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Aso Savings postsN1.2bn profit
BPP moves to clampdown on fraudulent contract bidders
By'lunm J.OduIh.tmld
BrYunUli Abdulhamkl
MORTGAGE banken, Aso Savlngs a.nd Loans PIc, have posted its annul results fo r the year 20 10/ 2011, giving a boost to the
WORRIED by the spate of failed cont.r.lcuexc:cution In Nigeria, the Dir~tor General of the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) Engr. Emeka Euh has vowed that the bureau will recommend for prosecution contractors who bid for govc:rnmenl contntcu with fake documents. Ezeh explained that su~ crimin al practice by desperate bidden would no longer be tolerated as the bureau has secured the und erstanding oHaw enforcement agencies 10 use the full weight of the law to deal with suth contraclOrs. Such fnludulent people deny qualified Nigerians the opportunity to 5«ure contraCl5 th at will add nIue to the economy, he uid. The GPP boss spoke to neW$ffien after a meeting with the British- Nigerian Chambt:r of Commerce, explaining that the bureau would us~ allavailablc I.nstruments at its disposal to prosecute such contnclors. He said ·As a Bureau, we ~pend huge sums 10 confirm claims by contractors. who SCI out to hoodwink us. with bogus pres.cntaUon. \Ve arc now set 10 all on the EFCC 10 help us prosecute IUch contractors. who think il is business as usual Why should companies usc: fake documents, such companies
nation's Hnancal ma.rkeL The annual results released rc.-cently fC'flected an improvement upon 20U912010whlch ,",'U largely characteriud by substantial loan
loss. and provisioning a SUt.c:rnenl issued br the bank said. • In d:c bank's financial yeu under rtview, it achieved growth in many o flhl: ImilcatOrl.
-M05t
reillisuringly
iJ
the
cmphati : return to profitability alier ;II s'.lb.<;ta.ntlalloss the previous }'ear.~ the slatement said. The bank posted profit before ta:alion of N 13bn and prollt
aha Ivation of NI.2bn whkh wnc: o\u 16O'Mo and 137')(, higher r6prcth-d y, than in 2009/2010 financial reports. The hank's «pon abo showed
rising g V$S earnings. which at over N t LObo, trarulalCS to 9.9% l/1lpro~mcnt
yeu-on-year and
represents nlod est but marked growth (:ompared lO prcvioUJ )"ars.
The ('f'Cniting aperue growth was aJsc moderate at 8.2% yevon -year according to th~ report. but ..wd below estimated 20 10 (OWltry annual inflatio n nlte of I ) .~, ,,-hUe rost to-income nltio stood at 13.0%. The !lank also posted a COfrespond ng impro vement In the site am i quality of Its balnnce sheet wi ich credibly supports Ihe impressive trends in eamings and profitability. Total assets, esp«lalIy pl.1cements (30.6%), grew subSlantiall:', but although gross loans and advances declined rmlrginally (-1.4%) ' 0 N18Sbn from N19. lbn In 2009/1 0: all ove:r-compensating reducticn ( 16.5%) in non -performing loa ns NSSbo for 2010/ 11 against t !6.Sbn 2009/1 0 for caused a growth in net loans and advances. ~'I o rtgage loans constitute 66% of total h 'am. solldifying the bank's credt'lltills as first and foremos t a mortg:l!!e banking institulion.
will be banned rrom doing any businesl (or governmenl for years.The BPP boss alleg~ undue interference rrom people in authority 10 Influence the procuremen t process. His words: · We as a Bureau arc trying our besl to ensure thaI the procuremenl process Is transparent and fair. BUI, we find oufRIves in a situation in which most o r the conlnlClS arc driven by the contractors. the serving minister-and sonle stakehold en. Even, we have seen worst case sce narios where contractors go to the Natio nal Aucmbly to lobby them to influence us while we do our job. They are helping to facilitate corruption." We are makIng progfCSS to ensure that any contract that gets 10 the value of over Nibilllon without the certificale or no objection, no bank wiII approve payment,· he said.. Exeh explained that o ne of the rc:a.rons why the BPP had rescn'lltions ove r mobilization fees to contraclon; was predicated on Ihe ract that 10051 of Ihem do not ha\'e collateral to secure funds from the banks, which co uld affect the disbursement. -The Federal Government has henceforth directed that every procurement · contract being carried out by any age ncy should include a than indicating
th e numberofNlgerians thaI will possibl y be employed in resp~1 of
a particular project. IS part ofth umtract condition," he s.aid.
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Industrialist advises FG against removal offuel subsidy AN agro- Industrialist. Chief Emeka Diwe has said that the removal of pelrOleum subsidy wou ld lead 10 skyrocketing of p rice of goods and services in the cou ntry. Diwe told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Aha, Abla on Monday thai the Federal Government should n.ther tackle corruption instead of removing the subSidy, at least for now. · We are going to witness th e
skYTOcketing of priCes of all goods aIld services; this 1$ the multiplier effect I am lalklngabouL It il going to affecl the muses seriously. -What the masses are going to suffer II not worth the 10 called gains, which the government has been canvasslog. It wi ll have a negath'e multiplier effect on the already suffering Nigerians. "There 15 no power to dri\'e industries In Nlgeril. We really have to look al thcse Issues before
trying to innict more hardship.· According to him. prices are d etermined by market forces when the .sc:c:lor Is deregulatt'd, but in Nigeria, prices of goods hardly comedo....'l1. - There ill d anger in this proposal: It Is going 10 negaUvely aff~t the masses. It will rather aggnlvate the sufferings of the common man than alle\;ate it. -The chain effect of the removal of subsidy 10 other produclS and
services will be unimaginable.." Diwe urged the Federal Government to address the welfare of the people and the poo r Slale of infrastrucru re with the excess crude all revenue. ·CorruptJon is the only facto r militating against the working of our refincries. If the gove rnmen t blocked the loopholes where funds are looted, there would be no need to remove the subSidy for the economy to bounce back.·
Value additi n key to income generation, job creation -USAID ADDING value to agricultu ral product: is critical to increa.sing ina: me aIld job creation in Nigeria, the Managing Director of Uni te 1 States Agency for InterllatJOT;al Deveiopment(USAlD) MARKO'S, Mr Timothy Prewitt has said Pre .... in. who made the assertion in all interview ..... ith the Ne .....s A ; ency of Nige ri a (NAN) In Ahuja. also urged Nigerian farmCj; to see farming IS .. business and reduce dependence on the gO\'f mment and donors. USAlD's MARKETS stands for MaximiSing Agricultural Itcveilu.: and Key Enterprises In
Targeted Sites, a project It Is cur rently implementing In Nigeria. He stressed the need for locally grown products to be co mpetitive In terms of quality 10 be able to access the International market and make appreciable impact He said, "Nigeria exports nlW materlah aIld imports finished products; more local processing Is nceded. Nigeria is one of the biggest cassava growers; J6O,ooo tonnes o f starch Inlponed each yc:arcan be made from a..ssava. -10,000 tonMS of fish feed imported per year can be mad e here from Nigerian maize and
soya... Nigeria Is the second largest importer of rice: l .S million tonnes of ri ce imported per yev can be grown and processed here~
He decri ed Nigeria's h eavy dependence on imported wheat. rice, mUk powder, soya and co rn , among other stapl es. Aaxl rdln g to him. famleTS need maml orientatio n aIld trainin g 011 best practJce In agriculture as well a.s fertiliser 10 increase their yields. - Nigerian fanners need greater market orientation to increase 53.le$ and access greater profilS. By gro ....1ng high -yield-
log. market-driven varieties. farmen genen. te greater profit margins,· he said. The managing director said that this measure was essential to compete effectively with imported farm produce, adding that Ihe developmen t of rural enterprises incrc:ascd employmenl and income IS well as helps to redu« pov~rty. On fertilise r use, he said the current mineral fertUiser used by farmen \\''U 1) kg per hectare as against the recommended 200 kg perh~lare.
Prewitt said und er the USAID/MA RKETS programme.
more than N900 million was provided 10 smallholder fumers through the fertiliser voucher prognlmme In 20 10. According to him, BO per cent of the funding came from Slate govemments. He added that MARKETS partnen had proccsscd more than 16B-million-dol luworth ofvaIueadded produclS since inception. He emphasised thaI deliverIng high qUality farm produce: reqUi red lubstantial agricultunll infrastru cture and urged the government lO ensure food ICcu rity and enhance economic gro wth through agri culture. (NAN).