AGENCY FOR FRAUD !! NHIS: Why I won’t approve budget, by board chair

Activities at the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) may soon be grounded if the budget impasse between Executive Secretary Prof. Usman Yusuf and the Board of the scheme is not resolved.

Board Chairman Mrs. Enyantu Ifenne has vowed not to grant approval to the budget submitted by the executive secretary. The budget is padded and lacks transparency, among other flaws, Dr. Ifenne said.

She argued in an August 20 memo to Yusuf that any attempt to approve the budget would be misconstrued as a conspiracy to defraud the system.

The council chair implored Yusuf to reflect the council’s positions on all the contentious areas as enumerated and represent the document for authorisation.

The management and the board have since been undecided over the budget, as the management seems not ready to carry out the directives of the board.

Hence, the NHIS which is responsible for the regulation of the country’s health insurance scheme, has no budget yet to drive its operation, four months to the end of the year.

The management’s revised budget submitted to the board proposes revenue/income of N44.92 billion and expenditure of N64.73 billion, with a budget deficit of N19.81 billion. It was rejected for not reflecting the outcome of the board’s deliberations.

The board rejected the budget because of the 30.6 per cent, which it described as unacceptably high.

Besides, the board pointed out that the revised budget was embellished with some suspicious duplication of expenditure items worth N264.9 million.

Other observation made by the board include non-reflection of the N64 million allocation from the Federal Government in the scheme’s revenue projections for the year.

The council also complained about inflation of the amounts if approved for manpower development. The council at its July 24 emergency meeting resolved that the budgetary provision for various manpower training be pegged at N250 million pending the comprehensive staff auditing.

The management proposed N1.010 billion. The council asked the management to reduce the proposed trainings.

The council also frowned against the N50 million budgeted for Corporate Social Responsibility. The initial budget was N100 million, which was rejected by the council. It argued that it was not a justifiable application of insurance funds.

The council also pointed out the repetition of items under various headings.

In view of the said observations, the council directed the management to seek technical support from the Ministry of Budget and National Planning or the Budget Office to ensure that the budget aligns with standard formats.

The council alleged that the management did not comply with its directive. It argued that the format presented by the management makes tracking and evaluation of the budget performance impossible.

The council also noted: “For the same reasons, the budget summary presented with the proposal is sketchy as it does not, among other flaws, disaggregate expenditure on key budget items, such as Overhead, programmes/capital expenditure.”

“Lack of transparency in the scheme’s budget inflicts with the principles of good governance, accountability and anti-corruption drive of the Buhari administration,” it said.

The board insisted that until the necessary amendment agreed on at the 24th July 2018 meeting is carried out, the budget will not have its blessing.

The scheme has been running on no-budget since the beginning of the year.

The first attempt to put up a budget was made in 2017 prior to the suspension of the Executive Secretary. The budget was rejected on the ground that it was, unrealistic and a wasteful deployment of fund on white elephant projects.

Health Minister Prof. Isaac Adewole then directed that the budget be reviewed, which was done by the then acting Executive Secretary, Attahiru Ibrahim.

The reviewed budget already got the approval of the necessary bodies when Yusuf was reinstated and on resumption of office, he discarded the budget and began a fresh process which was rejected by the board.

The council noted that the first budget proposal was rejected based on the lack of budget narrative; and expenditures not measurably linked to council strategic objectives. The budget was also said not to have aligned with National Chart of Accounts (NCOA) format and also not complied with standard international best accounting practices.

This, the council said, is pertinent as NHIS seeks to leverage funds from international development organisations. - The Nation

Police arrest 60-year-old Ifa priestess, 2 sons over alleged kidnapping

The Police Command in Lagos State has arrested a 60-year-old Ifa chief priestess and her two sons in connection with some kidnap cases in the state.

The spokesman for the command, CSP Chike Oti, made the development known in a statement in Lagos on Sunday.

Oti said that the suspects were arrested on Saturday at their home at No.15, Irepodun Street, Egan, Igando, a Lagos suburb.

He said that the woman was said to be a chief priestess and custodian of an Ifa shrine.

She was alleged to be aiding her sons, aged 26 and 32, who allegedly lure their victims with charms to their home.

Oti described the suspects as “deadly bunch of kidnappers”.

He said that they used the social media to lure their victims and put them in captivity until they paid ransoms for their release.

“The trio met their waterloo when one Bridget Obazee came to the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Igando Police Station, CSP Taiwo Kasumu, on Sept. 7 and complained that her brother, Osahon, was missing.

“The complainant told the DPO that the kidnappers were threatening to kill Osahon if they (family) failed to pay a N1.5 million ransom.

“She added that they warned her not to involve the police, otherwise her brother would be killed.”

Oti said that the DPO quickly contacted the Commissioner of Police, Mr Imohimi Edgal, who deployed men from the Intelligence Unit of the command to reinforce the DPO’s team.

He said that the team immediately set out in search of the suspects.

“The same day, at about 11a.m., through discreet investigation, the team arrested the woman and her sons, Akeem Bashiru and Ojo Solomon,” he said.

He said that besides Osahon, the police also rescued two other victims in the home of the suspects, which doubled as their hideout.

He gave the names of the other victims as Adugbagbe Akindele of No.7 Peace Crescent Salolo, Meiran, Lagos and one Ekwegbalu Augustine, who was lured from Anambra with the promise of a job in an oil company.

Oti said, “the victims have been held for weeks, pending the payment of ransom by their families.”

He said that those rescued had been re-united with their relations.

He said that during interrogation, Solomon confessed that he lured the victims with the promise of getting them employment.

“He further confessed that he lured some victims for a gay relationship and that their mother empowered him and his brother spiritually,” Oti said.

He said that the mother used charms to intimidate and instil fear in victims.

Oti hailed residents of Lagos State for assisting the command with useful information and urged them not to relent. - Daily Post

FIRS: We’re going after bank accounts of billionaire tax defaulters

Tunde Fowler, chairman of Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), says the service will soon go after the bank accounts of defaulting taxpayers who are billonaires.

Fowler, who disclosed this at a stakeholders’ meeting in Lagos, said most of such taxpayers, have between N1bn and N5bn in their accounts.

He said such individuals have no taxpayer identification number (TIN) while those who have TIN have not filed any tax returns as taxpayers.

“What we have done is what we call ‘substitution’ which also is in our laws which empowers us to appoint the banks as collection agents for tax,” he said.

“So, all these ones of TIN and no pay and no TIN and no pay, to the total of 6772 will have their accounts frozen or put under substitution pending when they come forward. First, they refused to come forward in 2016, they refused to come forward under VAT and are still operating here.

“So, we are putting them under notice that it is their civic responsibility to pay tax and to file returns on these accounts.”

Fowler explained that FIRS had done a thorough analysis of all businesses, partnerships, corporate accounts that have a minimum turnover of N1 billion per annum for the past three years.

“First of all, the law states clearly that before you open a corporate account, part of the opening documentation is the tax I.D. From the 23 banks, we have analysed so far, we have 31,395 records, out of which effectively minus duplications we had 18,602,” he said.

“We broke those into three categories: Those that have TIN tax I.D, those that don’t have no TIN and of course no TIN no pay and those that have TIN and have not even paid anything.

“So, on a minimum, every company or business included here over the last three years have had a banking turnover of N3 billion and above. Some of them have had banking turnover of over N5 billion and have not paid one kobo in taxes. Now the total number of TIN and no pay is 6772.

“So, if someone is good in mathematics and you take the minimum level of N3 billion multiply by 409 and they are operating within our society and economy and do not remit or make any tax”” payment.”

Paraphrasing Wole Soyinka’s famous pithy quotation of wasted generation, Fowler said this generation should not repeat the literary scholar’s statement by their conduct: “I plead with the banks to support us in supporting us, you are supporting Nigeria. In supporting Nigeria, you are supporting all Nigerians and those who have chosen Nigeria as home. And most of all, you are supporting a future that we can leave behind for the upcoming youth of Nigeria.

“I remember this when we were growing up a statement made by Wole Soyinka that our generation is a wasted generation. That (the statement) has remained in my mind for many years. Wole Soyinka is still alive. His generation is a generation of 80s and above. Let us not look back and say also our generation has not left any value behind. I think it is time for us to change.”

He noted that FIRS is also paying closer attention to audit.

“We have started a comprehensive Audit exercise that involves both national and regional Audits… because we got to a position where we found out that majority of the major organizations that were allowed to do self-assessment, do not truthfully declare or pay the taxes that were due,” he said.

“To date we have raised assessment of over N805 billion from 1324 National Audits out of which 499 (taxpayers) have N219 billion.

“N219 billion, it can do a lot of things. It can provide certainly a lot more infrastructure, healthcare and educational facilities. These monies that are supposed to go into the Federation Account are shared between Federal, Local and State governments. So, every state can get an additional 1 billion from such monies, hopefully if you vote right, that governor, that governor would deploy it to the right place.” - TheCable

National Assembly may cut short recess

There were strong indications that the National Assembly may have concluded arrangements to cut short its long recess to consider the controversial Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) budget.

It was also learnt that a special session of the two chambers became necessary to allow the National Assembly reassess the Electoral Amendment Act Bill which was turned down by President Muhammadu Buhari last week.

A source close to the National Assembly leadership told our reporters that the question of reconvening on September 25 as scheduled has been taken over by events. He noted that the likelihood of the postponement of the September 25th date of resumption is being considered due to prevailing political circumstances.

According to him, “the All Progressives Congress (APC) fixed its governorship primaries for September 25, same day the National Assembly was scheduled to resume plenary.

“The party also scheduled its senatorial Primaries for September 27, House Of Representatives, Saturday, September 29, State Assembly, October 2 and national convention to endorse presidential candidate for October 6.

“The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) also scheduled its Presidential Primaries for October 6th.

“It is practically impossible for anybody to expect the National Assembly to resume plenary with the political activities lined up.

“What is likely to happen is for the leadership of the two chambers of the National Assembly to convoke a special session for the consideration and approval of the INEC budget.

“I’m aware that majority of members are predisposed to cutting short the recess to enable members consider the INEC budget.

“I am also aware that what to do with the rejected Electoral Act Amendment bill is on the table.

“Some are saying that the Electoral Act Amendment Bill will require only a clean-up or some clerical work. But what will be done with the bill as returned by Mr. President will be decided by the two chambers.

“What we know is that those pushing to cut short the recess appear to have upper hand.”

The source said that the announcement for the postponement of the 25th September resumption date and a new date for resumption will be made this week, barring any other intervening circumstances. - The Nation

2019: Southern elders grill Atiku, vow to invite Buhari

Elders of Southern and Middle Belt Forum grilled ex-Vice-President Atiku Abubakar over his presidential ambition on Sunday.

The elders comprised members of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), Niger Delta Forum, Ohaneze Ndigbo, Afenifere, Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, and Middle Belt Forum.

The meeting took place at the Abuja residence of Edwin Clark, leader of PANDEF.

Nnia Nwodo, president-general of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, told journalists Abubakar was the first presidential aspirant to appear before the forum.

“We have been meeting for quite sometime. We are besieged with matters of national importance affecting the health of our country,” he said.

“One of the programmes we decided to embark on is to talk with those who have expressed desire to lead our country to contest for the presidency.

“We wanted to rub minds with them; we wanted to know their views about the things that are of importance to us so that by the time we finish the interaction, we will be able to assure ourselves which of them we think will reflect our aspirations and rejig our country and bring it to where our country men and women will like it to be.

“By sheer force of providence, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the Wazirin Adamawa has become the first person to be with us.”

Abubakar, who is one of the presidential aspirants of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said it is important to interact and exchange views with the socio-cultural, political and business leaders.

“I’m particularly delighted that I am the first aspirant that you are meeting. This will provide me the first opportunity to be able to interact with you representing four zones of our country,” he said.

“Like it has been said earlier, Nigeria is beset with many problems. In fact, problems that are so grave, that are likely, if we don’t move fast enough to contain them, to bring about another national crisis, God forbid!

“It is therefore our responsibility both as socio-cultural leaders and political leaders to engage ourselves in meaningful discuss so that together we can resolve the problems confronting this country.

“Particularly, I will like to mention a few key areas where we need to pay attention to: one, is the structure of our country, is it working? Is it what we want? At least, it has been there for a number of decades, may be since the military incursion into our polity in 1966. Is our economy working well? What of other sectors of our public life? Security, are we secure? Is law and order protecting the majority of our people in this country? Of course, we have social sector to contend with.

“We have some problems as far as our educational sector is concerned. Our health care delivery, our infrastructural deficit, name them.

“And I think without interacting and exchanging views and agreeing on how best to resolve these problems with socio-cultural leaders, political leaders or leaders of business community, we won’t be able to solve all these problems.

“So, I want to thank you for giving me this opportunity to interact with you and identify areas we can confront together and what kind of resolution we are likely to embark on so that we can resolve some of these problems.”

At the end of the meeting, Nwodo said the PDP presidential aspirant would be held accountable for his promises, should he be elected.

“We hold his utterances in high esteem and should fortune smile on him and he becomes the president of this country, we will hold him to account,” she said.

“However, we have not come to a conclusion yet, we are going to listen to other aspirants. He has tremendous convictions of where he wants to go and we wish him well.”

The forum said it would meet with other presidential aspirants, including President Muhammadu Buhari. - TheCable

Desist from checking citizens’ account details – IGP warns FSARS

The Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris has told the operatives of the reformed Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad, FSARS, to desist from checking citizens’ bank account details.

The IGP also warned the FSARS operatives not to invade people’s phones and laptops unless they have a court order or an instruction from the commissioner of police in charge of a state police command.

Speaking during the weekend at a workshop on the reformed FSARS in Owerri, Imo state, the IGP warned that any FSARS operatives who violated the new rules would be dismissed from the force immediately.

Ibrahim, who was represented by the Deputy commissioner of police in charge of the IGP’s X-Squad, Amaechi Elumelu, said that any FSARS operative who handles cases not related to armed robbery and kidnapping would equally be dismissed from the Nigeria police force.

He said that under the new era in FSARS, the operatives must be professional and respect the rights and privileges of all citizens.

The IGP recalled that in the past, FSARS was considered the most elitist and professional Unit of the Police force because of its conduct.

The FSARS commander in Imo state, Geoffrey Victor, a chief superintendent of police, said that the Unit under his supervision would obey and carry out the IGP’s instructions under the reformed F-SARS to the letter. - Daily Post

Ritualist arrested with corpse at Ekiti river

Nemesis caught up with a young man in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, on Sunday as he attempted to dump a corpse by the riverside.

The incident which occurred at Ureje River along Ikere Road in Ajilosun area of the town at about 6.00 am saw the suspect nearly lynched by an angry mob

The suspect was saved by the timely arrival of a police patrol team which whisked him and the corpse away from the scene.

Residents at the scene of the incident claimed that the suspect killed the woman and attempted to bolt away before he was apprehended

The gathering of bystanders and witnesses caused a traffic gridlock till the time the suspect and the corpse were taken away.

A witness said: “The suspect was seen with the woman in the river as early as 6am in the morning and he was accosted by people around.

“He was about to be lynched but the timely arrival of the police who rescued and took him away to their state save him from being killed”.

Another source said “The youngman, believed to be in his early twenties was caught in the act in the river where he killed the woman and was given a hot chase by the people.

“He was running towards the left side of the river and the people alongside policemen went after him before he was apprehended at the other end of the river.”

Men of the Ekiti State Fire Service came to the river to evacuate the corpse of the woman around 8.35 am

Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Caleb Ikechukwu, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, confirmed the incident.

He explained that investigation into the incident is ongoing as the suspect is being interrogated on the circumstances surrounding the incident. - The Nation

Osun election: ‘Why Buhari secretly released N16bn Paris Club refund’ – PDP

Ahead of the upcoming governorship election in Osun State, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has acused the federal government of secretly releasing the sum of N16.6 billion Paris Club refund to the state.

POP alleged that part of the fund was meant to “bribe” leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to support Buhari’s re-election bid.

A statement by PDP’ s spokesperson, Kola Ologbondiyan stressed that the illegal diversion of public fund was tantamount to corruption on the part of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The statement reads, “Further investigation reveals that bulk of the money has already been penciled for sharing to APC leaders, especially at the national level, as bribe, to short-circuit the system to favour Buhari’s reelection bid, while the people of Osun continue to suffer deprivation.

“The PDP has been further made aware of how part of the fund will be moved to private company accounts as well as various hidden locations for the compromised INEC officials and APC leaders.

“Indeed, these revelations have clearly shown that the Buhari Presidency and the APC care less about the welfare of Nigerians and have completely sold themselves to sleazes and corruption for selfish gains.” - Daily Post

Borno resident: How Boko Haram fighters took our food after attacking soldiers

Musa Ishaq, a resident of Gudumbali in Guzamala local government area of Borno state, has narrated how Boko Haram insurgents seized food items and animals after attacking a military base in the town.

Ishaq said many soldiers fled the community during the attack, leaving residents at the mercy of the insurgents.

He said no member of the community was killed because the insurgents told them that they had only come to reclaim the community, not to harm them.

“We didn’t lose anyone here because the Boko Haram people made it clear that they only wanted to reclaim our land and not to attack us,” he told TheCable.

“They told us that the soldiers were their targets, even though they burnt some houses. After they attacked the soldiers, they took our food and animals and told us that we should not be afraid.”

Abdul Bari, another resident, corroborated the account of Ishaq. He said said the insurgents assured the people that they did not come with intention to kill civilians.

“Their target was the military and not civilians. This is what they told us as they ask us to get out of their sight within a blink of an eye,” Bari told NAN.

“The insurgents were fully kitted with khaki and covered their faces. After one minute, they began shooting from the gun truck facing the military location. There were sounds of sporadic gunshots from many directions. I don’t know what happened but the army was engaging with the terrorists.”

At least 2,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) returned to Guzamala two months ago, after residing at IDP camps in Maiduguri, the state capital.

They were escorted home by troops who said they had “flushed out remnants of Boko Haram”.

But some of them remained in Maiduguri for the fear of further attacks in the community.

One of these persons who is currently at the El-Miskin IDP camp in the state capital told TheCable that he called people in the village and they told him that the insurgents had taken over the whole town.

“They said Boko Haram did not harm them but they killed some soldiers and took over the town,” said the resident who preferred not being named.

“They also took some of their things. Even before the attack, some people have started coming back to Maiduguri because the place is not safe yet. They hardly go to their farms. They are all afraid. That’s why I can’t go back with my family yet.”

Commenting on the attack, Mamman Durkwa, deputy governor of the state, said security forces were on top of the situation.

“It is unfortunate to confirm to you that there was an attack by Boko Haram extremists on a military base and other communities of Gudumbali,” he said in a statement.

“Thousands of the people who were displaced and spent some years in resettlement camps in Maiduguri have returned back recently after the liberation of those surrounding communities by our gallant security forces.

“I regret to inform you that there was another attack by insurgents in Gudumbali, but I am yet to get the number of casualties.

“I just spoke with the Police Commissioner, Mr Damian Chukwu, and the Brigade Commander in Monguno. Both confirmed to me that the attack actually took place, and our security forces were on top of the situation.”

In a statement on Sunday morning, Texas Chukwu, army spokesman, said the military had recovered the town.

He said normalcy was restored in the community after the soldiers “regrouped and reinforced”.

“The encounter took place when the insurgents attacked the community, set some buildings ablaze and quickly withdrew from the community,” Chukwu said in a statement.

“However, no human casualty was recorded in the encounter. The troops have regrouped and normalcy has been restored. The troops have also been reinforced with additional troops to d

“The people of Gudumbali community and Guzamala Local Government in general are urged to remain calm and resilient as Operation Lafiya Dole troops tirelessly combat the terrorists. They are also implored to maintain high level of vigilance and monitor strange faces to prevent fleeing Boko Haram terrorists from infiltrating and hibernating in their communities.”- TheCable