DisCos decry botched N100bn power subsidy

The 11 electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) have decried the failure of Federal Government to provide a N100 billion subsidy it promised three years ago, after private investors took over about 18 power sector utilities on November 1, 2013.
The DisCos in a statement by its umbrella body, Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED) yesterday also faulted the poor funding for the transmission section of the sector, which they said has resulted in the huge load rejection cases.
The statement issued by ANED’s Director of Advocacy and Research, Barrister Sunday Oduntan said government which holds 40 per cent equity in the utilities stated many interventions in the Performance Agreement of DisCos with the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE).
“To date, the government has not met the privatization transaction foundational requirements of providing N100 billion in subsidies; payment of MDA electricity obligations; ensuring that the DisCos have debt free financial books; and implementing a cost reflective tariff,” it said.
On transmission constraints, ANED doubted if the N50 billion appropriated for TCN in the 2016 budget was released by half adding that, “This funding level is even more pitiful when, especially, measured against TCN’s estimate of $7.5 billion for its five-year expansion plan that is expected to take us to 10,000 megawatt (mw), from our current 4,500mw.”
The Daily Trust however reports that TCN’s former Managing Director, Engr. Atiku Tambuwal Abubakar said in February 2017 that the 2016 allocation was released by over 90 per cent, adding that many networks and substations were strengthened for efficient service delivery. “Should the DisCos have to suffer financial losses due to the limitations associated with TCN’s wheeling constraints?,’’ they queried in the statement.
They decried the continued dearth of TCN funding, saying it impedes the DisCos’ ability to distribute power and has led to crashes in power turbines of Generation Companies (GenCos) due TCN consistent requests for de-loading.

Bank workers to blow whistle on stashed funds

President of Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions (ASSBIFI), Comrade Oyinkan Olasanoye, yesterday  implored her members in the Insurance and Banking sector to get involved in the whistle blowing of any person or persons known to them to be involved in the practice of cash racketeering.

She said it was necessary in order to save the nation’s system from liquidity crisis beleaguering it. 

“We urge our members as well as other players in the financial service industry to support the war on corruption in whatever capacity we can in order, to save our nation and ensure a more viable financial system and better society.

“As a responsible association, we can safely say that if all such funds are in the banking system today, the liquidity position will be different.
That ASSBIFI shall continue to support the efforts of government to rid the financial system of corruption at all levels.
She enjoined the federal government  to go beyond the financial reward to whistleblowers, and put in place laws that will protect the whistleblowers against any form of retaliation.

She advocated the need  for  anti-corruption agencies to intensify efforts into preventive activities by working hand in hand with the financial system operators and regulators in ensuring that access to such cash is prevented at the commercial banks and the Central Bank of Nigeria.

She also advised the federal government to employ proactive approach to anti-corruption as against the present reactionary trend.
She added:”The people shall desire to see a more diligent prosecution of corruption cases and a stem in the tide of corruption cases being lost to lack of diligent prosecution”.

Access Bank gets new Group Deputy Managing Director

Access Bank Plc has announced the appointment of Mr. Roosevelt Michael Ogbonna, as Group Deputy Managing Director to replace Mr. Obinna Nwosu who recently resigned his appointment to pursue other personal endeavours.
The new Group Deputy Managing Director began his illustrious banking career as an Investment Banker 20 years ago.

Over the years he has worked across the Treasury, Risk Management, Commercial and Corporate Banking functions at leading financial
institutions.
He joined Access Bank in 2002 and during this time, implemented
strategies across different divisions that increased market share and more than
doubled the group’s balance sheet.
Prior to now, Mr Ogbonna served as Divisional Head, Commercial Banking and subsequently rose to the position of Executive Director, Commercial Banking, Access Bank, a position he held since October 2013.

In that capacity, he oversaw firm-wide banking operations and formulated strategies to optimize the Bank’s robust commercial
business.
His appointment as Group Deputy Managing Director is in line with the Bank’s core values of empowering employees as he has risen within the ranks to attain his new position.
In an era where most financial institutions see the need to employ ‘outsiders’ to fill up executive roles, it is laudable that the Bank has decided to appoint from within.

This can only be achieved when you carefully select and hire the best available talent to be part of your team.
Roosevelt holds a BSc. in Banking & Finance (Second Class Upper) from the
University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria.
He is an alumnus of the Senior Executives Fellows program at Harvard
University’s Kennedy School of Government and has attended various Executive Management Development programs at leading global institutions including the Institute of Management Development (IMD), The Wharton School of Business, and INSEAD.
He is a Non-Executive Director of Access Bank (Zambia) and the Access Bank (United Kingdom), and is also a member of reputable professional organisations including Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria and the Future Leaders Group of the Institute of International Finance.
Mr Ogbonna, whose appointment has been approved by the Central Bank of Nigeria is happily married with children.

CBN suspends charges on withdrawal, says banks should revert to old policy

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has suspended its earlier directive on the implementation of cashless policy till further notice.
The apex bank in a circular released on Friday, instructed banks to revert to old charges as deposit processing fee charges above the threshold contained in circulars dated Feb. 21 are hereby suspended until further notice.

CBN had earlier announced new charges on deposit and withdrawals above a threshold of N500,000, instructing banks to charge 5% and 10% for deposits and withdrawals above N40m in the corporate category.
But in the circular signed by Director of banking and payments system department, Dipo Fatokun, CBN ordered banks to refund customers who have been debited and revert to former policy.
The circular read: “You will recall that a directive was issued on the nationwide implementation of the cashless policy vide our circulars with reference numbers BPS/DIR/GEN/CIR/04/001 dated February 21 and BPS/DIR/GEN/CIR/04/002 dated March 16.

“Please note that the new withdrawal and deposit processing fee charges above the threshold, as contained in the circulars referenced above, are hereby suspended until further notice.
“The position of the policy shall now revert to the status quo ante.”
“The old charges to be reverted to 3% processing fee for withdrawals above N500,000 in the individual category and 5% for withdrawals above N3 million.

“The new policy already applied effective April 1, 2017 as contained in the circulars in reference above should be reversed and the old charges be applied.
“All necessary refunds should be made accordingly.”

What Nigeria must do to revive economy – IMF

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has stated that what Nigeria requires to address tremendous shocks holding its economy back is a broad set of policies and reforms.
Director, African Department, IMF, Abebe Aemro Selassie, noted that the fund’s engagement and discussions with Nigeria always was distilled to foreign exchange policy.

“What Nigeria needs is a broad set of policies and reforms to try and address this tremendous shock that has been affecting the economy.
“Commodity prices, of course,but also the insurgency in the North east of the country”, Selassie stated at a press conference on sub-Saharan Africa at the ongoing Spring Meetings of the IMF.
He added that the federal government should also address the problems in the Niger Delta that flare up from time to time.

Sealssie stressed that faced with these exogenous shocks, Nigeria needed to adjust her domestic policy mechanisms in a robust way most importantly her fiscal policy.
According to the director, there is a big gap occasioned by what he described as “traditionally extensive reliance on oil revenues”.
He maintained that for government operations to progress seamlessly, it is not debatable that the government needs alternative revenue policy strategies.

The IMF official averred that exchange rate policies are important tools in this direction and that given the scarcity of reserves, it was necessary that the exchange rates reflect and try to absorb the identified shocks that have resulted from lower export revenue receipts.
Selassie emphasised the urgency of putting in place more flexible policies that would try to absorb the perceived shocks.
“But you know, how quickly you move towards that framework is something which is up to the government”, he added.

Bureau de change operators seek N10/$ margin to check sharp practices

Naira

• CBN offers SMEs $20,000 in new special window.

The Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) has asked for a N10 margin per dollar from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Granted, ABCON said, it could check operators’ tendency for round tripping.
The group resolved to self-regulate to expose erring members, even as they have already set up investigative panel for pending cases. The Acting President of ABCON, Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe, said there was need for the margin as the current N2 margin and reduced foreign exchange offer is not sustaining their operations.
Meanwhile, the CBN has opened a special foreign exchange window for small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) in continuation of the ongoing reforms in the market. The new window would enable SMEs to import eligible finished and semi-finished items not exceeding $20,000 for an enterprise in each three months.

This amount, the bank said, would be effected by telegraphic transfer subject to completion of Form ‘M’, supported with proforma invoice and the importer’s Bank Verification Number (BVN)” On the other hand, all processing banks are to ensure that the importers submit relevant shipping documents not later than 60 days from the date of the transfer. CBN defines small and medium scale enterprises as enterprises that have asset base (excluding land) of between N5 million and N500 million and a labour force of between 11 and 300.
Continuing, Gwadabe said ABCON has a zero tolerance for non-compliance with regulatory requirement and unethical conduct amongst its members, adding that created the office of Compliance Officer at its National Secretariat and in all its zonal offices and also provided vehicles for the compliance officers to regularly visit BDCs under their jurisdictions.
The ABCON boss assured the CBN and other stakeholders that the BDC industry was duty-bound to operate within the ambit of the law and would continue to promote national interest and economic development.

Coronation Merchant resolves to become Africa’s premier investment bank

Addressing shareholders at the 2016 yearly general meeting of the bank, the Group Managing Director/CEO, Abubakar Jimoh, noted that there is a clear market demand for more sophisticated banking services from Nigeria’s top tier corporates.Photos:Coronation Merchant Bank.

Posts N5.3 billion PBT in 2016
Coronation Merchant Bank has expressed its resolve to fill the gap of the underserved market segment, by addressing the need for long-term capital across key sectors of the economy. This will be done through technology, product offerings and risk management expertise in the industry.
Addressing shareholders at the 2016 yearly general meeting of the bank, the Group Managing Director/CEO, Abubakar Jimoh, noted that there is a clear market demand for more sophisticated banking services from Nigeria’s top tier corporates.
According to him, with asset base of over N100 billion, the bank is well positioned to becoming the industry model for risk management, corporate governance and responsible business practices.

He added that the bank’s quest for industry distinction was evident in its recently unveiled corporate identity, designed to communicate the group’s vision, ambition and strength. Reviewing its performance, Jimoh explained that the bank’s profit before tax rose to N5.3 billion, representing an increase of 128 per cent over 2015 performance of N2.3 billion.
The bank’s net interest income also increased by 86 per cent, from N4.3 billion in 2015, to N8 billion in the year under review. Shareholders’ fund increased from 20.4 billion to 25.9 billion during the period under review.
Jimoh attributed the improved performance to increased efficiency in its overall funding mix as well as significant growth in the bank’s balance sheet size.
Similarly, the group also recorded significant growth in its balance sheet in 2016, as its total assets rose to N106.6 billion, from N78.3 billion in December 2015.Also, shareholder’s funds increased to N25.8 billion from N20.24 billion. As at December 31, 2016, its non-performing loans (NPL) ratio stood at zero percent.
Furthermore, he explained that the bank currently has 40 per cent capital adequacy ratio, which is above the regulatory minimum of 10 per cent and is driven by its vision of becoming Africa’s premier investment Bank.
Jimoh, said the results of the bank in the last two years of business operation demonstrated the effectiveness of its strategy as the bank continued to grow its market share in key segments of the economy.
“With a strong risk rating of ‘A‘by Agusto, and asset base of over N100 billion, the banking group is certain to leverage its privileged direction by some of Nigeria’s individuals who excelled and rose to the top of merchant banking sector at its height of excellence to become the industry model for risk management.
“We defined our risk appetite to be moderate and determined our customer base. We were also very careful in our exposures to dollar-based assets, which is one of the main reasons for the high NPLs amongst banks. We will continue to maintain a disciplined and prudent approach in our exposures to dollar-based assets in line with our overall risk management framework.
“Coronation Merchant Bank’s quest for industry distinction is evident in its recently unveiled corporate identity which has been designed to communicate the groups vision, ambition and inner strength.’
He added that the bank is not designed to be the biggest player in the industry in terms of size of operations but intends to be the best in services, technology, product innovation, and customer experience.

CPC seeks review of standards, regulations on products’ safety

Following investigations carried out by the Consumer Protection Council (CPC), on the possible quality issues affecting consumers of products of the Nigeria Bottling Company (NBC), the Council has come up with recommendations that will ensure the safety and protection of the citizens.
Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja yesterday, the Director-General of the council, Mrs Modupe Atoki, said based on the council’s investigations, it is imperative for regulatory action to be taken for the review of standards for soft drinks in Nigeria, adding that the existing regulation has been in existence since 2008 and is due for review.
She added that investigative analysis is also required to ascertain the integrity of soft drinks in the open market in the light of extremely low and inconsistent levels of benzoic acid in some sampled soft drinks.

She said the volume of acid in the products varies from one region to the other within Nigeria, a situation she said was unacceptable.She said another component of soft drinks named sunset yellow has been banned in some countries while other countries has labelling requirements for its use. Atoki said the council will continue in its findings and has established collaborations with NAFDAC and the Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) noting that though the council does not set standards, but it can influence the setting of standards by sister agencies.

Government slams 50% import tariff on tomato paste

 

Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah (left)with Minister of State,Hajiya Aisha Abubakar,during a press conference on a new policy on Tomatoes in Abuja…yesterday. Photo ;Lucy Ladidi Elukpo.

• MAN, LCCI, others commend policy

The Federal Government has increased the tariff on importation of tomato concentrate to 50 per cent alongside an additional levy of $1,500 per metric tonne from May 7.
Under the new policy, the Federal Government classified greenhouse equipment as agricultural equipment in order to attract zero per cent import duty. It stopped the importation of tomato paste, powder or concentrate put up for retail sale; stopped the importation of tomatoes preserved otherwise by vinegar or acetic acid and restricted the importation of tomato concentrate to the seaports.
Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah, said yesterday that the new measures would become effective 30 days after April 7 2017, when the ECOWAS secretariat was notified.
Reacting to the news, the President of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Dr. Frank Jacobs said in as much as the association agrees with the government that backward integration is the sustainable way to go, there are some people who have invested on utilising concentrates for their production. Enelamah explained that the policy seeks to increase local production of fresh tomato fruit required for fresh fruit consumption and processing; increase local production of tomato concentrate and reduce post-harvest losses.
Nigeria imports an average of 150,000 metric tons of tomato concentrate per annum valued at $170million mostly due to inadequacy in capacity to produce tomato concentrate. Current demand for fresh tomato fruits is estimated at about 2.45million metric tons per annum (MTPA) while the country produces only about 1.8million MTPA.
On his part, the Director-General of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Muda Yusuf, commended the move saying the policy would promote and encourage local production of tomato and the creation of more jobs in the tomato industry.
He, however, urged government to create a balance between the welfare of the people and the economic philosophy of economic nationalism in its policy, as there is a need to address major production bottlenecks like high cost of transportation, high energy cost, challenges of storage and processing of agricultural products, productivity issues, agricultural mechanization issues and many more that account for high food prices.
The Chairman of Conserveria Africana Limited (CAL), producers of ‘GINO’ and ‘POMO’ branded tomato pastes in Nigeria, Alhaji Francis Ogboro affirmed other stakeholders’ position that though the policy will hurt operators but the company will not relent in its backward integration agenda.The Chief Executive Officer, Erisco Foods Limited, Chief Eric Umeofia, said the policy is not new but it is a good one.
“The important thing is to implement the policy. Government should see to the implementation of the policy. If we support our industries, we will grow the economy and avoid people committing suicides.”

Smuggling has wreaked havoc on Nigeria’s economy, says customs

NCS boss, Hameed Ali. PHOTO: AIT

• Restricts rice import in free trade zones
• FOU makes N2b revenue in three months
The Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) has bemoaned the incessant activities of smugglers across the nation’s borders; an activity, which it said, has wrecked havoc on the nation’s economy.
This comes as the Comptroller-General of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Col. Hameed Ali (rtd), has restricted rice import in trade free zones.The Controller, Federal Operations Unit ‘A’, Comptroller Haruna Mamudu, who disclosed this while reviewing his zone’s first quarter activity appealed to all well meaning Nigerians to join the Service in the fight against smuggling.
Mamudu wondered why some elements would invest their money in business of illegalities knowing fully well that the law could catch up with them any given time.

He therefore charged all officers and men of the Unit to be professional and diligent in performing their statutory responsibilities, most especially in the area of anti-smuggling operations by making sure all revenue linkages are blocked. During the period he said the command intensified its anti-smuggling operations and intercepted various contrabands and other goods on detention with a duty paid value (DPV) of N1.04 billion
Similarly, the unit through its interventions recovered N1billion from duty payments and demand notices on general goods that tried to beat the system from seaports, airport and border stations in the guise of false declaration, transfer of value, and shortchange in duty payment that were meant for the Federal Government, making a cumulative of N2.05 billion.
In the first quarter of 2017, about 293 different seizures were recorded comprising foreign parboiled rice, frozen poultry products, vegetable oil, smuggled vehicles, Indian hemp, arms, fake pharmaceutical/medicaments and various general merchandise.
Meanwhile, the Customs Public Relations Officer of the service, Joseph Attah, while confirming Ali’s policy of rice restriction through free trade zone explained that this became necessary because some operators were allegedly taking undue advantage of the trade zone.
He said: “So, if we block the land borders and allow operators of free trade zone to bring in rice through the seaports, then our efforts at the land borders will be in vain.”
He explained that smuggling is a crime like armed robbery, urging Nigerians to treat it so.Attah noted: “We have the commands covering those border lines. We also have the federal operation units that cover these land borders and to build another layer of policing, we have what we call the compliance team.
“It might interest you to know that this compliance team headed by an Assistant Comptroller, Musa Jalo, made a total of 921 seizures with a duty paid value of over N1billion. Most of these seizures are rice and vehicles,” he said.

2016 budget: FG records N1.1tr shortfall in IGR

The Federal Government recorded a shortfall of N1.1trillion in the projected Internally General Revenue (IGR) for 2016, government officials told a Senate panel yesterday.
They said the budget achieved 55 percent implementation of the capital component with N870 billion.
Officials including the Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, the Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris and the Director-General of the Budget Office, Ben Akabueze made the disclosure when they appeared before the joint Appropriations Committee of the National Assembly.
Chairman of Senate Committee on Appropriations, Senator Danjuma Goje had requested from the officials the performance of the 2016 budget.

Naira slides to 410/$ at BDCs, traders pledge support to CBN

Naira yesterday slipped further to 410 against the United States Dollar due to apprehension in the market over the supply constraints.
The local currency has weakened on both the official and black markets.
This is coming as the directors of Bureau De Change (BDCs) have pledged to corporate with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to help narrow the exchange rate differentials between the official rate and the parallel market rate
The National president of ABCON  Aminu Gwadabe made the pledge at the emergency meeting of the Association following last week sudden depreciation of the Naira. “We felt that it is necessary to reverse the trend.”
The Naira closed last Friday at about N395/$ in the parallel market, after stabilizing at N380/$ the previous week. It even touched N405 to dollar before it returned to N395 after the BDCs began to sell part of the $20,000 from the CBN.
The CBN has continued to intervene in the market. The Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) statement released at the weekend showed that it sold $768 million to airlines, agriculture, petrol and raw material/machineries importers, among others at marginal rate of N310/$.
Details of the transactions showed that the retail and Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS) got $418 million while $350 million went to wholesale auction, Business Travel/Personal Travel Allowances, and school fees. The BDCs bought at N360/$ while short-tenured Forwards of 7-30-day maturity will be sold this week to meet demand of manufacturers and all other forex users.
While cautioning its members against round tripping, Gwadabe said: “ we must understand round tripping has implication for Interest rate. once the exchange rate goes up, interest rate will go up and inflation will follow and nobody is gaining.
Since the CBN resumed selling dollars to BDCs, the market has gained more liquidity and naira strengthened to a large extent. The foreign exchange speculators have suffered major losses because of the role of genuine BDCs in helping the CBN to put them under sever check.” The CBN last week sold a total of $20,000 to each BDC.

Business News NNPC reduces trade deficit by 16%

 
 NNPC

As U.S. increases oil import from Nigeria
The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has reduced its trading deficit to ₦14.26 billion by January end, down from ₦17.01billion recorded in December 2016, representing about 16 per cent improvement.
The Corporation attributed the appreciable decrease in deficit to improved Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) revenue, coupled with refineries efficiency as well as reduction in the upstream costs by over 32 per cent relative to last month.
NNPC, in its latest financial report released on Monday put the group’s operating revenues for the months of December 2016, and January 2017, at N461.83 billion, and expenditure at N493.08 billion.

This comes as the United States (U.S.) Energy Information Administration (EIA), said crude oil from Nigeria, and Iraq were the largest contributors to its imports volumes in 2016, which rose to an average of 7.9 million barrels per day (bpd), or 514,000 bpd above the 2015 average.EIA in a media statement yesterday, said crude oil imports from Nigeria increased from 54,000bpd in 2015 to 210,000 bpd in 2016. According to the agency, Nigerian crude oil grade is of similar quality to that produced in the Bakken region in parts of North Dakota and Montana.In December, 2016, crude oil production in Nigeria slowed down to 1.58mbpd, which represents 18.23 per cent decrease relative to November 2016 production and also lagged behind December, 2015 performance by 24.04 per cent, according to the latest report of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
The Corporation in its report noted that it is operating in a challenging environment, which limits its profitability aspirations.It identified other factors that affected its overall performance to include shutdown of the Trans Niger Pipeline (TNP) & Nembe Creek Trunk Line (NCTL) due to pipeline leakages, shut down of of Qua Iboe, and Agbami Terminal for mini Turn Around Maintenance, and the subsisting force majeure at Forcados and Brass Terminals.
It said that areas much affected by the militant activities were the onshore and shallow water assets, where government takes is high. Hence, sustained security of onshore and shallow water locations remains a priority to restore production to peak levels.
In terms of sales, it said: “A total export sale of $202.16 million was recorded in January, 2017. This is $6.76 million higher than the preceding month’s performance. Crude oil export sales contributed $93.97million (or 46.48%) of the dollar transactions compared with $100.37Million contribution in the previous month. Also the export Gas sales amounted to $108.20 million in the month.
“The January 2016 to January 2017 Crude Oil and Gas transactions indicate that Crude Oil & Gas worth $2,647.61Million was exported. “Total export crude Oil & Gas receipt for the period of January, 2016 to January 2017 stood at $2.57 Billion. Out of which the sum of $ 2.50 billion was transferred to JV Cash Call in line with 2016 approved budget pending 2017 budget approval and the exit of JV Cash Call and the balance of $0.073 billion was paid to Federation Account.
“However, this JVCC amount falls short of the 2016 appropriated amount of $.8.55Billion. This is due to twin effect of production disruption in Niger-Delta and low Crude Oil prices during the year.”
It put the domestic crude oil and gas receipt during the month at N132.20 billion, consisting of N1.18 billion from domestic gas and the sum of N131.01 billion from domestic crude oil.
Of the Naira receipt, it transferred about N49.17 billion to the Joint Venture Cash Call (JVCC) being a first line charge and to guarantee continuous flow of revenue stream to the Federation Account.

Nigeria loses N9b revenue annually to illegal fish importation — Association

The Association of Indigenous Sea Food Stakeholders says the country loses N9 billion revenue annually to illegal fish importation and smuggling.
The association’s national chairman, Mr. Lamina Rasheed, disclosed this, in Abuja, on Wednesday.
Rasheed said that the members of the association paid import duty of 14 per cent, which amounted to millions of naira to the Federal Government while the illegal importers paid next to nothing through the land borders.

According to him, it is difficult to compete with them in the market because these illegal importers slash their prices to the detriment and loss by the genuine fish dealers.
He frowned at the development which he said had discouraged so many genuine importers and local fish farmers across the country.
The chairman appealed to the Federal Government to expedite action toward setting up a task force that would stop the illegal importation of fish and other sea foods into the country.
Rasheed  said that  the illegal importation was still ongoing through the borders; but setting up the monitoring and prosecution task force would help curb the menace.
He said that some of the sea products which were being produced in Russia, Norway, Mexico, were being smuggled into the country through the Republic of Benin.
“ The government loses about N9 billion revenues to this act.
“We are still trying to create awareness to let the government know that the illegal act is still persisting.
“Until they arrest somebody and apply the penalties, the perpetrators will not stop.
“The government said they will set up a monitoring committee but up till now, we have not seen any committee.
“As long as the committee is not in place, we will not make any meaningful progress in the sea food business.
“Local production of fish is currently still very minimal,’’ he said.
Rasheed appealed to the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to assist in regulating the operations of smugglers.
NAN reports that the Federal Ministry of Agriculture had in March promised to set up a committee that would be responsible for arresting and prosecuting illegal importers.
It would also seal cold rooms where the imported products were being sold.
The Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Sen. Heineken Lokpobiri, had earlier announced a fine of $250,000 or five years’ imprisonment or both as punishment for offenders.
Lokpobiri said this was in addition to the forfeiture and destruction of the product.
He said that the country’s annual demand of fish was currently at 3.2 million tonnes and deficit at 1.9 million tonnes.
The minister said that the ministry’s department of fisheries and aquaculture is the only competent authority empowered by the Nigeria Sea Fisheries Act to issue distant water fishing licences for the importation of frozen fish into Nigeria. (NAN)