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767 Nigeria’s Manufacturing Companies shut down, 335 became distressed in 2023 – MAN

Published

2 years ago

March 6, 2024

Advocate News Nigeria

MAN logo

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The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria has said that 767 manufacturers shut down operations while 335 became distressed in 2023.

This came against the backdrop of exchange rate volatility, rising inflation and other economic challenges that have worsened the investment climate.

MAN stated this in a statement issued yesterday by Director-General, Mr. Segun Ajayi-Kadir, titled, “MAN Expresses Grave Concerns over the Expatriate Employment Levy.” It strongly condemned the recently introduced Expatriate Employment Levy by the Federal Government.

The association said it was struck with disbelief, seeing that the levy runs contrary to President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and the kernel of his Fiscal Policy and Tax Reform initiative.

It warned that the EEL would certainly ruin the confidence President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was striving to build among domestic and foreign investors.

It described the latest levy as “punitive levy,” which was already “being perceived as a punishment imposed on investors for daring to invest in Nigeria and on indigenous companies for employing needed foreign nationals”.

The statement said EEL “is potentially an albatross to the realisation of Mr. President’s private sector led economy aspirations and would certainly ruin the trust and confidence he is striving hard to build among domestic and foreign private investors”.

Ajayi-Kadir added, “The imposition of EEL poses potential impact on the manufacturing sector and the economy at large.

“This will in turn mark an unwarranted and unprecedented addition to the cost of doing business in Nigeria, especially to manufacturers.

“The policy will surely undermine the administration’s determination to position Nigeria as an attractive global investment destination and may engender a cold welcome in Mr. President’s future foreign investment promotions endeavours, as well as undermine Nigeria’s efforts at becoming a hub for shared services centre and business process outsourcing.”

According to the statement, “The manufacturing sector is already beset with multidimensional challenges. In year 2023, 335 manufacturing companies became distressed and 767 shut down.

“The capacity utilisation in the sector has declined to 56 per cent; interest rate is effectively above 30 per cent; foreign exchange to import raw materials and production machine inventory of unsold finished products has increased to N350 billion and the real growth dropped to 2.4 per cent.

“Expatriates in Nigeria currently pay more than $2000 for CERPAC. The sector cannot afford another disincentive to increased investment and portfolio expansion.”

MAN stated that the levy would deter multinational companies from investing in Nigeria and setting up their regional headquarters in the country.

“Also, the levy will make Nigeria a more expensive location for global expertise that international companies require for their operations,” it stated.

“Overall, we risk slowing down knowledge and skills transfer to Nigerians and undermining a key avenue for the country to move up the technology ladder,” MAN added.

The manufacturers’ association was equally worried that the imposition of such a levy, which could have far-reaching implications for the country’s economy and potentially exert pressure on Nigeria’s currency, was introduced through a handbook, rather than a law enacted by the National Assembly.

MAN warned, “This levy may expose the federal government to a plethora of lawsuits that will distract government from the task of salvaging the current dire situation of our economy.

“Additionally, we already have laws that were promulgated to achieve the exact purpose for which the EEL was introduced. They include the Local Content Act, which guarantees the jobs of Nigerians, and the Immigration Act, which prescribes the primacy of consideration for Nigerians and imposes appropriate quota in the engagement of expatriate.

“Therefore, the EEL would amount to duplication and burdensome addition.”

MAN also expressed concern that EEL would contradict Nigeria’s international trade agreements and the obligations contained therein.

It stated, “For instance, Nigeria is a signatory to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement. One of the pillars of the AfCFTA is the free movement of skilled labour across the continent, which is complemented by non-discriminatory measures against fellow Africans.

“Quite importantly, this could trigger retaliatory measures against Nigerians working across Africa and other nations of the world; frustrate regional integration efforts and portray Nigeria as a spoiler among her peers.”

The association, therefore, asked the president to give due consideration to its arguments and direct that the implementation of EEL be discontinued.

According to MAN, discontinuing the policy would be in the overall interest of the country’s economy and is urgently needed to reassure domestic and foreign investors of Nigeria’s commitment to an investment friendly environment and ease of doing business.

“Additionally, Mr. President should direct the Nigeria Immigration Service to refrain from enforcing compliance with the policy,” MAN said.

Ajayi-Kadir stated that while MAN fully supported policies aimed at promoting quality job opportunities for Nigerians, it would urge the president to consider the wider negative effect of EEL.

He stated, “A more effective and sustainable approach is for government to intentionally improve on its human capital development and incentivise companies to invest in developing local talent without compromising Nigeria’s ability to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

“MAN advises that it is extremely important that government institutionalise stakeholders’ consultations and engagement before important policies that could have far-reaching implications for our economy are made.

“This will allow for constructive input from the business community, who are able to support government initiatives and are the most impacted by the outcomes.”

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2027: Atiku raises concern over outdated BVAS

Published

7 hours ago

August 11, 2026

Advocate News Nigeria

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar

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Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has raised concerns over the alleged use of an outdated operating system on the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), warning that it could pose cybersecurity and operational risks ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Paul Ibe disclosed this on his Facebook handle on Tuesday.

Atiku, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), raised the concerns following the reported failures recorded during the Osun State mock accreditation exercise on August 1, 2026, and comments by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Director of ICT, Dr Lawrence Bayode.Bayode, while speaking on Arise TV on Monday, reportedly said the BVAS, introduced into Nigeria’s electoral process in 2021, currently runs on Android version 10.

In a statement issued by his Media Office in Abuja on Tuesday, Atiku said Android version 10 had reached end-of-life status in 2023 and no longer receives regular updates or security patches.

He argued that running an election technology platform such as BVAS on an outdated operating system could expose the electoral process to cybersecurity and operational vulnerabilities.

Atiku questioned why INEC, with what he described as its substantial budget, had not upgraded the BVAS software ahead of the 2027 general elections or used forthcoming off-cycle elections, including the Osun governorship election, to test an updated version.

He described what he called INEC’s handling of the BVAS issue as “suspicious” and alleged that it could undermine the integrity of the country’s elections.

According to him, vulnerabilities in an outdated operating system could potentially be exploited by cybercriminals to gain unauthorised access to devices and tamper with stored voter accreditation or polling unit result data before transmission.

He also raised concerns about the transmission of polling unit results over public telecommunications networks to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal.

Atiku said outdated security and cryptographic components could increase exposure to cyber threats, including attempts to intercept, block or manipulate data transmitted between polling units and the result-viewing platform.

The former Vice President further expressed concern about the biometric functions of BVAS, which uses fingerprint and facial recognition for voter accreditation.

He argued that an outdated biometric framework could affect the system’s accuracy and resilience against attempts to circumvent its verification processes.

Atiku also warned that software defects associated with legacy systems could lead to application crashes, particularly during periods of heavy usage, potentially causing delays in voter accreditation.

He said he supported calls by cybersecurity experts for an independent and comprehensive audit of the BVAS hardware and software ahead of the 2027 elections.

According to him, running critical national infrastructure on an end-of-life operating system could create an expanded attack surface and expose the electoral system to avoidable risks.

The statement was signed by the Atiku Media Office, Abuja, on August 11, 2026.

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Gov Mbah hails security forces over arrest of Affa Church kidnappers

Published

15 hours ago

August 11, 2026

Advocate News Nigeria

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Four AK-47 rifles, ammunition recovered

Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State has commended intelligence and security agencies in the state for nabbing three members of a notorious kidnap gang responsible for the August 2, 2026 attack on St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Inoyi-Affa, in Udi LGA of the state.

A joint operation by the Department of State Services (DSS), the Army, Police, Enugu State Forest Guard, and others, led to a gun battle with the suspected kidnappers.

One suspected member of the kidnapping gang was neutralized, while the security team recovered four AK-47 rifles and a cache of ammunition.

The governor made the commendation on Monday night after visiting the state DSS headquarters to see the arrested suspected kidnappers.

The governor, who was represented by Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, disclosed that two of the three kidnapped victims of the August 2 attack, Seminarian Lawrence Igbo and Mr. Emmanuel Onwudi, had regained their freedom.

The victims, stated the SSG, had fully identified the apprehended men as their abductors.
On behalf of the governor, the SSG assured the people of Enugu State that the Mbah administration would continue to prioritise and invest in the security of their lives and properties.

“There was one fatality in this process. It was one of the criminals that died in the process of apprehending them. Usually, criminal elements will not want to be apprehended easily without a fight, but our people were ready, and we have one fatality, while the others are here now as you can see; and they will face the full wrath of the law,” he declared.

“We made it very clear that if criminality becomes your venture, Enugu State is not the location to do that business; that we will pursue you, we will make sure we bring you to justice, and that was why we put the robust security architecture across the state, working in collaboration with the security forces to ensure that Enugu is uncomfortable for anybody that plans criminality, and you’re seeing that very clearly.

“We are intentional in investing in and organising our security architecture to prevent crime. But if there is a breach, you can run, but cannot hide for long. We must get you. You can’t commit these crimes in Enugu State and get away with it. No way,” he said.

He warned citizens against colluding with criminal elements or serve as their informants, vowing to come after them.

“We will find you also, just as we have found these people, and we will prosecute you as part of this evil operation and this evil syndicate.

“Wherever you are, know that investigation is ongoing and that this government will track you down, and you will pay for your crimes in planning havoc on our citizens. So wherever you are, we are still coming for you,” he stressed.

He showered encomium on the security forces for their cooperation and gallantry.

“We also want to very highly commend all the security agencies: the DSS, Nigerian Army, the Nigerian Police, the Enugu State Forest Guard, the military services, others for being very instrumental in some of the work that was done, and continue to do in Enugu State,” the SSG declared.

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Enugu Church Kidnap: Seminarian, other victims rescued, three kidnappers arrested, one killed

Published

1 day ago

August 10, 2026

Advocate News Nigeria

Three kidnappers arrested

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…Ransoms, 4 AK-47 rifles and ammunition recovered

…Gov Mbah: You can’t get away with your crimes in Enugu

Security forces in Enugu State have successfully apprehended three perpetrators of the August 2, 2026 kidnap attack on St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Inoyi-Affa, Udi LGA, Enugu State, and also recovered ransoms during the operations.

This was even as one of the kidnap suspects was neutralised in a gun duel during the joint operation of the Department of State Services (DSS), the Army, Police, Enugu State Forest Guard, and others, which also saw to the recovery of four AK-47 rifles, seven magazines and 133 rounds of ammunition from the hideouts of the kidnapping syndicate.

Fielding questions from newsmen during the parade of the criminals at the state headquarters of the DSS in Enugu Monday evening, Governor Peter Mbah, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, added that the remaining two of the three victims of the August 2 attack, Seminarian Lawrence Igbo and Mr. Emmanuel Onwudi, had also regained their freedom.

Ransom recovered from the kidnappers

Mbah also revealed that ransom deployed as a strategy was fully recovered, noting that security agents tracked down the criminals by deploying the state’s hi-tech security assets.

He hailed the DSS, Army, Police, Forest Guards and other security agencies in the state, adding that the victims had equally identified the apprehended criminals as their abductors.

The governor assured the people that his administration would continue to prioritise and invest in the security of their lives and properties.

A member of the kidnap gang neutralized

“There was one fatality in this process. It was one of the criminals that died in the process of apprehending them. Usually, criminal elements will not want to be apprehended easily without a fight, but our people were ready, and we have one fatality, while the others are here now as you could see; and they will face the full wrath of the law.