The Federal Government has suspended, indefinitely, the operations of the microblogging and social networking service, Twitter, in Nigeria.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, announced the suspension in a statement issued in Abuja on Friday, by Segun Adeyemi, the Special Assistant To The President (Media), Office of the Minister of Information and Culture.
The FG claims the suspension was due to “the persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence.”
The Minister said the Federal Government has also directed the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to immediately commence the process of licensing all OTT and social media operations in Nigeria.
The House of Representatives has asked the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission to suspend the plan to review electricity tariff in June.
It also condemned electricity distribution companies for transferring debts incurred by former occupants of building to the new occupants or tenants.
At the plenary on Thursday, the House adopted a motion moved by Aniekan Umanah titled: ‘Call on the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission to Suspend the Proposed Increase in Electricity Tariff’.
Following the adoption of the motion, the House urged the Federal Government to direct NERC to “rescind the decision to further increase electricity tariff proposed for June 2021 in view of the hard times Nigerian masses are currently going through.”
The House further mandated its committees on Power, Poverty Alleviation, and Labour, Employment and Productivity to ensure compliance with the resolution.
Umanah, while moving the motion, noted that the Electric Power Sector Act of 2005 established the NERC with a mandate to license Discos, determine the operating codes and standards, establish customer rights and obligations and set cost-reflective industry tariffs.
The lawmaker also noted that the Act prescribed its funding from 15 per cent of electricity charges paid by customers to the Discos.
He recalled that the NERC, working with the Discos, had increased electricity tariffs five times since 2015, the latest being on January 1, 2021.
Umanah said, “The House is aware that despite those increases, Nigerians have not enjoyed significant improvement in power generation, instead they daily grapple with epileptic services from the Discos and unilateral exploitation in the name of estimated billing arising from non-metering of over 50 per cent of consumers.
“The House observes that poor services by the Discos have impacted negatively on the socio-economic growth of the country as the International Monetary Fund Report of 2020 on Nigeria indicated that the manufacturing sector lost over $200bn to inadequate power supply, while $21bn was said to have been spent by Nigerians on generators within the period under review.
“The House further observes that the Nigerian masses have gone through so much hardship in recent times arising from acts of terrorism, banditry, kidnappings, and farmers herdsmen’s crisis with its toll on agricultural activities, displacement from ancestral homes, loss of loved ones, starvation arising from inability to return to daily occupation and loss of personal properties running into several million of naira.”
The lawmaker added, “The House is concerned that at a time governments all over the world are adopting measures to cushion the devastating effects of the dreaded COVID-19 pandemic on their citizens by providing a wide range of palliatives to losses of loved ones, jobs, businesses and general distortion in the social life, NERC is tinkering with the idea of a further increase in electricity tariff after that of 1 January, 2021, in a country where two-thirds of the 200 million population is grappling with the crippling effects of the pandemic.”
The House also unanimously adopted a motion by Olatunji Shoyinka titled: ‘Need to Investigate Transferred Debts Incurred by Old Electricity Customers to New Users by Distribution Companies in Nigeria’.
The lawmakers consequently resolved to mandate the House Committee on Power to “engage the distribution companies and other relevant regulatory agencies to find a lasting solution and report within four weeks.”
The Nigeria Labour Congress has suspended its five-day warning strike in Kaduna State to pave way for negotiations as requested by the Federal Government.
The President of NLC, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, announced the suspension of the strike on Wednesday in Kaduna.
He said, “As you are aware, we have been in Kaduna State for the past four days for our declared protest and industrial action against the sack of workers without following due process as provided by the Labour law.
“This action was successful and we tried to maintain procedures of industrial action.
“This afternoon an official letter was communicated to the NLC national headquarters signed by the Minister of Labour.
“We will honour the meeting as scheduled for tomorrow at 11:a.m. The labour leaders in Kaduna will also be present because they have the substance of the issues in the state.”
Wabba said “the NLC suspended the strike immediately” to give dialogue a chance.
Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, had said that the Federal Government would intervene to bring the labour crisis rocking Kaduna State to a peaceful end.
Mohammed said that the Federal Government was disturbed about the sudden turn of events in Kaduna State, stressing that the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, is already working to broker a truce between the opposing sides.
He said, “The Federal Government is not folding its arms and already, the Minister of Labour and Employment has waded in and he is in touch with both the government of Kaduna State and the Labour.
“In addition, the security apparatus all over the country have also taken pre-emptive measures to ensure that hoodlums don’t take advantage of this situation.
“At the end of the day, all the parties have to come back to the drawing table to agree and hammer out concessions and agreements”.
The Chairman, Kaduna chapter of NLC, Ayuba Suleiman, had asked workers to ground all activities for five days as directed by its national leadership to serve as a warning, following the sacking of no fewer than 4,000 state workers in April.
Suleiman and the NLC Secretary, Christiana Bawa, in a statement, asked their colleagues to begin the warning strike from Sunday at 12am.
The House of Representatives has asked the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to suspend the planned recapitalisation of microfinance banks (MFBs) until the economy stabilises and considered safe for a new deadline.
This follows a motion by Saidu Abdullahi, vice-chairman of the house committee on finance, during plenary on Wednesday.
In October 2018, CBN reviewed the minimum share capital requirement of the three categories of MFBs: Unit MFBs from N20 million to N200 million; state MFBs from N100 million to N1 billion; and national MFBs from N2 billion to N5 billion.
The following year, it reviewed the requirement with a view to ensuring continued operations of these banks in rural, unbanked and underbanked areas of the economy.
In April 2020, the apex bank revised the deadlines for MFBs recapitalisation due to the COVID–19 pandemic impacts.
The CBN said: “MFBs operating in rural, unbanked and underbanked areas (Tier 2) shall meet the N35 million capital threshold by April 2021 and N50 million by April 2022.
“MFBs operating in urban and high density banked areas (Tier 1) are expected to meet the N100 million capital threshold by April 2021 and N200 million by April 2022.
“State MFBs shall increase their capital to N500 million by April 2021 and N1 billion by April 2022.
“National MFBs are expected to meet the minimum capital of N3.5 by April 2021 and N5 billion by April 2022”.
Moving the motion, Abdullahi made reference to a survey conducted by the National Association of Microfinance Banks (NAMB) which showed that out of 874 licensed MFBs, about 612 may be negatively affected by the recapitalisation policy.
According to the findings, only 30 percent of MFBs would be able to meet the April 2021 deadline while 70 percent are likely to be out of business with severe consequences for the financial services industry.
“In addition to the negative economic impact of the COVID–19 pandemic, Nigeria’s economy recently exited recession, the implication of which will be a significant slowdown in economic activities as the liquidity position of the government and businesses have been impacted negatively,” Abdullahi said.
“In times like this, economic thinkers advocate for injection of more liquidity into the economy to stimulate economic activities, encourage spending and prevent job losses as well as support indigenous businesses.”
He said the green chamber is worried about the findings, adding that if the result actualises it will aggravate unemployment, compound the challenges of insecurity, youth restiveness, poverty, apathy and hopelessness across the country.
The lawmakers, therefore, mandated the committee on banking and currency to interface with CBN to find a workable solution to the challenges associated with recapitalisation of MFBs, adding that a feedback be submitted within four weeks for further legislative action.
Hundreds of commuters were stranded on Monday as commercial drivers suspended operation in protest against alleged extortion by union officials on the Badagry Expressway in Lagos State.
The protesters, who displayed placards with different inscriptions, lamented that the National Union of Road Transport Workers and the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria had made commercial transportation burdensome, adding that drivers and conductors usually face inhumane treatment from union officials under the guise of collecting money for daily tickets.
PUNCH Metro gathered that trouble started between the commercial drivers and RTEAN last Wednesday when its members compelled the drivers operating between Badagry and Mile 2 to pay N800 for a new ticket.
A transporter, Isaac Olalekan, said the commercial drivers suspended operation last Thursday because of the new ticket, adding that RTEAN compelled the drivers to pay N800 for the ticket at every bus stop.
He stated, “We started protesting around 7.15am from Agbara to Iyana Ira bus stop that we don’t want the ticket, others protested in other areas simply because union members are many on the road and are disturbing us from Badagry to Mile 2. They suddenly brought the ticket and started compelling us to pay N800. If RTEAN members collect money from transporters today, the NURTW members will work tomorrow.
“But RTEAN claimed that the new ticket was obtained from the Lagos State Government. How will they be compelling us to pay N800 for a ticket at every junction? We asked why we were being asked to pay for the same ticket multiple times and they said it was from the government, but when we asked our colleagues at Iyana Ipaja, they said there was no such ticket there.
“We suspended operation on Thursday; no commercial vehicle is operating on the Badagry Expressway and most commuters convey themselves to their destinations through the use of personal vehicles or motorcycles. A lot of commuters are stranded.”
Another commercial driver, Ahmed Kolawole, said transport business in the area was no longer profitable, adding that union members had been extorting them with the ticket sales.
A commuter, Olaoluwa Hakeem, said, “All the motorcycles plying the route are demanding N1,500 from here to Mile 2. It is between N150 and N200 if commercial buses are available. I have been here for over three hours and I am thinking of returning home.”
Stranded commuters on Badagry Express way
The Zonal Chairman, RTEAN, Igboelerin, Abdulateef Ajibola, explained, “This ticket is not a union ticket; it is a state government ticket from the Ministry of Transportation. We used to pay for the local government ticket, but the state government invited us to a meeting and informed us that the local government ticket has been suspended and that the state would be issuing the ticket to the union.
“It is the government that has the power and not the transport unions, so we complied with the government’s directive. But we told them that N800 for the ticket was much; even the union ticket is N200 per day, but the government never listened to us and we have to comply since the government is the one issuing us permits for our parks.”
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Transportation, Toyin Fayinka, said, “The Lagos State Government is aware of the N800 ticket. Before we rolled out the ticket, wider consultation was done and we held more than 10 meetings with the heads of the NURTW and RTEAN, and equally met with the local government chairmen before we agreed.
“Out of this N800, the local government will have its share, the state government will have its share, the driver will have his share, the park and its environment will also have its share. If you are a transporter and you are to drive your vehicle from Ikorodu and a Lagos State Government ticket is issued to you for N800, if you take off from Ikorodu and pick passengers at Ketu, and you also pick passengers on Lagos Island, you do same when you get to Epe, nobody will give you another ticket. It is N800 per vehicle per day.”
When asked the purpose the N800 ticket serves, Fayinka said, “Before now, a driver will just stop at a park and they will collect money from him without being issued any receipt or tax clearance. But we have agreed with the unions that the names, telephone numbers and pictures of the drivers paying this N800 must be documented.
“As agreed, at the end of the year, the Lagos Internal Revenue Service will now give the drivers certificate of tax clearance as they will have deducted an amount on a daily basis from the N800 the drivers are paying.”
