The House of Representatives on Thursday asked the Federal Ministry of Works to immediately begin construction of the East-West Road from Oron in Akwa Ibom to Calabar in Cross River State to boost economic activity in the area.
In a resolution following a motion by Mark Esin (APC Akwa Ibom) the House asked the Ministry of Works to collaborate with the Federal Ministry of Finance to include the construction of Section V Phase I of the East-West Road from Oron Akwa Ibom to Calabar Cross River State in the 2027 budget estimates.
Presenting the motion Esin said the East-West Road is a major federal highway intended to connect communities and economic centres across the Niger Delta region and facilitate the movement of persons goods and services.
He recalled that the Federal Executive Council under former President Godluck Jonathan approved the award of the contract for the construction of Section V Phase I of the East-West Road from Oron in Akwa Ibom State to Calabar in Cross River State on 22 October 2014 at a contract sum of N165.3 billion.
He disclosed that on 3 December 2014 the Federal Executive Council approved an additional sum of N661.33 million for the engineering supervision of the said section of the road adding that Section V Phase I covering the Oron-Calabar corridor was conceived as the final stretch required to complete the East-West Road and strengthen its connection across the Niger Delta region.
He said that despite the Federal Government’s approval of the contract more than a decade ago the Oron-Calabar section remains incomplete leaving a critical transportation link between Akwa Ibom and Cross River States unrealised.
He said the project’s non-implementation has continued to constrain the movement of people and goods between the two States limiting the full economic and developmental benefits envisaged from the East-West Road.
According to him the Federal Executive Council approvals of 22 October 2014 and 3 December 2014 respectively established the authority to take the necessary steps to construct the Road from Oron Akwa Ibom State to Calabar Cross River State.
Restructuring Compliance Enforcement and Integration of Industry Self-Regulation in the Nigerian Point-of-Sale (POS) and Agency-Banking Ecosystem to Safeguard Security: Hon. Mark Udo Esset: The House: Notes that agent banking is essential to Nigeria’s financial inclusion drive providing livelihoods for millions of citizens across urban and rural communities; alarmed by the rapid increase in the use of POS terminals to facilitate financial fraud ransom payments for kidnappings identity theft and other unauthorised transactions thereby threatening the integrity of Nigeria’s national payment system; Concerned that the principal loophole driving the surge in financial fraud is the existence of unprofiled unregistered and highly mobile POS operators who evade regulatory checks and are difficult for law enforcement agencies to trace: Aware that the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) pursuant to the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020 requires POS operators to register their businesses to promote accountability; also aware that integrating registered independent Business Membership Organisations (BMOs) and trade associations into the regulatory framework can strengthen industry discipline combat fraud and reduce compliance costs for micro-merchants; resolves to: (i) urge the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in collaboration with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) to require a valid EFCC Retail Payment Compliance Certificate (ERPCC) and compliance with applicable business-registration requirements as conditions for the onboarding renewal and continued operation of POS agents and other relevant participants in the agency-banking and retail payment ecosystem and to identify and deactivate terminals operating in breach of those requirements; (ii) also urge the Central Bank of Nigeria to impose appropriate regulatory sanctions on fintech aggregators mobile money operators and super-agents that knowingly onboard or facilitate settlement payments for unprofiled or unregistered POS operators in collaboration with the CAC EFCC NFIU and other relevant stakeholders and to establish a unified compliance verification portal within four (4) weeks; (iii) further urge the Central Bank of Nigeria to recognise POS operators and Agent-Banking entities that maintain active membership in a registered and recognised Business Membership Organisation or trade association to promote industry discipline self-regulation standardised training and accountability; (iv) mandate the Committees on Banking Regulations Digital and Electronic Banking and Financial Crimes to monitor implementation of these resolutions and report within four (4) weeks for further legislative action.