LAGOS HOMS: SET RULES BY FASHOLA

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), Monday said the newly launched Lagos Home Ownership Mortgage Scheme (Lagos HOMS) would remain open to review and suggestions from stakeholders until all the challenges that may arise as it goes public are resolved adding that it is the only way to get the best out of the scheme for the good of the people.

 

Governor Fashola, who spoke at the Banquet Hall of the Lagos House Ikeja venue of the flag-off ceremony of the Scheme noted that although a lot of time was spent in preparation for the launch of the scheme to the public, not all the challenges that could possibly arise in the real world were foreseen and dealt with at that “laboratory” stage adding that as members of the public get involved unforeseen challenges would surely arise.

 

“We have spent a long time trying to see the import of all of the things that can possibly happen.  Now we are ready to hit the real world in which all sorts of things will happen. Some we have foreseen and we are trying to prepare to deal with, we may find out that our preparations are not enough and therefore we need to do more”, the Governor said.

 

According to him, “Some of the challenges we had anticipated and answered in the frequently asked questions but some we have not and that is why I said in my speech that we remain open to reviews, to suggestions and so on and so forth”.

 

He, however, maintained that rules guiding the new scheme would be strictly enforced advising prospective home owners under the scheme to embrace insurance to secure the ability to pay their mortgages.

 

Listing such rules as prompt payment of mortgage and adherence to arbitration as only means of resolution of conflicts arising from the scheme, the Governor told the capacity audience comprising captains of industry, property developers and other stakeholders in the Housing Sector as well as Media Executives that any inability or unacceptable delay in payment of mortgage would mean repossession of the house by the Government.

 

“For us therefore, late payment should not be the rule because it endangers sustainability. If those who were paying taxes were delaying, you won’t have any houses to give out”, he said adding, however, that whether there would be penalty or not would be a matter of the banking relationship with the Lagos Building Investment Company (LBIC) who will be the managers of the Mortgage account.  

 

According to him, “That is why the office of the Lagos Mortgage Board is going to be in the same building with the LBIC so that as an applicant, you don’t have to submit your form here and go to another place to pay, everything relating to this transaction will be in one building”.

 

On arbitration as the only means of resolving conflicts arising from the scheme, the Governor reiterated that it is embedded in the agreement between the home owner and the Government that he would not go to court and that the decision of the arbitration panel was final.

 

“Arbitration as the only means of resolution, yes because arbitration is an agreement itself and we have worked that into the system so if you don’t want to go into arbitration when there is dispute about this property, don’t even apply”, the Governor said.

 

He maintained that arbitration is part of the agreement and a condition for owning a home under the scheme adding that when the owner submits to arbitration by international best practice, the outcome, the decision is final unless there is misconduct which, according to him, may require an appeal.

 

“But that is not the purpose of arbitration. It is to find a less contentious, more dispute-resolving atmosphere. So really and truly electing to come into this scheme precludes you from going to court because you have signed a contract with us that you will use arbitration”, he said.

 

Governor Fashola said Government was not going to impose any insurance on prospective home owners adding, however, that Government still expect  that they would patronize LASACO which, according to him, is an outfit in which the State has   some interest.

 

“But as the market expands LASACO itself will know that in the insurance business it cannot carry all the risk alone and, therefore it will share the risk and so on and so forth so that things can happen”, he said.

 

In terms of whether Government should make Mortgage protection insurance compulsory like the Property Insurance, Governor Fashola said, “I think we should leave it optional so that people will be able to choose that if they can really predict that their income will not fall into difficulty then, it depends on how they plan their affair”.

 

“But if you want to secure the ability to pay your mortgage you can take an insurance against that. That is what insurance business is for. It is the level of risk you are ready to take in defaulting that you will consider knowing that if you default you will lose to other people. Our own is to get payment promptly or repossess the house”, he said.

 

On whether one could increase one’s mortgage payment if one’s income increases within the ten year period, he said Government was trying to do what is global best practice to keep the amount at a level that would enable the mortgagor meet other obligations.

 

“The whole idea is that we should not spend half or three quarters of your income for keeping shelter over your head because we know you have obligations to your children, to your wife and even to yourself and other dependants so that if people whose income can only afford two bedroom flat go for three bedroom flat you see that the risk becomes higher”.

 

Describing the choice by owners as “a lifestyle issue”, the Governor declared, “We expect that if you are in here with us you are in here for ten years no matter how rich you may have become. So we expect that you stay with us so that this desperation to acquire money which pushes people to cut corners will go away. As we go on the Board will advise us if we should allow any exit but for now the answer is no”.

 opinionvoices.blogspot.com

Asari Dokubo released by SSS.

The President of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force, NDPVF, Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, has been released by the Department of State Security Services, SSS.

He was invited to the SSS headquarters on Thursday morning for repeatedly making inciting comments.

His personal assistant (Media), Rex Asari, confirmed the release to OPINIONVOICES.

“Yes, he was released. We are heading home now,” Mr. Asari said.

Mr. Dokubo-Asari was quoted in several media reports on Tuesday as saying that he would make Nigeria ungovernable if President Goodluck Jonathan was not re-elected in 2015. He also asked the major political parties not to field non- South South candidates.

The All Progressives Congress, APC, and an Islamic group, Muslim Rights Concern, MURIC, had asked the SSS to arrest and question Mr. Dokubo-Asari over the statements.

More details later…

Read our earlier story below:

Less than 24 hours after a group, Muslim Rights Concern, MURIC, called on security agents to arrest and caution the President of the Niger Delta Volunteer Force, Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, for repeatedly making inciting comments, the Department of State Security, DSSS, has heeded the call.

Mr. Dokubo-Asari was Thursday summoned to the DSS headquarters in Abuja, where he is being interrogated for comments believed to be capable of breaching the fragile peace the country currently enjoys.

The spokesperson of the SSS, Marilyn Ogar, was not available for comments. She did not answer or return calls.

But Mr. Dokubo-Asari younger brother, Rex Asari, who also doubles as his personal assistant on media, said the Niger Delta activist is currently being interrogated by operatives.

“It is true,” the younger Asari said in response to our reporter’s enquiry at about 12.30 p.m Thursday. “He is being interogated as we speak.”

Mr. Dokubo-Asari was quoted to have said on Tuesday that he would make Nigeria ungovernable unless President Jonathan secures a second term ticket in the 2015 presidential election.

He also reportedly asked politicians from the North to steer clear of the presidency.

Nigeria will start exporting cars soon —Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday expressed the belief that with the measures put in place by his administration, especially the new National Automotive Industry Policy; the country would soon be exporting cars to other countries.

 

President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday expressed the belief that with the measures put in place by his administration, especially the new National Automotive Industry Policy; the country would soon be exporting cars to other countries.

Jonathan spoke at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, while granting audience to a delegation of the business community from Anambra State led by Governor Peter Obi.

In responding to an address by the delegation, the President said, “I will refer all the issues you raised to the various departments of government. We are totally committed to creating jobs. Nigeria is a country with huge population of youths. If jobs are not created, there will be crisis. The housing, agriculture and power sectors are also receiving attention.

“In the next few years, Nigeria will begin to export cars to other countries. We are encouraging the government to support local manufacturers.”

Jonathan promised that the industrialists’ basic needs such as roads, power and port facilities would be addressed appropriately.

He said if Nigeria must become great as expected by all, the Federal Government must industrialise the nation.

To this end, he said his administration would continue to encourage industrialists in the country.

“If any country will be great, we must industrialise. If Nigeria must be a great country, we must industrialise. To this end, we will continue to encourage industrialists in Anambra,” the President added.

He said his government was also devoting attention and resources to the power sector because of its critical role in industrialisation.

Vice-President Namadi Sambo told the delegation that Jonathan had recently approved $3.7bn to improve power transmission across the country.

Obi had earlier told the President that the enterprising and preserving nature of Anambra people made them well-positioned to assist Jonathan to achieve his administration’s transformation agenda.

While declaring the support of the people of the state for Jonathan, Obi said, “You have excess credit in your political account that these people (members of the delegation) are ready to pay you when you need it.”

The governor said he led the delegation to express their support for the President and bring to his attention some of the industrialists’ collective, which if addressed, would help in anchoring the growth and development of industry in the state.

Some of the needs, according to him, are the completion of the 330/132/33KV power substation at Nnewi; provision of uninterrupted power supply in the Onitsha Harbour Industrial Area and Ozubulu Industrial Hub; completion of the Nnamdi Azikwe Teaching Hospital, Nnewi; and the inclusion of Anambra State in the rail master plan.

Obi also made a case for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of federal roads within the state such as the Oba-Nnewi-Okigwe Section 1, Nnewi-Okija, start of Onitsha Second Niger Bridge, completion of the Onitsha-Enugu dual carriageway and completion of the Umueze-Anam Kogi road.

The governor also thanked the President for the inclusion of Nnewi in the National Automotive Industry Policy of the Federal Government.

This, he said, would attract many ancillary industries, especially with the coming on stream of the Ajaokuta Steel Plant, adding that the local content in vehicle manufacturing in no time would increase from 40 per cent to 60 per cent.

Jonathan spoke at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, while granting audience to a delegation of the business community from Anambra State led by Governor Peter Obi.

In responding to an address by the delegation, the President said, “I will refer all the issues you raised to the various departments of government. We are totally committed to creating jobs. Nigeria is a country with huge population of youths. If jobs are not created, there will be crisis. The housing, agriculture and power sectors are also receiving attention.

“In the next few years, Nigeria will begin to export cars to other countries. We are encouraging the government to support local manufacturers.”

Jonathan promised that the industrialists’ basic needs such as roads, power and port facilities would be addressed appropriately.

He said if Nigeria must become great as expected by all, the Federal Government must industrialise the nation.

To this end, he said his administration would continue to encourage industrialists in the country.

“If any country will be great, we must industrialise. If Nigeria must be a great country, we must industrialise. To this end, we will continue to encourage industrialists in Anambra,” the President added.

He said his government was also devoting attention and resources to the power sector because of its critical role in industrialisation.

Vice-President Namadi Sambo told the delegation that Jonathan had recently approved $3.7bn to improve power transmission across the country.

Obi had earlier told the President that the enterprising and preserving nature of Anambra people made them well-positioned to assist Jonathan to achieve his administration’s transformation agenda.

While declaring the support of the people of the state for Jonathan, Obi said, “You have excess credit in your political account that these people (members of the delegation) are ready to pay you when you need it.”

The governor said he led the delegation to express their support for the President and bring to his attention some of the industrialists’ collective, which if addressed, would help in anchoring the growth and development of industry in the state.

Some of the needs, according to him, are the completion of the 330/132/33KV power substation at Nnewi; provision of uninterrupted power supply in the Onitsha Harbour Industrial Area and Ozubulu Industrial Hub; completion of the Nnamdi Azikwe Teaching Hospital, Nnewi; and the inclusion of Anambra State in the rail master plan.

Obi also made a case for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of federal roads within the state such as the Oba-Nnewi-Okigwe Section 1, Nnewi-Okija, start of Onitsha Second Niger Bridge, completion of the Onitsha-Enugu dual carriageway and completion of the Umueze-Anam Kogi road.

The governor also thanked the President for the inclusion of Nnewi in the National Automotive Industry Policy of the Federal Government.

This, he said, would attract many ancillary industries, especially with the coming on stream of the Ajaokuta Steel Plant, adding that the local content in vehicle manufacturing in no time would increase from 40 per cent to 60 per cent.

KEDC to take delivery of 40,000 prepaid meters from World Bank

The Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company will take delivery of 40,000 prepaid metres from the World Bank in February, the company’s Managing Director, Malam Mohammed Idris, has said.
He told the News Agency of Nigeria on Tuesday in Kaduna that the prepaid meters would solve the current dearth of the equipment in the state.
Idris said the company had marked the areas that the new meters would be installed.
The managing director said that the debt profile of the company stood at N40 billion.
He, however, added that the company had introduced new measures that would enable customers to pay their electricity bills promptly.
He added that “we have introduced new metering programme and we are confident that it is accepted by customers.

“The National Electricity Regulatory Commission said if you have money and want a meter but cannot wait for the free meters from government, you can pay to accredited vendors, approved by the commission.
“Some electricity consumers who keyed into this arrangement will get their meters installed in five weeks.
“We are glad that the arrangement is working and we have recorded successes.’’

We won’t allow politicians use us for violence – NURTW

The National Union of Road Transport Workers in Ogun State on Monday said it was not involved in the recent spate of violence between rival members of the ruling All Progressives Congress in the state.

The union further denied an allegation that the chapter had instructed its members to disrupt any political gathering perceived to be against the interest of Governor Ibikunle Amosun.

The NURTW cautioned Senator Gbenga Kaka not to drag the union into the crisis rocking the APC.

The NURTW State Secretary, Sunday Yeye, who stated this at a news conference in Abeokuta, debunked the claims made by Kaka in some national dailies that the union had a hand in the violence unleashed recently on supporters at the party state secretariat, Abeokuta.

 

 

 

“It is a lie. We did not instruct our members to go against those who are anti-Amosun. It is a false allegation,” he said.

The Ogun NURTW secretary flanked by the state Chairman, Alhaji Akeem Adeosun, the state Vice Chairman, AlhajiAbiodun Akeem; and other union officials argued that nobody appeared at the venue of the violence in the name of the union or carried any banner that reflected the NURTW’s on the day of the violence.

Yeye however noted that the union’s constitution allowed its members the freedom to belong to any political party of their choice.

He stressed that members of the union, whom he described as professional drivers, were not thugs and should not be linked to any political violence.

Lagos Assembly bans smoking in public places

The Lagos State House of Assembly has passed a bill for a law to ban smoking in public places. The bill, which was passed on Monday, has been sent to the executive arm of the government for the governor’s ascent.

The bill, which scaled through the third reading, prohibits anybody smoking in all public places

$10.8bn ‘missing’ money spent by Nigerians –NNPC

In its bid to further defend how it spent the allegedly missing $10.8bn, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation on Monday stated that the fund was not missing but was used by Nigerians.
Specifically, the Group Managing Director of the corporation, Mr. Andrew Yakubu, declared that if the fund was missing, then it was missing in the pockets of Nigerians.

In what seemed to be a reply to the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the NNPC boss stated that the corporation had persistently filed-in its claims to the Federation Account monthly.
While explaining how the fund was spent, Yakubu said, “The $10.8bn is not a missing money; if it is missing, (then) is missing to the pockets of the beneficiaries who are you and me.”
Okonjo-Iweala had stated that the NNPC would provide evidence to show that the fund was judiciously spent.
“If the money was spent on operational cost, let us see evidence that it was spent in an authorised way. And if not, let the amount be remitted to the Federation Account,” she had said.
According to Yakubu, the biggest chunk of the $10.8bn was the subsidy incurred on petrol and kerosene.
He said, “This is part of NNPC’s quarterly allocation which it is to provide to the country, especially for petrol. NNPC is the only importer and producer of kerosene in Nigeria. The corporation brings in kerosene and sells at less than N50 at designated depots and the landing cost of this is over N150.
“Now we compute these numbers on monthly basis and that amount plus the subsidy on PMS, which we all know, amounts to about 80 per cent of this $10.8bn that we are talking about.
“So what we do is to account for it and they are unrealisable flows, and are unrealisable because they have subsidies and we do not have control over the prices, but we are asked to account for the crude at international crude oil price.”

Fashola redeploys 7 permanent secretaries

 Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, has approved the redeployment of 11 permanent secretaries in the state's public service.

The redeployment was contained in a statement signed by the Head of Service, Oluseyi Williams, in Ikeja on Thursday.

Olalekan Ogunbanwo was moved from the Lagos Television/Radio Services to Parastatals Monitoring Office, while Adekunle Ajanaku, formerly of the Deputy Governor's Office, is to take over from Ogunbanwo.

According to the statement, Paul Omotayo Bamgbose-Martins of Ministry of Works takes charge at Office of Infrastructure.

Nurudeen Adeyinka Ojora-Adejiyan moved from Local Government Service Commission to Teachers’ Establishment and Pensions Office, while Ashamu Fadipe of the Ministry of Tourism and Intergovernmental Relations, is to serve at the Local Government Service Commission.

Olufunmilayo Balogun of the Ministry of Home Affairs and Culture is to take over at the Ministry of Tourism, Omotayo Olabenjo, formerly of the Civil Service Commission, takes charge at the Ministry of Home Affairs and Culture.  

Four newly appointed permanent secretaries were given portfolios as follows -- Jokotola Ojosipe-Ogundimu (Civil Service Commission), Michael Dawodu (Deputy Governor’s Office), Olujimi Hotonu (Works) and Oluwatoyin Adegbuji-Onikoyi (Ministry of Finance). 

In the same vein, three newly appointed tutors-general/permanent secretaries were also deployed  - Florence Ogunfidodo (Education District I2), Margaret Titilayo Solarin (Education District II) and Yinka Olaniyi (Education District III).

The statement added that the postings would take effect on January 20.

Jonathan advocates computerisation of land registry

President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday advocated for the computerization of land registry as a means of assisting land administration in the country. The President said this will ease the cost of house construction and sale by private developers.

Mr. Jonathan said this while speaking at the presidential launch of the Nigerian Mortgage Refinancing Company (NMRC), a vehicle for funding the cost of residential mortgages and promoting affordable housing for Nigerians .
While calling for a reduction in the cost of land registration, the president stressed the need for the streamlining of quick completion of the foreclosure processes. He advised state governors to consider delegating land consent in their states to speed up the process of land acquisition.
President Jonathan further disclosed that his administration has taken steps to create a stable macroeconomic environment that has lowered the rate of inflation from 12 per cent to 8 per cent last year as well as reducing all impediment to a sustainable and dynamic housing market.
“The Nigerian Mortgage Refinance Company was established to support our objective towards. The housing sector is a key component of this administration’s transformation agenda. That is why we conveyed the presidential retreat in May last year.
” And in November, I asked the Coordinating Minister to host a roundtable on housing finance. The objective was to take a critical look at the sector and recommend ways that could be harnessed to provide shelter for Nigerians and create jobs for our teaming youth.
“The housing sector is known worldwide as an avenue for job creation and economic stability. That is why we are focused on the sector and the concrete action we have taken I alleviating the major constraints to its rapid development.
“The first step we are taking is to create a micro economic environment that will lower inflation from 12 percent to 8 percent,” he said.
He said government is carrying out these measures because of its understanding that high inflation constitutes a major impediment to the creation of a sustainable and dynamic market.
“The next major step we have taken is to create the enabling environment for primary mortgage bank and other financial institution to offer real mortgage facilities to Nigerians at affordable rates,” he said.
The ceremony witnessed the signing of two major agreements. The first was between the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, and Shelter Afrique; while the second was a subsidiary agreement between the Ministry of Finance, Central Bank of Nigeria, and World Bank on the occasion.

Nigeria launches new Mortgage Refinance Company

Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan launched the proposed Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company.

                                

The mortgage company is a key part of the government’s economic transformation programme and aims to re-energize the housing sector as well as deliver effective mortgage financing to Nigerians.
“There’s the Mortgage Refinance Company which is being launched and there is also the supply side initiative because the challenge with mortgage in Nigeria is, beyond the financing, there is a supply constraint which also needs to be unblocked,” Niyi Adeleye, Head Real Estate Finance West Africa, Stanbic IBTC Capital.
The country currently has a deficit of 17 million housing units and needs one million units per annum for the next 17 years to meet this demand. The Mortgage Refinance Company is expected to create over 200,000 mortgages over the next five years at affordable interest rates and will begin in 14 pilot states and the state governors have agreed to fast track land titles.
“The mortgage refinance focuses on creating a window, a liquidity window for financial institutions to refinance the long term exposure that they can go back into the market and create new mortgages with the expectation that there’ll be greater incentives for banks to create mortgages,”
Banks in the country currently do not create mortgages because financing is generally short term and the mortgage liquidity company is trying to fill this gap, however the supply side still plays a major part.
“For a developer the most important thing is, the government has to factor what are the funding alternatives that developers can access to improve the supply of housing stocks into market by virtue of technology or by virtue technical capacity which I believe the government really needs to look into critically,” Damola Akindolire, General Manager Alphamaed Property Development Company told OPINIONVOICES.
Mustafa Chike-Obi, the Managing Director for Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) recently said that the housing market needs N10 trillion annually for the next five years. However, with the launch of this new company, interest rates are expected to come down to about 13 per cent.
“The company is supposed to create sustainable droppings in mortgage rates. The thing is that if you have a liquidity window that financial institutions can’t access and this is both banks and PMI’s, the liquidity premium that they normally add to mortgages which would be 10, 15, 20 years long, will be shortened or eliminated. The expectation is that over time, that would translate to a drop in mortgage rates,” Adeleye said. 

Republicans warn of security flaws in Obamacare website

Republicans in Congress sought to showcase what they call major security problems with the Obamacare website HealthCare.gov on Thursday, just as U.S. officials ramp up a national campaign to persuade young adults to use the site to enrol in health insurance.
In a public messaging tug-of-war that will likely intensify in coming weeks, the Republican-led House of Representatives targeted the healthcare reform law in three separate oversight hearings. Two were geared toward Republican claims that HealthCare.gov remains vulnerable to hackers more than three months after its botched October 1 rollout.
Democrats accused Republicans of "cherry picking" partial information about the website to try and scare consumers away from it. Later in the day, Obamacare supporters, including federal and state officials, staged a six-hour presentation on YouTube.com intended to drive enrolment among 18-to-34-year-olds.
The administration also disclosed plans for a media promotion campaign during next month's Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, and unveiled 30-second ads with former basketball stars Magic Johnson and Alonzo Mourning.

U.S. officials are eager to boost youth participation, which is widely seen as vital to the success of President Barack Obama's signature domestic policy achievement.
The administration needs enough young people, who are typically healthier, so that their premiums will help offset costs from older enrollees and prevent insurers from raising their rates.
Officials hope to enroll more than 2.5 million young Americans in coverage by a March 31 deadline. So far they have signed up only about one-fifth of that number, partly due to early technical glitches at HealthCare.gov.
While the performance of the website has greatly improved, the Obama administration is contending with fresh attacks from Republicans eager to highlight the healthcare reform's flaws, including security questions.
"It seems to defy common sense that a website plagued with functional problems was, in fact, perfectly secure by design," said Darrell Issa, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, who presided over one of Thursday's security hearings.
At another Republican-led hearing, a cybersecurity professional warned that the federal government has failed to implement fixes necessary to protect the HealthCare.gov website from hackers.
"HealthCare.gov is not secure today," David Kennedy, head of computer security consulting firm TrustedSec LLC, told the House Science, Space and Technology Committee.
HealthCare.gov is the consumer web portal to a 36-state federal health insurance marketplace, which offers private insurance, with federally subsidized rates for some consumers. The 14 other states have built their own marketplaces.
Kennedy said "nothing has really changed" since a hearing before the same committee in November when he and three other expert witnesses said they believed the site was not secure and three of them said it should be shut down immediately.
"I don't understand how we're still discussing whether the website is insecure or not," said Kennedy, who worked for the National Security Agency and the U.S. Marine Corps before entering the private sector. "It is insecure - 100 percent."
Before the hearing, Kennedy told Reuters the government has yet to plug more than 20 vulnerabilities that he and other security experts reported to the government shortly after HealthCare.gov went live on October 1. Hackers could steal personal information, modify data, attack the personal computers of website users and damage the infrastructure of the site, Kennedy said in an interview.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the federal agency responsible for HealthCare.gov, said in a statement to Reuters, "There have been no successful security attacks on Healthcare.gov and no person or group has maliciously accessed personally identifiable information from the site."
CMS said Kennedy's methodology undermined his findings: "Because this individual had no direct access to the operations of the HealthCare.gov website, the information in the report is based on assumptions, not fact."
The agency's information security chief also publicly tried to reassure lawmakers that the site is safe.
The CMS chief information security officer, Teresa Fryer, said the website underwent end-to-end security testing on December 18 and met all industry standards.
"The (federal marketplace) is secure. In many instances, we have gone above and beyond what is required, with layered protection, continuous monitoring and additional penetration testing," Fryer said before the House Oversight panel.
Democratic Representative Elijah Cummings charged that Republicans were "cherry-picking partial information to promote a narrative that is inaccurate" about the Obamacare website, when its security was "strong and keeps getting stronger".
Instead of holding ever more hearings on the Obamacare website, lawmakers should be looking into the massive data breach affecting millions at Target Corp, Cummings said at the hearing where CMS's Fryer appeared.
As the hearings took place, Republicans sought to amplify their anti-Obamacare message by advancing another bill to tweak the law. The legislation, which passed by a 259-154 vote, would require the Obama administration to issue weekly enrollment statistics.
The White House considers the transparency bill another Republican attempt to harass implementation of its healthcare reform. However, 33 Democrats voted for the bill. Last week, the House passed a Republican measure that would require the government to notify consumers in two days if their personal information on HealthCare.gov has been compromised.

Obama picks Latina banker to lead small business agency

U.S. President Barack Obama nominated Maria Contreras-Sweet on Wednesday to lead the Small Business Administration, an agency that provides loans and helps small businesses get government contracts.
"She understands the needs of small business owners like herself. She knows how they can lift entire communities, and ultimately how they lift our country," Obama said in making the announcement at the White House.
She is the second Hispanic nominated to Obama's second-term cabinet after Labour Secretary Tom Perez.
Contreras-Sweet founded ProAmerica Bank, a Latino-owned community bank in Los Angeles, which focuses on lending to small- and medium-sized Latino businesses.
"Maria knows how hard it is to get started on a business, the grueling hours, the stress, the occasional self-doubt - although I have not yet seen self-doubt out of Maria," Obama said.
The Mexican-born Contreras-Sweet was California's secretary of business, transportation and housing in the Democratic administration of Gray Davis. She immigrated to the United States as a child.

China says smaller firms will get more loans, other help

 China said on Thursday it will take steps to boost bank lending and subsidies to small and medium-sized businesses in labour intensive industries, many of which are facing a tougher business environment.

 

A joint statement issued by nine government departments outlined broadly how smaller firms would be assisted, but did not give specifics on what kind of lending help will be extended.

Among the bodies issuing the statement was the China Banking Regulatory Commission and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

The statement said that the government would "develop financial products and services fit for small- and medium- sized firms in labour intensive industries and set loan rates reasonably".