database of bank customers’ identified by their BVNs, who have been involved in confirmed fraudulent activity in the banking industry in Nigeria.

    Fatokun said the regulatory framework shall guide activities of the participants in the provision of the BVN operations in Nigeria and that the CBN, Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), Other Financial Institutions (OFIs) and Bank Customers are participants in its implementation.

    He said the CBN, in collaboration with the Bankers Committee, proactively embarked upon the deployment of a centralized BVN System and launched the BVN in February, 2014. This, he said, is part of the overall strategy of ensuring effectiveness of the Know Your Customer (KYC) principles, and the promotion of a safe, reliable and efficient payments system.

    The BVN gives a unique identity across the banking industry to each customer of Nigerian banks.

    “This framework also defines the establishment and operations of a Watch-list for the Nigerian Banking Industry, to address the increasing incidences, of frauds, with a view to engendering public confidence in the banking industry.

    This framework, without prejudice to existing laws, is a guide for the operations of the watch-List in the Financial System”.

    The Watch-list is a database of bank customers identified by their BVNs, who have been involved in confirmed fraudulent activities.

    The framework is expected to clearly define the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders; clearly define the operations of the BVN in Nigeria; define access, usage and management of the BVN information, requirements and conditions and provide a database of watch-listed individuals.

    It is also expected to outline the process and operations of the watch-List and deter fraud incidences in the Nigerian Banking Industry.

    In implementing this framework, the CBN is expected to approve the Regulatory Framework and Standard Operating Guidelines as well as approve eligible users for access to the BVN information.

    The Nigeria Interbank-Settlement System (NIBSS) is to collaborate with other stakeholders to develop and review the Standard Operating Guidelines of the BVN while the banks are to ensure proper capturing of the BVN data and validate same before the linkage with customers’ accounts.

     

  • Does CBN Fund Govt Deficit With Treasury Bills Auctions? By Henry Boyo

    Does CBN Fund Govt Deficit With Treasury Bills Auctions? By Henry Boyo

    By Henry Boyo

    “My brother, Nigeria is managing debt not wealth, because a big hole was dug in her pocket after the jamboree called FESTAC, 77. The TB (Treasury Bills) is government borrowing to finance the deficit. If you understand public finance well, you will know it is the function of CBN to ensure the economy is well funded. So many of this your criticism of CBN do not add up in the context of Nigerian financial system which is why nobody in authority seem to pay attention to your criticisms and opinions. Have a nice day”

    The above is the rejoinder from a ‘wiser’ reader to an article published recently in this column. The response of this columnist is as follows:

    “I thank you for your above comments on the article, titled “Money, money, money everywhere, but none to borrow” which was recently shared to your box.”

    In view of your illustrious pedigree in the banking community, it would be careless for anyone to hastily dismiss, any comment you make with regards to that sector. However, you will permit me to defer with your perception of the purpose of CBN’s Treasury bill auctions, which you described as “Treasury Bills is government borrowing to finance (the) deficit”.

    Instructively, any government borrowing, to fund annual fiscal deficits, is conducted on behalf of government by the Debt Management Office, (DMO). The CBN and DMO are independent government Agencies, with distinct constitutional mandates i.e the DMO borrows to fund government deficits, based on the loan requirement in approved annual Budgets; the CBN, conversely, mops up excess Naira liquidity to manage money supply and reduce the threat of inflation, as per its prime mandate for price stability, in addition to its responsibility for banking sector regulation.

    I will be indebted to you for any authoritative literature that says anything different from the above. On receipt of such document, I will gladly surrender and confess my ignorance on this matter; infact I will on receipt of such enlightenment, immediately drop my 15 years old advocacy for monetary reform. I will also give you credit for this revelation, in the last article that I will write, to apologize for misleading readers of my column for so many years.

    However, it is unlikely that you will find any reference to support the position that CBN directly lends to DMO to fund budgets; indeed if this were to be the case, the consolidated sums borrowed by DMO and CBN, in any fiscal year, would invariably, far exceed the approved budget; so, what do they do with the surplus funds, inappropriately, borrowed at rates which are out of sync with what generally obtains for government’s risk free sovereign loans.

    The CBN’s responsibility is, clearly to manage money supply as distinctly spelt out in the enabling 2007 Act. CBN’s sole responsibility for this purpose, is in recognition of the terribly, destabilizing consequences of surplus money, driving an irrepressible inflationary spiral that will decimate all income earners, impoverish the masses and make supposedly progressive economic plans unworkable. Indeed, increasing national debt, with humongous bank profits, despite a prostrate real sector, the sleaze from multiple exchange rates, the emasculating impact of a weak Naira, high cost of funds, uncompetitive local production, and distortional fuel subsidies, are all symptoms of gross mismanagement of money supply, which ‘inexplicably’, primarily benefit banks and other financial intermediaries, but certainly not the people.

    It may interest you to know that after over 15 years of this advocacy, I have not received any, formal or informal constructive rebuttal from any authoritative source, to challenge my widely canvassed observations. This is not because some people do not understand or know what I’m talking about, but it is just that strong interests (personal and corporate) are benefiting from CBN’s financial recklessness at the expense of people’s welfare.

    The media have also invariably become largely compromised, that is why you find that, whenever they try to deceive the masses on the virtue of CBN’s Treasury bills auctions, all media houses repeat, word for word, the standard propaganda serially released by CBN, that Treasury Bill auctions “is government borrowings to help government fund its budget deficit and support commercial banks in managing liquidity” (see, for example, the report, “CBN to borrow N917bn via T/bills in Q4” (Punch edition 14th September 2017 page 25). The question is why should CBN pay such a heavy levy fee to help the banks manage their own liquidity problem?

    Undeniably, Treasury Bills auction is the biggest fraud, perpetuated under the guise of monetary management in our country and in most African Economies to disenfranchise the masses.

    How does one explain borrowing money at extortionist rates because money supply is in surplus? How can anything become more expensive when there is surplus supply? Worse still, if the CBN readily admits that funds are borrowed for the purpose of removing excess money from the system, the same CBN cannot turn around to re-introduce the same borrowed funds back into the system as loans to fund fiscal deficits; this is the job of the DMO, and as far as I know, the DMO does not borrow from the CBN.

    Furthermore, how does one explain or justify CBN paying over 17% to borrow money that it has the authority to freely print. Why would the CBN that is supposed to adequately provide liquidity in the system, consciously and deliberately increase the cost of borrowing with higher MPRs, which then push the real sector into a hard place, to constrain their access to cheaper credit and their cost competitiveness against imports. Why would rational government pay interest of even 1% on funds that will simply be sterilized, when infact, in successful economies everywhere, this has become an abomination, as Central Banks actually charge Money Deposit banks, a small interest for warehousing their surplus funds.

    I thank you for reading this message, this far. I assure you that I am humble enough to be further educated and consequently I invite you to enlighten me, so that I can be as knowledgeable as you in this matter. After all, common sense and intellect are not the sole properties of any one person.

    CBN could attempt to publicly debunk my advocacy, and save themselves the discomfort of the truth, but this is not possible, as they know that I am also confronting the same problems, that they have tried endlessly to solve, but in a more realistic and sensible way.

    THE RESPONSE FROM THE “WISER ONE”:

    My brother Thanks. Let me start by stating that your write ups are not in the context of Nigerian Financial system. In my undergraduate days at UNN, I took a course in Nigerian Financial System. Apart from Monetary policy to stabilize the economy and reduce inflation, the CBN had development functions, Nigeria being a developing economy. The CBN is also a financial adviser to the Federal Government in addition to issuing Naira and managing foreign exchange in and out of Nigerian. Treasury Bills is a debt instrument of Federal Government with tenure of 91 days, 180 days and one year. Thus CBN is the issuing house for Federal Government. Thus while DMO is issuing house for medium and long term securities, CBN is issuing house for short term securities. I did not specifically mention that CBN securities are used to fund budget deficits. What I said is that Nigeria is managing debts rather than wealth through the CBN, and like you observed also through DMO. I suggest you read Functions of CBN in Money and Banking in Nigeria by Prof W O Uzoaga and Nigerian Financial System by Prof G O Nwankwo. That way you will tailor your write ups to Nigeria’s peculiar situation. Thanks for granting me this audience.

    THIS COLUMNIST’S REJOINDER: No further Comment.

     

    SAVE THE NAIRA, SAVE NIGERIANS!

     

  • Buhari appoints Aisha Ahmad as new CBN deputy governor

    …also approves appointment of MPC members

    President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Mrs. Aishah Ahmad, as Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.

    According to a statement on Thursday by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, the President had presented Ahmad to the Senate for confirmation.

    Adesina said the woman would replace a former Deputy Governor, Dr. Sarah Alade who retired early this year.

    “In accordance with the provisions of Section 8(1) (2) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (Establishment) Act 2007, President Buhari urged the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, to consider the expeditious confirmation of Mrs. Ahmad, who would then resume work immediately,” the statement read.

    The presidential spokesman added that Buhari had written the Senate, seeking the confirmation of the appointment of members of the Monetary Policy Committee of the CBN.

    He said the appointees were to replace four members, whose tenure expires at the end of this year.

    “The nominees are: Prof. Adeola Festus Adenikinju; Dr. Aliyu Rafindadi Sanusi; Dr. Robert Chikwendu Asogwa and Dr.Asheikh A. Maidugu.

    “After Senate clearance, the new members of the Monetary Policy Committee are to resume duties next January,” the statement added.

    A banker and investment adviser, Ahmad has over 20 years certified experience with global financial institutions such as Stanbic IBTC Bank, Zenith Bank PLC and Bank of New York Mellon among others.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that before her new appointment, Ahmad was Head of consumer banking, Diamond Bank plc.