Headline

Presidency Knocks Lawmaker Over Missing N89tn Stamp Duty Claim

Published

1 year ago

December 13, 2022

Following the controversies trailing a claim of a missing sum of N89.09 trillion allegedly lost from siphoned stamp duty charges, the Presidency on Tuesday said such is false.

It also said the entire banking sector deposit in Nigeria does not amount to half of N89tn.

“It is now evident that the consultants and petitioners’ claim of a missing N89tn from stamp duty appears false and a figment of their malicious imaginations. The same set of consultants claimed in 2016 there was N20tn to be collected. It was found to be false. The entire banking sector deposit is not even up to half of N89 trillion.

“Indeed, if the Federal Government can find N89tn Naira, it can pay off all its debt, both foreign and local currency and all state government debts and still have over N10tn left,” a statement signed on Tuesday evening by the President’s spokesman, Garba Shehu, read.

The statement is titled, “Stamp duty: facts Nigerians need to have.”

In an interview with BBC Hausa last Friday, the lawmaker representing the Kazaure, Roni, Gwiwa, Yankwashi Constituency of Jigawa State at the lower chambers alleged that the Presidential Committee on the Reconciliation and Recovery of All Stamp Duties has accused some government agencies of sabotaging the committee’s efforts.

According to Kazaure, who said he serves as the committee’s secretary, it was discovered that N89.09tn has so far been realised from deductions by banks but these funds have not made it to the FG’s coffers.

He alleged connivance by some critical operatives of the regime, including the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the Protocol Department of the State House, preventing him from briefing President Muhammadu Buhari on the findings.

But reacting to the claims on Tuesday, the Presidency said while there was a committee empowered by the President to look recover a sum of N20tn allegedly lost to the Nigerian Inter-bank Settlement System, the President rescinded his approval upon realising the actual plan of said committee.

It explained that this “anomaly” arose because certain characters apparently formed a cartel with collaborators in the Nigerian Postal Service and were allegedly collecting and pocketing tokens on banking transactions.

Soon after, a non-government organisation posited to the regime that the Nigerian government had lost the sum of over N20tn to the Nigerian Inter-bank Settlement System between 2013-2016 in this regard, claiming that the said sum could be recovered and paid back into the government coffers.

“The consultants asked to be paid a professional fee of 7.5 per cent and were placed under the supervision of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

“Following the lack of progress in the promised recovery, the late Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari wrote on March 8, 2018, to the SGF conveying a presidential directive that following the lack of progress and several expressed concerns received, the activities of the consultants be discontinued.

“In the aftermath of this dismissal, the consultants sued the government. A court of competent jurisdiction subsequently ruled in favour of the government,” the Presidency noted in the statement.

It said arising from the outcome of the litigation and the controversy on the legally responsible agent for collecting this levy, the regime caused an amendment to the law and removed NIPOST from the duty of its collection.

Having lost a potentially “lucrative” line of “business”, Shehu claimed that the sacked characters returned to the drawing board to formulate one form of trick or another to intimidate the government but the vigilant teams of the administration kept them at bay.

“Lately, they returned to the government through Hon. Muhammadu Kazaure with a plan to track the so-called lost stamp duties with the erstwhile consultant as chairman and Gudaji as secretary.

“When it emerged that the petitioner and lead consultant of the committee the President had dissolved via the late Abba Kyari’s letter of March 28 had masqueraded himself and re-emerged as the chairman of the new recovery committee championed by Gudaji, the President rescinded the approval he gave and asked that it be stopped from operating under the seal of his office,” Shehu further explained.

Buhari’s decision, he said, was premised on concerns relating to natural justice and fair hearing in having the Chief Justice of the Federation as a committee member and a serving member of the House of Representatives as Secretary, which are not in line with Section 5(1),(a)&(b) of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).

The Presidency proceeded to answer questions raised by Kazaure in the BBC Hausa interview.

On the CBN’s Investors and Exporters window, which Kazaure claimed stood at $171 billion dollars as of 2020, it said “Contrary to Kazaure’s assertion, the I&E window is NOT an ‘account’ where foreign exchange is deposited. It is simply a platform for trading foreign exchange.

“As of April 2020, the total amount of foreign exchange traded (either bought or sold) in the window was about $171bn. The amount does not mean that we have $171bn stacked away in some vault or saved in any account.”

On accusations of the CBN loaning N23.4tn to some banks, Shehu said “the total balance sheet of the CBN is not anywhere near N23tn. So how can it give such an amount in loans to any or some banks?”

Responding to claims about a N13trillion loan to the federal government from the Financial Markets Derivative Quotes he said according to the Debt Management Office, the total amount of Nigeria’s domestic debt as of September 2022 is N21.6tn.

“Is Kazaure suggesting that a small company in Lagos holds over 60 per cent of Nigeria’s domestic debt? Of the N21.6tn domestic debt, only N4.5tn are in Treasury Bills. How then can a company in Lagos hold more treasury bills (N13tn) than the entire treasury bills issued by the Federal Government?” Shehu queried.

According to him, the President has not ignored these matters and a duly authorised committee under the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami is “working to reconcile, recover and transfer all Stamp Duties into Stamp Duties Central Account. The work is ongoing, it is not finished yet and the President will continue to show his keen interest in the matter of Stamp Duty collection.”
PUNCH

Headline

US-based Nigerian Bodybuilder Dies 18 Days After Being Shot By Wife

Published

8 hours ago

April 15, 2024

Editor

A US-based Nigerian bodybuilder, Michael Chidozie, 26, has died 18 days after he was shot multiple times by his wife, Keaiirra Shavoiyae, in the middle of an argument on March 21.

Chidozie lingered on life support, but he suffered a devastating spinal injury and died of complications on April 8, Daily Mail reports.

Chidozie was reported to have been shot four times by his wife during an argument inside their Houston apartment in front of their children.

Daily Mail further reports that Chidozie was rushed to Ben Taub Hospital after police found him with gunshot wounds and his wife in a panic holding their two kids, aged three and two.

A Houston media outlet, ABC13, reports that court documents show that he was shot twice in the torso, once in the arm, and once in the chest.

It added that Keaiirra, 28, was afterwards charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after the shooting, and her charges have not been upgraded since his death.

Keaiirra Shavoiyae
Investigators say that she claimed to have shot Chidozie in self-defence as she feared for her life during the argument when he followed her into their bedroom, where she picked up a pistol and shot him.

ABC13 further reports that Keaiirra has been released on bail and is set to next face court on May 23.

Chidozie’s family is trying to raise $70,000 to bring his body back to Nigeria for burial, as a GoFundMe has been set up to help the family with the expenses.

The PUNCH reported in January how an American-based Nigerian singer, Osazuwa Agbonayinma, popularly known as Zuwa, was shot dead in the United States of America.

Headline

Football Legend, David Beckham Wins £240m Legal Fight

Published

12 hours ago

April 15, 2024

Editor

David Beckham has won a massive £240million legal battle against several counterfeiters who were selling fake versions of his designer gear online.

The former football legend, 48, who is the director of DB Ventures had been seeking a staggering £1.58billion from 150 internet sellers.

Case files revealed the fraudsters were selling the fake goods on sites including Amazon, eBay, and Etsy by firms or individuals based in China or elsewhere in Asia.

These items consisted of designer clothing, footwear, perfume, hair, and body products, posters, footballs, video games, eyewear, jewellery, and watches.

The complaint said: ‘Their sale poses a real threat to DBV’s brand, and affects the sustainability of its business.

‘It also affects individuals and companies who unwittingly purchase them.’

The paperwork filed in the US also claimed the dodgy sales ‘erode the brand’s reputation’ and cost the company ‘considerable lost sales and harm’.

But now after almost three months since initiating legal action, Beckham has won the case, according to The Sun.

Last summer a temporary injunction and asset freeze were granted to Becks, which have now been made permanent by the judge.

Additionally, DB Venture’s motion for a default judgment against 44 defendants was granted, awarding £8,000 for each infringement.

However, the total award of £352,000 is significantly lower than the £ 240 million sought by Beckham’s team from the 15 firms collectively.

The former England captain will be happy to know that the counterfeiters are required to stop selling and forfeit any profits they accumulated.

DB Ventures enlisted the expertise of trademark specialists, The Sladkus Law Group, to put an end to the illicit sales.

In the filing, partner Jeffrey Sladkus explained that tracking the sites was challenging due to their lack of accurate address or phone number information.

He emphasised that legal threats were the sole effective method to halt their activities.

Beckham allegedly sold a 55 per cent stake in the firm to Authentic Brands in 2022 for £200million, despite the company’s profitable turnover doubling to £72million in the same year.

The company owns fashion brands Juicy Couture and Forever 21.

A source previously told the publication: ‘Authentic Brands want to crack down on people making cash from flogging goods with David’s name attached to it.

‘David and the team pride themselves on the quality of what they sell, including their clothes and fragrances, and they don’t want people being unwittingly ripped off when they buy a fake.’

Headline

US Doctor Found Guilty Of Poisoning Patients

Published

12 hours ago

April 15, 2024

Editor

A doctor in Texas has been found guilty of injecting heart-stopping poison into IVs at his former medical clinic in North Dallas.

FOX 4 in Dallas reported that a 12-person jury found Dr. Raynaldo Ortiz guilty on all 10 counts after nearly seven hours of deliberation.

When the verdict was read, Ortiz showed no emotion for the crimes he had committed.

As a result of Ortiz’s action, several patients suffered cardiac emergencies and Dr. Melanie Kaspar died after using one of the IV bags, prosecutors said.

Federal prosecutors said the anesthesiologist committed the shocking crimes at Baylor Scott and White Surgicare North Dallas in retaliation for a medical misconduct probe.

A criminal complaint accused Ortiz of injecting nerve-blocking and bronchodilation drugs into patient IV bags.

Surveillance video showed the doctor placing an IV bag in a stainless steel warmer outside an operating room on Aug. 19, 2022.

Minutes later, another staffer took the bag, and a patient soon after reportedly suffered a heart attack.

Ortiz’s colleague, beloved anesthesiologist Melanie Kaspar, took a contaminated IV bag home on June 21 to rehydrate due to an illness.

Almost immediately after inserting the IV into her vein, she suffered a serious cardiac event and died.

An autopsy showed she was fatally poisoned by bupivacaine, a numbing agent that the Justice Department said “is rarely abused” but used to alleviate pain during surgery.

“There’s no closure. My best friend is gone,” John Kaspar, Dr. Melanie Kaspar’s widower reportedly said shortly after the verdict. “I don’t think he ever looked me in the eye… It’s almost like you have so many emotions you can’t sift them out. You get flooded.”

The station reported that the witnesses called to the stand during the trial included the anesthesiologist who discovered the bags were tainted, John Kaspar, and a teen who suffered cardiac arrest during nose surgery.

The incidents first began two days after Oritz was notified of a disciplinary inquiry against him over his handling of a medical emergency.

Other doctors noted he complained the center was trying to “crucify” him.

FOX 4 reported that there were 13 patients between May and August 2022 who experienced similar cardiac emergencies, though prosecutors only charged the doctor with causing bodily injury to four of the patients in August.

A judge had ordered Ortiz be held before trial after prosecutors argued that he was a danger to the community by citing, in part, a 2015 incident in which he shot his neighbor’s dog in retaliation for the woman helping his then-girlfriend obtain a restraining order against him after a domestic violence incident.

Ortiz was convicted of four counts of tampering with consumer products resulting in serious bodily injury, one count of tampering with a consumer product, and five counts of intentional adulteration of a drug, prosecutors said.

Ortiz is expected to be sentenced in two to three months in prison.

Surveillance video introduced into evidence at Dr. Raynaldo Ortiz's trial shows him retrieving IV bags from the warming bin and replacing them shortly thereafter, not long before the bags were carried into operating rooms where patients experienced complications. [No audio.] pic.twitter.com/wScGP7SVsE
— US Attorney N. Texas (@NDTXnews) April 12, 2024