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Abia blames core investor for delay in Aba Leather/Garment Cluster take-off

Published

6 years ago

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The Abia Government has blamed the core investor for the delay in realisation of the Umukalika Leather/Garment Cluster facility project in Aba.

The state Commissioner for Industry, Chief Henry Ikoh, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Aba that the investor, Reticulated Construction Nigeria Ltd. was not doing what the government had demanded of them.

He said the state government would soon decide on the way forward and what to do with the investor.

“If you call me in two weeks’ time, I shall be able to tell you if we are going on with him (the core investor) or not.

“What we planned is not what the government is seeing on ground at the site now,” he said.

According to him, though work is ongoing at the site, as the government has acquired a 500 KVA generator for its operations.

On alleged extortion of the project’s stakeholders by officials of his ministry, which they noted was also hindering take-off of the facility, Ikoh said he was yet to receive any complaint.

He, however, said that the N7,000 the off-takers were to pay was a “small amount of money” for forms to enable the government know the type of shop each applicant would need.

The commissioner said the state government was committed to clustering major businesses in Aba, adding: “Umukalika is for real and it is going to happen”.

Ikoh said that the government had also created and was working on what he called “the mechanic cluster” at Ovom Community in Obingwa Local Government Area for motor parts dealers and mechanics.

However, Mr Emem Coffie, the Managing Director, Reticulated Construction Nigeria Ltd, the contractor handling the project, said the company was waiting for guarantee from Abia state government to commence work.

He said that since they took over the job in 2015, they had spent so much money but when asked what the money was spent on, as there was virtually nothing at the site, he got angry.

Coffie said that his company had only collected N200,000 from the sale of forms to off-takers, and so could not do much until the end-users make enough commitment to the project.

According to him, the Umukalika cluster project is a Public-Private Partnership project as contained in the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) his company signed with Abia government and the off-takers.

According to him, the off-takers are to buy application forms for N7,000, fill and return it with initial deposit of N50,000 to show commitment before his company can begin work.

He said that these were some of the terms of agreement between both parties upon which his company could get the assistance of a bank to commit to building the project.

Coffie, however, said “things are on course” regarding the project.

A correspondent of NAN, however, visited the site and discovered that it was virtually empty, except for a block of building, which was just at the foundation level.

NAN also observed that weeds had also covered the rest of the openings dug for the foundation of some of the facility’s buildings.

It would be recalled that the state governor, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu, had promised to develop industrial clusters in Aba when he assumed office in 2015, beginning with Umukalika Leather/Garment cluster.

But three years down the line, the plan to establish clusters for these creative, artisanal sectors had been mired in perpetual delays.

The President, Leather Products Manufacturers Association of Aba (LEPMAS), Mr Okechukwu Williams, said that there was the need to cluster the leather and garment sectors in Abia.

He said that this was because a cluster assembles small and medium scale manufacturers under one roof, providing them with common facilities like power, water, access roads and equipment.

According to him, clustering the sectors together will ensure increased productivity, creation of jobs in the affected sectors and fostering the competitiveness of their products against imported ones.

Williams said that the Leather Workers would prefer to be given another site with landed documents to enable them get banks that could build the facility for them in record time.

The President, Association of Tailors and Fashion Designers (AFTAD), Abia State, Mr Onyebuchi Nwaigwe, said there were many problems facing the realisation of the Umukalika cluster facility project.

He said that the realisation of a leather and garment cluster facility in Aba would require government knowing what the end users would need in the facility and what they were willing to do to have such facility.

He said that the personnel government sent to supervise the projects were not sincere, hence the delay and non-commitment shown over the years in the project resulting in its non-realisation.

Nwaigwe, therefore, urged the state government to hand over the Umukalika Cluster project to sincere and upright people who would not seek to “make millions” from it to ensure its realisation.

Both Nwaigwe and Williams agreed that the size of the Umukalika project would serve only one of the sectors.

They said that merging leather and garment workers at the place would result in some workers remaining at their old shops at Ariaria after others had moved to Umukalika.

They advised the state government to take a census of the leather and garment sector workers in Aba to know their numerical strength before deciding where to relocate any of them.

According to them, the census will save the government the stress of doing a haphazard job that will result in government’s inability to solving the targeted problem. (NAN)

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Finance

AISA Has Refunded The Fees Paid By Yahaya Bello To EFCC

Published

4 days ago

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April 27, 2024

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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says the American International School Abuja (AISA) has refunded the fees paid by the immediate past governor of Kogi state, Yahaya Bello, for his children attending the school.

In response to a letter addressed to the Lagos zonal commander of the EFCC, the school said $845,852 was paid in tuition “since the 7th of September 2021 to date”.

AISA said the sum to be refunded is $760,910 because it had deducted educational services already rendered.

“Please forward to us an official written request, with the authentic banking details of the EFCC, for the refund of the above-mentioned funds as previously indicated as part of your investigation into the alleged money laundering activities by the Bello family.

Since the 7th September 2021 to date, $845,852.84 (Eight Hundred and Forty-Five Thousand, Eight Hundred and Fifty Two US Dollars and eighty four cents) in tuition and other fees has been deposited into our Bank account.

We have calculated the net amount to be transferred and refunded to the State, after deducting the educational services rendered as $760,910.84. (Seven Hundred and Sixty Thousand, Nine Hundred and Ten US Dollars and Eighty Four cents).

No further additional fees are expected in respect of tuition as the students’ fees have now been settled until they graduate from ASIA.”

In a chat with The Cable, the spokesperson of the EFCC, Dele Oyewale, confirmed that the school has refunded the money.

‘’The money has been paid into public account,” Dele Oyewale was quoted as saying

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Finance

Godwin Emefiele Disobeyed Direction Of Law With Intent To Harm The Public, He Printed ₦684.5M Using ₦18.9B Says EFCC in fresh charge

Published

1 week ago

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April 23, 2024

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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has filed a fresh charge at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory against the embattled former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele.

EFCC in the charge accused Emefiele of approving the printing of N684,590,000 at the rate of N18.96 billion.

EFCC also alleged that Emefiele broke the law with intent to harm the public during his implementation of the naira swap policy of the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

The anti-graft agency also accused Emefiele of unlawfully approving the withdrawal of N124.8 billion from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation.

EFCC’s top prosecutor, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN revealed that Emefiele will be arraigned on a new four-count charge before Justice Hamza Muazu

Counts one to four of the charge, read,

“STATEMENT OF OFFENCE: Public Servant disobeying direction of law with intent to cause injury to the public contrary to and punishable under Section 123 of the Penal Code Law, Cap. 89 Laws of the Federation, 1990.

“PARTICULARS OF THE OFFENCE: That you GODWIN IFEANYI EMEFIELE between the 19th day of October 2022 and 5th March 2023 in Abuja, knowingly disobeyed the direction of Section 19 of the CBN Act, 2007, by approving the printing of N375,520,000.00 pieces of colour swapped N1, 000, at the total cost of N11,052, 068,062 without the recommendation of the Board of Central Bank and the strict approval of the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria which conduct of yours caused injury to the public and you thereby committed an offence.”

This and three other charges were stated against him. They read;

“COUNT 2: “That you, GODWIN IFEANYI EMEFIELE, between the 19th of October 2022 and 5th March 2023 in Abuja, knowingly disobeyed the direction of Section 19 of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007, by approving the printing of 172,000,000 pieces of colour swapped N500 (Five Hundred Naira) Notes, at the total cost of N4, 471,066,040 without the recommendation of the Board of Central Bank and the strict approval of the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria which conduct of yours caused injury to the public and you thereby committed an offence.

“COUNT 3: “That you GODWIN IFEANYI EMEFIELE between the 19th day of October 2022 and 5th March 2023 in Abuja, knowingly disobeyed the direction of Section 19 of the CBN Act, 2007, by approving the printing of 137,070,000 pieces of colour swapped N200 (Two Hundred Naira) Note, at the total cost of N3, 441, 005, 280 without the recommendation of the Board of Central Bank and the strict approval of the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria which conduct of yours caused injury to the public and you thereby committed an offence.”

“COUNT 4: “That you, GODWIN IFEANYI EMEFIELE, on or about the 7th day of October 2020, in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, knowingly disobeyed the direction of Section 80 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (As Amended), by approving the withdrawal of the total sum of N124, 860, 227, 865.16 from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation in a manner not prescribed by the National Assembly, which conduct of yours caused injury to the public and you thereby committed an offence.”

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Transport

Federal Government To Launch Out 2700 CNG Buses, Tricycles Ahead Of First anniversary Of Tinubu’s Administration

Published

1 week ago

on

April 22, 2024

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The Presidency on Sunday said it was ready to launch about 2,700 CNG-powered buses and tricycles before May 29 when President Bola Tinubu turns one year in office.

“All is now ready for delivery of the first set of critical assets for deployment and launch of the CNG initiative ahead of the first anniversary of the Tinubu administration on May 29.”

It said the Federal Government is set to deliver 100 conversion workshops and 60 refuelling sites spread across 18 states before the end of 2024.

The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, revealed this in a statement he signed Sunday titled ‘Presidential CNG initiative set for rollout.’

“From the end of May, Nigeria will take some baby steps to join such nations that already have large fleets of CNG vehicles.

The CNG tricycle
The CNG buses

“All is now ready for delivery of the first set of critical assets for deployment and launch of the CNG initiative ahead of the first anniversary of the Tinubu administration on May 29.

“About 2,500 of the tricycles will be ready before May 29, 2024…working towards delivering 200 units before the first anniversary of the Tinubu administration,” said the Presidency.

He also said that over 600 buses are targeted for production in the first phase which will be accomplished in 2024.

In October 2023, about five months after the removal of the petrol subsidy, President Tinubu launched the Presidential CNG Initiative to deliver cheaper, safer and more climate-friendly energy.

The CNG Initiative was designed to deliver compressed natural gas, especially for mass transit.

The Federal Government earmarked N100bn (part of the N500bn palliative budget) to purchase 5500 CNG vehicles (buses and tricycles), 100 Electric buses and over 20,000 CNG conversion kits, with plans to develop CNG refilling stations and electric charging stations nationwide.

The FG had said the initiative would ease the burden of the increased pump price on the masses.More information added that the creation of a new plant on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway that will assemble the tricycles while Brilliant EV will assemble electric vehicles when it receives the Semi Knocked Down components.

The Presidency explained further, “The SKD parts manufactured by the Chinese company LUOJIA in partnership with its local partner to support the consortium of local suppliers of CNG tricycles are set for shipment to Nigeria and expected to arrive early in May.

It is expected that before 2027, There’ll be a considerable wave of these buses and tricycles in use.

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