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The United States of America government has said the Federal Government’s failure to consistently implement laws which penalises corruption led to massive, widespread and pervasive corruption which has affected all levels of government.
In its 2021 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices which covers 198 countries and territories, published on April 12 on the website of the US Department of State, the US government noted that while Nigeria’s laws penalised corruption, enforcement was not followed through, thereby, allowing civil servants and elected government officials to partake in corrupt practices.
In a section of the report, entitled: ‘Corruption and Lack of Transparency in Government’, the report said there were numerous allegations of government corruption in 2021 and failure of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to consistently implement the laws allowed civil servants and elected officials to partake in corrupt practices.
“Massive, widespread, and pervasive corruption affected all levels of government, including the judiciary and security services. The constitution provides immunity from civil and criminal prosecution for the president, vice president, governors, and deputy governors while in office. There were numerous allegations of government corruption during the year.
“Although, the law provides criminal penalties for conviction of official corruption, the government did not consistently implement the law, and government employees, including elected officials, frequently engaged in corrupt practices with impunity,” the report stated.
The US government said impunity, exacerbated by corruption and a weak judiciary remained a significant problem in the security forces, especially in the police, military, and the Department of State Services. However, it said government regularly utilised disciplinary boards and mechanisms to investigate security force members and hold them accountable for crimes committed on duty, but the results of the accountability mechanisms were not always made public.
“Significant human rights abuses included credible reports of: unlawful and arbitrary killings by both government and non-state actors; forced disappearances by the government, terrorists, and criminal groups; torture and cases of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by the government and terrorist groups; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest or detention; political prisoners; serious problems with the independence of the judiciary; arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy; serious abuses in a conflict, including killings, abductions, and torture of civilians; serious restrictions on free expression and media, including violence or threats against journalists and the existence of criminal libel laws; serious restrictions on internet freedom; substantial interference with the freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association; serious government corruption; lack of investigation and accountability for gender-based violence, including but not limited to domestic and intimate partner violence, sexual violence, child, early and forced marriage, female genital mutilation/cutting, and other harmful practices; crimes of violence targeting members of national/racial/ethnic minority groups and the existence of the worst forms of child labour.
“Domestic and international human rights groups generally operated without government restriction, investigating and publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials sometimes cooperated and responded, but generally either dismissed allegations, did not provide a substantive response, or did not publicise any investigation they conducted.
“In the North East, there were reports that the military threatened non-governmental organisation and humanitarian organisations after aid provided by these organisations purportedly reached insurgent groups,” the report stated.
Passengers are currently stranded at the domestic wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos after a Max Air flight did not take off as scheduled.
The Max Air flight ADJW7G was supposed to leave Lagos for Kano by 5:20pm on Wednesday.
According to Aliyu Muhmeen, one of the stranded passengers who spoke to TheCable, the flight was rescheduled to 10pm from the initial flying time based on “logistics”.
After waiting for another two hours, at some minutes past 12am on Thursday, Muhmeen said he and three other passengers approached the Max Air counter to know the state of the flight, but were told the pilot was “tired and feeling sick”.
“We approached the counter and this man (a Max Air staff member) told me the pilot is feeling sick and could not fly again,” he said.
“We have been here waiting since 3pm so as to fly by 5pm. That’s more than seven hours.”
Muhmeen added that the stranded passengers were more than 60, and included children and women.
Many of the stranded passengers are said to be Muslim faithful who are fasting, while some had made plans to join an international flight at the Kano airport for lesser hajj.
Protesting the delay, the passengers asked that the airline refund them or lodge them in a hotel, and make plans to fly them to their destination on Thursday morning.
But as of the time of filing this report, the situation was yet to be resolved and some of the passengers have resorted to sleeping on the metal chairs in the waiting area.
Four police officers were killed Wednesday when gunmen attacked Atani Divisional Police Headquarters in Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra State, Nigeria’s Southeast.
The incident happened at about 1 a.m.
Police spokesperson in Anambra State, Tochukwu Ikenga, confirmed the incident.
He said the Commissioner of Police in the state, Echeng Echeng, led a team of police officers to the area to restore normalcy
Ikenga, a deputy superintendent of police said it was unfortunate that four police officers were killed during the gun battle.
“Unfortunately, during a gun battle, four of our police operatives paid the supreme price,” he said.
The police spokesperson said the quick intervention of police operatives saved the facility from further attack by the gunmen.
Ikenga said the police had begun “intelligence gathering” to track down the suspects behind the attack.
The latest attack came less than a week after the headquarters of Aguata Local Government Area in the state was razed by gunmen.
Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to “seriously consider” resigning from office over the rising insecurity in the country.
In a statement on Tuesday, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, NEF spokesman, said Nigerians cannot live under conditions associated with security challenges until the tenure of Buhari expires.
Baba-Ahmed said there has not been an “appropriate response” from the government over the killings across the country.
“We cannot continue to live and die under the dictates of killers, kidnappers, rapists and sundry criminal groups that have deprived us of our rights to live in peace and security,” he said.
“Our constitution has provisions for leaders to voluntarily step down if they are challenged by personal reasons or they prove incapable of leading.
“It is now time for Buhari to seriously consider that option, since his leadership has proved spectacularly incapable of providing security over Nigerians.
“Our Forum is aware of the weight of this advice, and it is also aware that we cannot continue to live under these conditions until 2023 when Buhari’s term ends.
“Nigerians have shed enough tears and blood without appropriate response from those with responsibilities to protect us.”
Baba-Ahmed added that criminals appear to have grown more confident in their vices, because they have “sensed a vacuum” at the highest levels of leadership.
At least 25 people were killed in attacks on several villages in three Local Government Areas of Benue State on Tuesday morning.
Reportedly, villages in the three Local Government Areas of Guma, Logo and Tarka came under severe gunfire between 8pm on Monday and 3am on Tuesday in what appeared to be a coordinated siege by invaders.
It was learnt that 15 corpses were recovered from the Tyotugh community in Tarka LGA while nine were recovered from Guma and one, a traditional ruler from Logo.
Villagers said the figures could be higher as the search for missing persons was still ongoing at the time of this report.
Chairman of Guma LGA, Caleb Aba, confirmed to our correspondent that seven people were killed in one swoop at Tse-Sumaka village near branch Umenger in Mbadwem council ward of Guma.
Special Adviser on Security to the Benue State governor, Paul Hemba, said on telephone that the total figures of death recorded so far could be higher than 25 as efforts were ongoing to trace missing persons.
“Those incidents actually happened in Guma, Logo and Tarka. Nine corpses were recovered from Guma, In Tarka, where I am just coming from with the commissioner of police and commander of 72 the Battalion, so far 15 corpses have been recovered but it is strongly suspected that more will be recovered in the bushes so we are arranging a patrol to comb the bushes because some other persons have not been seen and it is also believed that some attackers left with some other persons alive.
“For now, those are the corpses we have physically seen and counted. When you consider all these things I have told you, the figure may be higher. In Logo, a traditional ruler was involved (killed) but now that I am back I will get my contacts to see if the figure has risen,” he said.
Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Catherine Anene, said she would make details available later.
“I am currently at the scene as we speak. The incident is confirmed. Corpses have been removed. The road is cleared. Investigation continues,” Anene said.
Abdullahi Adamu has resigned as the Senator representing Nasarawa West in the 9th Senate.
Abubakar Kyari has also relinquished his position as senator representing Borno North.
The lawmakers announced their resignation in separate letters read by Senate President Ahmad Lawan during plenary on Tuesday.
Until his election as APC national Chairman, Adamu chaired the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development.
Kyari, on the other hand, was the Chairman of the Committee on Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Adamu’s letter read, “It is with utmost respect and appreciation I inform you that consequent upon my victory as National Chairman at the just concluded convention of our great party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), on the 26th of March, 2022, I hereby resign formally as the Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria representing Nasarawa West Senatorial District with effect from 1st April, 2022.
Adamu and Kyari emerged National Chairman and Deputy National Chairman (North) of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) at the party’s March 26 convention.
Federal government has declared April 15 and 18, 2022 as public holidays to mark the Easter celebration.
According to a statement by Shuaib Belgore, permanent secretary in the ministry of interior, Rauf Aregbesola, the minister, made the declaration in Abuja.
Aregbesola urged Christians to emulate the attributes of sacrifice, togetherness, forgiveness, kindness, love, peace and patience, “which were the attributes and practices of Jesus Christ, as exemplified by His ministry on earth”.
The minister called on Christians and all Nigerians to use the occasion to pray for an end to all security challenges bedevilling every part of the country.
He assured that the federal government will leave no stone unturned to ensure that the recent attacks by “undesirable elements” on the highways, airport, and the railway are brought to an end.
“Security is everybody’s business. I, therefore, urge Nigerians and foreigners resident in our country to display a high sense of citizenship and public spiritedness at this critical time in the history of our country, by supporting the efforts of all security agencies in bringing peace and security of lives and property of the citizenry,” Aregbesola was quoted as saying.
The minister called on Nigerians to join hands with the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari to bring sustainable development and usher in prosperity for all.
Aregbesola assured Nigerians that the nation is “inexorably on the path to greatness” despite its present challenges.
The Lagos Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned a fake army general, Bolarinwa Abiodun.
Abiodun was brought before Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos on Monday on 13 counts bordering on obtaining money by false pretence, forgery of documents and possession of documents containing false pretence to the tune of N266,500,000.
The offences are contrary to Section 1 (3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Related Offences Act 2006; Section 363 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015; and Section 6 of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Related Offences Act No 14 of 2006, respectively, EFCC spokesman Wilson Uwujaren said in a statement.
“The defendant, who posed as a general in the Nigerian Army, allegedly made false representations to the complainant, Kodef Clearing Resources that the President Muhammadu Buhari had shortlisted him and one other to be appointed as the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and that he needed a short grant to press and process the appointment,” he said.
“Abiodun who was arrested at his house in the Alagbado area of Lagos State on Wednesday, January 12, 2022, also allegedly forged a letter of appointment as COAS purportedly signed by the President and showed the same to the victim to further prove his claim.
“In the said letter, he claimed that he needed to pay a certain amount of money into the coffers of the Federal Government of Nigeria, as part of the requirements for the appointment as COAS.” Uwujaren continued, “Abiodun is also alleged to have, in May 2020, forged a Nigerian Army Identity Card with serial number 387140, claiming the same to have been issued to him from the Nigerian Army and another forged Letter of Recommendation purportedly signed by Chief Olusegun Obasanjo recommending one Adebayo Rasaq Adebola, with recruitment No 77RRI/OG/556/0032555 and Adeogun Emmanuel Adesola with recruitment No 77RRI/OG/352/0123751 for employment into the Nigerian Army.
“He is also accused of being in possession of a forged Certificate of Confirmation dated November 7, 2018, purporting the same to have emanated from the Nigerian Army Headquarters. He is also accused of being in possession of a forged document titled: Letter of Authorisation, purportedly signed by Chief Olusegun Obasanjo permitting one Bamidele Olusegun Safiriyu of De-Rock Maritime Resource L.T.D. to enter Apapa Port freely and load their truck.”
Upon his arrest, according to the EFCC spokesman, six pump action guns, three cartridge bullets, a swagger stick, and several forged documents were recovered from him.
One of the counts read, “Bolarinwa Oluwasegun Abiodun, between 15th June, 2020 and 31st December 2020 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with intent to defraud and whilst holding yourself out as a General in the Nigerian Army, obtained the sum of N111,400,000 from Kodef Clearing Resources Limited, under the pretence that the sum represented part of the amount expended to “press and process” your incoming appointment by the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, as the Chief Of Army Staff of the Nigerian Army, which pretence you knew to be false.”
Another count read, “Bolarinwa Oluwasegun Abiodun, sometime in May 2020 in Lagos within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, knowingly forged Letter of Appointment as Chief of Army Staff dated 20th May 2020 and purported the said document to have emanated from the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which document you know to be false.”
When the charges were read to him, the defendant pleaded not guilty while the prosecuting counsel, A.O. Muhammed, prayed the court for a trial date and for the remand of the defendant at the facility of the Nigerian Correctional Service.
But the defence counsel, Kayode Lawal, informed the court of a summons for bail filed on behalf of the defendant.
The prosecution acknowledged receipt on April 8, saying “we are still within time to respond, and we intend to respond”.
Acknowledging the position of the prosecution, Lawal prayed the court for “the shortest date to move our bail application.”
Thereafter, Justice Taiwo adjourned until Thursday and ordered that the defendant be remanded at Ikoyi correctional facility in Lagos.
The Court of Appeal has discharged and acquitted former Governor Gbenga Daniel of Ogun on all 15 charges levelled against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, the People's Gazette has reported.
On Tuesday, the Ibadan Division of the appeal court put an end to the eleven-year old litigation against Mr Daniel.
Justice Yargata Nimpar, who read the judgment, found merit in the eight issues brought to the court by the ex-Ogun governor against the EFCC and acquitted Mr Daniel on all counts.
However, Mr Nimpar described the prosecution as malicious as the anti-fraud agency should not make use of state fiat to prosecute a governor for an action protected by a federal legislation like the Land Use Act as it empowers the governor to allocate land to all nigerians, including churches and for all purposes.
The court also noted that Mr Daniel was tried in Abuja for a supposed crime purportedly committed against Ogun, as such the trial court lacked jurisdiction to try him.
Mr Daniel had earlier approached the appellate court after a lower court dismissed his no-case submission on charges bordering on asset declaration, land allocation, corrupt enrichment among others.
The trail had faced multiple setbacks following failure to present witnesses.
Mr Daniel was arraigned on October 12, 2011 on 43-count charges on allegedly stealing and mismanaging about N7 billion as Ogun governor.
On April 16, 2012, Mr Daniel was re-arraigned on 38-count charge for allegedly stealing and mismanaging N211.3 million, after the court dismissed the earlier case over failure of EFCC to seek leave of court to amend the information it had presented.
Foreign missions in Nigeria and other international bodies have heightened security alerts for travels in the seven states making up the Northwest geopolitical zone following last month’s attack on a passenger train arriving Kaduna from Abuja, the Nigerian capital.
Multiple diplomatic sources and staff of international organisations in Abuja told our correspondent that though there had been travel advisories to states like Katsina, Zamfara and Kaduna, the alert level was upped across most embassies and other organisations over heightened fear of insecurity.
Foreign missions such as those of the United Kingdom, Canada, United States and a host of other countries have directed their staff to avoid travel to the zone. A similar ban is also placed by organisations such as United Nations, USAID, UNICEF, among others.
The latest travel advisories were predicated on the recent attack on Kaduna International Airport, which was followed closely by the bombing of the Abuja-Kaduna train and attack on commuters and soldiers on guard duty along the Abuja-Kaduna Highway.
Gunmen on motorcycles on March 26 attacked the Kaduna Airport as a Lagos-bound plane was taxing to take off, killing one staff of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA). Security operatives later said they killed 12 of the attackers.
Two days later, on March 28, an explosive was remotely detonated as a train arriving from Abuja neared its final stop at Rigasa, Kaduna State. Gunmen then opened fire on confused passengers killing at least eight and wounding 26 others, according to official figures. An unspecified number of travellers was also abducted by the attackers.
Some gunmen, believed to be among the assailants also attacked a military checkpoint on the Abuja-Kaduna Highway, around Tafa, killing six soldiers. The highway was also reportedly blocked by gunmen two days later, leading to a scare among travellers. But the Kaduna State Government said the gunmen sighted on the road were fleeing a military chase.
A senior diplomat with a North American country told Daily Trust last week that her mission has up-scaled the alert level in the aftermath of the attacks dotting the last days of March.
“We cannot travel to the region again because Kaduna is the gateway. Even if one is flying to say Kano or Sokoto the protocol would have to go ahead with the car. Now we cannot risk anyone travelling through Kaduna,” she said.
According to her, it is now safer for diplomats to travel to Maiduguri than to the Northwest as going to the Borno State capital would not require sending an advanced party.
“We have cars and, in some cases, protocol staff that a lot of us can use in Maiduguri, but in a place like Sokoto, there is no vehicle for one to use, so we just have to suspend such travels, for now”.
Another embassy official with a European country said the attack on the Kaduna Airport also sent a bad signal about travel in the area, making her own mission to put travels on hold. She described attacks on airports as “significant for our risk management plans.
“It’s getting very difficult for us to travel in several states now. Our travel advice has changed to red for Kaduna, Katsina and Zamfara,” the official stated.
A USAID staff, who spoke on the condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak, also confirmed that the organisation has drawn down on travels to the Northwest states for lack of “guaranteed security cover”.
Another source at UNICEF said: “Any mission in Kaduna, Zamfara and Katsina is no longer authorized at the moment.”
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At least 50 people were killed and dozens abducted by gunmen in Nigeria's Plateau state, residents and a community leader said on Monday, the latest in a spate of attacks by armed gangs in northern parts of Africa's most populous nation.
Such attacks are not common in Plateau, in central Nigeria. But the state shares a border with Kaduna state, where suspected bandits - a loose term for gangs of outlaws carrying out robberies and kidnappings - blew up train tracks, killed eight people and kidnapped dozens last month.
Fifteen soldiers were last week killed by gunmen who attacked a Kaduna army base.
"This is again very sad and we strongly condemn it. The security (forces) should ensure the immediate rescue of all abducted persons," said Jonathan Ishaku, spokesman for Plateau Elders Forum.
He said at least 50 were dead and 70 people, including women and children, were kidnapped from nine villages late on Sunday afternoon.
A spokesman for Plateau Governor Simon Lalong said "many people were killed with houses and properties destroyed". He did not give a death toll.
Telephone service is patchy in most of Nigeria's rural areas, making it difficult for villagers to seek immediate help from security forces, who are stretched fighting an Islamist insurgency in the northeast.
Isahya Solomon from Kukawa, one of the village that was attacked, said when he heard shooting he fled with his family in a car and returned at night after the gunmen had left.
His house and several others had been torched while shops were looted and villagers were retrieving bodies of relatives, he told Reuters by phone on Monday from Jos, Plateau state's capital city.
"In our community ... 38 persons were killed. Many of our houses were burnt to ashes, many shops were looted," said Solomon.
Joseph Makoju, a former group managing director and chief executive officer of Dangote Cement, is dead.
A family source confirmed that he died at about 12pm on Monday at his Abuja residence.
The cause of Makoju’s death was, however, not divulged.
Burial arrangements are said to be currently ongoing.
Born on July 13, 1948, in Okene, Kogi state, Makoju was a Harford award winner of Government College, Kaduna and also a J. F. Kennedy essays award winner of Federal Government College, Warri.
He studied mechanical engineering at the University of Nottingham, UK, where he graduated with a first-class honour in 1972. He also bagged a master of philosophy in mechanical engineering in 1974 from the same university.
The engineer attended National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies NIPSS, Kuru, Jos, from 1989 to 1990 and also held an honorary doctor of science degree in engineering from the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi.
Makoju served as a special adviser on electric power to former Presidents Goodluck Jonathan and Olusegun Obasanjo.
He was also the honorary adviser to the president/chief executive, Dangote Group, and was a one-time chairman, Cement Manufacturers Association of Nigeria.
Makoju retired as the GMD/CEO of Dangote Cement in 2020, a position he had held since April 2018.
He was the pioneer chairman of the Board of the West African Power Pool and a former managing director of the National Electric Power Authority (Power Holding Company of Nigeria).
Makoju belonged to several professional bodies including the Nigerian Society of Engineers, Nigerian Institute of Management and the British Institute of Mechanical Engineers.
He was awarded Officer of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (OFR) and Grand Commander of the Special Order of Merit (GCSO), Niger Republic.
Clearing agents operating in the nation’s maritime sector may withdraw their services following the reintroduction of a 15 per cent National Automotive Council levy on imported used vehicles by the Nigeria Customs Service.
NAC had in 2011 proposed 35 per cent duty differentials between imported fully-built units and locally assembled cars. The proposal reportedly failed later.
But years after the introduction of the levy, the Nigeria Customs Service on Saturday reintroduced 15 per cent NAC levy on used imported vehicles.
Speaking on the development, Chairman of the National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents, Ports & Terminal Multipurpose Limited chapter, Abayomi Duyile, said the move could have an adverse effect on the sector.
He said, “As I speak to you now, the NCS has reintroduced the NAC levy, which is a 15 per cent payment on used imported vehicles. That is a major issue; it means an additional 15 per cent on the duty we are paying currently”
Duyile said he was surprised the service was coming up with the levy in the second quarter of this year.
“We will meet tomorrow and when we do, we will make our views known to the government. What we have in Nigeria are assembly plants, it is not as if we produce any vehicles completely in Nigeria. I am surprised now that towards the second quarter of 2022, the Customs is coming back again with the NAC levy.
“Why should the NAC levy be on used vehicles? I don’t know why they are coming up with the NAC levy again now. The Customs didn’t inform us, so we have been advised to stop the process of duty payment until this is sorted out. This is everywhere for now and anywhere you are clearing used vehicles, you will face the same problem.”
Also speaking, Chairman of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders, PTML Chapter, George Okafor, said the outcome of the association’s meeting with its members will determine whether the agents would embark on the proposed strike or not.
“This is wrong because there is no way Customs can calculate NAC levy on used vehicles. It should be for new vehicles. The levy is for new vehicles, and not old or used vehicles. We will have to meet with the Customs command to determine the next line of action.”
Meanwhile, National Public Relations Officer of Customs, Timi Bomodi, said the move was in line with the Economic Community of West African States Common external tariff, 2017-2021.
Bomodi said in a statement that the service in April migrated from the old version of the ECOWAS CAT to the new version, adding that this was in line with the World Customs Organisation’s five-year review of its nomenclature.
“On Friday, April 1, 2022, the Nigeria Customs Service migrated from the old version of the ECOWAS Common External Tariff (2017- 2021) to the new version (2022- 2026). This is in line with WCO’s five years’ review of the nomenclature. The contracting parties are expected to adopt the review based on regional considerations and national economic policy.
“The nation has adopted all tariff lines with few adjustments in the extant CET. As allowed for in Annex II of the 2022-2026 CET edition, and in line with the Finance Act and the National Automotive Policy, NCS has retained a duty rate of 20 per cent for used vehicles as was transmitted by ECOWAS with a NAC levy of 15 per cent. New vehicles will also pay a duty of 20 per cent with a NAC levy of 20 per cent as directed in the Federal Ministry of Finance letter ref. no. HMF BNP/NCS/CET/4/2022 of 7th April 2022”
He added that the decision took immediate effect.
“In Chapter 98 of the current CET – bonafide assemblers importing Completely Knocked Down and Semi Knocked Down are to enjoy a concession of zero per cent and 10 per cent duty rate, respectively. While within ECOWAS, duty rates for the same items are five per cent and 10 per cent, respectively. Incentivising their efforts through policy interventions guarantees a win-win situation for the nation in the long run. Implementing the current CET takes immediate effect, please,” the statement added.
Telecom firm, MTN, has received final approval from Nigerian regulators to run a payment service bank, the wireless carrier said in a regulatory filing on Monday.
“The date of commencement will be communicated to the CBN (Central Bank of Nigeria) in accordance with its requirements,” the telco heavyweight said of the bank to be known as MoMo Payment Service Bank Limited in a note to the Nigerian Exchange.
The approval, the fruit of well over two years of waiting for the permit, gives the local unit of Johannesburg-headquartered MTN Group Limited the leave to operate virtually all the services offered by conventional commercial banks with the exception of granting credit and processing foreign exchange transactions.
“We want to leverage the financial inclusion drive. We plan to give people who don’t have bank accounts or even ATM cards the opportunity to be able to do banking services,” a senior official said on condition that its identity will not be divulged because of the sensitivity of the matter,” Nigeria’s biggest company by revenue said.
“And we are leveraging on our size. When we have subscribers of over 70 million spread across Nigeria with our infrastructural spread, we are well positioned to cover everywhere. That’s exactly what we want to achieve.”
MTN Nigeria and Airtel Africa, which got preliminary approvals last November to operate in the same space, will be looking to tap Nigeria’s unbanked adult population of 38 million people, who according to Abuja-based media research house and data analytics firm, held N26.2 trillion last year alone, a move that will pit both telcos against traditional banks in getting a slice of the market.
Shares in the telco were up by 0.34 per cent at 12.19 WAT on Lagos Customs Street on Monday, trading at N206 per unit.
The broad scale of MTN’s broadband penetration gives the two an open reach to rural Nigerians and urban places without access to banking services by way of connectivity, a luxury conventional banks cannot afford.
The ubiquity of coverage of the telcos mean banking will no longer be the preserve of commercial lenders, a development that could position the latter to take a big bite at the e-business earnings of conventional lenders at a time most banks are struggling to sustain profit growth.
For 2021, GTCO, Nigeria’s second biggest lender by market value, saw its profit hit a four-year low, while rival UBA managed to scrape a 4.3 per cent growth and Zenith 6.1 per cent.
In December, MTN and Mafab won the bid for 5G spectrum licence auctioned by the Nigerian Communications Commission.
MTN Nigeria, which provides one-third of the MTN Group’s sales, saw revenue climb to record N1.7 trillion last year, with profit leaping 45.5 per cent to N298.9 billion.