Economy

VAIDS Aims to Capture Four Million New Taxpayers—Adeosun

Published

8 years ago

17/02/2018

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, has disclosed that Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS) launched mid last year was aimed to bring in four million new tax payers into the nation’s tax net.

Mrs Adeosun made this disclosure this week when she spoke at a conference at the United Nations office in New York, where she was part of experts who discussed ways to stop Illicit Financial Flows (IFF) in Africa.

She explained that the tax amnesty was targeted at increasing the tax payer base, raising at least $1 billion revenue and regularising the tax status of many Nigerians.

“We are using technology to improve the accuracy and efficiency of the programme. Project Light House is using advanced data mining and data analytics techniques to: identify tax defaulters, establish their tax liabilities and send notifications.

“The computer software, which drives Project Lighthouse, aggregates data from multiple sources such as bank accounts, land registry records, company registration data, tax filings, customs’ records, asset ownership records, etc to identify and track tax evaders.

Commenting on IFF in Africa, the Minister affirmed that it was a problem that urgently requires global focus and actions towards the realisation of significant developmental progress for Nigeria and other developing countries.

“The IFFs are driven by the desire to hide illicit wealth, hide the proceeds away from the public eye and law enforcement agencies and also conceal the ways and means by which illicit wealth was created.

“This makes it difficult to trace the associated money flow.

“Developing countries, including Nigeria, collect significantly lower levels of tax, as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), than wealthier States. This is partly because the income and wealth being created, is taken out of the country illegally, without being taxed,” Mrs Adeosun said.

Quoting the report of former South African President Mbeki’s High-Level Panel on IFFs, the Minister said Africa loses $80 billion annually to IFFs, with a significant percentage of the loss coming from Nigeria.

She disclosed that Federal Government had engaged a leading international Asset Tracing and Investigation Agency (Kroll), to trace and track illicit flows and assets.

In addition, she said Nigeria had signed the Multilateral Competent Authority on Common Reporting Standards, which allows for exchange of financial account information.

The country, according to her, is expected to effect the first exchange by 2019 as soon as the domestic legal framework was completed.

“Nigeria has adopted the Common Reporting Standards and the Addis Tax initiative aimed at improving the fairness, transparency, efficiency and effectiveness of the tax system.

“Furthermore, as part of open government partnership Nigeria has included in the national action plan a commitment to establish a public register of beneficial owners.

“To this end, the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), the custodian of Nigeria’s company registry, is pursuing relevant amendments to the Companies and Allied Matters Act to comply with global standards,” she said.

As part of measures to tackle IFFs, Mrs Adeosun called for the tightening of Nigeria’s tax codes and tax laws that encourage tax avoidance as well as strengthening of the tax system to make it more efficient.

Advocating more responsibility on the part of destination countries of IFFs, she said beneficial ownership registers should be established to allow authorities track money in financial investigations involving suspect accounts/assets held by corporate vehicles.

The Minister further called for the elimination of safe havens that provide incentives for transfer of stolen assets and illicit financial flows abroad, and also the development of a supportive, efficient and speedy process for returning assets to originating countries.

Economy

Regency Alliance Urges Shareholders to Participate in N3.04bn Rights Issue

Published

7 hours ago

19/06/2026

Aduragbemi Omiyale

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

The N3.04 billion rights issue of Regency Alliance Insurance Plc is expected to open on Monday, June 22, 2026, and close on Friday, July 3, 2026, with shareholders urged to participate.

The underwriting firm recently signed an agreement on the rights issue, with board members, management, issuing houses, legal advisers, stockbrokers, and other key stakeholders in attendance.

Regency Alliance is offering to shareholders 3,201,000,000 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each at 95 Kobo per share on the basis of one new ordinary share for every five ordinary shares held.

The purpose of the fresh capital raise is to bolster the company’s solvency ratios, support business growth, and invest in digital infrastructure and new product development.

The insurance company noted that the rights issue provides an opportunity to existing shareholders to subscribe for additional shares in proportion to their current holdings, protecting them from dilution while enabling them to participate in the organisation’s future growth.

“This capital raise will give us the firepower to meet evolving risks, expand our reach, and deepen the promise we make to every policyholder; that Regency Alliance will be there when it matters most,” the acting chairman of Regency Alliance, Mr Wale Taiwo (SAN), stated.

“We are particularly encouraged by the unwavering support of our shareholders who have stood by the company through its growth journey. We urge all eligible shareholders to take advantage of this rights issue and fully exercise their rights.

“By doing so, they will not only protect their investment from dilution but also participate directly in the exciting growth opportunities that lie ahead for Regency Alliance Insurance,” he added.

Also commenting, the Managing Director of the firm, Mr Bode Oseni, said, “Regency Alliance has always prided itself on being agile, customer-focused xd, and financially sound. The proceeds from this rights issue will accelerate our digital transformation, enhance claims efficiency, and enable us to introduce innovative products tailored to SMEs, Gen Z, and other underserved segments across Nigerian and beyond. We are not merely raising capital; we are raising our ambition.”

“We remain optimistic that our shareholders will embrace this opportunity and demonstrate their confidence in the company’s future by taking up their rights. Together, we are building a strong and more competitive insurance institution,” he added.

Economy

Unlisted Securities Exchange Retreats After Okitipupa Price Decline

Published

8 hours ago

19/06/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Oil palm processing firm, Okitipupa Plc, and two other securities weakened by the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.4 per cent on Thursday, June 18.

During the trading day, Okitipupa Plc lost N20.00 to end at N280.00 per share compared with the previous day’s N300.00 per share, NASD Plc declined by 36 Kobo to finish at N37.00 per unit versus N37.36 per unit, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc depreciated by 23 Kobo to N86.34 per share from N86.57 per share.

As a result, the market capitalisation retreated by N10.39 billion to N2.609 trillion from N2.619 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) slid by 17.36 points to 4,361.09 points from 4,378.45 points.

Business Post reports that the sole price gainer for the session was Afriland Properties Plc, which improved by 65 Kobo to N16.20 per unit from N15.55 per unit.

Yesterday, the volume of securities transacted by market participants shrank by 71.6 per cent to 792,835 units from Wednesday’s 2.8 million units, the value of securities fell by 61.8 per cent to N49.0 million from N128.3 million, while the number of deals went down by 39.4 per cent to 20 deals from 33 deals.

Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units valued at N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 67.7 million units traded for N4.7 billion.

GNI Plc also closed the day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units exchanged for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units sold for N415.7 million.

Economy

Naira Falls to N1,363/$ at Official Market

Published

8 hours ago

19/06/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira free-fall against the US Dollar continued in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Thursday, June 18, losing 0.24 per cent or N3.23 to trade at N1,363.30/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,360.07/$1.

However, the domestic currency appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N19.12 to trade at N1,805.69/£1 versus midweek’s N1,824.81/£1, and gained N12.89 on the Euro to sell at N1,565.07/€1, in contrast to the preceding day’s N1,577.96/€1.

At the GTBank FX counter, the Naira lost N1 against the Dollar to trade at N1,373/$1 versus Wednesday’s closing rate of N1,372/$1, and at the black market, it remained unchanged at N1,385/$1.

Tightness in FX liquidity continued to pressure the local currency, contributing to a decline in the official exchange rate due to rising demand for foreign payments.

Analysts also attribute the market liquidity dynamics to the lack of substantial Open Market Operation (OMO) bill positioning by foreign portfolio investors, who are key sources of hard currency inflows for the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The apex bank’s daily FX report revealed that interbank FX turnover increased to $69.918 million across 85 interbank transactions, up from $54.293 million the previous day.

As for the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin (BTC) traded below $63,000 after losing 1.7 per cent to close at $62,742.28 on Thursday, as risk assets sold off worldwide, erasing the gains it made earlier in the week on the back of the US-Iran peace deal.

The pressure came from a wider retreat in markets as shipping through the Strait of Hormuz returned to normal under the signed US-Iran deal and eased what had been a historic supply shock.

Attention now turns to talks over Iran’s nuclear programme, with Vice President JD Vance saying a 60-day clock to settle the deal’s details has started.

During the session, Solana (SOL) crashed by 3.3 per cent to $68.68, Ripple (XRP) depreciated by 2.7 per cent to $1.13, Cardano (ADA) slid 2.4 per cent to $0.1606, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped 2.0 per cent to $576.11, Dogecoin (DOGE) slipped by 1.9 per cent to $0.0826, and Ethereum (ETH) went down by 1.7 per cent to $1,696.74.

However, TRON (TRX) improved by 0.1 per cent to $0.3204, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.