The federal government of Nigeria has said it would obey the ruling of the Supreme Court, suspending the implementation of the February 10 deadline for the naira swap exercise mandated by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

This was made known by the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, during his appearance on AriseTV on Thursday. But the AGF said the federal government is taking necessary steps to ensure that the Supreme Court’s interim order is set aside.

He disclosed that the federal government, in regard to rule of law, will obey the Supreme Court’s order while working out modalities within the provisions of law to challenge the lawsuit that resulted in the order.

The Minister called the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction to handle the case into question. He said that the singular fact that the CBN was not joined as a party in the suit robbed the apex court of necessary jurisdiction. He said the federal government will be challenging the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court to handle the case next week Wednesday, and also will fight to vacate the interim order.

On Wednesday, a seven-member panel of the apex court presided by Justice John Okoro, suspended the February 10 deadline, pending the determination of an ex parte application brought by three northern states; Kogi, Kaduna and Zamfara, challenging the CBN’s policy. The hearing is billed to hold on Wednesday, February 15.

The three states had asked the Supreme Court to quash the CBN’s implementation of the February 10 deadline, set to phase out the old naira notes. The federal government had, late last year, unveiled redesigned N200, N500 and N1,000 notes, setting a January 31 deadline for the old notes to be returned to the banks. The deadline was later extended to February 10.

However, the implementation of the currency swap has been marred by the insufficiency of the redesigned naira notes, unleashing economic hardship as cash scarcity undermines economic activities. The three states, in their argument, said in addition to the suffering the currency swap has caused, the federal government did not give adequate period of time for the implementation of the policy and that the CBN did not follow laid down procedure.

However, the Supreme Court’s restraining order has been criticized by many legal practitioners, with some asking the federal government to ignore it and go ahead to enforce the February 10 deadline.

Malami, clearing the confusion that has trailed the apex court’s ruling, said the federal government will abide by the order until Wednesday next week when it will challenge the lawsuit brought by three states.

“I think what we are talking about is not whether the ruling is binding or not binding, we are talking about what we intend to do, there is no doubt about the fact that the ruling of the Supreme Court, regardless of the prevailing circumstances, is binding and then within the context of the rule of law.

“And what we are doing in essence is in compliance with the rule of law both in terms of obedience to the ruling and in terms of challenging the ruling by way of putting across our own side of the story, putting across our case, challenging jurisdiction.

“So the issue of obedience to the ruling of the Supreme Court is out of it. We are wholeheartedly in agreement that naturally, we are bound by it and will comply accordingly. But within the context of compliance, we shall challenge the ruling by way of filing an application seeking for it to be set aside, it is all about the rule of law,” he said.

Malami added that the federal government will challenge the Jurisdiction on the grounds that when you talk of monetary policy, regardless of the characters they take, the central bank is an indispensable and a necessary party for that matter.

“What we have at hand is a situation where the central bank was not joined as a party and if the central bank as an institution was not joined as a party, the position of the law is clear that the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court cannot be properly invoked,” he said.

The federal government is arguing that it is the Federal High Court and not the Supreme Court that is vested with the exclusive jurisdiction to entertain this suit.

On Monday, a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja had ruled against any move to force the CBN to extend the February 10 deadline. The federal government is arguing based on this, that the plaintiffs have no cause of action.

“This suit is an abuse of judicial process. The plaintiffs have no locus standi to institute this action. The plaintiffs have no reasonable cause of action against the defendant,” it said in its response to the lawsuit.

“until now, artificial intelligence could read and write, but could not understand the content. The new programs like ChatGPT will make many office jobs more efficient by helping to write invoices or letters. This will change our world” – says Bill Gates.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates in a recent interview revealed that OpenAI Chatbot ChatGPT which is currently the rave of the moment will change the world.

Gates, while speaking to a German business daily, stated that a chatbot that gives strikingly human-like responses to user queries is as significant as the invention of the internet.

Yes, my engineering PhD was on neuromorphic computational system where we work to model the event-driven asynchronous parallelism of the central nervous system, bringing the plasticity which is evident in biological systems into silicon, to enable a new age, not based on zeroes and ones, but on spiking-neural computing. I got a US patent on that effort and the US Government licensed the effort (with many goodies for the village boy). But what we are toiling to achieve on silicon cannot be compared to what the natural language computing paradigm we’re witnessing by the likes of ChatGPT, Bard, etc has demonstrated in production.

Indeed, as we work to recreate the synaptic-neural communication in circuits, these guys invented a way for machines to become like humans, on natural language computing.

People, that is a huge deal.  But a bigger deal will come when these ChatGPTs become powered by neuromorphic computers, drastically reducing the energy requirements to juice them up. Amazing things are coming up in this world. My company, an Intel programmable microprocessor partner, remains at the epicenter of that future.

Our world will change! #invent

Comment on Feed

Comment 1: In May of 2002, W.D. Smart and L.P. Kaelbling, researchers at Washington University and M.I.T., respectively, published a paper at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation
entitled “Effective Reinforcement Learning for Mobile Robots” in which they laid out the framework for programming robots with the ability to prioritize outcomes of actions.

In other words, the Smart and Kaelbling framework made it possible for automated systems, including autonomous robots, to want some things to happen in preference to others. This reward system was seen as the basis for artificial intelligence learning in a
chaotic environment.

This capability is what separates automated machines from welfare-aligned sentient beings. This is a better test of artificial intelligence than the “fool an observer into thinking you’re a human while carrying on a conversation” test. It’s relatively easy to predict what might happen next. Being able to care what happens next is another matter!

Comment 2: This is indeed huge going by the impact that programs like chatGPT are offering as well as many AI driven innovation.

On one hand, the future of work and expertise will change as I can simply chatGPT anything and assume the role of a subject matter expert within minutes simply by using the right prompts.

Critics of AI will say “it will replace people”, ” it’s putting people’s job at risk” etc.

Yes. That’s true.

The same way that Computer replaced typewriters but went on to create new job opportunities is what I see AI will do.

In the immediate, one way of re-inventing oneself for the future of work is to understand how to utilize these AI tools for your advantage.

You can start on this journey by Googling or ChatGPTing PROMPT ENGINEERING

Understanding Mortgages in Nigeria

The idea of mortgages has been in existence for quite a while as a means of raising capital and financing on the leverage of rights to land which has been regarded as one of the most dependable assets to own.

However, the legal framework surrounding mortgages has been seen in many quarters as scanty enough to warrant an almost non-existent understanding of what mortgages are or how they are even created.

While previously mentioned in some of my other write-ups, this article will be focused on the topics of :-

– What mortgages are and the legal framework governing mortgages in Nigeria.

– How mortgages are created in Nigeria.

– How mortgages are dissolved or recovered in Nigeria.

What is a mortgage?

A mortgage is a monetary loan secured by a conditional conveyance or transfer of a right to real or landed property, with the borrower being referred to as “The mortgagor” and the lender being referred to as “The mortgagee”. The major condition in this case is that the borrower’s right to the mortgaged property returns fully to him upon a full repayment of the loan obligation, otherwise ownership can be fully vested in the lender.

What are the components of the Regulatory & Legal framework governing mortgages in Nigeria?

Mortgages are governed by the Land Use Act of Nigeria, adopted former common law (English) legislation like the Property & Conveyancing law(adopted in many Southwestern states in Nigeria), the Conveyancing Act(adopted in many Southeastern states in Nigeria) as well as the various land title registration laws of various states and the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA).

Are mortgages registrable?

Yes they are. Mortgages are required by the Land Use Act to be registered with the Land title registry of the state where the mortgaged property is located.

What are the types of mortgages in Nigeria?

Mortgages can be either :-

– legal :- created in the manner prescribed by statute (Documentation and Registration), or;

– equitable :- created by virtue of a simple agreement and principles of equity or in a manner that would fall outside the requirements of mortgage law but being valid under contract law e.g. documenting an unregistered mortgage.

How are mortgages created in Nigeria?

Mortgages can be created by :-

– A registered deed of mortgage.

– By filling the required statutory form in some states.

– An unregistered deed of mortgage.

– By the creation of a charge in the case of real property owned by a company which must be registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).

What are the effects of not creating a legal mortgage?

A mortgage that is equitable and not legal or statutory will rank lower in priority against a legal mortgage on the same property even though the legal mortgage was created later in time.

Secondly, recovering an equitable mortgage will require going through the more tedious route of a foreclosure suit unlike a legal mortgage that can confer a quicker and more legally backed Power of Sale.

Is it possible to take more than one mortgage on the same property?

Yes it is. This is a process known as “Upstamping” which requires a separate deed and which is also required to be registered by law.

What are the rights of a mortgagor in a mortgage transaction?

The rights of a mortgagor/borrower are :-

1. The equity of redemption :- This is the right of a mortgagor to redeem his property once the loan obligation is discharged.

2. The legal right to redeem :- This refers to the right of a mortgagor to recover his property before the due date stated in a mortgage agreement deed.

3. The equitable right to redeem :-  This is the right of a mortgagor to recover his property even after the due date in a mortgage agreement has passed.

What does the law say in cases of more than one property being used as security in a mortgage transaction between a mortgagor and the same lender/mortgagee?

This situation would be eligible for an arrangement known as a consolidation whereby the borrower would have to redeem the security properties as a whole and not separately.

Mortgage Banking in Nigeria

Mortgage banking is a specialized and licensed banking service focused on rendering financial services in support of mortgage transactions.

This article will be looking at mortgage banking in Nigeria, with a focus on the following:-

– The Regulatory Framework governing mortgage banking in Nigeria.

– The permissible and non-permissible activities of mortgage banks in Nigeria.

– Licensing requirements for mortgage banks in Nigeria.

What is the main Regulatory Framework governing mortgage banking in Nigeria?

Mortgage banking in Nigeria is governed mainly by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Revised Guidelines for Primary Mortgage Banks in Nigeria.

What are the permissible and non-permissible activities of mortgage banks in Nigeria?

Permissible activities

1. Mortgage financing services.

2. Real Estate construction finance services within permissible limits.

3. The acceptance of savings & time/term deposits.

4. The acceptance of mortgage-focused demand deposits.

5. Drawing from mortgage funds e.g. The National Housing Fund facility for on-lending.

6. Financial advisory services for mortgage customers.

Non-permissible Activities

1.Consumer or commercial loans.

2. Estate Agency/Facility management services.

3. Pension fund/scheme management.

4. Project management services for real estate development.

What are the requirements for mortgage bank licensing in Nigeria?

Mortgage Bank licensing in Nigeria is obtained in 2 stages which are the Approval-in-Principle (AIP) stage and the Final Licensing stage.

The requirements for mortgage bank licensing in Nigeria are :-

The AIP stage

1. A written application in writing to the governor of the CBN.

2. Evidence of payment of a non-refundable application fee of 2 Million Naira or any prescribed amount in bank draft to the CBN.

3. A detailed feasibility report.

4. A copy of the Memorandum/Articles of Association of the proposed bank.

5. A list of the names of the promoters and shareholders of the proposed bank.

6. A refundable Capital deposit payment to the CBN of the minimum capital requirement of 5 Billion Naira (for national authorization) & 2.5 Billion Naira (for state authorization)

– A copy of the proposed bank’s draft manual of operations

The Final Licensing stage

This involves registration of the bank with the Corporate Affairs Commission CAC after obtaining an AIP from the CBN and then having the option of applying for a payment of 20% of its capital deposit to enable pre-operational expenses without having to borrow same.

The following documents will have to be submitted to the CBN :-

– A copy of the shareholders register and shareholding details.

– A copy of the share certificate issued to each shareholder.

– A Certified True Copy (CTC) of statutory CAC forms for the statement of share capital, return of allotment, a notice of the bank’s registered address and the particulars of its directors.

– A licensing fee of 2 Million Naira.

How many directors are required for a mortgage bank under the CBN Guidelines?

The guidelines require a minimum of 7 and a maximum of 15 directors.