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Presidency Slams PDP, Says No Opposition in Nigeria

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By John Onah, Abuja

The presidency yesterday, threw jibes at the main opposition- Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), saying it was missing in key national issues and only focusing on trivial matters.

Garba Shehu, President Muhammadu Buhari’s spokesperson said this in an article made available to newsmen in Abuja on Sunday.

The Presidency’s position was even echoed by the Ruling- All Progressives Congress (APC), when it said Nigeria was fast becoming one party state

Shehu made reference to the anti-sexual harassment bill proposed by 107 senators as a sign of the productivity of the ruling  party.

Although the lead sponsor of the bill, Ovie Omo-Agege is of the APC, dozens of PDP lawmakers are co-sponsors.

The bill was passed by the past Senate under Bukola Saraki, but rejected by the then House of Representatives. Shehu made reference to this in his criticism of the PDP.

“The bill had been tabled before – in 2016 – but it was not passed: some members of our party, working with the opposition, then stronger in numbers than today, blocked it.

“This time around, there has been no such attempt by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), to scupper the legislation. We cannot tell whether they remain opposed to it, for they have been too busy to let the 200 million citizens of Nigeria know,” the presidential aide wrote.

Read his full article below.

NIGERIA’S OPPOSITION IS MISSING

Last week, the Nigeria’s senate majority leader reintroduced anti-sexual harassment legislation to parliament, following a serious exposé by the BBC of a sex for grades scandal at the University of Lagos.

The bill had been tabled before – in 2016 – but it was not passed: some members of our party, working with the opposition, then stronger in numbers than today, blocked it.

This time around, there has been no such attempt by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to scupper the legislation. We cannot tell whether they remain opposed to it, for they have been too busy to let the 200 million citizens of Nigeria know. Instead, last week – whilst this matter was in the Senate, and the first Federal Budget following our February General Election, was being tabled before the House – the opposition’s full attention was elsewhere: on the affairs of the President, who we were told by the internet, was planning to marry in secret to one of his cabinet ministers.

The interminable nonsense of fake news is hardly unique to Nigeria. In the United States, Britain – indeed across much of the democratic world – we see waves of falsehoods and untruths peddled across digital and mainstream media. It has led to journalists and the press to become less trusted than almost any other profession or estate. Yet elsewhere, whether the fake facts emanate from governments or oppositions, neither have sought to abdicate their unique responsibilities in the act of governance.

In Nigeria, the opposition is close to reneging completely on the compact it holds with the voters. Every modern democracy exists for its checks and balances. Voters may elect a government to govern but they also elect an opposition – to oppose, to scrutinise, and to hold the majority to account. In the absence of either weight or counterweight, the scales of democracy become imbalanced. This cannot continue for long without the full functioning of governance being affected.

Whether citizens voted for President Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC), or for the opposition’s presidential candidate and his People’s Democratic Party (PDP), no one voted for failure. They may have voted differently on policy and personality, but regardless of a voter’s choice of candidate and party, for their vote they expect responsibility. No voter expected, nor wanted, the opposition somehow to simply go missing. But that, effectively, is what they have done.

Immediately after the February election that saw President Buhari re-elected to a second four-year term, and his APC secure a workable majority both in the Senate and House, the PDP went to court to challenge the result.

The world over election losers tend towards “lawfare” once they have lost the campaign battle in the field. None can begrudge the PDP their day in court: yet it was never in doubt that they would fail to persuade the judiciary to overturn President Buhari’s 4 million votes and 14 percent margin of victory over his opponent.

“Biased judges!” screamed the opposition. Perhaps. Judges do tend to be biased – towards the facts. Yet those, it would seem, matter no longer to the opposition at all – for last week they opened their next salvo in lawfare by taking their exact same, fatally flawed case to Nigeria’s Supreme Court. We must sincerely hope the opposition have the wherewithal to appreciate they will fail once more, given the facts and the math remain the same.

The opposition’s over-excretions are leaving a mess for the elected government to clean up. These do not just extend to the fact that even the most serious, and well-intentioned anti-sexual harassment legislation needs scrutiny, or the fact that the opposition yelled “corruption, padding!” at the Federal Budget – even before it had been tabled. More importantly, it leaves a stain on the terms of acceptable debate.

The median age of our 200 million population is 18 years old. Over 100 million Nigerians have access to the internet, and to cell phones. Many will, of course, see the opposition’s fake news and failure to hold the government to account fully and sanely for what it is: dereliction of duty. But there will be those who do not.

Nigeria is leading the fight in Africa against terrorists claiming to be adherents of Islam. This battle is being won – but not without cost. Our fight matters not just to our country, or West Africa – but to the whole world. We are defeating the terrorists both through military and through educative means. We hold up to the terrorists the inalienable truth that society is better when there is reasoned debate, the exchange of views, argument without harm – and that it is through this process of consent which leads to unity.

Without that process working as it should, not only is good governance threatened but it imperils the principle of our system of governance – based on scrutiny of the executive based on facts – and makes it out to be a sham. It imperils the principle of governance by consent which is the firewall against impressionable young people being swayed towards terrorists, whom it emboldens. Nigeria’s opposition is missing. We need them back.

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Senate Investigates $18.5bn Abuja Centenary City Project

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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.

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CBN Gives POS Operators July 7 Deadline to Register with CAC

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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.

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CBN Exempts Salaries, Loans, Pensions, Donations from Cyber Security Levy

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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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