Five things to know to start your Wednesday

INEC fixes Saturday, April 15 for Rivers supplementary elections

INEC has fixed Saturday, April 15 to conduct elections in polling units where the exercise was suspended in Port Harcourt II and Khana/Gokana Federal Constituencies of Rivers in Feb. 25.

Its spokesperson in Rivers, Geraldine Ekelemu, quoted the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Johnson Alalibo, as saying that elections would be conducted in 42 polling units and at Registration Areas 04 and 07 in Khana/Gokana.

In a statement issued in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, Ekelemu also quoted Alalibo as saying that elections would hold in 377 polling units and in Registration Areas 05, 10 to 18 in Port Harcourt II constituency.

Alalibo enjoined voters to turn out en-masse on Saturday to exercise their franchise in a peaceful manner.

He assured that INEC was committed to a successful conclusion of the elections in affected areas. (NAN)

Read also: March 11: PDP Fubara likely to become Rivers State next governor, Anap poll reveals

New law to punish Ponzi scheme promoters with jail time says N’Assembly

The National Assembly said that with the passage of the Investment and Securities Bill, promoters of Ponzi scheme businesses in Nigeria will get possible jail sentences.

The Investment and Securities Service Bill 2023 awaits the president’s assent before becoming law.

The bill is expected to strengthen the regulatory and supervisory functioning of capital market regulators such as the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) and also help the government in its quest to diversify the economy.

Ahmad Lawan, the Senate President, speaking during plenary at the Senate, said that the bill is expected to not only deal with the issue of loss of funds to Ponzi scheme operators but adequately provide protection for the financial market and help the government in its quest to strengthen the capital market.

FG to regulate gas flaring through N22bn fine on defaulters

The Federal Government’s latest effort to control the amount of gas flared will kick off as it has promised to impose a $49 million (N22 billion) fine on oil and gas firms operating onshore for flaring 24 standard cubic feet of gas valued at about N40 billion ($86 million) between January and February 2023.

According to reports obtained from the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency, the FG said that companies operating onshore will pay the penalties for violating the gas flaring rule.

“Companies operating onshore flared 24.5 billion SCF of gas valued at $85.8 million, with $49 million in penalties payable,” the agency wrote.

ITF warns against fake recruitment adverts

In a statement issued by Suleyol Chagu, Director, Public Affairs Department of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), she warned Nigerians against fake recruitment advertisements making the rounds on social media.

In the statement made available to newsmen in Abuja on Tuesday, Chagu said there was no recruitment going on in the fund at the moment.

She called on the public to beware of such advertisements.

“These individuals are only out to deceive and defraud the unsuspecting public.

“They created a fake profile and page of the fund’s Director-General and Chief Executive on LinkedIn and Facebook using the telephone number 07025143825,” she said.

EY calls off plan to split audit, consulting units

Accounting firm EY has called off a plan to break up its audit and consulting units, slamming the brakes on a proposed overhaul of its businesses that was meant to address regulatory concerns over potential conflicts of interest.

The company, which is one of the Big Four accounting giants, announced its plans for a split in September after regulators voiced concerns that the audit arm would not do its job fairly for its client if it also employed EY as a consultant.

But the plan, code-named “Project Everest”, faced resistance from some of EY’s partners. The company said its U.S. Executive Committee decided not to move forward with the split.

Had the split been ratified, it would have been the biggest overhaul in the accounting sector since the 2002 collapse of Arthur Andersen, the auditor that was mired in the Enron scandal and whose downfall reduced the Big Five to Big Four. (Reuters)