Gas explosion: Nasarawa Govt to take victims to South Africa for treatment

Nasarawa State Government today said it had concluded arrangement to fly some victims of the Lafia gas explosion to South Africa for further treatment.

Gov. Umaru Al-Makura stated this when the Chief Medical Director of the Federal Medical Centre, Keffi, Dr Yahaya Adamu paid him condolence visit at the Government House, Lafia.

Al-Makura revealed that 11 out of the 36 victims of the gas explosion had died and eight others in critical condition.

He said most of the victims were being treated at the National Trauma Centre in Abuja, adding that the government was committed to ensuring that they got the best medical attention.

The governor has promised to provide land for the construction of the permanent site of the Federal Medical Centre in Keffi.

He said this was to enable the facility expansion and establish emergency centre to enable the hospital cope with large scale emergency cases such as the Lafia gas explosion.

The governor commended FMC for its various outreach programmes which he said had impacted greatly on the health of the people in the state.

Al-Makura assured the hospital of the state government continued support to enable it strive to provide the best medical services to the people.

Earlier, Adamu commiserated with the government and people of the state over the incident and prayed God to grant the families of the deceased victims the fortitude to bear the loss.

The chief medical director commended the state government collaboration with the hospital, a development he noted had assisted FMC, Keffi to renderquality health services to the people.

He said that the hospital was working hard to improve on its emergency services to handle large scale cases.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Monaco gas station in Lafia was on Monday engulfed by fire at 10:00a.m when the tanker offloading the Liquefied Petroleum Gas had a leakage and went up in flames.


Mr Dogara Dalhatu, Chief Fire Officer of the Nasarawa State Fire Service, who confirmed the inferno, attributed it to a spark around the vicinity where the gas was being discharged.

He said that about 10 vehicles, five motorcycles and three tricycles were also destroyed by the fire.


















Rainbowgist

Rohr names 18 players for Liberia friendly

Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr has named 18 players for Tuesday’s friendly match against Liberia in Monrovia.

The lists has 13 foreign-based players and five home boys.

Rohr, who helped the Super Eagles beat Seychelles in their 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Victoria on Saturday, picked Enyimba trio Ikechukwu Ezenwa, Mfon Udoh and Sunday Adetunji.

IfeanyiUbah’s Adeleye Olamilekan and Ebube Duru of Lobi Stars also made the list.

According to the Nigeria Football federation, 14 players will leave Lagos for Monrovia on Monday through Addis Ababa.

The match scheduled for the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex is to celebrate Liberian President George Weah.

Full squad

Goalkeepers: Ezenwa (Enyimba); Daniel Akpeyi (Chippa United)

Defenders: Semi Ajayi (Rotherham); Chidozie Awaziem (Porto);Olamilekan (IfeanyiUbah); Jamilu Collins ( Padeborn 07); Duru (Lobi)

Midfielders: Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester); Oghenekaro Etebo (Stoke); John Ogu (Hapoel Be’er Sheva); Kelechi Nwakali ( Porto); Joel Obi (Chievo)

Forwards: Kelechi Iheanacho (Leicester); Simeon Nwankwo (Crotone); Henry Onyekuru (Galatasaray); Adetunji (Enyimba); Samuel Kalu (Bordeaux); Udoh (Enyimba)










Rainbowgist

IG to dismiss F-SARS men who check bank accounts

The Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, has told operatives of the reformed Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad to desist from checking citizens’ bank account details.

The IG also warned the F-SARS operatives not to invade people’s phones and laptops unless there was a court order or an instruction from the Commissioner of Police in charge of a state police command.

Speaking during a workshop in Owerri, the Imo State capital, Idris warned that any F-SARS operative who violated the new rules would be dismissed from the force.

Ibrahim, who was represented by the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the IGP’s X-Squad, Amaechi Elumelu, said any F-SARS operative who handled cases not related to armed robbery and kidnapping would equally be dismissed from the Force.

He said, “Under the new era in F-SARS, operatives must be professional and respect the rights and privileges of all citizens. In the past, F-SARS was considered as the most elitist and professional unit of the police force.

“In the last few years, the unit has been riddled with allegations of abuse and excesses which made the public to call for its disbandment.

“Under the reformed F-SARS, it is illegal to search suspects’ phones, computers, or inquire about their bank account details without proper authorisation.

“Henceforth, F-SARS commanders must get directives from the state Commissioners of Police before invading people’s privacy. Any officer who disobeys will be dismissed.”

The police boss said all operatives of F-SARS would undergo medical evaluation in order to guarantee their mental, psychological and emotional condition.












Rainbowgist

Abuja-Kaduna bound train crushes 52 cows to death – Police

The Kaduna State Police Command said on Sunday that 52 cows had been killed by an Abuja-Kaduna bound train.

The state Commissioner of Police, Ahmad Abdulrahman, stated this during a press conference in Kaduna.

He said the incident took place at Kasarami in the Kagarko Local Government Area of the state.

He said the command received a distress call when the incident occurred and that he and some policemen attached to the command moved swiftly to the spot.

According to the police chief, the train was speeding and in the process crushed 52 cattle to death.

He added that 27 of the cattle were still alive, but had to be slaughtered and sold at low prices in order to avoid a total loss.

Abdulrahman explained that the Fulani herdsmen were on their way back to Katsina State when the incident happened.

The CP said, “When we got to the scene, we found out that contrary to earlier calls of insurgent attacks, what actually happened was an accident involving cows.

“Fulani herdsmen, who passed the night at Kasarami, asked if they could cross over with their cattle and were misinformed that there were no rail services on Sunday.

“It was when they were half way that a fast moving train from Rigasa Station on the way to Abuja approached.

“I want to assure the people of Kaduna State that what happened was an accident and no life was lost; only the cattle.

“I had a meeting with their leaders and the farmers in the area to check a recurrence.”

The police boss called on residents to go about their lawful activities as the command was doing everything possible to safeguard lives and property in the state.



















Rainbowgist

Power firms fail to provide meters for 58% of customers

Nearly five years after its privatisation, the nation’s power sector has left most electricity consumers with little or nothing to cheer about as metering remains a key problem.

Electricity consumers have expressed disappointment as nine of the 11 power distribution companies in the country have not supplied meters to more than half of their customers.

The total power generation has been hovering around 3,000 megawatts in recent months on the back of gas constraints, transmission line and distribution network limitations and water management issues, leaving at least 3,000MW idle.

A new report by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission obtained by our correspondent on Saturday showed that out of the 8,135,730 registered electricity customers, only 3,434,003 (about 42 per cent) had been metered as of the end of the first quarter of this year.

“The data is disappointing; we are moving at a snail’s pace. We have the capacity to meet up the requirement if we are conscious to do what is right. Looking at those who have actually applied to have meters, more than 50 per cent of those who need meters and who have applied for them are unmetered, then we cannot actually say that we are making progress,” the President, Electricity Consumers Association of Nigeria, Mr Chijioke James, told our correspondent.


“Not until every customer that is eligible to have a meter is actually metered, then as far as we are concerned, they (electricity distribution firms) are not doing anything. A lot of people are on estimated billing and corruption is still there,” he added.

According to NERC’s first quarter 2018 report, in comparison with the last quarter of 2017, the registered customers increased by 2.37 per cent, while the metered customers declined by 3.9 per cent.

The regulator attributed the increase in the number of registered customers to the ongoing enumeration by the Discos, which it said had helped them (power distributors) to register some individuals who had previously consumed electricity through illegal connection to the networks.

“Metering still remains a key challenge facing the industry,” NERC said, adding that only two Discos, Benin and Port Harcourt, had metered up to 50 per cent of their customers as of the end of the first quarter of this year.


According to the report, three in every five registered electricity consumers are unmetered, with the Yola Disco having the lowest metering rate at 21 per cent.

“A major initiative towards improving revenue collection in the Nigerian electricity industry is the provision of meters to all end-use consumers of electricity,” the regulator stated.

It said the Meter Asset Provider Regulations’ scheme was launched recently to enable third-party meter providers to work with the Discos in bridging the metering gap in the industry.

The MAP Regulations, 2018 was introduced to eliminate estimated billing practice, attract private investments into the provision of metering services, and close the metering gap through accelerated meter rollout.

NERC said, “Notwithstanding the growth in the registered customer population during the first quarter of 2018, the incremental meter deployment by Discos is significantly lower than the targeted quarterly metering stated in the performance agreement with the Bureau of Public Enterprises. Notably, with the exception of Port Harcourt and Benin Discos, none of the remaining Discos has metered half of their registered customers.

“To this end, the commission shall continue to work relentlessly with the Discos to ensure total compliance with their respective metering targets as contained in their Performance Agreement with the BPE by enforcing the Meter Asset Provider Regulations.”

In the first quarter, the power distributors received a total of 108,874 complaints from their customers and resolved a total of 72,846, representing 67 per cent of the complaints received, according to the report.

NERC noted that customer complaints were typically on metering, estimated billing and service interruption, among others.

The regulator said, “Metering and billing dominated the customer complaints, both accounting for 64,197 (i.e. 59 per cent) of the total complaints in the first quarter of 2018.”

It said out of the N171.1bn billed customers in the first quarter, only N106.6bn was recovered, representing 62.3 per cent collection efficiency.

“Overall, the Discos’ collection efficiency remains abysmally poor, as just a little above the half of the revenue billed is recovered as at when due. The poor collection efficiency by the Discos has negatively impacted on the financial liquidity of the industry, which in turn, has led to reduced investment in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry,” the regulator stated.

NERC noted that a major factor contributing to low collection efficiency “is customers’ dissatisfaction with estimated billing, which often resulted in unwillingness to pay.”

The ECAN president, James, said some customers paid for meters but the Discos had yet to supply to them, adding, “If we are in a country where consumers’ rights are adequately protected, all the major distribution companies in Nigeria would have gone under by now with litigation. They don’t have any right not to meter all the consumers.

“Now, it is worse off for them that the consumers took the responsibility upon themselves to get metered; many of them paid and for the past one year, they have not been metered, and there are no sanctions. If we open a class action against the distribution companies, all of them will fold up. I am talking to my team of lawyers and we are beginning to look at it.”

The Chief Executive Officer, Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors, an umbrella body for the Discos, Mr Azu Obiaya, in a telephone interview with our correspondent, said the lack of cost-reflective tariff was hampering the power investors’ ability to invest in the sector.

He stated, “Sooner is better than later in terms of resolution of this tariff gap. The generation companies right now are only being supported by the prepayment assurance guarantee, which is supposed to end through the end of this year. Without that buffer, we are back to a much more challenging situation in which the Discos are unable to remit the kind of money that is necessary to make the market whole, because again the tariff gap exists.

“There is an urgent need for us to put our heads together in the sector and come up with a solution to this market shortfall situation.”

According to NERC, the Discos were issued a total invoice of N163.1bn for energy received from Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc and for the services provided by the market operator in the first quarter of this year, only N51.2bn of the invoice was settled, creating a total deficit of N112bn.

“Financial illiquidity remains the most significant challenge affecting the industry’s sustainability. This serious liquidity challenge is partly attributed to non-cost-reflective tariffs and high technical and commercial losses aggravated by consumers’ apathy to payment arising from estimated billing and poor quality of supply in most load centres,” it added.

The commission said although the low remittance by Discos to the NBET and the MOs was partly due to the low collection and existing tariff shortfall, it had been observed that the Discos seemed to have capped their monthly remittances, thereby keeping more than their fair share from the market funds.

















Rainbowgist

I’ll expose Akpabio if he dares me —Ekpenyong

A former Deputy Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Dr Chris Ekpenyong, said he would unleash damning records of Godswill Akpabio’s secret deals if he (Akpabio) continued in his campaign of calumny against him.

Akpabio, a former governor of the state, was alleged to have castigated Ekpenyong (his kinsman) that he deceived him into defecting from the People’s Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress.

It was learnt that Ekpenyong, who has been endorsed by the PDP elders and stakeholders to contest against Akpabio for the Akwa Ibom North-West Senatorial seat, described the allegation as baseless and self-serving attempt to score a cheap political point.

He said, “It sounds childish that someone of that level should make this kind of baseless allegation simply because I am challenging him for the mandate we willingly gave to him in 2015, which he threw away because of selfish interest.


“Assuming someone gave that kind of advice and agreed, it means someone can ask him to go and jump into the river and he would obeyed? If he (Akpabio) continues to attack me, I will unleash his records of secret deals.”

Speaking with hundreds of leaders and coordinators of one of his support groups in Uyo, Ekpenyong Volunteer Movement, on Saturday, he added that it was time for the electorate to be in the lead of rescuing Akwa Ibom and Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District from years of subjugation and underdevelopment.

According to him, the blackmailing antics occur because the PDP stakeholders in Akwa Ibom have taken a decision to enrol him as a consensus candidate to battle Akpabio and erase the sad chapter of years of underdevelopment and misrepresentation of the zone at the national level.

He said, “I am happy that generally, people know Akpabio to be an uncommon liar; he cannot continue to fool everybody all the times with his lies. I want to implore all of you to go back to your various local governments to begin your campaign for effective change in our zone.”


However, Akpabio’s media aide, Anietie Ekpong, said his boss could not have said such a thing. He asked if Ekpenyong could establish where Akpabio had been alleged to have made the remarks.

He said, “I’m not aware of the statement alleged to have been made by my boss. This is politics season, so many rumours are flying about, especially from sources one cannot trace.

“If I may ask, where was the statement made? Was it at a press conference, release, interview, rally, or where else.”















Rainbowgist

When to separate your personal, business accounts

The question of when a business is big enough for a separate business account is a tricky one.

Although, there are differing opinions on the subject, it is always best to have a business bank account, regardless of the size of your business.

In fact, small business owners are wise to open a business account before making any business transactions, according to research.

There are several reasons to separate personal and business banking but the primary reason is that is never a good idea to mingle funds. Commingling funds open the door a piercing of the corporate veil which can personally expose you to your business’s liabilities. Mixing personal and business funds can also lead to accounting and tax problems in the future.

Why your business needs its own account

Your business is going to have a lot of receivables (money coming in) and payables (money going out). If all of those funds are going into a personal account, the risk of confusing which deposits, withdrawals, and transfers increases drastically. And confusion is what leads to accounting, bills and tax headaches at the end of the year.


With that in mind, here are the primary reasons why small businesses of all sizes – from start-ups to contractors, to sole proprietors – should have a separate business account:

Expense tracking

An advantage to keeping personal and business accounts separate is that you will always know which expenses are personal and which are business. Furthermore, many business expenses are tax deductible and the separate business account will help identify those deductions quickly.

Minimising bookkeeping errors

Whether you are a sole proprietor keeping simple records or a small business that uses a record-keeping system, a separate business account will make it easier to reconcile your account on a periodic basis.

Audit preparation

Small businesses are not immune to audits. Keeping your personal and business accounts separate will not only help you keep better financial records but it can also prepare you for an audit or even prevent one from happening in the first place.


Corporate veil preservation

The corporate veil shields the owners of a business from personal liability for debts or negligence of the business. However, if you are shown to be commingling personal and business funds, or diverting business assets for personal use, you can lose this protection. Without the corporate veil, you expose all your personal assets to a significant amount of risk.

Easy to open

With the right documentation (which is minimal), opening a small business account could take only minutes of your time.

Banking relationship

As your business grows, your need for banking products and services, such as business credit cards, business loans, and merchant services will also grow. Opening a commercial account can be the first step in forming a valuable banking relationship.

Business bank accounts are exclusively for big businesses. In fact, small business accounts will look and feel a lot like the personal account you are familiar with. They are also just as easy to use and setup. Assuming you are planning on having your business stick around for a while and grow, you will want to start off on solid ground by opening a business checking account.


Choosing the right bank for your business account

Choosing the right bank for your small business account may be the most important financial decision you make. That is because your future success can depend upon a few key factors related to your bank choice. This includes how you finance your growth. So, you want to find a banking partner you trust and that will be able to accommodate your business needs as you grow.

Here are the primary factors to consider when choosing a bank for your business:

Bank size

Community banks can be a good choice for sole proprietors and small businesses that do not plan to scale beyond their city or county. If you have aggressive growth plans or strategies, a larger bank may be a better choice. Larger banks tend to have greater technology capabilities if electronic banking is central to your business.

Service

This is related to bank size. If you want your banker to know you by name and you like quick decisions made at the local level, then a community bank or small regional bank may be your best choice. Alternatively, if you need evening, weekend, and holiday hours available to you, then you may want to work with a national bank.

Location

Some businesses may have no problem doing the majority of their banking online. However, if you are going to be dealing with a significant number of cash deposits, then the physical location of a bank should be a primary concern.

Fees

Be sure to compare each bank’s schedule of fees. Determine which bank provides what you need for a reasonable price. Keep an eye out for monthly service fees, minimum balance fees, cash deposit fees, wire transfer fees and foreign transaction fees. You should not have a problem finding free business account. This is especially true if your needs are relatively simple. Most account providers will waive any fees if minimum balance or deposit requirements are met.

As with most other financial decisions, be sure to look at multiple banks before settling on the right choice for your business. Also, keep in mind the big picture of your company’s future growth. As your company grows, your business banking needs are likely to expand. And, in that sense, the bank will be almost as integral as a partner in your business.

Final thoughts

The decision to open a business account is not a matter of ‘if’. Instead, it is a matter of ‘when’s. And, the best time to get started is during the start-up phase of your business. Commingling funds is never a good idea.

Keeping your personal finances separate from your business could be the best decision you can make for your future success. Plus, with easy setup and low (to free) cost, there is no good reason to avoid opening a business checking account for your small business.
















Rainbowgist