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FG Approves New Whistle-blower Bill

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The Federal Government, on Wednesday, approved a new Whistle Blower draft bill.

It also lamented that the existing Whistle-blowing policy launched on December 21, 2016, is “losing momentum.”

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Dr Zainab Ahmed, disclosed this to State House Correspondents after this week’s Council meeting, chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.

Launched in December 2016 by the Buhari-led Government, the Whistleblower Protection Act, facilitated through the Federal Ministry of Finance, provides legal cover for individuals who voluntarily expose acts of fraud, bribery, looted government funds and assets, financial misconduct and other forms of corruption.

The policy also rewards a whistleblower who provides information about any financial mismanagement or tipoff about stolen funds to the ministry’s portal with 2.5 – 5 per cent of the funds recovered by the Nigerian government.

Speaking after this week’s FEC meeting, Ahmed said the Council approved the draft bill to strengthen the fight against corruption and protect whistleblowers that provide helpful information to the FG.

She said: “The Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning presented several memos today. The first is the draft whistleblower bill for 2022. This memo has been reviewed by the Council and approved with a provision to ensure alignment with the Evidence Act.

“The purpose of operationalising and putting in place a whistleblower bill is to strengthen the fight against corruption and to enable protection for whistleblowers that provide information for use by the government.

“As you know, since 2016, the Council has approved the setting up the Presidential Initiative of Continuous Audit. PICA has been working in partnership with EFCC, ICPC, DSS, and NFIU and the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation.

“We noticed that the whistleblower policy response has lost momentum. We embarked on engagement in the six geo-political zones, and one of the main outcomes we found is that people are concerned about their safety due to providing information. So, this bill is critical to ensure the effectiveness of the retention of the whistle policy.”

Ahmed also revealed that the Council approved N9.24bn for 2022/2023 Group Life Insurance Cover for civil servants.

This includes government officials in all ministries departments and agencies, paramilitary and intelligence agencies.

According to her, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Dr Folashade Yemi-Esan, presented the memo to the Council.

She said, “The Head of Service of the Federation presented a memo to Council on Group Life Insurance Cover for 2022 to 2023. This insurance coverage covers all government officials in all government agencies, paramilitary and intelligence agencies.

“Council approved the total sum of N9.24bn naira for the insurance cover for 2022 to 2023.

“As you know, the insurance will take effect from the date of payment and in Nigeria, by our laws, the insurance cover is 30 per cent of the annual emolument of any staff of government that is deceased and the insurance company pays this cover to the beneficiaries of the deceased staff”, she said.

The Council also approved the 2022 Finance Bill designed to support the implementation of the 2023 appropriation bill.

Ahmed said: “If you recall, at the public presentation of the budget to the National The minister said the bill has five focus areas: tax equity reforms, climate change and green growth provisions, job creation and economic growth reforms, reforming tax incentives as well as generating revenue-enhancing tax administration.

She explained, “The purpose of the tax equity reforms is to combat tax evasion and aggressive tax planning practices that some companies operating in Nigeria are involved in but also enabling the utilisation of ICT tools and using international best practice to assess taxpayers tax on a fair, reasonable basis.

“The climate change green growth focus will complement non-fiscal reforms designed to reduce greenhouse emissions and facilitate domestic and international investment in climate adaptation, mitigation, and enhance green growth and create jobs.

“The third focus area, job creation and economic growth, is also designed to complement the ease of doing business and other reforms to support capital formation by the private sector as well as to foster enabling business environment for micro, small and medium enterprises for youth as well as women in businesses. It will also help to enhance the performance of businesses in the FinTech, the ICT, entertainment, fashion, sports and the art space.”

Ahmed explained that the fourth tax incentive is to phase out an antiquated pioneer and other tax incentives for mature industries and move a revised set of incentives to real infant industries through economic governance reforms.

She said the FG has also made proposals to reduce tax expenditure equivalent to foregone revenue to support the fiscal space and based on statistics, to gradually transition away from expensive and redundant tax incentives to incentives that reward performance.

The fifth Focus Area of revenue generation and tax administration is to complement the ease of doing business and other reforms that enhance tax administration.

She added that the Finance Bill is amending several fiscal laws, including the capital gains tax, company income tax, customs excise tariff act, Federal Inland Revenue Service act, personal income tax, stamp duties act, tertiary education tax, VAT act, Insurance Act, Nigerian police Trust Fund Act, as well as the National Agency for Engineering Act.

“So with this approval from Council, His Excellency Mr President will convey to the National Assembly a request for the consideration of this bill,” Ahmed said.

According to her, the Council also approved the memo for the design, construction and supply of nine Ballistic Riverine assault boats, as well as nine patrol boats with all associated accessories in favour of Messrs Sewa West African limited in the sum of N689,722,681.30 inclusive of 7.5 per cent VAT for the Nigerian customs service.

Meanwhile, the Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Clem Agba, said the Council also approved the revised National Social Protection Policy (2021 – 2025) presented by the Minister of Finance and Budget and National Planning.

He said: “This revised national social protection policy is an offshoot of a previous policy that was implemented from 2017 to 2020. The review was carried out in collaboration with all relevant ministries, departments and agencies at the federal and state levels and other key stakeholders, including development partners.

“Recall that when the first policy was in place, there was no ministry like humanitarian affairs, and now we have that ministry. And since it’s part of the review process to do this every four years, the review had to be done.

Agba said the National Social Protection Council would be set up and chaired by the Vice President, with the Secretariat domiciled in the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning.

Its membership will include the ministers of Labour And Employment and Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, who will serve as Vice Chair of that Council. The ministers will also co-chair a technical working group.

On his part, the Minister of Power, Abubakar Aliyu, said Council approved the contract for procurement of 20 transformer turns ratio analysers awarded to Segulu Stembek Global Services Ltd, at the sum of N564,231,854.08 with 7.5 per cent VAT with a completion period of four months.

He said, “So, this new technology is more reliable. So, it will be used by the TCN in testing the transformers across the country to know their reliability and detect any faults.”

Crime

Dutch Journalist Exposes Heineken’s Corruption In Nigeria, Others

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Dutch investigative journalist, Oliver Beerman has once again turned the spotlight on Heineken’s controversial business operations across Africa, alleging a history of corruption, unethical marketing, and exploitation in his 2019 book The Dark Side of Heineken’s African Beer Empire.

During a book reading event in Abuja on Saturday, Beerman shared insights from his six-year investigation into the brewing giant’s activities in 13 African countries, including Nigeria.

The book paints a damning picture of Heineken’s conduct in the region, with Beerman accusing the company of engaging in practices that undermine local brewers, collaborating with authoritarian regimes, and exploiting weak governance to bypass ethical standards.

READ ALSO: American Woman Shares Her Experience With Nigerian Romance Scams

“Unlike in Western markets, where regulations are stricter, Heineken has operated with far more freedom in Africa,” Beerman stated.

He pointed to the company’s use of marketing tactics disguised as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), such as funding schools in Nigeria’s Enugu state, where the buildings are emblazoned with the Heineken logo and painted in the company’s colors.

“This should be CSR, but in this case, it is another form of advertisement,” Beerman explained.

Beerman also revealed that many African consumers are unaware that brands they consider local—such as Gulder, Star Radler, and Primus—are actually brewed by Heineken.

He highlighted the company’s strategy of creating the illusion of local identity, such as printing the Congolese flag on bottles sold in the Democratic Republic of Congo, while the profits ultimately flow to Heineken’s shareholders abroad.

“They make the product look national, but in the end, the profits go to Heineken outside the country,” Beerman added.

Nigeria, according to Beerman, is by far Heineken’s most important market in Africa, contributing nearly half of the company’s turnover on the continent.

“Nigeria represents half of Heineken’s total turnover in Africa,” Beerman stated. “Lagos, the economic capital, is the heart of a conurbation that 20 million people call home. Nigeria as a whole is more than 200 million strong.”

But the journalist’s findings also expose a darker side to Heineken’s operations. Beerman uncovered a marketing campaign orchestrated by Heineken Nigeria’s CEO, Festus Odimegwu, that allegedly involved the use of sex workers to promote Heineken products.

“In Nigeria, the upper and middle classes drink in clubs without prostitution, but poor people go to bars where you pay 2,000 naira (around $10 at the time) to sleep with a woman,” Beerman recounted.

“So it came to pass that the company designated 500 well-frequented bars as so-called hot spots, where young women had to promote the beer.

“When I ask if they were also encouraged to sleep with the clients, Odimegwu’s eyes grow large as he looks at me, ‘What kind of question is that? Of course, they are prostitutes.’”

When Beerman reached out to Heineken for comment, executives defended the company’s past actions, stating that ethical concerns were not a priority at the time.

“You are looking at the past with eyes of now. Back then, ethical questions were not as important as the present,” Beerman quoted the executives as saying.

However, Beerman countered, “I show in the book that already in the 1990s, people who were already thinking of business ethics had begun asking Heineken questions about some of its practices.”

Beerman’s findings have sparked renewed calls for greater corporate accountability in Africa, where multinational companies are often able to operate with little oversight.

 

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Crime

Adamawa Courts Jail Twelve Internet Fraudsters

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Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC,

 

Justices Kayanson Samuel Lawanson, Hammed Isha, Benjamin Manji Lawal and Mohammed Ibrahim Tola of the Adamawa State High Court, Adamawa State have  convicted and sentenced twelve  internet fraudsters to various jail terms.

The convicts include, Oladele Pius, Emmanuel Bulus, Elijah Elisha, Alamin Mohammed Bappa, Jamilu Usman and Enoch Solomon.

The rest are Emmanuel Anthony, Enebeli  Samuel Israel, Dimas Hyellabulatin, Emmanuel Dike , Joshua Umoru and Dan Eden Sunday.

They were separately arraigned between November 6 and 7, 2024  on a one count charge of cheating and impersonation by the Gombe Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

ALSO READ: NDLEA Nabs Businessman For Using Ingestion To Smuggle Cocaine

The charge against Alamin Muhammad Bappa reads: “Alamin Muhammad Bappa sometimes in September, 2024 at Sangere area of Modibo Yola, Adamawa State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court with intent to defraud one Amity Shane and other unsuspecting foreign nationals, created some fake Gmail’ and Facebook accounts using the name Jacob sermon to pose as a cybersecurity professional that helps people to recover their compromised or blocked Facebook accounts for a service fee of $20 each and thereby committed an offense of cheating by impersonation contrary to Section 314 of Penal Code Law of Adamawa State, 2018 and punishable under Section 315 of the same law”.

The charge against Oladele Pius reads: “ that you Oladele Pius sometimes in September, 2024 in Yola, Adamawa State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, being a student of Modibo Adamawa University of Technology Yola, with intent to defraud, did cheat by Impersonation, Having created and operating one Mr. Legit Hassan Abbadin a foreign national with Whatsapp account No. +1 (842) 921332016, through your Your iphone 11 Model No. MWNC2CH/A for ” a virtual funds transactions” with a motive of gaining a financial advantage from other unsuspecting internet users  and thereby committed an offense of cheating by impersonation contrary to Section 314 of Penal Code Law of Adamawa State, 2018 and punishable under Section 315 of the  same law.

Upon arraignment, the defendants pleaded guilty to their respective charges, prompting prosecution counsel Saad .H Sa’ad and M.D Aliyu to pray the court to convict and sentence the defendants accordingly; however, counsels to the defendants pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy.

Justice Lawanson thereafter convicted and sentenced  Bulus , Elisha, Usman and Israel to ten years imprisonment or a fine of N200,000 (Two Hundred Thousand Naira) each. However, Hyellabulati bagged five years imprisonment or a fine of N200,000.

Justice Tola convicted and sentenced Dike, Umoru, Sunday and Pius to five years imprisonment with an option of fine of N2,000,000 (Two Million Naira) each.

Justice Lawal convicted and sentenced Bappa and Solomon to five years imprisonment or a fine of  N200,000 each.

Justice Isha convicted and sentenced Anthony to ten years imprisonment or a fine of  N300,000.00 (Three Hundred Thousand Naira).

The Judges ruled that the mobile phones recovered during investigation be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria .

In addition, Justice Lawal ordered that the sum of $20 recovered during investigation from Bappa and being  proceeds of crime, be returned to the victim.

The convicts were arrested  on September 24, 2024 around Modibo Adamawa University of Technology area of Yola, Adamawa State by  operatives of the Commission  following actionable intelligence linking them with cybercrimes activities. They were charged to court and convicted.

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Crime

NDLEA Nabs Businessman For Using Ingestion To Smuggle Cocaine

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The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has announced the arrest of a businessman caught attempting to traffic a significant quantity of cocaine.

The NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, revealed the arrest on Sunday through his official X account.

According to Babafemi, the suspect had ingested the drugs in a bid to evade detection but was apprehended and forced to excrete the contraband while in custody.

READ ALSO: PDP’s Ajayi Rejects Ondo Poll Results, Vows Legal Action

Sharing a video of the seized drugs, Babafemi issued a stern warning to drug traffickers, especially during the upcoming holiday season.

He wrote, “Detty December: Before you swallow those drugs, please remember that the new @ndlea_nigeria has the capacity and capability to catch you.

“The businessman who excreted this amount of cocaine will not only spend Christmas behind bars but also risks a life sentence at the end of his trial. Beware!”

The agency has ramped up its operations to combat drug trafficking as the year-end festivities approach, a period known for increased criminal activity.

Officials warned that traffickers face severe consequences, including life imprisonment if convicted.

The NDLEA urged Nigerians to avoid involvement in illicit drug activities, emphasizing its readiness to ensure a drug-free festive season.

 

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