Register with CAC from any country, no AGM requirement … here’s the new CAMA

The new Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), which was passed into law by the Nigerian senate on Tuesday, will make it possible to register a company from anywhere in the world.

Speaking of the passage of the bill, Senate President Bukola Saraki, said that the passage of CAMA is a significant milestone in the 8th senate’s legislative agenda.

“With the passage of CAMA, which is by far the biggest and one of the most far-reaching legislation ever passed in any legislature in our country, we have now put in place a regulatory framework to promote the ease of doing business and reduce regulatory hurdles,” he said.

“This is a pro-business law. This bill that we have just passed will show the audacity that we have to move Nigerian businesses into a new era of success and development.”

According to a statement released on Tuesday, the bill will “allow business owners to now register their businesses in a faster and more efficient way — using technology; remove all the unnecessary regulatory provisions — such as the requirement for annual general meetings and company secretaries; and reduce the minimum share capital for all companies and start-ups in Nigeria.”

The bill will also create a new form of legal identity for businesses in Nigeria, Limited Liability Partnership (LLP), which is expected to increase foreign investment and enable Nigerian register their businesses online.

“We are truly now walking the talk, with the passage of CAMA, we are saying to the rest of the world that Nigeria is ready for business and the government of Nigeria is ready to support small scale industries to promote innovations and encourage enterprise,” Saraki concluded. - Cable Nigeria

Two Nigerians sentenced by US court over wire fraud

Two Nigerians residing in Houston, United States, Idowu Olugbenga Temetan aka David Cole, 30, and Adeltilewa Olamigoke Afolabi Ikuejuyone aka Kuffour Duval, 36, have been sentenced to prison for perpetuating a wire fraud scheme.

It was gathered that the duo who were involved in various internet scam had between October 2013 and March 2014, used counterfeit passports to open bank accounts in the greater Houston area.

The passports contained photographs of Temetan and Ikuejuyone but used the aliases of David Cole and Kuffour Duval, respectively.

According to the United States Justice Department, they worked with others to lure victims into sending money into various bank accounts under their sole ownership and control. These funds were obtained through a variety of internet scams, including lottery scams and business investment scams. Checks or wire transfers were then sent from the victims’ bank accounts to accounts Temetan and Ikuejuyone controlled. Temetan, Ikuejuyone and their co-conspirators would then use the counterfeit passports to retrieve the fraudulently obtained funds.

The Nigerians, however, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and three counts of wire fraud. Temetan also admitted to one count of passport forgery.

Announcing their sentence ,t he U.S. District Judge, Sim Lake handed Temetan a 51-month sentence, while Ikuejuyone received a 45-month sentence yesterday.

Both defendants were also held jointly and severally liable to pay $187,422.60 in restitution. They are also expected to face deportation proceedings following their sentences.

The U.S Law enforcement further revealed that they were able to trace at least $4 million to victims that have been affected by this scheme and also traced the accounts into which the monies were being deposited.

The Department, therefore said Temetan and Ikuejuyone will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility. - Daily Post

Germany set to repatriate 30,000 Nigerian migrants

Germany has proposed a new process that will facilitate the smooth repatriation of over 30,000 illegal Nigerian migrants back to the country.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Geoffrey Onyeama said this when he received the Security Adviser to the President of Germany, Dr Jan Hecker, and his team in Abuja.

The new proposal, according to Onyeama, is predicated on perceived failures and slow pace of the current system of repatriation.

This, he said, involved both the participation of Nigerian embassies and consulate and the German immigration office.

“They don’t have enough faith and confidence in the process that we have at the moment for the repatriation process.

”Some of the delays they believed are with the mission and consulate in Germany.

” They want to propose a completely new process of repatriation, known as Return and Re-admission,”  he said.

Onyeama said that in the last two years only about 200 Nigerians had returned to the country out of about 30,000.

”Germans were not happy that the system we have in place at the moment is certainly not working to their satisfaction,” he said.

According to him, the new process essentially entails that once all legal processes have been exhausted, Nigeria should trust them (Germany), to make right decision on whom should be repatriated.

He added that once the decision was taken, Germany would bring the affected persons to Nigeria without the involvement of Nigeria’s mission in Germany.

“They will bring them here to Nigeria and say we have gone through a process in Germany; these people are your nationals, they have exhausted all the legal processes, please take them.

”And it will be here on Nigeria territory that any possibility will then exist to say maybe that one is not or this one is not.

Onyeama, while describing the proposed process as a complete transformation of the current process, noted that Germany aside from issuing travel documents to those to be repatriated, would also be responsible for their travels.

However, for the new process to come into being, Nigeria would have to agree and carry out some changes in her laws.

Earlier, Jan Hecker said he was in Nigeria to see how both countries could intensify their bilateral relations and achieve good result, particularly on migration.

He was accompanied on the visit by the German Ambassador to Nigeria, Bernhard Schlagheck and other officials.

Terrorism : How herdsman raped me in Ebonyi – 14-year-old girl cries out for justice

A 14-year-old girl, simply identified as Favour, who hails from Umuifi community of Anioma-Isu in Onicha local government area of Ebonyi State, Tuesday, disclosed how she was raped by a Fulani herdsman.

The victim, a student of Union Secondary School, Agueke-Isu in the area was allegedy raped in a bush where she went to get vegetables.

Favour, who said she has been sad over the incident, however, called on the state government to look into the activities of Fulani herdsmen in Umuifi community in order to avert any negative episode involving young girls in the near future.

Narrating her ordeal, favour said: “I went to the farm to fetch vegetables when I was attacked by a Fulani herdsman.

“He came to our farm with his cows; he asked me if I were with water and food, I said no; he now went and got more cows to surround me; he told me that if I allow him to have sex with him, that he will give me N700. I refused and started running away. He chased me and used the back of his cutlass on my back so I fell and he raped me.

“I feel sad; I want the government to come to my aid as young girls
like me are no longer safe to go the farm and help our parents; government should make sure the arrested Fulani herdsmen are prosecuted according to the law. Every Fulani herdsman with bad intention should be made to leave our land,” she stated.

It was also gathered that the victim has been taken to an undisclosed hospital for treatment.

In a swift reaction, the Chairman of the community, Festus Nwachukwu confirmed the incident.

He described the activities of Fulani herdsmen in Umuifi Anioma-Isu community as a threat to the agricultural revolution of the state.

He noted that the herdsmen had been destroying their farm produce and threatening the peaceful coexistence of the Onicha people.

According to him, even though the suspect had been arrested by the
police, “the act that was committed by the Fulani herdsman is an abomination to our land and we are going to carry out a cleansing ceremony on the land so that it will remain fertile.

“The Fulani herdsmen are destroying our farms; if you want to talk to them they will threaten you with knives; our major occupation is farming; we can no more farm because of this menace; they are fond of using their cows to destroy our farmlands and crops.

“The government policies on agriculture are being threatened in Onicha LGA. I came back from church on Sunday of 9th April and learnt that this girl was raped by a Fulani man when she went to the farm to get vegetables.

“What has happened is an abomination in our land; the man has damaged the fertility of the land and we are going to use cows, fouls and many cartons of beers and palm wine to bless the land.”

Meanwhile, the State Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Loveth Odah denied knowledge of the incident, adding that she has contacted the divisional police command within the area but no such case was reported to them.

She reiterated the commitments of the Ebonyi police command to get to the root of the incident. - Daily Post

Treat Naira with care, CBN urges Nigerians

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has once again called on Nigerians to handle the Naira with care, as it was a symbol of the nation’s identity and pride.

The Deputy Governor, Corporate Services Directorate, Mr Edward Adamu, reiterated this on Tuesday in Abuja at CBN’s 2018 International Museum Day celebrations.

He said the CBN housed the Currency Museum, which explained the evolution of money in Nigeria from the pre-colonial era to the contemporary times.

He said the CBN hoped that through the activities of the Currency Museum members of the public would be better educated on how to properly handle the naira and other related

 “The Naira as a symbol of our national pride should not be sprayed or step on, should not be squeezed defaced or stained.

“The naira should not be sold or counterfeited.

“Be a role model by neatly arranging the Naira in pouches, wallets or envelopes, he said.

Also, the Deputy Director, Currency Operations Department, Mr Vincent Wuranti, said the way and manner people handled the Naira affected its life span.

He explained that a lot of effort was put into the design and production of the nation’s currency, hence the need to respect it.

According to him, the different banknotes feature portraits of Nigerian heroes, agriculture, solid minerals and other things that illustrate the Nigerian culture and economy.

Section 21 of the CBN Act 2007 states that the abuse of Naira such as squeezing,  staining,  writing,  spraying and illegal sales amongst others are punishable offences.

The act states that the offender must pay nothing less than N50, 000 or face a jail term of six months or both.

Section 20 (4) of the CBN act 2007 provides penalty of not less than five years in jail for counterfeiting the Naira with no option of fine. 

2 Nigerians killed in South Africa

Two young Nigerians residing in South Africa have been killed during a renewed xenophobic attack in the country

The latest killing brings the number of Nigerians killed in the former apartheid enclave since February, 2016 to 118, DAILY POST reports.

The Publicity Secretary of the Nigeria Union in South Africa, Mr Habib Miller, told NAN in a telephone interview that two additional Nigerians were killed in South Africa in the past eight days.

Miller, who spoke from Pretoria, South Africa, identified the latest victims as Francis Ochuba, a native of Ngodo community in the Umunneochi Local Government Area of Abia.

He named the other victim as Chidi Ibebuike, native of Uturu in the Isikwuato Local Government Area also in Abia.

“Ochuba, a property owner, was shot dead alongside his estate agent, a female South African on May 5. They were shot dead as they visited the tenant occupying Ochuba’s house to collect rent.

“The incident occurred in Central Johannesburg, while Ibebuike was shot dead at the entrance to his house at Hazyview in Mpumalanga on May 13.

“Ibebuike’s car was subsequently, snatched by yet to be identified gunmen.

“The chairman of the Nigeria Union in Mpumalanga Province, Mr Amadi in company of other compatriots, have reported the incident to the South African police authorities and investigation is underway.” He said.

Miller said the latest killings came on the heels of the cold blooded murder of ThankGod Okoro, a native of Ogbaku in the Agwu Local Government Area of Enugu State on April 9 and that of Clement Nwaogu, a native of Njikoka in Anambra on April 22.

He recalled that Okoro was reportedly shot dead by a member of the South African Police Flying Squad at Florida in Johannesburg while Nwaogu was burnt alive by a mob in Rustenburg in the North West Province.

The spokesman said that a violent group in Rustenburg had earlier given Nigerians notice to vacate the area or get killed.

He said that since the order was issued, there had been numerous cases of Nigerians being kidnapped with ransom paid to their abductors.

“The incessant looting and killings in the area, prompted 14 Nigerians to protest the injustice and the lack of police protection from the South African Police.

“The 14 Nigerians were attested and had been detained since Jan. 21 in Rustenburg.

“The extra-judicial killing of Nigerians in South Africa is however, a stark contrast to the general goodwill and protection South Africans and their businesses enjoy in Nigeria.

“There have been no record of looting of South African businesses in Nigeria.

“While South African companies transfer billions of dollars in profit made from doing business in Nigeria, Nigerians in South Africa are sending body bags of murdered bread winners back home to Nigeria to dejected families,” Miller said. - Daily Post

Commonwealth assists Nigeria recovers $3bn in a year says Scotland

Commonwealth Secretary-General, Patricia 

Scotland, has said  Commonwealth assisted Nigeria in recovering of about three billion dollars within one year.

Scotland said this on Tuesday in Abuja when she visited the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama.

 The Secretary General said that amount could not be compared to what the nation got in 10 years.

Scotland said President Muhammadu Buhari was very clear on the repatriation of the funds, saying that it is a matter of pride to the Commonwealth to have been able to assist Nigeria in getting her money back.

“We were very proud in the Commonwealth when the President graced us by coming to the Tackling Corruption Together Conference in May, 2016, and he explained so graphically, the wisdom that comes from corruption.

“And I don’t think anyone would forget. When they asked him, what do you want out of this and he said, I want my money back. I want my money back to the people of Nigeria.

“And this has been a matter of great pride to us in the Commonwealth that we have been able to assist Nigeria in getting its money back and in one year.

”Nigeria has managed to get back more money than it has got back in 10 years before.

“It recovered about three billion dollars. That is over five hundred billion naira.

“And that is money that can go to schools and housing and roads and I hope that we will get even more money back together,” Scotland said.

Scotland also commended the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for its fight against corruption in the country.

She commended the EFCC Chairman, Ibrahim Magu, for the work he has done, expressing hope that it was just the beginning of the war against corruption in the country.

“And I do applaud everything that the new commission is doing.

 “I was there to launch that building, fantastic building and I really applaud the acting chairman because of the work that he has done.

“I am hoping that this is just the beginning and I pledge our continued support,” Scotland said.

She thanked Nigeria for her generosity towards the Commonwealth and called for more support.

In his remarks, Onyeama said anti-corruption was one of the three priority areas of the President.

The minister expressed delight over the Commonwealth’s monitoring and supporting anti-corruption efforts, saying it was of high importance.

He said Nigeria looked forward to having more cooperation and engagement with the Commonwealth, including funding.

“We believe in the Commonwealth and we believe that the better funded it is, the more responsive to our needs it would be, ” he said. - NAN