The Babajide Sanwo-Olu led government of Lagos State has indicated interest in the establishment of an Anti-corruption Commission in the state. This move is as a result of the need to deepen the culture of accountability and transparency in the expenditure of appropriated funds. The Bill is termed the Public Complaints and Anti–Corruption Bill of 2021. The Bill is set to empower state actors to investigate and prosecute officials of the State Government and registered contractors who are indicted for economic crimes and financial misappropriation. The Bill when passed into law would not only seek to ensure accountability for public funds, responsibility in public office, but also promote dialogue amongst public officers to keep the trust of the people in the discharge of their duties in line with transparency. The Anti-Corruption Commission Agency sought to be established is akin to Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) which is a federal government agency created to prosecute those who misappropriate public funds.
The world over, it is an undisputable fact that government requires finance to discharge its manifold duties, which includes but not limited to, security of lives and properties, management of the economy and provision of basic infrastructures. Unsurprisingly, taxation is one of the assured and principal ways by which a government can raise funds to carry out its manifold functions. To have a good tax system, there must be tax laws which complies with the basic characteristics of a good tax system as it is not enough to have good tax laws without a paired and effective tax administrative machinery, because the provisions of the tax laws must be enforced as much as possible in order to ensure that the objectives of the tax system are achieved.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in a bid to checkmate the incessant rise of illegal oil bunkering within the South South Geopolitical Zone have concluded plans to set up an integrated chemical laboratory which would situated at Port Harcourt, Rivers State. The Chief Detective Superintendent (CDS) Aliyu Nabi who happens to be the Zonal Head of the Commission did host Executives of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) on Tuesday, 27th April, 2021 where issues relating to the Department of Petroleum Resources and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission will work together in ensuring
The Federal Government of Nigeria has reviewed the timeline for passport application processing as carried out by the Nigeria Immigration Service (hereinafter referred to as the “NIS”) to six weeks.The said review will come into full implementation from 1stJune, 2021.
Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola made announcement at a meeting with the Comptroller-General of Immigration, Mr. Mohammad Babandede, the Passport Control Officers, and the attaches in Nigeria Missions abroad, at the Immigration Headquarters,Sauka, Abuja, on Thursday, 22nd April, 2021.
According to the Minister, the review will ensure a seamless, transparent operation and as well as accord human dignity to applicants and fulfill citizenship integrity in line with the mandate of the ministry. It has no doubt become imperative to review the ministry’s operations and rejig its system in order to offer excellent services to clients.
Going further, he stressed that “A timeline will be fixed for every application i.e., a collection date. This will be six weeks, comparable to what obtains in other countries,” “This is to allow for enough time to investigate and validate personal information supplied by the applicants.
“What we are driving at is the peace of mind that comes from the assurance of certainty. If there are circumstances that will make the date change, it will be communicated to the applicant one week before the collection date.
“Applicants will have no basis for further communication with officers, other than to complete their application process and leave the venue. The date for the collection of their passports or any challenge to the application will be communicated to them. The technology for the efficient running of this system has been acquired and will be deployed.”
FURTHER NOTICE ON MANUAL SUBMISSION OF POST-INCORPORATION/REGISTRATION APPLICATIONS
The Commission by Public Notice dated April 1st, 2021, published on its website on April 2nd, 2021 notified the General Public and its Esteemed Customers of the closure of the window on manual submission of post-incorporation applications, while exempting certain post-incorporation applications pending the conclusion of the interfaces for their submission on the Company Registration Portal (CRP).
The exempted post incorporation applications were –
1. Alteration of Memorandum & Articles of Association (by courier service)
2. Schedule 14: Form of Statement to be filed by Banks, Insurance Companies as well as Deposit and Provident Companies (schedule 14@cac.gov.ng)
3. Amendment of Constitution (by courier service)
4. Bi-annual Statement for Incorporate Trustees (biannualstatementit@.cac.gov.ng)
Further to the above, the Commission wishes to inform the General Public and its Esteemed Customers that it shall, in addition, continue to accept manual submission of the following post-incorporation applications through the respective e-mail addresses pending deployment of the interfaces for their submission on the Company Registration Portal:
1. Certified True Copy (CTC) of Certificate of Incorporation/Registration for Companies, Business Names and Incorporated Trustees (ctccertificate@cac.gov.ng)
2. CTC of Memorandum of Association (ctcmemart@cac.gov.ng)
3. CTC of Constitution (ctcconstitution@cac.gov.ng)
4. CTC of Audited Financial Statement (ctcauditfinancialstatement@cac.gov.ng)
5. Historical Search Report on Directors’/Officers’ information searchdirectorhistory@cac.gov.ng)
6. Historical Search Report on Shareholding information (searchshareholdinghistory@cac.gov.ng)
7. Historical Search Report on Charges, Debentures, Memorandum of Satisfaction (searchencumbrancehistory@cac.gov.ng)
8. Allotment of Shares for Companies with Unissued Share Capital (allotment@cac.gov.ng)
9. Surrender of Shares to Company as gift (surrendershares@cac.gov.ng)
10. Restriction of Address (restrictaddress@cac.gov.ng)
11. Extension of Time for holding Annual General Meeting (agmtimeextension@cac.gov.ng)
13. Relisting of Company (relistingofcompany@cac.gov.ng)
14. Notice of Exemption of Foreign Company (exemptionofforeigncompany@cac.gov.ng)
The commission also stated that all applications must be submitted through the designated e-mail addresses and accompanied same with evidence of payment of applicable fees
The said prescribed fees are provided for in the Schedule of Fees in the Companies Regulations 2021.
This is a welcome development within the business space, as it will not only foster business relations, it will also massively impact on the ease of doing business in Nigeria.
