COVER
FG Enrolls 15.5m Persons in National Social Register
The Federal Government says it has enrolled over 15 million persons in the National Social Register (NSR) to fast track implementation of the Social Investment Programme.
Hajiya Sadiya Umar-Farouq, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, stated this during the presentation of food items donated to Nigeria by the ECOWAS Commission, on Saturday in Kano.
Umar-Faroouq said: “It is worthy to state that at the onset of the pandemic, the National Social Register (NSR) contained data of over 2.
6 million poor and vulnerable households, representing over 11 million individuals in the 34 States and the FCT.“With the accelerated registration and rapid expansion, the NSR has as at June 30, grown to 3.
7 million, equivalent to 15.5 million individuals in the 36 states and FCT.”She said that the expanded register would facilitate distribution of the donated food items to the targeted population aimed at mitigating the risk of food insecurity in the country.
The minister noted that President Muhammadu Buhari had directed the ministry in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, to carry out various interventions to mitigate the effects of the pandemic on the vulnerable and poor families.
Umar-Farouq disclosed that the ministry had so far distributed 70,000 tonnes of food palliative to the most vulnerable in the society.
She listed the beneficiaries to include refugees; Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), People Living with Disabilities (PLWDs), older persons, trafficked victims, orphans, poor and other Persons of Concern.
“The Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development coordinates the humanitarian measures of the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The Ministry has distributed over 70,000 metric tonnes of grains including; rice, maize millet, sorghum,” she said.
Umar-Farouq listed other palliatives distributed to the vulnerable populations to include payment of four months stipends to beneficiaries of the Conditional Cash Transfer; loans to traders and market women.
Other palliative include take-home food rations for households of children enrolled in the National Home -Grown School Feeding Programme consisting of rice, beans, vegetable oil, palm oil, tomato paste, eggs and salt.
In a remark, Sangare Sekou, ECOWAS Commissioner of Agriculture, Water Resources and Environment, said the Commission donated 3,999 tons of food items to Nigeria for distribution to the vulnerable households.
Sekou said the gesture was part of interventions to mitigate the effect of COVID-19, enhance food security and address associated risks to sustainable development in the sub region.
Also speaking, Alhaji Baba Shehuri, the Minister of State Agriculture, said the ministry had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with ECOWAS Commission, to boost food strategic reserve towards addressing challenges of food security in the country.
Shehuri added that the ministry had supplied 70,000 tonnes of food items to the Ministry of Humanitarians Affairs and 5,000 tonnes to the ECOWAS Commission from its strategic reserves.
While commending ECOWAS for the gesture, Shehuri reiterated commitment to partner with ECOWAS to enhance food security in the country. (NAN)
By Eze Okechukwu, Abuja
Senate yesterday set up a seven-member ad-hoc committee to investigate the circumstances surrounding the lack of completion of the $18.5billion Abuja Centenary Economic City project, a decade after commencement.The Upper Chamber tasked the committee to review the original Public Private Partnership agreement and recommend amendments if necessary to facilitate the smooth and expeditious completion of the project.
The Senate also urged the Federal Government to prioritise the revival of the Centenary City project by providing appropriate support, resolving regulatory issues and addressing any other impediments, given its beneficial potential to the economy and people of Nigeria after 10 years of stalled progress. The resolutions of the senate followed its consideration of a motion titled: “Urgent need to revive and complete the stalled Centenary City Project, to realise its economic and development potential” during plenary yesterday.The motion was sponsored by the Deputy Senate Leader, Senator Ashiru Yisa (APC – Kwara South).Senator Yisa in his lead debate urged colleagues to note that the Abuja Centenary Economic City project commenced in 2014 through a public private partnership to develop a modern city in the mood of Dubai, to commemorate 100 years of Nigeria’s amalgamation celebration.The Abuja Centenary Economic City Project was to be built according to the model and standard of global smart cities like Dubai, Monaco and Singapore.President Goodluck Jonathan laid foundation for the project on February 27, 2014 with a funfare.After Jonathan was defeated in the 2015 general elections, the succeeding Muhammadu Buhari administration put a halt to the project.The project driven by private investors was launched to mark the 100th anniversary of Nigeria costing $18b with 10–15 years completion period.
By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
The Central Bank Of Nigeria (CBN) has issued a July 7, 2024 deadline for Point of Sales (PoS) operators to complete registration with the Corporate Affairs Corporation (CAC).This was revealed during a meeting between Fintechs and the Registrar-General/Chief Executive Officer (CAC) Hussaini Magaji (SAN) in Abuja on Tuesday.
Speaking at the event, the CAC boss said the two-month timeline to register their agents, merchants, and individuals with the commission, was “in line with legal requirements and the directives of the Central Bank of Nigeria”. “The measure aims at safeguarding the businesses of Fintech’s customers and strengthening the economy,” a statement titled ‘CAC, PoS Operators Agree to Two-Month Deadline to Register Their Agents and Merchants to Strengthen the Fintech Industry”, the CAC added.He stressed that the action was equally backed by Section 863, Subsection 1 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, CAMA 2020, and the 2013 CBN guidelines on agent banking.Magaji explained that the timeline for the registration which will expire on July 7, 2024, was not targeted at any groups or individuals but aimed at protecting businesses.Several speakers from the Fintech industry pledged to collaborate with the commission to ensure hitch-free implementation of the directive.Some of them, however, stressed the need for adequate and collective sensitisation, to ensure that the exercise achieved the desired results.The Special Adviser to the President on ICT Development and Innovation, Tokoni Peter, in his remarks, pledged to ensure smooth facilitation of the process in line with the Renewed Hope Initiative of the present administrationThe representatives of Opay, Momba, Palmpay Ltd, Pay Stack, Fair Money MFB, Monie Point, and Teasy Pay present at the event, later signed up for a document to support the project.
By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has exempted 16 items from the 0.5 per cent Cybersecurity levy on all electronic transactions.CBN had directed banks to begin charging 0.5% cybersecurity levy on transactions as part of efforts to contain the rising cybercrime threats in the financial system.
According to the Apex Bank, deducted funds will be remitted to the National Cybersecurity Fund (NCF), which shall be administered by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA). A circular released by the CBN on Monday directed all commercial, merchant, non-interest and payment service banks to comply with the directive.The circular revealed that it was a follow-up on an earlier letter dated June 25, 2018 (Ref: BPS/DIR/GEN/CIR/05/008) and October 5, 2018 (Ref: BSD/DIR/GEN/LAB/11/023), in compliance with the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) Act 2015.Following the enactment of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) (amendment) Act 2024 and under the provision of Section 44 (2)(a) of the Act, a levy of 0.5 per cent (0.005) equivalent to half per cent of all electronic transactions value by the business specified in the Second Schedule of the Act is to be remitted to the National Cybersecurity Fund, which the Office of the National Security Adviser shall administer.The exemptions included loan disbursements and repayments, salary payments, intra-account transfers within the same bank or between different banks for the same customer, intra-bank transfers between customers of the same bank, and Other Financial Institutions (OFIs) instructions to their correspondent banks.The exemption also applies to interbank placements, banks’ transfers to CBN and vice versa, inter-branch transfers within a bank, cheque clearing and settlements, and Letters of Credit (LCs).Others include banks’ recapitalisation-related funding only bulk funds movement from collection accounts; savings and deposits including transactions involving long-term investments such as treasury bills, bonds; and commercial papers; government social welfare programmes transactions, e.g. pension payments; non-profit and charitable transactions including donations to registered non-profit organisations or charities; educational institutions transactions, including tuition payments and other transaction involving schools, universities, or other educational institutions.Transactions involving the bank’s internal accounts, such as suspense accounts, clearing accounts, profit and loss accounts, inter-branch accounts, reserve accounts, nostro and vostro accounts, and escrow accounts, are also exempt from the levy.The central bank warned that Section 44 (8) of the Act prescribes that failure to remit the levy constitutes an offence punishable on conviction by a fine of not less than two percent of the defaulting business’s annual turnover, among other things.
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