The Department of State Services has extended the third invitation to a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Dr. Obadiah Mailafia.
Mailafia, who was the Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, said this during an interview with The PUNCH on Friday.
“It is true. I have been invited to their office in Jos. I was asked to appear at 11 am on Monday,” he said.
Mailafia, who is also being investigated by the Nigeria Police Force, got into trouble with security agencies for his interview on Nigeria Info 99.3FM wherein he claimed that a repentant terrorist told him that a northern governor was a Boko Haram commander.
The former deputy governor of the apex bank had also claimed that during the lockdown, weapons were distributed to several parts of the country, adding that terrorists had infiltrated Lagos.
He later withdrew his comment, stating that he got the information from a third party.
Last month, Mailafia had approached a High Court in Plateau State for the enforcement of his fundamental rights to personal liberty and fair hearing in a bid to prevent the police from arresting him.
However, it was learnt that the security agents were being prodded by the Federal Government to ensure that the economist is arraigned in court.
Mailafia said it was unfortunate that two security agencies were investigating him at the same time.
“This is one of the reasons why I am in court. I am being invited by the DSS and the police at the same time. It is an abuse of my rights,” he said.
The Independent National Electoral Commission has confirmed that over 5000 Smart Card Readers were on Thursday destroyed during a fire incident at the organisations’s office in Akure, Ondo State.
Mr Festus Okoye, INEC’s National Commissioner and Head of Information and Voter Education, disclosed this on Thursday.
Okoye said the fire, which started around 8:00pm, gutted a container placed in a confined area at INEC containing Smart Card Readers.
He said, “We already have 4000 of the Smart Card Readers inside the container but additional 1000 was brought into the state for the purpose of the election.
“So, we have close to 5100 cards that have been affected by the inferno.”
He confirmed that there was no fatality but refused to disclosed the real cause of the fire.
Firefighters had a tough time putting out the inferno.
Nigerian musician, David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido has hit another milestone in his career as his new song FEM broke a record currently held by his other song, Blow My Mind.
FEM Has now become the fastest ever Nigerian music video to hit one million views on YouTube. Davido’s “BLOW MY MIND” formerly held the record at 11 Hours.
Bolanle Aseyan who triggered rounds of controversy months ago after accusing popular UK-based Doctor and Twitter influencer, Dr Olufunmilayo of rape has reportedly been arraigned in a Lagos court over ”false rape allegation.”
Recall that after Aseyan petitioned the UK police and medical authorities, and also sought for the withdrawal of Olufunmilayo’s licence based on the allegations, he was cleared of the allegation in the UK and a false accusation complaint was also filed against her.
#EndSARS activist, Segun Awosanya a.k.a Segalink confirmed the arraignment of the female doctor in Nigeria by sharing a photo of the charge sheet on Twitter. He also disclosed that Aseyan was remanded in police custody pending the perfection of her bail conditions after being arraigned before the Yaba Magistrates’ Court on five counts bordering on false accusation and extortion on Wednesday September 9.
One of the charges read;
“That you, Bolanle Aseyan, and others currently at large between June 29, 2020 and July 1, 2020, at No. 12a Molade Okoya Thomas Street, Adeniyi Jones, in the Lagos Magisterial District, did conspire with others now at large to cause injury to the person, reputation and profession of Dr Olufunmilayo Ogunsanya by your false publication on the social media tagging him as a rapist, thereby committing an offence punishable under Section 413 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.”
Segalink tweeted;
There is a trend on Twitter that is ruinous. Idle souls seeking a vicarious adventure through the life of another sit back and play Judge rather than observe. After all, intelligence demands doubting, questioning & not being impressionable or biased when cases arise
Evidence & patterns show vividly that everyone is still healing from things they rarely speak about but if keen attention is paid to their actions you can’t but see the projection of personal failings. Let me walk you through a popular allegation that once shook the Twitterspace.
A certain Bola Aseyan, who barely got out of medical school with tons of misdemeanors & other public disturbance allegations, and recently took a trip to the UK just to record another, in the bid to incriminate a popular Dr Olufunmilayo as evidence clearly shows.
Twitter was engulfed by her false rape allegation and premeditated attempt to assassinate the character of a young UK based Doctor whose major crime was his naivety & kindness. Audio evidence of a phone conversation between the aggressor & her trusted friend reveals that she deliberately plotted everything from Nigeria with the enumeration of her objectives with a checklist which included but not limited to; the procurement of seductive clothes & the narration of her seductive intent as gathered. It was a gory script too unsettling to repeat.
Upon achieving her aim to have an intercourse on foreign soil with her target, she probably missed some plots that may fit into her planned incrimination & she did all that she could to try again, leading to another consensual sexual episode which she’s failed to mention.
Again, these sexual episodes were missing vital ingredients for her plot and she got desperate. Records show her conversation with her trusted ally on the entire incidents especially how she actively/desperately seduced Dr Olufunmilayo to the point where he had to run for safety.
In her account to this ally, who voluntarily presented his statement to the investigation in Lagos, she deemed Dr Olufunmilayo uncooperative and possible gay for avoiding her entreaties & seductive approaches. Another witness physically present in such occasion corroborated this.
I want to believe it was at this point that she felt frustrated and decided to weaponize all that transpired as premeditated. She deployed any and every trivial matter to suit the narrative of her plot and proceeded on a diabolical journey to ruin the career & life of her target.
As backed by a few drama queens on Twitter, she went to the UK Police & GMC to lodge a complaint painting a grotesque picture of violent sexual assault. Unfortunately for her & those rooting for her, UK Police are not as gullible. They investigated & cleared Dr Olufunmilayo.
She had expected that the Police would make an arrest based on her falsehood & that they GMC will seize the license of Dr Olufunmilayo but none of her evil intentions came to pass. The GMC carried out their investigation in collaboration with the police & sat twice.
Like any ethical professional organization, they had to do something. When they received the police report on the matter that there is no criminal offense on the allegation brought forward as they have discontinued the chronomicide (bloody waste of time).
The GMC also felt this has nothing to do with professional misconduct but decides to still follow up on the allegation till the lady retraces her steps. But as the investigation later found, Dr Funmi filed a suit against her and she sneaked out of the UK to Nigeria.
Suffice to say that she evaded justice in the Uk & crept out like a fugitive. Court papers, UK police emails and all evidences to back up the above are before @SIAF_NG . Upon, the alert that she eloped from the UK, reports were filed in Lagos with the Police.
All attempts of the @PoliceNG to invite her over was rebuffed as she kept giving excuses even after official invitation were extended to her. She eventually showed up with her lawyer at the Bar Beach Police Station where all the evidences were presented to her.
To any sane individual, this would have been a turning point where all demonic acts could have been tamed for peace to resign but she called the bluff of the police authorities and insulted them even against the advice of her counsel. The Police had no choice than to escalate.
The case was bumped to State Criminal Investigation in Panti, and she continued to twist the system and play in the intelligence of the Police until they had to detain her for her unruly behavior despite the glaring evidences. She was later granted bail & given directives none of the conditions given to her at Panti were met. She kept on throwing tantrums and making attempts to incriminate the investigation officers amidst attempts to twist the system with a few corrupt souls within. She stopped reporting at Panti after lying against the IPO
She accused the IPO of damaging her phone as an excuse to stall the investigation. She absconded and deployed a rogue team at Zone 2 to obstruct justice in the attempt to move the investigation there. Unfortunately for her the AIG at Zone 2 is just & Professional.
This was an AIG that was formerly a CP at Ogun State I own for his attention to details.@SIAF_NG has huge records of several successful investigations void of human rights abuses including murder cases solved by this individual. But I digress
The plot to obstruct justice failed and a radio signal was sent for Panti to continue the investigation which was due to be charged to court last Friday but for her deliberate absence having been assured that the investigation will be disrupted based on her false petition to Zone 2 claiming Assassination attempt by all the witnesses, petitioner’s lawyer & even the entire Panti investigating officers. It wasn’t long before the police formation realize how diabolical this character is, having also read the litany of accounts from other victims.
When she realize she has failed on all grounds and may likely be declared wanted publicly. She made herself available yesterday night and was apprehended and charged to court this morning. She has since been remanded in the Prison custody of Panti until bail conditions are met.
She will undergo COVID19 test before being taken to prison if she fails to meet her bail conditions. This however is just the State Vs Bola Aseyan in a criminal investigation and I believe a civil suit may follow concurrently given that she is a flight risk & criminal minded.
One thing is certain though in all this. It will be difficult for anyone to jump in front of any allegation forthwith without due diligence. I pray this doesn’t discourage others with genuine claims. We need to protect our men as much as we do the vulnerable women out there.
Let Justice take its course. As far as she’s concerned now she is trying hard to create an impression that Twitter is boring to justify her disappearance. Know that she has been canned. She is being processed now to be remanded in prison. Learn from this.
It should be noted that there are several suits running concurrently in this matter including the UK suit served her via mail as approved by the courts since she absconded from the UK. She received the mail and deliberately refused to respond. This has consequences also.
There are many twists and turns even an attempt to influence the charge of the case to her preferred court where her contacts can influence judgement but this failed as well. If time permits I may highlight a few incidents on her UK trip especially her hunt for weed on UK streets
All evidence available and live witnesses volunteered their statements and proof of claims to the investigating officers of the State. We all need to learn from this “For the Night is dark and full of Terror.”
I probably won’t be surprised if she makes bail in a few weeks after incarceration before the next hearing on October 14th and gets re-arrested because the Police department she falsely accused of “Assassination Attempt” as well as others may be filing separate suits against her.
Just in case she paints a picture that she had a normal day, here’s this character in Court and here are the charge sheets. She may have exploited the system again using corrupt elements in the system by circumventing the court order but Justice will surely prevail.
Lagos police spokesperson, Muyiwa Adejobi also confirmed that Aseyan was released after she met her bail conditions. He said;
“She was taken to court and granted bail, and she was released after the bail terms were met. So, it is not true that she was not arrested.”
The manner in which Bola Tinubu, the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress greeted the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi at the coronation of the Oniru of Iruland, Oba Omogbolahan Lawal has been raising dust on social media.
In a video which had gone viral, Tinubu remained seated as he greeted the Ooni, a position, which many social media users consider to be disrespectful to the Ooni and his throne.
Social media users unearthed videos of late Western region premier, Obafemi Awolowo, who had stood up at the entrance of the then Ooni, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, Olubuse II at an event.
Also, the instances where the former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, prostrated for the Ooni, and the monarch of Gbagura, Ogun State, Oba Sabur Bakare have been shared several times.
Apart from social media users, Yinka Odumakin, who is the spokesman for the pan-Yoruba group, Afenifere, said that the Tinubu should have stood up as a sign of respect for the first class monarch.
Odumakin said, “We are still Yoruba people. With due respect to our royal fathers, we should not say because we are in a modern age, we should not give the proper respect that we give to our oba. You saw the time former President Obasanjo prostrated before the Ooni. So, it is still our culture and we must sustain our culture and give the respect that is due to our monarchs.”
Former minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, also slammed Tinubu for disrespecting Ooni by not standing up.
Via his Twitter handle; Fani-Kayode said, “That the Asiwaju of Bourdillon refused to stand up to greet the Ooni of Ife speaks volumes. This was not only deeply insulting to every Ife and indeed son and daughter of Odua but it is also a crying shame. Would a northern political leader refuse to stand up for his traditional ruler?”
There are, however, those who believe that Tinubu didn’t disrespect the first-class oba, that the APC national leader wields more power than the Ooni, thus, there was nothing wrong in the manner of greeting.
A Twitter user, Prince Dagus @Dagusprince tweeted, “You people insulting Tinubu over this greeting matter. What’s your problem? Did Ooni complain to you? There are some people in Yoruba land that doesn’t prostrate for kings. I’m sure Ooni understood such.”
Retired Activist @streetprince007 said, “Tinubu is not a Yoruba man. A Yoruba man knows what to do. That’s all I can say.”
Mafe Sunday @mafe_sunday said, “For a typical Yoruba man to defend this disrespecting act shows that we are fast losing it, if Obasanjo, a former president and an older man than Tinubu, can prostrate before Ooni, he has no excuse not to prostrate. This is us, this is who we are, this is our culture, our identity.”
Ayobami Ayobami @dondekojo, “The Ooni walked to Tinubu to greet him, please. It’s a non-issue. Tinubu is bigger than the Ooni. You people should rest, next time Ooni should prostrate to Asiwaju.”
Benjamin Amaechi 2 @2_amaechi sharing a photo of Obasanjo prostrating for the Ooni, said, “Baba bowed before the Ooni. Is Baba less a Yoruba man than Tinubu?”
Chuks.Chinyere (jj) @chukschinyere tweeted, “In today’s political setting, Tinubu wields more power than the Ooni of Ife. Traditional leaders are subject to the democratic set up which means (someone) like Tinubu wields so much control over (them). This is not 1688.”
The African Union-Economic, Social and Cultural Council (AU-ECOSOCC, Nigeria), on Thursday, said it is considering common currency and market for over 50 countries in the continent as part of its development plans under ‘Agenda 2063′.
It also expressed its displeasure towards the way many African countries are treating their respective citizens, saying by the end of 2020, it would ‘silent the guns’.
Nigeria’s Representative for AU-ECOSOCC, Dr Tunji John, disclosed this in Abuja when the AU delegation conferred an award on the Chairman/CEO ONELINK international, Amb. Nmaa Ahmed, in respect to his appointment as Chairman, Advisory Board to Political Affairs Cluster Committee of the assembly.
His words: “The African Union ‘Agenda 2063′ is a brain work for development. The slogan for that agenda is when you say African Union, you will say “Africa we want”. What type of Africa are we envisaging in the next 50 years? We are saying that we need an Africa with a common currency, common market.
“When the free protocol, free movement of people can be so eased without any hindrance, a Nigerian can wake up in Nigeria and find his way to South Africa without necessarily queuing for visa in South African Embassies,” he said.
John noted that the AU would leave no stone unturned in seeing that policies, programmes and framework for developments on the continent are properly implemented and domesticated across regions the same way SDGs of United Nations is done.
He added, “It is also worthy to note that 2020 is a year of silencing the guns within the Africa continent. I would have stood here to be speaking authoritatively, considering the way we have been working with people of like-minds we have put together that all guns would have been put to silence by now if not because of COVID-19. Notwithstanding, we are still assuring the general public that all guns will completely be silent by the end of year 2020.”
Speaking shortly after receiving his award, Ahmed noted that the honour was an opportunity for him to reach out to more people, adding that it was also an opportunity to promote AU’s agenda 2063.
He called on more Africans to come into the fold and join forces together in order to achieve the agenda.
There was a mild drama at the entrance of the Ondo State House of Assembly as two members of the opposition in the Assembly were prevented from entering into the House by the security men at the gate.
The drama was revealed in a one-minute, 30 seconds video that had gone viral.
It was gathered that the incident happened on Thursday.
The affected lawmakers, Mr Festus Akingbaso and Mr Rasheed Elegbeleye, who are representing Akoko North-East Constituency and Idanre Constituency, respectively are members of the Peoples Democratic Party in the Assembly.
In the video, the two lawmakers were seen protesting against the action of the policemen at the gate.
The security guard told the lawmakers that the order to lock the gate came from the Speaker, Mr Bamidele Oloyeloogun.
But one of the lawmakers put a call through to the speaker, Mr Bamidele Oloyeloogun, informing him about what happened at the gate yet the gate was not opened for them.
One of the aggrieved lawmakers, Elegbeleye, confirmed the video and said it was “a deliberate act” to shut them out.
Deputy-Minority Leader and member representing Ondo West constituency 1, Tomide, tweeted, “Anti-impeachment Honorable Members of the Ondo State House of Assembly prevented from entering the house of assembly today to attend plenary. Security officers at the gate claimed they are under strict instructions to deny all anti-impeachment lawmakers access.”
The International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, has faulted the dismissal of Fidelia Onoghaife, the whistleblower who exposed Dutch Ambassador to Nigeria, Robert Petri.
Onoghaife, a Nigerian-British, who was the Senior Policy Advisor of Economic and Political Affairs at the Dutch Embassy in Nigeria, was sacked after revealing how Petri leaked confidential information about an extensive corruption investigation into the operation of Shell to the oil company.
To hide her dismissal, the Dutch Embassy alleged that she was high-handed in her behaviour and unpopular with staff.
Onoghaife dragged the matter to The Hague to rule on her sack.
Delivering judgment on the case, The Hague faulted the Dutch Embassy, saying “the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has falsely fired her”.
After revealing the corrupt activities of Petri, the ministry promised Onoghaife that she would be protected as a whistleblower.
Following its integrity reports, the ministry sent an investigation team to Abuja, which was later followed by an investigation into “management problems” at the embassy.
Ambassador Petri was brought back to the Netherlands prematurely as a result of these investigations.
He got a position in The Hague and kept his job and salary.
Onoghaife, on the other hand, was fired shortly afterwards.
According to the ministry, this had nothing to do with her whistleblower report but was due to her part in the bad working atmosphere at the embassy.
The judge dismissed that suggestion in the ruling.
“It has been sufficiently established that the dismissal of the employee is related to the whistleblower report made by her,” said the judgment.
The judge also blames the ministry for repeatedly waving a report on the abuses in Abuja in which large parts had been made illegible.
Onoghaife’s attorney, Christian Oberman, says the former embassy employee was “very satisfied” with the verdict especially since “the court found that she was fired for her whistleblower report”.
“She feels that justice has been done and that she has been cleared of all blame,” Overman said.
She will receive compensation of two years salaries.
Onoghaife was supported in her fight by a large number of NGOs, who are concerned about the way the Dutch Government deals with Shell.
Donald Pols, Director of Milieudefensie, says in a response, “The ruling confirms the image that the Dutch Government is overshooting in its desire to facilitate Shell and other multinationals and is prepared to fire critical officials for this. We find this disturbing.
“It cannot be the case that a country such as the Netherlands, which attaches great importance to the international legal order, will dismiss an internal whistleblower. While the ambassador in Nigeria – whose integrity is under discussion – will be given a different position,”says Tuur Elzinga, Vice Chairman of the FNV trade union.
A coalition of international rights groups expressed backing and support for Onoghaife as they called on the Nigerian Government to protect her.
The groups want the Federal Government to invite the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs to explain why Onoghaife was sacked despite having been promised that her job was safe after reporting Petri’s breach of confidentiality, invite the current Dutch Ambassador to explain the actions and implications of the actions his predecessor Petri and the Dutch Government’s silence on the matter.
“We urge you to strongly consider suspending the Memorandum of Understanding on Bilateral Consultations between Nigeria and the Netherlands signed in 2018 and the 2019 agreements signed during the Dutch Prime Minister’s visit to Abuja in 2019.
“This dutiful and patriotic Nigerian was sacked by the Dutch Embassy for performing her civic duty. It is unfortunate that she has been left to carry her cross all lone,” HEDA said in the petition jointly signed by its Chairman, Olanrewaju Suraju; Dr Godwin Ojo, ERA/FoE; Nicholas Hildyard, The CornerHouse; Simon Taylor, GlobalWitness; and Luca Manes of Re:Common and sent to Onyeama.
The groups said Nigeria cannot and should not look on when one of its citizens was being so shamefully abused.
According to the groups, Nigeria has also been treated with disdain, adding that a relationship between two governments is always based on element of trust and this element had been violated.
They said that information sharing between Nigeria and the Netherlands was critical to fighting corruption and to promoting common interests.
Realising its inability to meet Vision 20:20 goals years after the country embarked on an ambitious agenda to be among the top 20 economies in terms of GDP size, President Muhammadu Buhari, on Wednesday in Abuja, inaugurated National Steering Committee to oversee and actualise Nigeria Agenda 2050 and Medium-Term National Development Plan (MTNDP).
Evidence before the COVID-19 pandemic showed Vision 20:20 was far from being a reality; the health crisis only compounded the situation.
Birthed by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigeria’s Vision 20:20 focuses on two broad objectives that include making efficient use of human and natural resources to achieve rapid economic growth; and to translate the economic growth into equitable social development for all citizens.
Nigeria has had two different administrations since the adoption of Vision 20:20, each having its own economic growth plan. Under President Jonathan, the Transformation Agenda was the focus. With President Buhari, it is the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) and the focus seems to be squarely on the ERGP as opposed to the Vision 20:20.
The ERGP is focused on achieving economic growth but without the aim of placing the country among the largest 20 economies in the world.
With Agenda 2050, President Buhari noted that the National Steering Committee for the development of Successor Plans to Vision 20:20 and ERGP would be jointly chaired by Mr. Atedo Peterside and Dr (Mrs) Zainab Ahmed, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning.
Speaking at the inauguration, President Buhari said: ‘’The main objectives of these Successor Plans are to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty within the next 10 years, particularly given the World Bank’s projection that Nigeria will become the world’s third most populous country by 2050 with over 400 million people.’’
The President noted that it had become necessary to develop Successor Plans to the Nigeria Vision 20:20 and the ERGP, which both lapse in December this year, to ensure continuity and efficiency in the country’s development planning.
On the mandate of the National Steering Committee, President Buhari said it would oversee governance structure, comprising the Central Working Group and 26 technical working groups.
“It is my expectation that the steering committee will oversee the execution of key deliverables, including recommending measures to ensure continuous implementation of the plans even after the expiration of the tenure of successive administrations – including legislation, if required.”
The minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning expressed need for the new plans to consider comparative advantages available in regional blocs to build virile Nigeria.
The strategies to achieve the Vision 20:50 objectives are: Urgently addressing major constraints to Nigeria’s growth and competitiveness, such as epileptic power supply, weak infrastructure, and institutions among others; aggressively pursuing a structural transformation of the economy from mono-product to a diversified and industrialised economy.
Others are to invest in human capital to transform the Nigerian people into active agents for growth and national development; and to invest in infrastructure to create an enabling environment for growth, industrial competitiveness, and sustainable development.
A review of data showed that with rebasing, Nigeria moved to the 26th largest economy in the world, and the largest economy in Africa, ahead of South Africa. Nigeria at the time was worth N80.2 trillion, or $509.9 billion, rising from its original figure of N42.4 trillion, or $269.5 billion. Latest World Bank statistics show that Nigeria is the 31st economy in the world in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Similarly, the vision projected that the economy is expected to grow at an average rate of 13.8 per cent per annum, to be driven by the agricultural and industrial sectors over the medium-term while the manufacturing and service sectors are expected to drive the economy towards the end of the Vision period, but data from the World Bank showed that economic growth had dropped from 8 per cent in 2009 and 2010 to 2.1 in 2019, with a forecast of 2.2 this year.
In the Vision 20:20 document, the plan was for income per capita (often measured as GDP per capita) to have risen to $4,000 “from the current (2008) estimate of US$1,230”, even though the global average at the time was already $9,412.
Today, Nigeria’s GDP of $447.01 billion delivers only $2,244 per capita, with an estimated 87 million believed to be living in extreme poverty, as against the global average is $11,312. World Bank puts the nation’s GDP per capita at $2,028.2 in 2018.
Another aim of Vision 2020 was to increase crude oil production and refining capacity “to stimulate local value-addition and to put the country in a position to meet its domestic demand for refined products and even export refined products”. But the country’s crude production remains below its yearly budgetary target, while it has lost hundreds of billions of naira in the past few years as the Federal Government’s promises to revive the nation’s moribund refineries and end fuel imports in 2019 have fallen flat.
Similarly, the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, last year, assured that it was working with its partners to grow the national reserve to 40 billion barrels by 2025 and improve crude oil production to three million barrels per day.
The government-owned refineries, which are located in Port Harcourt, Kaduna, and Warri, have a combined installed capacity of 445,000 barrels per day but have continued to operate far below the installed capacity for many years.
Also, Vision 2020 estimated “that Nigeria will need to generate electricity in the range of about 35,000MW by 2020. The target is to grow installed power generation capacity from 6,000MW in 2009 to 20,000MW by 2015 and 35,000MW by 2020”.
In reality, the National Electricity Transmission System, also known as the power grid continues to suffer major systems collapse, plunging the nation into darkness while peak generation never surpassed 5,377 MW, with average distributed electricity hovering between 3000-4000MW yearly.
Data from the Office of Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, indicated that in 2019 alone, Nigeria’s privatised power sector lost N626.7b billion revenue due to constraints, which included a shortage of gas; grid unreliability and distribution limitations.
This means Nigerians have continued to depend on alternative sources of energy to power their households despite government reforms, thus, limiting consumers’ disposable income that should have been used for other purposes as well as increased environmental pollution.
In terms of ease of doing business, the vision document further said the government would introduce market-friendly policies to encourage investment as well as decentralise the control of such institutions as the Immigration Service, Nigeria Police, Corporate Affairs Commission, rail, and air transportation management agencies, and so on.
“The government will also reduce the business registration time to a maximum of 48 hours and harmonise all tax systems and payments channels to reduce multiple taxations,” it added.
In 2019, the country ranked 116 out of 141 countries on the Global Competitiveness Index; and in the 2020 Ease of Doing Business Index, it ranked 131 out of 190 countries. The latter report noted that Nigeria had reduced “the time needed to register a company and by improving online platforms” but business registration time is still 10.9 days—not two.
Similarly, the organised private sector has continued to complain about the multiplicity of taxes, over-regulation, and an unfriendly business environment.
Furthermore, the clamour for state police remains an idea as the Nigeria Police, Nigeria Immigration Service, and Corporate Affairs Commission remain strictly federal institutions.
As reiterated by the private sector, the outlook of the economy in 2020 is less desired as lingering challenges remain unaddressed.
To the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), formulation of laudable policies has never been an issue for Nigeria but evidence has shown that poor policy implementation has been the challenge in the country.
The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) urged the Federal Government to address issues affecting the nation’s potential.
