Maybe they don't consider SA...
Western media tends to lie about Rwanda and Ethiopia because they are partner states.
Essential The Africa the Media Doesn't Tell You About
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Western media tends to lie about Rwanda and Ethiopia because they are partner states.
BREAKING: EFCC arrests ex-Governor Akpabio over alleged multi-billion naira fraud
October 16, 2015Sani Tukur
Godswill Akpabio
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EFCC begins probe of ex-Governor Akpabio over alleged N108.1bn fraudJune 24, 2015
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Akpabio's rejection of EFCC probe “declaration of war” against Nigeria – APCAugust 26, 2015
Ex- Governor Akpabio hospitalised in Abuja after own car disobeyed traffic light, then crashedAugust 31, 2015
A former Governor of Akwa Ibom State and incumbent Senate Minority Leader, Godswill Akpabio, was on Friday arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
PREMIUM TIMES investigation shows that Mr. Akpabio was taken in by EFCC operatives at about 5.20 pm.
He was said to have been accompanied a few aides and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Ricky Tarfa.
An aide to the former governor, who cannot be named because he is not authorised to speak on the matter told PREMIUM TIMES that Mr. Akpabio is currently being interrogated by top officials of the EFCC.
An EFCC source confirmed the development.
“He was brought in at about 5.20 pm accompanied by a few aides and Mr. Rickey Tarfa,” the source said.
“It is not yet known whether he will be allowed to go this night. It depends on how the interrogation goes.”
The spokesperson for the EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, did not answer or return calls seeking comment for this story.
The EFCC had begun investigation into alleged theft of N108.1billion of Akwa Ibom funds by the former governor in June.
The action followed a petition forwarded to the commission by an Abuja-based lawyer and activist, Leo Ekpenyong.
Mr. Ekpenyong had on June 8 petitioned President Muhammadu Buhari and the EFCC, calling for Mr. Akpabio’s probe and accusing him of looting Akwa Ibom state treasury.
Investigations by PREMIUM TIMES showed that several other indigenes of the state who are demanding the investigation of the former governor, have been invited by the EFCC to adopt their petitions.
On his part, Mr. Ekpenyong was summoned on Wednesday, June 17, to adopt his petition and provide more details to some of the allegations he made against Mr. Akpabio.
The former governor, now senator, was elected in 2007, at a time the nation enjoyed robust oil revenue.
Akwa Ibom and Rivers States are Nigeria’s largest oil-producing states. The two states alternate as first and second top producers periodically.
The two states receive the highest funds allocation from the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee, FAAC, monthly.
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics and the office of the Accountant General of the Federation indicate that under Mr. Akpabio, known for ostentatious spending, Akwa Ibom received a staggering N1. 6 trillion from FAAC between June 2007 and May 2014.
At the time he vacated office on May 29, the state received more, excluding other revenues like Ecological Funds, internally generated revenue etc.
In a new petition to the EFCC dated June 22, and copied to Mr. Buhari and the Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase, Mr. Ekpenyong gave details of some of Mr. Akpabio’s alleged financial recklessness.
He alleged that between January and December 2014, the ex-governor colluded with two of his top aides to steal a whopping N108.1 billion from the state’s treasury.
Mr. Ekpenyong told the EFCC that the former Government House Permanent Secretary, Etekamba Umoren, and the former Accountant General of the state, Udo Isobara, colluded with Mr. Akpabio to steal the funds.
“Between January –December 2014, it is on record that the trio of Godswill Akpabio, Mr. Etekamba Umoren and Mr. Udo Isobara, made illegal but substantial withdrawals of cash from a designated state government-owned account with Zenith Bank with account number: 1010375881 amounting to N22.1 billion,” he stated in the petition.
“It is worthy of note that reasons for such ungodly cash withdrawals against financial regulations and due process laws range between sundry use and unjustifiable expenditures by Godswill Akpabio and his numerous surrogates and proxies.
“For example, a whopping N18 billion was withdrawn fraudulently from the state FAAC account with the United Bank for Africa in trenches of N10 million and above by Mr. Isobara in a surreptitious manner to conceal their dishonest intention.”
For assisting Mr. Akpabio retire billions of the stolen funds, Mr. Ekpenyong said Mr. Umoren was rewarded with an appointment as Government House chief of staff and now secretary to the state government under Udom Emmanuel’s administration.
The legal practitioner went on to state that over N50 billion of Akwa Ibom funds were spent by the former governor during the last general elections.
During the period under review, he said Mr. Akpabio also withdrew a whopping N18 billion from the state coffers under the guise of special services, reception of very important guests and sundry items.
“The cumulative aggregate of these monies stolen by Godswill Akpabio from the coffers of government as pocket money is the annual budget of some states in Nigeria put together,” the petition reads.
He listed the bouquet of assets acquired by the former governor through surrogates to include a multi-billion naira mansion at Plot 5 Okogosi Spring Close, off Katsina-Ala Crescent, Maitama-Abuja, a multi-billion naira mansionette at Plot 28 Colorado Close, Maitama, Abuja and another multi-billion naira mansion at 22 Probyn Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.
Others include a multi-billion naira mansionette at Plot 23 Olusegun Aina Street, Parkview, Lagos and a multi-billion naira 25 storey building at Akin Adesola Street, Victoria Island, Lagos.
“As earlier promised, more details of assets and graft-related funds illegally and fraudulently siphoned from Akwa Ibom State treasury and laundered to foreign destinations are in the offing. As usual, we will do the needful.
An EFCC source said senior officials of the commission held discussions with Mr. Ekpenyong on the petition on Tuesday.
“He also adopted the petition he forwarded to the commission and provided additional details about the alleged stealing of funds by the former governor,” the source said.
The source noted that many of those who have sent petitions to the commission against the former governor, now senator, have already been invited to adopt their document.
He confirmed that very soon the commission would invite the former governor for questioning.
Allegations, complete falsehood
Mr. Akpabio could not be reached for this story. Messrs Umoren and Isobara could not also be reached for comments.
But the commissioner of information during the administration of Mr. Akpabio, Aniekan Umana, described the contents of the petition by Mr. Ekpenyong as falsehood taken too far.
He said the petition betrayed a lack of understanding of the workings of government.
“Every sum withdrawn from a government account is tied to a subhead and there must be a budgetary provision. To attribute fraud to withdrawals which had the full sanction of Government and was accommodated in the budget is strange, mischievous and untenable. More so, when one understands that there are checks and balances which guide all aspects of government financial administration,” he said.
He also said the allegation that the State Government spent N50 billion on the March General Elections falls flat on its face based on his explanations of the workings of government as regards financial transactions.
“There was no such provision in the budget of this year and such an amount could not have been paid as an extra-budgetary expenditure and yet salaries and other commitments were met. We challenge the petitioners to provide proof to support this wild allegation. Who was it paid to? How was it paid? Where was it paid? And when was it paid?
“Senator Akpabio does not own a 25-storey building in Victoria Island or in any part of the world, as alleged by the petitioner. It is also a patent falsehood that the house at 22 Probyn Road, Ikoyi belongs to Senator Akpabio.
It is a rented building which ownership can be verified from Lagos State Lands Registry.
“Senator Akpabio does not own the properties mentioned in the petition to belong to him. You can verify the ownership of the properties (5 Okokosi Close, Maitama and Plot 28 Colorado Close, Maitama) from the land registry in Abuja,” he said.
He also denied the state received over N2 trillion as oil allocation.
“Please do note that the idea that the Akwa Ibom State Government received over N2.5 trillion in the eight years of the Akpabio administration is an outrageous lie. What this suggests is that the State Government received an average of N26 billion monthly for the period. What a lie! From published accounts of disbursement from the Federation Accounts, Akwa Ibom State never received up to N26 billion in any month throughout the period.
Note that in some months like the April and May, 2015, Akwa Ibom State received about N8 billion.
BREAKING: EFCC arrests ex-Governor Akpabio over alleged multi-billion naira fraud - Premium Times Nigeria
October 16, 2015Sani Tukur
Godswill Akpabio
RELATED NEWS
EFCC begins probe of ex-Governor Akpabio over alleged N108.1bn fraudJune 24, 2015
Lawyer writes EFCC, threatens legal action if ex-Governor Akpabio is not probedJune 11, 2015
EFCC detains ex-Adamawa governor, NyakoJune 1, 2015
Akpabio's rejection of EFCC probe “declaration of war” against Nigeria – APCAugust 26, 2015
Ex- Governor Akpabio hospitalised in Abuja after own car disobeyed traffic light, then crashedAugust 31, 2015
A former Governor of Akwa Ibom State and incumbent Senate Minority Leader, Godswill Akpabio, was on Friday arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
PREMIUM TIMES investigation shows that Mr. Akpabio was taken in by EFCC operatives at about 5.20 pm.
He was said to have been accompanied a few aides and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Ricky Tarfa.
An aide to the former governor, who cannot be named because he is not authorised to speak on the matter told PREMIUM TIMES that Mr. Akpabio is currently being interrogated by top officials of the EFCC.
An EFCC source confirmed the development.
“He was brought in at about 5.20 pm accompanied by a few aides and Mr. Rickey Tarfa,” the source said.
“It is not yet known whether he will be allowed to go this night. It depends on how the interrogation goes.”
The spokesperson for the EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, did not answer or return calls seeking comment for this story.
The EFCC had begun investigation into alleged theft of N108.1billion of Akwa Ibom funds by the former governor in June.
The action followed a petition forwarded to the commission by an Abuja-based lawyer and activist, Leo Ekpenyong.
Mr. Ekpenyong had on June 8 petitioned President Muhammadu Buhari and the EFCC, calling for Mr. Akpabio’s probe and accusing him of looting Akwa Ibom state treasury.
Investigations by PREMIUM TIMES showed that several other indigenes of the state who are demanding the investigation of the former governor, have been invited by the EFCC to adopt their petitions.
On his part, Mr. Ekpenyong was summoned on Wednesday, June 17, to adopt his petition and provide more details to some of the allegations he made against Mr. Akpabio.
The former governor, now senator, was elected in 2007, at a time the nation enjoyed robust oil revenue.
Akwa Ibom and Rivers States are Nigeria’s largest oil-producing states. The two states alternate as first and second top producers periodically.
The two states receive the highest funds allocation from the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee, FAAC, monthly.
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics and the office of the Accountant General of the Federation indicate that under Mr. Akpabio, known for ostentatious spending, Akwa Ibom received a staggering N1. 6 trillion from FAAC between June 2007 and May 2014.
At the time he vacated office on May 29, the state received more, excluding other revenues like Ecological Funds, internally generated revenue etc.
In a new petition to the EFCC dated June 22, and copied to Mr. Buhari and the Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase, Mr. Ekpenyong gave details of some of Mr. Akpabio’s alleged financial recklessness.
He alleged that between January and December 2014, the ex-governor colluded with two of his top aides to steal a whopping N108.1 billion from the state’s treasury.
Mr. Ekpenyong told the EFCC that the former Government House Permanent Secretary, Etekamba Umoren, and the former Accountant General of the state, Udo Isobara, colluded with Mr. Akpabio to steal the funds.
“Between January –December 2014, it is on record that the trio of Godswill Akpabio, Mr. Etekamba Umoren and Mr. Udo Isobara, made illegal but substantial withdrawals of cash from a designated state government-owned account with Zenith Bank with account number: 1010375881 amounting to N22.1 billion,” he stated in the petition.
“It is worthy of note that reasons for such ungodly cash withdrawals against financial regulations and due process laws range between sundry use and unjustifiable expenditures by Godswill Akpabio and his numerous surrogates and proxies.
“For example, a whopping N18 billion was withdrawn fraudulently from the state FAAC account with the United Bank for Africa in trenches of N10 million and above by Mr. Isobara in a surreptitious manner to conceal their dishonest intention.”
For assisting Mr. Akpabio retire billions of the stolen funds, Mr. Ekpenyong said Mr. Umoren was rewarded with an appointment as Government House chief of staff and now secretary to the state government under Udom Emmanuel’s administration.
The legal practitioner went on to state that over N50 billion of Akwa Ibom funds were spent by the former governor during the last general elections.
During the period under review, he said Mr. Akpabio also withdrew a whopping N18 billion from the state coffers under the guise of special services, reception of very important guests and sundry items.
“The cumulative aggregate of these monies stolen by Godswill Akpabio from the coffers of government as pocket money is the annual budget of some states in Nigeria put together,” the petition reads.
He listed the bouquet of assets acquired by the former governor through surrogates to include a multi-billion naira mansion at Plot 5 Okogosi Spring Close, off Katsina-Ala Crescent, Maitama-Abuja, a multi-billion naira mansionette at Plot 28 Colorado Close, Maitama, Abuja and another multi-billion naira mansion at 22 Probyn Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.
Others include a multi-billion naira mansionette at Plot 23 Olusegun Aina Street, Parkview, Lagos and a multi-billion naira 25 storey building at Akin Adesola Street, Victoria Island, Lagos.
“As earlier promised, more details of assets and graft-related funds illegally and fraudulently siphoned from Akwa Ibom State treasury and laundered to foreign destinations are in the offing. As usual, we will do the needful.
An EFCC source said senior officials of the commission held discussions with Mr. Ekpenyong on the petition on Tuesday.
“He also adopted the petition he forwarded to the commission and provided additional details about the alleged stealing of funds by the former governor,” the source said.
The source noted that many of those who have sent petitions to the commission against the former governor, now senator, have already been invited to adopt their document.
He confirmed that very soon the commission would invite the former governor for questioning.
Allegations, complete falsehood
Mr. Akpabio could not be reached for this story. Messrs Umoren and Isobara could not also be reached for comments.
But the commissioner of information during the administration of Mr. Akpabio, Aniekan Umana, described the contents of the petition by Mr. Ekpenyong as falsehood taken too far.
He said the petition betrayed a lack of understanding of the workings of government.
“Every sum withdrawn from a government account is tied to a subhead and there must be a budgetary provision. To attribute fraud to withdrawals which had the full sanction of Government and was accommodated in the budget is strange, mischievous and untenable. More so, when one understands that there are checks and balances which guide all aspects of government financial administration,” he said.
He also said the allegation that the State Government spent N50 billion on the March General Elections falls flat on its face based on his explanations of the workings of government as regards financial transactions.
“There was no such provision in the budget of this year and such an amount could not have been paid as an extra-budgetary expenditure and yet salaries and other commitments were met. We challenge the petitioners to provide proof to support this wild allegation. Who was it paid to? How was it paid? Where was it paid? And when was it paid?
“Senator Akpabio does not own a 25-storey building in Victoria Island or in any part of the world, as alleged by the petitioner. It is also a patent falsehood that the house at 22 Probyn Road, Ikoyi belongs to Senator Akpabio.
It is a rented building which ownership can be verified from Lagos State Lands Registry.
“Senator Akpabio does not own the properties mentioned in the petition to belong to him. You can verify the ownership of the properties (5 Okokosi Close, Maitama and Plot 28 Colorado Close, Maitama) from the land registry in Abuja,” he said.
He also denied the state received over N2 trillion as oil allocation.
“Please do note that the idea that the Akwa Ibom State Government received over N2.5 trillion in the eight years of the Akpabio administration is an outrageous lie. What this suggests is that the State Government received an average of N26 billion monthly for the period. What a lie! From published accounts of disbursement from the Federation Accounts, Akwa Ibom State never received up to N26 billion in any month throughout the period.
Note that in some months like the April and May, 2015, Akwa Ibom State received about N8 billion.
BREAKING: EFCC arrests ex-Governor Akpabio over alleged multi-billion naira fraud - Premium Times Nigeria
INVESTIGATION: Abuja electricity boss’ N36million monthly pay, others tear apart firm
October 16, 2015Bassey Udo
RELATED NEWS
Electricity workers threaten total blackout across NigeriaOctober 22, 2013
N50bn power sector risk guarantee money intact -- BPEJune 22, 2015
Electricity commission defies Senate, says N750 charge won’t be abolishedAugust 17, 2015
Eko Disco urges electricity consumers to brace up for tariff adjustmentJune 13, 2015
Nigeria’s energy crisis worsens; only 5 of 23 power plants functional -- NERCMay 26, 2015
A major labour crisis is unfolding at the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company over an alleged fraudulent allocation of outrageous salaries and perks to a few officials.
While a privileged few draw as high as N36 million a month from the public liability company that is operating on deficit, majority of equally qualified and even more critical staff absorbed from the previous government-owned Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, receive peanut, PREMIUM TIMES has found.
After the privatisation of PHCN, the Nigerian government retained substantial stake in the distribution companies, including the Abuja DISCO.
This means the government is entitled to part of the profit. But this must happen only after operation cost of the company, comprising of overhead and personnel cost, are deducted.
For the past two years, the company recorded only losses instead, but at the same time paid outrageous salaries to a select few.
The chairperson of the board takes home N36 million a month, while a staff with Ordinary National Diploma, OND, takes home as high as N1.9 million monthly.
While this select few rip the firm off, majority of the key staff retained from PHCN are paid between N50, 000 to N150, 000.
According to the company’s financial statement prepared by KPMG as at December 31, 2014, the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company’s revenue increased from N36.01 billion in 2013 to N48.1 billion.
Yet, the company declared a higher loss of N25.61 billion in 2014, up from N13.37 billion in 2013.
Notwithstanding the loss, the company’s administrative expenditure nearly doubled – from N13.67 billion in 2013 to N24.93 billion in 2014.
The board chairman, Siyanga Malumo, who received N5.67 million as salary monthly in 2013, had his pay reviewed by over 640.7 percent, to N36.33million, according to the report obtained by PREMIUM TIMES.
Six directors who received between N3.5million and N4million a month in 2013 also got a raise to between N145 million and N150 million annual pay.
Within the year, N719.7million was also spent on “salaries and other short-term benefits to key management personnel compensation”.
Whiff of fraud
After the privatization of PHCN, about 3,601 former workers of the defunct company were re-engaged on November 1, 2013, by the new firm. The workers were retained mostly as casual staff.
The Abuja distribution company recruited another set of employees in 2014, either as permanent or contract staff.
Although the company’s approved salary structure obtained by PREMIUM TIMES ranged between N47, 186.80 for the least paid staff on grade level JS1 step 1, and N1.137.069.17 for the highest paid official on grade level EG1, some categories of staff received far ahead of those allocations.
The payroll reflects a huge disparity in favour of the new employees.
Although most of the new employees lack technical competence and practical experience, they were made to pocket between N1.2 million and N1.9 million per month, PREMIUM TIMES found.
Their colleagues from PHCN receive between N50, 000 and N200, 000 per month, irrespective of qualification and experience.
Only a few of the older workers earn N200, 000 and above.
The huge disparity in salary between the different categories of workers is fuelling discontent in the company.
Public or private firm?
Abuja Electricity Distribution Company is one of the 11 successor power distribution companies (DISCOs) of PHCN.
It was created to undertake electricity distribution activities and related business in Niger, Kogi and Nasarawa states and the Federal Capital Territory.
The company is owned 60 percent by KANN Utility Company Limited, a joint venture between Xerxes Global Investment Ltd, CEC Africa Investment Ltd and Abuja Electricity Distribution Plc.
The Nigerian Government still controls 40 percent of the company through the Bureau of Public Enterprises, which has 32 percent, and the Ministry of Finance which owns eight percent.
Prior to the power sector privatization exercise, BPE had disengaged over 4,000 former PHCN employees on October 31, 2013, as part of the winding down process.
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, the electricity sector regulatory agency, said AEDC was later allowed to re-engage about 3,601 of the workers for an initial contract period of six months.
Details of the company’s financial statement showed that at the completion of the re-engagement process, 3,658 workers were on the company’s payroll in 2013, consisting Administration (845), Finance (399), Marketing (1,116) and Technical (1,298).
The figure, however, fell to about 2,243 in 2014, with Administration having 320, Finance (279), Marketing (859) and Technical (785).
At the expiration of the initial contract period in 2014, NERC explained that each worker was issued fresh re-engagement letters as permanent or contract staff, in line with the AEDC’s framework of employee remuneration and public service rules.
There were yet a lot of others designated casual workers.
“Apart from discriminatory salaries, the casual workers are denied vacation and proper medical attention, despite performing similar jobs and exposed to same hazardous conditions at work on a daily basis,” one of the affected workers said. He did not wish to be identified for fear of victimization.
Consulting house of fraud
Investigations by PREMIUM TIMES uncovered monumental fraud in the company’s payroll traceable to an agency, TBS Consulting, hired to handle staff recruitment in 2014.
For instance, Yusuf Mosunmola, one of the directors and a key member of the TBS Consulting management team, doubles as Head, Organisational Development & Learning for AEDC.
As director of the consulting firm, Ms. Mosunmola was in charge of the entire recruitment process for all categories of employees in AEDC.
The Executive Director, Corporate Planning & Business Development, Omokhoa Okaisabor, told PREMIUM TIMES that Ms. Mosunmola was hired to help in resolving the human resources issue the company had at inception.
After the privatisation exercise, AEDC was confronted with human resources issues that bordered on lack of proper training for staff and a lot of skill gaps, he said.
Mr. Okaisabor said the company had resolved that if no one was found within the company to handle the human resource function, it should be outsourced to a contracting firm, to bring the required staff to manage the key HR function on contract basis.
“That was how TBS Consulting was hired, with Ms. Mosunmola as one of directors, to recruit the staff on contract basis,” Mr. Okaisabor explained.
A source close to AEDC headquarters said a part of the about N285.5million in the 2014 financial statement spent as consultancy fees for technical support services by KANN Utility Company Limited was by TBS Consulting for extensive services on IT, procurement, integration, support and turnaround strategies in 2013.
The director explained to PREMIUM TIMES that all the contract staff recruited by TBS Consulting for AEDC had “special arrangements” with Ms. Mosunmola on how the salary penned against their names would be split.
“Not all the salary actually gets into their (contract staff’s) pockets,” Mr. Okaisabor explained. “The contracting firm has some personal arrangement to get part of the money paid to them as salaries by the company. The practice is that the contracting firm gets the money from the company and pays the staff.”
“Most of the names found on the company’s payroll are either non-existent or belong to persons who work directly for Madam’s (Mosunmola) other companies,” one of the staff familiar with the issue said on Friday.
The staff said the special arrangement must have been in connection with allegations that at least 60 percent of the salaries credited to most of the high earners on the company’s payroll every month goes to Ms. Mosunmola, who also has interests in other companies providing various services for AEDC, like cleaning.
While AEDC pays millions to Ms. Mosunmola’s company for such services, she is said to be paying peanuts to the workers and pocketing the balance.
Some of the names on the AEDC payroll that raised eyebrows were those of two contract staff hired in 2014 and posted to the Lokoja District office.
They include Akanku Olusegun, a National Diploma holder in Electrical, and Higher National Diploma (HND) (in view), who is paid N823, 764 per month.
The same goes for Adesulu Adebayo, another National Diploma holder in Electrical holder in the same office, who takes home N764, 097.60 salary every month.
Curiously, several of their colleagues in various district offices with either similar qualifications or superior university degrees of many years’ standing, are paid a paltry N50, 000.
Ms. Mosunmola on her part remains one of the highest paid officials, who pockets a whopping N1.84 million pay every month. This is in additional to the N27million and another N10 million paid to her as furniture allowance and accommodation respectively.
Also Ms. Mosunmola grapples with the obvious challenge of conflict of interests as she appears to work for AEDC and TBS Consulting simultaneously.
“It’s a clear case of fraud inspired by greed,” Alfred Ituah, an Abuja-based legal practitioner told PREMIUM TIMES on Friday.
“It is practically impossible for her (Mosunmola) to expect that she would effectively joggle both jobs of recruiting workers for AEDC and be on the company’s staff payroll in whatever capacity without getting entangled in the mess of conflict of interest,” he noted.
ICPC wades in
In August, some top AEDC officials were invited by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission for questioning following a petition by some aggrieved workers.
Those invited included the Managing Director; Executive Director, Human Resources; Head of Finance/Financial Controller and Principal Manager in charge of Procurement.
The ICPC’s invitation letter had asked the affected AEDC top officials to provide for examination the statute/law/enabling Act establishing the company; the company’s nominal roll since 2013, and certificate of compliance in recruitment process from the Federal Character Commission.
The officials were also asked to furnish the Commission with the company’s payroll for June 2015; company policy; list of contracts awarded from January 2013; statement of Account; statement of salary accounts as well as recruitment report detailing advertisements, short listings, result sheets/scores since 2013.
Spokesperson for ICPC, Rasheedat Okoduwa, who confirmed to this reporter that the AEDC top officials had honoured the invitation on August 4, 2015, however did not give details, saying she was not authorized to speak to the media on the issue.
Mr. Okaisabor who also confirmed the invitation of AEDC top officials by ICPC, said all issues raised by the Commission were resolved over two meetings, the last being in September.
The tension in the company appears to have worsened last week following another round of recruitment interviews held for Regional Managers, Area Managers, Billing Specialist and Support Officers as well as Project Managers.
The exercise was again handled by Ms. Mosunmola on behalf of TBS Consulting allegedly as part of plans by AEDC to downsize its workforce.
Mr. Okaisabor described as unacceptable the issue of conflict of interest concerning Ms. Mosunmola roles in AWEDC and TBS Consulting, saying if investigated and found to be true, she would be queried and sanctioned.
“I will have to crosscheck that information. But, it will be extremely careless and stupid of them (TBS Consulting) to outsource somebody to a company and the person is still on the company’s management staff. If that is the case, she has to be queried and sanctioned. It’s unacceptable,” Mr. Okaisabor said.
Director General of BPE, Benjamin Dikki, who is a member of the Board of AEDC, representing the Federal Government, said in a terse response to the reporter’s inquiry that he was not aware of the activities of Mrs. Mosunmola.
“I am not aware”, Mr. Dikki said in a text message on Friday. He however asked for time to investigate.
When the reporter contacted Ms. Mosunmola on telephone on Friday to confirm her connection with the two organisations, she refused to comment, insisting on knowing first what the information was for.
When told the reason, she immediately terminated the call. Subsequent calls to her phone were not answered. Equally, text messages to her phones were also not responded to.
However, in what a appeared an attempt to cover her tracks, TBS Consulting on Monday, October 12, edited its website and removed Ms. Mosunmola from the list of its management team.
See the site on Friday and the edited version below.
INVESTIGATION: Abuja electricity boss’ N36million monthly pay, others tear apart firm - Premium Times Nigeria
October 16, 2015Bassey Udo
RELATED NEWS
Electricity workers threaten total blackout across NigeriaOctober 22, 2013
N50bn power sector risk guarantee money intact -- BPEJune 22, 2015
Electricity commission defies Senate, says N750 charge won’t be abolishedAugust 17, 2015
Eko Disco urges electricity consumers to brace up for tariff adjustmentJune 13, 2015
Nigeria’s energy crisis worsens; only 5 of 23 power plants functional -- NERCMay 26, 2015
A major labour crisis is unfolding at the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company over an alleged fraudulent allocation of outrageous salaries and perks to a few officials.
While a privileged few draw as high as N36 million a month from the public liability company that is operating on deficit, majority of equally qualified and even more critical staff absorbed from the previous government-owned Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, receive peanut, PREMIUM TIMES has found.
After the privatisation of PHCN, the Nigerian government retained substantial stake in the distribution companies, including the Abuja DISCO.
This means the government is entitled to part of the profit. But this must happen only after operation cost of the company, comprising of overhead and personnel cost, are deducted.
For the past two years, the company recorded only losses instead, but at the same time paid outrageous salaries to a select few.
The chairperson of the board takes home N36 million a month, while a staff with Ordinary National Diploma, OND, takes home as high as N1.9 million monthly.
While this select few rip the firm off, majority of the key staff retained from PHCN are paid between N50, 000 to N150, 000.
According to the company’s financial statement prepared by KPMG as at December 31, 2014, the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company’s revenue increased from N36.01 billion in 2013 to N48.1 billion.
Yet, the company declared a higher loss of N25.61 billion in 2014, up from N13.37 billion in 2013.
Notwithstanding the loss, the company’s administrative expenditure nearly doubled – from N13.67 billion in 2013 to N24.93 billion in 2014.
The board chairman, Siyanga Malumo, who received N5.67 million as salary monthly in 2013, had his pay reviewed by over 640.7 percent, to N36.33million, according to the report obtained by PREMIUM TIMES.
Six directors who received between N3.5million and N4million a month in 2013 also got a raise to between N145 million and N150 million annual pay.
Within the year, N719.7million was also spent on “salaries and other short-term benefits to key management personnel compensation”.
Whiff of fraud
After the privatization of PHCN, about 3,601 former workers of the defunct company were re-engaged on November 1, 2013, by the new firm. The workers were retained mostly as casual staff.
The Abuja distribution company recruited another set of employees in 2014, either as permanent or contract staff.
Although the company’s approved salary structure obtained by PREMIUM TIMES ranged between N47, 186.80 for the least paid staff on grade level JS1 step 1, and N1.137.069.17 for the highest paid official on grade level EG1, some categories of staff received far ahead of those allocations.
The payroll reflects a huge disparity in favour of the new employees.
Although most of the new employees lack technical competence and practical experience, they were made to pocket between N1.2 million and N1.9 million per month, PREMIUM TIMES found.
Their colleagues from PHCN receive between N50, 000 and N200, 000 per month, irrespective of qualification and experience.
Only a few of the older workers earn N200, 000 and above.
The huge disparity in salary between the different categories of workers is fuelling discontent in the company.
Public or private firm?
Abuja Electricity Distribution Company is one of the 11 successor power distribution companies (DISCOs) of PHCN.
It was created to undertake electricity distribution activities and related business in Niger, Kogi and Nasarawa states and the Federal Capital Territory.
The company is owned 60 percent by KANN Utility Company Limited, a joint venture between Xerxes Global Investment Ltd, CEC Africa Investment Ltd and Abuja Electricity Distribution Plc.
The Nigerian Government still controls 40 percent of the company through the Bureau of Public Enterprises, which has 32 percent, and the Ministry of Finance which owns eight percent.
Prior to the power sector privatization exercise, BPE had disengaged over 4,000 former PHCN employees on October 31, 2013, as part of the winding down process.
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, the electricity sector regulatory agency, said AEDC was later allowed to re-engage about 3,601 of the workers for an initial contract period of six months.
Details of the company’s financial statement showed that at the completion of the re-engagement process, 3,658 workers were on the company’s payroll in 2013, consisting Administration (845), Finance (399), Marketing (1,116) and Technical (1,298).
The figure, however, fell to about 2,243 in 2014, with Administration having 320, Finance (279), Marketing (859) and Technical (785).
At the expiration of the initial contract period in 2014, NERC explained that each worker was issued fresh re-engagement letters as permanent or contract staff, in line with the AEDC’s framework of employee remuneration and public service rules.
There were yet a lot of others designated casual workers.
“Apart from discriminatory salaries, the casual workers are denied vacation and proper medical attention, despite performing similar jobs and exposed to same hazardous conditions at work on a daily basis,” one of the affected workers said. He did not wish to be identified for fear of victimization.
Consulting house of fraud
Investigations by PREMIUM TIMES uncovered monumental fraud in the company’s payroll traceable to an agency, TBS Consulting, hired to handle staff recruitment in 2014.
For instance, Yusuf Mosunmola, one of the directors and a key member of the TBS Consulting management team, doubles as Head, Organisational Development & Learning for AEDC.
As director of the consulting firm, Ms. Mosunmola was in charge of the entire recruitment process for all categories of employees in AEDC.
The Executive Director, Corporate Planning & Business Development, Omokhoa Okaisabor, told PREMIUM TIMES that Ms. Mosunmola was hired to help in resolving the human resources issue the company had at inception.
After the privatisation exercise, AEDC was confronted with human resources issues that bordered on lack of proper training for staff and a lot of skill gaps, he said.
Mr. Okaisabor said the company had resolved that if no one was found within the company to handle the human resource function, it should be outsourced to a contracting firm, to bring the required staff to manage the key HR function on contract basis.
“That was how TBS Consulting was hired, with Ms. Mosunmola as one of directors, to recruit the staff on contract basis,” Mr. Okaisabor explained.
A source close to AEDC headquarters said a part of the about N285.5million in the 2014 financial statement spent as consultancy fees for technical support services by KANN Utility Company Limited was by TBS Consulting for extensive services on IT, procurement, integration, support and turnaround strategies in 2013.
The director explained to PREMIUM TIMES that all the contract staff recruited by TBS Consulting for AEDC had “special arrangements” with Ms. Mosunmola on how the salary penned against their names would be split.
“Not all the salary actually gets into their (contract staff’s) pockets,” Mr. Okaisabor explained. “The contracting firm has some personal arrangement to get part of the money paid to them as salaries by the company. The practice is that the contracting firm gets the money from the company and pays the staff.”
“Most of the names found on the company’s payroll are either non-existent or belong to persons who work directly for Madam’s (Mosunmola) other companies,” one of the staff familiar with the issue said on Friday.
The staff said the special arrangement must have been in connection with allegations that at least 60 percent of the salaries credited to most of the high earners on the company’s payroll every month goes to Ms. Mosunmola, who also has interests in other companies providing various services for AEDC, like cleaning.
While AEDC pays millions to Ms. Mosunmola’s company for such services, she is said to be paying peanuts to the workers and pocketing the balance.
Some of the names on the AEDC payroll that raised eyebrows were those of two contract staff hired in 2014 and posted to the Lokoja District office.
They include Akanku Olusegun, a National Diploma holder in Electrical, and Higher National Diploma (HND) (in view), who is paid N823, 764 per month.
The same goes for Adesulu Adebayo, another National Diploma holder in Electrical holder in the same office, who takes home N764, 097.60 salary every month.
Curiously, several of their colleagues in various district offices with either similar qualifications or superior university degrees of many years’ standing, are paid a paltry N50, 000.
Ms. Mosunmola on her part remains one of the highest paid officials, who pockets a whopping N1.84 million pay every month. This is in additional to the N27million and another N10 million paid to her as furniture allowance and accommodation respectively.
Also Ms. Mosunmola grapples with the obvious challenge of conflict of interests as she appears to work for AEDC and TBS Consulting simultaneously.
“It’s a clear case of fraud inspired by greed,” Alfred Ituah, an Abuja-based legal practitioner told PREMIUM TIMES on Friday.
“It is practically impossible for her (Mosunmola) to expect that she would effectively joggle both jobs of recruiting workers for AEDC and be on the company’s staff payroll in whatever capacity without getting entangled in the mess of conflict of interest,” he noted.
ICPC wades in
In August, some top AEDC officials were invited by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission for questioning following a petition by some aggrieved workers.
Those invited included the Managing Director; Executive Director, Human Resources; Head of Finance/Financial Controller and Principal Manager in charge of Procurement.
The ICPC’s invitation letter had asked the affected AEDC top officials to provide for examination the statute/law/enabling Act establishing the company; the company’s nominal roll since 2013, and certificate of compliance in recruitment process from the Federal Character Commission.
The officials were also asked to furnish the Commission with the company’s payroll for June 2015; company policy; list of contracts awarded from January 2013; statement of Account; statement of salary accounts as well as recruitment report detailing advertisements, short listings, result sheets/scores since 2013.
Spokesperson for ICPC, Rasheedat Okoduwa, who confirmed to this reporter that the AEDC top officials had honoured the invitation on August 4, 2015, however did not give details, saying she was not authorized to speak to the media on the issue.
Mr. Okaisabor who also confirmed the invitation of AEDC top officials by ICPC, said all issues raised by the Commission were resolved over two meetings, the last being in September.
The tension in the company appears to have worsened last week following another round of recruitment interviews held for Regional Managers, Area Managers, Billing Specialist and Support Officers as well as Project Managers.
The exercise was again handled by Ms. Mosunmola on behalf of TBS Consulting allegedly as part of plans by AEDC to downsize its workforce.
Mr. Okaisabor described as unacceptable the issue of conflict of interest concerning Ms. Mosunmola roles in AWEDC and TBS Consulting, saying if investigated and found to be true, she would be queried and sanctioned.
“I will have to crosscheck that information. But, it will be extremely careless and stupid of them (TBS Consulting) to outsource somebody to a company and the person is still on the company’s management staff. If that is the case, she has to be queried and sanctioned. It’s unacceptable,” Mr. Okaisabor said.
Director General of BPE, Benjamin Dikki, who is a member of the Board of AEDC, representing the Federal Government, said in a terse response to the reporter’s inquiry that he was not aware of the activities of Mrs. Mosunmola.
“I am not aware”, Mr. Dikki said in a text message on Friday. He however asked for time to investigate.
When the reporter contacted Ms. Mosunmola on telephone on Friday to confirm her connection with the two organisations, she refused to comment, insisting on knowing first what the information was for.
When told the reason, she immediately terminated the call. Subsequent calls to her phone were not answered. Equally, text messages to her phones were also not responded to.
However, in what a appeared an attempt to cover her tracks, TBS Consulting on Monday, October 12, edited its website and removed Ms. Mosunmola from the list of its management team.
See the site on Friday and the edited version below.
INVESTIGATION: Abuja electricity boss’ N36million monthly pay, others tear apart firm - Premium Times Nigeria
General News of Saturday, 17 October 2015
Source: Myjoyonline.com
Ghana to change English as medium of instruction
Prof. Jane Opoku-Agyemang, Education Minister
The minister of education has stated that Ghana would very soon change the use of English as a medium of instruction in school.
Prof. Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang largely blamed the inability of the educated working class to develop the nation to the language used in teaching them in schools.
The minister who was part of the “Shared Prosperity Forum” Friday indicated that she was determined to push through the language policy at the highest level so that school children can be taught in their mother tongue.
The forum held at the University of Ghana assembled several high-level opinion leaders from the public and private sectors to reflect on two ambitious goals- end extreme poverty by 2030, and to effectively promote income growth among people in the bottom 40 percent of the population in every country of the world.
The panelists were Dr. Jim Yong Kim, President, World Bank Group; Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, President, African Development Bank; Mr. Tony Elumelu, African Entrepreneur and a Philanthropist; and Jane Naana Opoku-Agyeman,Minister of Education, Ghana. It was moderated by Lerato Mbele of the BBC.
Prof. Opoku Agyemang was optimistic that once “we can remove [English as the medium of instruction], we will change this country.”
The call to change the use of English language as a medium of instruction in school at all levels has been raging for years but there has always been a lack of political will to walk the talk.
The minister’s stance drew thunderous cheers from the gathering which included students and lecturers and members from the general public.
Countries such as Korea which used to be at par with Ghana are now way ahead in terms of development because they taught their school children using their native language, she recounted.
“Because the Koreans were taught in a language they understood, education picked up; because we are teaching our children a language they can’t event follow, we are drawing them back.
“The real change for me is not about reviewing the curriculum, it is not about extension of construction it is about relevant,” the education minister intimated.
She noted that Ghanaian children a bright but most of them are trapped in the basic school without being able to advance because they were “taught wrongly in a medium they couldn’t relate to”.
What would appear as a daunting task for the minister is settling on one out of the numerous languages spoken in the country. Ghana has over 46 dialects but English is the official language of Ghana and is universally used in schools in addition to nine other local languages. The most widely spoken local languages are: Ga, Dagomba, Akan and Ewe.
The Minister however did not mention or suggest any language she would want used as the medium of instruction in schools.
According to the World Bank, several African countries have seen significant successes in reducing extreme poverty, including Ghana, which reduced extreme poverty to 25.2 percent in 2005/06 from 47.3 percent in 1991/92 (under the $1.90 poverty line). But the region as a whole lags behind the rest of the world in progressing toward the goal.
Sub-Saharan poverty fell from an estimated 56 percent in 1990 to a projected 35 percent in 2015, according to the latest World Bank estimates, which are based on an extreme poverty line of $1.90 a day. Rapid population growth remains a key factor blunting progress in many countries.
After the hour-long lively debate, Lerato Mbele asked each panel member to suggest what Africa must do to end poverty.
Dr. Akinwumi Adesina was emphatic in his conviction, “Africa has no business with poverty so simply end it; there is no other thing more than that”
For the astute entrepreneur, Mr. Tony Elumelu, “We must create employment and we must embrace local value added industrialization.”
Dr. Jim Yong Kim wants Africans to “Listen to the young people; listen to the women.”
After years of working in the field of humanity, the former Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast, Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyeman, stressed, “In order for Africa to end poverty, it must focus on quality, relevant education delivered in the right medium.”
Ghana to change English as medium of instruction
Source: Myjoyonline.com
Ghana to change English as medium of instruction
Prof. Jane Opoku-Agyemang, Education Minister
The minister of education has stated that Ghana would very soon change the use of English as a medium of instruction in school.
Prof. Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang largely blamed the inability of the educated working class to develop the nation to the language used in teaching them in schools.
The minister who was part of the “Shared Prosperity Forum” Friday indicated that she was determined to push through the language policy at the highest level so that school children can be taught in their mother tongue.
The forum held at the University of Ghana assembled several high-level opinion leaders from the public and private sectors to reflect on two ambitious goals- end extreme poverty by 2030, and to effectively promote income growth among people in the bottom 40 percent of the population in every country of the world.
The panelists were Dr. Jim Yong Kim, President, World Bank Group; Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, President, African Development Bank; Mr. Tony Elumelu, African Entrepreneur and a Philanthropist; and Jane Naana Opoku-Agyeman,Minister of Education, Ghana. It was moderated by Lerato Mbele of the BBC.
Prof. Opoku Agyemang was optimistic that once “we can remove [English as the medium of instruction], we will change this country.”
The call to change the use of English language as a medium of instruction in school at all levels has been raging for years but there has always been a lack of political will to walk the talk.
The minister’s stance drew thunderous cheers from the gathering which included students and lecturers and members from the general public.
Countries such as Korea which used to be at par with Ghana are now way ahead in terms of development because they taught their school children using their native language, she recounted.
“Because the Koreans were taught in a language they understood, education picked up; because we are teaching our children a language they can’t event follow, we are drawing them back.
“The real change for me is not about reviewing the curriculum, it is not about extension of construction it is about relevant,” the education minister intimated.
She noted that Ghanaian children a bright but most of them are trapped in the basic school without being able to advance because they were “taught wrongly in a medium they couldn’t relate to”.
What would appear as a daunting task for the minister is settling on one out of the numerous languages spoken in the country. Ghana has over 46 dialects but English is the official language of Ghana and is universally used in schools in addition to nine other local languages. The most widely spoken local languages are: Ga, Dagomba, Akan and Ewe.
The Minister however did not mention or suggest any language she would want used as the medium of instruction in schools.
According to the World Bank, several African countries have seen significant successes in reducing extreme poverty, including Ghana, which reduced extreme poverty to 25.2 percent in 2005/06 from 47.3 percent in 1991/92 (under the $1.90 poverty line). But the region as a whole lags behind the rest of the world in progressing toward the goal.
Sub-Saharan poverty fell from an estimated 56 percent in 1990 to a projected 35 percent in 2015, according to the latest World Bank estimates, which are based on an extreme poverty line of $1.90 a day. Rapid population growth remains a key factor blunting progress in many countries.
After the hour-long lively debate, Lerato Mbele asked each panel member to suggest what Africa must do to end poverty.
Dr. Akinwumi Adesina was emphatic in his conviction, “Africa has no business with poverty so simply end it; there is no other thing more than that”
For the astute entrepreneur, Mr. Tony Elumelu, “We must create employment and we must embrace local value added industrialization.”
Dr. Jim Yong Kim wants Africans to “Listen to the young people; listen to the women.”
After years of working in the field of humanity, the former Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast, Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyeman, stressed, “In order for Africa to end poverty, it must focus on quality, relevant education delivered in the right medium.”
Ghana to change English as medium of instruction
Red Shield
Global Domination
Not the only reason Korea is ahead..
AfDB Board Approves €70 Million for Construction of Senegal's Digital Technology Park
SPONSOR WIRE
In its bid to contribute to promoting Senegal as an information and communications technology (ICT) centre of excellence and a destination for the establishment of call centers, e-commerce, software development, wireless Internet facilities and other ICT market segments, the African Development Bank (AfDB) will inject €70.61 million in the sector.
The Board of Directors approved the Senegal Digital Technology Park project on Wednesday, October 21, 2015, at its ordinary session held in Abidjan chaired by First Vice-President and COO, Emmanuel Mbi.
In Senegal, the IT industry has a higher proportion of young workers than other industries and the Park will include an incubator to foster tech-enabled business, often run by recent graduates. The project is expected to produce 35,000 direct jobs and a further 105,000 indirect jobs by 2025; modernize Government, the main user of the Data Centre; diversify the economy into tech-enabled business, content development and Business Process Outsourcing; support academic technology-based research; and simplify provision of services to citizens of Senegal. It will also catalyze inward investment, providing a focal point for development of an ICT cluster in francophone West Africa.
By creating a sound IT foundation, Senegal will attract multinationals and companies to relocate their activities to the new urban centre developing around Diamniadio, Diass, Sebikotane and Lake Rose.
Currently, the Government needs to create IT capacity so that it can modernize its own operations and improve its interaction with citizens. It also needs to meet the demand of more than twenty (20) companies including ATOS, Tigo Senegal and Solution Informatique Durable (SOLID), which have indicated their interest to relocate to the Park provided there is a strong IT foundation that will enable them to deliver their own products and services.
The Bank's support is expected to complement the Government's efforts to promote ICTs as a key sector of economic development and as an enabling tool for other sectors like health and education. The National Strategy Paper for ICT Development promotes e-governance and strengthening of the domestic ICT industry. At the technical level, the Bank's value-added will include providing support in project implementation based on its comparative advantage in the development of Technology Parks in Africa and also supporting other ICT projects such as: Lesotho e-Government Infrastructure, Cabo Verde Technology Park, Senegal Virtual University, and the Rwanda ICT Centre of Excellence.
The Digital Technology Park will be a key project for Senegal's economic growth and its competitiveness at the global levels as ICT is currently one of the growth drivers of the country. The country needs faster ICT-driven growth to attain its ambitions to become an emerging economy by 2035. Thus the construction of the digital technology park will contribute to its success.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201510230722.html
SPONSOR WIRE
In its bid to contribute to promoting Senegal as an information and communications technology (ICT) centre of excellence and a destination for the establishment of call centers, e-commerce, software development, wireless Internet facilities and other ICT market segments, the African Development Bank (AfDB) will inject €70.61 million in the sector.
The Board of Directors approved the Senegal Digital Technology Park project on Wednesday, October 21, 2015, at its ordinary session held in Abidjan chaired by First Vice-President and COO, Emmanuel Mbi.
In Senegal, the IT industry has a higher proportion of young workers than other industries and the Park will include an incubator to foster tech-enabled business, often run by recent graduates. The project is expected to produce 35,000 direct jobs and a further 105,000 indirect jobs by 2025; modernize Government, the main user of the Data Centre; diversify the economy into tech-enabled business, content development and Business Process Outsourcing; support academic technology-based research; and simplify provision of services to citizens of Senegal. It will also catalyze inward investment, providing a focal point for development of an ICT cluster in francophone West Africa.
By creating a sound IT foundation, Senegal will attract multinationals and companies to relocate their activities to the new urban centre developing around Diamniadio, Diass, Sebikotane and Lake Rose.
Currently, the Government needs to create IT capacity so that it can modernize its own operations and improve its interaction with citizens. It also needs to meet the demand of more than twenty (20) companies including ATOS, Tigo Senegal and Solution Informatique Durable (SOLID), which have indicated their interest to relocate to the Park provided there is a strong IT foundation that will enable them to deliver their own products and services.
The Bank's support is expected to complement the Government's efforts to promote ICTs as a key sector of economic development and as an enabling tool for other sectors like health and education. The National Strategy Paper for ICT Development promotes e-governance and strengthening of the domestic ICT industry. At the technical level, the Bank's value-added will include providing support in project implementation based on its comparative advantage in the development of Technology Parks in Africa and also supporting other ICT projects such as: Lesotho e-Government Infrastructure, Cabo Verde Technology Park, Senegal Virtual University, and the Rwanda ICT Centre of Excellence.
The Digital Technology Park will be a key project for Senegal's economic growth and its competitiveness at the global levels as ICT is currently one of the growth drivers of the country. The country needs faster ICT-driven growth to attain its ambitions to become an emerging economy by 2035. Thus the construction of the digital technology park will contribute to its success.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201510230722.html
Red Shield
Global Domination
Senegal is looking like a country to watch over the next few decades.
TMNT4000
Superstar
I was not following Senegal that much, are these new Senegal projects are run by Senegal people or foreigners?
Last edited:
Extractive firms injected CFA41bn in Senegal economy – Official
Posted by: APA Posted date : October 23, 2015 at 4:18 pm UTC 132 views In : Business
Extractive industries in Senegal’s mining and oil sectors had injected CFA41 billion in the national economy during the course of 2013, a senior official has revealed.
Cheikh Toure, the Permanent Secretary of the National Committee for Transparency Initiative in Extractive Industries (ITIE) was speaking at a presentation of the committee’s 2013 Report, the first since Senegal joined the initiative in October 2013.
“The extractive sector’s contribution to Senegal’s economy in 2013 is CFA 41 billion of which, CFA 38 billion was generated by the mining sector, unlike the oil sector, whose firms are still in the exploratory phase," Mr. Toure observed.
He stressed that the 2013 Report covers some 16 companies and 46 payment flows.
According to Aziz Sy, the President of Senegal’s Chamber of Mines, mining firms paid more than what was listed by the government, pointing out that the actual contribution is almost CFA 50 billion.
"As for the granting of permits and licenses, the procedures are not fully explained in the mining and oil codes," Toure added, insisting that the recommendations made in the resort include the setting up of a high monitoring committee and the upgrading of all technical commissions.
Signature : APA
Copyright : © APA
Extractive firms injected CFA41bn in Senegal economy - Official - business - News - StarAfrica.com
Posted by: APA Posted date : October 23, 2015 at 4:18 pm UTC 132 views In : Business
Extractive industries in Senegal’s mining and oil sectors had injected CFA41 billion in the national economy during the course of 2013, a senior official has revealed.
Cheikh Toure, the Permanent Secretary of the National Committee for Transparency Initiative in Extractive Industries (ITIE) was speaking at a presentation of the committee’s 2013 Report, the first since Senegal joined the initiative in October 2013.
“The extractive sector’s contribution to Senegal’s economy in 2013 is CFA 41 billion of which, CFA 38 billion was generated by the mining sector, unlike the oil sector, whose firms are still in the exploratory phase," Mr. Toure observed.
He stressed that the 2013 Report covers some 16 companies and 46 payment flows.
According to Aziz Sy, the President of Senegal’s Chamber of Mines, mining firms paid more than what was listed by the government, pointing out that the actual contribution is almost CFA 50 billion.
"As for the granting of permits and licenses, the procedures are not fully explained in the mining and oil codes," Toure added, insisting that the recommendations made in the resort include the setting up of a high monitoring committee and the upgrading of all technical commissions.
Signature : APA
Copyright : © APA
Extractive firms injected CFA41bn in Senegal economy - Official - business - News - StarAfrica.com
The Odum of Ala Igbo
Hail Biafra!
Kenya's a funny country. Their auditor general couldn't find billions of Kenyan shillings but now they want to shut down the alternate sites of power in the country which challenge Kenyatta.
General News of Saturday, 17 October 2015
Source: Myjoyonline.com
Ghana to change English as medium of instruction
Prof. Jane Opoku-Agyemang, Education Minister
The minister of education has stated that Ghana would very soon change the use of English as a medium of instruction in school.
Prof. Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang largely blamed the inability of the educated working class to develop the nation to the language used in teaching them in schools.
The minister who was part of the “Shared Prosperity Forum” Friday indicated that she was determined to push through the language policy at the highest level so that school children can be taught in their mother tongue.
The forum held at the University of Ghana assembled several high-level opinion leaders from the public and private sectors to reflect on two ambitious goals- end extreme poverty by 2030, and to effectively promote income growth among people in the bottom 40 percent of the population in every country of the world.
The panelists were Dr. Jim Yong Kim, President, World Bank Group; Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, President, African Development Bank; Mr. Tony Elumelu, African Entrepreneur and a Philanthropist; and Jane Naana Opoku-Agyeman,Minister of Education, Ghana. It was moderated by Lerato Mbele of the BBC.
Prof. Opoku Agyemang was optimistic that once “we can remove [English as the medium of instruction], we will change this country.”
The call to change the use of English language as a medium of instruction in school at all levels has been raging for years but there has always been a lack of political will to walk the talk.
The minister’s stance drew thunderous cheers from the gathering which included students and lecturers and members from the general public.
Countries such as Korea which used to be at par with Ghana are now way ahead in terms of development because they taught their school children using their native language, she recounted.
“Because the Koreans were taught in a language they understood, education picked up; because we are teaching our children a language they can’t event follow, we are drawing them back.
“The real change for me is not about reviewing the curriculum, it is not about extension of construction it is about relevant,” the education minister intimated.
She noted that Ghanaian children a bright but most of them are trapped in the basic school without being able to advance because they were “taught wrongly in a medium they couldn’t relate to”.
What would appear as a daunting task for the minister is settling on one out of the numerous languages spoken in the country. Ghana has over 46 dialects but English is the official language of Ghana and is universally used in schools in addition to nine other local languages. The most widely spoken local languages are: Ga, Dagomba, Akan and Ewe.
The Minister however did not mention or suggest any language she would want used as the medium of instruction in schools.
According to the World Bank, several African countries have seen significant successes in reducing extreme poverty, including Ghana, which reduced extreme poverty to 25.2 percent in 2005/06 from 47.3 percent in 1991/92 (under the $1.90 poverty line). But the region as a whole lags behind the rest of the world in progressing toward the goal.
Sub-Saharan poverty fell from an estimated 56 percent in 1990 to a projected 35 percent in 2015, according to the latest World Bank estimates, which are based on an extreme poverty line of $1.90 a day. Rapid population growth remains a key factor blunting progress in many countries.
After the hour-long lively debate, Lerato Mbele asked each panel member to suggest what Africa must do to end poverty.
Dr. Akinwumi Adesina was emphatic in his conviction, “Africa has no business with poverty so simply end it; there is no other thing more than that”
For the astute entrepreneur, Mr. Tony Elumelu, “We must create employment and we must embrace local value added industrialization.”
Dr. Jim Yong Kim wants Africans to “Listen to the young people; listen to the women.”
After years of working in the field of humanity, the former Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast, Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyeman, stressed, “In order for Africa to end poverty, it must focus on quality, relevant education delivered in the right medium.”
Ghana to change English as medium of instruction
29 OCTOBER 2015
Ethiopia Exports Agricultural, Industrial Products to Senegal
Tagged:
Senegal has got into the list of Ethiopia's export destinations for flower and other semi-processed products, according to Hassen Abdulkadir, Ethiopian Ambassador to Senegal.
The Ambassador told ENA in Senegal that the export of cut flowers is in progress while activities are underway to expand export items. Next on the export list are leather and leather products as well as coffee.
Last year, Senegal received 60,000 USD worth package of flowers, he said.
Senegal previously imported Ethiopian flowers from the Netherlands, he said, adding the latest initiative enables the country to directly get cut flowers from an African country.
Negotiations are now underway, according to the Ambassador, to facilitate the export of Ethiopian coffee to Senegal.
Ambassador Hassen is also responsible for other six countries in the region with efforts to ensure the rights and benefits of Ethiopian citizens and mobilizing them on national issues.
Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Mauritania and Guinea are the countries served by the Ethiopian embassy in Senegal.
Since the celebration of the Ethiopian Millennium eight years back, relations between Ethiopia and citizens residing in Senegal and supporters of the Ethio-Senegal partnership association is growing.
Over the past four years, the embassy has been able to collect 42,000 USD from the Ethiopian community in Senegal to contribute to realiztion of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
The Ambassador confirmed further efforts to mobilize finance for the construction of the dam. Ethiopia and Senegal enjoy over 50 years of diplomatic relations.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201510300560.html
Ethiopia Exports Agricultural, Industrial Products to Senegal
Tagged:
Senegal has got into the list of Ethiopia's export destinations for flower and other semi-processed products, according to Hassen Abdulkadir, Ethiopian Ambassador to Senegal.
The Ambassador told ENA in Senegal that the export of cut flowers is in progress while activities are underway to expand export items. Next on the export list are leather and leather products as well as coffee.
Last year, Senegal received 60,000 USD worth package of flowers, he said.
Senegal previously imported Ethiopian flowers from the Netherlands, he said, adding the latest initiative enables the country to directly get cut flowers from an African country.
Negotiations are now underway, according to the Ambassador, to facilitate the export of Ethiopian coffee to Senegal.
Ambassador Hassen is also responsible for other six countries in the region with efforts to ensure the rights and benefits of Ethiopian citizens and mobilizing them on national issues.
Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Mauritania and Guinea are the countries served by the Ethiopian embassy in Senegal.
Since the celebration of the Ethiopian Millennium eight years back, relations between Ethiopia and citizens residing in Senegal and supporters of the Ethio-Senegal partnership association is growing.
Over the past four years, the embassy has been able to collect 42,000 USD from the Ethiopian community in Senegal to contribute to realiztion of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
The Ambassador confirmed further efforts to mobilize finance for the construction of the dam. Ethiopia and Senegal enjoy over 50 years of diplomatic relations.
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