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Folarin Kehinde

Sports

Ex-Super Eagles star Tijani Babangida escapes death, loses brother in ghastly accident

by Folarin Kehinde
written by Folarin Kehinde

Former Super Eagles winger Tijjani Babangida today escaped death in a fatal car crash, which unfortunately claimed the life of younger brother Ibrahim, a former youth international.

Childhood friend and former international Abdul Sule confirmed the unfortunate incident.

The Babangida brothers along with the wife of Tijjani were travelling along the Kaduna-Zaria highway when the car they were in was involved in the accident.

Tijjani was the one driving and he ran into a parked trailer.

Ibrahim Babangida died on the spot, while ex-Ajax flying winger Tijjani, who is the president of the country’s players’ union, his wife and child were taken to hospital for treatment.

Ibrahim, who won the 1993 FIFA U17 World Cup alongside the likes of Nwankwo Kanu and Wilson Oruma, will be buried according to Muslim rites in Kaduna tomorrow.

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JUST IN: Senate approves death penalty for drug traffickers

by Folarin Kehinde
written by Folarin Kehinde

Senate on Thursday, May 9, approved the death penalty for those convicted on the charge of drug trafficking in the country.

The punishment prescribed in the extant NDLEA Act is a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

The resolution of the Senate followed its consideration of a report of the Committees on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters and Drugs and Narcotics, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Act (Amendment) Bill, 2024.

The Chairman of the Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights & Legal Matters presented the report during plenary, Senator Mohammed Monguno (APC-Borno North).

The bill, which passed its third reading, aims to update the list of dangerous drugs, strengthen the operations of the NDLEA, review penalties, and empower the establishment of laboratories.

Section 11 of the current act prescribes that “any person who, without lawful authority; imports, manufactures, produces, processes, plants or grows the drugs popularly known as cocaine, LSD, heroin or any other similar drugs shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to be sentenced to imprisonment for life” was amended to reflect a stiffer penalty of death.

Although the report did not recommend a death penalty for the offence, during consideration, Senator Ali Ndume moved that the life sentence should be upgraded to the death penalty.

During a clause-by-clause consideration of the Bill, Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin, who presided over the session, put the amendment on the death penalty to a voice vote and ruled that the “ayes” had it.

But Senator Adams Oshiomhole objected to the ruling, saying that the “nays” had it.

He argued that matters of life and death should not be treated hurriedly, but Barau said it was too late, as he failed to call for division immediately after his ruling.

The bill was subsequently read for the third time and passed by the Senate.

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BREAKING: Fubara storms Rivers Assembly amid impeachment saga

by Folarin Kehinde
written by Folarin Kehinde

Rivers state governor, Siminalayi Fubara, stormed the Rivers State House of Assembly complex in Port Harcourt on Thursday, May 9, amid alleged plot by lawmakers to impeach him.

This was revealed in a video posted by Channels TV.

The video shows Fubara and his entourage driving into the Assembly quarters.

The governor said he was there as the governor of the state. He, however, took a three-minute stroll around the grounds before leaving.

More details to come………

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JUST IN: Former aviation minister, daughter, and two others granted ₦100 million bail each

by Folarin Kehinde
written by Folarin Kehinde

A Federal High Court in Abuja has granted bail of ₦100 million each, with two sureties, to former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, his daughter, and two other defendants.

The quartet is facing trial over an alleged fraud amounting to ₦2.7 billion.

The bail conditions, as set by the court, stipulate that each surety must possess landed properties within Abuja and demonstrate their status as responsible citizens.

The sureties must also depose to an affidavit of means, according to the court.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had arrested the former minister over an ongoing N8,069,176,864.00 money laundering probe.

Sirika was questioned over alleged fraudulent contracts awarded by him to a company known as Engirios Nigeria Limited, owned by his younger sibling, Abubakar Sirika.

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Business

Presidency reveals fresh plan to increase VAT rate

by Folarin Kehinde
written by Folarin Kehinde

The presidency, through its Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, has announced that there is a need to increase the value-added tax (VAT) rate.

Chairman of the committee, Taiwo Oyedele, disclosed this while informing Nigerians the VAT revenue-sharing formula would be reviewed.

He spoke at a policy exposure and impact assessment session organised by the committee earlier this week.

Nigeria’s VAT rate currently stands at 7.5 percent.

Oyedele, a tax expert, also said the committee has proposed reviewing state and local governments’ share of VAT revenue to 90 percent.

According to section 40 of the VAT Act, the federal government gets 15 percent of the tax revenue, states share 50 percent, and local governments share the balance of 35 percent.

However, Oyedele said the committee is recommending reducing the federal government’s share from 15 percent to 10 percent.

“We are proposing that the federal government’s portion should be reduced from 15 percent to 10 percent. States’ portion will be increased but they would share 90 percent with local governments,” he said.

Oyedele said the committee proposed adjusting the sharing formula for VAT because it is a tax of the states.

“In 1986, we had sales tax collected by states. The military came up with VAT in 1993 and stopped sales tax so they said it would collect VAT and return 15 per cent as cost of collection and that is the 15 per cent charged today came about. But we think it is too much,” he said.

The tax expert added that the burden of VAT should be on the ultimate consumer.

“So we must make it transparent and neutral and this is what over 100 countries where they have VAT are doing,” Oyedele said.

“Nigeria’s economy is more than 50 percent in services and if I just stop at this, many states will be broke because VAT collection will go down by more than 50 percent and it won’t even fly.

“So we therefore need to adjust the VAT rate upward. We would ensure that it doesn’t affect businesses. The only thing is to look at basic consumption from food, education, medical services and accommodation will carry zero percent VAT. So for the poor and small businesses, no VAT.”

Oyedele said other consumers will pay a bit more.

“We have spoken to businesses about it and they won’t increase the product price. We want to make sure when we do VAT reform, no one will increase the price of commodities. We will work the mathematics with the private sector,” he said.

Oyedele also said each state should not be granted exclusive custodianship of their collections– because it would likely result in chaos.

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Opinion

SIM Boxing, And The Unboxing of a Crime Syndicate

by Folarin Kehinde
written by Folarin Kehinde

Boxes have a multitude of uses, and the word “box”, lends itself to diverse contexts. For “Ajala Travelers,” the box is a necessity for keeping goods for their endless journeys. In literature, idiomatically, it can be said that “one has been boxed into a corner;” another might say to deal with a conundrum: “think outside the box;” then there is the “Pandora’s box” that no one wants opened. To “box one’s ear’s” refers to a hit on the head, especially around one’s ears. For those who celebrate Christmas, “Boxing Day,” which is the 26th of December, the second day of Christmastide is not to be joked with: A day to unbox gifts. So much for the box.

Another type of boxes exists in the telecommunications world: The SIM Box. Have you ever received an international call but saw a local phone number ring in? That is SIM Boxing in action. Let me explain.

SIM boxing happens when a person uses a special equipment, what is called a SIM Box containing tens to hundreds of SIM Cards—from 32, to 96, to 512 and more SIMs —to terminate international calls by bringing in the international call into the SIM Box using internet connections and regenerating the calls to the called party from one of the hundred SIMs in the box. This way, the called party will see the local number of the SIM from the SIM Box, and not the original international number calling.

With SIM Boxes, the syndicate charges international call carriers lower rates than what regular Nigerian telecommunications operators would charge, as they do not have to pay the full cost of maintaining and operating a phone network. Basically, they are bypassing the normal route for international phone call termination to terminate international calls cheaply and making windfall profits off it.

Take for instance, a telecommunications operator in Nigeria would ordinarily charge international carriers 10cents per minute for terminating an international call in Nigeria. However, by routing the call through a SIM Boxing syndicate, the international telecommunications carrier only pays a fraction of the charge to the syndicate, say 5cents per minute and does not have to pay the full 10cents per minute charge.

The SIM Boxer will terminate this call to the called subscriber at a rate of, say N15 per minute using one of the SIM cards in their SIM Box. The SIM Boxer thus makes a killing from the differential between the rate charged to the international carrier and the rate paid to telecommunications operators whose SIM they utilise in their SIM Boxes, at the expense of our national security and income of mobile network operators and quality of our service to consumers.

Asides the revenue loss that local mobile network operators suffer courtesy the activities of these syndicates, networks face congestion around areas where the illegal call routings via SIM Boxing occurs. With the huge traffic from the boxes, callers around the area see more dropped calls, poor call quality, and slower data speeds.

The introduction of the linking of National Identity Numbers (NIN) to SIMs is one way the Federal Government has worked to tackle this criminal enterprise. With every SIM in the country being linked to an NIN, an identity is tied to the owner of each line, and regulators now have visibility of ownership. That is not all. There is also the “Max-4 Rule” where a subscriber is not allowed to have more than four lines per network operator linked to his NIN. With this rule in place, coupled with the NIN-SIM Linkage, every telephone subscriber in Nigeria would not just be accurately identifiable but limited to having only four telephone lines per subscriber.

To enforce this rule, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on the 29th of March 2024 announced the deadline for Mobile Network Operators to bar all subscribers who had five lines and above, and whose NIN failed the verification test of biometrics matching.

Over the last few weeks, sources within the NCC have confirmed cases where a single NIN was linked to over 100,000 lines. Some NINs had well over 10,000 SIMS linked to them, others over a thousand, others had hundreds. Many have questioned the reports and asked, what would any single reasonable person be doing with these number of lines? Justifiable questions, because no sane person—who is not running a business—should own more than five SIM cards.

Given the ‘Max 4 Rule’ in place and the NIN-SIM Linkage Policy, SIM Boxers have been boxed into a corner. The applications they use require tens to thousands of SIM Cards, and the imperative to stay anonymous. If these policies are well and fully implemented, this is the death knell for SIM Boxing merchants.

But the regulator, NCC needs to be fast and ready for the battle ahead. SIM Boxing is a billion-dollar criminal enterprise. They are not going to go down without a fight. It is like taking a bone being chewed from the mouth of a bulldog.

Already, the battle seems to have kicked off. A lawyer, Barrister Olukoya Ogunbeje has recently taken the Federal Government, NCC and Mobile Network Operators to court, claiming that the barring of SIMs not linked to NINs goes against his fundamental human rights, and has cost him the loss of business opportunities. Anyone who has Nigeria’s interest at heart ordinarily supports this policy. It then does not add up seeing a so-called activist lawyer take up such a matter that is clearly against the public interest—unless this is the Haka cry of SIM Boxers.

A most interesting observation with his case is that it is not even a class action, but individually driven. It begs the question then, who is funding Barr. Olukoya Ogungbeje? What is his interest in fighting this policy that puts paid to the business of a criminal enterprise? Is he funded by interests in the SIM Boxing world? Time would tell. But in the meantime, NCC must go head on without fear or intimation and clean the Augean stable of SIM ownership in Nigeria.

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JUST IN: FG denies requesting $150 million bribe from Binance, vows to take action

by Folarin Kehinde
written by Folarin Kehinde

The Federal Government of Nigeria has denied the allegation made by Binance that some officials of the Tinubu administration requested for $150 million bribe.

The allegation was made by Binance Chief Executive Officer Richard Teng in a blog post. made false allegations of bribery against

Rabiu Ibrahim, an aide to the minister of information, Mohammed Idris, in a statement sent to journalists today, said the claim by Binance CEO lacks any iota of substance.

His words: “It is nothing but a diversionary tactic and an attempted act of blackmail by a company desperate to obfuscate the grievous criminal charges it is facing in Nigeria.

“The facts of this matter remain that Binance is being investigated in Nigeria for allowing its platform to be used for money laundering, terrorism financing, and foreign exchange manipulation through illegal trading.

“While this lawful investigation was going on, an executive of Binance, who was in court-sanctioned protective custody, escaped from Nigeria, and he is now a fugitive from the law. Working with the security agencies in Nigeria, Interpol is currently executing an international arrest warrant on the said fugitive.

“The phantom bribe claim is part of an orchestrated international campaign by this company that is facing criminal prosecution in many countries including the United States, to undermine the Nigerian government.

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BREAKING: Tinubu returns to Nigeria after two weeks abroad

by Folarin Kehinde
written by Folarin Kehinde

President Bola Tinubu has returned to Abuja early Wednesday after spending two weeks outside the country.

President Tinubu was received by top government officials at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport.

Tinubu’s diplomatic journey commenced with an official visit to the Kingdom of the Netherlands on April 23, at the invitation of Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

During his time in the Netherlands, Tinubu held discussions with prominent Dutch officials, including separate meetings with King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima. Additionally, he participated in the Nigerian-Dutch Business and Investment Forum.

Following his engagements in the Netherlands, the President attended a special World Economic Forum meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from April 28 to 29.

The forum, themed “Global Collaboration, Growth, and Energy for Development,” convened leaders from various sectors to discuss global development strategies.

However, after the conclusion of the summit on April 29th, the President’s whereabouts remained undisclosed, with the presidency providing no information while speculation arose regarding a potential private visit to Europe following his time in Saudi Arabia.

However, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, confirmed that Tinubu will return to the country on Wednesday.

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, along with his aides, will return to Nigeria tomorrow from Europe,” Onanuga wrote.

It would be recalled that former Vice President and PDP candidate in the last presidential election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, had accused Tinubu of globetrotting in search of foreign direct investments instead of solving the country’s numerous socio-economic challenges.

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Senate stops dozens of TV stations, photojournalists from covering plenary

by Folarin Kehinde
written by Folarin Kehinde

The Nigerian Senate has barred at least 10 television stations and over a dozen photojournalists from covering its plenary.

Leading reporters reports that the in-house security operatives, the National Assembly Sergeant-At-Arms, carried out the order on Tuesday in what they describe as a move to maintain order on the floor of the newly renovated Senate chamber.

It was gathered that a Sergeant-At-Arm operative who was stationed at the entrance of the Chamber told journalists that Senate President, Godswill Akpabio “instructed the security unit to restrict and prune down the number of media houses covering proceedings”.

A document which was signed by the Clerk of the Senate, Chinedu Akubueze pasted at the entrance to the hallowed chamber listed only seven media houses that would cover proceedings.

Those accredited include the Nigeria Television Authority, NTA, Channels, African Independent Television, AIT, Television Continental, TVC, Arise News, Newage and ADBN.

Meanwhile, the leadership of the Press Corps had, on Wednesday last week, met with the Clerk of the Senate to harmonise issues relating to covering its proceedings in the chamber.

Journalists who report to the National Assembly have now expressed shock at the action of the Senate, which proceeded to bar some TV stations from covering its plenary sessions while dialogue on the matter was still ongoing.

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Bandits kidnap 13 Abuja residents, demand N900 million, other items as ransom

by Folarin Kehinde
written by Folarin Kehinde

Bandits have abducted no fewer than 13 Abuja residents of Piko community at Bwari Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory.

Leading reporters gathered that the attack occurred during the early hours of Monday, May 6, 2024.

A resident of Shere, a neighbouring village, said one of the victims is a pastor in the village and an assistant head teacher with the Local Education Authority (LEA) in Shere community.

It was gathered that the bandits later called to demand over N900 million, among other demands as ransom for the release of the victims.

The residents said the bandits arrived the community some minutes after 12am and proceeded to a nearby herders’ helmet, from where they picked two herders and a pregnant woman.

“They later released the Fulani woman along with the head teacher, who is physically challenged, as well as one other person,” a resident said on the condition of anonymity.

The FCT police command spokesperson, Josephine Adeh, said she had not been briefed on the attack as at the time of writing this report.

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