SEC directs registrars to use e-dividend portal

 The Security and Exchange Commission has directed all registrars to commence the use of the e-Dividend Mandate Management System Portal, which it launched in July this year.

In a circular to the registrars, the commission said the system was ready for use by all banks and registrars in the country following the training of the staff of the registrars, adding that banks would soon be asked to stop the verification of paper mandates.

The commission had said earlier this month that investors could now enroll for e-dividend payments at banks and registrar branches nationwide through the online platform.

According to the commission, the development follows the release of a circular on the implementation of the e-dividend mandate management system portal by the Central Bank of Nigeria to all Deposit Money Banks on Monday.

The commission had explained that the e-dividend scheme had been a priority initiative for the entire capital market in a bid to curb the growth of unclaimed dividends and improve the overall efficiency of Nigeria’s equities markets.

“The e-DMMS portal utilises NIBSS’ (Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement System) robust document management system to which e-dividend mandate forms filled by the investor can be uploaded,” it explained, adding that the e-dividend form could be obtained and properly filled at bank branches or in the office of a registrar.

In a new circular to all registrars dated September 22, the commission, which disclosed that the portal was ready for use, said, “It is therefore mandatory for every registrar to immediately commence the use of the e-Dividend Mandate Management System Portal as directives will soon be issued to banks to discontinue the verification of paper mandates presented to bank branches.”

According to the commission, all registrars’ offices/accredited outlets shall be points of upload of completed e-dividend mandate forms by investors who may alternatively approach their banker to process their completed e-dividend mandate forms.

It also said, “Every registrar shall validate investor’s shareholder account number, name, signature and clearing house number.”

This, according to it, shall be followed with the upload of scanned copy of completed e-dividend mandate forms on to the portal for immediate access by the investor’s nominated bank for the verification of his/her bank account details.

In processing the forms, it urged the registrars to be cautious, saying, “Registrars shall exercise caution when validating names generated by the system for the clearing house number, shareholder account number and bank account number against the physical form to ensure there is a reasonable level of congruence before the document is accepted and saved on the portal.”

Among other things, the commission said investors should be educated to complete separate forms for each shareholder’s account number, as upload of e-dividend mandate forms should be on the basis of individual shareholder number and company of investment indicated by the investor on the physical e-dividend mandate form.

For seamless integration and use of the portal, the commission advised the registrars to contact the NIBSS for the required integration requirements and access rights to the portal and any further clarifications required towards a smooth operation of the new system.

Punch

Emir Muhammadu Sanusi II Posts Note On Marriage Controversy: A Must Read

” I am sure NC members all have their views and have kept quiet out of (appropriate) deference to our right to make our individual choice. Obviously I do not need to explain anything to anyone in a purely personal matter but a few points are worthy of note:

1. The lady in question is 18 and thererfore legally of age to marry under all laws and certainly inder Muslim law

2. She is proceeding for her undergraduate education in the UK in january. She had an A in computer science in her O levels and plans to get a degree in computer science

3 each and everyone of my wives is a university graduate and some have worked and fhen stopped and in each case the choice was purely theirs

4. It is a tradition in Kano that emirs and princes in choosing wives consider issues beyond the individual. The family is in every sense a social unit. My predecessor was married to princesses from Ilorin, Katsina and Somoto

5 The relationship between the late Lamido of Adamawa Aliyu Musdafa the father of the current Lamido is well known. Lamido Aliyu was the first emir turbanned after emir Sanusi I and they remained close until Sanusi’s death. 

6. My own relationship with the current Lamido dates back to 1981 when he was Ciroma and commissioner for works. By the way the Lamido and I are not illiterates we know what we are doing and he does have a PhD in Engineering

7. My own mother was married in Adamawa and lived there for more than two decades and I have eight younger brothers and sisters from there

8 it is therefore natural that if I choose to marry from another kingdom Adamawa would be the first choice for me and I am extremely happy to strengthen these ling historical bonds

9. The young lady in question gave her free consent and even after the contract the wedding will not happen for a few years. By then she may be 21. If she freely consents to this I do not know on what moral grounds anyone has a grouse. She is an adult, she gave her consent, her education is not being in anyway interrupted. 

10. The real issue is that people do not accept cultural difference. And you can see it in the approach to these issues. I am supposed to be urbane and western educated. Yes but i am not european. I am a northern Nigerian Fulani Muslim brought up in a setting exactly like the one my children are being brought up in. 

If you read this and it improves your understanding of this issue that is fine. If it does not justvremember it us not your life, it is not your daughter and you are not my wife therefore it is not your business. 

I obviously cannot stoop to the level of responding publicly to these kinds of articles. I have always been an advocate of girls marrying after maturing. I personally like the minimum age of 18 even though i understand those who say 16 is fine and indeed this is the law in most so calked @advanced@ countries. 

Is this something that I expect a european or western trained or feminist mind to appreciate or endorse? Not at all. But has any american been bothered about my views on men marrying men or women marrying women which frankly I find primitive and bestial? No and my views do not matter. These are cultural issues. 

Even in Nigeria I have heard all this stuff as in Pius article about “north” and northerners. Again it is a failure to respect difference. There are parts if this country where parents expect their daughters to live with their boyfriends for years and actually get pregnant before they marry. It has become culture. We do not have that in the north and if your daughter gets pregnant before marriage she brings nothing but shame to the name. But we do not issue condemnations. We agree that this is how they choose to live. And i can give many other examples. 

When people use the term libido they do themselves injustice. First of all it shows how they view women and marriage. Women are nothing but the object of sexual desire. Marriage is nothing but sexual gratification. Well I am sorry but in my tradition it is not. Beauty and attraction rank third after religion and lineage in the choice of a wife. They see an 18 year old young lady. I see a princess of noble birth whose mother is also a princess, and who has been brought up in a good muslim home. This is the kind of woman that is prepared for hiving birth to princes and bringing them up for the role expected of them in society. 

Martiage is both social and political. Expanding the links of kano which have already been established by my predecessors through inter marriage with katsina, sokoto, ilorin, katagum, ningi, bauchi etc to adamawa is an important and signifant step and this is obvious to anyone with a sense of how royal families work and Ibn Khaldun’s sociological concept of Asabiyyah. When the emir of Kano marries it has to be something beyond what he oersonally desires to what is appropriate for that position and the expectations of the people he represents. You dont just pick up any girl on the street. And by the way for thise who shout libido sex is cheap and available everywhere in all shapes and sizes and all colours if that is what they want. And all ages too. Martiage is a very different proposition. The mother of your children has to be something other than, ot at least much more than a mere object of sexual fantasy. But if you do not know that you need to buy yourself a brain. 

I have daughters. And they know they can only marry from certain backgrounds. I always prefer family. When my daughter wanted to marry mouftah baba ahmed’s son and she asked me, knowing my views on family, i told her mouftah is family. And this is not about me and mouftah or me an hakeem or nafiu. No. It goes back to Baba Ahmed and Emirs Sanusi and Bayero. And the same rule applies to my sons. And it applied to me as well. 

It is I am sure very strange that I should even bother to comment on this. But it would be hypocritical for me to just keep quiet so long as these things are being posted and commented upon explicitly or in a snide manner. There was no secrecy in the marriage fatiha. The date was fixed and it was to be done in the central mosque after friday prayers. The day before we had a tragedy in Saudi Arabia and decided the fatiha must be very low key as a mark of respect for the dead. All traditional rulers in adamawa were there, as were governors and commissioners, members of my own emirate council and adamawa people. There is nothing here to hide or be apologetic about. 

The emirs of adamawa have shown love to my parents and grandparents and it is a sign of my appreciation of their love that i marry their daughter. This is the highest statement of friendship and loyalty on both sides. 

Again if you understand this this is fine. If you do not buy yourself a brain, A la Pius. 

In any event this is my one and final and only comment on this. And I am making it out of respect for NC members.”

MSII “

New electricity tariff becomes effective in October

  NERC targets 100% revenue collection

• Eko Disco to abolish fixed charge

The Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) is targeting 100 per cent revenue collection when the new tariff is effected in October.

Speaking with The Nation in a telephone conversation yesterday, its Chairman, Dr. Sam Amadi said the Distribution Electricity Companies (Discos) which are looking forward to tariff and revenue increase are yet to ramp up their payment.

According to him, the power distribution firms are however paying gradually.

He said: “The Discos are paying and we are expecting revenue increase. We are working on a new tariff . But the Discos are yet to ramp up payment. They are paying gradually.

“We are expecting more improvement in tariff and revenue collection.  We expect them to do 100 per cent as we are going when the new tariff becomes effective in October.”

Meanwhile, the management of Eko Electricity Distribution Plc (EKEDP) yesteray said it plans to abolish monthly fixed charges on its consumers.

Its Chief Executive Officer, Mr Oladele Amuda who spoke at a stakeholders forum in Lagos, said the company would present the proposal to NERC for approval.

“The company is proposing to abolish fixed monthly tariff charge from their bills but this has to be approved by NERC.

“I can assure you that if NERC approves the abolition of fixed charge by October, we will start to implement it immediately,” he said.

The chief executive officer urged consumers within the zone to embrace cost reflective tariff to enable the company serve them better.

Amuda lamented that the company is constrained by the present tariff regime which was not cost-reflective.

He said the new proposed tariff was N25 per kilowatt instead of the N17 per kilowatt that was being used to charge now.

Amuda said with the new tariff, the company would have sufficient money to change many transformers and conductors.

He said the company has engaged two Nigerian meter manufacturers to supply 50,000 prepaid meters outside Credit Advancement Payment Metering Installation (CAPMI) scheme.

He said these would be given to consumers with faulty meters and to replace all old meters.

Amuda assured that all consumers would be metered but advised consumers that could not wait to apply under CAPMI scheme.

He said the company had installed 34,565 prepaid meters to consumers in the zone under the scheme.

In a related development, the  Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has sent out 4,008.53 Megawatts (Mw) to Discos, according to the Power Statistics of the Federal Ministry of Power.

Following the statistics which the ministry posted on its website yesterday, energy supply only dipped by 4.86Mw from the 4,013.39Mw sent out on  September 16.

The TCN however recorded a spinning reserve or stranded power of 89.78Mw that it could not wheel out of the 4 098.31Mw produced by the electricity generation companies (Gencos) .

Energy generated that was 4,099.72Mw on September 16 however dipped slightly to  4,098.31Mw on Sunday, indicating a relatively steady average power generation in the electricity market in 10 days.

The market however dropped from the 4,735Mw peak energy generation of September 16 to 4,405.3Mw last Sunday, resulting in gap of 329.7Mw.

In NESI, the highest power power generated is still the  4,810.7 Mw of August 25.

On the power generation, the chairman said there was fire outbreak in Kainji last week, adding were it not for this, power generation would have exceeded the aforementioned result.

Amadi added that power generation is also expected to increase very soon when the Calabar Power Plant comes on stream.

The Nation

You encourage corruption by providing safe haven for stolen funds, Buhari tells world powers

By Levinus Nwabughiogu

New York—President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, in New York, United States of America, told the international community that the readiness of developed countries to provide safe havens for stolen funds encourages corruption.

He, therefore, urged them to enact strict measures that would dismantle the havens for ill-gotten wealth.

President of Nigeria Muhammadu Buhari addresses the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly September 28, 2015 at the United Nations in New York. AFP

President Buhari, who made the disclosure while addressing world leaders at the ongoing 70th General Assembly of the United Nations in the US, also appealed to them to facilitate the return of identified stolen funds and assets to their countries of origin.

The President also observed that corruption, cross-border financial crimes, cyber crimes and human trafficking were major social vices militating against the collective good of the world in the 21st century.

Urging the international community to unite against the vices, the President reiterated his unwavering determination to fight corruption head-on.

He said: “Let me reaffirm the Nigerian government’s unwavering commitment to fight corruption and illicit financial flows. By any consideration, corruption and cross-border financial crimes are impediments to development, economic growth, and the realization of the well-being of citizens across the globe.

“Nigeria is ready and willing to partner with international agencies and individual countries on a bilateral basis to confront crimes and corruption.

“In particular, I call upon the global community to urgently redouble efforts towards strengthening the mechanisms for dismantling safe havens for proceeds of corruption and ensuring the return of stolen funds and assets to their countries of origin.”

While lauding the Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs, adopted last Friday by world leaders, President Buhari also proposed the adoption of peace as a seventh essential element of the goals.

He said the greatest want of the world at the moment was peace and adopting it as one of the important elements of the SDGs was very crucial to the realization of other goals.

The President told the UN session that his government was poised to stamp out insecurity and terrorism in the Nigeria, assuring that the abducted Chibok Girls would be rescued.

He expressed concern over the proliferation of small arms and light weapons and called for effective implementation of the Arms Trade Treaty to ensure that small arms and light weapons could only be legally transferred.

Reminding the global assembly that peaceful co-existence and self-determination were among the key principles that led to the establishment of the United Nations, President Buhari called for the urgent resolution of the question of self-determination for the people of Palestine and Western Sahara.

“The international community has come to pin its hopes on resolving the Palestinian issue through the two – states solution which recognises the legitimate right of each state to exist in peace and security.

“The world has no more excuses or reasons to delay the implementation of the long list of Security Council resolutions on this question. Neither do we have the moral right to deny any people their freedom or condemn them indefinitely to occupation and blockade,” the President said.

Vanguard News

Backlash: Killing The Economy To Kill Corruption

THE battle against corruption has become the sole purpose of the Buhari Presidency. It is being prosecuted as if all other things that define good governance shall follow automatically, as soon as victory is proclaimed. Since it is so, the appointment of ministers in this month of September, which has only 10 days to finish, is no longer necessary. The entire business of government has been consolidated into a single effort – war against corruption.
One man or at most one ministry to be called Ministry of War Against Corruption can do the whole job. News that Buhari has branded ministers as noise makers is very encouraging too. No serious war anywhere in the world is fought and won with noise makers. In the spirit of the new revelation, a proposal for amendment of the operating constitution to make the appointment of ministers by a sitting president discretionary can be forwarded to the National Assembly for consideration.
I am not even too sure if the NASS itself will fit properly into the new order. The members are even noisier than the ministers. They are rascally and violent too; often using fists like junior school pupils instead of debates to settle simple issues. They are also very lazy. They work for one week and go on recess for four weeks.

Why ex-SSS spokesperson, Marilyn Ogar, was ‘sacked’

Controversial former spokesperson of the State Security Service (SSS), Marilyn Ogar, has been compulsorily retired from service following investigation into allegations of bribery and professional misconducts against her.

Mrs. Ogar was alleged to have collected several trucks of DPK (Dual Purpose Kerosene) as bribe, playing partisan roles, among other breaches of service codes.

Although no official statement has been issued by the Service regarding the compulsory retirement of Mrs. Ogar and others officials, a security source confirmed that the former spokesperson was retired on Wednesday – seven years before she was due to leave service.

PREMIUM TIMES had on March 26 exclusively reported how Ms. Ogar received trucks of kerosine in bribe, and then proceeded to disparage the then opposition APC on television and other media before and after the Osun governorship election.

In the exclusive report, which sources in the service said triggered internal investigation by the new service leadership, this newspaper reported that Ms. Ogar was treated to a special offer the former Nigerian administration utilised in appeasing dubious officials hired to do hatchet jobs, and other Nigerians regarded as troublesome. 

PREMIUM TIMES gathered that the new Director General of the service, Lawal Daura, set up a panel headed by a retired director of training to investigate the allegations against Ms. Ogar and other staff of the agency.

Mrs. Ogar, our sources said, was found guilty of the corruption allegation against her as well as for playing partisan role that ridiculed the agency in the eyes of the Nigerian public.

The panel therefore recommended that she be compulsorily retired, alongside others also found guilty for professional misconducts during the last administration.

In the PREMIUM TIMES story that exposed the bribery, it was reported that within government circles, the offer made to her, which was direct allocation of fuel products, was termed “settlement” by agents of the immediate past administration.

“That is what the government uses if it wants to settle you. If you are settled once, you are made,” one source told PREMIUM TIMES in March.

Mrs. Ogar was referred to the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC), a subsidiary of the government-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in charge of marketing and distribution of petroleum products.

According to elaborate details of the transaction obtained by PREMIUM TIMES in March, the PPMC was directed to allocate 10 trucks of DPK (Dual Purpose Kerosene) to Mrs. Ogar.

The sacked spokesperson accordingly met with the then Managing Director of the company, Haruna Momoh, and the deal was struck, this newspaper reported.

With little or no previous fuel marketing experience, and more importantly, without a registered company for that purpose, Mr. Momoh, suggested the allocations be channelled through known fuel independent marketers who will receive the allocation, sell them and deliver cash to Ms. Ogar.

According to the PREMIUM TIMES report, the former spokeswoman agreed, and the PPMC selected three marketers to deliver four, three, and three trucks apiece on her behalf.

An agent at the PPMC triggered text messages to the respective marketers. In one, sent by the coordinator of a private depot in Apapa Lagos via 08064387579, the firm wrote, “Please be informed management has approved three trucks of DPK to your company. Kindly make arrangement for payment. Thank you.”

To finalise the deal, the PPMC introduced Ms. Ogar to the three marketers and all sides agreed she be paid N1.5 million for each truck of DPK.

In all, Ms. Ogar was paid N15 million for doing nothing beyond meeting the PPMC boss having been recommended by the higher authorities to do so.

To this day, Ms. Ogar never responded to calls and text messages seeking her comments over the story.