NEWS
Emefiele: Dangote Group Clarifies EFCC Visit to Head Office
The Dangote Group has expressed readiness to assist the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in its investigations, following the commission’s visit to the company’s head office in Lagos.
The EFCC operatives on Jan. 4, embarked on a search mission to the head office of Dangote Group in Lagos.
The search followed the probe of 52 companies by the anti-graft agency over forex transactions in the last 10 years.
The commission is investigating forex allocations to these companies during the tenure of Godwin Emefiele as governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The Dangote Group gave the assurance in a statement signed by Mr Anthony Chiejina, its Group Chief, Branding and Communication on Sunday in Lagos.
According to the statement, the company’s management also doused the concerns of stakeholders and called for their patience and understanding while promising to inform them of any further developments.
The company disclosed that it received a letter from the EFCC on Dec. 6, 2023, requesting for details of every foreign exchange allocated to it by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from 2014 till date.
It described the request from the commission as not peculiar to Dangote Group, noting that similar letters were sent to 51 other groups of companies requesting for same information spanning same period.
According to the statement, Dangote Group responded to the EFCC to acknowledge receipt of the letter whilst seeking clarification on the subsidiaries or companies within the group that they require information on.
It stated that the company also requested for additional time to compile and properly present the extensive documentation spanning 10 years.
“However, the EFCC did not provide the clarification sought and also did not honour the request for an extension and insisted on receiving the complete set of documents within the limited timeframe.
“In spite of this constraint, we assured the EFCC of our commitment to providing the information and pledged to share documents in batches as we complete the compilation.
“On Jan. 4, our team delivered the first batch of documents to the EFCC. However, officers of the EFCC did not accept the documents, insisting on visiting our offices to collect the same set of documents directly.
“Whilst our representatives were still at the EFCC’s office to deliver the documents, a team of their officers proceeded to visit our offices to demand for the same documents in a manner that appeared designed to cause us unwarranted embarrassment,” it said.
The company emphasised that to its knowledge, no accusations of wrongdoing had been made against any company within its group.
It stated that as a law-abiding and ethical corporate citizen, Dangote Group remained committed to providing the EFCC with all necessary information and cooperation, while it continued to play its key role in stimulating the domestic economy.
“We have already delivered the first batch of documents and are actively working to compile and submit the remaining documents in good time, to aid their investigation.
“Our Group is a key contributor to the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) the largest employer in the private sector, one of the largest groups listed on the Nigerian Exchange and one of the highest taxpayers in the country.
“We remain steadfast in our belief in Nigeria’s commitment to the rule of law and its dedication to fostering an environment conducive for investment and value creation for both local and foreign investors,” it said.(NAN)
South Africa’s highest Court on Monday ruled that former President Jacob Zuma cannot stand as a candidate in next week’s general election.
The Constitutional Court ruled that Zuma’s sentence of more than 12 months in prison has disqualified him and made him ineligible to stand.
His former party, the ruling African National Congress (ANC), suspended Zuma, 82, in January.
He has since founded a new party, ‘Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK)’ and intended to stand as chairman of the party in the May 29 elections.
The constitutional court ruling reverses an earlier ruling by a lower court allowing Zuma to stand in the elections.
The elections are seen as the most significant since freedom fighter and later president Nelson Mandela led the country to democracy in 1994.
Polls indicate that the ANC could for the first time lose its absolute majority and be forced to seek a coalition partner.
Under the constitution, the president is appointed by parliament and not directly elected.
President from 2009 to 2018, Zuma was forced from office on grounds of corruption.
In 2021, he was handed a 15-month prison term after refusing to give evidence to a committee investigating nepotism and corruption during his period in office.
His arrest provoked riots in which some 350 people were killed and hundreds of businesses were looted and firebombed.
Zuma served less than eight weeks in prison before being released on grounds of poor health. (dpa/NAN)
The Disability Community in Nigeria has called for full implementation of disability laws in the country to ensure inclusiveness.
They said this at the National Disability Convening, organised by the Ford Foundation, in collaboration with the National Commission for Persons with Disability (NCPWD) with the theme: ”Reflecting on Progress, Evaluating the Implementation of the Disability Act in Nigeria” on Monday in Abuja.
Mr James Lalu, the Executive Secretary, NCPWD, said that the Disability Act was a product of a united struggle by the disability community in the country spanning over 19-years.
Lalu said that the commitment of President Bola Tinubu through increased in budgetary allocation to the NCPWD was the best thing to have happened to the disability community.
‘’We have never had it so good. We are here to deliberate on the implementation of the Act and for the commission to know where we have reached and to harmonise the unity going forward.
”When you look at the implementation of the Act, the commission is working in the area of accessibility. We have already produced the accessibility regulations.
”Our collaboration with Nasarawa State University on the establishment of Centre for Disability Studies will see us having degree programmes on Accessibility Engineering, Assisting Technology, Nigerian Sign Language and Disability Inclusive Development,” Lalu said.
He appreciated the Ford Foundation and other stakeholders for their contributions to the disability community.
Also, the Senior Programme Officer, Ford Foundation, Dr Dabesaki Mac-Ikemenjima, identified lack of data as a major challenge in dealing with disability community in Nigeria.
”I think lots of data available is not sufficiently disaggregated, and so we don’t have accurate numbers in terms of the proportion of our population that has experienced disability in the country.
”So part of the work we supported over this years is to look at the right indicators that will help institutions responsible to collect accurate data and hopefully lead to a point where there will be accurate disaggregated data,” he said.
Similarly, Dr Chike Okogwu, the Executive Director, Centre for Ability, Rehabilitation and Empowerment (CARE) advocated for more funding for PWDs through NCPWD.
‘’Without funding, the implementation of the Disability Act will not be done effectively.
”There should be a deliberate action good enough to make the commission work better. Please provide adequate funding for NCPWD, and that way, we can do more to support PWDs,” he said.
Reports says that the event brought together personalities from the Ministry of Information and National Orientation, Ministry of Labour and Productivity, disability community and other relevant stakeholders. (NAN)
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Monday appointed the country’s First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber the interim president following the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash.
Raisi was, on Sunday, killed in the crash along with the country’s Foreign Minister Amir Abdollahian and some other senior Iranian officials in the northwestern province of East Azarbaijan.
Khamenei made the appointment known in a condolence message on the death of Raisi and the others.
The leader described Raisi as a popular, capable, hard working and indefatigable President, expressing sadness at the “bitter news of his martyrdom”.
Khamenei said that, according to Article 131 of Iran’s Constitution, the first vice president would be appointed at the helm of the executive arm.
He said that the first vice president was duty-bound to, in cooperation with the parliament speaker and the judiciary chief, make arrangements for election of a new president within 50 days.
(Xinhua/NAN)
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