• Friday, March 29, 2024
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Five Things to Know to Start Your Day

Five Things to Know to Start Your Day

National Assembly working on barring bankers from operating foreign accounts

The House of Representatives is considering barring staff members of banks and other financial institutions from operating accounts outside the shores of Nigeria.

Their spouses and children may also be mandated to declare their assets when a bill presented at the House becomes law.

This was contained in the ‘Bank Employees, Etc., (Declaration of Assets)(Amendment) Bill 2021’, which is awaiting second reading.

The legislation was titled ‘A Bill for an Act to amend the bank employees, etc., (Declaration of Assets) Act CAP. B1 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 to reflect the prevailing situation in the country’.

The bill, sponsored by the lawmaker representing Iseyin/Itesiwaju/Kajola/Iwajowa Federal constituency in Oyo State, Mr Shina Peller, proposed a series of amendments to the Act.

CBN Increases Forex Allocation to Banks

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday announced the increase of foreign exchange (forex) allocations to banks to meet the requests of customers, particularly travellers, seeking forex for travel allowances, payment of tuition and medical fees, among other Invisibles.

The moves followed the warning by the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, at a weekend meeting with managing directors of Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), cautioning them to desist from denying customers, particularly travellers, the opportunity to purchase forex for Personal Travel Allowance (PTA), Basic Travel Allowance (BTA), tuition fees, and medical payments as well as Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) transactions or for the repatriation of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) proceeds.

Confirming the discussions at the meeting of bank chiefs, the Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department at the CBN, Osita Nwanisobi, said in a note that the CBN remained committed to ensuring liquidity in the forex market to meet genuine and legitimate demands of customers.

Banks commence N6.98 USSD charge, customers kick

Some banks have notified their customers that they will start charging them N6.98 for every USSD transactions.

However, experts have said that excessive charges by banks could pose a threat to financial inclusion.

According to them, it will increase cash transactions because many bank customers would avoid using the USSD for transactions and could also discourage the unbanked segment of the population because they would not like to pay such charges over their little deposits.

Read Also: Nova Merchant Bank lists N10bn Bond on Nigerian Exchange Limited

A message from some of the banks, including Guaranty Trust Bank, First Bank and Fidelity Bank on ‘Update on USSD transactions’ stated, “Please be informed that you are now required to pay a fee of N6.98 to your mobile network provider for every banking transaction carried out on all USSD banking platforms.

N5tn debt: AMCON plans to change recovery strategy

The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria has said that its Asset Management Partners scheme has resolved to change its recovery strategy.

It said in a statement on Sunday titled ‘AMCON AMPs may change recovery strategy’ that it planned to make make use of AMCON’s special powers as contained in the AMCON Act 2019 as amended, which had been signed into law by the Federal Government.

The statement said this was disclosed during a two-day training, which was organised by Legal Academy led by Dr Fatihu Abba as the director-general, in conjunction with AMCON with the theme, ‘The utility of the Federal High Court proceedings rules and complementary strategies as critical tools in AMCON debt recovery by AMPs’.

Confusion trails Atiku, Soludo’s campaign posters in Abuja

The sudden appearance of the campaign posters bearing the picture of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and that of an erstwhile governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Charles Soludo, is currently generating controversy among members of the All Progressive Grand Alliance.

Soludo, is the favoured choice of the APGA leadership as candidate of the party for the Anambra Governorship election scheduled for November this year.

Our correspondent observed on Sunday that the posters titled, “The Great Alliance: PDP & APGA. Atiku /Soludo as President and Vice President 2023, were conspicuously displayed along the favored Wuse area and the Airport Road in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

The posters which appeared in two different designs with both Atiku and Soludo, dressed in corporate and traditional attires, claim that only the alliance could rescue Nigeria from the brink of collapse.

A member of the APGA, Ben Okafor, who introduced himself as an APGA ambassador, said, “I pray this is not true otherwise, such alliance would obviously send APGA to extinction, a move to send APGA into extinction.