PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari said, Wednesday, in Paris, France, that he opposed a further weakening of the naira and openly endorsed the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN’s policy of restricting foreign-exchange trading.

The President, who was answering questions in an interview with France 24 broadcast, said: “I do not think it is healthy for us to get the naira devalued. The Central Bank is providing ample foreign exchange to essential services, industries.”

CBN has been under pressure from foreign investors to further devalue the naira. Nigeria had, last year, devalued the naira to N197 to the dollar from N160. The naira was further adjusted slightly in July to N199 to the dollar. As a result of the continued pressure on the naira, CBN introduced some measures to curb the excess demand for foreign exchange.

This, however, did not go down well with some of the foreign investors. After the crash of oil prices last year, the CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, reacted to the naira’s drop to a record low in February by extending trading curbs and introducing bans on purchases of dollars by 41 items, which CBN said cannot access foreign exchange from the Nigeria market.

CBN, JPMorgan clash

The naira has since stabilized at the inter-bank market, but foreign investors, local businesses and even some members of CBN Monetary Policy Committee have complained that the naira is overvalued.

Reacting to these measures put in place by the CBN, JPMorgan excluded Nigeria bonds from its bond index.

Reacting to JPMorgan’s decision, CBN’s Debt Management Office and the Ministry of Finance, in a joint statement, said: “It will be recalled that Nigeria was included in the index in October 2012, based on the existence of an active domestic market for FGN Bonds supported by a Two-Way Quote System, dedicated market makers and diverse investors.

“However, in January 2015, JP Morgan placed Nigeria on an Index Watch as a result of their concerns in the operations of our Foreign Exchange, FX, market, namely lack of liquidity for transactions, lack of transparency in the determination of the exchange rate and lack of a fully functional two-way FX market.

“In our continuous bid to strengthen the Nigerian financial market and enhance our status as a preferred destination for investors, we took measures to improve the market.

Despite the fact that oil prices have fallen by nearly 60 percent in one year, which should expectedly reduce the amount of liquidity in the market, CBN ensured that all genuine and effective demands were met, especially those from foreign investors.

“On transparency, CBN mandated that all FX transactions were posted online in the Reuters Trading Platform so that all stakeholders can easily verify all transactions in the market.

In addition, the official FX window at CBN were closed to ensure a level-playing field in the pricing of foreign exchange. It is important to note that a functional two-way FX market already exists in Nigeria.

CBN justifies regulation

“However, given the high propensity for speculation, round tripping, and rent-seeking in the market, it became imperative that participants are not allowed to simply trade currencies, but are only in the market to fulfill genuine customer demands to pay for eligible imports and other transactions.

“In the light of this, we introduced an order-based, two-way FX market, which has resulted in the stability of the exchange rate in the interbank market over the past seven months and largely eliminated speculators from the market.

“Despite these positive outcomes, JPMorgan would prefer that we remove this rule, even though it is obvious that doing so would lead to an indeterminate depreciation of the naira. With dwindling oil prices, we believe that an order-based two-way market best serves Nigeria’s interest at the moment.

“While we would continue to ensure that there is liquidity and transparency in the market, we would like to note that the market for FGN Bonds remains strong and active due, primarily, to the strength and diversity of the domestic investor base.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the Federal Government sees Nigeria and the interest of Nigerians as paramount. It will, therefore, only continue to take economic decisions that will impact positively in the lives of all Nigerians.”

President Buhari also said in the interview that markets were not being harmed by the delay in ministerial appointments, which he says will happen by the end of the month.

He said: “Work is being done by technocrats; they are there and they provide the continuity.”

The naira remained little changed at 199.05 per dollar on the inter-bank market at in Lagos.

Mistakes occur in the visa adjudication process that may lead to denials, the United States Consul Affairs Chief, Mr. William Laidlaw, said on Wednesday.

Laidlaw, who spoke when the U.S Consulate General in Lagos hosted journalists on a tour of consular facilities, said the mistakes usually occur when applicants are not able to provide convincing evidence about their social and economic ties to Nigeria and purpose of visit to the U.S.

He attributed their mistakes to wrong information provided by so-called agents that claim to have special information about how to obtain visas.

Laidlaw warned Nigerians against patronizing agents.

He said the visa application process was straight forward and all requirements provided on the consulate’s website.

He said: “As a member of the United States government, we make mistakes.  So as you address people about their experiences, you have to tell them that sometimes the American government, the consular section office in Lagos and Abuja make mistakes.  And we approach people that have been denied to apply for a visa again.  There are very few times that visa ineligibility is permanent.

“The reasons why we make mistakes are those that have to do with visa services advising people to do incorrect things – that has to do with the way people present themselves and information to us.”

This notwithstanding, Laidlaw said visa issuance rates to the U.S are higher than denial rates.

Contrary to popular belief of high denial rates, Laidlaw said that non-immigration visas are issued about 60 per cent of the time.

“In actuality, the non-immigrant visa acceptance rate here is between 52 and 58 per cent.  If we include the immigrant visas, we approve almost 70 per cent of our applications here in Lagos.  So there is a lot of myth outside, mostly negative, about us.  And it also reflects that there are several actors outside these premises in particular who are given bad information to the public,” he said.

He, however, also noted that Nigerians overstay in the U.S when they visit 67 per cent of the time.

Laidlaw spoke in response to questions about how Nigeria could be included among countries that enjoy visa waivers to the U.S.

He explained that one of the factors considered is the overstay rate.  He said the overstay rate for the 21 countries currently on waiver list was less than three per cent.

“The primary criteria for visa waiver is that the overstay rate is less than three per cent.  Nigeria overstay rate is 67 per cent,” he stated.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, yesterday, reiterated its resolve to, within the next couple of weeks, commence the review of the fiscal terms of its existing deep offshore Production Sharing Contracts, PSC, with some International Oil and Gas Companies operating in Nigeria.
‎Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mr. Ibe Kachikwu, who disclosed this in a statement from the Corporation in Abuja, explained that the decision was borne out of the need to seek favorable benefits to Nigeria based on prevailing realities in the industry.

According to Kachikwu, who was speaking at the France-Nigeria Business Forum organized to mark the State Visit of President Muhammadu Buhari to Paris, France, ‎some of the contracts were negotiated over 20 years ago and they have since been overtaken by new realities in the industry.

He stated that in the weeks and months ahead the NNPC would be re-negotiating the contracts to extract as much benefit as possible for Nigeria.

He noted that though the PSC agreements are firm contracts which should be adhered to, the NNPC is allowed to make use of the window which creates space for re-negotiation.

“We intend to begin the process of the re-negotiation of the PSCs to see what value chain and improvements we can have from these contracts,” he said.

He, however, noted that in carrying out a review of the existing PSCs, care must be taken not to create an anti-investment atmosphere as that may be counterproductive to the industry.

On the status of France-Nigeria relations in the oil and gas industry, Kachikwu noted that though the French have a firm presence in the Nigerian petroleum industry, there is still room for French companies to rev up their presence in the refining areas where Nigeria currently needs support.

“There is no country in Africa that has the kind of resource base Nigeria has; So France really needs to get more bullish if they want to compete in Nigeria with the very aggressive India, China, Germany … It’s a huge competition and I am looking forward to better days ahead,” he said.

On the ongoing reforms of the Nigeria oil and gas industry, the NNPC GMD stated that the global oil and gas community is showing unmatched excitement about the re-invigoration of the industry.

“There is a lot of interest in our quest to seek joint ventures across the value chain; there are huge potentials across board and all we need to do is to galvanize the efforts to get the best out of it,’’ he said.

Kachikwu noted that President Buhari’s vision for the industry is absolutely on track, stating that, “It is being honed every day: there is focus, transparency and diversified income streams.”

Kachikwu had about a month ago, initially announced plans to review all Production Sharing Contracts, Joint Venture Agreements and all other contracts between it and its various partners.

He had stated that the review would be undertaken to reflect current day realities in the global oil and gas industry.

Kachikwu also stated that under his watch, the NNPC would put in place mechanisms that would plug all revenue leakages in the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors, adding that all crude oil proceeds due for the Federation Account would be remitted accordingly.

He disclosed that the mandate given to him by President Muhammadu Buhari is to turn around the entire commercial processes and procedures of the NNPC in order to impact on the growth trajectory and operations of the corporation.

…assures investors of favourable business climate
Paris: President Muhammadu Buhari Tuesday in Paris, France, told the French business community and investors that there was more to Nigeria that just oil exploration.

President Buhari stated that the country was greatly blessed with lands rich in agricultural and mineral resources coupled with skilled and low-cost labour, large market, robust and competitive private sector, stressing that the areas remained largely untapped.

He also stated that other critical areas, such as agriculture, energy, automobile and skill development needed to be expanded to provide jobs for the youths.
President Buhari spoke at a gathering of investors at the Nigerian-France presidential business forum which held at the headquarters of the French Business Confederation (MEDEF) in Paris.

President Buhari who urged the French investors to explore vast untapped natural deposits in Nigeria submitted that the idea behind his aggressive campaign against insurgency was to create a safe haven for local and foreign business and investments.

President Buhari recalled that Nigeria and France already have a cordial trade partnership,saying that both countries needed to exceed their annual trade volume of $5billion.

According to him, the long standing economic ties between the two countries which dates back to 1902 when the CFO set up a training programme in Lagos State.

He also promised evolve a competitive, virile, productive economy based on excellence, integrity, transparency, accountability and respect for the rule of law.

“It is a positive development that today Nigeria is the largest trading partner with France in Africa.

But opportunities abound to greatly increase the current $5billion annual trade volume and I fully agree with President Hollande when he declared in February, 2014 in Abuja that trade volume between both countries should double in four years.

“Today many French companies are happy to have flourishing businesses in Nigeria, opportunities abound to greatly increase the $5billion annual trade volume between the two countries”

“Nigeria is now at a new dawn to chart and reposition its destiny for greatness. We are resolved and firmly determined to consolidate on industrializing Nigeria and diversifying its economy into sectors such as agro-processing, mining, manufacturing, petro-chemicals, food processing and textiles.

“Nigeria has what it takes to make a break-through and there is more to Nigeria than oil. It is a blessed land rich in agricultural and mineral resources coupled with skilled and low-cost labour, large market, robust and competitive private sector”, he said.

The President also expressed his gratitude to President of the Movement of French Entrepreneurs (MEDEF), Mr Pierre Gattaz, organizers of the French-Nigeria Business Forum for making the gathering a possibility.

He stated that he was looking forward to hosting the French business community in three weeks time.
Earlier in his remarks, Mr Gattaz who described Nigeria as the biggest economy in Nigeria expressed their readiness to do business in Nigeria.

He noted that electoral victory of president Buhari was one way of taking Nigeria out of the economic doldrums, assuring the president of their support through businesses and investments in the country.

ABUJA – The Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on Monday returned the sum of N924m stolen fund diverted from the desertification project to the Federal Ministry of Environment.

Also, over N56m recovered from the N103m meant for feeding of students in three federal colleges were returned to the school principals.

Speaking at a brief ceremony for the Release of Recovered Fund, in Abuja, the Chairman of ICPC, Bar. Ekpo Nta promised to recover all government money diverted, calling for the peoples’ cooperation.

He said that “investigations continue and recoveries are on going with the cooperation of the suspect.”

Detail later

French President François Hollande has pledged that his administration will assist the Multinational Joint Task Force (MJTF) with intelligence gathering and equipment to check the activities of insurgents in Nigeria and West Africa.

Hollande announced this on Monday at the Elsee Palace in Paris after a closed-door bilateral meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, who is on a three-day official visit to France.

The French President, who was addressing a joint news conference, said that his government was concerned about the increasing spate of insecurity in Nigeria and the entire West Africa sub-region.

According to him, his administration is ready to render support and assistance to Nigeria to enable the country tackle insurgency and all forms of extremism.

He said himself and President Buhari discussed new strategies of partnership that would enable Nigeria and its neighboring countries of Cameroun, Chad, Niger and Benin Republic, through the joint action of the MJTF, to fight the insurgency and restore peace.

President Hollande explained that as an intervention approach to assist in the fight against terrorism, France last year, hosted a Regional Summit on Security in Paris, which brought together the neighboring countries to chart the way forward.

He thanked President Buhari for his recent actions such as the movement of the military command centre to Maiduguri, which he said, had helped tremendously in weakening the insurgents.

According to Hollande, France has concluded arrangements to invest a total of €130 million in the development of infrastructure in Nigeria like rebuilding of roads, provision of electricity and water supply.

He noted that in spite of the fall in the price of crude oil in the international market, which had affected Nigeria’s expected revenue, the country’s economy still remained strong.

“The Nigerian economy remains strong so, France wants to be doing business in the country.’’ he said

Hollande said that France intended to increase the visibility of its investors more in Nigeria.

In his remarks, President Buhari thanked the French president for his administration’s interest in assisting Nigeria.

He expressed the readiness of his administration to partner with France for the overall development of both countries.

President Buhari noted that with commitment from France, Nigeria’s next shopping list regarding support would move to other members of the G7.

“We have to depend on France and the other G7 countries for support to fight piracy,’’ he said.

“Our next shopping list is going to G7 in terms of intelligence and training.

“Another problem is the problem in the Gulf of Guinea, from Senegal to Angola; that area is endowed with resources like petroleum and other minerals but surrounded by piracy and theft.

“We are going to depend on France and G7 countries to flush these criminals out of the region,” Buhari added.

ABUJA—TO escape the wrath of President Muhmmadu Buhari, some of the over 100 Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government (MDAs) were in a rush, yesterday, to beat the deadline to open Treasury Single Accounts, TSA, with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Leading parastatals that had complied with the directive, as of press time, yesterday, included the Customs Service, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA),  Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA),  Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) and  Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC).

It was not clear, yesterday, if the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the country’s main revenue generator, has complied with the directive as the officers in-charge were yet to respond to Vanguard’s phone calls and text messages at press time.

The order was first made on August 7, 2015 and was repeated with a warning on September 4 following partial compliance by the agencies.  The measure is part of President Buhari’s bid to maintain accountability and stamp out corruption in the public service system.

A circular issued to all MDAs of the Federal Government by the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Mr. Danladi Kifasi, had urged the MDAs to ensure strict compliance with the deadline to avoid sanctions.

The circular dated September 4, 2015, entitled “Re: Introduction of Treasury Single Account (TSA) (e-Collection of Government Receipts)” stated: “Further to the Circular Ref. No. HCSF/428/S.1/120 of August 7, 2015 on the above subject matter, it has been observed that a number of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government are yet to comply with the directive therein.

“In this regard, Mr. President has directed that all MDAs are to comply with the instructions on the Treasury Single Account (TSA) unfailingly by Tuesday, September 15, 2015.  Heads of MDAs and other arms of government are enjoined to give this circular the widest circulation and ensure strict compliance to avoid sanctions.”

The TSA is also to aid transparency and facilitate compliance with Sections 80 and 162 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended). Kifasi re-directed that all receipts due to the Federal Government or any of her agencies shall be paid into the TSA as follows: Account Name: Accountant General (Federal Sub-Treasury), Account No. 3000002095 maintained in the CBN, except otherwise expressly approved.

TSA is a unified structure of government bank accounts enabling consolidation and optimal utilization of government cash resources. It is a bank account or a set of linked bank accounts through which the government transacts all its receipts and payments and gets a consolidated view of its cash position at any given time.

MDAs rushing to beat deadline – CBN

Speaking on the issue, yesterday, CBN Director, Corporate Communication, Alhaji Ibrahim Muazu said the MDAs are responding, adding that by the end of today all of them would have complied. His words:  “There is a rush to meet the deadline tomorrow (today). They have been on it. The statement that they are rushing to beat the deadline cannot be wrong. They have been trying to meet the deadline. The CBN expects full compliance by today.”

FIRS has no issue with TSA

The FIRS is one of the agencies that have complied according to its Director, Corporate Communication, Mr. Emmanuel Ebota. He said: ‘’FIRS has no issue with  the new directive, right from the start, its account has been with the CBN to which revenue is remitted on a regular basis.”

We’re are TSA compliant – NIMASA

Director-General of NIMASA, Mr Haruna Baba Jauro, during a courtesy visit to the corporate head office of Vanguard, yesterday, said his agency has fully complied with the presidential directive.

“NIMASA is fully compliant. We have gone to the CBN, they have opened our account. We have given our banks the mandate and we have provided all our banks with the platform. We have no issue with that. The only issue we have is tomorrow, our staff will have to go to Abuja again to clarify the issue of how to get our money out. That is where we are,” he said

NCS complies with FG single account policy

The Nigerian Customs Service, NCS, yesterday, also disclosed that it has fully complied with the policy. Public Relations Officer of the Service, Deputy Comptroller Wale Adeniyi in a phone conversation with Vanguard said that the NCS was one of the first organizations in the country to comply with the policy.

“The importers do online declaration and online payment as well. The banks do online transaction to the Customs Service account in the apex bank. We have already complied with the new directive,” he explained.

Aviation agencies, Nigerian Shippers Council comply

Speaking with Vanguard on phone, the Managing Director of Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, NAMA  Engr. Ibrahim Abdulsalam, said his agency is complying with the Presidential directives.  According to him, “every parastatal is complying with the directives from the President. Although this is an internal administrative matter that I cannot discuss with you on phone.”

Also speaking, the Deputy General  Manager, Public Affairs, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, Mr Sam Adurogboye, said: “As a responsible organization, we have fully complied.”

In like manner, Mr Hassan Bello,  executive secretary, Nigerian Shippers Council, said: “We have complied; we have since opened the account. We have given directive to our banks to that effect since yesterday (Monday). The account officer has been at it for long. He has been in Abuja since last week. We have opened account for Nigerian Shippers Council, NSC, with the CBN.”

TSA: We have complied 100%  –  FCTA

The Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA disclosed, yesterday, that it has complied 100 per cent with the directives.

In a text message to Vanguard, the Chief Press Secretary, FCTA, Sule Muhammad said: “As an obedient servant, FCTA has complied with the directive 100 per cent.”

NPA, NEITI, Immigration also comply

Contacted, Captain Ihenacho Ebubeogu, General Manager, Public Affairs, NPA, told  Vanguard that the Nigerian Ports Authority complied with the directive more than three weeks ago, adding that the authority has directed its bankers to remit all its revenue to its account with the CBN. ‘That is an old story, NPA complied about a month ago,’’ he stressed.

Similarly, the Nigeria Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative, NEITI, said it has fully complied with the directive.

Mr. Ogbonnaya Orji, Director, Communications, NEITI, stated that the agency supports the TSA initiative and has complied with the policy.

According to him, this becomes necessary as the policy is at the crux of NEITI’s campaign for transparency and prudent management of the country’s resources.

He explained that the policy of the Treasury Single Account is a welcome development and that NEITI would make legitimate effort to see that the policy works.

King Egbedeme, the spokesman of the Nigeria Immigration Service, also confirmed that his organization has complied.

According to him, “It is a presidential directive which has to be complied with.”

The story was the same at the National Universities Commission, NUC. Director, Information and Public Relations, Ibrahim Yakassai told our reporter that the commission had complied.

However, the PRO, of the Universal Basic Education, UBEC, Mr Osom Osom, said he was yet to confirm from the Director of Finance. He promised to respond appropriately after confirming from the director.

Abuja –  The Economic and Financial Crimes on Monday grilled the immediate past Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service, David Parradang, over alleged fraud that trailed the controversial recruitments into the service.

– See more at: https://vanguardngr.com/2015/09/nis-jobs-efcc-grills-paradang/#sthash.QOnRj8BZ.dpuf

A staff of the National Biotechnology Development Agency, NABDA, who attempted to dupe a National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) contractor, Liuideco  Global Services Limited, on the pretext that he can help “kill” a pending investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,EFCC, has  been arrested by the anti-graft agency.

The suspected fraudster,  Samson Irefin was picked up by operatives of  the EFCC in the early hours of Friday September 11, 2015 in the premises of a new generation bank in Abuja, as he attempted to collect the sum of N500,000 which  he had demanded from his victim to “” Kill” the case.

The sting operation was made possible by the courage of the would-be victim who contacted the EFCC after Irefin made his approach, claiming he has influence in the EFCC to get him a soft-landing. But convinced he had done nothing to warrant investigation by the EFCC, or a ransom to be spared the ordeal of investigation, alerted the Commission, where he was advised to play along. From that moment, Irefin was under close watch, with his every move being monitored by the anti-graft agency, culminating in his arrest this morning.

The suspect will be charged to court after investigation is concluded. His arrest however brings to the fore the antics of some fraudsters who have been going about, defrauding members of the public by demanding for money to stop the EFCC from investigating petitions supposedly written against them.

The Commission has consistently warned members of the public not to fall prey to these fraudsters as no inducement can stop an investigation by the EFCC. It has also repeatedly called on members of the public to promptly  report any solicitation, by either genuine or fake EFCC officials, to the nearest EFCC office or police station.

The Nigerian military has announced through its official Twitter handle that a suspected bomb blast has it a warehouse at an internally displaced persons (IDP) camp in Yola, Adamawa State.

Details later….

Managing Director/Chief Executive, Fidelity Bank PLC, Mr. Nnamdi Okonkwo has identified the recent foreign exchange restrictions placed on importation of 41 items as one of the many non-oil investment opportunities in the economy.

He stated this during a presentation titled, “Beyond Oil & Gas: Emerging Business Opportunities in Nigeria”, at the Nigeria-British Chamber of Commerce Breakfast Meeting held in Lagos.

Okonwko noted that despite pressure points in the economy, Nigeria’s economic fundamental remains strong, adding that, “, The convergence of social, political and economic factors are generating great expectations, opportunities and uncertainty in the Nigerian macroeconomic environment”.

He said the decline in crude oil prices, resulting to fallen revenue, as well as, the other problems in the oil and gas sector, has prompted a quest for alternative investment opportunities beyond the oil and gas sector.

“But Nigeria’s strong growth reserves are opening new prospects”, he said. These growth prospects, he noted include, “The 60 percent of Nigeria’s arable land yet to be cultivated  as well as the country’s population of over 170 million people, which  is youthful and provide a huge potential demand and pool of skills. It also provides huge internal market for consumption and expenditure growth.”

He added that in addition to these, the series of reforms implemented by government in recent times, in a bid to transform the economy has created investment opportunities in key sectors of the economy, namely agriculture, health, education, Information Communication Technology and Manufacturing.

For example, he said, “CBN has continued to apply administrative and capital control measures in containing the pressure on the Naira.

On June 23, 2015, the CBN released a circular that expanded the list of imported goods and services that are excluded from accessing foreign exchange (forex) at the Nigerian Interbank Foreign Exchange Market (IFEM).

“Also, on November 6, 2014, the CBN had excluded six items: electronics, finished products, information technology, generators, telecommunication equipment, and invisible transactions from the retail Dutch Auction System (RDAS). The funding of the six items was transferred to the interbank forex market.

“These, and other measures, are to ensure stability of the forex market and the efficient utilisation of forex, and in the process, conserve foreign reserves, encourage local production of the items, and enhance employment generation in the long run. This presents huge opportunity for local investors to seek out capital and strategic alliances to exploit the import-substitution opportunities presented by this policy,” Okonkwo said.

He noted that in the manufacturing sector, “This opens up huge investment opportunities across the ‘banned’ items.  The recent gains in electric power generation and the pragmatic determination of government to facilitate improvement in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electric power should enhance the sector’s capacity utilization. High costs of factors of production, ostensibly exacerbated by the naira devaluation, should help in the establishment and growth of local manufacturing.”

The Nigerian Immigration Service has directed former Nigerian public office holders to immediately surrender official and diplomatic passports issued to them while they were in office.

The action, officials say, is based on the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The categories of officials affected by the directive are former governors, former ministers, former senators, former members of the House of Representatives, and former members of state Houses of Assembly.

Others are former commissioners, for special advisers/special assistants, former chairmen/deputy chairmen of local government areas, all retired heads of parastatals and retired public servants.

“These categories of persons are hereby informed that these passports which were previously held by them have been revoked and should return them to the Nigeria Immigration Service Headquarters Sauka Abuja with immediate effect,” the Comptroller-General of the Immigration Service, Martin Abeshi, said in a statement Monday.

“Failure to comply with this directive will amount to an offence under the Immigration Act 2015. Such unauthorized possession will be impounded at our control posts on arrival or departure.”

The Federal Government had on August 24 directed the Immigration Service to retrieve all valid diplomatic and official passports from all persons not entitled to hold such documents.

“The attention of the Federal Government has been drawn to the fact that some Nigerians who are not entitled to hold diplomatic and official passports are in possession of these documents,” a statement by Yusuf Isiaka,the Director of Press, Federal Ministry of Interior, said at the time.

According to the statement, the measure was intended to protect and promote Nigeria’s integrity in the comity of nations in addition to ensuring law and order.