General News
Pinnacle, ICPC Trade Words over Alleged Invasion, Harassment of Staff
Management of Pinnacle Communications Ltd, on has condemned the alleged invasion of its Abuja office by operatives of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
ICPC has however threatened legal action against 44 property owners including two buildings in Abuja belonging to Pinnacle Communications Ltd.
Pinnacle Communications in a statement by Abayomi Oyelola, its lawyer, said that “Pinnacle Communications condemns, in very strong terms, the illegal attempt by ICPC to harass and intimidate the company and its officials and unbridled attempt to shut down its business.
“The action of ICPC further confirms that they have been on a witch-hunt mission from the beginning and are bent on victimizing Pinnacle Communications in direct contravention of a statement credited to the Chairman of ICPC at a speech delivered at the inauguration of the Anti-Corruption and Transparency Unit at the Federal Polytechnic, Ede, Osun State.
“This statement was reported online on 20 January 2020, admonishing the staff against victimising people when doing their job. We add that they should also not scandalize genuine and law-abiding enterprises such as Pinnacle Communications Limited.
“Pinnacles Communication, as a law-abiding entity, expresses concern on this show of shame undertaken by ICPC and brazing use of force.”
The firm urged the Bolaji Owasanoye, ICPC chairman, to “rein in his officers” and ensure they comply with the rule of law and forestall actions that could further sink the image of the Commission.
It said the invasion happened on January 15, at its office located on Charles De Gaulle Street, Asokoro, Abuja, with the ICPC officials allegedly citing an “order from above.”
Mr Oyelola said the company is a licensed Digital Switch-Over operator in Nigeria, describing the invasion as despicable and unwarranted.
According to the company, the ICPC operatives had reportedly stormed the office with fully armed policemen in four vehicles, three Hilux vans, and a car, dressed in ICPC jackets that authenticated their identities to arrest the chairman and to seal the company.
The company’s lawyer said during the encounter, it demanded the warrants of arrest and order of the court granting the sealing of the office that legally motivated their move.
“It is common sense in a civilized country like Nigeria that production of a warrant of arrest is the sine qua non to entering premises and attempt to arrest people and that without an order from a court of competent jurisdiction no agency of Government has the right to seal off any business premises. There are boundless legal authorities on this.
“We consider the futile attempted invasion, intimidation and threat as clear evidence of the desperation of ICPC. ICPC had filed charges relating to fraud against Pinnacle Communications and its directors. This case is still pending in court. Issues have been joined and witnesses called and cross-examined.
“We need not say more than that in order not to be contemptuous of the court handling the pending litigation. But can this be a sign that what they apparently cannot get through the court they want to get by force?”
He added that the operatives failed to produce any document but rather claimed that they were working with geographical coordinates.
It further said that its officials, “could hear the conversation and the operative said: ‘we are here already’, ‘we have not entered’, ‘they claim he is not around’, ‘No pressmen, nobody’. Afterwards, the operative on the telephone suddenly said to his colleagues ‘let’s go, let’s go, let’s go’, and they left hurriedly, like a botched operation.
The Pinnacle officials heard the operatives lamenting on their way to their vehicles that they should have shot (gunshot) their way into the premises as soon as they arrived. This no doubt amounted to regulatory terrorism.
The company urged Abubakar Malami, attorney general of the Federation and the minister of Justice, to help investigate the matter.
“We are also urging the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami, SAN, to swiftly check the excesses of the ICPC and investigate this matter with a view to defeating the obvious display of prejudice in the agency’s dealings with Pinnacle Communication Ltd.
Recall that the ICPC in February 2019 filed a 12-count charge before Justice Folashade Ogunbanjo-Giwa of the Federal High Court in Abuja, against Ishaq Kawu, director-general of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC); Lucky Omoluwa, and Dipo Onifade, chairman and chief operating officer of Pinnacle Communications Limited respectively, for allegedly misappropriating N2.5 billion.
Despite the ICPC failing to produce Lai Mohammed, minister of Information, to testify in court, a statement he made to the agency, tendered in court, indicated that he gave the approval for the release of N2.5 billion to the NBC, as seed grant for the Digital Switch Over project of the federal government.
Mr Mohammed was meant to explain his role in the alleged misapplication of the N2.5 billion funds for the federal government’s Digital Switch-Over (DSO) programme.
But the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission has threatened legal action against 44 property owners including two buildings in Abuja belonging to Pinnacle Communications Ltd.
In a letter to the Management of Pinnacle Communications, ICPC also dismissed allegation by the digital telecommunication company that its operatives illegally invaded their Abuja office..
A copy of the ICPC letter, dated Jan. 24 and signed by Mr Akeem Lawal, agency’s director of Operations, was made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday.
The anti-graft agency said its operatives stumbled on the buildings while investigating a “totally different” case of tax evasion.
The commission said the buildings were among 44 property (buildings and plots of land) whose list was forwarded to it by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) for investigation.
The commission said FIRS requested the investigation after the ownership of the property was denied upon efforts to make their owners pay the relevant tax due.
According to ICPC, Pinnacle Communications was not mentioned as owners of any of the property on the list attached to the letter from FIRS.
It said its operatives arrived at the building in a bid to ascertain their coordinates and mappings as indicated by FIRS and confirmed by the FCT Department of Land Administration.
The commission dismissed Pinnacle’s “skewed and misleading’’ allegation as an attempt to link an honest investigative exercise with “the almost concluded case’’ against its chairman and others.
It further said that its operatives “do not go out to arrest persons in the course of locating property under investigation’’, contrary to the company’s allegation that they were there to kidnap the chairman.
“The reference at the briefing to the alleged lamentation of our staff `that they should have shot their way into the premises as soon as they arrived,’ is definitely far from the truth in the face of a legion of over ten armed mobile policemen on your premises.
“The commission deplores the bad faith evident in your media briefing and finds it really unprofessional that one of your counsels in the criminal case before the court, Abayomi Oyelola, who accosted our operatives after they had been denied entry into the premises by the policemen, was the same person that addressed the media on behalf of your company.
“Rather than come to our office the next day January, 16, 2020 as he had promised our officers, he thought otherwise and held a media briefing with the sole objective of painting the commission in bad light,’’ it said.
ICPC said since Pinnacle Communications had now claimed ownership of the two buildings, it should proceed to resolve the issue of ownership with the FCTA and tax evasion with FIRS.
The anti-graft agency gave the company three weeks from the date of the letter to act accordingly as it was prepared to take further legal actions on all the property
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has yet to publish its annual financial statements beyond the 2022 financial year, despite legal provisions requiring the apex bank to release its audited accounts annually.
An annual report is a comprehensive report on a company’s activities throughout the preceding year.
Annual reports are intended to give shareholders and other interested people information about the company’s activities and financial performance.
The most recent annual report and financial statements of the CBN available to the public remain those for the 2022 financial year.
Under Section 50 of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Act, the bank is required to prepare, submit and publish its audited annual financial statements.
Section 50(1) stipulates that the CBN must transmit its annual accounts, certified by an external auditor, to the President and the National Assembly within two months after the end of each financial year.
Section 50(2) further provides that the annual report submitted to the President and the National Assembly should be published in a manner determined by the CBN Governor, while Section 50(3) mandates the CBN Board to ensure the accounts are published in the Federal Government Gazette as soon as possible.
Despite these statutory requirements, the apex bank has not made public any annual financial statements after the 2022 reporting year.
The development comes after the CBN, on August 11, 2023, released its consolidated financial statements covering seven years the first such publication since 2015.
President Bola Tinubu appointed Olayemi Cardoso as Governor of the CBN on September 15, 2023, following the removal of former Governor Godwin Emefiele in June of the same year.
Emefiele is currently facing trial over alleged corruption-related offences.
Last week, the Supreme Court ordered the final forfeiture of several of Emefiele’s properties, along with $2.045 million in cash.
Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals has successfully completed a landmark US$2.5 billion private equity placement, in what is believed to be Africa’s largest publicly disclosed primary equity private placement by value.
This marks a major milestone in the company’s long-term expansion strategy.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the company said the offering was 3.7 times oversubscribed relative to its initial offer size, reflecting strong investor confidence in the refinery’s growth prospects and resulting in the issuance and allotment of approximately US$2.5 billion in new equity.
The fundraising follows the recent equity capital raise in which existing investors expanded their holdings alongside new institutional investors, strengthening the refinery’s capital base to support its next phase of growth.
According to the company, proceeds from the private placement will finance the continued expansion of its refining and petrochemical operations, reinforce its capital structure and enhance financial flexibility for future investments.
The transaction attracted broad participation from international and African institutional investors, sovereign-related investment vehicles, development finance institutions and long-term strategic partners.
Among the key investors were the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) and India Infra Buildco, an investment vehicle facilitated by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank). The offering also drew participation from a diverse mix of institutional and individual investors, underscoring strong market confidence in the refinery’s long-term strategy.
Chairman of Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals, Aliko Dangote, described the successful capital raise as a strategic move to deepen and institutionalise the company’s shareholder base while complementing internal cash flows and external financing.
“This further demonstrates our profound commitment to developing domestic refining and petrochemical capacity, reducing Africa’s reliance on imported refined products and strengthening the continent’s energy security,” Dangote said.
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the refinery, David Bird, attributed the strong investor response to the company’s operational performance and leadership.
“The exceptional demand we saw is a testament to our operational excellence, execution capacity, and investor confidence in DPRP’s leadership,” he said.
Following the completion of the transaction, the company said it is well positioned to continue executing its long-term growth strategy by expanding world-class refining and petrochemical capacity while strengthening Africa’s energy security.
Once again, The Gathering on 100 Pitchathon has rewarded some of Nigeria’s most promising young entrepreneurs, with three startups sharing ₦5 million in funding.
Pitchathon
The pitchathon took place at the Abuja edition of the Gathering on 100 held between July 18 and 19, at This Day Dome, Central Business District, Abuja.
The competition brought together founders from different sectors to pitch their businesses before a panel of judges.
The Pitchathon remains one of the most sought after experiences at The Gathering on 100, an MTN Nigeria initiative that connects young Nigerians with opportunities for entrepreneurship, innovation and personal development.
Omolola Rebecca, founder of Agrovest, emerged overall winner, receiving ₦2.5 million for her agritech solution, which provides funding for farmers to improve access to capital and boost agricultural productivity.
Reacting to her victory, Rebecca said the recognition would give her business greater visibility and open doors to more investors. “Winning this competition means more people will notice what we’re building.
“It puts Agrovest in front of potential investors and partners, and gives us the opportunity to grow our impact by supporting even more farmers,” she said.
The second prize of ₦1.5 million went to Agbo Obinnaya, founder of Case Radar, a legal technology platform that uses generative artificial intelligence to simplify access to legal services in Nigeria.
The platform enables users to obtain legal guidance, understand legal documents and connect with legal professionals through a single digital platform.
Abdulmuiz Adam secured third place and ₦1 million with WaveBudget, a fintech platform that combines savings and responsible financing.
The platform allows users to save towards financial goals, access buy now, pay later services through partner merchants with a 50 per cent down payment, and manage their savings in one place.
Presenting the prizes to the winners, Lanre Coker, Manager, Customer Acquisition and Compliance, North-West, MTN Nigeria, said the initiative reflects MTN’s commitment to supporting young Nigerians with the resources they need to grow their ideas into sustainable businesses.
“The Gathering on 100 is about helping young Nigerians achieve the height of their endeavours, whatever they may be.
“We know there are brilliant ideas across the country, and through initiatives like the Gathering on 100, we are creating opportunities for innovators to access funding and the confidence to keep building,” he said.
The Abuja edition builds on the success of previous Pitchathons held during The Gathering on 100 across the country.
In Lagos, eight startups received a combined ₦45 million in funding, while three startups shared ₦5 million at the Aba, Enugu, and Kano editions. With the Abuja winners now joining the growing list of recipients, the Pitchathon continues to position itself as a platform for discovering and supporting the next generation of Nigerian entrepreneurs.
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