PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has a plan to spend N4.5 billion to repair State House buildings in 2020.
The Federal Government intends to spend a total of N58,446,014,724 in the presidency during the year, according to details of the Appropriation Bill he presented to the National Assembly on Tuesday.
A perusal of the document showed that of the amount, rehabilitation and repairs of State House office buildings alone will gulp N4.451 billion.
Rehabilitation and repair of residential buildings will cost N69,693,262, while a curious sub-head noted that rehabilitation and repairs of “housing” will take N10,575,702.
Chefs in the Presidential Villa will also in 2020 prepare food for the first family and their guests with cooking gas worth N18.5 million.
Fuel for generator has a vote of N45,678,552; refreshment and meals will cost N135,668,651, and welfare packages N240,730,180.
The president will also spend N91.6 million to purchase bullet-proof tyres for the many bullet-proof vehicles and plain vehicles in the fleet.
Further scrutiny of the document revealed that the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning will spend 43.6 per cent of the N9.4 trillion Federal Government’s main budget for the year.
The ministry will spend N4.1 trillion or 43.6 per cent of the MDAs vote made up of N748,602,309,977 for personnel; N3,063,398,998,775 for overhead; N3,812,001,308,752 for recurrent and N362,791,562,425 for capital expenditure.
The Debt Management Office (DMO) got an allocation of N2.749 trillion while N1.4 trillion was allocated to Service Wide Votes.
Other big spenders include the Ministry of Defence with an allocation of N878.4 billion; Interior, N254.8 billion; National Assembly, N125 billion; Police Affairs, N409.1 billion; National Security Adviser, N138.4 billion and the Ministry of Transportation, N135.6 billion.
Others are the Ministry of Power, N133.4 billion; Ministry of Works and Housing, N287.1 billion; judiciary, N110 billion; Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, N171.0 billion; Ministry of Niger Delta, N106.7 billion; Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, N444.2 billion; Ministry of Education, N652 billion; Ministry of Health, N427.2 billion and Aso Rock, N58.4 billion.
The campaign council of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kogi State, on Saturday, said the array of personalities in the campaign council and the swell of support across the state can only mean it is only Governor Yahaya Bello that can defeat himself in the November 16 Governorship election.
In a statement by the Chairman of Media and Publicity of the Campaigns, Mr Kingsley Fanwo, the campaign council said Bello would shatter all records in the election.
“From East to the Central and West, the groundswell of support across the state has demoralized the opposition PDP ahead of the election. The State has never been this united behind a Governorship candidate.
“The Senator Smart Adeyemi-led Campaign Council is made up of the movers and shakers of the politics of Kogi Politics. With the arrival of Honourable James Abiodun Faleke and aspirants who contested with the Governor has shown that APC will win the coming governorship election massively.
“It is a bad time for the PDP and we sincerely sympathize with the main opposition party. They have lost their leaders to the APC; they have lost thousands of their members to the APC and also recently lost their only Senator from the State. He will soon be replaced with a competent Senator in person of Senator Smart Adeyemi.
“No matter their grandstanding, we know they are in a big crisis. They are imploding and exploding. We won’t allow them to dictate the direction of our campaign as we are poised to campaign with the giant strides of the GYB Administration.
The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Bayelsa State is in a fix on how to handle a petition against its governorship candidate, Senator Douye Diri, over his failure to declare his assets before the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) while he served as Deputy Chief of Staff and Principal Executive Secretary in Government House between 2013 and 2014
Tribune Online investigations revealed that Senator Diri is expected to appear before the CCB on Monday 14th of October, 2019, in response to the said petition filed against him by an anti-corruption group known as the Bayelsa Coalition for Good Governance and Accountability.
Tribune Onlinefurther learnt that the PDP flag bearer has since been duly served the CCB summon through the clerk of the National Assembly, but that he has allegedly refused to acknowledge receipt of the summon.
According to a source in the PDP, “Senator Douye Diri was evading service. When the summon was sent to his governorship campaign office, nobody was willing to accept it. That was when the summon was sent to him through the Clerk of the Natiional Assembly and served.”
Confirming the development in a chat with newsmen, the Executive Director of the Bayelsa Coalition for Good Governance and Accountability, Mr Joseph Ambakederimo, who filed the petition said they filed the petition and that they have appeared before CCB to defend their claims in the petition.
The Inspector-General of Police (IGP) of Ghana, James Oppong-Boanuh, has advised prison inmates to watch Emmanuel TV, the television station of Pastor TB Joshua, so as to be both ‘informed’ and ‘reformed’.
According to a report in The Ghanaian Times, Oppong-Boanuh made this assertion while presenting food items, a flat screen television and a decoder to inmates of the Sekondi Prisons in the Western Region of Ghana.
Presenting the items on behalf of the IGP, the Western Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Redeemer Vincent Dedjoe, entreated tthe prison officers to encourage the inmates to particularly watch the activities of TB Joshua on Emmanuel TV.
“This will help the inmates to listen to the Word of God, be informed and well reformed when they are released from prisons,”he stated, emphasising the gifts were “a measure of extending God’s love and care to them”.
Receiving the items, the Assistant Director of Prisons (ADP), Nana Amoku Quansah, expressed gratitude to the IGP, who was newly confirmed as Ghana’s top police officer by President Akufo-Addo, for the gesture.
Emmanuel TV is the world’s most watched Christian ministry YouTube channel with its videos attracting over 500 million views.
As part of the Bank’s financial inclusion and global thought leadership drive, the Chief Executive Officer, First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Dr. Adesola Adeduntan participated in the 2019 Global Leaders Interactive panel session of the 2019 Ethical Finance Conference held on 8 – 9 October 2019 at RBS Conference Centre, 175 Glasgow Road, Gogarburn, Edinburgh. The event had in attendance over 500 leading finance practitioners from all over the world.
The Bank’s CEO, Dr. Adesola Adeduntan, with other thought leaders, policy influencers and leading finance practitioners across the world deliberated on various topical issues that would help define and shape the transition of the global financial climate to a sustainable financial system where finance delivers positive change.
Dr. Adesola Adeduntan, along with Sarah Breeden, Bank of England; Dame Susan Rice, Banking Standards Board; Gary Gillespie, Chief Economist, Scottish Government spoke on the topic “Financing Sustainability: Designing for A Future on Earth” in the first panel session held on 8 October 2019.
Speaking on his participation at the event, Dr. Adeduntan said; “FirstBank is committed to exploring innovative opportunities that drive financial inclusion in Nigeria whilst harnessing widespread mobile-phone coverage to create low-price banking offerings across groundbreaking distribution channels, especially for the unbanked.”
“Our participation in the 2019 Ethical Finance Conference is a platform we are honoured to be in as shared knowledge with other global thought leaders and policy influencers is pivotal to promote inclusive growth in the global financial ecosystem, whilst contributing to economic growth, development and importantly, reducing poverty,” he concluded.
The pan African Financial Services Institution, United Bank for Africa(UBA) has again reiterated its commitment to surpass the expectations of its customers through the provision of products and services that meet their needs. The Bank made this promise at a special Customer Forum to mark the 2019 edition of the Customer’s Service Week.
The forum which was held at the bank’s Head Office, in Lagos, was very interactive and presented an opportunity for the management, staff and customers to share ideas on how to improve customer-satisfaction, in line with the bank’s Customer First Philosophy.
UBA’s Group Executive, Customer Fulfilment Centre, Mr Anant Rao, who welcomed customers to the forum, explained that the bank has deliberately re-focused and re-engineered its activities to put the customers first, adding that it has been leveraging on a three-prong lever of People, Process and Technology, in a bid to ensure maximum satisfaction to the customers, without whom the bank will not exist.
He said, “The singular mission of our consistent and superior customer experience has been imbibed into the DNA of each and every staff of the bank. In this way, there is no gainsaying that Service has been institutionalized at UBA. The mantra of our Customers being our employers has been ingrained into the psyche of each and every staff.”
l-r: Group Head, Online Banking, United Bank for Africa(UBA) Plc, Mr. Austin Abolusoro; Regional Head, Lagos Bank, UBA Plc, Mrs Pamela Shodipo; Customer, High Chief Goddy Ulasi; Technical Adviser, Consumer & Retail Banking, Mr Babatunde Ajayi; Group Executive, Transformation and Resources, UBA Plc, Mr Chiugo Ndubuisi; Group Executive, Customer Fulfilment Centre, UBA Plc, and Group Head, Marketing, Mrs Dupe Olusola, at the special UBA Customer Forum held to commemorate The CUSTOMER Service Week in Lagos on Wednesday
Also speaking, the Group Head, Marketing, Mrs Dupe Olusola, said the bank has tailored a lot of products to assist customers to thrive in their various fields, adding that there was a lot of focus on small and medium scale enterprises which are growth drivers of any growing economy.
She said, “At UBA, we are constantly thinking about you, creating personalized products you need to achieve your goals. Right from the kids, children, young adults, students to the mass retail market; SMEs; creative industry; agricultural; UBA has something for everyone, and we are here at your service all the time.”
Some of the customers who were at the event, commended the bank for the services it rendered to them, and also pointed out areas of improvement and expectation, adding that this will lead to beneficial interests to both parties.
l-r: UBA Customers, Mr Adegbola Abiodun and Mrs Adebanke Adegbola; Regional Head, Lagos Bank, UBA Plc, Mrs Pamela Shodipo; UBA Customer, Mrs Adepele Amure; Group Executive, Transformation and Resources, UBA Plc, Mr Chiugo Ndubuisi; UBA Customer, High Chief Goddy Ulasi; Group Head, Marketing, Mrs Dupe Olusola; Regional Head, Lagos Bank, Ms Emem Usoro; at the special UBA Customer Forum held to commemorate 2019 Customer Service Week in Lagos on Wednesday
A customer of the bank, High Chief Goddy Ulasi, who has banked with UBA for over 15 years, commended the bank for helping him and his business grow over the years and called on the bank to make rates more competitive to ensure that customers and businesses also benefit even more from the bank.
In response, the Group Head, Transaction and Electronic Banking, Mr. Sampson Aneke, said the customers remain the key focus of the bank, adding that the bank is in discussions with the key agents to ensure ease of transactions.
Earlier, UBA’s Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Kennedy Uzoka, who wrote a statement on the significance of continuous excellent service delivery to customers, appreciated the staff who have worked tirelessly to satisfy customers, and urged them not to rest on their oars.
“Let’s strive to put the magical touch in everything we do to create a symbolic service experience for our ‘Employer’ – the Customer!”, Uzoka said.
The theme for this year’s celebrations, “Magic Happens Here”, embodies all that the bank represents as encompassed in its Core Values – the 3EEEs: Excellence, Enterprise and Execution.
The United Bank for Africa, Africa’s global bank, was founded 70 years ago in Nigeria and today, operates in 20 African countries and in the United Kingdom, the USA and with presence in France. UBA serves over 17 million customers across the globe with more than 1000 branches and touch points. In 2018, the bank received the award of Africa’s Best Digital Bank by the Banker’s magazine
l-r: Group Head, Online Banking, United Bank for Africa(UBA) Plc, Mr. Austin Abolusoro; Regional Head, Lagos Bank, UBA Plc, Mrs Pamela Shodipo; Technical Adviser, Consumer & Retail Banking, Mr Babatunde Ajayi; Group Executive, Transformation and Resources, UBA Plc, Mr Chiugo Ndubuisi; Customer, High Chief Goddy Ulasi; Group Executive, Customer Fulfilment Centre, UBA Plc, Mr Anant Rao; Group Head, Marketing, Mrs Dupe Olusola; Customer, Mr Adegbola Abiodun; and Group Head, Transaction & Electronic Banking, UBA Plc, Aneke Sampson, during the UBA Customer Forum held to commemorate 2019 Customer Service Week in Lagos on Wednesday
The Mayor of Banjul, the capital city of Gambia was amazed with the generosity and benevolence of Rohey Lowe who recently launched the Gambian faction of REFELA, a network of women elected officials of substantial and local governments in Africa. According to Mayor Lowe, she is interested in the growth of women and the encouragement of the womenfolk to develop themselves globally. REFELA was founded in 2005 in South Africa for the reunification of three continental groups of local governments.
According to reports available to us, REFELA is the African section of the world organization, UCLG Africa with a membership of 44 national associations of local governments from all regions of Africa as well as 2000 cities that have more than 100,000 inhabitants.
Mayor Lowe emphasized further that the unification of African women is very necessary and will help propel the continent to the highest level in the nearest future. In records, REFELA has now become a fundamental part of UCLG Africa and represents locally elected women officials within the global women’s Commission of United Cities and Local Governments that is the UCLG. The highly revered Mayor of Bajul, Lowe further emphasized that the launch will mark a turning point in the aspiration of Gambian women in all areas of development and explained that REFELA is a women platform under the United Cities of Local Governments of Africa (UCLG) which is the umbrella organization and the united voice representing local governments in Africa. Mayor Lowe also stressed that the campaign to better the lives of women as advocated by REFELA took a very positive turn through her election as the first woman mayor of the Gambia’s capital city of Banjul.
In her further statement, Mayor Lowe expressed that the campaign to better the lives of women as advocated by REFELA took a very positive turn through her election as the first woman mayor of the capital city of Banjul. She then said that the situation is more challenging for rural women without active participation in the electoral processes because it will get worse. She admonished women that they should know that they constitute more than half of the country’s population and additionally they offer more than 54% of election and yet, they lack representation.
The Mayor also used the opportunity to call on Gambia’s women to get prepared for the 2021 election noting that she is ready to work with the women in actualizing that dream. She also urged women not to campaign and cheer the male folk but to focus on progressing the female contestant.
It could be recalled that the African section of the world organization of UCLG Africa has a membership of 44 national associations of local governments from all regions of the continent as well as 2000 cities that have more than 100,000 inhabitants. There is no doubting the fact that REFELA has now become a fundamental part of UCLG Africa and represents locally elected women officials within the global Women’s Commission of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG Women).
Rivers State Government and the Ethiopian Airlines have reached an agreement in principle for the operation of permanent international flights from the Port Harcourt International Airport, subject to the approval of the relevant federal authorities.
The two parties reached the agreement at the Headquarters of Ethiopian Airlines after a high-powered meeting attended by the Group Chief Executive Officer of Ethiopian Airlines, Dr. Tewolde Gebremariam; the Chief Commercial Officer, Esayas Wolde Mariam; Vice President, Strategic Planning, Busera Awel; Managing Director, Sales International, Lemma Yadecha; Regional Director, Sales and Services , Western Africa, Mitiku Asrat; and Manager, Group Alliance and Commercial Cooperation, Hewoel Lemma.
Chief Commercial Officer, Esayas Wolde Mariam, in an address declared that Ethiopian Airlines has agreed to fly permanently from Port Harcourt International Airport subject to the approval of the federal authorities.
He said: “We are willing and capable to fly into Port Harcourt on a regular basis. For now, we have exhausted our Bilateral Air Agreement Approval and we need another approval to operate the Port Harcourt route.
“We need your help to ensure that approval comes from the Federal Authorities. At first, there should be a temporary operating permit, pending the final approval “.
The Chief Commercial Officer added that Ethiopian Airlines needs the initial support of the Rivers State Government for handling and aviation infrastructure in Port Harcourt to develop the new Market.
He declared that Ethiopian Airlines will also embark on advertisements to promote Port Harcourt as a tourist and investment destination.
Vice President, Strategic Planning, made a presentation on the capacity and vision of the Airline for the continent.
In his response, the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike declared that the state Government is willing to provide an enabling environment for Ethiopian Airlines to operate in the state. He assured that he will meet with the Minister of Aviation to ensure that Port Harcourt International Airport is approved for Ethiopian Airlines as a destination.
Wike declared that his administration is working on making Port Harcourt a regional air transport hub for greater economic development of the state.
He said: “As we therefore consolidate on our achievements, we want to also focus on making Port Harcourt city a regional air transport hub through the private public partnership approach while leveraging on the existing aviation infrastructure and related market and other advantages of the state.”
“I wish to assure you that we are ready to do everything within our powers and spheres of authority and influence to facilitate the realization of your interest and desire directly and sustainably fly from Port Harcourt to Addis Ababa and other parts of the world”.
Wike thanked Ethiopian Airlines for their interest in expanding and retaining their services in Port Harcourt city. He said that the Rivers State Government will offer its social partnership, goodwill and support.
The governor noted that Port Harcourt is strategically located to serve as a transit point for the entire South-south and parts of the South-east.
“We have agreed in principle that there is need for Ethiopian Airlines to fly from Port Harcourt to other destinations. Port Harcourt is a destination of choice, as it easily accessible for the entire South-south and other states in the South-east”, Governor Wike said.
Wike was accompanied by Former Deputy Speaker of House of Representatives, Hon. Austin Opara; Rivers State PDP Chairman, Bro Felix Obuah; Director General of Rivers State Bureau of Public Procurement, Mr. Thompson Emmanuel; former House of Assembly Member, Felix Nwaeke; Former Eleme Local Government Area Chairman, Chief Ejor N. Ejor; and President of Port Harcourt Investors and Entrepreneurs Forum, Ibifiri Bob-Manuel.
Also yesterday, Wike was led on a facility tour at Ethiopian Airlines in Addis Ababa. The governor and his delegation were briefed on the capacity of Ethiopian Airlines to Service the Port Harcourt-Addis Ababa International Route
These are the Most Expensive Watches in the World Ranked by the Sale Price, Auction Value or Estimated Value
Once a year we take a look at the Most Expensive Watches in the World 2019! This ranking has been updated in June 2019.
Not only there are several new incredibly expensive watches, we also have a new #1, which says a lot considering that the previous World’s Most Expensive Watch – title holder was valued at $25 million.
Most of the watches we’re gonna show are one of a kind and are owned by the richest people in the world, and who would judge them, watches are a status symbol and owning one priced so high will definitely set you apart from the other billionaires out there.
So what exactly does make these watches so expensive?
It mostly comes down to just three factors:
1. Expensive parts such as rare diamonds, gold, platinum, meteor rock, dinosaur bone etc.
2. The amount of time it took to complete and the detail level of what the watch is able to do.
3. How unique or how much of a intangible value can be attributed to the piece.
Every watch we’re gonna feature has an incredible story behind that will make you wonder what is like to own a watch designated only for the most affluent individuals!
Here are the Top 10 most Expensive Watches in the World 2019:
10.
LOUIS MOINET METEORIS WATCH ~ Price: $4.600.000
What if I told you there was a watch so rare that in order to make it you had to go into space and get some moon rock?
What is I told you there were 4 of these watches that apart from the beautifully crafted architecture each contains something so special that the average person will never get to encounter in their life-time?
These 4 watches form the Meteoris Collection by Louis Moinet and they all tie for the 10th position on our top 10 most expensive watches in the world!
You can learn more about the Louis Moinet watches here!
If you thought these were special, you wouldn’t belive the Hublot that’s next.
9.
HUBLOT – BIG BANG ~ Price: $5.000.000
If the previous pieces stood out by the rarity of the components this one focuses on only 1 material: Diamonds! and a lot of them!
But just how many diamonds can one manufacturer put on a wrist watch?
Hublot answered that question with: as many we can fit in there! They ended up with 1280 diamonds that have at least 3 carats each.
It took over 1 full year just to find the diamonds and bring them to the headquarters from all corners of the earth but the end result was fully worth it!
Every single stone was cut by a well renowned jeweler from New York, with over 40 years of experience, in order to make sure each bears the same cut signature.
You’re probably wondering who’d spend $5 Million on full diamond watch?
Beyonce Knowles bought it for her husband Jay-Z as a birthday gift for his 43rd anniversary! We’ve covered the story in this original video!
The watch looks amazing and if you’ve got the money I think it’s an amazing piece to add to your collection!
But I wouldn’t spend it right away because we’ve still got some even more expensive ones to come!
8.
Vacheron Constantin 57260 – The most complicated watch ever made ~ Price: $8 million
This time, Vacheron Constantin decided to make the most complicated watch in existence. The watch is fairly new compared to the rest of the ones on this list.
A complication is the number of functions a watch can do and this one 2800 components and 57 complications. It has a solid 18k white gold case and densely packed components inside.
It took a team of three watchmakers more than eight years to design and create the 2,800-component Reference 57260 from scratch.
They were considering selling the price somewhere between 5 to 10 million and a private buyer picked it up for 8 million dollars.
7.
PATEK PHILIPPE – Ref. 1518 – Wristwatch ~ Price: $11.136.642
Mid-November 2016 at the Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo Geneva Watch Auction Four sale, an incredibly rare Patek Philippe wristwatch was auctioned of.
It was sold for 11,002,000 Swiss francs! That’s around 11,136,642 USD.
The reason why it fetched such a high amount is rather odd, it’s the fact that it has stainless steel casing, a very rare thing since almost all luxury watches Patek made with yellow or rose gold. While most other watches on this list get their value from the jewels added to the watch, this is part of a very limited edition 4 piece series.
On the back of the watch underneath the serial, you can notice a number 1. Which means it is the first one of the 4.
You would expect that such a rare piece would be one of the most expensive watches in the world 2019 and it proudly made the list, but only at #7.
6.
Jacob & Co. “Billionaire Watch” ~ Price: $18,268,000
This feels less like a watch and more like a crown. The Jacob & Co Billionaire watch is certainly one of the most luxurious watches in the world. It’s like they looked at the 5 million dollar Hublot we mentioned before and said: “Yeah, we can do better”.
We couldn’t talk about the most expensive watches in the world 2019 without having a billionaire worthy watch couldn’t we?
Adorned with 260 carats-worth of brilliant emerald-cut diamonds, it features a handcrafted movement comprising 167 components and 19 jewels. Just to put things into perspective..
If you had the money to buy this particular watch, but instead you put it in a decent portfolio that pays 7% interest, you’d be earning 1.3 million dollars every year, just on the interest.
The company wasn’t playing around when they said this is a Billionaire’s Watch.
We’re ready to start the top 5 most expensive watches in the world 2019!
5.
PATEK PHILIPPE – HENRY GRAVES – POCKET WATCH ~ Price: $24.000.000
It used to be the most expensive pocket watch the world had ever seen!
It was sold for $11 Million back in 1999 if we adjust for inflation and the economic environment + its novelty factor this piece could easily go for over $15 Million if it was to be resold. They wanted to put that theory to the test. Last year it went on Sale and it fetched a record breaking 24 million dollars.
Made in 1933 for banker Henry Graves by Patek Philippe himself, it took over 5 years to complete!
It happens to be one of the most complicated and complex pocket watches in the world with over 24 functions!
Made out of 18 carat gold the watch used to be the world’s most expensive pocket watch until late 2013 when one piece dethroned it.
It’s the one on the 3rd spot!
4.
CHOPARD 201-CARAT WATCH ~ Price: $25.000.000
With 874 rare diamonds the Chopard 201-carat watch used to be the world’s most expensive watch and still is the 3rd highest priced jewelry watch out on the market!
Sold in the year 2000 for this unbelievable amount of $25 million it made the front page of every luxury publication at the time.
Contrary to the $5 million Hublot we’ve talked about earlier, the stones don’t form any sort of pattern or design which leads us to the following question:
Why would you wear something so bulky? and for some people unappealing. It wasn’t just some publicity stunt Chopard pulled off, but I my opinion it lacks a certain degree of finesse which I would expect from them.
With all that considered we still have to bow our heads to the masterpiece created and take a closer look and see the detail level of work put into the ultimate jewelry.
It features a very small display and such a wide variety of diamonds that even at close inspection it is very likely for you to miss some.
The specifications for a number of the diamonds are as follows:
– 1 heart-shaped diamond, natural Fancy Pink, Internally Flawess, 15.37 carats.
– 1 heart-shaped diamond, natural Fancy Blue, VS2, 12.79 carats.
– 1 heart-shaped diamond, D color, Flawless, 11.36 carats.
– 3 pear-shaped diamonds, natural Fancy Intense Yellow, 8.45 carats total.
– 26 pear-shaped diamonds, natural Fancy Intense Yellow, 17.07 carats total.
– 48 round diamonds, natural Fancy Yellow, 8.81 carats total.
– 260 pear-shaped diamonds, all D color, Flawless, 60.94 carats total.
– 91 round diamonds, D color, Flawless, 10.29 carats total.
– 443 FC diamonds, natural Fancy Intense Yellow, 4.95 carats total.
Graff Diamonds The Fascination ~ Price: $40 Million
Remember when we said that Chopard opened the door for a new type of watch? Well, this is it.
Jewelry companies have the upper hand when it comes to simply adding as many valuable gems and stones to a watch as possible and Graff is the biggest name of all when it comes to Diamonds.
The watch consists of 152.96 carats of white diamonds with a center fancy-cut exquisitely rare stone that is a 38.13-carat D Flawless pear shaped diamond that detaches into a ring.
According to Laurence Graff, the founder and chairman of Graff Diamonds: “The Fascination is an outstanding piece, carefully crafted so it can be worn in a number of different ways – adding a touch of magic to the jewel,”
Top 10 Most Expensive Watches in the World – Graff Diamonds The Fascination ~ Price: $40 Million
1.
GRAFF HALLUCINATION ~ Price: $55 MILLION
This is it! The Graff Hallucination is the most expensive watch in the world 2019 with a price tag of $55 million.
Where do we even begin? It was unveiled a couple of years ago at the Baselworld watch and jewelry fair, the first time Graff took part in it. They sure know how to make an entrance!
From the start the watch was supposed to be the most valuable timepiece ever created! And they did it!
The incredible worth stems from 110 carats of really rare and really big colored diamonds set into a bracelet of platinum.
Just to make things easier, when diamonds are extracted and processed their color ranges from D to Z. The colored diamonds used for this particular watch, qualify as “Fancy” which means they go beyond the normal scale as incredibly rare and valuable.
If you look really close at the bundle of gems you can see a tiny quartz dial in the middle of it framed by pink diamonds.
The Graff Diamonds – Hallucination is the most expensive watch in the world 2019 – Price: $55 Million
Laurence Graff’s comments on the Hallucination: “The Graff Hallucination is a sculptural masterpiece, a celebration of the miracle of colored diamonds. For many years I have thought about creating a truly remarkable watch that illustrates our all consuming passion for diamonds. The Hallucination has made my diamond dream a reality.“
Just to put things into perspective, the most expensive watch costs as much as a Gulfstream private jet.
We put together this video which you can share with your friends:
Some Lagos residents, who want to re-register their vehicles, have lamented how officials of the Motor Vehicle Administration Agency under the state Ministry of Transportation frustrate and extort them.
They said aside from paying N46,000 for change of ownership documents and number plates, they were being made to part with extra cash for ‘processing’.
According to them, the officials charged each applicant between N10,000 and N12,000 extra, money that is not receipted.
Our correspondents were told that months after some motorists had paid the N46,000, they had yet to get their documents and number plates.
An engineer, Mr Edet Okon, said he paid N46,000 to change the ownership of a registered Honda Crosstour he bought, adding that three months after, he had yet to get the documents and the number plate.
He explained, “The car I am using was registered in the name of my company, because I took a loan to acquire it. When I completed payment for the car, the company transferred it to me and I applied for the change of ownership documents.
“I paid N46,000 to the licensing office since July. I don’t know what is keeping them from processing the application for change of ownership. I have yet to be assigned a new number plate. The official in charge wants me to bribe him and I am not going to do that. It is wrong for people to expect that they must be tipped to do their job.”
Another resident, Opeyemi Oyejide, said he could not understand the government’s inability to give him a number plate despite the fact that he had paid the required fee.
Oyejide, 40, advised the agency to issue temporary clearance permits to vehicle owners, who had commenced the re-registration process, to prevent security agents from harassing them.
He said, “For me not to have completed the change of ownership means that governance is at low ebb in this state. It simply implies that the government cannot perform the basic task it was set up for. I got the number plate for my first car in three days in this same Lagos, but everything has changed now.
“But if you are willing to offer a bribe, you will get the number plate in record time. I know somebody, who paid over the odds for re-registration and his number plate has been delivered, but because people like us refused to part with extra money, we have not got what we paid for.”
Another motorist, Adekunle Bello, said the charges for vehicle re-registration were exorbitant, alleging that government agents and their cohorts had created artificial scarcity of number plates to extort money from applicants.
A resident, Goriola Adegoke, who paid extra N10,000 to a government employee, said he got his documents and number plate under two weeks.
“That is not the standard procedure, because the money certainly goes into their pockets. I have yet to even get the receipt for the N46,000 I paid before adding the N10,000. The extra money facilitated the choice of the local government that reflected on the number plate. This is nothing but fraud,” he stated.
During a visit to the MVAA at Alausa, PUNCH Metro learnt from some officials that the processing of number plates ideally should take 48 hours.
But an official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, claimed that the licensing office at the state secretariat had stopped issuing number plates for re-registered vehicles.
He explained, “Before now, the government issued number plates to new vehicles and old vehicles brought for re-registration. But recently, it stopped issuing new number plates for old vehicles. So, we decided to apply for new number plates for people re-registering vehicles.
“The process of doing this is long. That is why we collect an extra fee of N12,000. I charge a total of N60,000 to re-register a vehicle. Those, who paid N48,000 cannot get new number plates except they add N12,000.”
Another official in the Alimosho area of the state said he charges N55,000 for re-registration of a sport utility vehicle.
Asked why the fee was high, he said the government had stopped what he termed the ‘re-reg’ scheme for old vehicles.
The agent stated, “They used to charge N20,000 for re-reg that time, but they have stopped. So, for us to get number plates for those doing re-registration, we adopt the process of new vehicle registration, which costs N30,000.
“For the change of ownership, you need a total of N55,000, in addition to two passports, means of identification, particulars of the vehicle and change of ownership and purchase receipts. Within two weeks, everything will be ready.”
But the General Manager, MVAA, Mrs Lape Kilanko, said the official lied.
According to Kilanko, the state government is still running the re-reg scheme, which costs N12,500 as against the N20,000 stated by the official.
She noted that the total amount for re-registration of a vehicle was N26,325, and not N55,000 or N60,000 as stated by the government worker.
The MVAA boss insisted that there was no scarcity of number plates in the state, adding that standard registration number plates did not also come at additional costs.
For clarity, PUNCH Metro gave an example of a Honda Crosstour for re-registration and demanded its cost implications.
She said, “The change of ownership process will require a letter of authorisation to transfer ownership, a police report for the change of ownership, sworn affidavit for the change of ownership, Central Motor Registry payment, valid means of identification of the new owner and an updated vehicle licence.”
According to her, the change of ownership fee is N2,500; Capital Gains Tax, N625; number plate, N12,500; pre-registration inspection fee (by the Vehicle Inspection Service Directorate), N3,800; Central Motor Registry, N1,000; administrative charges, N2,000; and vehicle licence, N3,900.
She said the total cost was N26,325.
The general manager noted that it would take 20 to 30 minutes for the registration of new vehicles and 48 hours for the completion of the change of ownership.
Investigation by PUNCH Metro revealed that a long chain of corruption involving officials of the agency was responsible for the differences in the rates charged.
“At every stage of the process, officials of the MVAA hike the official rates to line their own pockets,” a source said.
A client representative, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said unless the government made vehicle registration and re-registration a one-stop process, the fraud would continue.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Transportation, Mr Olawale Musa, said the government would look into the issues.
