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Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has extended the special window to register businesses at a reduced rate of N5,000 instead of N10,000 at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). Osinbajo extended the business registration incentive from May 1 to July 31 2019. This was disclosed by the VP’s special assistant on media and publicity, Laolu Akande, on Monday at the first quarter MSMEs stakeholder meeting held at the Presidential Villa. The move by the federal government is to enable more Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) formalise their businesses. The special window for subsidized registration costs kick-started from October 1 to Dec 31, 2018, but was later extended from 1st January to 31st March 2019, leading to an increase in business registration rate from 54,000 to 163,000. Osibanjo, however, urged relevant government agencies at the meeting to speedily come up with better funding strategies for small businesses in the country. “Having listened to all the issues raised in the report and from your various contributions about funding, I think you should come up with suggestions on better funding for startups and MSMEs, we need to address this issue as quickly as possible.”   Source: The Whistler

The Executive Secretary/Chief Executive, Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), Ms. Yewande Sadiku has said about $90.9 billion worth of investments were recorded in the country last year. Speaking during an interaction with Commerce and Industry Correspondents Association of Nigeria (CICAN) in Abuja, she said there were 92 projects covering 23 states and the FCT. She said 33 per cent of the investments came from Nigerian investors, which according to her was consistent with government’s efforts to get Nigerians to invest in their own county. Other investment sources according to her included the UAE, France and UK. The NIPC boss, however, explained that though the announcements were not actual investments, they nevertheless “give us direction and a sense of investor interest in Nigeria”. She said: “We actually track it so that at the end of the quarter, half year, month or full year, we can say this is the total value of investment announcements that were made. We look at where the investments are supposed to be coming from. “Remember they are announcements and not investments. The announcements related to mining and quarrying and oil and gas, manufacturing, construction, transportation and storage.” She also said investor interest in the first quarter of 2019 could to be less than the same period in 2018 because of elections concerns. Sadiku, also said the agency had statutory powers to register companies in the country, alongside the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). According to her: “There’s a provision in the NIPC Act and it’s always being in the NIPC Act. It says that any enterprise in which foreign participation is allowed, they should register with NIPC before they commence business. Any enterprise in which foreign participation is allowed. “So I actually find myself that many people are not aware of this requirement even though it has always been in the NIPC Act. The object is that you register with CAC and then we register with NIPC. “Part of the reforms that we would like to see is that the process of registering with CAC and registering with NIPC and subsequently registering with FIRS for your tax identification number is more seamless than it is currently. But that is still in a work that is in progress but it has always been a requirement of the NIPC Act.” She also disclosed that following the 2017 review of the Industrial Development Income Tax Relief Act (IDITRA), which is the law that created the pioneer status, 27 new companies had been added to existing list.   The ES also noted that the review further removed two sectors namely cement and mineral oil prospecting from the list of beneficiaries of pioneer status. She said: “We removed cement from it because based on different reports by the relevant agencies of government, it was deemed that the cement industry was matured enough to no longer require that incentive, not that we don’t want further investments but it is mature enough to no longer require that incentive. “The work that was done also suggested that we take off mineral oil prospecting and processing because it falls under the petroleum profit tax Act rather than the company income tax Act.”   Source: This Days

Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc, a leading Nigerian indigenous oil and gas company listed on both the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) and London Stock Exchange (LSE), has announced the inauguration of the reconstituted Board of Directors of ANOH Gas Processing Company Limited (AGPC). The inauguration took place at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Towers in Abuja on Thursday, and is a targeted at delivering 300 million standard cubic feet of gas per day to the Nigerian market. The Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru, inaugurated the reconstituted AGPC Board. The reconstituted Board reflects the 50 per cent:50 per cent shareholding of the Nigerian Gas Company Limited (NGC), which is a subsidiary of the NNPC, and SEPLAT. SEPLAT in a statement explained that: “Following the Partners’ completion of their first equity funding, the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) applications were filed and approved for the change of Shareholders and Directors of AGPC in order to reflect the equal shareholding of NGC and SEPLAT.” The members of the re-constituted Board of Directors are: Engr. Saidu A. Mohammed (NNPC Chief Operation Officer, Gas & Power); Austin Avuru (SEPLAT’s Chief Executive Officer); Babatunde Bakare (NGC’s Managing Director); Stuart Connal (Managing Director, AGPC; Bala M. Wunti (NNPC Group General Managing, Corporate Planning & Strategy); and Gert-Jan Smulders (SEPLAT’s Technical Director). Following the inaugural ceremony, the new Board of Directors will proceed to hold its first meeting to consider and approve critical project activities. In his address at the inauguration, the Chief Executive Office, SEPLAT,  Mr. Austin Avuru, appreciated the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) and the NNPC for the support they have given to the SEPLAT brand over the years as well as the AGPC. “I need to register our deep sense of gratitude for the nine years we have been in partnership with the NPDC. In the last three year under the current leadership of the NNPC, we have had a relationship that is non-acrimonious. For the first time, we are doing what people will probably be doing in the future,” he said. Avuru, who is also the vice-chairman of the AGPC, noted that in less than 24 months the partnership was formed, substantial funding had gone into the project. He added: “Half of the equity funding is already in the bank. Thanks to the GMD of the NNPC for making funding available.” Responding, Baru said the move was in line with the Corporation’s aspiration of the Gas Master Plan, which is to increase the supply of gas to the domestic market, adding that the ANOH gas project was conceived to deliver that. The NNPC GMD said: “We believe a private sector-driven project should deliver a mandate faster that a public-led one. According to Baru, finances should be provided not to only fund projects but to also acquire requisite expertise. The Chief Operating Officer, Gas and Power, NNPC and chairman of AGPC, Saidu Mohammed, on behalf of the company’s Board of Directors, thanked the NNPC GMD for inaugurating the board. “This is a journey we have started and we will continue to grow,” he added.   Source: National Wire

Sabo Mohammed, chairman of senate committee on trade and investment, raised the alarm recently that N42 billion was allocated to a private firm, the Nigeria Special Economic Zone Company (NSEZCO), by the ministry of industry, trade and investment.  BACKGROUND: The ministry had proposed N15.63 billion as its budget for 2019. At the defence, Okechukwu Enelamah, the minister, was confronted by Mohammed who said the Nigeria Special Economic Zone Company included in the budget was not part of the 17 agencies under the ministry. He also said a document obtained by the committee from the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) showed the company is named Nigeria SEZ Investment Company Limited — not Nigeria Special Economic Zone Company as declared by Enelamah. His clincher, as it were, was: “Ownership of the company as clearly stated in the document obtained from CAC on the 26th of last month designated as directors are Dr Bakari Wadinga, Mr Olufemi Edun and Ms Oluwadara Owoyemi. Documents show that it is a private company. Liability of the members are limited by share, which gives federal government 25 per cent and 75 per cent to private individuals.” CORRECT: TheCable confirmed that, indeed, Bakari Wadinga, Olufemi Edun and Oluwadara Owoyemi were nominated directors on NSEZCO. It is also true that the federal government of Nigeria (FGN) owns only 25 per cent of the company, while 75 per cent is held by A&O Secretarial Services Limited on behalf of a number of development finance institutions. INCORRECT: TheCable can report that NSEZCO is a private company, legally speaking. However, it is not a privately-owned company in the sense that the senator made it look. By Nigerian laws, a company must have up to 50 shareholders before it can be classified as a public liability company. In that sense, NSEZCO is a “private company” like the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Ltd and all other companies where government is a shareholder. According to documents seen by TheCable, NSEZCO was incorporated in June 2018 as a “limited liability company” — the vehicle used under Nigerian laws for public private partnerships. NSEZCO is a product of Project MINE (Made in Nigeria for Export), a presidential initiative to develop world-class special economic zones across the country “to boost the manufacturing of Made in Nigeria goods for export”. Nigeria’s 25 per cent stake will be held on her behalf by the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI), the investment arm of the federal ministry of finance, while the rest is owned by A&O Secretarial Services Limited, as a nominee on behalf of a group of development finance institutions, also called the strategic investment partners of NSEZCO. The partners as listed by the ministry of industry, trade and investment are: African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), Bank of Industry Limited (BOI), Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) and African Development Bank (AfDB). All these are development finance institutions. The same investment model was adopted by the country for the NLNG Ltd, a limited liability company owned 49 per cent by FGN, with Shell Gas B.V. (25.6 per cent), Total LNG Nigeria Ltd (15 per cent) and Eni International (10.4 per cent) being the private investors. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) holds FGN’s shares. In the case of the African Finance Corporation founded in 2007 to finance infrastructure in Africa, the bulk of the shareholders are African financial institutions which own 47.6 per cent. Nigeria has 42.5 per cent stake in the multilateral development finance institution via the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).   Source:  The cable

The assets of all public officials and senior political office holders will soon be open for public knowledge and scrutiny, says Director, Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), Modibbo Hamman-Tukur. Mr Hamman-Tukur disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja at a budget defence session with the House of Representatives Committee on Financial Crimes led by Kayode Oladele (APC-Ogun). The director said it was part of the conditions for lifting the suspension of the NFIU by the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units. The director told the committee that the suspension, which was lifted in September 2018 was based on certain conditions that needed to be met by the country. He said the Egmont Group would want the NFIU to work closely with other agencies of government in fighting terrorism, financial crimes and other related offences. “With the lifting of the suspension, it is likely that all assets of all leaders, public officials and political office holders will be displayed. “They want to see us work with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC). “They want us to work closely with the presidency, Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) and the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). “They want to see the assets of all public officials displayed publicly,” he said. According to him, the National Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI) and the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), are doing a good job. “But it will be good that the beneficiary owner database will be domiciled with the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), and we will subscribe because CCB has assets declarations of all public officers.” He said after the suspension was lifted, they faced the task of the European Union (EU) listing, which was targeted at blacklisting Nigeria and stopping all her transactions overseas involving European countries. He added that they were able to block the blacklisting but the EU listing subjected Nigeria to enhanced due diligence in all transactions concerning all EU countries on suspicious transactions. The transactions, he said, would be through their own agencies within their jurisdiction. Mr Hamman-Tukur disclosed that the concerns raised by the EU include terrorism, kidnapping and corruption. On the 2018 budget, he said the NFIU had a total budget of N1.185 billion in 2018 made up of N385.310 million as personnel cost, N600 million as overhead while N200 million was for capital cost. According to him, the capital release to date stands at N174.946 million out of the budgeted amount of N200.1 million. He added that utilization percentage stood at about 12 per cent while the balance stood at N154.936 million. On the 2019 budget, the director revealed that a total of N8.244 billion had been proposed, made up of N1.154 billion for overhead cost, N4.124 billion as capital cost while N2.865 billion for personnel cost. He explained that in spite of the fact that the government had financial constraints due to dwindling revenue; the NFIU needed to carry out its role of monitoring financial institutions. This, he said was for compliance as empowered by the NFIU Act of 2018. Also, defending his budget before the committee was the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu. Mr Magu disclosed that the sum of N251 billion cash and multi-million dollar worth of jewellery was recovered by the commission between January 2018 and the first quarter of 2019. He said this include: N11.5 billion final forfeiture (cash and accounts); N133.8 billion non-forfeiture recoveries; N8.92 billion direct deposits; N38.64 billion tax recoveries; N4.30 billion fuel subsidy recoveries and N42 billion banks (third party). He said was in addition to recoveries of assets as jewellery (gold), various sums in other currencies and cash for major government agencies including NNPC, FIRS and AMCON. “In the first quarter 2019 financial year, the Commission made recoveries which included: Cash of N140.7 million; Direct Deposit of N2.02 billion; Tax recoveries of N7.20 billion; Subsidy recoveries of N3.06 billion and 292 million dollars,” Mr Magu explained. On 2019 budget, Mr Magu said the commission required N22.071 billion in 2019 against the sum of N26.396 billion approved in 2018. He however, observed that the capital expenditure of N15.196 billion was reduced to N3.978 billion in the executive summary submitted by the Executive to the Legislature. According to him, the sum of N2.02 billion is for payment of outstanding liabilities to Julius Berger arising from certificate Nos. 28, 29 and 30; N1.5 billion cost on the agency’s new head office complex. “Then N.299 billion for liabilities for consultancy (New head office); N.47 billion for the purchase of security equipment (ammunition) and N1.1 billion for the furnishing of the new head office, among others.” Mr Magu also disclosed plans to increase salaries and allowances of 970 additional staff approved for recruitment, to be fully enrolled on the personnel cost platform in 2019. This comprises 332 Assistant Detective Superintendents, 293 Assistant Detective Inspectors currently undergoing training at NDA Kaduna and support staff that recently joined the services of the commission. In his welcome remarks, Mr Oladele reiterated the committee’s support for the sustenance of the war against corruption by the Muhammadu Buhari’s administration and transformation of EFCC into world-class anti-graft institution. He observed that the issue of paucity of funds had become a thing of the past. He also applauded the synergy between the Executive and Legislature towards the completion of the 10-storey office building constructed for the commission, which he observed was abandoned by the Good luck Jonathan administration.   Source: Premium times

The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has once more applauded the National Assembly on the transmission of the Companies and Allied Matters (CAM) Bill 2019 to the President for assent. This was in consonance with the provision of the Acts Authentication Act Cap. A2, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004. The CAMA Bill 2019 which seeks to repeal the extant statute (The Companies and Allied Matters Act, Cap C20, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004) and enact another statute in its place represents one of the biggest piece of legislative review in the history of National Assembly. The assent of the long awaited Bill would remain a monumental achievement, and one of the important reform agenda of the Buhari’s administration, according to a statement. The bill would greatly enhance the ease of starting and growing business in Nigeria, ensure more appropriate regulation for micro, small and medium scale enterprise, enhance transparency and shareholder engagement; align regulatory framework with international best practice for competitiveness and, in the context of a global economy, make Nigeria an investment destination of choice by attracting and growing investments. The new law would allow the right of one person to form a company, make the use of common seal optional for companies, dispense with the statutory declaration of compliance by legal practitioners for registration of companies, disclosure of beneficial ownership, amongst others.   Source: Thisdays

The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has explained that the Companies and Allied Matters (CAM) Bill 2019 will allow an individual to form a company and make use of Common Seal option for companies. The Commission said the Bill will also greatly enhance the ease of starting and growing business in the country and ensure more appropriate regulation for Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprise. “It will enhance transparency and shareholder engagement; align regulatory framework with international best practice for competitiveness and, in the context of a global economy, make Nigeria an investment destination of choice by attracting and growing investments,” he said. According to him, the Bill will also dispense with the Statutory Declaration of compliance by Legal Practitioners for Registration of Companies, Disclosure of Beneficial Ownership amongst others. In a statement by Head, Public Affairs Godfrey Ike on Monday in Abuja, the Commission said it is in consonance with the provision of the Acts Authentication Act Cap. A2, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.   Source: Blueprint

The number of registered companies in Nigeria is 3,098,193, the agency in charge of registration of firms in the country, Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), said Tuesday. According to the commission, these companies were registered in Part A, B and C categories from the inception of the CAC in 1990 to March 21, 2019. CAC was established by the Company and Allied Matters Act promulgated in 1990 to regulate the formation and management of companies in Nigeria. Speaking at the CAC customers forum in Abuja, acting registrar of the commission, Azinge Azuka, said in the last three years, the statistics on registration of firms and companies under Parts Limited Liability Company (A), Business Name (B) and Incorporated Trustee (C) was 618,309. She explained that in 2016, the commission got the sum of 175,098 from the LLC (A), 193,194 from Business name (B) in 2017 and 252,035 from Incorporated Trustee (C) in 2018. Azuka said the number of Annual Returns filed under the Parts A,B and C in the last three years was 190,078. “In that regard, work is at advanced stage to amend it enabling law, the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) in collaboration with the National Assembly,” she said. “This seeks to ease starting and growing businesses in Nigeria , ensure more appropriate regulation for MSMEs. “Enhance transparency and shareholders engagement align regulate framework with International best practices and make Nigeria an investment destination of choice.”   Source: Concisenews

The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has said that all is set for its 2019 quarterly Customers’/Stakeholders Forum. Godfrey Ike, Head, Public Affairs of CAC, who disclosed this through a statement, said the event is  slated for Tuesday, March 26, 2019 at the Merit House, Maitama, Abuja, by 11.am. “The CAC’s Customers/Stakeholderss Forum is interactive in nature and provides opportunity for the commission’s esteemed accredited customers, stakeholders and members of the public to directly engage top Management of the Commission on all its services. “It also serves as a veritable window for top management of the commission to provide first hand information on the commission’s products and services. “The forum is organised quarterly in furtherance of efforts towards deepening communication with the commission’s customers and other stakeholders as well as provide opportunity for stakeholders and members of the public to have a one-on-one interaction with top management of the commission on its services. Ike disclosed that  there will be presentation and demonstration on frequently encountered issues, while using the Companies Registration Portal which enables customers to register their businesses online at the forum. According to the statement, expected at the Abuja forum include among others, legal practitioners, chartered accountants, chartered secretaries, members of Nigerian Association of Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), entrepreneurs and members of the general public.   Source: Independent