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PDP, APC Bicker over $5.6Bn NLNG Dividend

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Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has slammed Nigeria’s ruling the party, All Progressives Congress (APC) for insinuating that the past administration hid the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) dividends from Nigerians.

Chief Olisa Metuh, PDP National publicity secretary, in a statement on Sunday in Abuja, stated that none of its (PDP) successive led governments ever tampered with the NLNG dividends in the last 10 years.

Metuh noted said that the fund at the end of President Goodluck Jonathan tenure had risen to a cumulative 5.6 billion dollars.

“It is imperative to note that by the end of the tenure of President Goodluck Jonathan, NLNG dividends had risen to a cumulative $5.6billion and not a single cent was ever taken from the funds,” the statement read.

PDP noted that its attention had been drawn to the “misleading and outright falsehood” by the APC on the issue. “The truth is that the NLNG had been on a 10-year tax haven until 2014.

“Within this period, successive governments, right from President Olusegun Obasanjo, never shared nor tampered with the cumulative dividends over the years.

“Whatever taxes paid from the NLNG go through the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS) and recorded as part of the income of the Federal Government.

The statement said although it was within the rights of the APC administration to spend the funds in any way it might decide, it was, however, wrong for APC to try to insinuate that the past PDP-led governments had hidden the fund.

Meanwhile APC has called on the Federal Government to probe how various revenues and incomes were paid into the federation account during Jonathan’s administration.

The party said president Muhammadu Buhari should urgently uncover how Company Income Tax/Education tax as well as dividends paid to the Nigerian government by the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) was utilised.

In a statement issued in Lagos yesterday by Alhaji Lai Mohammed, national publicity secretary, the party said the call for the probe was against the background of published reports that the funds were never paid into the Federation Account as they should have been.

It also described as example of grandstanding opposition, PDP’s move to “distort the facts about the source of the $2.1 billion that was approved for sharing by the three tiers of government by President Muhammadu Buhari.”

It said, “Whereas the Presidency corrected the initial erroneous report that the shared money was sourced from the Excess Crude Account (ECA), the skittish opposition continued to insist it was from the ECA and that it was part of the ‘savings’ by the Jonathan Administration.”

The APC said “in addition to paying it into the Federation Account for sharing, hence those who call it their ‘legitimate’ earnings should be asked why they did not demand the sharing of such ‘legitimate’ earnings in the past.

‘’We can tell Nigerians that apart from the said $1.6 billion NLNG payment for 2015, NLNG also paid $1.4 billion as Income Tax/Education Tax in May 2014, paid $0.3 billion as Education tax to the FG in 2011, 2012 and 2013 and $1.2 billion in VAT and With-holding Tax to the FG since 2009. These payments are just those made in the past six years alone, hence there were other payments before then.”

The ruling party also said “dividend payments totaling $4.7 billion was paid to the FG between 2004 and 2009, out of which only $128 million was credited to the FG’s Independent Account with JP Morgan,” leaving a balance of over $4 billion.

“The questions to ask therefore are why all the past taxes and dividends were neither fully paid into the Federation Account nor shared by the three tiers of government and what happened to the funds,’’ it said.

The party also said that as part of the investigation, the PDP must be asked where it kept the $5.5 billion which it said was the dividend paid to the FG by the NLNG before the 29 May handover.

‘’Since, according to the PDP, President Goodluck Jonathan asked that the money be ‘left for the incoming administration to manage’. it is important for the party, therefore, to tell Nigerians in which account the money was ‘saved’ because it is definitely not in the Federation Account,’’ it said.


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Cybersecurity Experts Seek Improvements to Maximise Protection

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A study titled “Improving resilience: cybersecurity through system immunity” conducted by Kaspersky, explored how organisations currently manage cybersecurity and how they are preparing for future challenges.

This research surveyed 850 IT professionals responsible for cybersecurity in large companies across Europe, the Americas, APAC, Russia, and the Middle East, Turkiye, and Africa (META) region, including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Egypt, and South Africa.

These respondents represented a diverse range of industries and organisational levels, offering a comprehensive view of current security postures and pain points.

The survey reveals that, despite high satisfaction levels—with 94% of experts from the META region stating they are “satisfied” to “extremely satisfied” with their current protection—the desire for stronger and more adaptable defenses remains widespread.

Although only 6% of respondents from META expressed dissatisfaction with their cybersecurity measures, most recognise the need for improvement. Specifically, 64% believe there are “a few” or “some” areas that could be enhanced, while 35% advocate for significant upgrades.

When asked to identify the weakest aspects of their cybersecurity systems that they would like to improve, respondents from the META region pointed to various operational and technical challenges. The most common issues included:

  • Manual processes consuming excessive time (31%)
  • Reactive protection lacking proactive threat detection (28%)
  • Shortage of skilled personnel (28%)

The reliance on manual processes leads to increased operational overhead and delays in identifying and responding to threats, while the absence of proactive threat detection reduces the ability to prevent breaches before they occur.

Among other critical weak sides of their current cybersecurity systems noted by respondents in the META region were high risks of systemic collapse following breaches (24%), overly complex IT/OT environments (22%), and outdated threat intelligence (21%).

Additional concerns included “alert fatigue” (22%) and insufficient functionality of current solutions (19%), complexity of managing disparate solutions (19%), and poor control over security policy implementation (19%).

The management of multiple different security solutions leads to gaps in coverage, misconfigurations, and increased risk of oversight, as security teams struggle to maintain an integrated, effective defense across diverse systems.

The fragmentation hampers swift response times and increases the likelihood of overlooked vulnerabilities, ultimately weakening the organisation’s overall security posture.

These findings highlight the urgent need for streamlined intelligent security tools to address these vulnerabilities effectively.

As organisations worldwide strive to strengthen their cybersecurity posture, this research highlights that, alongside enhancing traditional cybersecurity solutions, vendors are working to develop innovative approaches: shifting from protecting inherently vulnerable software with applied security measures toward creating secure-by-design systems with innate resilience. Such systems are capable of safeguarding their core assets even when compromised, often with minimal or no additional cybersecurity spending.

“More and more organisations are beginning to understand that modern challenges require not just strong protection but also a proactive and cohesive security strategy that strengthens every aspect of their digital landscape against potential breaches.

“That’s why it is essential for companies to adopt a transformative approach, integrating advanced threat intelligence and streamlined processes, and applying reliable, all-encompassing solutions to protect their assets while ensuring operational continuity and building customer trust,” says Alexander Kostyuchenko, Head of Technology Solutions Product Line at Kaspersky.


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NCAA Orders Airlines to Enforce $10,000 Currency Declaration Rule

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The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority has ordered all international airlines flying into Nigeria to enforce the $10,000 currency declaration rule.

The authority said the rule is required for passengers to declare cash or negotiable instruments above the limit, as part of efforts to strengthen anti-money laundering compliance.

According to the NCAA, the directive, referenced as NCAA/CPD/ABV/298, dated 24 April 2025 seeks to address gaps in the enforcement of existing currency declaration obligations for inbound passengers.

This was announced in a statement issued by the Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Michael Achimugu, via his official X account on Tuesday.

“International carriers must take two key actions, which include “Make inflight or pre-landing announcements informing passengers of their legal obligation to declare any currency or Bearer Negotiable Instruments exceeding $10,000 USD or its equivalent upon arrival in Nigeria.

“Distribute currency declaration forms onboard for passengers to complete before landing. The NCAA has received reports indicating that some airlines are yet to comply with this directive”, the statement read.

The NCAA said these requirements are consistent with international best practices and are vital to preventing the illegal movement of large sums of money across borders.

The Authority warned that full cooperation from international airlines is essential, saying, “Please note that the cooperation of all international airlines operating in Nigeria is critical to supporting the country’s efforts to align with global financial standards.”

Accordingly, the authority emphasised that full implementation of this directive, particularly as it concerns inbound passenger declarations, is of utmost importance.

“Compliance will be closely monitored, and non-compliant airlines will face appropriate sanctions,” it added.


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Appeal Court Nullifies Registration of ‘KPMG Professional Services’

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The court of appeal in Lagos has asked the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) to revoke the certificate of registration of “KPMG Professional Services”.

Appeal Court Nullifies Registration of ‘KPMG Professional Services'

In a unanimous decision delivered on Thursday, the appellant court granted the reliefs sought by KPMG Nigeria against CAC and KPMG Professional Services.

The judgment was read by Abdullahi Mahmud Bayero, the judge.

The two other judges are Abimbola Obaseki-Adejumo and A.M. Talba.

In 2002, KPMG Professional Services was registered as a company with CAC despite the existence of KPMG Nigeria, comprising its audit, tax, and consulting arms.

The KPMG Nigeria has long been registered in Nigeria before 2002.

KPMG Audit was registered in 1969, KPMG Tax Consultants in 1990, and KPMG Consulting in 1969.

Displeased with the registration of KPMG Professional Services, KPMG Nigeria approached the federal high court.

The consulting firm had argued that the name “KPMG Professional Services” was deceptively similar to its long-established identity.

In 2005, the lower court dismissed KPMG Nigeria’s case, citing an alleged merger between KPMG Nigeria and Akintola Williams Deloitte as reason the company could no longer assert rights to the name.

The lower upheld the second respondent’s (KPMG Professional Services) counterclaim and ordered that KPMG Nigeria’s name be struck off the CAC register.

The lower court had premised its decision on newspaper articles stating that KPMG Nigeria reportedly merged with Akintola Williams Deloitte.

Delivering the judgment, Bayero ruled that the lower court erred by relying on newspaper articles to ascertain that KPMG Nigeria allegedly merged with another company.

The judge said the documents showing the alleged merger were not presented before the lower court, and the form of the alleged merger could not have been known.

“In any event, the only branch of KPMG, if any, that entered into a merger with Akintola Williams as stated in the newspaper articles 18, is KPMG Audit,” the judge ruled.

“The other spheres were totally unaffected. It would therefore be wrong to state that the merger (which has not been shown to this Court) of KPMG Audit with Akintola Williams means all the other areas of business, including KPMG Consulting and KPMG Tax Consultants, also ceased to exist.

“Even if the Appellants (KPMG Nigeria) had ceased to do business as the Court seemed to have held, the 2nd Respondents (KPMG Professional Services) should not have been carrying on business until the Appellant’s certificate of registration is withdrawn or set aside.

“They cannot use the name until the Appellant’s certification of registration is withdrawn or set aside. They cannot use the name until the name is removed from the 1st Respondent’s (CAC) Register of Names.

“The 1st Respondents can only assign the name to the 2nd Respondents after first taking it away from the Appellants.”

The court ruled that CAC erred by registering KPMG Professional Services despite the existence of a business name, which is already registered.

The judge reversed the earlier ruling of the lower court and reaffirmed the primacy of statutory protection for existing business names under Nigerian corporate law.

 

 

 


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