Tag Archives: March

The Nigerian government plans to sell N130 billion bond in March

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The Debt Management Office, DMO, on Tuesday, said Nigeria plans to raise N130 billion ($427 million) from its third debt sale this year on March 15.

According to the debt office, it would issue N45 billion in bonds due in 2021, N50 billion maturing in 2027, and N35 billion due 2036, using the Dutch auction system.

The DMO added that it would begin with a high asking price that is lowered until the bond is sold, adding that settlement is expected on the day following the issue.

The bonds are re-openings of previous issues, except the 2027 which is a new issue.

Nigeria, Africa’s biggest economy, auctions sovereign bonds monthly to help fund its budget deficit, support the local debt market and to maintain a benchmark for companies to follow.

Earlier, the government had said that Nigeria expects a N2.36 trillion budget deficit for 2017, with about half of it funded through domestic borrowing.

 

Source: Premium Times

Money Laundering: Diezani Back In London Court March

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Former Petroleum Minister Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke and her mother Beatrice Agama have been told by a London court that they may still have a case to answer regarding the £27,000 money laundering and bribery allegation made against her by the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA).

The ex-minister, who was first arraigned at the Westminster Magistrate’s Court in October last year, would have to return again in March on the request of the NCA for another six months to give the agency more time to tighten its case.

With the March date, it is the third time in one year that Mrs. Alison-Madueke and others would be invited.

The former minister, her mother (the lead suspect); son Ugonna Madueke, family friend Ms Melanie Spencer, wife of a Ghanaian oil tycoon, Kevin Okyere and one of her siblings are all on the radar of the UK crime agency.

It is typical of the NCA, drawing its authority from the Proceeds of Crime Act, to ask for more time for its investigations to build a strong case.

The Proceeds of Crime Act says: “The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA) sets out the legislative scheme for the recovery of criminal assets with criminal confiscation being the most commonly used power.”

Confiscation occurs after a conviction has taken place. Other means of recovering the proceeds of crime, which do not require a conviction, are provided for in the Act, namely civil recovery, cash seizure and taxation powers.

The investigation is now global, extending to Nigeria and Switzerland, where billionaire businessman Kola Aluko was questioned and his home raided on the request of the NCA.

Aluko, who has Swiss nationality and owns Atlantic Energy, did some oil deals with Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) when Mrs. Alison-Madueke was in charge.

He is believed to be a key figure in the money laundering network.

Atlantic Energy signed a lucrative strategic alliance in 2011 with NNPC under Mrs. Alison-Madueke, giving it the right to sell oil from four big blocks on behalf of Nigeria.

Before the oil price crashed, Aluko said the commercial value of the contract was estimated at $7 billion.

Aluko confirmed to the Sunday Times of London last year that he was under a probe on potential violations of the United Kingdom Proceeds of Crime Act and Bribery Act. But he professed his innocence.

He said: “I am willing to co-operate with anybody. I have nothing to hide.”

The businessman added that he paid the rent on a flat in St John’s Wood in London for Mrs. Alison-Madueke’s mother, “as well as bringing her hams, sausages and orchids”.

Beatrice, Mrs. Alison-Madueke, son and others involved in the laundering and bribery allegation risk losing the £27,000 in contention and jail term, if the charges were proven against them in court.

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‘Money laundering’: Diezani back in London court March

BoT Gives Jonathan March Deadline To Reject Sheriff

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Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders are still quarelling over the choice of Senator Ali Modu Sheriff as Acting National Chairman.

Some former ministers and members of the Board of Trustees (BoT) have raised a committee to meet with ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, who is to be told —reject Sheriff or face a mass exodus. The deadline is March.

Sheriff barged into a BoT session yesterday but members only promised to get back to him on his plea for acceptance.

The BoT resolved not to endorse Sheriff. It may advertise the job, a source hinted.

But the  anti-Sheriff forces in the party and some members of the National Working Committee(NWC) are pushing for the tenure of the acting chairman to end in March.

Credit: Nation

South Africans To March Against Attacks On Foreigners

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After weeks of violence, primarily in KwaZuluNatal, thousands expected to take part in solidarity rally in Durban. Thousands of people are expected to attend a march in South Africa’s coastal city of Durban in solidarity with the country’s foreign nationals.

The march, which includes religious leaders and concerned citizens, comes after weeks of attacks against foreign nationals in which at least five people have been killed and 74 people arrested since the end of March, according to Colonel Jay Naicker, the police spokesperson.

On Thursday, as many people prepared to march in the coastal city of Durban in KwaZuluNatal, many shops also remained closed in the business capital of the country, Johannesburg.

Groups of people were said to be travelling from other provinces to join in the show of solidarity with the foreign nationals. She said that people had been gathering and that while the numbers were not yet big, the crowd was expected to grow. Similar attacks occurred in 2008 in which at least 60 people were killed.

Messages circulating on social media warned people in Gauteng province and KwaZuluNatal to be on high alert for possible attacks and to also remain indoors.

Read More: aljazeera