Telecommunication firms have issued fresh threats to withdraw Unstructured Supplementary Service Data service if banks do not pay their N120bn debt owed to them. According to the telcos, the issue has dragged on for too long and a court resolution might be needed since the banks do not seem to be ready to clear the debt. The Chairman, Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria, Gbenga Adebayo, disclosed this over the weekend while speaking to journalists. This new revelation is coming despite a recent resolution by the telcos and banks to settle the USSD issue that has been lingering for about four years. He said, “I think is just best to withdraw the services. On this issue of USSD debt, if parties have to go to court to get a final resolution, so be it. This is because every effort that is being made by everyone, where we move one step forward, several steps backward, is not going to work. “This is a commercial agreement that went south. This agreement has a provision for third-party intervention, whether arbitration or heading for the Court of Law, if it is allowed to take its own life, parties will decide where to go. Instead of going to meetings in Abuja with the minister or the CBN, parties would decide where to go according to the agreement.” Adebayo highlighted that the matter is commercial, and it is appropriate to withdraw the service. He however noted that political interference has ensured that telcos have not been able to enforce the commercial terms. He stated, “So when you open commercial agreement to political interference, you get into this kind of problem. That is why we say emphatically that some issues, including price review, should be left to market forces, not to be determined by government because it is not sustainable.” He disclosed that in a recent with the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani, recently, the minister was sympathetic to the plight of the telcos and stressed that if parties behaved as responsibly as they should, the matter wouldn’t have reached this level. Earlier in a document shared with The PUNCH, telcos had revealed that the minister has hinted that banks should not expect free service as there are costs to every service rendered. The immediate past Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Prof. Umar Danbatta, noted that the USSD debt was slowing down financial inclusion in the country. Recently, Adebayo confirmed to The PUNCH that the USSD debt issue was still unresolved, with banks and telcos discussing a repayment plan.

  Monday 16 October 2023 21 states owe N790bn inherited pensions, gratuities Ohanaeze to meet Tinubu over Nnamdi Kanu Guber polls: Remove Imo REC to avoid Adamawa fiasco, PDP urges INEC NAF airstrikes kill 100 ISWAP terrorists, destroy gun trucks, in Borno, Zamfara NDLEA arrests 2 wanted drug barons, 2 others for ingesting 175 wraps of heroin Insecurity: Stop traveling in church branded buses, CAC tells members Kaduna Gov Election: Uba Sani, Ashiru take fight to Appeal Court Kaduna Gov Election: Uba Sani, Ashiru take fight to Appeal Court FG re-issues El-Zakzaky’s travel documents, Iranian varsity awards him doctorate Bayelsa, Imo, Kogi elections results will be uploaded on IReV — INEC Chairman Use your ‘influence’ for Middle East calm – Blinken tells China Pastor, three others caught with human skull in Ogun FG may spend N3.27tn on palliatives, loans Tinubu swears in new ministers as FEC meets today Naira under pressure, Nigeria may seek dollar loan –IMF Akpabio promises Senate intervention in Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta road reconstruction Tinubu to unveil projects at UNILORIN October 23 Ecuador elects youngest-ever president, Daniel Noboa, to fix ‘destroyed’ country One Million Gazans Displaced As Israel Readies For Ground Attack Falana To NASS: Stop Paying Lip Service To Basic Education Shettima To Represent Tinubu At Third Belt, Road Forum In China Reject Bill To Regulate Social Media Bill, Group Tells Akpabio, Abbas Ex-Senate President Ahmed Lawan Loses Mother Lagos Vows To Prosecute Night Club Staff For Assaulting LASEPA Officials Ugandan Police Foil Rebels’ Bomb Plot On Churches Boko Haram Attacks Escalate In Borno Gaza Invasion Could Lead To ‘Genocide’, Say Arab League, AU Liberia’s Election: ECOWAS Warns Against Premature Declarations Of Victory 2 In Police Net For Stealing N1m In Edo Atiku: Tinubu has lied about every aspect of his life | My change of name well documented Firms scale down production, opt for trade over FX, income concerns Importers groan over 200% surge in duty amid naira fluctuation Telecoms operators may sue banks over N120b USSD debt NBA petitions IGP over police alleged assault on member Lagos seals private hospital for transfusing unscreened blood Three die in Lagos auto crash Wife bathes husband with acid over N15,000 gift in Rivers INEC does better in off-season elections, says ADC national chairman FG reinstates Adepoju as postmaster general of NIPOST APC Accuses PDP Of Plans To Cause Crisis Visit a newspaper stand this morning, buy and read a copy for yourself…

  No fewer than 30 people have drowned and 167 are missing after a boat capsized on the Congo River at the weekend in northwestern Democratic Republic of Congo. Didier Mbula, provincial health minister for Equateur Province, said that 189 people have been rescued and that the search is still going on. According to the numbers we have so far at the provincial government, 30 corpses have been recovered, 167 are still missing,” Mbula said yesterday. Deadly boat accidents are frequent in Congolese waters, where vessels are frequently loaded well beyond their capacity. The country has few tarred roads across its vast, forested territory, and travel by river is common. The locally made boat that capsized near the town of Mbandaka was overloaded, carrying more than 300 people, and it was sailing at night, Mbula said. “We think that the toll could climb because we have just removed the 30th corpse,” he said.

  The house of representatives has reacted to reports on the procurement of sports utility vehicles (SUVs) for the 360 members of the lower chamber. Recently, reports appeared on social media that the leadership of the green chamber has bought SUVs for all members of the house. According to the report, each of the SUVs is valued at N160 million, totalling N57.6 billion for the purchase of the vehicles. In a statement on Sunday, Akin Rotimi, spokesperson of the house of representatives, confirmed that the green chamber is in the “phased process of procuring and distributing operational vehicles to honourable members”.   Rotimi said the reports on the vehicle procurement “carry varying exaggerations”, adding that the vehicles are not personal gifts to the lawmakers. He added that the vehicles remain the property of the national assembly within the four-year tenure of members of the house. “It is important to make a few clarifications. The vehicles to be allocated to the offices of honourable members are utility operational vehicles tied to their oversight functions in the discharge of their duties in the standing committees. “They are not personal vehicles gifted to honourable members. For the duration of the 10th assembly (2023 – 2027), the vehicles shall remain the property of the national assembly. “At the expiration of the tenure of the 10th assembly in 2027, should the extant assets deboarding policy of government still be in place, honourable members may have the option of making payment for the outstanding value of the vehicles to government coffers before they can become theirs, otherwise it remains the property of the national assembly. “No matter how remote the location is, as long as there are Nigerian citizens living there, they deserve highly mobile representatives who can see first-hand what they are going through, and ensure government interventions, programmes, and policies are carried out effectively. This can only be possible with functional and reliable off-road vehicles. “The vehicles are work tools and not status symbols — honourable members are diligent and patriotic elected representatives and not entitled. “The anticipated allocation of vehicles will contribute to improved representation, constituency outreach and oversight functions

  The police have arrested two suspects, Osamudiamen Jonah and Michael Agboola, over alleged theft of N1 million from one Prince Sylvester’s account in Edo State. Parading the suspects, the state’s police spokesperson, Chidi Nwabuzor, said Prince reported at the Ugbegun Division that the suspects attacked and robbed him of his phone and ATM card on Erediauwa Road, off Upper Sakponba Road, Benin City He said the suspects later withdren N1m from the victim’s bank account, adding that they had confessed to being members of an armed robbery gang that terrorised the Ugbekun axis. In an interview with journalists, one of the suspects, Jonah, denied being in an armed robbery gang, saying they and the victim were all members of the Eiye confraternity. Jonah explained that, “We met the victim on the road at Nomayo and one of us, Victor, who escaped, said since he put him in the Eiye confraternity he hadn’t celebrated his birthday (joining the cult). “Anybody that joins us must celebrate his birthday. So, we asked him why he refused to celebrate his birthday and he said he had left our area. “We then asked him to celebrate it for us. He took us to an ATM and gave us N30,000, but Victor said the money was too small. He checked his account and saw N2m in it. So, he collected his ATM, took him to Erediauwa and collected N750,000 from his account and gave him back his phone and the ATM card. “The victim then went to report us to our senior in the confraternity and we were arrested and beaten for collecting the money without remitting something to them. “But before our senior in the cult got us, Victor, who collected the money, had escaped. They took us to the Ugbegun Division who later brought us here.”

  A pastor with the Christ Liberty Evangelism Church, Rosco, Iyana Iyesi, Ota, Oyenekan Oluwaseyi, and three others have been arrested with a human skull in the Saje Area of Abeokuta, the Ogun State Capital. PUNCH Metro learnt on Sunday that Oluwaseyi and the three others, 30-year-old Ibrahim Agbowewe, 40-year-old Suleiman Ogunbunmi, and 57-year-old Gafari Akinsanya, were arrested by men of the state police command in the early hours of Saturday. A source in the command told our correspondent that the suspects claimed they had intended to use the skull for rituals. The source added that the arrest was made following a tip-off from members of the public about the suspects’ suspicious movement and activities in the area. Following the intelligence, policemen were said to have stormed the area and arrested the suspects. PUNCH Metro learnt that other items such as one big calabash, one black Toyota Camry car and one ram found with the suspects had been recovered and taken to the police station. The state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Omolola Odutola, who confirmed the arrest, told our correspondent that the four suspects had confessed to the crime. “We arrested the four of them. They have since confessed that they wanted to use the head for blessings and money rituals. The investigations are ongoing to unravel more details about the incident,” Odutola told PUNCH Metro on Sunday.

  The International Monetary Fund has said the naira is currently under pressure and Nigeria is free to seek loan from the Fund to stabilise the currency if it considers a good option. The Washington-based lender however noted that recent exchange reforms and other steps taken by the Nigerian authorities were in order. It also expressed support for Olayemi Cardoso-led Central Bank of Nigeria’s last week’s decision to halt the eight-year foreign exchange ban on cement, rice, poultry products and 40 other items. The past administration of the CBN had imposed the forex ban in 2015. The made this known at the World Bank Group/International Monetary Fund Meeting in Marrakech, Morocco. IMF said inflation in Nigeria was till high at 26 per cent in August while the naira continued to be under pressure. The local currency, which fell from about 450/dollar to an average of 760/dollar following the exchange reforms of the President Bola Tinubu, has continued to drop at the parallel market. The local currency plunged to 1045/dollar on Thursday. While reiterating the need to tighten monetary policy by raising the Monetary Policy Rate and mopping up excess naira liquidity, the bank said foreign exchange market confidence could benefit from more clarity on Central Bank of Nigeria dollar obligations. A JP Morgan report put the Central Bank of Nigeria forward contract obligations at $6.8bn but stakeholders said the amount could be more. In a response to emailed questions by The PUNCH on whether the Fund is open to giving Nigeria a dollar loan to support the naira, the Fund said, ‘Nigeria is facing high inflation of 26 percent year-on-year in August and pressure on the naira. In June, the authorities unified the different official exchange rate windows. This was a welcome step as will help to strengthen the functioning of the foreign exchange market. We also welcome the CBN’s recent decision to lift the ban on the 43 items previously restricted from accessing foreign exchange from the official window. This is a positive step in the direction of a shift to a market-determined exchange rate regime.” It further stated that “the authorities should urgently tighten monetary policy and take measures to ensure markets maintain full confidence in the Central Bank of Nigeria. Tightening monetary policy will have to include raising the Monetary Policy Rate and mopping up excess naira liquidity. Market confidence will benefit from more clarity on Central Bank of Nigeria dollar obligations.” On the possibility of a currency support loan, it said, “As every member country of the IMF, Nigeria can seek IMF financing if they see this as helpful to address external imbalances. The Nigerian authorities have not approached the IMF with a request for financing.” Meanwhile, the IMF has said it is confident the new CBN governor, Cardoso, and the new Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, have the capacity to take right decisions to boost the fortunes of the economy. Edun had during the World Bank/IMF meeting listed a number of fiscal initiatives aimed at collecting more tax revenue and reducing waivers to boost economic growth. Also, Cardoso had listed plans to stabilise the market and navigate the country through the current turbulent economic challenges. The CBN governor said the new leadership team would review foreign exchange market policies, the central bank corporate governance practices and monetary policies to reposition the apex bank to achieve its core mandates. Already, he said the new team members, who resumed fully at the bank a few weeks ago following their confirmation by the National Assembly, was currently carrying out a comprehensive assessment of the challenges facing the central bank. According to him, the ongoing assessment of the bank will lead to tweaking or jettisoning of some policies as part of a wide-ranging programme to reform the bank as a catalyst for economic growth and development. In a document titled, “Preliminary assessment of challenges facing the Central Bank of Nigeria”, Cardoso outlined the challenges facing the CBN and introduced high-level proposals aimed at addressing reformation challenges. He also examined the role of a refocused central bank in supporting the economic agenda of President Bola Tinubu. He also harped on what should be put in place to revert to evidence-based monetary policies, including the discontinuation of unorthodox monetary policies and foreign currency management, unorthodox use of Ways and Means spending, and development of control limits in the use of Ways and Means in financing public sector deficit.On the backlog of FX demand, Cardoso emphasised the need for creative financing options for clearing the short to medium-term backlog. The new central governor also plans to place a limit on the CBN’s fiscal side interventions, while also proposing responses to addressing inflation and price stability issues. Cardoso said, “These problem statements need in-depth review by the new Central Bank leadership team to determine what mechanisms are currently working, what can be tweaked or dispensed with and what new tools need to be introduced” On how the CBN can be refocused to support economic growth, he said, “The economic policy proposals of the administration identify a set of fiscal reforms and growth targets that will achieve $1tn GDP within eight years. In reviewing selected BRICS and MINT countries, with large populations and similar developmental characteristics as Nigeria, it is interesting to identify macro-economic indices that point to Nigeria’s economic trajectory, given the faithful implementation of the proposed economic reforms. In economies bigger than $1tn, these indicators include moderate inflation, sizable foreign reserves, and the capacity to quickly rebound from a cyclical economic downturn.”

  An unidentified middle-aged woman has allegedly poured an acid on her husband’s face after a squabble over a domestic matter in Eleme Local Government Area, Rivers State. The incident occurred few days after another woman reportedly bathed her husband with hot groundnut oil in Okehi, Etche LGA of the state, still over marital issues. Daily Sun gathered that the incident that happened in the early hours of yesterday, was intercepted by the Nchia Security Council headed by Mr. Abel Oluka, and other teeming youths of Agbonchia community. The woman, who is a native of Akwa Ibom State and the husband from Agbonchia community in Eleme (LGA) accused her husband of not giving her money from the community N15,000 that was shared between them and their children from the host community dividends. It was alleged that the woman, who is a mother of two girls, poured acid on the face of her husband, took away his Automated Teller Machine (ATM) card and in her plan to escape, she was caught. According to reports, she was seen hiding inside her rooftop ceiling and wanted to escape from there. The case has been handed over to the Eleme Police Station for further investigations and the man (victim) is going through some medical attention. Meanwhile, the state Police Command has not officially reacted to the incident.