In light of the recent terrorist assaults around the nation, The Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant-Gen. Faruk Yahaya, has approved the posting and appointment of a number of top officers to command, instructional, and staff roles within formations and units.
The appointments were revealed in a statement released by Brig.-Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, on Thursday in Abuja.
According to Nwachukwu, the new assignments and appointments were made in an effort to realign the army for operational effectiveness.
He claims that among those impacted by the relocation are several Principal Staff Officers of the Army Headquarters, General Officers Commanding, Corps Commanders, Commandants of training institutions, Brigade Commanders, and Commanding Officers.
He stated that Maj.-Gen. Umaru Musa, the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 81 Division, had been transferred to the 82 Division as the new GOC, and Maj.-Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja had been transferred from the 82 Division to the 1 Division as the new GOC.
The Commandant, Depot Nigerian Army, Maj.-Gen. Aminu Chinade, was transferred to 2 Division as GOC, according to the army spokesman, while Maj.-Gen. OC Ajunwa was relocated from Nigeria Defence Section in Brasilia to HQ 81 Division.
Additionally, he stated that Maj.-Gen. OW Ali had been transferred from Headquarters Command, Army Records, to AHQ as Chief of Administration (Army), and Maj.-Gen. S Muhammed had been transferred from Defence Headquarters to AHQ as Chief of Army Standards and Evaluation (Army).
He claims that Maj.-Gen. Adekunle Adesope, formerly of the Army Finance Corps, moves from AHQ to DHQ and is appointed as Chief of Defence, Accounts and Budget, and Maj.-Gen. James Ataguba, formerly of the Army Headquarters Department of Army Standards and Evaluation, is appointed Director, Peace-Keeping Operations.
“Maj.-Gen. Usman Mohammed moves from Army Headquarters, Department of Administration, to Nigerian Army Resource Centre and is appointed Senior Research Fellow.
“Other senior officers affected in the redeployment are Maj.-Gen. Preye Fakrogha, from DHQ Garrison to Defence Space Administration and appointed Director Policy, Plans and Research, while Maj.-Gen. MO Enendu moves from Nigerian Army College of Logistics to DHQ and appointed Director Psychological Warfare.
“Maj.-Gen. Adikwu Attu moves from DHQ Department of Training and Operations to DHQ Garrison and appointed Commander, while Maj.-Gen. Bernard Onyeuko moves from the Directorate of Defence Media Operations to DHQ Department of Logistics and appointed Director Procurement,” he said.
Maj.-Gen. AM Alabi, Corps Commander of the Nigerian Army Ordnance Corps; Maj.-Gen. A Mohammed, Corps Commander of the Nigerian Army Electrical Mechanical Engineers; and Maj.-Gen. E Akerejola, Corps Commander of the Nigerian Army Supply and Transport, according to Nwachukwu.
He said that Major-General AA Fayemiwo had been promoted to Chief of Accounts and Budget and redeployed from Nigerian Army Welfare Holdings Limited (Army).
“Senior officers newly appointed as Commandants of Nigerian Army training institutions are Maj.-Gen. P.I. Eze, Commandant, Nigerian Army Ordinance School; Maj.-Gen. AA Adeyinka, as Commandant, Nigerian Army College of Logistics and Maj.-Gen. P.P. Malla appointed Commandant, Depot, Nigerian Army, while Brig.-Gen. UT Otaru has been appointed Acting Commandant, Nigerian Army School of Supply and Transport,” he said.
Brigade Commander appointments are among the additional positions, claims Nwachukwu.
He said that upon taking up their new positions, all newly appointed senior officers had received orders from the Chief of Army Staff to step up their efforts and dedication to duty in addressing the nation’s security issues.

Gogan Media.

Due to limits on their ability to conduct 24 hour flights every day to the airports of their choice, Nigerian airline operators are losing N4 million every flight, N360 million in 90 flights, and nearly N4.3 billion annually.

According to NAN, Ibom Air’s COO, Mr. George Uriesi, said this during the 26th Annual Conference of the League of Airport and Aviation Correspondents (LAAC) on Thursday in Lagos.

Speaking about the conference’s theme, “Sunset Airports: Economic and Safety Implications”, the Ibom Air executive, said the restriction had led to a huge underutilisation of aircraft fleets by Nigerian airlines.
What Ibom Air is saying
These airports, sometimes known as Sunset airports, lack the necessary infrastructure to support flights that continue into the night.
Because of this, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has restricted operations at the few airports with the infrastructure to only during the daytime, which means that flights cannot use such airports after 6:30 p.m.

Nigeria’s carriers, according to Uriesi, were “losing an average of N4 million per flight, N360 million in 90 flights and about N4.3 billion annually to sunset airport operations.”
According to Uriesi, this restriction had caused Nigerian airlines to significantly underutilize their aircraft fleets in comparison to international industry standards.
He claimed that a portion of this was caused by the operational environment’s excessive number of obstacles, which lowers aviation productivity.
“These include limited runway availability across the domestic network, multiple operational infrastructure deficiencies, poor organisation and many others,” he added.
Uriesi urged the government to give airfield infrastructure top priority, supply every airport with an Instrument Landing System (ILS) and related accessories, and keep aerodromes open to accommodate commercial aircraft and other customers.
He also suggested that the government make current, approved master plans a regulatory requirement for every airport and make it unlawful for any entity to disregard the master plan.
“Establishing a local aircraft lessor /financing vehicle that would allow for the domiciling of aircraft payments in local currency would make a huge difference to the air transport sector in Nigeria,” he added.
• Nairametrics reported this week that the Federal Government stated that there are no immediate solutions to the crisis currently rocking Nigeria’s aviation sector, as it claims the issues are global.
• This was disclosed by the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, at a meeting with officials of the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON).
• Sirika said, “Energy crises is real and it is global. Today there is aviation fuel problem all over the world. From America to New Zealand. It is aggravating in Nigeria because we don’t produce the product.
• “It is aggravated also because the foreign exchange is scarce in Nigeria and the source of earning the foreign exchange has also has dwindled.’’
• The minister while pointing out some of the intervention measures the federal government as it had in the past sourced 10,000 metrics tonnes of aviation fuel for domestic airlines, adding that the government was willing to do more.

GOGAN Media.

In all 13 local government districts of Nasarawa State, a total of 18,429 people have tested positive for the viruses hepatitis B and C.

At a press conference held on Thursday in Lafia, the state capital, to commemorate World Hepatitis Day 2022 with the theme “Bringing Hepatitis Care Closer to You,” state commissioner for health Pharm. Ahmed Yahaya made the announcement on behalf of the state administration.
His words, “The World Hepatitis Day is set aside by the World Health Organization to recognize viral Hepatitis as a global Public Health Challenge. It is commemorated every 28th day of July in order to increase the visibility of this disease and attract more resources for the battle against it, as well as to bring succor to the people affected, while aiming to curb its spread.”

GOGAN Media.

The amount represented people who registered between June 28, 2021, and July 25, 2022, according to Tonia Nwobi, INEC’s spokesman in Cross River.
According to INEC, a whopping 71.1% of the 11.011 million registered voters in the current election are under the age of 25.
The figure represented individuals who registered between June 28, 2021, and July 25, 2022, according to Tonia Nwobi, the INEC representative for Cross River, who spoke in Calabar on Thursday.
295,018 of the total registered in Cross River, according to her.
She said that the overall figure included 3,391,940 online registrations in addition to 7,619,179 physical registrations.
“Youths between the ages of 18 years and 34 years formed the majority of registrants with the figure of 7,828,570.
“Those between the ages of 35 years and 49 years numbered 2,192,897; those between the ages of 50 years and 69 years numbered 871,690.
“Registrants who have clocked 70 years of age and above were 117,962.
The top five states with the largest number of registrants, according to Ms. Nwobi, are Lagos (508,936), Kano (500,207), Delta (481,929), Rivers (436,459), and Kaduna (417,427).
Ekiti (124,844), Yobe (134,002), Imo (164,835), FCT (170,828), and Ondo are the states with the fewest registrations (202,419).
According to Ms. Nwobi, there were 5,558,048 female registrants, or 50.5% more than there were male registrants (5,453,071). (representing 49.5 per cent).
She broke down the distribution further by occupation, noting that students had the greatest registration (4,003,348), accounting for 36.4% of the total.
Business, farming, and housewives come in second and third place, respectively, with 2,012,312; 1,390,813; and 1,299,409, or 18.3%; 12.6%; and 11.8 % of the total population.
“Others are civil servants, 342,685; artisans, 592,339; trading, 612,048; public servants, 113,331 and others, 644,834,’’ she stated.
The exercise will end on July 31 as set by INEC.

GOGAN Media.

As the government prepares to enact yet another tax, Nigerians will pay extra for calls and data. “It means that customers will now pay 12.5% tax on telecom services, we will not be able to subsidize the 5% excise duty on telecom services in Nigeria,” the government said.
As the federal government prepares to apply a 5% inclusive excise duty on telecommunications services in Nigeria, Nigerians will soon begin paying 12.5% tax on those services.
This was said by Zainab Ahmed, the Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, on Thursday in Abuja at a stakeholders’ roundtable on the application of the excise duty on telecommunications services in Nigeria.
The Nigerian Communications Commission organized the event (NCC).
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the existing Value Added Tax (VAT) on telecommunications services, which is 7.5%, will be increased by 5%.
Ms. Ahmed claimed that although the 5% excise charge was included in the Finance Act 2020, it was not put into effect. She was represented by the Assistant Chief Officer of the Ministry, Frank Oshanipin.
She said that the government’s interaction with stakeholders caused the delay in its implementation.
“Payments are to be made on monthly basis, on or before 21st of every month.
“The duty rate was not captured in the Act because it is the responsibility of the president to fix rate on excise duties and he has fixed five per cent for telecommunication services which include GSM.
Telecommunications users would bear the burden, according to Gbenga Adebayo, chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecom Owners of Nigeria (ALTON).
“It means that subscribers will now pay 12.5 per cent tax on telecom services, we will not be able to subsidise the five per cent excise duty on telecom services.
“This is as a result of the 39 multiple taxes we already paying coupled with the epileptic power situation as we spend so much on diesel,” he said.
Ikechukwu Nnamani, President of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), stated that the 5% excise charge on telecom services was out of date with the times.
Ajibola Alude, the Executive Secretary, acted as Mr. Nnamani’s representative.
He said that the industry was in dire straits and urged that the 5% excise duty be reduced because it might result in job losses.
“It is not well intended, because the industry is not doing well currently,” he said.
The Assistant Controller, Lami Wushishi, spoke on behalf of the Controller General of Nigerian Customs (NCS), Hameed Ali, who stated that all active telecom service providers would pay the 5% excise charge.
The 5% excise charge, according to ALTON Executive Secretary Gbolahan Awonuga, is not good for business.
Mr Awonuga said, “We pay two per cent excise duty to NCC from our revenue, 7.5 per cent VAT and other 39 taxes.
“We are going to pass it to the subscribers because we cannot subsidise it,” he said.
The excise Duty was to have been applied as part of the 2022 fiscal policy measures, according to Umar Danbatta, the Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC.
The industry, according to Mr. Danbatta, deemed the previously planned commencement date of June 1 inadequate and appropriately brought this up with the federal government.
He said that the NCC had spoken with the Nigerian Customs Service, the Federal Ministry of Finance, and advisers from the World Bank to obtain the necessary explanations.
We were able to better comprehend the excise duty’s goals and potential implementation methods thanks to these interactions.
The excise levy, he continued, applied to both pre-paid and post-paid telephone services.

GOGAN Media.

The president listed some of the achievements the nation has made since it started putting the Open Government Partnership into practice in 2016.

President Muhammadu Buhari met with a delegation from the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Support Unit on Thursday. The delegation was led by Sanjay Pradhan, the OGP Support Unit’s chief executive officer, and during the meeting, Pradhan listed the advantages Nigeria has gotten from joining the transparency group in 2016.

He claimed he was extremely clear about the role the effort will play in the fight against corruption when he pledged Nigeria’s membership in the Open Government Partnership at the London Anti-Corruption Summit, and ever since then, “we have developed and implemented two National Action Plans on the Open Government Partnership.

“By next month (in August), I will sign the third Action Plan, which is in the final stages of development. I am eager to sign the document so that we can continue to sustain the progress of reforms that we have recorded in the past six years of implementation.”

“Our budgeting processes have become more open, citizens-centred and participatory. In accordance with the objective of fiscal transparency, all stakeholders, including the public are involved in the country’s budget-making process, have access to the details of our budgets, and have opportunity to make input into it. As proof of our progress, Nigeria was ranked among the best-improved countries for transparency in the latest global Open Budget Survey.

“We have made significant progress in the beneficial ownership transparency in Nigeria. We produced a roadmap of Beneficial Ownership Reporting in 2016. By December 2019, we established Africa’s first Beneficial Ownership Register in the extractive industry. In 2020, we amended our laws to expand Beneficial Ownership Reporting to all sectors of the economy.

“We are currently building a robust national Beneficial Ownership Database, which will be deployed to combat global criminal activities including illicit financial flows and terrorism financing. We are equally convinced the Beneficial Ownership disclosure policy will support our domestic resource mobilization.”

President Buhari said that as a government, “We are encouraged that, at the last OGP Global Summit in Seoul, South Korea, Nigeria won the OGP Impact Award for our commitment and progress on Beneficial Ownership Transparency.

“As part of our commitment to sustain the progress, I have just approved Nigeria’s membership of the Beneficial Ownership Leadership Group.”

“Also, as part of a broader commitment to extractive industry transparency, we passed the Petroleum Industry Act which introduced sweeping reforms to enhance transparent and accountable governance of the oil and gas industry.

“In public procurement, we have established the Nigerian Procurement Portal, where citizens can monitor all government procurement processes in a transparent manner. We are currently improving this system to achieve greater effectiveness,” he added.

President Buhari said one of the reasons the country has made this much progress is because “we have backed our verbal commitments with deliberate action, by including OGP implementation in the national budget to ensure sustainability of the partnership in Nigeria.

“With these steps we have taken, our administration will bequeath to the next government a culture of transparency, accountability and citizens’ participation in governance. We have worked hard to institutionalise the OGP by mainstreaming open government practices across our governance systems.”

The President praised the national OGP team, which is co-chaired by Minister of State for Budget and National Planning Clem Agba and Tayo Adeloju of the civil society, for their tenacious efforts to advance transparency and accountability in political processes.

President Buhari pledged to the 77-member organization as Number 70 while OGP CEO Mr. Pradhan recalled being present in London in 2016 and characterized Nigeria as “an excellent performer, one of the most open across the partnership.”

He lauded Nigeria for opening up its budget processes, contracts, procurement, and the extractive sector.

He advocated more reforms in disclosure of audits, establishing an E-procurement platform, and institutionalization of OGP, among others.

Mr Pradhan described Nigeria as a country “with open hearts, open arms of friendship and partnership.”

Femi Adesina

Special Adviser to the President

(Media and Publicity)

GOGAN Media.

Nigeria’s currency, the naira, will keep falling as long as the government’s policies fail to revive the country’s economy and crude oil production remains in a terrible situation.\
Before the end of the year, analysts and economists who spoke with News Direct on Thursday said there was a chance the dollar may exchange for as much as N1000.
They asserted that further factors contributing to the problem include a lack of direct foreign investment into the nation, high oil theft, soaring fuel subsidies that continue to harm the economy, and FX speculation by currency dealers.
The occurrence occurs against a background of what appears to be unchecked borrowing and escalating debt payment costs, which in the first quarter (Q1) of 2022 exceeded the nation’s revenues by as much as N310 billion and are still rising.
After closing the previous day at N710 to the dollar, the naira slid to N730/$1 on the black market on Thursday.
On the black market, the naira’s value relative to the dollar has dropped over the last few days.
The naira has dropped to a record low of N730/$1 on the black market as a result of Nigeria’s inability to benefit from increased oil prices due to widespread oil theft and other factors.
With mounting debt service expenses, fuel subsidy payments that, by all indications, may surpass the projected N4 trillion this year, and a significant depletion on its Excess Crude Account, Nigeria is currently experiencing an economic crisis (ECA).
If the nation votes to stick with the divisive policy, the Federal Government predicts that petrol subsidies will increase to N6.72 trillion in 2023.
According to data, fuel subsidy payments totaled N210.38 billion, N219.78 billion, and N245.77 billion in January, February, and March 2022, respectively. In April and May 2022, Nigeria spent N271 billion and N327.07 billion, respectively, to make up for the shortfall caused by the importation of fuel.
An additional analysis of the subsidy claims revealed that N263.95 billion from May 2022 subsidy outstanding, including N501.30 billion for the current month’s subsidy cost, and N564.65 billion from the previous month’s unrecovered value gap were carried forward.
The value deficiency totaled N1.32 trillion over the time period.
A balance of N1.01 trillion remained after the NNPC withdrew N319.18 billion from the federation account, which had to be carried forward and recovered from July revenues that were due in August.
In addition to not knowing its precise daily fuel use, Nigeria is thought to be subsidizing its neighbors as a result of the arbitrage that its subsidy has created.
The naira will continue to lose value unless Nigeria starts to draw in foreign investment and its manufacturers can export, according to economist Stephen Iloba of Lagos.
“There is the fear that the dollar will exchange for N1000 before the end of the year if concerted efforts are not made to ensure we diversify the economy and encourage exportation. If we rely on oil, we will not get out of this situation anytime soon.
We need to encourage exportation in the non-oil sector.” Managing Director, Cowry Assets, Johnson Chukwu, disagreed with insinuation that dollarisation of the political space is responsible for dollar scarcity. He said, “It is not politics that is driving it.
It is demand and supply. We have mismanaged the economy and we are not earning foreign exchange.
He said, “It is appalling that at a time like this, we are not producing crude when we should be producing. Every other country producing crude is currently enjoying it.
The question we should ask is how you can be in a group where your members are celebrating and you are crying.
It means something is wrong with you.” Chief Executive Officer, Economic Associates, Dr. Ayo Teriba, gave his opinion on how to stabilise the naira.
He said: “The exchange rate is a mere indicator of the balance of supply and demand forces in the foreign exchange market.
Those who are discussing exchange rate developments without reference to the unfolding realities of demand and supply are chasing the shadows instead of substance.”
Cyril Ampka, an economist with a base in Abuja, believes that depreciation is a preferable option for a country’s currency.
Devaluation improves the export competitiveness of a net exporting nation, boosts export earnings, and puts more money in the hands of the populace.
He said, “A very good example of a country that has benefited from this is China, which is the largest trade nation in terms of the sum of its exports and imports.
“For a net importing country like Nigeria, however, devaluation will help increase revenue but in turn, reduce purchasing power.

GOGAN Media.

At least 12 senators from the All Progressives Congress have submitted letters of resignation, but the Senate President, Senator Ahmad Lawan, is sitting on them to prevent the President from being impeached.

The number of members in the Peoples Democratic Party has increased from 39 to 41, while the New Nigeria Peoples Party has two members, the Young Progressives Party has one, and the All Progressives Grand Alliance has one.
The number of senators in the ruling party will drop to 50 if the defection letters of the 12 APC senators are read on the floor, which could eventually put Lawan’s position as Senate President in jeopardy.

Senator Adamu Bulkachuwa, who gave Lawan his letter of defection, is one of the senators the Senate President is sitting on his defection notice.

President Muhammadu Buhari’s impeachment was urged on Wednesday by senators elected on the platforms of the opposition parties in response to the country’s deteriorating security situation.
If the Senate President opposes President Buhari’s impeachment, several opposition senators are considering having him removed.

GOGAN Media.

Following a military checkpoint attack near Zuma Rock in Niger State, Boko Haram militants reportedly killed some troops.
Along the Abuja-Kaduna route, the attack took place on Thursday night not far from Madalla town and a short distance from Zuba.
The terrorists reportedly arrived at the scene a few minutes after 7 o’clock and started shooting at the soldiers right away, according to Daily Trust.
“They took control of the area for about 30 minutes and kept on shooting before heading towards the Kaduna axis of the expressway,” the source said.
About 20 minutes after the terrorists departed the area, it was reported that soldiers from Zuma Barracks sprang into action and seized control.
Police officers on a patrol unit also arrived at the location.

GOGAN Media.

In an ambush on a local official’s vehicle in Borno state, northeastern Nigeria, jihadists killed three police officers and a vigilante, according to two militia sources on Thursday.
According to reports, on Wednesday, Asheikh Mamman Gadai, the political administrator of the Nganzai district, was returning from the garrison town of Monguno when Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) members opened fire with a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG).
“The RPG hit one of the vehicles in the convoy which exploded and killed the security men in it,” militia leader Umar Ari told AFP.
“The personnel included three policemen and a CJTF (militia),” he said.
According to militia member Ibrahim Liman, the ambush took place at Mile 40, a community along the 135-kilometer (84-mile) Maiduguri-Monguno highway.
The local authority, according to both sources, escaped the attack unharmed.
ISWAP has stepped up its attacks on drivers along the route where they have set up checkpoints, ambushing security patrol convoys and looting and killing drivers.
Military patrols along the roadway were spurred by the almost daily attacks, but the violence persists.
Over 40,000 individuals have been killed and 2.2 million people have been displaced in northeast Nigeria by the 13-year-old terrorist conflict.
A regional military alliance has been formed to combat the terrorists after the conflict spread to the nearby nations of Niger, Chad, and Cameroon.

GOGAN Media.