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Tag: emefiele

  • Reps summon Emefiele, NDDC boss, others over N2trn abandoned projects in Niger Delta states

    Reps summon Emefiele, NDDC boss, others over N2trn abandoned projects in Niger Delta states

    By Gabriel Okoro, Abuja
    The House of Representatives’ ad-hoc committee probing over N2 trillion sum worth abandoned projects of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) since 2000 till date has summoned the governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, acting chairman, NDDC and its Directors to appear before it on Tuesday next week.
    Also invited are former minister of Niger Delta and Managing Director of NDDC.
    The ad-hoc committee chaired by Mr. Nicholas Ossai issued the directives on Tuesday during the one day public hearing which entails abandoned projects in the NDDC from 2000 till date, the cost of award, period of award, the state of completion and constraints as it affects NDDC.
    Hon. Ossai said the directive was due to the neglect of invite issued to the aforementioned by the ad-hoc committee.
    According to him, we’ll not tolerate this. The NDDC is not above the National Assembly.
    “Section 89 of the constitution states that the National Assembly can procure information from any person. And since they refuse to appear, we will invoke sub section 1 (A,B &C) of the country’s constitution which entails summoning of persons involved in the probe” said Mr. Ossai.
    Shortly after declaring opened the hearing by Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila, a member of the committee, Hon. Yusuf Buba raised a point of order, notifying the panel of the absence of “critical stakeholders who information are needed from”. He expressed worries that the committee could do little or nothing without them.
    Ossai in response explained that a communication sent in by Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Niger Delta, had in similar way blamed their inability to provide the committee with the requested information on failure of the Commission, to fully brief the ministry yet.
    In his opening remarks, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, who was represented by Deputy Majority Leader, Hon. Peter Akpatason, said while the investigation was not intended to haunt anybody, “the House will frontally face any infraction found in the course of the investigation”.
    On his part while declaring open the hearing, chairman of the committee, Ossai said the committee would be guided by the principle of fair hearing, adding that abandoned projects have remained great drain pipes to governs,not resources, “due to inflation of prices, when eventually they are revisited, but we will make sure there is value for money”.
    At the interactive session, the Office of the Auditor General revealed that the sum of N61.4billion was collected by the companies involved as mobilization fee for the project from 2000-2015 that was later abandoned.
    Stakeholder from Aiyetoro community, Ondo State, Gbenga Edema while lamenting the abandonment of some major projects in the area said N6.6billion contract was revoked without collecting of any money from the awarded company.
    Other stakeholders like the Commissioner of Works, Akwa Ibom State, Ephraim Inyang-Eyem and Ogua- Olusan of Warri, Brown Mene worried that despite the huge resources injected into the commission the entire region has been littered with abandoned and substandard projects, with state governments left to bear the burden of reconstruction which include roads, bridges, drainages among others.
    The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) was established in the year 2000 to ameliorate the suffering of the people of the Niger delta over the long years of crude oil exploration and its attendant consequences of environmental degradation.

  • Emefiele unveils five-year agenda, reveals plans to recapitalise commercial banks

    In the next five years, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says it will pursue a programme of recapitalising the banking industry to rank among the top 500 banks in the world.

    CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele stated this on Tuesday in Abuja while unveiling his agenda for his second term in office.

    He lamented that the current capital base of commercial banks at N25 billion had weakened substantially.

    According to Emefiele: “In the next five years, we intend to pursue a program of recapitalising the banking industry so as to position Nigerian banks among the top 500 in the world.

    “Banks will therefore be required to maintain higher level of capital, as well as liquid assets in order to reduce the impact of an economic crisis on the financial system.”

    He noted the last time commercial bank recapitalisation took place in Nigeria was in 2004 under Prof. Charles Soludo from N2 billion to N25 billion.

    According to him those efforts “resulted in positioning Nigerian banks not only in Africa but also being among the top banks in the world in terms of capitalisation and also helped to increase and strengthen the banks’ capacity to take on large ticket transactions and those are some of the things we badly need today.”

    He added: “If you relate it, N25 billion in 2004 exchange rate which was about N100/$, N25 billion is almost about $200 million today, if you relate N25 billion at 360, you can see that it is substantially lower than $75 million so what we are trying to say is that the capitalisation has weakened quite substantially, and there is a need for us to say that it is time to recapitalize Nigerian banks again.”

    On other plans for his second term, Emefiele stated the CBN’s intervention in the power sector will continue.

    He however lamented the apex bank was unhappy “with the way the whole power sector arrangement is unfolding, but in the course of time, we will provide our advice as to the best ways to really tame this power issue.”

    The CBN, he said, has done some interventions, the N213 billion which was meant to settle some of those obligations and also the N700 billion.

    While admitting that there were challenges arising from power issues, Emefiele appealed that Nigerians should “try to harness the innate strengths in us not to allow not-accessing power to derail us from our own shared objectives that we must work hard, create jobs and improve supply and stabilize prices in Nigeria.”

    Don’t get me wrong, we would continue to intervene in that sector but it should not be an excuse to let down our guards to result in a situation where there will be unemployment and hopelessness in our country.”

  • Alleged contempt: Court fixes Sept. 23 for ruling in Unity bank’s application to join Emefiele

    An FCT High Court in Kubwa has fixed Sept. 23, to rule on a motion seeking Unity Bank to join Godwin Emefiele, CBN Governor in contempt proceedings against him by a businessman, Godwin Emmanuel.

    Justice Bello Kawu fixed the date after Unity Bank plc’s counsel, Emmanuel Udegbunam moved a motion seeking to join Emefiele in the contempt proceedings.

    Udegbunam had told the court that the applicant’s counsel, Maxwell Okpara had reacted to the said application and served him with reactions on June 11 and asked for an adjournment to reply.

    Okpara however withdrew his reaction and applied for the case to go on in order not to waste the time of the court.

    Udegbunam moved his motion dated April 16, filed on the 17th pursuant to Order 49 and 13, Rule 1 and 18 sub 1 and 3 of the Rules of the Court.

    He prayed for an order to join Unity Bank Plc into the suit supporting it with a seven paragraph affidavit with 17 exhibits, written addresses and relied on its contents.

    He urged the court to grant his application in the interest of justice saying the essence is there are facts to be brought before the court on the matter.

    Okpara however sought leave of court to make a reply on point of law saying a contemnor is one who has committed contempt of court and refused to comply with court order.
    ”
    The party seeking to join Emefiele is a company and they never disobeyed a court order, it is Emefiele that disobeyed.A criminal trial is personal,” he said.

    Udegbunam in response said the money sought is in custody of Unity Bank which is the party seeking to be joined and it should not be out because it is involved with the funds of the party in the suit.

    The News Agency of Nigeria recalls that Okpara, on behalf of his client Emmanuel filed a contempt proceeding against the CBN governor on April 4 for disobeying a court order to pay Emmanuel N52.5 million.

    The court gave an order for substituted service on the CBN Governor on the matter on April 10 as efforts made to serve him personally proved abortive.

    Okpara said judgement was given against Unity Bank to pay the said sum to Emmanuel by an FCT High Court, Gwagwalada sometime in 2015.

    He however applied for a garnishee proceeding against CBN in 2017 which was granted and Unity Bank did not appeal against the judgment.

  • No change in Nigeria’s exchange rate policy – CBN

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Wednesday said there is no change in the country’s exchange rate structure.

    The Director, Corporate Communication of the apex bank, Isaac Okoroafor on Wednesday made the clarification in reaction to several reports that the Nigerian naira rate will be “market-determined’’.

    “There has been NO change in Nigeria’s exchange rate structure. The CBN has not floated the naira. The exchange rate remains stable. Speculations and reports to the contrary are false,” Okoroafor said in a statement sent exclusively to TNG on Wednesday.

    Recall that the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele had at different fora expressed the monetary authority’s commitment to sustain the high level of stability in the forex market by continuous interventions.

    He had explained that the apex bank’s commitment is to inject funds into the market, whenever and wherever necessary, in order to maintain market stability as well as sustain the financial system.

    Recently, the CBN governor defended the multiple FX policy, saying it is backed by the CBN Act and favours the poor but investors keep clamouring for a market-driven forex market.

     

     

  • Why we can’t allow Naira float freely against other currencies – Emefiele

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) vowed on Saturday to sustain its policy of defending the naira against world currencies for the next five years.

    It said the policy is backed by the CBN Act.

    Speaking at a Consultative Roundtable with the CBN Governor tagged: ‘Going for Growth’ held in Lagos, Governor of the apex bank, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, said the CBN would be disobeying the law by allowing the naira to float freely.

    A flexible exchange rate, according to him, would not favour the poor.

    “I am committed to protecting the naira. We cannot allow the naira to float freely,” he said.

    Emefiele told his audience which included Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, Chairman Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Zenith Bank Chairman, Jim Ovia, founder and Chairman of Honeywell Group, Oba Otudeko, one time Lagos State Commissioner of Finance, Wale Edun, Board Member, Standard Bank Group, Ateto Peterside, among others that the apex bank’s goal in participating in the roundtable session was to generate valuable insights from key stakeholders on the role Monetary Policy authorities could play in formulating and implementing policy measures that will support improved economic growth, as well as the creation of jobs in Nigeria both in the near and long run.

    He said it would be difficult to achieve a low interest rate regime, a stable exchange rate regime and robust reserve position , a low inflationary environment, and an environment of full employment at the same time.

    He said:”In fact, I love these and would have less stress in monetary policy if all these are possible. But the question we should ask ourselves at this session is, in the Nigeria of today, are these all possible at the same time?

    “Put succinctly, we have watched some so-called economic and financial analysts through televisions and others through the newspapers say that ‘to grow the economy and create jobs, the CBN must allow exchange rate to free float, and also allow inflation to rise; while at the same time allowing interest rates to come down.’

    “We have also curiously observed that these analysts have often reached different conclusions from those of the CBN. Again, I am not surprised at these views because most have done so with shockingly limited or outright incorrect information.

    “For example, we have watched some armchair analysts demand that the CBN stop ‘defending’ the Naira and simply allow market forces to determine the exchange rate. These analysts simply call for the Naira to be floated. To these analysts, let me remind them that the CBN Act demands that we ‘defend’ the Naira using the foreign exchange reserves. In setting out the five principal mandates of the CBN, Section 2, Subsection C of the CBN Act 2007 reads and I quote “…maintain external reserves to safeguard the international value of the legal tender currency”.

    “In effect, the CBN would be disobeying the law establishing it, if it sits idly by and allow the Naira to be determined wholly by the so-called market forces.”

    Continuing, Emefiele said those calling for floating of the currency betray their ignorance of the effects of significant depreciation, however short-lived, on inflation.

    He said several empirical analyses have shown that the pass-through of changes in the exchange rate on consumer prices is almost one-to-one. This implies that for every percentage point depreciation in the Naira, there is almost the same rise in inflation.

    Emefiele said productivity growth in these sectors are badly needed to insulate the economy from volatilities in the crude oil market and help in creating jobs on a mass scale, given Nigeria’s large and growing population.

    He said the CBN had, in the last five years, taken a number of measures to support the growth of the economy and these have helped in achieving the Macroeconomic stability seen today with inflation trending down to 11.37 per cent from 18.72 in January 2017 as well as exchange rate stability at current levels with considerable convergence and reserves build up to current level of over $45 billion compared to $23 billion in October 2016.

    “Although we had hoped to achieve a lower level of interest rate, this became impossible given the normalization of Monetary Policy in the United States and the over 60 per cent drop in crude oil prices between 2014 and 2016. You will agree with me that the consequences of these unfortunate occurrences was a heightened inflationary pressure on the economy and Monetary policy had no option but to embark on a regime of tightening so as to rein inflation,” Emefiele said.

    He also said that the CBN people suggest that all they want is for the CBN to reduce interest rates.

    Also speaking, Gov Sanwo-Olu said that Lagos State contributes 30 per cent to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) adding that the state will need to invest more in priority areas such as health, education, affordable housing and also make the local economy to be competitive.

    He advised the CBN to support export growth to make Naira competitive and stable. He urged the CBN to play its part in supporting the economy.

    Dangote said that policy implementation is key in achieving economic growth. He said that without power, it will be difficult to achieve desired growth in the economy. He said that the country has been struggling for the past 18 years without solving the power challenge, which has remained a major challenge facing the private sector.

    He said that the Dangote Refinery is expected to generate N9trillion in revenue when it begins operation. He also spoke against smuggling, adding that Benin Republic is making it difficult for Nigeria to tackle the activities of smugglers. According to him: “There is no country that will survive with a neighbour like Benin Republic.”

    Also speaking on the activities of smugglers, Emefiele said the CBN has already identified business owners that are involved in smuggling and will blacklist and stop them from operating bank accounts in Nigeria.

  • Emefiele begins second tenure as CBN Governor

    …To unfold new 5-year Road-map

    Following the confirmation of his re-appointment as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) by the Senate, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, on Monday, formally assumed duty after subscribing to the relevant Oath of Office administered by the Bank’s Secretary and Director, Corporate Secretariat Department, Mrs. Alice Karau.

    A statement from the CBN said that in his remarks after the oath-taking ceremony, Emefiele disclosed that he is expected to address a World Press Conference in the coming days, where he will unfold a new road map for the Central Bank of Nigeria and the economy.

    “He will unfold a new road map for the Bank and the economy, in the days ahead, after a series of consultations with critical stakeholder groups.”

    He charged all stakeholders to strengthen efforts at building a healthy and stable system in the best interest of Nigeria.

    The Governor also reiterated his goal to make the CBN more people-focused, adding that “the Bank remained resolute in the belief that the Bank must play an active role in supporting job and wealth creation in Nigeria.”

    In reviewing the various efforts taken by the Bank to reduce weaknesses in the Nigerian financial system as well as support improved productivity of the Nigerian economy, Emefiele said more work still needed to be done in building a stronger economy for the benefit of all.

    According to him, the pace of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth remained fragile and was below the rate of Nigeria’s annual population growth at 2.7 per cent. He, therefore, pledged that the Bank would continue to collaborate with the fiscal authorities to strengthen growth and wealth creation in the country

    “We must strengthen our efforts over the coming years to stimulate growth and job creation in critical sectors of the economy, which will help insulate our economy from shocks in the global economy. We must also work to build a healthy and stable financial system that contributes to the growth of our economy while preserving price stability,” he added.

    Mr. Emefiele, was received into the Bank by the four Deputy Governors, and he “was visibly elated by the turnout of excited staff that thronged the venue of the oath-taking ceremony chanting his name.”

    Emefiele expressed gratitude to God; President Muhammadu Buhari, for nominating him; and the Senate for confirming his appointment. He also thanked the management and staff as well as the media for all their support during his first term in office.

  • Ahmed, Emefiele join other world economic experts at IMF/World Bank meetings

    Ahmed, Emefiele join other world economic experts at IMF/World Bank meetings

    The Minister of Finance, Mrs Zainab Ahmed and the Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr Godwin Emefiele, will join other economic experts from around the world to discuss issues affecting global economy in Washington DC, US.

    The discussions are scheduled to hold between April 9 and April 14, under the auspices of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund in Washington DC.

    The 2019 Spring Meetings of the IMF and the World Bank is expected to bring together central bank governors, ministers of finance, parliamentarians, private sector executives, representatives from civil society organisations and the academia.

    The experts will discuss issues of global concern, including the world economic outlook, poverty eradication, economic development and aid effectiveness.

    The meeting will also feature seminars, regional briefings, press conferences and many other events with focus on global economy, international development and the world’s financial system.

    Nigeria attends the meeting each year because of the quantum of investments and technical support it receives from both the IMF and the World Bank.

    Although Nigeria currently has zero loans with the IMF, it enjoys technical support from the organisation.

    The World Bank Group, on the other hand, is helping to fight poverty and improve living standards in the country through 33 Core Knowledge Product Reports and 29 ongoing National and Regional projects.

     

  • AGF, Emefiele to appear before Reps over N33bn pension fund remittance

    The Governor of Central Bank (CBN), Godwin Emefiele and the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Ahmed Idris are to appear before the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

    The duo are to clarify alleged remittance of N33b pension deductions to the Federal government by PenCom before the House of Representatives ad hoc Committee investigating alleged irregularities in National Pensions Commission (PenCom)

    According to the Chairman of the Committee, Johnson Agbonayinma said noticeable discrepancies in the pension deductions claimed to have remitted by the Acting Director-General (DG) of PenCom, Aisha Dahir-Umar made the appearance of the two critical to the investigation.

    While appearing before the Committee at the public hearing yesterday, the Nigerian Union of Contributory Pensioners (NUCP) indicted PenCom and Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) of several infringements.

    In its presentation, the group regretted that the new pension scheme has compounded, rather than alleviating problems faced by retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme.

    U.C. Ekpo and Emezuru Eugene signed the memorandum where PenCom was accused of failing to review contributors’ pension every five years as provided in Section 173 (3) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

    The Union also observed persistent delays in payment of retirees’ benefits to over two years as well as lack of standardized template and transparency in computation of lump sums paid after retirement.

    PenCom was also faulted for gender inequality in the payment of lump sums in contravention of the Pension Reform Act.

    While calling on PenCom to confine itself to its functions as a regulator rather than meddling in the union’s activities, the Union noted that “It appeared the essence of the new pension scheme is to create capital for the Pension Fund Administrators (PFA) to maximize profits and enrich themselves.

    “Worse still, PenCom, which is empowered to strictly enforce the Pension Reform Act in regulating the activities of PFAs and Pension Custodians, has become a violator of the same Act in many ways.

    “The sum total of anomalies and injustices perpetrated by PenCom in its implementation of the Contributory Pension Scheme leads to suffering, pain and premature death of pensioners in Nigeria.”

  • Post-Election: Emefiele sets policy agenda on MPC, GDP, exchange rate, unemployment

    Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele has set post-election agenda for the nation’s monetary policy

    According to Emefiele, the bank’s current monetary policy stance is expected to continue while inflation is estimated to rise to 12 per cent and moderate thereafter.

    The CBN governor made the projections at “BusinessDay Post-Election Economic Agenda Conference’’ on Thursday in Lagos.

    He hinged the monetary policy stance of the bank on rising inflation expectations.

    The CBN boss, however, noted that the bank would adjust the policy rate in line with unfolding conditions and outlooks.

    According to him, just as in the previous year, the bank will continue in its drive to ensure that the policy interest rate is set to balance the objectives of price stability with output stabilisation.

    While basing the inflationary projection on productivity gains in the agriculture and manufacturing sectors, he said the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) would be expected to pick up in the first half of the year.

    This, he attributed to the continued efforts at driving indigenous production in high-impact real sector activities.

    On the exchange rate policy, Emefiele said the bank in spite of expected pressures from volatility in the crude oil markets, would maintain its stable exchange rate over the next year.

    According to him, Gross stability is projected in the foreign exchange market, given increased oil production and contained import bill.

    Emefiele expressed optimism that the country’s Balance of Payments would remain positive in the short-term, adding that the current account balance could improve further if oil prices continued to recover.

    He assured that this would be “supported by improved non-oil performance as diversification efforts begin to yield results to reduce undue imports.”

    While warning that the issues that led to the economic crisis between 2015 and 2017 remained visible, Emefiele stressed the need to significantly increase the country’s policy buffers, including fiscal measure, to increase its external reserve.

    He also reiterated the need to diversify the revenue structure of the Federal Government in order to reduce dependence on direct proceeds from the sale of crude oil

    The CBN boss advised that cheap financing be provided to boost local production of priority goods in critical sectors of the economy in order to reduce reliance on foreign imports.

    Emefiele, who also used the platform to highlight the efforts made by the CBN in the past five years in monetary policy and development finance, disclosed that the weakening of the Naira impacted the balance sheets of domestic banks.

    The governor, however, said the bank took some measures such as monitoring the financial position and performance of supervised institutions and the assessment of the risk profile and governance management practices of banks to guarantee financial stability.

    He listed other efforts by CBN in ensuring financial system stability and the promotion of sustainable economic development to include the establishment of the investors and exporters’ window.

    Emefiele also identified the conservation of foreign exchange through the restriction of access to foreign exchange on 43 items, and increased lending to the agriculture and manufacturing sectors as another measure.

    The governor, while soliciting continued support of policy measures that restrict import of items that could be produced in Nigeria, expressed optimism that the economy in post-May 2019 would witness growth and reduced unemployment rate.

  • BREAKING: CBN refutes reports on Emefiele’s sack

    Amid rumours, the Central Bank of Nigeria has denied reports that the governor of the apex bank, Godwin Emefiele has been sacked.

    When contacted, Isaac Okoroafor, CBN spokesman, told TheNewsGuru in a phone conversation that the report of Emefiele’s sack is far from the truth.

    His words, “I don’t understand what you mean…as I speak to you, the CBN governor [Emefiele] is in his office performing his duties”

    However, certain media outlet had earlier reported that Emefiele had been removed from office by the federal government and ordered to hand over to an unnamed successor within two weeks.