Daily Watch – Pipeline vandals clock 1,477 hits in 2016, Only 40% of accounts have BVN

26th August 2016

  • Vandalism and theft activities targeting the nation’s pipelines are taking a significant toll on the NNPC, the oil firm saying it has recorded 1,447 incidents between January and May 2016. NNPC GMD, Maikanti Baru has lost 560,000 barrels of crude meant for the nation’s refineries as feedstock, as well as 109 million litres of petroleum products, within the same period. In a statement, the oil company said natural gas supplies had also been impacted, resulting in a drop from 1400 mmscfd of gas a day to below 700 mmscfd and a drop in power generation to 2500MW from 3000 MW. This comes as the Vice President, Yemi Osibanjo said the Federal Government saved ₦1.4 trillion from the discontinuance of the oil subsidy.
  • Key exporters of perishable commodities have been left reeling from the activities of some “overzealous government officials” who resulted in last week’s closure of the export warehouses of the Nigeria Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO) and Skyway Aviation Handling Company (SAHCOL) by the Nigeria Customs Service over the alleged hoarding of prohibited items. The NCS, reportedly acting on a tip-off, sealed off the export section for three days before they were eventually reopened. According to an industry operator, exporters may have lost an estimated ₦100 million during the shutdown.
  • The Lagos State Internal Revenue Service on Wednesday sealed a Protea Hotel in Victoria Island for allegedly failing to remit ₦11.07 million in personal income taxes deducted from its employees’ salaries, as part of a state-wide tax law enforcement exercise. The hotel was sealed by the taxman for not paying ₦148.88 million in consumption and hotel occupancy taxes on June 9; the LIRS adding that the hotel broke its seal without its consent, entering into negotiations with it or offsetting the tax liabilities. Ajibola Anbisala, the hotel chairman, denied receiving any notice from the tax authorities, saying the LIRS team had no power to unilaterally close the hotel and his firm planned to sue for redress. The tax liabilities were for the 2012 audit year.
  • New NIBSS data shows that the country has a total of 31.2 million dormant bank accounts. According to the data, found on the financial shared service website, there are 91.6 million bank accounts in the country as at July 31 – a growth of 6.6 million from December 2015’s figure of a little over 85 million. Of this, only about 64 million accounts are listed as active. However, the BVN exercise has only been complied with by 40% of those accounts, data showing only 36.7 million accounts enrolled for their BVNs, an 8.5 million increase from the 28.2 million registered as at December 31, 2015.
  • Royal Exchange said its written premium rose by 34 percent to ₦8.43 billion in the second quarter of this year from ₦6.28 billion in the corresponding period of 2015. A statement by the firm said its gross premium income also grew by 17 percent to ₦6.46 billion in the second quarter from ₦5.50 billion in the second half of 2015, adding that the firm’s net premium income grew by five percent to ₦4.34 billion in the period under review from ₦4.12 billion in the second quarter of last year. Auwalu Muktari, REA’s GMD said the half-year results on the top-line items witnessed significant growth, which showed that Royal Exchange as an insurance group, was focusing on its growth objectives set out at the beginning of the year, by participating in large-ticket financial transactions, as well as playing in the retail insurance market.