Tuesday 7th june 2016

Stumbling Dollar, Nigeria’s Militancy Push Oil Prices above $50 FG insists production stands at 1.6m bpd Oando gets N94.9bn 5-year medium term Syndicated loan Chineme Okafor inAbuja,Ejiofor Alike, Nume Ekeghe and Peter UzohoinLagoswithagencyreport Stumbling dollar and attacks on Nigeria’s oil and gas

facilities by the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), which also tightened crude oil supplies to the international market, pushed up Brent crude oil prices yesterday above $50

per barrel, even though signs of recovering US production capped the gains.

Brent crude futures were up 59 cents at $50.23 a barrel, while the US crude futures,

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) were up 57 cents at $49.19 a barrel.

Reuters quoted oil traders as saying that the prices rose on a sharp fall in the dollar

on Friday after weak US jobs data sparked concerns over the state of the world's biggest economy, cutting expectations of a near-term cut in US interest rates.

A weaker dollar support fuels demand in the rest of the world as it makes dollar-traded oil imports cheaper.

Continued on page 6

Osinbajo Takes over As Buhari Transmits Vacation Letter to N'Assembly… Page 6 Tuesday 7 June, 2016 Vol 21. No 7712. Price: N250

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FG Moves to Dialogue as Militants Renew Threat to Bomb Abuja, Others FG sets up committee for dialogue Youths, soldiers avert bombings of flow stations in Delta

Chineme Okafor in Abuja, Emmanuel Addeh in Yenagoa and Sylvester Idowu in Warri The new militant group, Joint Niger Delta Liberation Force (JNDLF), that threatened to

launch six missiles today, has vowed to target key government institutions, including the State House, Abuja.

Continued on page 8

Jonathan: I Did Not Leave Empty Treasury Admits he is being investigated Bolaji Adebiyi in Abuja and Crusoe Osagie in Lagos Former President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday said he did not leave an empty treasury for President Muhammadu Buhari who took the reins of government from him on 29 May last year.

“It is not true; there is no way that he (President Buhari) would have inherited

an empty treasury and at the same time give bailout to the states. It’s not possible,” he told Bloomberg TV. The former president, who also said he was under investigation apparently by the federal government, pointedly refuted the Buhari administration’s claim that he left behind an economy that was on its knees.

Continued on page 6

DEVELOPMENT IMPACT Tribunal Affirms Bello as Kogi Governor, FOR Group Chief Executive, Oando Plc, Mr. Wale Tinubu, and the Chief Executive Officer, Access Bank, Herbert Wigwe, during signing of the N94.6 billion Medium Term loan between Oando and a consortium of local banks in Victoria Island, Dismisses Faleke’s Petition … Page 9 the Lagos...yesterday

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TUESDAY, JUNE 7, 2016 • T H I S D AY

PAGE SIX

Osinbajo Takes over As Buhari Transmits Vacation Letter to N’Assembly Bolaji Adebiyi and Tobi Soniyi in Abuja As mandated by Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo will formally take over today as the acting President of Nigeria following the communication to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari of a letter stating that he had proceeded on a 10-day vacation.

But this would be after the two chambers — the Senate and the House of Representatives — have considered and approved

the presidential communication, which a highly placed Senate source confirmed to THISDAY last night would be tabled today.

According to Section 145 of the Constitution, “Whenever the President transmits to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives a written declaration that he is proceeding on vacation or that he is otherwise unable to discharge the functions of his office, until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary such functions shall be discharged by the Vice-President as Acting President.”

by the president falling sick, the president replied: "Is there anybody that doesn't fall sick?"

His Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, however, insisted that the president was not ill. "The buzz going round town was that the president is ill. But "ill" will be a misnomer, it should not be the right word to use.

"The president is going for a 10-day rest and during that period he will see specialists who will look at his ear because he has been treating that ear locally for some time.

"Nigerian physicians have looked at it and now they

have said: "you are going to UK, now that you will be there let specialists look at the ear."

They have treated it locally so it is not a question of whether the president is ill. If he is ill, it presupposes that there are certain things that he cannot do.

"Till the very last minute that he is travelling, the president performed the duties and functions of his office as the president.

"So illness is not the issue, but as a human being, yes, he can rest. He has been president for one full year, you know that in February he took five days' leave, he is taking another 10

days now that means 15 days leave in one year.

"You and I take more than that, so it is natural that the president as a human being is taking 10 days rest but he is not ill.

"We need to underscore that.

Rather than going into a frenzy, I will urge Nigerians to just show goodwill and patriotism, they should pray for him and wish him well.

"Things about health, life and death are in the hands of God. But I believe that all is well with our president and God will take care of him and take care of the country."

Plc, to assist the company meet its financial obligations in the low crude oil price environment.

The banks are Access Bank Plc, Diamond Bank Plc, Ecobank Nigeria Limited, First City Monument Bank Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc, Keystone Bank Plc, Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc, Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, Zenith Bank Plc and FBN. The facility, which is coming on the heels of the investment of the Helios/Vitol Group (HVI) into the downstream operations of Oando, will also help the company restructure some of its outstanding debts.

According to the agreement signed yesterday with the Managing Directors of Fidelity Bank, Access Bank, Union Bank and other representatives of the banks, the MTL will bring an immediate cash flow injection of $195 million and further repayment is expected to happen within 90 days from the proceeds of $130 million from the sale of Oando Gas & Power.

The sale is to allow Oando strictly focus on its downstream activities in the light of the recent deregulation.

The company also expects to raise an additional $800 million to $1 billion within the next 18 to 24 months as it leverages on its Oando Energy Resources (OER).

Speaking on behalf of the

participating banks, the GMD/ CEO of Access Bank Plc, Herbert Wigwe, said the MTL facility would allow Oando to optimise its balance sheet towards greater efficiency.

“As we all know, Oando is the largest indigenous oil and gas player in the sub-Saharan Africa and this MTL facility would allow it to optimise its balance sheet towards greater efficiency and improve its working capital.

This combined with the synergy of investment by HVI into its downstream operations, will see Oando’s growth and development really take off,” Wigwe said.

The Group Chief Executive Officer of Oando, Mr. Wale Tinubu, commended the banks for providing the facility for the company, noting that it would have significant development impact on Oando’s group operations.

He said: “In a bid to return to profitability in 2016, I am happy to announce the successful completion of the restructuring of our overall debt profile into a N94.6 billion Medium Term, five-year consolidated facility, with a three-year moratorium on principal. This is the pivotal leg in our group restructuring plan of growth; via the upstream business, deleverage; via the disposal of $350 million in assets’ value in 2016, and our return to

profitability in 2016, driven by our dollar earning oil export and trading activities.

“The company now stands diversified with higher weighted dollar-denominated earnings, an optimised and restructured balance sheet with lower cost of capital and longer tenors. With the upturn in global oil prices to levels above $50 per barrel, we now look forward to the successes of 2016, having ridden out the storm.”

Explaining the need for the facility, Tinubu said: "As soon as the oil prices started dropping, I don’t think anyone thought they would go from $100 to $30 before it gradually started rising back to $50. But at that point in time, you do need to take stock of your operation.

“We are a very large oil and gas company concerned with investments in the downstream where we are the leading petrol distributor to the midstream where we have pioneer works in the gas industry like the Lagos gas pipeline where we have over 150 major industries taking gas from Calabar pipeline and the pipeline in Port Harcourt."

He said the company was badly affected by the stumbling oil prices and had to take stock.

According to him, “What we did was choose certain steps towards recreating a balance sheet

that was bullet proof to be able to withstand the volatility, which we are experiencing in the oil prices, one in which we would be able to fund our operations consistently, aggressively as well as maintain the same level of service that we provide to our customers. And that plan included converting $150 million from debt to equity in the business."

He added: "The plan also saw us choose to sell some assets, which were not core to the integral part of our corporation and some minority stakes in certain of our operations towards ensuring we brought down our overall group debt. So our group debt as of January 2015 was over $2.5 billion. I am happy to say we have brought it down to just shy of $1 billion. What we have done now with this facility is take the net borrowings of our group, stretch them out over a five-year period at a favourable interest rate to ensure that we can continue to expand our operations even in the middle of the downturn."

Oando Plc, an integrated oil and gas company, is one of the largest integrated energy solutions provider in sub-Saharan Africa with primary and secondary listings on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and the Johannesburg Stock exchange (JSE).

“It is routine in Nigeria,” he said, explaining that from the collapse of the first republic to date every government had blamed corruption for the failure of the preceding administration.

According to him, “When the second republic collapsed, the military blamed corruption.

If there is a major change in government, one political party taking over from another one, there must be issues.”

But he said he tackled the ill in his own way. “In the area of fertiliser subsidy, we cleaned up and the corruption was removed.

I wanted to do the same thing in the oil industry but the same people who are accusing us of corruption are the very people that were frustrating it,” the former president said.

Earlier yesterday at a lecture he delivered at the Bloomberg Television Centre in London before an elite audience of Nigerian professionals, diplomats, friends of Nigeria and international investors, Jonathan highlighted his significant achievements in office, pointing to the peaceful transfer of power to President Buhari as the most

remarkable.

He said as the first elected Nigerian leader to willingly hand over power through the ballot box to an opposition party without contesting the outcome of the election, he proved to the ordinary man and woman in the country that every Nigerian had a chance to be what they wanted to be.

Stating the significance of his action, he said: “I was true to my word when on March 16, 2015, just after the election, when the results were still being collated by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), I called my opponent, General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), to concede, in order to avoid any conflict and ensure a peaceful transition of power.

“This was without precedent in my country and I am proud that it achieved my goal of no conflict arising from the result of the election.

“Some may think it is ironic that perhaps my proudest achievement was not winning the 2015 presidential election. By being the first elected Nigerian leader to willingly hand over power via the ballot box to the

opposition party without contesting the election outcome, I proved to the ordinary man or woman in the country that I was his or her equal.

That his or her vote was equal to mine and that democracy is the ‘government by the will of the people’, and Nigeria, and indeed Africa is ripe for democracy.”

Jonathan also called on all Nigerians to work towards consolidating democracy and winning the war against corruption, adding that he remained committed to good governance, effective stewardship and transparency.

Nigeria, according to the former president, needs deeply entrenched freedom, peace and unity to make meaningful progress.

Speaking further he said: “For this to happen, it is imperative that both the executive and the legislative arms of government institute a bill of rights. A bill of rights that will end discrimination and tribalism, and promote equality, enabling everyone to work towards the common goal for the development of the nation.”

The former president, who further highlighted the achievements of his administration,

especially in the areas of agriculture, education, youth empowerment and peace building in Africa, also restated his commitments towards upholding democratic principles and energising citizen entrepreneurship and intra-Africa trade, through the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation.

President Buhari while on his way to the United Kingdom (UK) yesterday for rest and medical check-up said he had complied with the constitution by formally notifying the National Assembly of his short vacation abroad.

"I have already told Nigerians that I am going for 10 days to get my ear checked. The National Assembly knows, they have been formally informed," he told reporters at the Presidential Wing of the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja.

When asked about how to calm the tension generated

STUMBLING DOLLAR, NIGERIA’S MILITANCY PUSH OIL PRICES ABOVE $50 The Muslim holy month of Ramadan began yesterday and is seen as supportive of prices as driving demand picks up in most Muslim-dominated countries.

Traders said prices were also propped up by attacks on oil infrastructure in Nigeria, which has already sent the country's output to more than 20-year lows.

So far, supply cuts like those in Nigeria or Libya, have been met by rising output in the Middle East, especially Iran, which has ramped up output since the end of international sanctions against it in January.

But Iran is returning to the international oil markets more quickly than expected and is already returning to its maximum production capacity.

This means that further disruptions in global supplies might not be compensated by rising Iranian output.

Oil's price rally, however, was capped on signs of increased output in the United States where energy firms this week added rigs drilling for oil for the second time this year, energy services company Baker Hughes Inc (BHI.N) said on Friday.

Rising prices have encouraged producers to cautiously increase activity. Drillers added nine oil rigs in the week to June 3, raising the rig count to 325 but still well below

the 642 at work a year earlier, Baker Hughes said.

US crude oil production has fallen by 5.4 per cent since January and by almost 10 per cent since mid-2015 to 8.74 million barrels per day.

FG Insists Production Stands at 1.6m bpd In Nigeria, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, said yesterday in Abuja that in spite of the several shut-ins arising from militant activities in the Niger Delta, the country’s production output was 1.6m bpd.

According to him, “In terms of production, we are roughly at about 1.5 million - 1.6 million barrels a day, down from 2.2mbd which is the basis of this year’s budget and if peace reigns, obviously between now and August we will be able to recover substantial portion of this production so that the budget doesn’t suffer."

OANDO gets N94.9bn 5-year medium term loan from 10 banks Meanwhile, a consortium of 10 banks yesterday in Lagos signed an agreement to jointly provide a N94.9 billion five-year Medium Term Loan (MTL) facility for Oando

JONATHAN: I DID NOT LEAVE EMPTY TREASURY “Nigeria is a fairly robust economy,” Jonathan said, adding: “But sometimes, we over politicise some issues and make it look so bad. It was not that bad. Some people ask questions like I was the president of Nigeria since independence; I was the president for five years.”

The federal government under President Buhari’s watch had blamed the prostate state of the economy on its mismanagement by the Jonathan administration, stating that it met an economy battered by large scale corruption.

Many of the past administration’s senior officials have since been investigated and large sums of money recovered from them even as some others, including the National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd.), are being tried by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Close associates of the former president, including his cousin, Robert Azibaola, his Senior Special Assistant on Domestic Affairs Dudafa Waripamo-Owei, are also under arrest and investigation, sparking speculations that Jonathan

would soon be taken in.

Jonathan confirmed yesterday that he was indeed under investigation but refused to give further details. “Of course, obviously, I would be investigated.

In fact, I am being investigated.

Investigations are going on. I would not want to make certain comments because government is working,” he told Bloomberg TV. He told the foreign electronic service that he would prefer to reserve further comments in order not to distract the government.

“It would not be proper for the immediate past president to make certain statements. I will allow the government do the work. I wouldn’t want to make serious comments on that.

“After all the investigations, the stories will be properly documented. I have just left office and I should allow the president and his team do what they think is best for the economy,” he said.

Jonathan said there was no big deal in President Buhari’s ongoing war against corruption, arguing that it was a normal past time of a fresh regime seeking legitimacy from the people.

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T H I S D AY TUESDAY JUNE 7, 2016

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TUESDAY, JUNE 7, 2016 • T H I S D AY

STARTERS

260km Super Highway: 13 Int'l NGOs Petition FG, Fault EIA

Bassey Inyang in Calabar

As controversy continues to trail the construction of the proposed 260-kilometre Calabar-Katsina Ala Super Highway by the Cross River State Government, 13 international Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), have petitioned the federal government, expressing concerns about the process and content of the documents on the project’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).

In their petition, the NGOs, based in America, Europe and Africa, listed 27 grounds on which they faulted the EIA presented by the state government to the Federal Ministry of Environment.

The petition addressed to the Minister of Environment, Hajia Amina Mohammed, dated May 25, 2016, entitled “Comments on the EIA Of The Proposed Calabar-IkomKatsina Ala Superhighway Project: Draft Report Submitted To The Federal Ministry Of Environment,” was signed by Fred Kwame, Africa Regional Head, WWF International, Switzerland; John Robinson, Executive Vice President, Wildlife Conservation Society, USA (United States of America); Hazell Thompson, Birdlife International, UK; Jonathan Bailie, Zoological Society of London, UK; Richard Bergl, North Carolina Zoo, USA; Russ Mittermeier, Conservation International, USA; Mark Rose, Fauna and Flora International, UK; Adeniyi Karunwi, Executive Director, Nigerian Conservation Foundation, Lagos; Tunde Morakinyo, Founder and Director, Iroko Foundation, UK; John Oates, Hunter College, City University of NY, USA; Ako Amadi, Executive Director, Community

Mohammed Conservation and Development Initiative (CCDI), Nigeria; and Zoe Parr, Consultant, Botswana.”

In the petition made available to journalists in Calabar, the NGOs expressed their concerns over the EIA document, and demanded that a fresh EIA be done while communities are paid full compensation by the state government for grabbing and clearing their lands in a manner they described as illegal.

The petitioners said their recent complaints to the federal government was to re-emphasize the concerns expressed by a group of Nigerian and international conservation NGOs through a petition to President Muhammadu Buhari, dated October 20,2015 faulting the siting of the project on conservation area.

The NGOs stated that following extreme concerns that they had expressed over the route for the super highway, they commissioned Environmental Resource Management (ERM), “an international

environmental, social and sustainability consultancy of global repute” to scrutinize the draft EIA and draw very objective conclusions.

“In summary, the findings of this gap analysis clearly indicate that the draft EIA is inadequate and cannot in any way be considered as a document on which any meaningful decisions might be made as to the further development of the project. It is clear that there has not been a sufficiently robust process to identify and mitigate the impacts from a project of this magnitude on one of the world’s most important biodiversity hot-spots. We believe that the document is so fundamentally flawed that it cannot simply be revised and should instead be completely redone or discarded,” they said.

But, the state Commissioner for Lands, Mr. John Inyang, defended the position of the state government on the EIA document.

He said some of the comments raised were critical and would be taken into consideration in the final draft.

On the issue of acquisition of 10 km of land along each sides of the highway, he said, “I did the publication on behalf of government, and if you go through the publication our coordinates did not go beyond the road. We are not acquiring 10kms to either sides of the proposed superhighway.

“The purpose of the 10 km is not to send the settlers away but it is for administrative purpose and development control. We want to add to the aesthetic value of the road.

How can we displace the people and where will we get such compensation to pay?”

FG MOVES TO DIALOGUE AS MILITANTS RENEW THREAT TO BOMB ABUJA, OTHERS Also listed for hit in Abuja are the Defence Headquarters, Department of State Services (DSS), Police Headquarters, the National Assembly Complex, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Towers, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Supreme Court/Appeal Court, NLNG office and Agip headquarters.

Others on the militants’ radar include Chevron headquarters and Exxon Mobil, both in Lagos; the Kaduna Refinery and all military formations in Abuja, Lagos, Kaduna and Benue States.

But worried about the debilitating effects of the militants’ violent activities on oil production, the mainstay of the nation’s economy, the federal government said yesterday that it had constituted a committee to engage the militant groups who have continued to bomb oil production facilities in the Niger Delta.

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, who disclosed this to reporters yesterday night in Abuja, explained that the move was aimed at halting the deadly attacks, which had made Nigeria’s oil production drop to 1.6 million barrels per day (mbpd).

Kachikwu said the team to dialogue with the militants would be coordinated by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), and it would include himself, the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Usani Uguru; and select thought leaders; kings and influential individuals from the Niger Delta.

He said the government would take its time to engage the militants, adding that their activities had seen the country’s oil production drop in volumes.

“The president has appointed a team led by the NSA and I serve in one of those, to begin the process of a very intensive dialogue with those caught in the middle of this,” said Kachikwu.

He further stated: “I am sure that in the ensuing one week, the intensity of that dialogue will wrap up.”

To allow for the dialogue, Kachikwu said: “The NSA is going to be working with the various arms of the armed forces to descale the intensity of military intervention in the area within a week

or two so that dialogue can take place."

“We are making contacts with everybody who is involved, the ones that we can identify, through them, the ones that we can’t identify so that there is a lot more inclusiveness in this dialogue.

“Our prayer is that this works so that we can resort to dialogue rather than use of force,” he added.

Speaking more on the character of people who would be part of the dialogue, Kachikwu said: “In terms of those on the committee, the NSA, myself, the service chiefs, the list itself is expanding as we put the final touches in place.

“There will obviously be the minister of the Niger Delta. We are also looking at an integrated platform that involves representatives of the various communities who are respected and have had experience in doing this.”

The federal government’s search for peace appeared to have received a boost in Warri as youths from Kokodiagbene community and environs in Gbaramatu Kingdom in Warri South West Local Government area of Delta State dared the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) in the early hours of yesterday, preventing them from blowing up Otunana and Jones Creeks flow stations.

THISDAY gathered that the youths, acting on information on the planned attempt to breach the flow stations, alerted the military personnel stationed in the area, who averted the blow-up plan of the militants.

However, the JNDLF group, in a statement yesterday, said emphatically that it was set to destroy all infrastructure built with oil money and located across Lagos, Abuja, Kaduna and Benue States.

In the statement signed by Akotebe Darikoro, Commander, General Duties; Torunanaowei Latei, Creeks Network Coordinator; Agbakakuro Owei-Tauro, Pipelines Bleeding Expert; and Pulokiri Ebiladei, Intelligence Bureau, the militants advised occupants of the targeted buildings to vacate them in their own interest.

The group said it had resolved to shut down the Nigerian Communication

Satellite Orbit to avoid the effect of electronic radiation on human lives as a result of the missiles that would be used for the attacks on the buildings.

JNDLF said it would fire the missiles simultaneously at night to enable every Nigerian see their movement to make them believe the seriousness it attaches to the final breakup of Nigeria as predicted by the United States of America.

"The occupants of these buildings should, as a matter of urgency, vacate them immediately in their own interest to save their lives because our fight is not for any human blood but to destroy all the infrastructure that were built with our oil and gas monies in this country.

"We will make the federal government and oil companies to suffer as they have made the people of Niger Delta region suffer over the years from environmental degradation, and environmental pollution," it threatened.

The militant group advised the diplomatic community to be neutral on the development, warning that adverse comments made against it would be seen as sabotage.

It assured the diplomatic community that their embassies and residences would not be affected since they were not part of its targeted areas for destruction in the country.

The group taunted the military, insisting that it would particularly embarrass the Nigerian Air Force for the recent deployment of fighter aircraft, helicopter gunship and surveillance aircraft, saying: "In this digital age, countries are talking about missile development, and they still condescend so low to their present obsolete equipment."

The militant group warned: "We are going to destroy the ones they have deployed to Escravos, Forcados in Delta State; Bonga oil field, Agbami offshore and Brass in Bayelsa; Bony in Rivers; Qua Iboe Terminal in Akwa Ibom State, and Opuekeba in Ondo State if they fail to remove them before time. Our crack team has taken inventory of their equipment."

Two-Minute Briefing NEWS Tribunal Affirms Bello as Kogi

Governor, Dismisses Faleke’s Petition The Kogi State Election Petitions Tribunal yesterday dismissed the petition filed by Hon. James Faleke challenging the emergence of Yahaya Bello as governor of the state.

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EDITORIAL When Justice is Delayed...

The recent disclosure that it takes 22 years to conclude a case up to the Supreme Court, and between five to 10o years at the fore the challenge of criminal justice administration in Nigeria.

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POLITICS All Animals are Not Equal

Last week’s defection of two members of the Peoples Democratic Party to the ruling All Progressives Congress in the House of Representatives and the handling of same by Dogara, who pretended as if the development was normal…

Page 16

FEATURES Africa’s Solution Providers

The American University of Nigeria’s eighth commencement marked another release of its graduates who have been nurtured to solve Africa’s problems, writes Solomon Elusoji Page 20

BUSINESS High Cost of Diesel Raises

Concern over Sustainability of Petrol Price As oil marketing and trading companies hiked the price of diesel, citing the current scarcity of foreign exchange, concern has been raised on the long term sustainability of the new pump price of petrol.

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PROPERTY Nigeria’s Housing Initiatives

Neither Consistent nor Measurable, Says Fashola Over the years, Nigeria has embarked on a series of housing initiatives but not one of them has been pursued with consistency or any measurable sustainability, Minister of Power,Works …

Page 30

INTERNATIONAL China Rebuffs Taiwan President’s Offer on Democracy China has rejected an offer by Taiwan’s new president to share the island’s experience of democracy, saying it was confident of the path it had chosen. PresidentTsai Ing-wen made the offer via…

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SPORTS Federal High Court Disowns

‘Writ of Execution’ by Giwa Group The unending drama in the Glass House took another turn last night as the NFF produced an evidence from the Federal High Court in Jos that disowned the‘writ…

Page 47

TUESDAY JUNE 7, 2016 • T H I S D AY

9

NEWS

News Editor Davidson Iriekpen Email davidson.iriekpen@thisdaylive.com, 08111813081

Tribunal Affirms Bello as Kogi Governor, Dismisses Faleke’s Petition My victory is divine, says gov Faleke: Verdict not in tune with constitution, I will appeal

Alex Enumah in Abuja and Yekini Jimoh in Lokoja The Kogi State Election Petitions Tribunal yesterday dismissed the petition filed by Hon. James Faleke challenging the emergence of Yahaya Bello as governor of the state.

The tribunal in its judgment delivered by Justice Halima Mohammed, held that Faleke cannot be declared governor of the state on the grounds that he was not nominated by his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) ,as its substantive candidate in the 2015 Kogi State governorship election.

The tribunal stated that the APC was right when it nominated Bello to replace the late Abubakar Audu as its candidate in the December 2015 supplementary election.

It further held that Faleke had no locus-standi to file the petition since he was not nominated by the APC as its governorship candidate.

“Votes cast in an election belong to a political party which nominates a candidate; hence it was lawful for the party to transfer votes polled by Audu

to Bello,” the tribunal held.

The petition was therefore dismissed for lacking in merit.

However, Mohammed held that Faleke remained the valid deputy governor of the state because there was no evidence to show that he wrote to his party withdrawing his candidature as deputy governor as required by law.

Faleke had petitioned the tribunal challenging the declaration of Bello as governor of the state.

Crisis started when the APC replaced Audu, its late candidate in the November 21, 2015 governorship election in the state with Bello.

Faleke, who was the running mate of Audu in the election, felt slighted by the action of his party. He then asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to declare him winner of the election.

But INEC declined to oblige him.

He contended that he ought to have inherited the votes of Audu, who was leading in the election before it was declared inconclusive, since he was his running mate.

But electoral umpire went ahead to hold a supplementary election with Bello as a substitute candidate for the APC. Bello’s argument was that he was duly nominated by his party to represent them in the supplementary election, and that he scored the highest number of votes in the exercise.

But Faleke maintained that Bello was unqualified to be governor of the state.

Idris Wada, former governor of the state and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), also petitioned the tribunal, asking it to declare him winner of the election.

He contended that Bello was an interloper who had no business with the exercise.

The tribunal will deliver judgment on his petition today.

Meanwhile, Bello has described his victory at tribunal as God’s divine

Speaking with journalists yesterday in Lokoja shortly after the tribunal judgment, the governor noted: “Today being the first holy day of our holy month of Ramadan, is a confirmation that this divine mandate is from Almighty Allah.

“So anything from God is good and since this mandate is from Almighty Allah, I have no doubt in my mind that we are going to have this victory today, is a victory for the party and also for us.”

The governor who described Faleke as his brother, said it was not possible to have an opponent within the party.

“This judgment is between me and my brother, Faleke.

Faleke is not my opponent, we belong to the same party.

It is just an explanation that he sought from the court and the court has explain to him so that he can understand.

“He is my brother. He should

come and join me. All those who want to create division in the party should drop the idea. They should come and let’s unite the party. They should come with their ideas so that we can all move the state forward,” he said.

Reacting to the verdict yesterday, Faleke promised to proceed to the appellate court, saying the judgment was not in tune with the constitution.

He assured his people to be calm as victory was guaranteed.

“My people, we are still on course, victory will be ours at the end.

He said: “I watched the verdict of the tribunal on TV, one thing I can say is that, the judges have delivered their own judgment, I will consult my lawyers, upon which I am very certain that we will appeal the judgment.

“I am not a lawyer, but I can say that it (the judgment) is not

in tune with our constitution.

“Well,we will consult our lawyers. I can conveniently say to you here that we are going on appeal. They gave a verdict that I don’t have locus standi.

I found that very unbelievable that a court will give a verdict that a candidate who was duly nominated and had won election will be said to lack locus standi in the same election. The tribunal seemed to be completely out of context with the grounds of our petition.

“We have no problem whatsoever with the supplementary election. Our ground unequivocally had been that the election was completed on the November 21, 2015, and that we won landslide. That victory was for the people of Kogi State and nobody can take it away “My people, we are still on course, victory will be ours at the end.

Sheriff Boycotts PDP Leaders’ Peace Parley Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja The renewed effort to reconcile aggrieved members of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has witnessed a setback following apparent refusal of the ousted National Chairman, Senator Modu Sheriff, to show up at the venue of the meeting in Abuja.

The meeting, which was summoned to consider ways of resolving what seemed like a political impasse, however failed to conclusively address the crisis.

Most of the governors arrived at about 10p.m. when the meeting took off. At the late night meeting were some members of the PDP National Assembly caucus led

by the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekwerenmadu and Senator Olujimi from Ekiti State.

Some of the governors who were at the yesterday night’s meeting included that of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose, Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, Bayelsa State, Hon. Seriake Dickson. Also, the caretaker committee chairman, Senator Ahmed Makarfi and its Secretary, Senator Ben Obi were present.

However, the main actor in the conflict, Senator Sheriff and others from his group were conspicuously absent.

The meeting was still on as at 11.30p.m. when this report was filed.

HOLD FIRM ON MY BEHALF

President Muhammadu Buhari (second right) in a chat with his Chief of Staff, Mallam Abba Kyari, as the president departs from the Nnamdi Azikwe InternationalAirportfora10-dayvacationtotheUnitedKingdom ....yesterday STATEHOUSE

Osinbajo Defends Decision Not to Name Looters NLC urges FG to deploy funds to infrastructure Calls for special courts

Paul Obi and Tobi Soniyi in Abuja Releasing the names of persons from whom the federal government recovered looted funds and assets may jeopardise ongoing investigations, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo (SAN) has said.

Osinbajo stated this in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity Mr. Laolu Akande, in Abuja yesterday Laolu said the vice president spoke yesterday at the Presidential Villa during a meeting with a delegation of the European Union led by the EU Ambassador in Nigeria, Mr. Michel Arrion.

While the government released

a list of monies and assets already recovered in the last one year, names of individuals involved were not included.

Osinbajo also explained that the federal government was engaging leaders and people of the Niger Delta regarding the spate of attacks on oil installations in the area, an act he stated amounted to economic sabotage.

But besides reaching out to the people in the area, he said government was also beefing up security.

According to him, the focus of the President Muhammadu Buhari presidency “is to ensure that the man on the street in the Niger Delta receives the benefit from all that is available there.”

He also called on the leaders in the region to be accountable to the people.

Osinbajo added that government was working round the clock to minimize the losses arising from the attacks.

He said: “We are talking, we are ensuring that we minimize losses and we are stepping up security. We are also engaging the international oil companies (IOCs) to see what options exist.”

Osinbajo alo restated government’s commitment to drive its diversification policy and encourage investors from European countries to take advantage of the situation especially in the agro-allied/processing industry.

He restated the determination of

the administration to ensure that the ease of doing business ranking in Nigeria improve by at least 20 steps in the World Bank rating.

To this end, the vicepresident said the president had approved the composition of a presidential commission on the matter to be chaired by himself.

Earlier, Arrion said he came to hold consultations with the vice president as a follow-up on Buhari’s meeting with EU leaders during his visit to the continent He said: “Nigeria has a huge market we can invest in. It is also a place we can export from.”

Both the vice-president and the EU envoy also discussed the EU trade deal with ECOWAS, the

Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), which was also one of the main issues tabled at the meeting of West African leaders over the weekend in Dakar.

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) yesterday urged the federal government to deploy all recovered looted funds to pursue infrastructural development of the country.

According to NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, said tilting the looted funds to infrastructure will be helpful, as the nation and all her citizens will be beneficiaries.

Wabba who commended the “government for rendering a transparent account of the recoveries it has made of looted funds,” said more needed to be

done.

“The quantum of these recoveries has vindicated our unquantified support for the fight against corruption and our insistence that more stringent punishment be prescribed for corruption cases.

“It has similarly exposed the extent of the rot in the system and why virtually everything in the polity failed to work.

“We recall that in our national rally against corruption, we had made the point that we must look at the bigger picture of national recovery by ensuring that recovered funds be deployed to critical infrastructure such as roads, power, key industries and other sectors capable of stimulating the economy,” Wabba. said.

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NEWS

FG, Banks Eye N5tn Pension Fund as N’Assembly Promises Speedy Legislation Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja The federal government and commercial banks are targeting the whopping N5 trillion pension fund being managed by pension administrators as a means of revitalising the dwindling economy.

This hint was dropped yesterday at the opening session of a two-day capital market stakeholders’ forum in Abuja organised by the Joint National Assembly Committee on Capital Market.

The fund is being considered as the lender of last resort as the economic crisis rocking the country continues to bite harder.

To enable access to the fund for investment and infrastructural development, the National Assembly has promised to give expeditious passage to proactive capital market legislations with the capacity to boost the nation’s economy.

Speaking at the event, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo who was represented by the Economic Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari, said there was the need

for the capital market to attain its full potentials.

According to him, the utilisation of pension funds would help to boost production, infrastructural development and economic growth.

The vice -president listed priority areas of the federal government to include diversification of the economy; power, roads and rail reforms and ease of doing business, among others.

For effective functioning, he said Nigeria’s capital market required a stable macro-economic environment, strong legal and regulatory framework to protect property rights, good corporate governance as well as strong financial infrastructural development adding that the capital market has a key role to play in helping to finance domestic borrowing plans.

“We need the capital market for the mobilisation of finance. And to mobilise that finance, there is the need for enforcement of rules and regulations which are the bedrock of capital investment,” he said.

He noted the need for the review of existing laws such as the Investment and Securities Act

1999 to boost the potentials of the capital market.

In his address, Senate President, Bukola Saraki said economic reform bills that would make Nigeria investors’ friendly were already at critical stages in the Senate.

He listed such bills to include: Independent Warehouse Regulatory Agency Bill, Secured Transactions in Movable Assets Bill, Franchising Bill, Companies and Allied Matters Act (Amendment) Bill, Nigerian Ports and Harbours Authority Bill and Nigerian Railway Authority Bill.

“I hope that when you leave here at the end of the two days, what I will like to see is a working document with a clear timetable, listing the draft bills that you want us to pass.

“The eight National Assembly understands the issue that Nigeria is going through. And I can assure you to give us those bills, we will turn them around and pass them as soon as possible,” he stated.

The concern for the revival of capital market followed the reported loss of N1.63 trillion in January this year due to profit-taking and currency volatility.

The drop was said to have represented 16.50 percent bringing investment down to N8.225 trillion from the N9.850 trillion in December.

Also speaking, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, said the lower house was in the process of tightening regulations in the stock market to ensure that investments are secured

from fraud.

He said this move had become imperative because the nation is in dire need of investors who will bring in their resources to diversity its sources of income.

His words: “We strongly believe that the Capital Market is a major tool for wealth creation and mobilisation of funds to grow and diversify the Nigerian economy. We want to emphasise that any proposed legislation must find a way to protect ordinary Nigerians, some of whom have invested their life savings in the market from fraudulent market players. Many Nigerians have tales of woes from the irresponsible activities of these unscrupulous stakeholders in the market. The recent regulatory sanctions to

some stock brokers and market players is, therefore, a step in the right direction,” he said.

He added that the capital market offered the impetus to diversify the economy by opening fresh vistas and windows for investment as he expressed confidence that the capital market could fill this gap by taking the lead in yielding opportunities that will help in revamping Nigeria’s economy.

He said the House of Representatives would contribute its quota “to arrest this dangerous drift,” adding: “Considering Nigeria’s population, human and material resources, our Capital Market could do much better in terms of depth, breadth, size, liquidity and access to investment opportunities.”

Amuka: PoliceYet to Rule out Insider Connection, Continue Discrete Investigations Publisher responding to treatment, as police track stolen phones NUJ calls for thorough investigation Chiemelie Ezeobi Following the attack on the publisher of Vanguard Newspapers, Mr. Sam Amuka-Pemu, last Sunday, THISDAY yesterday gathered that the police are yet to rule out insider connection on the unfortunate incident.

This is just as Amuka, who was injured and robbed by the five-man gang that invaded his Anthony Village home in Lagos State, is responding to treatment.

Already, the discrete investigations by the state Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, is said to be yielding results as they have been able to track the vcitim’s stolen phones.

THISDAY gathered that the police using its cutting-edge technology, have been able to locate the area where the stolen phones are being used and would soon swoop on the main culprits.

It was also gathered that the police have kept the two private security guards, who were simply identified as Njoku and Francis, in custody for further questioning.

According to an impeccable police source, the continuous detention of the duo was because the command is yet to rule out insider connection.

The source said: “We are looking at the attack beyond what the physical eyes can see. This is not the first time he (Amuka) would be attacked.

“The other time he was attacked, he was about to travel and had withdrawn money to that effect and the robbers struck.

“This time around, he was about to travel to South Africa and had both naira and dollars at home in preparation for the trip. They

struck again.

“So we are trying to get the brains behind this. For now, we conducted a raid of the area and have been able to arrest some likely suspects.

“We are already profiling them.

At this stage, we are putting our forensic lab to use. We are running a fingerprint test on them to see if the machine can pick up anything.”

Meanwhile, sources close to the publisher said he was responding to treatment, adding that “although he is still in the hospital, he is better than he was last Sunday after the attack.”

Meanwhile the Lagos State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) has condemned in strong terms the attack on Amuka.

According to NUJ, it is a matter of serious security concern that publishers and journalists are now subject of attacks in recent times by armed robbers and hoodlums.

In a statement signed by its Chairman, Mr. Deji Elumoye, and Assistant Secretary, Mr. Alfred Odifa, Lagos NUJ canvassed for a thorough probe of the armed robbery attack on the veteran journalist in a residential area without security personnel blinking an eyelid It therefore called on the Inspector-General of Police (IG), Mr. Solomon Arase, and the state Commissioner of Police, Owoseni, to urgently investigate the incident, fish out the perpetrators and bring them to justice.

The union wondered why the police had not taken any concrete step to secure the resident of Amuka “since this is the second attack by bandits on the house of the publisher in less than two years.

EU CHIEFS VISITASO ROCK

L-R:EUDeputyHeadofDelegation,Mr.RichardYoung;EUAmbassadorandHeadofDelegationtoNigeriaandECOWAS,MichelArrion;andVicePresident YemiOsinbajo,duringacourtesyvisitbyEUdelegationtothePresidentialVilla inAbuja....yesterday

NEITI: Nigeria Missing $1.25bn Oil Income from Undefined Pricing MoU Chineme Okafor in Abuja Nigeria may be missing up to $1,250,883,843 ($1.25 billion) from its inability to clearly define the terms of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) it signed in 2000 with oil companies on how crude oil produced from her fields should be priced, the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has said.

According to additional details received from NEITI’s 2013 financial and process audit report on Nigeria’s oil sector, the country’s failure to finely execute the 2000 MoU which replaced a 1991 pricing MoU meant that $1.25 billion cannot be accounted for now.

The income is now considered by the NEITI as under-assessed and or underpaid Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT) and royalties. NEITI from the recently published 2013 audit had flagged off the anomaly.

It specifically questioned the execution of the MoU on calculating fiscal value of crude oil produced by oil companies between July 2010 and December 2012, for which that much of revenue is missing, and may now be advising the government on how to recover this fund.

THISDAY gathered that the government, through the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), signed the 2000 MoU

with oil companies and it took effect from January 1, 2000 but subject to reviews.

It also learnt yesterday in Abuja that the MoU was agreed to last for a minimum of three years and then extended or otherwise in the second year by mutual agreement of the parties.

Further investigations showed that upon termination, the incentives in the MoU which included using the Realisable Price (RP) to calculate fiscal value of crude oil for the periods shall cease and then replaced by a new fiscal regime as greed by parties.

However, it was discovered that parts of the terms agreed in the 2000 MoU was ignored and the government in failing to force through a new fiscal regime could not earn $1.25 billion between July 2010 and December 2012 as PPT and royalties on oil produced.

It was learnt that this was made possible by the government’s sudden termination of the 2000 MoU in January 2008 without consulting other parties.

In terminating the MoU, the government through the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) directed that the RP be jettisoned and replaced with the Official Selling Price (OSP), a new fiscal methodology the oil companies kicked against.

According to records of official

exchanges between the government and the companies on this which THISDAY sighted, the oil companies hinged their rejection

of the new terms on the ground that the government did not meet the conditions required for the termination of the adopted MoU.

NLNG Denies Link to Recovery of Funds Ejiofor Alike The Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) has denied a recent report by an unnamed media linking it to the ongoing recovery of funds by the federal government, describing the report as erroneous.

The company’s General Manager in charge of External Relations Division, Dr. Kudo Eresia-Eke, in a statement yesterday quoted the report as alleging that $3.1 billion was intercepted in the accounts of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and NLNG, which was yet to be moved to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in line with the Transaction Single Account (TSA) policy.

According to Ereisa-Eke, NLNG views this statement with utmost seriousness and wishes to denounce it as misleading and untrue.

Eresia-Eke further clarified that no NLNG’s accounts are the subject of any recovery effort

by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) or any other similar authority, more especially as the NLNG is a private company and not a government agency or parastatal.

“We are surprised that these misleading reports continue to be rehashed despite categorical statements by ourselves and third parties, including the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) to the effect that NLNG has no outstanding obligations to the government,” he added.

He appealed to all concerned stakeholders to take the necessary duty of care of checking the accuracy of information before publication.

The federal government had released an interim report of recoveries of looted assets and monies, whose announcement was initially fixed for Democracy Day but passed by President Muhammadu Buhari, who shifted it to the Information Minister.

T H I S D AY TUESDAY JUNE 7, 2016

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Saraki: National Assembly will Amend Electoral Act Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja A new Electoral Act that will herald the conduct of 2019 general election will be ready in December, Senate President Bukola Saraki disclosed yesterday.

Saraki who made the disclosure while declaring open a-one-daysummit organised by the Senate Committee on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), expressed displeasure over the failure of INEC to conclude rerun elections in some states.

Saraki who said INEC, by the delay, had failed the test of accountability, neutrality and transparency, reminded the commission that the primary responsibility of INEC was to conduct and conclude election process.

While noting that INEC was failing in its responsibility, Saraki said the Senate on its part, would be proactive by ensuring that before political activities begin to hot up, the chamber would have presented the amended Electoral Act to the public.

“We must conclude the amendment by the end of the year.

My view is that politics starts now.

Let us amend the areas we agree on because we may not agree on all the issues. By the end of 2016, we shall have an amended Electoral Act,” Saraki said.

While bashing INEC, Saraki said: “The other issue is the

growing anxiety over inconclusive elections. What is crucial here is not the principle that ensures that our electoral process’ integrity is guaranteed but the important question of accountability, neutrality and transparency.

“How do we ensure that the decisions which the electoral umpire makes are made within the bounds of impartiality, empirical accuracy and determined by verifiable facts?”

Saraki queried.

According to Saraki, amending the Act early enough has become imperative because people do not believe in the system, a reason he said resulted in low turn out of voters during recent elections.

He said while reviewing the Electoral Act, the issue of diaspora voting would be considered as a result of the agitation of Nigerians in Diaspora whom he said had been advocating for it.

“For so long now, our citizens in the diaspora have demanded their inclusion in the democratic process; a right afforded in many other countries to citizens irrespective of location; and this current government agrees with them,” he said.

Saraki added that the Senate would also consider voting opportunities for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), adding: “This is similar to the now germane issue of the voting opportunity of IDPs and people living in severely challenged hard to reach areas either due to security or other unforeseen

challenges.”

He also said the Senate would look at the role played by the military, Department of State services (DSS) and the Police.

“It should be borne in mind that the Electoral (Amendment) Act, 2015 had in fact made far reaching amendments on the role of the Police before and during elections especially the issue of holding of rallies and meetings by political parties (Section 94) and the role and operational deployment of the Armed Forces during elections (Section 29). These provisions were designed as an attempt to ensure the democratic character of free and fair elections.

“A corollary to this is the issue of the viability or otherwise of setting up electoral offences tribunal charged with dealing with electoral offences. This is especially important as there is an overwhelming national consensus to end election related violence and enthrone a new election culture built on integrity, safety and neutrality.

“Other important issues this retreat will be expected to deliberate on and come up with a clear direction for the Senate would include, the issue of the card reader and the desirability or otherwise of using the card reader exclusively for accreditation and voting in our electoral process; and the necessary framework for Independent candidature - how best to operationalise and ensure that no candidate is placed in a vulnerable or compromised position by a party or external factors but rather ensure that our electoral system provides equal access and a chance to aspire as they deem fit.

Apparently responding to Saraki’s bashing, INEC Chairman, Professor Mamood Yakubu, said all pending rerun elections would have been concluded by July 31.

According to him, since the conclusion of the 2015 general election, INEC had conducted a total of 129 elections which he listed to include: 49 rerun elections out of the 80 nullified polls by elections

petitions tribunals; 10 bye-elections in various constituencies resulting from the death of members of state and national assemblies; 68 elections in Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and two end of tenure elections in Kogi and Bayelsa States, among others.

He also said 23 election certificates were withdrawn in accordance with court rulings and such certificates re-presented to rightful winners of elections in both the Senate and House of Representatives.

Yakubu advocated the need for an amendment to the 2010 Electoral Act with a view to ensuring that candidates whose elections are nullified as a result of improper nominations by their candidates should have their certificates reissued to the runners-up. He said doing so would save the nation the huge cost of conducting fresh elections in such circumstances.

He also tasked the committee to ensure the inclusion of card readers in the Electoral Act ahead of the

conduct of the next general election adding that such provision should cover the use of other forms of technology to enable INEC have the full fledged power to deploy any technological innovation it deems fit without any legal hindrance.

He accused political parties of compounding democratic challenges by failing to properly nominate candidates, recalling how some elections were cancelled because parties nominated exconvicts, under-age candidates, certificates forgers, among other renegades in the society.

He also challenged the National Assembly to immediately consider an amendment which will name the specific candidate to inherit the result of an election if a candidate at an election dies before the announcement of election result as was the case in Kogi State following the death of All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Abubakar Audu, at the November 2015 Kogi governorship election.

Militancy: INC, Ijaw Chief Condemn Bombing of Oil Facilities Ernest ChinwoinPortHarcourt andSylvester Idowu inWarri The Ijaw National Congress (INC) has condemned the spate of bombing of oil facilities in the Niger Delta region by suspected militants.

The umbrella body of the Ijaw ethnic nationality also called on the federal government to convene a meeting of stakeholders of the Niger Delta region to address the current situation in the region and find a lasting solution to the attacks on oil installations.

In a statement issued in Port Harcourt yesterday after a meeting with traditional rulers, elders and opinion leaders of the Ijaw ethnic group, the President of INC, Mr. Boma Obuoforibo, also appealed to the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) to immediately stop the bombing of oil facilities.

He said: “We condemn the current resurgence of bombing of pipelines and other oil installations in the Niger Delta as this ultimately is counterproductive to the Niger Delta region and the Nigerian nation.

While we urge the perpetrators to immediately stop these unwholesome actions, we appeal to the federal government to restructure the amnesty programme for better impact on the people and the community to assuage the plight of the people of the region.”

He said it was necessary that the federal government organised a meeting with stakeholders in the Niger Delta with a view to finding solution to the continued attack on oil and gas installations in the region.

He noted that the federal government had unveiled plans to

take massive military actions against militants in the region. He however cautioned that government should apply restraint in its actions, adding that only dialogue and negotiation would bring a lasting solution to the actions of the agitators.

Obuoforibo condemned the resurgence of militancy and the attack on oil facilities and described the action of militants as counterproductive to the people of Niger Delta and the Nigerian nation in general.

Meanwhile, the Chairman, Kokodiagbene Community in Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State, Sheriff Mulade, has warned the militants to stop further attacks on oil facilities.

Mulade handed down the warning while addressing the youths of the Gbaramatu kingdom.

He advised the youths of the community to desist from any involvement in pipeline vandalism, illegal bunkering and criminality in their communities.

“It’s pertinent to note that Gbaramatu Kingdom has been on the fore front of the agitation for development of the region, in spite of the Kingdom’s contribution, the people have been labelled and tagged criminals by enemies and instigating the federal government and security agencies against us.

“Therefore, as a people, we must review our roles to avoid the experience of 2009 bombardment,” he counselled the youths. While calling on the federal government to adopt dialogue to resolve the lingering quest of the Niger Delta people, Mulade said the people of Gbaramatu had expressed dismay over the deadly attacks.

WE WISH YOU WELL

All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirant in Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki (right) submitting his credentials and forms to the party’s Director of Administration, Gashua Abdullahi, at the party’s headquarters in Abuja ....yesterday Godwin Omoigui

Businesssmen Seek Compensation from FG, Chad over Botched Haulage Deal Joseph Ushigiale Two Nigerian businessmen, Alhaji Sabo Harun and Mr. Raph Oragwu of Raph Enterprises Limited have appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari and his Chadian counterpart, Idris Deby Ento, to approve the payment of compensation to their company for the loss suffered over a 14-year-old period in a botched haulage deal brokered by officials of the two countries.

Speaking with THISDAY in Lagos yesterday and brandishing volumes of weather beaten documents, Haruna said: “We have waited 14 years for justice to be done and for us to be compensated for the huge loss we have suffered in the hands of Chadians in which we lost two lives and a total of 62 trucks in a haulage deal introduced to us in 2002 by officials of the Nigerian Embassy in Ndjamena, Chad.”

Narrating his 14-year ordeal, Haruna said: “In July 2002, one

of our associates, who is now a commissioner in Borno State, Mohammed Dili, was contacted

by Mr. Hamza Agballabor, first counselor minister in the Nigerian Embassy in Chad through Mohammed Bashir who invited the Ralph Group to Chad for a possible business deal. The deal in question was a World Bank project which involved the haulage of crude oil pipeline materials from the port of Douala, Cameroun to the newly discovered oilfields in Southern Chad.

“Dili reportedly contacted Ralph and I in Lagos and between us, it was unanimously agreed that Ralph Enterprises Limited be used as the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for the transaction.

“The group then travelled from Maiduguri to N’djamena, and was received at the Chad-Camerounian border by representatives of TRANS–REGIONALES S.A, a Chadian company earlier introduced to them by officials

of the Nigerian Embassy in N’djamena,” he stated.

According to him, “The haulage contract which involved our group mobilising 62 trucks for the haulage of pipes from Cameroun to Chad for Willbros, was signed between us and the Chadians and endorsed by our embassy in Ndjamena.

“But the Chadian authorities, officials of Chadian Transporters Union and representatives of TransRegionales SA no sooner had the trucks arrived their territory than they violently took possession of them and insisted on replacing our drivers with their own drivers contrary to the spirit of the agreement and which our clients’ drivers resisted.

“In the ensuing struggle, the Chadian drivers killed two of our clients’ drivers. Our clients who accompanied the trucks ran for their dear lives through buses for days and nights until they found themselves in Camerounian territory,” he narrated.

Haruna, who explained

that his group had brought its predicaments before each successive administrations since former President Olusegun Obasanjo and had almost come to closure during the former President Goodluck Jonathan’s regime; regretted that the terms of settlement for compensation got stuck at the former National Security Adviser’s office for reasons beyond his comprehension.

Haruna appealed to Buhari to reactivate the subsisting settlement agreement by directing the current National Security Adviser (NSA), Major General Babagana Monguno, to liaise with the Director, Legal Services in his (NSA) office, so that “we can bring closure to our 14-year-old pains, agony and sufferings and which has destroyed families, thrown others into poverty and brought about monumental loss to our means of livelihood.”

News Extra on 39&41

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COMMENT

Editor, Editorial Page PETER ISHAKA Email peter.ishaka@thisdaylive.com

A NUT BEREFT OF KERNEL

T

Chuks Iloegbunam argues President Buhari’s first anniversary broadcast fell short of expectations

wo things leap disagreeably out of President Muhammadu Buhari’s first-year-in-office anniversary speech of May 29, 2016. In the broadcast’s 2624 words, not once did he mention the words Fulani herdsmen, let alone address the real and present danger they constitute to Nigeria’s continued existence as one political entity. Was this unfortunate omission because he is himself of the Fulani ethnic group? Or was it because he considers a final stop to have been put to the herdsmen’s murderous rampaging throughout the country? Or is it because the destructive army is a law unto itself, above censure and sanction?

And this: “We are fully aware that those vested interests who have held Nigeria back for so long will not give up without a fight. They will sow divisions, sponsor vile press criticisms at home and abroad, incite the public in an effort to create chaos rather than relinquish the vice-like grip they have held on Nigeria.”

In rendering the above two sentences in the present continuous tense, wasn’t President Buhari suggesting his government’s lack of total control, much in the manner of a monarch unable to hold his goblet?

Sidelining the connotative meaning of these sentences as down to clumsiness by presidential speechwriters, and also not minding the grammatical mistakes in the speech, a fundamental worry is evident.

Consider this: “They will sow divisions, sponsor vile press criticisms at home and abroad, incite the public in an effort to create chaos…” If you interpreted this official attribution of treasonous quality to a robust media as the first decisive step to the systematic emasculation of public opinion, your apprehension would sit on a solid foundation. Is it not often said that truth – read an unfettered media – is invariably the first casualty in any dispensation’s charted course to a repressive bastion?

Suddenly, a government that rode straight to power on the wings of the relentless and remorseless media battering and badgering of the Jonathan administration is talking about a “vile press”!

The “vile press” must, of course, have no future in this democratic march, must not feature in the dynamics of change. So, let’s take a more detailed look at the president’s broadcast, employing the instrument of content analysis. “By age, instinct and experience, my preference is to look forward, to prepare for the challenges that lie ahead and rededicate the administration to the task of fixing Nigeria,” said Buhari. Yet, about half the speech was on the past, rather than an expatiating on the “triumph”, “consolidation”, and “achievements!” he vaunted. He moaned about Boko Haram’s devastations. He moaned about the collapse in oil prices. He moaned about decayed infrastructure. He moaned about the preceding government that did not live up to expectation. You would expect the elaborate exercise in threnody to be followed by his administration’s rectifying “achievements!” That turned out to be a fatuous dream.

Let’s look at the details in terms of policy initiation and the reversal of national dilapidation. The president pointed at his administration’s thrust: “The problems Nigerians have faced over the last year have been many and varied. But the real challenge for this government has been reconstructing the spine of the Nigerian state. The last 12 months have been spent collaborating with all arms of government to revive our institutions so that they are more efficient and fit for purpose: l That means a bureaucracy better able to develop and deliver policy. l That means an independent judiciary, above suspicion and able to

SUDDENLY, A GOVERNMENT THAT RODE STRAIGHT TO POWER ON THE WINGS OF THE RELENTLESS AND REMORSELESS MEDIA BATTERING AND BADGERING OF THE JONATHAN ADMINISTRATION IS TALKING ABOUT A ‘VILE PRESS’!

defend citizen’s rights and dispense justice equitably. l That means a legislature that actually legislates effectively and l Above all; that means political parties and politicians committed to serving the Nigerian people rather than themselves.”

Very good! So, in what ways have the administration impacted bureaucratic improvements? The broadcast does not answer this question. In what ways have the administration promoted the independence of the judiciary? Since this question is not answered either, Nigerians may draw conclusions from the long list of judicial injunctions disregarded by the government. In what ways have the administration promoted the ideal of a legislature “actually” legislating effectively? It is not in the broadcast. When the president talks about “political parties and politicians committed to serving the Nigerian people rather than themselves,” what, please, is the import?

Collectively, wouldn’t the report of the National Confab convened by the last administration better deal with these issues?

Take a look at the hoo-ha on fixing general decay. “The infrastructure, notably rail, power, roads were in a decrepit state.

All the four refineries were in a state of disrepair, the pipelines and depots neglected.” So, to what extent has the Buhari administration rectified the general decrepitude of his sustained lamentation? How many kilometres of rail line has the government constructed? What quantity of rolling stock has it imported? Not in the broadcast! Has the government increased mega wattages even by an iota since its inception, or is it not a fact that the country twice set a world record of zero wattage delivery under its watch? How many kilometres of roads has the Buhari government tarred? Not a single kilometre in 12 months. Of the four existing refineries all of which were “in a state of disrepair”, how many are now of improved capacity? Not one.

Well, it must be conceded that the Buhari government achieved something in its first year! It identified 43,000 ghost workers through the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information (IPPI) system, saving the country a colossal N4.2 billion in stolen pay packets every month. It also blocked leakages in public expenditure, “boldly” using the treasury single account (TSA)! But much-maligned former Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, introduced the IPPI during President Obasanjo’s second term, and the same lady introduced the TAS during Jonathan’s presidency. But, again, hush!

Space stifles this submission because a book could easily be written on the president’s broadcast. Suffice to sum up with a couple of comments. When Buhari promises to “save Twenty-Three Billion Naira per annum from official travelling and sitting allowances alone”, it should be taken with a pinch of salt because he travelled abroad 36 times in his first year in office, each time with a large contingent. That’s three junkets every month, which makes him about the most travelled president in recorded history.

This first anniversary broadcast clearly delineates rhetoric and achievement. And, “If the militants and vandals are testing our resolve, they are much mistaken.” If unarmed Biafran agitators are spotted, they must be gunned down! But, on the atrocities of the Fulani herdsmen, a deafening silence…! Nigerians can only hope that the speech to mark Change dispensation’s second anniversary will be other than rigmarole.

KAIGAMA’S LOGICAL INVERSION

Ibe Kachichwu, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, is doing a remarkable job, argues Ifeanyi Mbakogu

“

The ideal candidate for this (Minister of Petroleum Resources) should be someone who has the necessary knowledge, experience and competence, and who would directly oversee the affairs of the ministry and report regularly to the president” -Comrade Bobboi Bala Kaigama Recently, Comrade Bobboi Bala Kaigama, President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) reportedly asked President Muhammadu Buhari to relinquish the position of Minister of Petroleum Resources. He also advocated the separation of the offices of the Minister of State for Petroleum from that of the group managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

He justified his demand on the ground that the ministry was too “critically important to the economy” to be subsumed under the portfolio of the president. The report quoted him to have further pontificated that: “The ideal candidate for this (Minister of Petroleum Resources) should be someone who has the necessary knowledge, experience and competence, and who would directly oversee the affairs of the ministry and report regularly to the president,” adding that the incumbent Minister of State cum Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Dr. Ibe Emmanuel Kachikwu should retain his position as minister of state.

On the face value, given his position as in the country’s labour circles, it is highly tempting to regard Kaigama’s proposal as stemming from

completely altruistic motives, devoid of any undertones. But that would have been so if the problem of the sector could be laid at the minster’s feet or if he is the only political appointee multitasking for the president. Ironically, Kachikwu is not the only minister multi-tasking while there is no evidence to suggest that he has underperformed when considered against the scope of challenge faced by each minister.

That being the case, why would Kaigama proceed with what is a thinly veiled vote of no confidence on the minister? We are further compelled to ask if the minister could be accused of mishandling the fuel challenge when even his counterpart in information had always conveyed the position that the crisis, which had set on even before the 2015 presidential elections, was caused by the inability of independent marketers to import fuel due to forex shortage.

Coming on the heels of the astute management of the recent fuel crisis by the government, with Kachikwu as the arrowhead of its crisis management team, Kaigama’s call for the minister’s “demotion” is provocative and unpatriotic. It can be said without any fear of contradiction that the minister acquitted himself creditably not just by his demeanour throughout the crisis but the unprecedented integrity that he brought to the government by his candour. Granted that his brutal frankness occasionally unsettled some people, a quality he shares with President Buhari, by a curious turn

of events, his posture has earned for him and, by extension, the Buhari administration, the admiration of many Nigerians who, over the years, have been compelled to live with official deceit and indecision by governmental by top political leaders.

At any rate, to suggest that the minister lacks what it takes to run the ministry is as fallacious as it is insulting. It is possible that Kaigama is reviving the old argument that no one person should hold the two positions at the same time. Now, if the labour leader wants to challenge Buhari’s rationale for streamlining the ministries, which was essentially to keep a lid on costs while not sacrificing efficiency, he can do so without isolating Kachikwu as scapegoat. Would anybody have believed that the country would be able to achieve deregulation of fuel price? But the Buhari administration has done it, with Kachikwu holding forte for the president.

The minimum one should expect is commendation for the man who took all the flaks on behalf of the government.

For sure, as labour leader, and a Nigerian for that matter, it is within Kaigama’s rights to subject any public office holder or political appointee to rigorous scrutiny. But one would expect such exercise to pass the strict test of fairness, and balance. Moreover, coming on the eve of the first anniversary of Buhari’s presidency, any attempt to present the report card of his ministers ought to be holistic and even handed. From that perspective, it will be appropriate to know Kaigama’s assessment of other

ministers, not the least being Babatunde Raji Fashola who has the onerous responsibility of overseeing three highly strategic ministries: works, housing and power. For sure, the three portfolios rolled into one cannot be said to be more interrelated than the fusion of the ministry of petroleum resources and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.

Kaigama occupies such a position of privilege that it amounts to abuse of office to deploy the awesome powers of his office towards destabilising the polity or demeaning hardworking ministers such as Kachikwu. Managing the ministry of petroleum resources has never been a simple task.

Similarly, the uproar that attended the fuel crisis and the eventual deregulation are not new. What is novel is that, the deregulation has been achieved, almost seamlessly, even against the president’s campaign promise and at a time Nigerians are groaning from the effect of declining value of the naira and poor power supply.

If tomorrow comes, and Kachikwu is “demoted” as Kaigama has proposed, it will not be because he underperformed. If Kaigama considers the evidence, he is sure to realise that by education, knowledge, experience and service delivery, Kachikwu fits all the qualities he has outlined for the post of minister of petroleum resources. That is to say, if the position is vacant. For now, I do not see anything wrong with Buhari retaining the position.

Mbakogu, a policy analyst, wrote in from Lagos

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T H I S D AY • TUESDAY, JUNE 7, 2016

EDITORIAL WHEN JUSTICE IS DELAYED…

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The Administration of Criminal Justice Act should be adopted by all states of the federation

he recent disclosure that it takes 22 years to conclude a case up to the Supreme Court, and between five to 10 years at the state High Courts, has brought to the fore the challenge of criminal justice administration in Nigeria. The Chief Judge of Oyo State, Justice Moktar Abimbola, made the revelation while inaugurating the state’s committee on alternative dispute resolution. But the questions remain: why does it take such a long time to resolve disputes in our clime? What is the situation in other places? How can we fast track the resolution of disputes in our courts?

Even without the questions, it is already very clear that the trouble with the Nigerian judiciary can be located in the entire structure, starting from the court gatemen to bailiffs to clerks to registrars down to messengers and typists—officials who equally play very important roles in the dispensation of justice.

Oftentimes, these judicial personnel are responsible for the delay of cases in our courts. For instance, when bailiffs refuse to serve court processes simply because they could not extort THE RULES OF money from the PROCEDURE OF EACH litigants/counsels, OF THE COURTS HAVE there is bound to be PLACED UNDUE EMPHASIS a delay. That then ON TECHNICALITIES explains why in WHICH ARE INVARIABLY many courts, there EXPLOITED TO DELAY THE are several instances HEARING OF CASES when litigants would get to court only to learn that their case files have either been misplaced or lost.

Unfortunately, judicial personnel such as bailiffs and court registrars who play key roles in the administration of justice are often excluded from discussions involving the judiciary in our country. But beyond that, we also support the idea of the alternative dispute resolution mechanism being practiced in some states.

Many Nigerians are hardly involved in interminable litigations in the “regular” courts which are patronised in urban centres. In most rural com-

Letters to the Editor

I

munities in the country, disputes are largely resolved through mediation and arbitration. The traditional judicial mechanism has worked effectively from time immemorial. It is currently being adopted by the state governments through the introduction of the imported multi-door system and mediation centres.

H T H I S DAY

EDITOR IJEOMA NWOGWUGWU DEPUTY EDITOR BOlAJI ADEBIYI MANAGING DIRECTOR ENIOlA BEllO DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR KAYODE KOMOlAfE CHAIRMAN EDITORIAL BOARD OlUSEGUN ADENIYI EDITOR NATION’S CAPITAL IYOBOSA UWUGIAREN

T H I S DAY N E W S PA P E R S L I M I T E D

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/CHAIRMAN NDUKA OBAIGBENA GROUP EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS ENIOlA BEllO, KAYODE KOMOlAfE, ISRAEl IWEGBU, EMMANUEl EfENI, IJEOMA NWOGWUGWU GROUP FINANCE DIRECTOR OlUfEMI ABOROWA DIVISIONAL DIRECTORS PETER IWEGBU, fIDElIS ElEMA, MBAYIlAN ANDOAKA, ANTHONY OGEDENGBE DEPUTY DIVISIONAL DIRECTOR OJOGUN VICTOR DANBOYI SNR. ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR ERIC OJEH ASSOCIATE DIRECTORS HENRY NWACHOKOR, SAHEED ADEYEMO CONTROLLERS ABIMBOlA TAIWO, UCHENNA DIBIAGWU, NDUKA MOSERI GENERAL MANAGER PATRICK EIMIUHI GROUP HEAD fEMI TOlUfASHE ART DIRECTOR OCHI OGBUAKU II DIRECTOR, PRINTING PRODUCTION CHUKS ONWUDINJO TO SEND EMAIL: first name.surname@thisdaylive.com

TO OUR READERS Letters in response to specific publications in THISDAY should be brief (150-200 words) and straight to the point. Interested readers may send such letters along with their contact details to opinion@thisdaylive.com. We also welcome comments and opinions on topical local, national and international issues provided they are well-written and should also not be longer than (9501000 words). They should be sent to opinion@thisdaylive.com along with the email address and phone numbers of the writer.

IS NIGERIA FALLING APART?

don’t think anyone needs a soothsayer to aver that Nigeria is going apart. Boko Haram insurgency is still raging on with the Chibok girls — save Amina Ali — still missing; Niger Delta is today in conflagration with new militant groups springing up. Fulani herdsmen have acquired the emblem of the killer squads and the agitation for Biafra has been renewed with great aplomb. With all these development, the question every well-meaning Nigerian should be asking is: Is Nigeria falling apart?

Just as Yeats observed, in our today’s Nigeria “the Falcon cannot hear the falconer.” Angst and discontent is what you see when you look Nigeria in the mirror. One of the people that have emptied their bowels of anger on the one-year old administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is the new militant group that berthed in the creeks.

They called themselves “Niger Delta Avengers.”

What they are avenging, we will soon know.

Information littered in the group website — http://www.nigerdeltaavengers.com— suggested that they are “on vengeance “ against the pervading injustice in the country. This injustice they said was being propelled by the Buhari-led administration.

Introducing themselves, The Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) said, “We are a group of young

owever, there are also issues that have to be dealt with. For instance, since the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, has abolished stay of proceedings and other delay tactics, it ought to be adopted by all the states of the federation. A similar initiative is required with respect to civil litigation where interlocutory appeals should be cancelled. Besides, in this age of technology, judges should also no longer be subjected to the hardship of writing longhand.

There are other problems. Instead of appointing retired judges, sitting judges are appointed as members of election petitions tribunals and commissions of enquiry while cases in their courts are adjourned for several months. In some jurisdictions also, judges work in conditions that are not conducive to the speedy determination of cases. Owing to lack of accommodation, judges are compelled to share court rooms. As law libraries are ill-equipped, lawyers are requested by judges to submit photocopies of legal authorities cited by them in their submissions.

The rules of procedure of each of the courts have placed undue emphasis on technicalities which are invariably exploited to delay the hearing of cases.

Cases which have been determined by arbitral tribunals constituted by eminent jurists are further subjected to the jurisdiction of regular courts. In some instances, cases which are commenced at the customary/area courts and magistrate courts are also pursued up to the Supreme Courts by aggrieved parties.

These are some of the problems that have to be addressed by critical stakeholders. Painting high court buildings or computerising the court rooms are no solutions to the challenge of justice administration in Nigeria.

Niger Deltans who have support from other parts of Nigeria, namely Northern, Western and Eastern parts of the country. We have watched with keen interest the way and manner in which the President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC government runs the affairs of this country, and we not pleased with the way things are going. For instance, the so-called anti-corruption fight is directed towards perceived enemies of the government, and those that are sympathetic to former President Goodluck Jonathan. We wonder why this persecution despite the peaceful manner Jonathan handed over government to the All Progressives Congress (APC)….”

Differentiating themselves from the bloodthirsty Boko Haram, the group spokesperson, Col. Madoch Agbinibo, observed:”The struggle of the Niger Delta Avengers is a genuine affront to ensure that the Niger Delta is developed in proportions that are only measurable with the immense wealth from our region and our environment remediated to its original state. Unlike the blood tasty kinsmen of Mr. President; we take no pleasure in claiming innocent lives hence our struggle is geared toward attacking the oil installations in our region and not the people. And we shall stop at nothing until our goal is achieved.”

Asikason Jonathan, Enugwu-Ukwu, Anambra State

A TRIBUTE TO ADELEYE-OLADAPO

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onourable Adijat Motunrayo Adeleye-Oladapo bestrides the socioeconomic political milieu of Ogun State with elegance, dignity and style. She might not be the darling of all, but Hon. Adeleye-Oladapo, a two-term member of Ogun State House of Assembly, has carved a niche for herself in the over 30 years history of the legislative history of the Gateway State in Nigeria. Her personality excites as much awe as fear from the people, especially the political class.

Adijat means different things to different people; to some she is a patriotic politician, while others see her as a “troublesome lawmaker” who loves challenging the powers that be as a result of her passion and desire to see that her people are not deprived of their rights at any time. She has proven over the years that she cannot be intimidated nor coaxed while her hallmark remains her ability to stand by the truth at all-times despite all odds.

Meanwhile, her courage, resilience and tenacity of purpose in the pursuit of her political goals have, no doubt, stood her out as one of the female politicians and highly respected leader, not minding her young age. Little wonder, keen observers of her membership in the state legislature and politics generally can attest to her contributions to unity and development of the state which has assisted her to place her footprints in

the sands of time.

As one of the youngest lawmakers in the Seventh Legislature, she proved to be a good legislator by the value and quality representation she gave the good people of Ifo II State Constituency for eight years, hence, she has since been remembered as one of the most vibrant, vocal, courageous and ebullient honourables Ogun State ever had, especially with the numerous programmes and projects she attracted to her constituency.

As Hon. Adijat, a woman whose fame continues to glow turns 40, one is quick to reflect on her journey so far. Born on June 7, 1976, to the humble and disciplined family of Pa Micheal Mufutau Adeleye and Madam Mary Adeleye both of Ogun State, little Adeleye-Oladapo started her early education at Methodist Primary School, Tabon -Tabon, Agege in Lagos State, after which she proceeded to Lagos Baptist Secondary School, Orile Agege for her secondary education but completed it at Iju Grammar School, Iju Station.

It is worthy of note that as a result of her humble background, Hon. Adijat started fending for herself and her siblings at a very tender age; this affected the pace of her education but despite her very humble upbringing, she was determined to acquire more formal education.

Adebayo Iretiola, Ifo, Ogun State

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T H I S D AY • TUESDAY, JUNE 7, 2016

POLITICS

Group Politics Editor Olawale Olaleye Email wale.olaleye@thisdaylive.com 08116759819 SMS ONLY

EXECUTIVE BRIEFING

All Animals are Not Equal Last week’s defection of two members of the Peoples Democratic Party to the ruling All Progressives Congress in the House of Representatives and the handling of same by the Speaker, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, who pretended as if the development was normal, may have again confirmed that in Nigeria, different rules apply to different people. Davidson Iriekpen writes

Dogara...redefining impunity

J

ust when Nigerians had concluded that the issue of defection especially in the legislature had been laid to rest sequel to a judgment of the highest court in the land, the Supreme Court in the landmark case between the Labour Party and Hon. Ifedayo Abegunde, representing Akure South/ North Federal Constituency of Ondo State, the issue, like a recurring decimal, reared its ugly head again in the House of Representatives last week.

Last Wednesday, two members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP): Hon. Tony Nwoye (Anambra) and Hon. Udende Emmanuel (Benue), defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). In two separate letters announcing their defection and read by the Speaker, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, both men cited what they said were factions in the PDP. The defectors noted that the PDP had been divided into three factions headed by Prof. Jerry Gana, Senator Ahmed Makarfi and Senator Ali Modu Sheriff.

Nwoye and Emmanuel’s letters stated that they do not wish to belong to any of the factions.

As it is usually the case, the announcement was welcomed by APC members, who chanted the party’s slogan: “change, change, change” for several minutes before calm was restored.

However, Minority Leader, Hon. Leo Ogor, raised a point of order insisting that there was no faction in the PDP. But his point of order was overruled by Dogara, who said there was no need to debate the matter on the floor of the House, as such should be handled by the affected party.

The apex court had laid the issue of defection as it concerns the legislature to rest last year,

But one thing that shocked many Nigerians was that the issue could come up again after the Supreme Court had conclusively laid it to rest. Even more shocking, perhaps, was the way and manner Speaker Dogara treated the issue perhaps due to the fact the lawmakers defected from the opposition political party to his party, the APC

when it decided the case between between the Labour Party versus Abegunde. In a unanimous judgment by a seven-man panel of justices, the apex court had ordered Abegunde to immediately vacate his seat in the House of Representatives on account of his defection from the Labour Party to the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) because he was unfit to remain in the House.

Abegunde had defected from LP to the ACN in 2011 and in a bid to forestall any possible move by his party to recall him, lodged a suit before the Federal High Court sitting in Akure. He, however, lost both at the high court and the Court of Appeal, with the concurrent judgments of the lower courts equally declaring the defection as “unjustifiable.”

In their judgment, the Supreme Court panel, which was headed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mahmud Mohammed, held that the lawmaker acted illegally by abandoning the party that sponsored his election. The court stressed that as at the time Abegunde defected to the ACN, there was no division in his parent party, LP. The apex court maintained that the lawmaker’s defection to another party would have been justified if there was a division in the national structures of the LP, such that is capable of hampering the smooth operation of the party. It held that Abegunde’s defection could not be validated since his excuse of purported division in the LP was not in existence at the national level of the party.

The Supreme Court also stressed that the

“division” or “factionalisation” of Labour Party, which was cited by Abegunde as his excuse for abandoning the party, was only at the state level.

Justice Musa Muhammad, who read the lead judgment, held that only a division that made it “impossible or impracticable” for the party to function by virtue of the provision of Section 68(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution, “justifies a person’s defection to another party.”

According to the court, “The principles enunciated by this court in the two cases – FEDECO vs Goni supra and the Attorney General of the Federation vs Abubakar supra – is to the effect that only such factionalisation, fragmentation, splintering or ‘division’ that makes it impossible or impracticable for a particular party to function as such will, by virtue of the proviso to section 68(1)(g), justify a person’s defection to another party and the retention of his seat for the unexpired term in the House in spite of the defection, “Otherwise, has rightly held by the courts below, the defector automatically loses his seat.”

Justice Muhammad further maintained that by virtue of the combined provisions of section 68(1)(a) and (g) as well as section 222(a), (e) and (f) of the Constitution, division in a party at the state level did not entitle a legislator to abandon the party on whose platform he or she contested and won his or her seat.

Moreover, the apex court discountenanced the argument of counsel to the appellant, CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

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T H I S D AY • TUESDAY, JUNE 7, 2016

POLITICS ALL ANIMALS ARE NOT EQUAL

Nwoye

Mr. Akin Ladipo, to the effect that not “any division” in a political party would entitle a person to defect from a party that sponsored his election without having to lose his seat.

“I am unable to agree with learned counsel to the appellant that on facts and law as concurrently applied by the two courts below, their decisions can be interfered with. One is left in no doubt that the determination of the dispute, the trial court is approached to resolve, turns decisively on the meaning of word ‘division’ as used by the framers of the proviso to section 68(1)(g) of the 1999 constitution as amended”, Justice Muhammad held.

“Not being the kind of ‘division’ that affects the national structures and therefore, the corporate existence of the party, learned counsel insists, appellant’s defection does not come within the proviso to section 68(1)(g) to entitle him to retain his seat in the House of Representatives in spite of his defection to the ACN from the Labour Party on which platform he contested and won the seat. This position of the respondents is unassailable.”

Investigation by THISDAY revealed that both men had long perfected the defections.

For instance, Nwoye is reportedly gearing up to contest the governorship election in Anambra State on the platform of the APC and is uncertain of the ticket of the PDP since he is not in good terms with the powers that be in the party. To them, they thought that seeing their defection materialise could not have been better than now.

But one thing that shocked many Nigerians was that the issue could come up again after the Supreme Court had conclusively laid it to rest. Even more shocking, perhaps, was the way and manner Speaker Dogara treated the issue perhaps due to the fact the lawmakers defected from the opposition political party to his party, the APC. For many analysts, therefore, what the latest defection and attitude of Dogara portray is that the country is being governed by sentiments instead of laws and that different rules might be applicable to different people.

While it can be said that the problem with the country has not always been that of dearth of laws, it has always been how to implement and enforce them.

A majority of commentators are of the belief that the attitude of Dogara confirmed the popular assertion that defections are usually encouraged by either the presiding officer of the assembly, whose duty it is to automatically declare the seat of the defecting lawmaker vacant as stipulated by the constitution. But because it gives the Speaker, governor or president as the case may be the opportunity to have firmer control of the legislature with an increased number, a blind eye is usually turned to the issue whenever it comes up.

The 1999 Constitution is very explicit on how to deal with the issue of defection as it concerns the legislature. For instance, Section 68(1) (109(1)) states that “A member of the Senate or House of Representatives (House of Assembly) shall vacate his seat in the House of which he is a member if (g) being a person whose election to the House was sponsored by a political party, he becomes a

Emmanuel

member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that house was elected; Provided that his membership of the latter political party is not as a result of a division in the political party of which he was previously a member or of a merger of two or more political parties or factions by one of which he was previously sponsored.”

Section 68(2) (109(2)) also states: “The President of the Senate or the Speaker of the House of Representatives (as the case may be) shall give effect to the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, so however that the President of the Senate or the Speaker of the House of Representatives or a member shall first present evidence satisfactory to the House concerned that any of the provisions of that subsection has become applicable in respect of that members.”

The import of this is that the legislators must establish that their reason for defecting to another political party is that there is division in their party or that there was a merger of that party with another or factions in the party. And even at that, such lawmaker cannot successfully cross over to another party until the presiding officer; the Senate President or Speaker, House of Representatives or Speaker, House of Assembly, as the case may be, has endorsed the defection.

For lawmakers who frequently use crisis in their ward and state chapters of their political parties as an excuse to defect, the court stressed that a division in a party at

For many analysts, therefore, what the latest defection and attitude of Dogara portray is that the country is being governed by sentiments instead of laws and that different rules might be applicable to different people. While it can be said that the problem with the country has not always been that of dearth of laws, it has always been how to implement and enforce them

Ogor

the state level does not entitled a legislator to abandon the party on whose platform he or she contested and won his or her seat. It again reminded them that only a division that makes it impossible or impracticable for the party to function by virtue of the provision of Section 68(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution, justifies a person’s defection to another party.

The court further reminded any intending lawmaker wishing to defect to be guided by the principles it enunciated in the two cases – FEDECO vs Goni and the Attorney General of the Federation vs Abubakar, where it stated that only factionalisation, fragmentation, splintering or division that makes it impossible or impracticable for a particular party to function as such will, by virtue of the proviso to section 68(1)(g), justifies a person’s defection to another party and the retention of his seat for the unexpired term in the house.

Observers have argued that part of the reasons defections have become cheap and common include the fact that sometimes, the lawmakers usually run away with the impression that before the case filed against them is pursued to the Supreme Court, the four years he/she would have stayed in the assembly would have been expired as it was in Abegunde’s case.

There have also been instances, where lawmakers would defect from the party that sponsored their elections on the mere basis of the fact that their governors either moved to another party or because there is a new governor in the state, who would want to damn the constitution in other for the lawmakers to be in his party. The height of the defection of lawmakers in the country was when 37 members of the House of Representatives and almost the same number in the Senate defected from the PDP to the APC. The Speaker of the House, Aminu Tambuwal (now the Governor of Sokoto State), who swore to defend the constitution, because of his own agenda looked the other way.

Even when a Federal High Court ordered the lawmakers, who apparently knew what they were doing and the implications of the actions, to resign from the House, they ignored the order. The climax was when Tambuwal too defected from the PDP to the APC and held on to his position as Speaker instead of resigning from his position and quitting the House.

Minority Leader of the House, Ogor, who spoke to THISDAY on the matter, expressed disappointment in the two members. He insisted that there was no basis for their defection as there was no faction in the PDP, adding that no court had ruled otherwise. He said he would approach the party with the votes and proceedings of the House.

“The Supreme Court ruling says for there to be a faction, some members of the executive of the party have to be a part of the faction.

The convention took a decision of setting up an ad hoc committee to organise elections in three months. We would head to court to make sure they vacate those seats, then, we go for bye-election to replace those interlopers. They think they can go to APC so easily, but they

are wrong. So as long as we have a Supreme Court ruling on this matter, they are history,” Ogor said.

Ogor admitted that as minority leader, he was taken completely unawares by the defections.

“I am so shocked and highly disappointed. I would have thought they would have discussed this kind of issue with me. They know there is no faction but they are trying to create one.

They did not do proper consultations on this.

These are young men, who do not know their right from their left in politics,” he said.

In the same breath, the PDP has threatened to ensure that both Nwoye and Emmanuel lose their seats in the House. A statement signed by the Secretary of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the party, Mr. Ojo Madueke, PDP said there was only one approved National Convention which took place in Port Harcourt on Saturday, May 21, 2016, which it said was in accordance with the PDP constitution. The statement added that the party “approved some far reaching resolutions that had the unanimous support of those, who attended the Port Harcourt convention with subsequent endorsements of another PDP political meeting that took place in Abuja on the same day”.

The statement further added that the conveners of the Abuja meeting had since integrated their positions with the structures and resolutions of the Port Harcourt convention, adding that aggrieved members are being reconciled across the length and breadth of the country.

“Subsequent meetings of first, Board of Trustees members, and second, meetings with the PDP Governors’ Forum, leadership of National Assembly and former Ministers in PDP Government Forum, and a PDP Former Governors’ Forum, held and decided to work together.

“The rank and file of the party had resolved to work together and PDP has never been stronger than it is now since its entry into the honourable role of a robust and principled opposition. Any suggestion of a faction, is at best ill-informed and ignorant, and at worst, is part of a grand plan to decimate the only political platform today that is ready, experienced and able to honour the nation’s invitation to have a credible opposition party that will hold government of the day accountable and thereby strengthen and nourish our young democracy.

“Let it therefore be understood by those of our members in the National Assembly who may be tempted to jump ship, or have already jumped, that on the basis of clear decisions of cases decided in the Supreme Court, they stand the risk of losing their seats in parliament if they go ahead with their latest indulgence,” PDP said.

The party added that it would insist on a declaration of vacancy and subsequent elections in the affected constituencies in the event of such “misguided defections”, adding that “The pattern of PDP electoral victories all over the federation since the 2015 general election shows that where there are elections arising from such vacancies, PDP will return a more credible and more loyal representative of the people,” the statement said.

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T H I S D AY • TUESDAY, JUNE 7, 2016

ONTHEWATCH

Tompolo: Hero, Villain or Victim?

Differing opinions about ex-Niger Delta warlord, Mr. Government Ekpemupolo, otherwise known as Tompolo, leaves much to be desired. Emmanuel Addeh writes

T

he federal government would rather he was apprehended and taken out of circulation. His people would wish they had a thousand of his likes. Sharply divided, that is how opinions about ex-Niger Delta warlord, Mr. Government Ekpemupolo, aka, Tompolo, conjure different emotions.

To some, the Ijaw high chief, now on the run after he was declared wanted by federal authorities over alleged complications in underhand dealings with the erstwhile government, running into billions of naira, is nothing short of a reprobate. To these ones, Tompolo’s alleged clandestine activities in the Niger Delta waterways have brought sorrow, tears and blood in their wake. In reality, cutting Nigeria’s oil output by more than half and worsening an already bad power situation in the country.

Yet, to many of his admirers, the reclusive, covert and self-effacing, the 46-year-old remains a beacon, a helper of the helpless and a fighter with a cause, who has unwittingly become a victim of a complex web of intrigues bordering on the politics of oil in the Niger Delta region.

In his first major confrontation with the Nigerian military as a fiery commander in the now defunct Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger in 2009, the former warlord, seldom seen, rarely heard, but everywhere, was said to have been complicit in the killing of several security operatives. He was the man who dictated the tune in the waterways; he was a thorn in the flesh of the military as well as the federal government’s. Many times, his clashes with the military were bloody and unhidden.

However, this time, Tompolo stoutly denies knowing anything about the havoc currently being wrecked by the Niger Delta Avengers, the new face of militancy in the region and their little known collaborators.

“It baffles me that the Nigerian military has refused to believe that I am not part of the group (NDA) and its activities,” the reticent businessman said earlier in the week.

Ironically, the embattled chief has continued to point fingers at people he thought were setting him up to gain cheap points with the military and favour with the Nigerian government.

“May I once again point out that those accusing me of the destruction of oil facilities in parts of Delta are simply looking for relevance, recognition and pipeline surveillance contracts?” he added in another forum.

Tompolo was probably referring to Mr Ayiri Emami, his arch rival, now an All Progressives Congress (APC) stalwart in Delta State, whom he accuses of consistently disparaging him before President Muhammadu Buhari and making him look like the devil before the federal government.

The rivalry is not surprising. Emami, who like Tompolo is a businessman and also a beneficiary of pipelines surveillance contracts and other oil-related jobs, especially in the last administration, is of the Itsekiri stock in Delta State. Though Tompolo has always argued that he is not in contention for oil pipeline security contracts with Emami, it is common knowledge that the rivalry is between two businessmen angling for the same jobs, who wouldn’t spare anything to make the other party look bad.

Pundits agree that the altercation between the two is manifold and understandable – business competitors, ethnic rivals and political adversaries.

In fact, Emami, a 40-year-old Itsekiri chief, in many of his public pronouncements has openly put the blame of the renewed insurgency on the doorsteps of Tompolo, whom he accused of destroying oil and gas facilities because he (Tompolo) has lost the power and influence he wielded during the last administration led by his fellow Ijaw man, President Goodluck Jonathan.

“I said it before that we all know those bombing the installations, they are going to meet them. If he (Tompolo) says he is not the one, then, he should challenge me, he can go to court. I had my business that I was doing before I was dragged into the pipeline surveillance contract he was talking about under the late President Umaru Yar’Adua government.

Controversies have become a part of his relatively short reign, despite his attempt to draw attention to his humane side by floating a foundation, which caters for the needs of the less privileged…

He has renovated dilapidated schools and put brilliant kids on scholarships.

His foundation, the Tompolo Foundation has donated drugs to both government and public hospitals. He has funded teachers’ training, especially those in the field of science to acquire more knowledge

Tompolo...struggling to clear his name

They did not bring me in because I was the one bursting the pipelines, I was brought in because of my pedigree,” Ayiri told journalists last week in response to comments by Tompolo.

But who is the essential Tompolo aside his alleged notoriety for savagery? Long before he became publicly known, in 1993, Ekpemupolo had reportedly dropped out of school and joined a resistance group in the Niger Delta and later the Ijaw Youth Council, which was then still very new. He was said to have been spurred on by the exploits of his compatriots, including Mr Adaka Boro and the popular playwright, Ken Saro Wiwa, both of whom paid the supreme price in their attempt to ‘liberate’ the Niger Delta.

Having substantially empowered himself and his lieutenants, Ekpemupolo, perceived to be one of the most financially buoyant ex-militants in the region, at least before the federal government’s clampdown, took on the authorities in what would later prove to be a watershed in the history of Nigeria.

When it became apparent that Tompolo and his ilk would not budge in their confrontation against the Nigerian military and their attempt to cripple the economy largely dependent on crude oil from the Niger Delta, the federal government came up with a quick fix – the amnesty programme.

The ex-militants were, by the agreement, required to submit their arms to the authorities while the federal government would in turn rehabilitate and empower them. Though critics argue that a substantial portion of his riches came as a result of his involvement in illegal oil bunkering, which he has denied, and of course from his relationship with the previous government, those who are close to him describe him as a staunch businessman.

“My name became associated with oil business when I was in Camp 5 (headquarters of MEND at the time). Everybody knows that I am not a bunkerer and that is the more reason I am surviving up till date,” he once told a news medium.

Thereafter, he secured a multi-billion naira deal to secure the waterways after reluctantly accepting the amnesty on June 27, 2009, thereby publicly

renouncing armed militancy. But controversies have become a part of his relatively short reign, despite his attempt to draw attention to his humane side by floating a foundation, which caters for the needs of the less privileged.

He has renovated dilapidated schools and put brilliant kids on scholarships. His foundation, the Tompolo Foundation has donated drugs to both government and public hospitals. He has funded teachers’ training, especially those in the field of science to acquire more knowledge and be trained to meet the educational needs of children in the riverside communities of the state.

Tompolo has influenced many high level appointments of his people both in government and in the private sector, thereby largely strengthening his hold on the politics and the economy of the area.

Yet, controversy has become his middle name.

The taciturn ex-militant was rumoured to have singlehandedly stopped the then President Goodluck Jonathan from inaugurating the $16bn gas project in Delta State as a result of his disagreement with the Itsekiri people concerning the project.

His loyalists purportedly held a group of journalists and then later accused them of possessing firearms, just because they were going to cover an official assignment for Emami, his rival, in the waterways. He has influenced the enthronement of past traditional rulers in his Oporoza, Gbaramatu area and indeed singlehandedly nominated and installed Mr. Kingsley Otuaro, as Deputy Governor of Delta State in the last governorship election.

During the last local government election, the Itsekiri candidate backed by the then governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan stepped down overnight for the ex-agitator’s brother as a result of pressure from Tompolo. He forced Uduaghan, who was then preparing for the senate even as an incumbent governor, to step down for Senator James Manager, his kinsman, during the 2015 December National Assembly primaries in the contest for Delta South senatorial seat.

A polytheist, the ex-warlord once said he respects all religions and practices Christianity, Islam and African Traditional religion, but with special devotion to the Amaseikumor deity,

headquartered in Oporoza and currently besieged by the Nigerian military.

But back to the present crisis, aside Chief Emami, who the ex-MEND leader accuses of inducing the ongoing imbroglio to keep him under check, he has also made comments to the effect that the security operatives should broaden their search for those destroying oil and gas facilities. “…the contractors in charge of repair works of attacked pipelines are equally culpable in the act of pipeline vandalism as they now sponsor their allies in the communities to continue to destroy pipelines to get more repair works.

This is the sorry state we have found ourselves in the Niger Delta,” he said in a statement a few days ago.

Then again, if as they say in local Nigerian parlance and when roughly rendered, that “the witch cried last night and a baby died this morning, who doesn’t know that it was the witch that killed the baby?” Then the decision of Nigeria’s security apparatchik to go after him may be justified.

The embattled ex-warlord started having issues with the Nigerian authorities around December 2015; the resurgence of militancy and destruction of oil platforms started around 16th January, though it didn’t draw much public attention. Not a few felt that this is too close to be a coincidence.

However, Spokesman of Gbaramatu Kingdom, Tompolo’s town, Chief Godspower Gbenekama, held that the search for Tompolo is a whirlwind that would blow nobody any good. According to him, if Tompolo indeed wanted to fight the federal government, he would come out in an open confrontation like he did just a couple of years ago, before agreeing to key into the amnesty programme.

Gbenekama believes that the purported arms recovered from Tompolo’s village when Oporoza was raided by the military last week were only a façade; a way of calling a dog a bad name so as to hang it.

“This issue of recovery of ammunition is NOTE: Interested readers should continue in the online edition on www.thisdaylive.com

19

T H I S D AY • TUESDAY, JUNE 7, 2016

PERSPECTIVE

Buhari’s Information Mismanagement The handling of information in the Muhammadu Buhari administration is utterly poor and disappointing, writes Reno Omokri

B

oth Christians and Muslims agree that God created the entire world with His words.

It is something we can all agree on and in agreeing to this we agree that words are creative. They created the atmosphere of the world and they will create the atmosphere of our individual worlds.

This being the case, we have to be careful, very careful, about the words we speak because if we agree that information is power, then the management of information is power and its mismanagement is weakness. So often, many of us do not realize that the words that emanate from a leader and his surrogates must have credibility because those words affect everything within the domain of that leader. Every word that emanates from a leader is a promise.

Don’t believe me? Try to get the British Currency. On every British Pound note you will find this promise ‘I Promise to Pay the Bearer the sum of’ £5, £10, £20 or £50. The promise on the British Pound is made by the Queen of England, who happens to be the Head of State of the United Kingdom. There is nothing inherently valuable about the paper the British Pound is printed upon. It has no intrinsic value. If you eat the British Pound you will get sick. If you dye it so that the promise made by Queen Elizabeth II is no longer legible, it will lose its value.

The value of the British Pound is tied to the promise made by the Queen. The reason the British Pound is one of the most valuable currencies in the world is because people trust the promise made by the Queen. All over the world, currencies are only as valuable as the person of the sovereign or head of state making the promise.

So, for instance, if it becomes known today that the Queen says one thing about Britain and the British Prime Minister says something different, that credibility crisis will have an immediate effect on the value of the British Pound and the total capitalization of the London Stock Exchange and the FTSE 100 index.

Now, the current occupants of the seat of power in Nigeria do not seem to understand this dynamic. Since President Muhammadu Buhari assumed office as President of Nigeria, there has been a remarkable dissonance within this government. The president says one thing; his spokesmen say another and other high officials give a completely different take.

What is going on?

Let us take the issue of Boko Haram.

It was not too long ago that a perplexed nation woke up to read headlines which screamed that the President pontificated that Fulani herdsmen came from Libya!

Well, if that is your story, then absurd as it is, you must stick to it. But hardly had we gotten over the statement by the president before we were regaled with another claim, this time by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen. Tukur Buratai, who said “some of these herdsmen that are attacking communities across the country may have some affiliation with the Boko Haram terrorists.”

That sent shock waves down the length and breadth of the nation. What are we dealing with here? Herdsmen or Boko Haram, we really do not know! And then, to cap our confusion, the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, amazingly told us “herdsmen move from everywhere, from Mauritius or anywhere.

You can’t stop them”! This all happened within a space of two weeks!

Alhaji Lai Mohammed and current World 100 and 200 meter champion, Usain Bolt, actually make me believe that people’s names actually affect their

Alhaji Lai Mohammed and current World 100 and 200 meter champion, Usain Bolt, actually make me believe that people’s names actually affect their destiny. I have been to Mauritius. I was there this past February. This is a tiny Island nation more than 1000 miles from the African coast. A herdsman and his cows would literally have to swim for years before they got to Mozambique from Mauritius. Then from Mozambique, it would take them months by land to get to Nigeria

Buhari...the government needs coordination

destiny. I have been to Mauritius. I was there this past February. This is a tiny Island nation more than 1000 miles from the African coast. A herdsman and his cows would literally have to swim for years before they got to Mozambique from Mauritius. Then from Mozambique, it would take them months by land to get to Nigeria.

But that is not even the point. The point is the inconsistency and dissonance coming from the highest levels of our nation’s government. And like I said, it is a pattern.

When British Prime Minister, David Cameron flippantly said to the Queen that Nigeria and Afghanistan were ‘fantastically corrupt’ nations, presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, rightly issued a statement condemning Cameron’s callousness and the world’s media including Newsweek and Al Jazeera reported his statement stating that Nigeria and President Buhari were ‘embarrassed’ and ‘shocked’ by Cameron’s words and denied that we were a fantastically corrupt nation. This was on the 10th of May, 2016.

Now you can imagine the trepidation of Nigerians, when Buhari himself who had been reported as being ‘shocked’ by his spokesman recovered from his shock and decided to pass it on to us by agreeing with Prime Minister Cameron on camera that Nigeria was indeed fantastically corrupt! Perhaps that was the shock Garba Shehu was really talking about.

Even if President Buhari believed we are all fantastically corrupt (I am NOT) then he should have pretended to agree with his own spokesman for credibility sake. But he completely made a fool of

Shehu to the world and I can assure my readers and Shehu (a specimen of a gentleman and the star in the President’s media team) that both Newsweek and Al-Jazeera would not be quoting him in future, except they have some form of corroboration from President Buhari himself. And then this confusion affects everything. Like millions of Nigerians, I was so ecstatic about the fact that two of the Chibok girls had been rescued that I tweeted congratulations to the President.

But then it turns out that what the State House said was not true. Not only was it not true, but it differed with the news coming out of Borno and reported by the world. One of the girls was not really a ‘Chibok’ girl and the one who was really a Chibok girl was not rescued as the government had claimed but had escaped from her captors.

And it goes on and on. On the 13th of May, 2016, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo tells us that fuel subsidy has not been removed and we believed him, well, because he is a pastor! Then three days later the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr. Ibe Kachikwu, tells us that if subsidy had not been removed, we would be paying marketers 16.4 billion a month! What is going on here? Is it or isn’t it subsidy? Has it or hasn’t it been removed? Our heads are spinning with the spin! Who is right between Osinbajo and Kachikwu?

The President goes to China and his spokesmen let slip that he is going there to sign a $2 billion loan agreement. Then he lands in China and we are told that it is no longer $2 billion it is now $6 billion and then we are told that Nigeria has

signed a deal to make our economy a clearing house for the Chinese Yuan. No, we are not going to be a clearing house; we are having a currency swap.

I put it to Nigerians that from the President himself to his minister of Finance, no one is actually sure what went on as regards Nigeria’s economy in China! And it goes on and on. Today, the President is going to announce names of looters and then again he is not. It will be published by Lai Mohammed’s ministry of information at some later date. Doesn’t this administration know that if a house is divided against itself, it cannot stand?

This is the hidden reason why our economy is not standing. Foreign Investors have been waiting to get a concrete sense of the policy direction of this administration and this same tendency of approbation and reprobation has overshadowed the economy, where you have the President saying one thing, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria saying another and ministers saying something else. Is it too much to ask that officials of this administration be on the same page? They are not even on the same book talk less of page.

And unless and until they can get on the same page, Nigeria’s economy will continue to waver and falter because words create our atmosphere and the words of this administration are in disarray which is why we currently have an atmosphere of dissonance in Nigeria.

-Omokri, a former Special Assistant to former President Goodluck Jonathan, is the founder of the Mind of Christ Christian Center in California, USA

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TUESDAY, JUNE 7, 2016 • T H I S D AY

FEATURES

Acting Features Editor Charles Ajunwa Email charles.ajunwa@thisdaylive.com

Africa’s Solution Providers The American University of Nigeria’s eighth commencement marked another release of its graduates who have been nurtured to solve Africa’s problems, writes Solomon Elusoji

Class of 2016: Joy and Hope

O

n the sunny morning of May 14, many hundreds of people gathered inside the Lamido Aliyu Musdafa Commencement Hall of the American University of Nigeria, Yola. It was the eighth Commencement, and 210 of the Class of 2016, who have been educated to provide solutions to real-world problems, celebrated as they received their diplomas.

For those who love Africa, it was a time to dream.

The graduands, who were clad in billowing red academic regalia, marched in a triumphant flag procession of the 37 countries represented in the AUN community. A United Nations of sorts!

Some of the high-profile personalities present were AUN Founder and former Nigerian Vice-President, His Excellency Atiku Abubakar; AUN Board of Trustees Chairman, Akin Kekere-Ekun; the Deputy Governor of Adamawa State, Martin Babale; the Rwandan Ambassador to Nigeria, Ambassador Stanislas Kamanzi; Special Adviser to the Kano State Governor on Education, Dr. Bakari Ado Hussaini, who was representing the Governor of Kano State; the Lamido Adamawa, Dr. Muhammadu Barkindo Aliyu Musdafa, and many more.

What makes the AUN Commencement important is that for the eight years since 2009, each marks another release into the world of graduates, who have been nurtured to solve real problems.

The American University of Nigeria prides itself on being Africa’s first and only development university, and the education it offers its students is geared

towards helping them develop the creative abilities to look into their communities,

The university was founded by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar in 2004. Fully aware of the exponential power of sound education based on the American values of creative thinking and problem solving, the Founder sought to create an institution that would nurture creative solution providers and leaders who would go on to populate Africa and solve its many problems. AUN was his answer

seek out problems, find the solutions, and implement them.

The university was founded by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar in 2004. Fully aware of the exponential power of sound education based on the American values of creative thinking and problem solving, the Founder sought to create an institution that would nurture creative solution providers and leaders who would go on to populate Africa and solve its many problems. AUN was his answer.

After more than 10 years of existence, AUN has grown from strength to strength, with every Commencement launching brilliant minds who have gone on to excel in top graduate schools abroad, start technology companies, make their way to top multinationals across the world, and solve real-life problems.

AUN’s President, Dr. Margee Ensign, formally opened the Commencement. Her speech was one of gratitude and hope. The Class of 2016, she noted, was the first to “fully live out” AUN’s mission as a “development university”, as witnessed by their tireless work in community development programmes, especially at a time when the militant Boko Haram threatened to overrun the region.

It was the Class of 2016, the President reminded the audience, who started the new Community Development (CDV) classes, which had a focus on understanding development challenges and learning about solutions.

It was also these students who produced reading materials in local languages and tutored people in the community. “From the outset of their education at AUN, they

began to see how their coursework links directly to the problems and the opportunities of the real world,” Ensign said.

As Boko Haram intensified its massive displacement of people in 2014, it was also these students who were “…on the front lines – day after day – week after week, distributing food and other supplies assembled by the AUN-Adamawa Peace Initiative to the countless thousands in need.”

Ensign described them as “courageous, thoughtful, innovative, and skilled,” before sending them out as AUN ambassadors, with a mission to help make the world a better place.

What followed were three rousing speeches from three of the top graduands, the Class Valedictorian, Mr. Gregory Beti Tanyi, who graduated Summa Cum Laude, and the two Class Speakers, Ms. Maryam Maina Ma’aji Lawan and Mr. Kingsley Celestine Jima.

They expounded on the life-changing education they had received, and the succinctness, clarity, and intelligence of their oratory spoke volumes.

“AUN has drawn a thin line between the classroom and reality, hence re-affirming itself as a development university,” Lawan said. “We have been equipped with the skills to develop our community through community service, sustainability programmes, and social entrepreneurship.”

Valedictorian Tanyi, a Cameroonian, had been the best at GCE (General Certificate of Education) Ordinary Level in Cameroon in 2010. “Amazingly, what makes AUN Continued on next page

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• T H I S D AY TUESDAY, JUNE 7, 2016

FEATURES Amazingly, what makes AUN Africa’s number one development university was what we learned during this period. We learned not to allow external circumstances to define us

A cross section of graduands inside the Lamido Aliyu Musdafa Commencement Hall

L-R: Commencement Speaker, Dr. Mustapha Akinkunmi, Founder, H.E. Atiku Abubakar, and AUN President, Margee Ensign

L-R: Class Speaker, Kingsley Jima, Founder, H.E. Atiku Abubakar, Valedictorian, Gregory Tanyi and second Class Speaker, Maryam Lawan

Africa’s number one development university was what we learned during this period,” he said.

“We learned not to allow external circumstances to define us.”

After graduation, Tanyi, who graduated with bachelors in Telecommunications and

Wireless Technologies, intends to be at the centre of the Internet of Things (IoT) revolution by creating technologies that will enable blind people to use the internet with relative ease.

Jima, the other Class Speaker, was as articulate and as brilliant as his peers. “I

am happy to be part of this generation,” he said in a speech that went down memory lane to tell the sublime story of the Class of 2016.

The guest Commencement Speaker was Dr. Mustapha Abiodun Akinkunmi, a financial economist and technology strategist, who

holds the political post of Commissioner for Finance in Lagos State.

He told the audience a story: In 1990, during one of America’s major recessions, he founded Technology Solutions Incorporated (TSI) in New York, a company which focused on warehousing and software application development for its clients, clients which included major institutions delivering financial services. He made a lot of money from that venture, but due perhaps to his youth he also lost a lot of money.

But since he had honed valuable skill sets on his journey to wealth, he was able to bounce back and return his career to a sounder footing.

“My advice to you from this story is in creating value, rather than the cautionary tale of blowing money as a youth,” he told the graduands.

The word ‘value’ defined Akinkunmi’s speech. All the stories he told during the speech, all the analogies, were geared towards encouraging the enthusiastic graduands to “create something that will add value,” a task which AUN had fittingly prepared them for.

Then it was time for the conferment of degrees. Of the 210 graduands, 29 received graduate degrees, while 181 received bachelors; 46 of the undergraduates with Honours.

The highest degree, Summa Cum Laude, was conferred on four of the first degree students, Ebenezer P. Dariye, Daniel I. Egbe, Teyim M. Pila, and Gregory B. Tanyi, this year’s valedictorian. Magna Cum Laude was conferred on nine students and seven others graduated Cum Laude.

In the graduate category, two received a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA), 14 the Postgraduate Diploma in Management, seven the Master of Technology (IT), five the Master of Technology (Telecommunications), and one the Postgraduate Diploma (IT).

The School of Arts and Sciences produced the most bachelor’s degrees with 81, followed by the School of Information Technology with 68, and the school of Business and Entrepreneurship with 32.

Now graduates and certified alumni of the university, the 210 graduands, were inducted into the AUN Alumni Association in a quick ceremony led by the Alumni relations coordinator, Peter Paya.

In a goodwill message on the occasion, the National Universities Commission, the federal agency responsible for regulating universities in Nigeria, called on other Nigerian universities to emulate the AUN culture of constant innovation and community engagement, which has led to the creation of various humanitarian efforts like the USAID-sponsored “Technology Enhanced Learning for All (TELA)” programme, “Feed and Read for Boys and Girls,” “Waste-toWealth,” and several others.

“Seeing my son graduate from a good university like this gives me so much joy,” Mercy Abia, a proud parent, enthused amid all the jubilation and merriment that brought the Commencement to a happy close.

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IMAGES

T H I S D AY • TUESDAY, JUNE 7, 2016

Photo Editor Abiodun Ajala Email abiodun.ajala@thisdaylive.com

Governor of Lagos State, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode (middle); Deputy Governor, Dr. (Mrs) Idiat Oluranti Adebule (6th left); wife of the Lagos State Governor, Mrs Bolanle Ambode; and wives of the governors of southern states, during on a courtesy visit to the govern as part of activities marking the quarterly meeting of the Southern Governorsí Wivesí Forum, at the Lagos House, Alausa, Ikeja...recently

L-R: Regional Head, Retail Showroom and Franchise, Airtel, Ms. Edero Daro-Idollo; Airtelís Regional Operations Director, North Region, Mr. Wole Abu; Zonal Coordinator, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Kano Zonal Office, Mallam Adamu Amshi; and the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG), Police Academy, Kano, Mr. Aderele Shinaba, during the commissioning of the Airtel Regional Office, in Kano... recently

L-R: Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Diamond Bank Plc, Mr. Uzoma Dozie; Chairman, Dr. Chris Ogbechie; and Company Secretary, Mrs. Nkechi Nwosu, at the company’s 25th Annual General Meeting, in Lagos...recently SUNDAY ADIGUN

L-R: Nollywood actor, Mr. Sunny Alli; a distributor, Intercontinental Distillers Limited (IDL), Chief Dorothy Anegbe;? Head of Marketing, IDL, Mr. Bolaji Alalade; and Sales Operations Manager, Lagos 2, IDL, Mr. Ladi Adekoya, during the launch of 3cl Eagle Schnapps, at Sango Market, Ogun State...recently

L-R: Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosu; the new ICAN President, Mr. Titus Soetan; and former Anambra State Governor, Mr. Peter Obi, at the investiture of Soetan as 52nd ICAN President, in LagosÖrecently.

SUNDAY ADIGUN

Group Managing Director, Arco Group, Mr. Alfred Okoigun (left),and a former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, at the loD Annual Directors’ Conference 2016 in Abuja...recently

L-R: Corps Marshal, Federal Roads Safety Commission (FRSC), Mr. Boboye Oyeyemi; Sultan of Sokoto, Saad Abubakar II; Olu-Mike Olagunju, Zonal Commanding Officer, RS10, Sokoto, Olu-Mike Olagunju, during a safety advocacy visit to the Sultan, Sokoto...recently

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BUSINESSWORLD NIBOR OVERNIGHT 1-MONTH

R A T E S 4.4583 9.1071

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Quick Takes ‘Illegal Poaching, Mining Worth $258bn’ Illegal logging, mining, poaching and other environmentally destructive trade earned criminal gangs up to $258 billion in 2015, the United Nations said in a report published on Saturday.

The scale of crimes ranging from illegal gold mining by drug cartels in Columbia to pillaging forests by rebels in Democratic Republic of Congo is expanding two to three times faster than the global economy, the study by the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) and Interpol found.

“Environmental crime is growing at an alarming pace,” Interpol Secretary General Juergen Stock said in a statement.

The amount spent by international agencies on combating environmentally damaging crime - $20-30 million - is just a fraction of its estimated value of $91-258 billion, it said.

Trafficking products from endangered wildlife, including tusks harvested by the decimation of one quarter of the world’s elephant population over the last decade, is worth between $7 billion to $23 billion a year, the report said.

Pointing to the mismatch between poachers’ profits and government measures to fight them, ivory traffickers in Tanzania reap five times the size of the country’s wildlife budget, or an estimated $10.5 million per year, it said.

An average 3,000 elephants were killed per year there over the last decade, the data showed.

Halliburton, Baker Hughes Downgraded

CAPACITY BUILDING

L-R: CEO, Financial Derivatives Company Ltd, Mr. Bismarck Rewane; Executive Director, Corporate and Transactional Banking, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Ms. Yewande Sadiku; Founder, Leap Africa, Mrs. Ndidi Nwuneli; and former Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Lagos State, Mrs. Sola Oworu; at the 11th Annual CEOs Forum of Leap Africa, co-sponsored by Stanbic IBTC, in Lagos…recently

High Cost of Diesel Raises Concern over Sustainability of Petrol Price Stories by Ejiofor Alike As oil marketing and trading companies hiked the price of diesel, citing the current scarcity of foreign exchange, concern has been raised on the long term sustainability of the new pump price of petrol.

THISDAY checks revealed that marketers hide under the cover of deregulation to raise the price of diesel with most marketers selling at over N160 per litre at the depots at the weekend, while the pump price was over N180 per litre in some filling stations.

Having been deregulated, the price of diesel is not under the control of the government as

ENERGY marketers sell according to the forces of demand and supply.

However, the marketers have raised the price citing the scarcity of foreign exchange, thus fueling concern on the sustainability of the N145 per litre price of petrol.

THISDAY’s market survey showed that a litre of diesel was sold for N165 at the Aiteo Depot; N163 at Fatgbems; N162 at Gulf Treasure; N165 at Ibakem; N165 at Ibeto; N163.50 at MRS; N160.50 at Obat Petroleum; N163.50 at Kata; N164 per litre at Sahara Energy and N160 at Rahamaniyya. The price of diesel was much more higher

at the depots owned by the major marketers – Forte Oil, Conoil, Mobil, Oando, MRS and Total, as one litre was sold between N165 and N180 at their depots at the weekend. The chief executive officer of one of the oil trading companies, who declined to be quoted, denied any form of deliberate hike, saying at the weekend that deregulation means “selling at any price that is acceptable to the buyer and seller.”

“Marketers who hide the cover of deregulation to sell at very high cost risk losing their customers to competitors.

That diesel is deregulated does not mean I should sell at any price because my competitors

are there and customers have a choice,” he explained With the high cost of diesel, concern has been raised that the marketers may flout the new retail price band for petrol, citing the challenge of accessing forex at the parallel market.

Already, some of the marketers have flouted the ex-depot price band by selling above the government recommended exdepot price. Executive Secretary of the Major Oil Marketers of Nigeria (MOMAN), Mr. Obafemi Olawore had argued that but for the support being provided by the international oil companies (IOCs) in the supply Continued on page 24

Cooking Gas Crisis to Ease as Marketers Await Arrival of NLNG Vessel Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the Nigeria LNG Limited will bring a vessel of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG, better known as Cooking Gas, to Lagos this week, thus effectively resolving the supply crisis that created a monopoly situation in the past one week, THISDAY has learnt.

THISDAY gathered that unlike the last vessel, which berthed at the NAVGAS terminal in Apapa only for the private terminal to take the whole product and hike the price, the new vessel will berth at the main Apapa Jetty, owned by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

ENERGY Investigation revealed that the vessel, ‘Gas Providence’ will berth at the Apapa jetty for all the marketers, who constitute NLNG offtakers to take product from it.

A source at NLNG confirmed to THISDAY on Saturday that the vessel had fully loaded at Bonny Island but that its departure to Lagos would depend on the availability of berthing space.

According to the source, the North Oil Jetty (NOJ) jetty at Apapa, where LPG vessel discharges in Lagos is currently occupied by a vessel, which

brought in 28,000MT of petrol for Total Nigeria Plc. “Total brought in the vessel, ‘MT UNICORN’ which arrived three days ago and is yet to discharge,” he added.

Executive Secretary of the marketers under the aegis of the Nigerian Association of LPG Marketers, Mr. Bassey Essien told THISDAY at the weekend that the marketers were expecting LPG vessel this week.

According to him, the arrival of the new vessel will resolve the present crisis where one of the marketers hiked the price of 20 Metric Tonnes LPG from N2.4 million to N3.5 million in

less than one week.

“The price is still N3.5 million but we have strong assurance that another vessel will come in this week,” Essien said.

NNPC has three jetties that constitute the Apapa Jetty - Petroleum Wharf (PWA); BOP and NOJ, all used by vessels to discharge petroleum products.

However, it was learnt that only NOJ has facilities to discharge cooking gas and this has created logistics challenges for LPG vessels.

One of the LPG marketers told THISDAY at the weekend that whenever NLNG brings Continued on page 24

Ratings agency Moody’s downgraded oilfield service providers Halliburton Co and Baker Hughes Inc, about a month after a deal between the two companies was torpedoed by opposition from US and European antitrust regulators.

Moody’s Investors Service downgraded both the companies’ senior unsecured rating to Baa1 from A2.

“Debt incurred to finance its failed bid to acquire Baker Hughes Inc together with the negative impact on profitability and cash flow of the very weak oilfield services environment have eroded HAL’s credit metrics to levels which no longer support its A2 rating,” Moody’s Vice President Andrew Brooks wrote.

Moody’s downgraded Baker Hughes, citing the failed deal, elevated leverage and developing business model.

Halliburton agreed to pay a $3.5 billion breakup fee after its $28 billion deal to buy Baker Hughes was scrapped in May. Baker Hughes announced a $2.5 billion plan to buy back stock and pay down debt using the money. Halliburton said it would consider acquisitions to bolster its weaker businesses.

Chevron Angola Backs State Oil Firm The Managing Director of Chevron’s Angola subsidiary has said he supports the direction state oil firm is taking after President Jose Eduardo dos Santos appointed his daughter to head the company.

A presidential decree carried on Angolan state media last week said Isabel dos Santos, ranked as Africa’s richest woman by Forbes, would become chief executive after the firing of Sonangol’s board.

“The government has acted. It is clear the direction they want to go. I am always optimistic. I certainly support the direction Sonangol is taking,” John Baltz said at a conference of the US Angola Chamber of Commerce when asked for comment.

Angola, currently Africa’s top oil producer because of supply outages caused by militant attacks in Nigeria’s Niger Delta, said in April it would restructure Sonangol to increase efficiency and profitability.

“In 2012, unreconciled amount was $46.9 million; the first audit was over $300 million but now, it has reduced to $492,000”

Executive Secretary, Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Mr. Waziri Adio

24

T H I S D AY • TUESDAY, JUNE 7, 2016

BUSINESSWORLD HIGH COST OF DIESEL RAISES CONCERN OVER SUSTAINABILITY OF PETROL PRICE

of foreign exchange under an arrangement brokered by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, the major marketers would have found it very difficult to access forex at reasonable price.

“ExxonMobil supported Mobil; Total Upstream support Total; Shell supported Conoil; Agip is supposed to support Oando because Unipetrol bought Agip downstream, which became Oando; NNPC is supposed to support Forte Oil and MRS,” Olawore said.

He added despite the support, the marketers were still experiencing serious challenges because of the high cost of foreign.

According to him, while the N145 per litre pump price was based on exchange rate of N285 per dollar, the major marketers are sourcing for dollar at N320, which translates to N165 per litre. Olawore, however, revealed that the recent price adjustment was a big incentive to investors, who are now discussing the possibility of making investments in private refineries.

He called on the federal government to avoid policy reversal to boost investment in the downstream sector.

COOKING GAS CRISIS TO EASE AS MARKETERS AWAIT ARRIVAL OF NLNG VESSEL

LPG vessel to Lagos and another vessel is discharging petrol at NOJ, the LPG vessel will either wait and incur huge demurrage or go to NAVGAS terminal, which is a private jetty and the only other alternative jetty that can receive LPG vessel in Lagos.

This logistics challenge, the marketer argues has allegedly given the operators of the private terminal and some officials of the NNPC the opportunity to create monopoly situation by ensuring that when LPG vessel arrives in some instances, the NOJ will be occupied.

Group Business Editor

Chika Amanze-Nwachuku Maritime Editor

John Iwori

AgriBusiness/Industry Editor

Crusoe Osagie

Comms/e-Business Editor

Emma Okonji

Capital Market Editor

Goddy Egene

Senior Correspondent

Raheem Akingbolu (Advertising) Correspondents

Chinedu Eze (Aviation) Linda Eroke (Labour) Eromosele Abiodun (Cap Mkt) Ejiofor Alike (Energy) James Emejo (Nation’s Capital) Obinna Chima (Money Mkt) Reporters

Nume Ekeghe (Money Market) Nosa Alekhuogie (AgriBusiness)

NEWS

Fashola: Why FG Can’t Sanction Discos, Gencos over Inefficiencies Chineme Okafor in Abuja The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola has said it would be difficult for the federal government to randomly punish the operational inefficiencies of electricity generating and distribution companies in the country because the government had largely failed to provide them with the right tools to work with.

Fashola in a statement from the Director of Press in the Ministry of Power, Mr. Timothy Oyedeji, told the joint committees of labour, power, and steel development during a public hearing on electricity tariff hike that there are operational challenges the Gencos and Discos contend with and which the government has not addressed.

He said as a responsible government that inherited a legally-backed transaction, which gave majority shareholding to private investors in the Gencos and Discos, it would not act arbitrarily but must follow due process if it wanted to punish their inefficiencies, to avoid harmful court cases.

The minister, according to the statement wondered how Discos could be sanctioned when they were not supported to improve on their operations.

He added in this instance that the government lacks the moral right to sanction them because many of its agencies still owe huge sums of money for electricity they consumed over the years.

He also spoke about the

protracted controversy over the recent tariff raise, saying that contrary to insinuations, the new rates were not arrived at arbitrarily because the conditions for its periodic review are specified in the Electricity Power Sector Reform Act 2005.

The minister also asked all concerned stakeholders to consider exploring the content of the Act to identify the provisions for adjustment as the tariff has not been irreversibly fixed.

“The processes of determining tariffs are clearly outside the control of government,” Fashola said, adding that with the liquidation of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), the government has become a minority shareholder in the business of power, thus handing over the task of regulation of the sector to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

The statement noted that he requested for time for the

sector to withstand shocks presently being experienced in its transition period, and then asked, “The transition period of 2013 to 2016 is it a long time to wait in a sector that has been badly managed for upward of 60 years?”

He equally insisted that with the introduction of a cost reflective tariff, a lot of gains have been made in regaining the confidence of the market confidence, even though appreciable improvement was

yet to be noticed.

This, he added would improve the market’s liquidity and attract more investors to leverage on such development.

Similarly, the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mr. Louis Edozien explained that a more realistic overview of the country’s power situation was to see it as a national problem that requires all stakeholders to know and play their roles accordingly, rather than engage in blame games.

MERITORIOUS AWARD

L-R: Channel Manager-IT Business, English West Africa, APC Schneider, Oluwaseun Oloyede; Field Marketing Manager, Middle East, APC Schneider, Sakina Tazun; Managing Director, Coscharis Technologies, Sunday Mukoro; Vice President, English West Africa, APC Schneider, Ayo Adegboye at the presentation of the APC Best Distributor Award (West Africa) to Coscharis Technologies by APC Schneider at the just concluded MEA Distributors Conference 2016 organiSed by APC Schneider in Geneva, Switzerland…recently

NSE Cautions against NECA Condemns Directive to Relegation of Engineers in Banks, Financial Institutions to Suspend Retrenchment of Staff NNPC’s Restructuring Chineme Okafor in Abuja The Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) has said it would not take lightly any case of relegating to the background, standard engineering practices and norms, which result to competent results in the federal government’s ongoing restructuring of operations in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

The NSE stated recently in Abuja that in the government’s attempts to reposition the NNPC into a fit-for-purpose national oil company, it must also make credible attempts to ensure that the corporation’s core business of engineering is protected and advanced further.

NSE’s President, Otis Anyaeji told journalists that the society was worried about the position of engineering and science in the ongoing restructuring of the NNPC, and was in this regard calling on the government’s attention to it.

“We are aware that the announced structural changes of NNPC into 30 companies is under review, as the foremost engineering body in this country, we would like to caution that adequate care should be exercised not to send a wrong message that competence in

engineering, technology and science is not necessary for enhanced performance of the corporation,” said Anyaeji during a press briefing.

He noted that the reform appears to have taken the shape of subordinating engineers in the corporation to the leadership of other professionals, perhaps because of the pressure for positive commercial performance.

He said: “We understand the immediate pressure for positive commercial performance which often gives rise to quick fixes and constant drive for shortterm positive news headlines.”

He however noted that the NSE would like to request that a more strategic approach to the reform be adopted, to encourage the building of institutional capacities and competence of the NNPC as more of an engineering firm.

“As a nation, we must take the bold step by placing the highest emphasis on the proper use of science and engineering professionals and the promotion of its study amongst the youths.

We have observed increased tendency to appoint administrators into various positions instead of engineers with proven business and leadership skills which is the industry best practice,” he stated.

Nosa Alekhuogie The Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) has opposed the recent directive to banks and other financial institutions to suspend further retrenchment of staff.

Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, who issued the directive last week, cited high spate of petitions and complaints from stakeholders in the Banking, Insurance and Financial Institutions.

But the Director-General of NECA, Mr. Olusegun Oshinowo, has faulted the directive saying, “the labour law of the land does not empower the Minister to issue such a directive, which he considers uninformed and “populist”. He added that the Labour Laws had envisaged redundancy situation and, therefore, made provisions in section 20 of the Labour Act to guide the actions of the parties in the event of retrenchment or redundancy.

Oshinowo said: “The Minister seems not to have shown understanding of the fundamentals of industrial relations and Labour Laws in Nigeria and thus, has acted ultra vires.”

NECA noted that no employer will take pleasure in declaring redundant employees,

which it has invested significant resources in developing over the years. “Usually, redundancy exercise is foisted on employers on account of an unhealthy economy and the dynamics of the business, which often demands staff rationalisation.

The Voice of the Business reminded the Minister that it is part of the inalienable right of an employer to determine the optimal staff level it requires to sustain its operations’, Oshinowo added.

He noted that employers have rights, which include “the right to hire and fire within the rules governing such employment contract.

Employers’ rights are Employers’ Prerogatives, which are not subject to Ministerial directives.”

Oshinowo assured the Minister that: “where an Employer has found it necessary to carry out retrenchment, it would respect the laws of the land and the laid down procedures for redundancy”.

He added: “Employers’ expectation from the Minister of Labour and Employment is that he will work hand in hand with other Government Ministries in the establishment of the desired enabling environment to ensure business sustainability, competitiveness

and job creation.”

Oshinowo further advised Ngige to understand that “the Ministry of Labour and Employment runs on the principle of tripartism, which entails regular interactions with Trade Unions as represented

by NLC/TUC, the Employers as represented by NECA, and Government as represented by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment. The Ministry is expected to respect the rights and interests of Employers and Workers alike on issues that relate to Labour and Industrial Relations.”

He said he particularly deplored “the way and manner the Minister has been running the affairs of the Ministry without respect to the prerogative and rights of enterprise as employers of labour.”

He recalled an earlier directive of similar nature to the Oil & Gas Sector, with regards to the rights of employers in Nigeria. According to him, “for a long time, employers have been advocating that the Ministry should be headed by a technocrat in order to avoid the kind of disposition being displayed by the Minister which tends towards “populism” and “partisanship” rather than professionalism.”

A

07 06S.2016 07.

WEEKLY PULL-OUT PULL

ë THE SBL CONFERENCE WILL SERVE AS CA CATAL CATALYST TALYS TALYS YST TT TO O ECONOMI ECONOMIC C ADVANCESí

Dr. Babatunde Ajibade SAN

2/DASHBOARD

07.06.2016

An Appellate Court will Rarely Interfere with the Concurrent Findings of Lower Courts PAGE 4

Civil Societies Urge FG to Strengthen Taxation Laws PAGE 5

Obasanjo’s Inappropriate Criticism of Justice Mohammed Idris PAGE 6

‘Success is Not Final, Failure is Not Fatal it is the Courage to Continue that Counts’ PAGE 6

QUOTABLES

‘Why Nigeria Continues to Rank Low in World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Ranking’ ‘Corruption is endemic in Nigeria and to reverse it requires strong new institutions. There has to be root and branch reform of the anti-corruption agencies if we must succeed in slowing down corruption before even thinking of reversing it.’'

– Former NBA President, Dr. Olisa Agbakoba SAN

PAGE 10

The Corporate Manslaughter Bill PAGE 11

COLUMNISTS NNAMDI AWA-KALU State of the Art looks at cutting edge technology, media and telecommunications development as well as other innovations in regulation and policy from a legal vantage point in the hope that everyone from the start-up to the corporate giant is made aware of the implications of their transactions.

Nnamdi Awa-Kalu practices with Awa U. Kalu & Associates in Lagos. He was educated at the London School of Economics and the Nigerian Law School.

His desire is always to cut through the noise with sound reasoning.

L-R: Special Guest, Chief JK Gadzama SAN, Lead Speaker, Professor Paul Idornigie SAN, Chief Host, Barr. Charles Odenigbo, Special Guest of Honour, Hon. Justice Isaq Bello and the Secretary, Nigerian Union of Journalists, Mallam Shuaib Liman during the Law, Media and Social Justice Development Round-table on Reporting Court Proceedings by the Media held at the Rockview Hotel, Abuja

MAY AGBAMUCHE-MBU EDITOR JUDE IGBANOI DEPUTY EDITOR TOBI SONIYI ASSISTANT EDITOR AKINWALE AKINTUDE REPORTER TUNDE BUSARI GROUP HEAD OCHI OGBUAKU II ART DIRECTOR

/3

GUEST COLUMNIST

BY OLAWALE FAPOHUNDA

The State of Administration of Justice in Nigeria after 365 Days of the Buhari’s Administration

A

nti-Corruption, Economic Growth and Security are the triple issues that have dominated governance in the first year of the Buhari administration. Those of us who campaign for reforms in the Justice sector have at every opportunity advised the Presidency that achieving sustainable results in these key intervention areas requires fundamental review of our administration of justice system.

On Anti-Corruption, we have said that an effective and efficient EFCC, ICPC, CCB need an independent, effective, efficient and well-endowed Judiciary and Prosecutorial System. I know that many Nigerians will rather we by-pass the courts and take persons accused of corruption straight from their houses to prison, but we are a country whose existence is based on the rule of law, constitutionalism and respect for human rights including protecting the rights of those accused to have stolen public funds. ‘Innocent until proven guilty’ is one of the most important cornerstones of our criminal justice system.

On Economic Growth, we have said and loudly too, that for Nigeria to be truly open for business we have to pay attention to removing legal and regulatory obstacles to doing business in Nigeria. Sustainable economic growth must also include a holistic review and simplification of investment law and processes as well as achieving integrity and speed in the commercial dispute resolution system.

On Security, we have been vocal in our assertion that the nature of the security challenges currently facing Nigeria requires a criminal justice approach.

It should be obvious to all discerning Nigerians now that the Nigerian Military, even in the face of the renewed professionalism that has resulted in stunning victories over Boko Haram, cannot on its own solve all the security problems in Nigeria. Whether we admit it or not, or whether the dictates of ‘obey the last command’ will allow the military hierarchy to admit it, our military is over stretched. Fighting Boko Haram in the North East, supporting law enforcement agencies in facing down MASSOB in the East, responding to the security challenges posed by armed herdsmen, providing back up to law enforcement in responding to armed robbers and kidnappers across Nigeria and recently battling the Niger delta avengers in the Niger delta creeks, the hands of our military are full. It therefore seems simplistic that we strengthen our law enforcement agencies.

The need to focus on prevention and strengthening the criminal justice response to all forms of criminality including terrorism has become an increasing priority. This presupposes an urgent need to revisit those institutions that support our criminal justice system. An important institution in this regard is our Judiciary. The Judiciary has come under close scrutiny in the last few months largely due to corruption cases and election petitions. It is often difficult to explain to the average Nigerian that our courts are not all about corruption matters and settling election disputes. On a daily basis tens of judgments are given in diverse areas that affect our lives. We need to recognise that our Judiciary faces certain inherent problems, which show the weaknesses and defects of the system. These require immediate reforms. Some of these challenges include corruption, a backlog of pending cases in all our courts, archaic systems and procedures including writing in long hand and limited use of IT, poor infrastructure and limited recognition of lower courts. Fundamentally, the three arms of government need to agree on the funding situation of our Judiciary.

The other important criminal justice institution is

the Nigeria Police Force. There have been more than 14 years of debate on policing and reform in Nigeria facilitated by at least ten high level committees on police reforms. The findings and reports from these initiatives have largely gone unimplemented. In the past twelve months the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) embarked on a wide range of reforms aimed at reversing the poor image of the Nigeria Police Force. These reform measures include facilitating the drafting of a progressive Nigeria Police Services Bill to replace the outdated Police Act 1968. The IGP has also reviewed the police public complaints in response to the considerable unhappiness with the system of inquiring into public complaints about police misconduct. There is now in place a citizens complaints system, which aims to work openly, quickly, effectively, impartially and is invested with resources and authority to guarantee independent and fair investigations into public complaints against police. There are consequences for police misconduct including personal liability for cases of ‘accidental discharge’. These interventions have by no means solved all the problems with the police and policing in Nigeria but if sustained they provide important steps towards achieving a police service that is accountable and responsive to our needs.

Advocacy for a criminal justice approach to security will not be sustainable without a holistic review of prisons. Our prisons continue to be a source of concern due to overcrowding, under staffing, inadequate and inappropriate conditions for female and juvenile detainees, poor administration, long detention of those awaiting trial and limited access to legal advice and representation. There are a number of ongoing challenges affecting the ability of the Nigerian Prisons Service to achieve its mandate. The first is its archaic legislation. Not unlike the Nigeria Police Force, the Prisons Act was last reviewed in 1972. A Bill to amend the Prisons Act 1972 was first laid before the House of Representatives in 2001. In 2016 the process of amendment is still on going.

The second known issue is the condition of incarceration of inmates. The majority of persons in prisons are remand prisoners. The total prison population (as at the last week in March 2016) was 61, 527 broken down as follows: Male 60,567, Female 906. Total number of convicts 17,663. 43,864 are persons awaiting trial. The rate of overcrowding in Nigerian prisons in general is 70%, however there are specific prisons with overcrowding rates of 90%. The inability of the courts to process persons charged with criminal offences quickly has led to the congestion of this population in our prisons.

The main reason for the inability of the courts to process offenders quickly is the limited transportation infrastructure of the Prisons Service. The total number of vehicles available for the Prisons Service to transport offenders to courts nationwide is two hundred and sixty eight (268). The Prisons Service is required to cover seven hundred and seventy-four (774) Local Governments areas, with five thousand and twenty two (5,022) courts across the thirty-six States of the Federation and the FCT. Kuje Prison, services ninetyfive courts within and around the FCT with three prison vans.

Any discussion about prison reform without a fundamental review of the conditions of service for prison officers will not be sustainable. The conditions of service under which the prison staff work are grossly inadequate. The pay is poor and cannot match the dangers, emotional stress and social isolation to which prison officers are exposed. It is obvious that inadequately motivated staff cannot find satisfaction in their jobs neither can they be expected to perform optimally. The Nigerian Prisons Service has for long been supervised by the Ministry of Interior (formerly

Internal Affairs).

The Ministry of Interior jointly supervises the Nigeria Police Force and other paramilitary services like the Fire Service, the Immigration Service and the Civil Defence Corps. The duties of the Prisons Service are fundamentally different from that of the Fire Service, Immigration and Civil Defence Corps.

A situation where they are treated in the same way and administered by one administrative body will continue to militate against the efficiency and effectiveness of the Prisons Service.

The criminal justice approach that is proposed requires that access to justice institutions function efficiently and effectively. The most visible institution in this regard is the Federal Ministry of Justice. The mandate of the Federal Ministry of Justice is two-fold.

It administers justice in Nigeria and it oversees state legal affairs. An important role of the Federal Ministry of Justice is the prosecution of serious crimes.

The Federal Government recently inaugurated a panel of experts to oversee the prosecution of high profile corruption and criminal cases. It is possibly too early to speak about the desirability of this initiative. However with profound respect to the Federal Government, it seems to me that what Nigeria needs today is an institutionalized, not ad hoc, Nigerian Prosecution Service as the principal prosecuting authority for Nigeria, acting independently in criminal cases investigated by the police and others. It must be a source of concern to the Federal Government that the successes achieved by the Nigerian Military in its fight against Boko Haram has not been matched by the effective prosecution of arrested insurgents.

Any discussion about the state of the justice sector in the last 12 months of the Buhari administration will be inadequate without a discussion of the state of human rights in Nigeria. The Federal Government has supported the development of a National Action plan for the promotion and protection of human rights. This is no doubt an important step in identifying and prioritising concrete legal, policy and administrative options for the realisation of the rights of Nigerians. The challenge over the next 12 months is translating this statement of commitment into tangible realities for all Nigerians irrespective of economic status, gender or any other attribute.

The first 365 days of the Buhari administration has undoubtedly not met the expectations of many of us who thought that this was one sector that would progress rapidly. The Presidency should do more over the next 365 days. There are a number of quick wins worth considering. These include publishing the administrations vision, policy statement and action plan for the justice sector in Nigeria. Issues of security and administration of justice cannot be undertaken on an adhoc basis. The Presidency should support the enactment of the Nigeria Police Services Bill and the Prisons Bill. Consideration should be given to the removal of the Prisons Service from the oversight of the Ministry of Interior and place it in the Ministry of Justice. The failure to pay attention to prisons is no longer simply an issue of law, justice and human rights but one of national security.

In conclusion, we cannot make progress in the justice sector without fora that brings together the three arms of government and representatives of non-government institutions. President Buhari should support the establishment of a National Council on the Administration of Justice (NCAJ) with representation from the three arms of government and civil society to provide high-level policymaking, implementation and oversight of interventions in the Justice Sector.

Olawale Fapohunda is a former AttorneyGeneral of Ekiti State and Managing Partner, Legal Resources Consortium

4/LAW REPORT

07.06.2016

An Appellate Court will Rarely Interfere with the Concurrent Findings of Lower Courts

I

t is a settled principle of law, which has been reiterated in a plethora of authorities that the Supreme Court will not ordinarily upset/interfere with the concurrent findings of fact by two lower courts, except where there is a clear evidence of error in law or fact, which has occasioned a miscarriage of justice. In the instant appeal, the Supreme Court applied this principle when it refrained from interfering with the findings of the two lower courts on the ground that same were supported by the evidence on record, which clearly shows that the Appellant is liable to repay the loans under the loan contracts.

Facts By an amended Statement of Claim dated 4th January 2001, the Respondent as Plaintiff in the High Court of Lagos State (the “trial court”) sued the Appellant as Defendant for amongst other things the sum of N1,349,671.54 being the total outstanding principal and interest in respect of loans granted to the Appellant by the Respondent. The claim is that a loan of N1,550,000.00 was granted to the Appellant, in the course of his employment to purchase a car. The Respondent asserted that monthly deductions were made from the Appellant’s salary to repay the loan and the sum of N1,116,293.15 was outstanding as at the time the Appellant’s employment was terminated. The Respondent also asserted that an ordinary/personal loan of N300,000.00 was granted to the Appellant in the course of his employment, the sum of N233,378.39 was outstanding making the outstanding sums a total of N1,349,697.54.

In response to the Respondent’s claim, the Appellant filed its Statement of Defence and Counter-Claim. The Respondent filed a Defence to the Appellant’s Counter-claim and subsequently filed a summons for judgment under Order 11 Rule 1 and 2 of the High Court of Lagos State (Civil Procedure) Rules 1994, for Summary Judgment, attaching the terms and conditions of the purported loans contained in Exhibits B, C, D, E1, E2 and E3.

In addition, the Appellant filed an affidavit to show cause why he should be granted leave to defend the action, wherein he asserted, among other facts, that the purchase of the car was under a transportation scheme (the ‘scheme’) for officers in his cadre and that neither he nor any beneficiary under the scheme was required to make any monetary payments to the Respondent for cars obtained under the scheme and that no deductions were being made from his salary to repay the purported car loan. He further stated that the only deduction made from his salary was the sum of N4,363.25 representing the extra amount paid to him over and above his entitlements under the scheme. The Appellant tendered his monthly slip to show that no money was being deducted from his salary as alleged in respect of the car loan. He also contended that by an agreement, the Respondent had an absolute lien on the car and that, the Respondent did not exercise its absolute lien when his appointment was determined. With respect to the ordinary/personal loan, he stated that by an agreement, the Respondent was deducting monthly payments from his salary but that when the Respondent terminated his employment, the payment of the loan from his salary became impossible to perform, thereby frustrating the agreement and discharging him therefrom. The Appellant also claimed damages for wrongful termination, on the grounds that the Respondent failed to give him the required notice in breach of terms and conditions of his employment.

After considering the arguments of the parties, the trial court struck out the Appellant’s counter-claim on the basis that same could not be tried conveniently with the Respondent’s substantive claim. Thereafter, the trial court held that the Appellant’s defence was a sham and accordingly entered summary judgment against the Appellant.

Dissatisfied with the decision of the trial court, the Appellant appealed against it at the Court of Appeal, Lagos Judicial Division (the “Court of Appeal”). The Court of Appeal, however, dismissed the appeal and affirmed the decision of the trial court, entering a summary judgment against the Appellant.

Dissatisfied with the decision of the Court of Appeal, the Appellant appealed to the Supreme Court, and formulated the following four issues for determination of the appeal, in his brief of argument: (i) Whether the Court of Appeal was right to have determined the liability of the Appellant in respect of the car loan within the context of Exhibit B alone when the agreement between the Appellant and Respondent was reduced to a form of series of documents/ correspondence including Exhibits C and D. (ii) If the Court of Appeal was right to have determined the liability of the Appellant in respect of the car loan within the context of Exhibit B alone, did the Court of Appeal properly apply the terms and conditions of Exhibit B in determining the liability of the Appellant? (iii) Whether the termination of the Appellant’s employment made it impracticable and impossible to perform the agreements governing the personal loans i.e.

Exhibits E1, E2 and E3 since the source of repayment by the contract, which was the Appellant’s salary no longer existed? (iv)

M.U Peter-Odili, JSC

In The Supreme Court of Nigeria Holden at Abuja On Friday the 15th Day of January, 2016 Before Their Lordships Mary Ukaego Peter-Odili Olukayode Ariwoola Kudirat Motonmori Olatokunbo Kekere-Ekun John Inyang Okoro Amiru Sanusi Justices, Supreme Court SC.143/2006 B. O. Lewis

Between ............. Appellant

And United Bank for Africa Plc

.......... Respondent

Judgment Delivered By Mary Ukaego Peter-Odili, JSC

Whether in the circumstances of this case, the Court of Appeal was right in holding that the Appellant’s effort as contained in the Statement of Defence and affidavit showing cause was a sham and as such he was not entitled to leave to defend the action.

The Respondent adopted the issues crafted by the Appellant save for issue No. 2 which it left out. The Supreme Court, agreed to utilise the Appellant’s issues, accepted by the Respondent, save for the Appellant’s Issue No. 3, on the ground that the issue did not emanate from the grounds of appeal and was therefore a fresh issue introduced by the Appellant without the leave of court. The Supreme Court accordingly restructured the Appellant’s issues numbers 1 and 4, as issues 1 and 2 respectively for the determination of the appeal.

On issue one, the Appellant submitted that the liability of the Appellant in respect of the car loan could not have been determined within the context of Exhibit B alone because the complete agreement between the Appellant and the Respondent is embodied in a series of documents/ correspondence namely: Exhibits B, C and D. He further contended that the Court of Appeal should have examined each and every one of the documents until it was able to see through the terms and conditions of the car loan agreement between parties. He placed reliance on the cases of SHELL PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT COMPANY v JAMMAL ENGINEERING (NIG.) LTD (1974) 4SC 33 at 72; EJUETAMI v OLAIYA (2001) 18 NWLR (Pt. 746) 572; NNEJI v NACHEM CON. (NIG.) LTD (2006) 12 NWLR (Pt.994) at 297. He contended that the Court of Appeal wrongly followed the trial Court in applying the provisions of Section 131 (1) and 132 (1) of the Evidence Act to exclude other written terms and conditions of the agreement forming part of a series of documents evidencing the agreement between the parties.

He also stated that the ground rule under Section 132(1) of the Evidence Act does not apply to exclude the documents. He relied on the case of AWOLAIA v SEATRADE GBV (2002) 4 NWLR (Pt. 758) 524 at 534.

The Respondent in response contended that the terms and conditions of the loan contract in respect of its repayment, still remain as they are in Exhibit B and that the relevant document on the Appellant’s liability to repay the loan is Exhibit B, the

contract document upon which the car loan transaction was founded. The Respondent further stated that since parties are bound by their contract, the Appellant cannot unilaterally opt out of a contract he voluntarily entered into. He referred the court to the cases of JERIC (NIG.) v UBN PLC (2000) 15 NWLR (Pt. 691) 447 and FASHANU v ADEKASA (1974) 6 SC 83. In response to both assertions of the Appellant that, the Court of Appeal wrongly applied the provisions of Section 132 (1) of the Evidence Act to exclude other terms of the agreement, that is, Exhibits C and D and the condition of the scheme, and that the Court of Appeal failed to strictly interpret the terms and conditions of Exhibits B and E1, E2 and E3 in determining the liability of the Appellant in respect of the car loan and personal loans respectively, the Respondent urged the Supreme Court to adopt the concurrent findings of the two Courts below that were supported by the evidence led, which were properly evaluated and probative value ascribed thereto by them.

On issue two, the Appellant submitted that, under Order 11 of the High Court of Lagos State (Civil Procedure) Rules 1944, a Defendant can only be allowed to defend an action where he is able to satisfy the judge by his Statement of Defence or Affidavit that; a) he has a good defence on the merits to the case/or; b) such facts as may be deemed sufficient to entitle him to defend the action generally, or; c) the claim does not come within the purview of Order 3 Rule 4. He cited the case of MACAULAY v NAL MERCHANT BANK LTD (1990) 4 NWLR (Pt. 144) 283 at 325. He also submitted that the summary judgment given against the Appellant by the lower court was erroneously made, because as shown from all the processes filed in the suit, there was a plausible dispute between the Respondent and Appellant for which leave ought to have been granted to the Appellant by the lower Court.

The Respondent in response contended that the factual situation representing the Appellant’s defence, did not constitute a good defence, to entitle the Appellant to defend the action on the merit. The Respondent submitted that the Appellant’s affidavit and the accompanying exhibits were bereft of material evidence and so the Court of Appeal was right in affirming the summary judgment of the trial court. He relied on the case of AFRIBANK v ALADE (2000) 13 NWLR (Pt. 685) 591.

The Court’s Rationale and Judgment On issue one, the Supreme Court agreed with the Respondent that Exhibits C and D, being correspondences between the parties, formed part of the contractual documents with respect to the loan transaction and that the terms and conditions in Exhibits C and D cannot be varied or modified by anything outside those terms and in that regard, the questions regarding the repayment of the car and personal loans agreement, having been reduced in writing, cannot be separated on account of the change occasioned by the termination of the Appellant’s employment. The Supreme Court took the view that nothing was afoot to persuade the Court into a different reasoning since credible evidence on record support the findings and no inadmissible evidence was brought in and the evidence was appropriately evaluated by the two lower Courts. The Supreme Court also held that there was no miscarriage of justice in the circumstance and relied on the case of OGUN v AKINYELU (2004) 18 NWLR (pt. 905) 362, amongst other cases.

On issue two, the Supreme Court held that the stance of the appellant that his continued retention in the employment of the Respondent is a condition precedent to his repayment of the personal loans and that his employment having been terminated by the Respondent, the enforcement of the personal loans had been frustrated, is not sustainable in the context of the facts of this case or the prevailing law. The Supreme Court took the view that the Appellant’s contract of employment and the loan contracts were two distinct contracts, which embody distinct subject-matters and separate duration. The Supreme Court held further that both contracts are independent of each other and that the right to terminate the contract of employment by either party could not operate as a condition precedent to the repayment of the personal loan or balance thereof. The Supreme Court, accordingly, agreed with the Respondent that the trial court was right in entering summary judgment against the Appellant, as the factual situation representing the Appellant’s defence did not constitute a good defence on the merit to claim of the Respondent, especially as the Appellant did not dispute the fact that he took the loans and yet failed to show sufficient cause why the loan should not be repaid.

In view of the foregoing, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal and upheld the judgment of the Court of Appeal and awarded cost of N100,000.00 in favour of the Respondent.

APPEARANCE For the Appellant: Ayodele Akintunde with him I. Olokun and N. Anoruo (Miss.)

For the Respondent: Fred Onuobia with him Ogechi Ogbonna.

Reported by Afun Adenike Adedolapo, Aluko & Oyebode, Lagos.

07.06.2016

NEWS/5

L-R: Chief Justice of Sierra Leone, Hon. Justice Abdulhamid Charm, Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon. Justice Mahmud Mohammed, Chief Justice of The Gambia, Hon. Justice Emmanuel Fagbenle, representative of the Chief Justice of Ghana, Hon. Justice Anin Yeboah, JSC during the visit of the Chief Justices to the Chief Justice of Nigeria at the Supreme Court, Abuja before the commencement of the Maritime Seminar for judges held in Abuja, recently

L-R: Lagos State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Adeniji Kazeem, Chairman, Domestic and Sexual Violent Response Team (DSVRT), Mrs. Omotilewa Ibirogba and Director, Office of the Public Defender, Mrs. Omotola Rotimi at a press briefing on report of activities of DSVRT, held at the Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre, Alausa, Ikeja, last Tuesday

Civil Societies Urge FG to Court Orders Status Quo as Strengthen Taxation Laws Firm Challenges

Yinka Olatunbosun

A coalition of civil societies, One Voice has called on the federal government to strengthen capacity in tax administration to make tax payment easy for citizens and for the process of collection to be transparent.

This call was made recently in Lagos by the Chairman, One Voice Media Committee, Adedeji Adeleye at the Centre for Constitutional Governance, Ilupeju where Nigeria’s economic crisis was the focus of the deliberation.

Adeleye listed tax administration among the chief

concerns of a responsible government in charting a course forward in the face of economic recession. He observed that while Nigerian tax laws do not impede investment, its imposition and administration is laced with corruption.

“Both the Global Integrity Report 2010 and Investment Climate Statement 2012 report that tax laws are not always enforced uniformly or without discrimination because of the subversion by corrupt officials and their agents.”

“Many companies report having negotiated their taxa-

tion levels with or without bribery, even at Federal and State levels. With the exception of banks and some other companies, many companies simply pay no official taxes on corporate profits. Many taxes seem to be arbitrarily levied and corruption often plays a role in the assessment of tax levels. The system sometimes encourages companies to operate in the informal sector, where they are less visible to regulatory oversight and thus less subject to demands for bribes,’’ he said.

One Voice recommended that the Federal Government

should adopt the Lagos State Government template of revenue collection through e-payment to ensure transparency. In addition, the group urges the Government to adopt a social welfare intervention approach which will empower small and medium scale entrepreneurs, the entertainment industry, and agriculture amongst others to create jobs for the nation’s growing population.

The group also called on the Government to enhance the protection of Intellectual Property to encourage the development of the creative industry.

‘Over-Regulation in the Banking Sector is as Dangerous as Under-Regulation’ Akinwale Akintunde

Professor of business law and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Gabriel Olawoyin has warned of the danger of over-regulation and as well as under-regulation in the banking sector, saying that realistic regulatory controls are all that are needed for the financial sector to be effective.

Olawoyin said a banking system that is not subjected to realistic regulatory controls could easily trigger very serious financial and economic problems for any country.

The university don made the remark as chairman during the public presentation of the book “Banking: Theory, Regulation, Law and Practice” edited by Dr. Oladapo Olanipekun SAN in Lagos last week.

“I consider it appropriate to emphasise the fact that over-regulation in the banking sector is as dangerous to the system as under-regulation. This then brings to play the obvious need for an approach that encourages entrepreneurship within the context of a well-structured and decently supervised banking system”, Olawoyin said.

According to him, the book would give the readers valuable insight into those parameters that underscore the fundamental importance of banking in the economic fortunes of any country.

In his keynote address titled 'Rethinking the Nigerian Financial Services Regulatory Architecture', the COO of Barclays Bank Nigeria, Mr. Sadiq Abu

described the book as a repository of knowledge on the banking regulation and supervision.

He said that the current architecture has its own inefficiencies and urged a robust debate on the way forward.

The book editor, Dr. Olanipekun said a dearth of literature on the subject of banking motivated him into writing.

“Out there, whether from legal perspective or practical regulatory perspective, there is really a serious dearth of writings and literature on the subject of banking.”

“And that resulted in the very low understanding of the subject. Again, it is a very important subject, critical to human life. It is also critical to national life. It is the most critical aspect of our economy. So

that has not been reflected in literature, in terms of writing. That is what inspired me”, he explained.

The book launch was attended by scores of senior Lawyers and Judges. They included Justice Inyang Okoro of the supreme court, Justices Chinwe Iyizoba and Chidi Uwa of the Court of Appeal, Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo, Justice Olateru-Olagbegi, Dr. Joseph Nwobike SAN, Mr. Olu Daramola SAN, Mr. Kemi Pinheiro SAN, Mr. Norrison Quakers SAN, Professor Gbolahan Elias SAN, Mr. Kemi Balogun SAN, Dr. Biodun Layonu SAN, Mr. Rickey Tarfa SAN, Mr. Dele Adesina SAN, Mr. Dayo Akinlaja SAN, Mr. Osaro Eghobamien SAN and father of the editor, Chief Wole Olanipekun SAN and family members.

Cabotage Act Akinwale Akintunde

A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has ordered parties in a suit instituted by a firm- Seadrill Mobile Units Nigeria Limited to challenge drilling operations under the Cabotage Act, to maintain the status quo pending the determination of the motion on notice.

Justice Babs Keuwumi also directed that hearing notice be issued on the defendants following the absence of legal representation on their part at the last proceedings.

The firm had dragged the Minister of Transportation and the Attorney-General of the Federation to court asking it to determine whether drilling operations fall within the definitions of 'coastal trade' and 'cabotage' under Section 2 of the Coastal and Inland Shipping (Cabotage) Act. In the suit filed through its lawyer, Olumayowa Owolabi, the firm also wants the court to determine whether, based on sections 2, 5 and 22 (5), drilling rigs fall within the definition of 'vessel' under the Act. Seadrill wants the court to hold that drilling rigs do not fall within the definition of vessels under the Act. The plaintiff is seeking an order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendants or their agents from taking any further steps to harass, intimidate, disturb or stop its rig operations based on any alleged violation of the Cabotage Act. According to the firm, the rigs include the West Capella, the West Saturn and the West Jupiter.

In the affidavit in support of its motion, deposed to

by Steve Taylor, the firm's Supply Chain Manager, Steve Taylor, the plaintiff averred that officials of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), on November 10th 2015, paid

an unscheduled visit to the West Capella on board the "Nimasa Oweikenighan" and made an attempt to board the rig without having preinformed the plaintiff of its intentions.

He averred that after a stand-off which lasted for several hours, the officials demanded evidence of cabotage registration, the crew list of the vessel, waiver approvals for the crew, vessel building waiver and evidence of payment of cabotage surcharge.

The deponent said NIMASA officials on November 19th 2015 paid another unscheduled visit to the USAN Field with the intention of boarding the plaintiff’s West Capella.

“Before dis-embarking from the West Capella, the NIMASA agents served a Detention Order dated the 19th of November 2015 on the Master of the West Capella, which indicated that the rig was being detained for failure to register as a vessel with the Agency’s Ship Registry amongst several other alleged infractions,” Taylor said. He added that the plaintiff took steps to resolve the issues, yet the detention letter was not withdrawn.

“Therefore, it is quite worrisome that rather than withdrawing the detention letter, NIMASA issued another letter of non-compliance dated the 14th of March 2016 to the plaintiff.

“In view of the foregoing, I verily believe that it is in the interest of justice that the questions for determination as contained in the Originating Summons are determined in favour of the plaintiff and the declarations sought therein are granted as a matter of urgency,” the deponent said.

Justice Babs Keuwumi adjourned the matter till June 17th for hearing of pending applications.

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07.06.2016

Obasanjo’s Inappropriate Criticism of Justice Mohammed Idris Kolawole Olaniyan

F

ormer President Olusegun Obasanjo recently launched a stinging attack on the authority of the Federal High Court and the competence of Justice Mohammed Baba Idris after the Judge ruled that details on the spending of recovered stolen public funds under Obasanjo’s government between May 1999 and May 2007 should be widely published including on a dedicated website.

Justice Idris’ judgment, which followed a Freedom of Information suit brought

by Nigeria’s leading anticorruption NGO Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), also called for publication of records of spending of recovered funds under the governments of former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and former President Goodluck Jonathan.

Reacting to the judgment, Obasanjo reportedly said, “They said the money recovered from Abacha, I should account for it. What stupidity! The man who asked for it, the man who gave the judgement or who answered them are all stupid, with due respect. I don’t keep account, all Abacha loots were sent to Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and every bit of it was reported to Minister of Finance. My job was to write where we can get help to recover the money. Every penny that comes out of it went to CBN, so if they want to know what happened to the money, they should call CBN governor or call the Minister of Finance. But again, it shows ignorance, total ignorance, which is lacking and you wonder, are these people educated? They can also approach the man who helped us in recovering process to give the list of money recovered and where he took it.”

This statement, coming from a former President of Nigeria, flies in the face of leadership by example and can only help to frustrate the objective of the Freedom of Information Act, and by extension, undermine the authority of the country’s Judiciary and erode the rule of law.

Judges are not infallible but there’s nothing stupid in Justice Idris insisting on transparency and accountability of leaders who once held a position of trust and control over the public treasury. Judges do not act or give judgments according to their personal whims and fancies: they apply the laws as they find them.

Although judges may sometimes fail to live up to the ideal - and the present is not a case of such failure - the principle should be generally understood and respected that judges would draw conclusions from the evidence before them in accordance with legal precedent, ordinary norms of legal reasoning, and established constitutional and legal principles.

If judges have to decide cases on the basis of what politicians or someone else wanted the law or the result to be, the very principle of independence of the Judiciary would be forfeited. While it is within Obasanjo’s right to disagree with the judgment or even criticise it, calling Justice Idris “stupid and ignorant” simply for doing his job amounts to inappropriate political criticism as it threatens the judge’s independence and integrity.

It is unfair to see individual judges as ‘fair game’ because they cannot publicly defend themselves against inappropriate criticism.

But Obasanjo’s attempt to browbeat Justice Idris simply for upholding the Freedom of Information Act is hardly surprising especially given that he ignored wise counsel to sign the Bill into law during his time in government.

What is the point of “government of, by, and for the people” if opinion leaders and former presidents like Obasanjo by words or deed seem to want to dodge responsibility for their action or inaction while in office by implicitly promoting policies of secrecy?

Imagine if the disclosures of corruption, compendiously known as Dasukigate, which weakened the ability of the country’s Military to fight and defeat Boko Haram, and debased institutions of governance, had remained a secret.

If anything is to be learned from the country’s current experience with disclosures of corruption among high-ranking government officials, politicians and the military, it is that the government of President Muhammadu Buhari must open public affairs, including

regarding details on spending of recovered funds under governments since the return of democracy in 1999, to public scrutiny.

Non-disclosure of the Dasukigate would have deprived the Nigerian people of a much-needed opportunity to know what former President Goodluck Jonathan was doing while in office, and to cleanse some level of government.

Justice Idris’ judgment is without doubt a great victory for transparency and accountability in the country. Thanks to Justice Idris Nigerians will now be able to know exactly how recovered stolen funds were spent including under Obasanjo’s government.

They will be able to find out if recovered funds were appropriately spent on real projects, mismanaged or re-stolen.

The judgment recognises that corruption is never flaunted in the open and it is invariably practiced through secrecy- secrecy found in every level of government from local governments to Aso Rock Villa and the National Assembly.

It buttresses the point that openness promotes the appearance of fairness and enhances public confidence in the integrity of government action. Openness serves as a check against incompetence, venality, or bias; and promotes the constitutional values of encouraging elected officials to act in the public interest. This in turn can stimulate more knowledgeable public consideration of transparency, accountability and human rights issues and perhaps even encourage individual citizens to come forward with constructive suggestions.

Thus, by ordering publication on a dedicated website of projects on which recovered funds were spent by the governments of former presidents Obasanjo, Yar’Adua and Jonathan for inspection by the citizenry, Justice Idris has enhanced the status of the Freedom of Information Act as a veritable legal framework of protection against governmental deception and arbitrariness.

Without the disclosures ordered by Justice Idris, high-level official corruption will continue to flourish with official action and with almost absolute impunity. And Nigerians will continue to be denied effective enjoyment of their human rights if they do not know what their leaders and government are doing and

Obasanjo

unable to hold them to account.

Nigerians do not demand infallibility from their leaders and institutions, but it is difficult to accept the proposition that a Judge granting Nigerians the right to know what their leaders and government are doing is “stupid and ignorant.” Nigerians indeed have a right to compel their public officials particularly the high-ranking among them like Obasanjo to keep the avenues of information open so the public can know and evaluate their work, accomplishments and derelictions regardless of whether they are in or out of office.

How Buhari responds to Justice Idris’ judgment will without question be a significant aspect of what defines his anticorruption agenda.

One immediate step for Buhari to take is to instruct the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, the Accountant General of the Federation and the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria to put in place mechanisms for the full and effective enforcement and implementation of the judgment by Justice Idris.

Olaniyan, author of ‘Corruption and Human Rights Law in Africa’, is Legal Adviser, International Secretariat of Amnesty International, London.

Legal Personality of the Week Jefferson Uwoghiren

‘Success is Not Final, Failure is Not Fatal it is the Courage to Continue that Counts’ What was your most memorable experience?

When on the 25th of January this year, my 50th Birthday, I got a gift in the form of a judicial exoneration of my client who was extra-judicially killed by a trigger happy Policeman, buried in a shallow grave and tagged an Armed Robber. A High Court in Benin convicted and sentenced one Cpl. Amadin Idahosa for the unlawful killing. Interestingly since the conviction and sentence there has been a sharp reduction in report of illegal police killing. The trial was heavily publicised and now all those trigger happy cops know that there will be consequences for irresponsible acts.

I was born 50 years ago in Benin City.

I'm the fourth child and third son in a family of eight. Lost my father early in life and luckily I had a Mum that scraped by to ensure that seven of the eight are today graduates. I studied Journalism at the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos and I worked as a Crime and Political Reporter in the late 80s, under the wonderful guidance of Nduka Irabor and Michel Obi then of the Guardian. To them and Ms Jibola Dahunsi I remain grateful.

Have you had any challenges in your career as a lawyer and if so what were the main challenges?

They are normal challenges many professionals face. It basically concerns the lack of sufficient remuneration.

What was your worst day as a lawyer?

My first day in Court as a Lawyer. Words just simply failed me, for the first few minutes I attempted to address Court.

All the rehearsed lines for the Application

Jefferson Uwoghiren

just fused and I was rescued by the understanding Judge.

Who has been most influential in your life?

God. Why did you become a lawyer?

Abhorrence to injustices. The judicial development and application of Law

as an instrument of Social Engineering.

What would your advice be to anyone wanting a career in law?

Forget the money. It is great gain and fulfilment acting as a pillar of knowledge and wisdom in your society. Pursue justice with courage. Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.

If you had not become a lawyer, what would you have chosen?

Fashion Design. I simply love artist expressions that many styles and trends represent. I have been collecting GQ magazines since 1987. Your fashion sense and style represent your inner turmoil or triumph. You have a choice in how you want to be addressed in your dressing.

There are consequences.

Where do you see yourself in ten years?

If God tarries and spares my life, it will still be Law, Law and Law.

07.06.2016

/7

Communique of the NBA, Anti-Corruption Commission’s One Day Interactive Session with Stakeholders on ‘Restraining the Monster: Practical Ways of Fighting Corruption in Nigeria’

T

he NBA Anti-Corruption Commission held a one day interactive session on the theme, ‘Restraining the Monster: Practical Ways of Fighting Corruption in Nigeria’.

The session began at 10.04am on the 24th May 2016 at the Niger Hall of the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja.

The session was consistent with the NBA’s well known conceptual definition to be the vanguard for the promotion and defence of the rule of law, good governance, social justice and the dignity of all persons. The session was intended as a platform for stakeholders to discuss, learn, interact, retool, understand, reflect and proffer solutions to the seemingly ceaseless menace of corruption confronting our institutions and the nation. Participants agreed that corruption in Nigeria has become a monster threatening the survival of the nation and if not checked it will destroy the social order and the common good. The session was therefore a platform to evolve a holistic and pragmatic approach to the fight against corruption.

The Session Identified Some Major Challenges Militating Against Effective Fighting of Corruption In Nigeria to Include: 1. Greed and obsession to share in “the national cake� for personal and selfish ends without due consideration for the common good and national development.

2. Corruption has undoubtedly contributed immensely to the depletion of our commonwealth and hindered national development.

Therefore, the factors that hinder the fight against corruption in the Nigerian State are essentially paucity of access to information, transparency, requisite publicity in different Nigerian languages to enable Nigerians buy into the fight against the monster.

3. The fight against corruption in Nigeria is more reactive than proactive. An effective fight against corruption needs to have a double barrel approach of being both proactive and reactionary in a sustainable manner.

4. The state of insecurity in the land presents a serious challenge in the fight against corruption. The state is no longer able to effectively protect lives and property.

The high crime rate in the Nigerian society makes fighting corruption a very risky undertaking.

5. The institutions set up to fight corruption in Nigeria are also ridden with corrupt practices. Therefore, we are faced with a situation where we have to get a policeman to police the police.

6. The lack of proven political will on the part of successive governments to tackle endemic corruption in the Nigerian State.

7. Poverty, hunger and unemployment equally constitute key challenges to the fight against corruption in Nigeria.

8. The Nigerian society encourages a value system that aids and abets corruption thereby unwittingly promoting corrupt practices in the Nigerian system.

It Was Hereby Agreed that the Following are Practical Ways of Fighting Corruption: r 5IF MBX FOGPSDFNFOU BHFODJFT NVTU be thoroughly cleansed, restructured, reoriented and highly motivated; for effective actualisation of their statutory mandates. r 4USFOHUIFOJOH PG UIF +VEJDJBSZ CZ UIF appointment of persons with good character, learning and capacity so as to uphold the rule of law and dispense justice at all times. r 5IF /BUJPOBM +VEJDJBM $PVODJM /+$

is a supervisory body for judicial officers with powers to impose sanctions on erring +VEHFT 5IFSFGPSF CPUI UIF &YFDVUJWF BOE Legislative arms of government need to have TJNJMBS CPEJFT TVDI BT /+$ UP JNQPTF TBODtions on corruption against persons in the two institutions of governance.

NBA President, Augustine Alegeh SAN

Chairman, NBA Anti≠Corruption Commission, Dr T. C. Osanakpo SAN

r 5IF (PWFSONFOU BOE QSJWBUF FNQMPZFST of labour should pay adequate salaries and wages to workers and adequately provide for their retirement benefits. Payment of living wages to workers may make them less susceptible and vulnerable to corruption. r 8F NVTU NBLF DPSSVQUJPO B NBKPS JTTVF in national, State and Local Government elections and transform the electoral system into a veritable facility for throwing up people with a feasible pragmatic anticorruption agenda. r +VEHFT XPSLJOH PO IJHI QSPGJMF DPSruption cases should be provided with adequate security and properly remunerated.

In addition, the courts should be equipped with modern technology gadgets to facilitate proceedings and judicial tasks. r 5IF GJHIU BHBJOTU DPSSVQUJPO TIBMM OPU CF UIF FYDMVTJWF QSFTFSWF PG UIF 1SFTJEFODZ 5IF anti-corruption crusade needs to be holistic to involve the leaders and the led, in public and private life including non-governmental PSHBOJTBUJPOT /(0 T DJWJM TPDJFUJFT QSPGFTsional bodies or associations and religious bodies or associations. r /JHFSJBOT TIPVME HFU GBNJMJBS XJUI UIF provisions of the law against the various shades of corruption, especially those involving public servants and ensure that the applicable provisions are rigorously applied to all and sundry without fear or favour. r /JHFSJBOT JO HFOFSBM TIPVME EFWJTF B means of rewarding hard work, honesty and probity. Furthermore, the Government should desist from conferring national honours on undeserving persons who lack character, integrity and people of questionable wealth. r 5IF JOEFQFOEFODF BOE SFHVMBUJPO PG UIF media must be guaranteed to ensure that our elected representatives operate with the highest standards of accountability and stewardship. r 3FMJHJPVT CPEJFT TIPVME JODVMDBUF UIF GFBS of God and the values of honesty, probity, hard work, accountability and concern for the common good of their members. r 1SPGFTTJPOBM BTTPDJBUJPOT TIPVME FOGPSDF professional ethics and codes of conduct to enhance the credibility of their members and devise effective mechanisms to sanction their members involved in corruption. r "OUJ DPSSVQUJPO XPSL JT PGUFO B MPOFMZ and tedious project. Therefore, collaborative efforts and the right synergy amongst

appropriate agencies and organs of the Government are imperative for an effective and sustainable fight against corruption r 5IFSF JT BO VSHFOU OFFE UP QSPNVMHBUF legislation for whistle blowing on corrupt practices and equally provide appropriate security and reward for requisite information provided against persons or bodies that engage in corruption and corrupt practices. r -BXZFST NVTU CF TFFO UP QSPNPUF KVTUJDF and uphold the rule of law and follow the rules of professional ethics in client representation. Noncompliance to professional ethics by lawyers shall be met with appropriate sanctions against such lawyers by the appropriate body. r 5IF BOUJ DPSSVQUJPO CPEJFT OFFE UP CF adequately funded to enable them to duly and vigorously pursue the fight against corruption in a sustainable manner. r (PWFSONFOU TIPVME FOTVSF BU BMM UJNFT that persons who head or man public institutions possess character, capability, competence and integrity for adequate management of financial resources plus promotion of the common good. r 5IFSF JT B OFFE UP BNFOE UIF 1FOTJPOT Act to bring it in line with justice and reality. r 5IFSF JT OFFE GPS UIF GVMM JNQMFNFOUBUJPO PG UIF "ENJOJTUSBUJPO PG $SJNJOBM +VTUJDF "DU 2015. r &GGFDUJWF VUJMJTBUJPO PG SFMFWBOU QSPWJTJPOT of the EFCC Act that allows forfeiture of assets by persons engaged in corrupt practices. r 5IF UJNF IBT DPNF UP FNCSBDF B DJWJM PS continental legal system to place the burden of proof on accused persons in corruption matters in Nigeria. r "GGJSNBUJWF DIBOHF PG BUUJUVEF BOE BDUJPO that emphasise the importance of doing or taking the right action always and openly condemning wrong doings are necessary tools that will aid the fight against corruption in the Nigerian society. r 5IFSF JT VSHFOU OFFE UP IBWF B QBSBEJHN shift in terms of our attitude and action that will be geared towards de-emphasising personnel abuses, distortions, contraptions, downplaying primordial sentiments and a wakeup call to embrace appropriate technology as strategy to check abuses in our national life.

DR T. C. OSANAKPO, SAN CHAIRMAN, NBA ANTI-CORRUPTION COMMISSION

8/COVER

07.06.2016

‘The SBL Conference will Serve as Catalyst to Economic Advances’ The Nigerian Bar Association’s Section on Business Law is unarguably a pacesetting section of the NBA. Every year it has continued to deliver a worldclass business law conference which has attracted speakers and conferees from other jurisdictions. This year’s conference with the theme ‘Law Reform and Economic Development’ promises to be no less impressive than previous years. Dr. Babatunde Ajibade SAN is the Chairman of this year’s Conference Planning Committee and he explains to May Agbamuche-Mbu, Jude Igbanoi and Tobi Soniyi why Abuja will be the place to be for all Nigerian lawyers from June 21 – 24

Y

ou have been appointed the Chairman of this year’s NBA-SBL Conference in the same manner and following the pace-setting shoes of Mr. Ayuli Jemide among others before you. What do you want to be the defining character of your Chairmanship? How should attendees expect this year’s conference to be uniquely different from the years before it?

All the previous SBL conferences have been very well organised, well attended and successful. The SBL conferences have always raised the bar in terms of their organisation and content. My intention is to ensure that this year’s conference maintains this tradition. We are building upon the structures, databases and other information that have been generated in the organisation of previous editions.

Having said that, we are making every effort to address and eliminate any shortcomings that may have been noticed with previous conferences. In particular, we aim for this year’s conference to be run strictly by the clock. We will not pander to that ubiquitous concept, known as “African Time”. Time is time, and last time I checked, it did not have a passport so as to be designated African or otherwise!

Every year for a decade now the Section on Business Law (SBL) of the NBA has hosted a conference that uniquely brings together regulators, lawyers and business executives- a powerful forum for influencing the way business is done in Nigeria and for shaping economic policy. These are tough times for the Nigerian economy. Can the Conference still influence the Nigerian economy today?

There is no doubt that these are tough times for the Nigerian economy. However, it is in times of crisis that some of the greatest and most far reaching economic advances are made in any country. We expect that the current economic crisis in Nigeria will serve as such a catalyst and we are seeing signs of this already. We have positioned this conference to assist in this process as best as we can. This is evident from the theme of the conference and the line-up of sessions and topics that we have put together. As the saying goes, “we must not waste a good crisis!”

This year’s theme is ‘Law Reform and Economic Develop-

Dr. Babatunde Ajibade SAN PHOTOS: Sunday Adigun

ment.’ To what extent will the present global economic downturn feature as a subject in the conference’s events and programs, given the current reality of shrinking economies and of tumbling oil prices, for us in Nigeria?

The global economic downturn and Nigeria’s response to it are central features of some of the conference’s events and programs.

Nigeria has long paid lip service to the need to diversify its economy away from being a monoculture economy solely focused on oil revenues for economic development. This is the reason why some of the conference sessions focus on some of the priority areas the current administration has identified as essential drivers for the diversification of the economy – namely the agriculture and solid minerals sectors. This is also why we have dedicated sessions to areas that deal with our investment laws as well as the ease of doing business in Nigeria. These sessions will deal

"WE WILL NOT PANDER TO THAT UBIQUITOUS CONCEPT, KNOWN AS ‘AFRICAN TIME’. TIME IS TIME, AND LAST TIME I CHECKED, IT DID NOT HAVE A PASSPORT SO AS TO BE DESIGNATED AFRICAN OR OTHERWISE!

with the legal regime in these areas and consider if and what law reform is needed to enable us achieve our economic goal of a robust and well diversified economy. The importance of these initiatives is underscored by the support we have received from the current administration and I am pleased to advise that the Ministers heading all the relevant ministries, Finance, Agriculture, Solid Minerals, Trade & Investment, amongst others have all confirmed their participation at the conference and will be playing prominent roles.

The Vice-President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo SAN, GCON will be a Guest Speaker at the Opening Ceremony speaking on “Africa Rising - Managing Africa’s Economies for the Benefit of its Peoples”. How should attendees expect the Government and regulators at the conference to demonstrate the tangible transition from good ideas to good policies that encourage good business practices in a productive economy?

I have great faith in the sincerity of the leadership of the present administration with regard to its genuine desire to manage the Nigerian economy for the benefit of its people. This, in my view, is a marked departure from the past. However, those in governance do not have the monopoly of wisdom and it is important that fora are created in which they can exchange ideas with the governed and with the economic intelligentsia and use them as a sounding board for some of these ideas even before these ideas crystallise into policies. Organisations such as the SBL and its parent body, the NBA, must create the platform for such exchanges to take place and that is what we

07.06.2016 "HOWEVER, IT IS IN TIMES OF CRISIS THAT SOME OF THE GREATEST AND MOST FAR REACHING ECONOMIC ADVANCES ARE MADE IN ANY COUNTRY. WE EXPECT THAT THE CURRENT ECONOMIC CRISIS IN NIGERIA WILL SERVE AS SUCH A CATALYST AND WE ARE SEEING SIGNS OF THIS ALREADY" expect will take place at this conference.

For the first time in many years the NBA-SBL is taking its annual conference back to the nation’s capital, Abuja. What informed this move?

This move was informed by the fact that this is a milestone annual conference, our 10th; by the fact that the NBA President, Mr. Augustine Alegeh, specifically requested that the conference be held in Abuja; and by the nature of the theme of the conference, Law Reform and Economic Development. We came to the conclusion very early on in our planning that it would be ideal to discuss Law Reform within earshot of the authorities that have the power to reform the law.

No matter where you are in Nigeria today doing business is extremely difficult. The World Bank’s ‘Ease of Doing Business Index’ measures different sets of indices that are comparative across 189 countries globally showing how businesses thrive or falter in different nations due to available infrastructure and ability to obtain regulatory/ administrative approvals. Nigeria is 169th in that ranking.

This perhaps is the most visible and globally transferable character of business in Nigeria, ‘difficulty’. So how does the NBA-SBL intend to tackle this poignant theme in this year’s conference?

The issues you have identified are the reason why we have a high powered session solely dedicated to addressing this topic and assessing the areas in which we may need to reform our laws in order to improve the ease of doing business in Nigeria and our rankings in this regard. This session will be chaired by the Honourable Minister of Trade & Investment Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah, who I am aware has also identified this as a priority area for his Ministry. I am also aware that the Senate and the House of Representatives also have on-going initiatives addressing this topic and our speaker for the session is one of the consultants who have been working on identifying the modalities for addressing these issues. We also have a distinguished panel of discussants made up of business persons, local and international, who feel the brunt of the difficulties in this area. We are hopeful that this session will provide insight into the causes of this challenge as well as proffer workable solutions that can be implemented immediately to ameliorate the situation.

There should, necessarily be a special relationship between Lawyers and Legislators. Lawyers make a practice of the law, Legislators make the law. It therefore goes without saying that when Lawyers want to influence business the starting point is dialogue with the Lawmakers. Can attendees at this year’s conference expect to find out about how Lawyers and Legislators are working to encourage business in Nigeria?

They most definitely can. Indeed, I make bold to say that the engagement between the Legislature and the business law community, as represented by the SBL and its parent body, the NBA, is currently at its highest level. There are on-going initiatives both at the Senate and at the House of Representatives to carry out a holistic review of all our business laws and both legislative houses have engaged actively with the NBA and the SBL to secure our input into this process. This process is on-going and will form part of the discussions at the opening premium plenary session on Thursday 23rd June 2016 on the conference theme, “Law Reform and Economic Development”.

Beyond creating the necessary legislative framework to support thriving business at both large and SME levels, it is imperative to actually ensure that good business practices

COVER/9 are created and protected by Government Policy. No one can legislate for how to do good business but the spirit of enterprise can be protected in Government Ministries and Departments integral to enabling business in Nigeria. Is this an approach worth taking? How can the NBA-SBL encourage Government to do this?

This is a truly significant point you make. It reminds me of the adage that “you can force a horse to the water but you can’t force it to drink”. I agree that putting the proper legislative framework in place is necessary but not a sufficient solution to establishing good business practices. There are a myriad number of other factors that come into play in establishing the right environment for business to thrive. Primary amongst these are a prompt and efficient system of commercial dispute resolution; a fully functional judicial system; and an efficient public service.

Whilst some of these can be put in place administratively by Government, a significant part of the success or otherwise of such initiatives will depend on a change in our orientation and attitude. Except we all, as Nigerians, take a collective decision to change our orientation and attitude away from one in which self-interest constantly and consistently takes precedence over the common good, it will be difficult if not impossible to create an environment in which good business can thrive and grow.

What format will this year’s conference be taking with regards to speaking arrangements and sessions?

The Conference Programme is very robust and covers a wide range of legal, economic and socio-political issues for deliberations.

The Conference will kick-off in earnest on the 22nd of June, 2016 at 6.00pm with an Opening Ceremony/Dinner to be addressed by our Guest Speaker and Special Guest of Honour, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, GCON, Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He will also declare the conference formally open.

The conference sessions will commence at 8.30am on Thursday 23rd June 2016 and they will all be plenary sessions. There will be 5 plenary sessions on Thursday 23rd June 2016 and another 5 plenary sessions on Friday 24th June 2016. These sessions will be interspersed with tea-breaks and lunch to provide adequate time for networking amongst participants at the conference. The topics to be covered in the order in which they will appear on the programme are: (1) LAW REFORM AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT – Is this the missing link?; (2) MANAGING NIGERIA’S ECONOMY – Is there a need for institutional reforms?; (3) VEHICLES FOR DOING BUSINESS: Is the CAMA fit for a modern growing economy?; (4) FUTURE PROSPECTS FOR THE OIL & GAS INDUSTRY – The challenge of reforming this slippery sector; (5) RESOLVING DISPUTES – Is the Arbitration and Conciliation Act still fit for purpose?; (6) MOVING NIGERIA UP THE LADDER IN THE EASE OF DOING BUSINESS METRICS? –Has anybody got a magic wand?; (7) PROMOTING COMMERCIAL AGRICULTURE AS AN IMPERATIVE – What is required to awaken this sleeping giant?; (8) NIGERIA’S SOLID MINERALS AS A SOURCE OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT – Tapping a latent resource; (9) POWER SECTOR REFORM – When will the lights come on?; and (10) VISION FOR NIGERIA’S INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT – What do we need to get there?

There is also a rich array of social events planned, which include a Cocktail and night of entertainment on Thursday and a Closing Party on Friday at which one of Nigeria’s most celebrated artistes will be performing.

Participants should expect an engaging, rich, diverse, deep, informative and far-reaching conference, where a carefully selected panel of speakers and discussants will be x-raying topical issues in great detail. The conference, as you will experience, is structured to bring value to a large target audience, the public sector, the private sector, the international investment community, the Judiciary and those in the informal sector of the economy.

"NIGERIA HAS LONG PAID LIP SERVICE TO THE NEED TO DIVERSIFY ITS ECONOMY AWAY FROM BEING A MONOCULTURE ECONOMY SOLELY FOCUSED ON OIL REVENUES FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT"

What is this year’s conference’s approach to engaging the Young Bar? How will the conference take advantage of this energetic segment of the NBA and perhaps tap into the enthusiasm and refreshing appeal they can bring to the NBA-SBL and this year’s conference?

Since inception, young lawyers have always been at the heart of the SBL and they traditionally form the bulk of our conference attendees. They have continued to show strong demonstrable passion and commitment to learning from and interacting with their senior colleagues. At every SBL conference, we give a substantial discount to young lawyers to encourage their participation and this year we have reduced the registration fees for young lawyers to N15,000. As we speak, we already have over 200 young lawyers who have registered online for this year’s conference.

One complaint lawyers have had over the years is that the NBA-SBL conference fees are on the high side and out of the reach of junior lawyers. Would there be differential fees this year taking this consideration into mind?

Yes there will be. As stated above, the conference fees for junior lawyers is a discounted fee of N15,000 as against N40,000 for more senior lawyers who are NBA-SBL members and N45,000 for non-members.

There are always a number of outstanding topics and compelling speakers at the NBA-SBL conference. What speakers and what headline sessions should we look out for this year?

Aside from His Excellency the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, GCON; other notable speakers and personalities who will be speaking at the conference are: Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN – The Honourable Minister of Power, Works and Housing; Mrs. Kemi Adeosun – The Honourable Minister of Finance; Chief Audu Ogbeh – The Honourable Minister of Agriculture; Dr. Kayode Fayemi – The Honourable Minister for Solid Minerals; Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah – The Honourable Minister for Trade & Investment; Honourable Justice Mahmoud Mohammed, FNJI, GCON – The Chief Justice of the Federation; Mallam Abubakar Malami, SAN – The Honourable Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation; Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila – The Majority Leader of the House of Representatives; and many others too numerous to list here.

The NBA-SBL conference and other conferences such as the NBA’s Annual Conference provide a unique opportunity to organisers like yourselves, for sampling, surveying and interacting with large and sometimes unprecedented audiences of lawyers, professionals and niche demographics within the wider body of these professionals. Does the NBA-SBL look to leverage these audiences by engaging them through new means, interactive tools, discussion breakout sessions, crowd surveys and so on?

This is not something we had considered. However, now that you have mentioned it, I consider it an idea well worth looking into. We will seize the opportunity of this conference to conduct a survey to find out how the delegates think our future conferences and events may be better organised and how the SBL may better serve their needs in general.

Registration and Logistics can make or break a conference of this size and importance. What are the plans for registration and how has the NBA-SBL planning committee ensured that the process is seamless and hassle free for attendees?

We are working hard to ensure that the logistics around this issue are adequately addressed. Our desire is to have as many delegates as possible register for the conference online and reduce registration at the venue of the conference to the barest minimum. In order to encourage this, we have offered discounted registration fees to all delegates who register online, prior to 1st of June 2016. Online registration will continue to be available up until 19th June but this will be at the full rate. We encourage as many delegates as possible to take advantage of the online registration. We have an experienced team dealing with registration and we are confident that the process will go smoothly.

Part of the NBA-SBL’s objectives has been to elevate the conference to allow for the building of unique international partnerships and the creation of a network of lawyers and business people from all over the world that provides access to Nigeria and Africa as a market. How is the NBA-SBL showcasing this achievements and objectives this year?

As you note, the NBA-SBL is an international business law conference and always attracts participation from our international colleagues and the international business community. This year is no different. We have speakers from neighbouring African countries of Cameroon and Ghana and also from the United Kingdom. We also have participation from several multinational organisations with operations in Nigeria. We have marketed the conference to various organisations such as the Law Society of England & Wales and the Ghana Bar Association amongst others and we expect a good turnout of international delegates.

Does attendance at this year’s NBA-SBL conference confer Continuous Legal Education (CLE) points?

Yes, through the NBA’s Institute of Continuing Legal Education.

The Bar should maintain a healthy appetite for growth, development and diversity and with that in mind are there any new segments of the NBA-SBL not seen before, niche areas of practice gaining interest and presenting a new perspective on the SBL? The leadership of the NBA-SBL is always keen to promote the development of new segments of practice and areas of specialisation.

However, these developments have to be driven by practitioners who practice in or would like to develop practice in that area of the law. Currently the NBA-SBL has 19 sub-committees dealing with diverse areas of specialisation ranging from Arbitration and ADR to Travel, Hospitality and Tourism. If members show interest in developing new sub-committees, the NBA-SBL leadership is always willing to support such initiatives.

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07.06.2016

‘Why Nigeria Continues to Rank Low in World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Ranking’ Mr Tunde Esan, an expert in corporate practice spoke to Tobi Soniyi on how to make Nigeria an investors' destination of choice and on other raging issues.

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igeria continues to rank very low in terms of World Bank's ranking of countries on ease of doing business. Why is this so? What steps should the country take to reverse this negative trend?

Let us start with something as simple as incorporating a company with the Corporate Affairs Commission. How do you explain to anyone that it takes you at least fourteen (14) days to complete the registration of a business? How do you explain to anyone that you pay as many as eighteen (18) different taxes in respect of your business in some States? How do you explain the incidences of multiple taxation to a prospective investor? How do you explain in a manner that makes sense the difference between VAT and Sales Tax and when he tells you that he read online that Sales Tax has been abolished, how do you explain that the power of the State Internal Revenue Service to charge it in some States has been upheld by some State High Courts? How do you explain to anyone that a State Governor may wake up one day and direct that branches of banks operating in his State be shut down by his thugs whereas the company itself has paid its Companies Income Tax to the Federal Inland Revenue Service? And if there are issues what is the average turnaround time for resolving a dispute through litigation? We have to realise that the competition for every investment dollar is fierce and while population, may on the face of it provide us with an advantage, the layers of difficulties in doing business is a natural turnoff.

We may need to ask ourselves how Cotonou is a maritime hub in West Africa whilst 98 per cent of the goods discharged in that town end up in Nigeria? What is the difficulty in making our ports the maritime destinations of choice for West and Central Africa? The same officialese, administrative bottlenecks, crippling bureaucracy, lack of transparency applicable in the operations of the Ports is prevalent in every sector and until these are dealt with we will continue to be unattractive to investors.

Multiple taxation is also making it difficult for companies to operate in Nigeria. Can you identify instances of multiple taxation.

How do we streamline the tax system and make it more investor friendly?

Our tax system is chaotic. You may look at the Taxes and Levies (Approved List for Collection) Decree (now Act) 1998 and on the face of it there seems to be a clear demarcation as to the taxes each tier of Government may assess and collect but in practice how does it work? When a State is allowed to charge consumption taxes how does this differ from Value Added Tax charged

by FIRS on behalf of the Federal Government?

Operators and Owners of Casinos, Betting Shops, Games and Lottery have resigned to paying both the States and Federal Government taxes for licensing and operations since both tiers of Government have turned themselves into licensing, regulatory and taxing authorities.

The same is applicable to dredging operations and activities on Inland Waterways. When you look at the sophistry contained in the Land Use Charge Law and how the collection of Tenement Rate was “delegated” to the State Government by the Local Governments willy-nilly you will marvel at what citizens, both corporate and individual, experience under the tax regimes in Nigeria. I have mentioned earlier the closure of branches of banks by taxing authorities of State and Local Governments and base stations of telecommunications companies. In providing a panacea, the starting point is the legality of the Taxes and Levies (Approved List for Collection) Act of 1998 with its amendments. This was a Decree passed into law under a Military regime and while one is not unmindful of the fact that Decrees upon our assumption unto democracy are treated as if they were Acts of the National Assembly, can the National Assembly under the fiscal independence enjoyed by the federating units make binding laws for the constituent States on taxation since the States are not appendages of the Federal Government and they have their independent Houses of Assemblies make laws for them? Is taxation on all matters contained in the Exclusive List? Is there really any law stopping any State from imposing its own Laws totally and without circumspection as long as the laws are not caught by the inconsistency rule as provided for in the Constitution? While the poser is worth a debate, one's humble view is that all the tiers of Government should agree on clearly defined taxes to be paid, the rates as well as the taxing authorities; there should be another look at the jurisdiction of the Tax Appeals Tribunals viz a viz the exclusive jurisdiction of the Federal High Court on taxation so that dispute as to taxation can be quickly resolved and it is also critical that citizens are not coerced into payments of multiple taxation by arms wielding agents of taxing authorities who by force of arms on public roads seize their vehicles, threaten them with physical harm and force them to pay 'tax'. Every tax payer who disputes a tax assessment must have access to every remedy provided by the law to contest an assessment he disagrees with.

One of the ways through which government plans to fund the 2016 budget is to widen the tax nets: by making sure more people pay tax. What is your take on this? Should the government also consider increase in tax in view of this hard time?

The question again is what are the attributes and qualities of a good tax system. From a purely theoretical point of view the Government funds its activities from exacting taxes on the citizens but how do you fund your activities from people whom you have not provided jobs for from which they can earn income which you can then tax or provide the enabling environment for them to create employment for themselves? One of the absurdities of CIT in Nigeria is the imposition of minimum tax on juristic persons with the implications that a company begins to eat into its share capital when it consistently declares a loss to pay tax on non-existent income. On the issue of widening the tax base, what is the income

Tunde Esan

quality of the individuals being brought into the tax net so that the cost of enforcement does not exceed the targeted revenue? The Government should do more to create jobs which in turn lead to income which the Government can then tax. It is a circle. If you want to copy what is obtainable in climes where tax oils the wheel of governance then the Government must be ready to do what Governments of those countries do for their citizens Last week, Government announced a policy of allowing companies to participate in infrastructural development by granting them tax holidays. Along this line, Dangote has got approval to construct Obajana-Kabba Road in Kogi State. Is this the right way to go?

If you look critically at the provisions of the Land Use Act, can the Federal Government acquire land for public purpose from the concerned State Government and turn the same over to Dangote under any form of arrangement to profit from the same? I have raised this poser without immediately answering your question to draw your attention to how our laws can impede investment and development in Nigeria.

The Lagos State Government is in the process of signing transactional papers for the funding of the 38km long 4th Mainland Bridge and it will need the consent of the Federal Government to build a bridge over the waters in its own State.

Imagine if the permission would have been given if the Government at the centre was a different political party. We all can still remember what happened when Bola Tinubu was the Governor of Lagos State and he wanted to build power stations with another political party in power at the Centre. All over the world tax incentives are granted to encourage investment and it is a laudable idea that investors are showing interest in tackling the infrastructural deficits but we need to holistically look at all our laws to ensure that laws which impede investment are repealed. We also need to discourage petty politics ruining attempts by investors to play more roles in our development. When we remember the Bi Courtney/FG issue at the MMA; the Lagos State/ Federal Government/Investors issue over the sales of buildings by the Federal Government in Lagos and how the Lekki Concession Company’s concession at Lekki became a campaign issue during the gubernatorial election in Lagos State a lot needs to be done in addition to tax holidays in encouraging more investors to participate in addressing the infrastructural deficits.

There is a renewed agitation for increase in minimum wage. Should there be a federal government fixed minimum wage or should each state be allowed to have its minimum wage? What is the basis for your position?

Federalism presupposes that each State should determine the wage it can pay but Federalism also presupposes that each State should exploit and manage all resources within its geographical space. Federalism presupposes that you should not collect VAT on beer consumption in Enugu State and distribute a portion of it to Borno State where beer consumption is widely frowned at.

Federalism presupposes that a State Governor who is the CSO of a State should have control over the Police in his State and not be so cuckolded that he cannot even control a Constable. We keep mouthing federalism whereas what we have is a Unitary System of government with all the powers concentrated in one man called the President, whom if he so desires can amend the text of an existing law. Truth is as far as we run the system we run the way we run it collective bargaining will continue to rule pertaining to wages of workers in the public sector and the burden of States spending the bulk of their allocations

from the Centre on the recurrent expenditure of paying salaries will continue. The day true federalism is introduced will be the beginning of each State paying according to its capacity.

How best in your opinion should the government resolve the disagreement between it and Labour over the increase in pump price of premium motor spirit? Is it a matter for the court? Or could it be resolved through alternative disputes resolution?

As a preliminary point, it is interesting that this administration which has consistently upbraided the Judiciary as the weak link in its fight against corruption would seek the validation of the same Judiciary to delegitimise the strike action of Organised Labour. Beyond that, on a theoretical plane, it was laudable of the Federal Government to approach the Industrial Court to wade into a Labour dispute but on a practical note has this Government seriously sat to reflect on its economic policies and its effects on the already impoverished citizenry? How are workers who have not been paid for months on end to afford a litre of petrol at N145? How do these workers combine the increment in electricity tariffs by 45 per cent despite a restraining order on NERC with this increment in the pump price of PMS? How does an employer who has foreign components to his business source for forex at almost N400 to USD$1 and you still expect him to retain his workforce? It is easy to argue for a recourse to the Court but beyond that unless this administration realises quickly that there is widespread hunger in the land and that fanciful economic jargon and experimentation can only go so far, the Government may be dealing soon with social rebellion on such a scale that neither the Courts nor alternative dispute resolution may be able to handle.

Corruption has been blamed for the situation the country has found itself in. Every successive governments has tried to address corruption but so far Nigeria continues to be rated as one of the most corrupt countries in the world. What is it we are doing wrong?

How should we address the fight against corruption?

We need to start by collectively agreeing that we want to live together as one and be bold enough to admit that there is nothing sacrosanct about the inviolability of Nigerian State. Countries regularly do referendums to determine if an indigenous constituent part of the country wants to remain a part of the Union or not. Having decided that we want to stay together, we need to give ourselves a Constitution that will allay the fears of members of the over 250 ethnic nations making up the Country and that tongue or tribe is not an inhibition to self-actualisation within the system. We need to invest massively in education for an ignorant mind is easy to manipulate. We must develop a national goal and pull in the same direction. We must have strong adherence to the rule of law and infractions must be punished irrespective of whose ox is gored.

Long held beliefs must be confronted. Can you rear cattle and in the process destroy kill and maim and there is no repercussion? Can you kidnap, blow up pipelines under any guise?

Can you under the guise of an ethnic militia levy war against people in your jurisdiction?

The battle against corruption will be hard and brutal. It is a mind-set. From the stealing of biro at the office to the missing trillions being bandied all over. There is disconnect between the people and the State and its resources. The resources of the State are seen as spoils of war and getting to the point of seeing the same as instruments for development will take a while.

Concern has also been expressed on possible infraction of rule of law in the fight against corruption. Is this concern justified?

I listened to the President’s interview on Al Jazeera on how certain individuals sat down as if they were having dinner and shared USD$2.1 billion. Fact is no matter how heinous these allegations are they remain in the realm of allegations and it is the duty of the prosecution to prove its case. This constant herding of people to detention and thereafter seeking remand orders from magistrates in order to conclude investigations smirks of deliberately trying to break the spirit of the accused person. We all want corruption to be dealt with but if you stigmatias the Judiciary in the process and people lose faith in the rule of law it would be a sad day for everyone.

Will you support the merging of EFCC and ICPC? In the present state of our development I do not mind the existence of a plethora of anti-graft agencies provided they are seen to be working and not just taking up space with no value.

07.06.2016

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The Corporate Manslaughter Bill Ekene Ebenuwah-Okwumo

T

he Corporate Manslaughter Bill (the Bill) recently passed the 2nd reading in the Senate.

It is widely believed that if the Bill is passed, it would be a landmark legislation, as for the first time in Nigeria; corporations may be found guilty of corporate negligence and dereliction of duty.

The Bill, if passed into law, would create the offence of Corporate Manslaughter which seeks to punish corporate negligence and dereliction of duty leading to the death of a person.

The material aspects of the Bill are provided below: • Corporate Manslaughter: The objective of the Bill is to create the offence of corporate manslaughter which seeks to make corporate bodies, government ministries, partnerships or trade unions liable for corporate negligence, dereliction of duty and incompetence which results in the death of a person.

Manslaughter is the unlawful killing of a person without malice which may be voluntary; upon a sudden heat of passion, or involuntary; in the commission of an unlawful act or a lawful act without due caution.

The Bill provides that the offence of corporate manslaughter is committed by any organisation, agency and/or corporation which, by its activities, causes the occurrence of any event, however remote, (whether out of negligence, dereliction of duty and incompetence) which results in the death of another person.

• Companies The Bill shall apply to companies duly incorporated, companies that have not been incorporated but are carrying on business in Nigeria, Government ministries and parastatals, partnerships or trade union. This implies that the Bill shall apply not only to companies duly incorporated in Nigeria under the Companies and Allied Matters Act, LFN 2004 but also to companies that have not been incorporated but are carrying on business in Nigeria.

The Bill is an attempt to curb the incidence of gross negligence and dereliction of duty by companies and government ministries making them liable not only for the Tort of negligence but also for the offence of manslaughter resulting

from the negligence. This would help ensure that the organisations to which the Bill applies put in place adequate health and safety measures in their operations.

• Relevant Duty of Care A duty of care is a legal obligation which is imposed on an individual requiring adherence to a standard of reasonable care while performing any act that could foreseeably harm others. A breach of this duty of care subjects the person in breach to liability.

By the provision of the Bill, a relevant duty of care in relation to the organisation is any one of the several duties of care owed by the organisation under the law of negligence, in the following circumstances: a) A duty owed by the organisation to its employees or other persons working for the company or performing services for it; b) A duty owed as an occupier of premises; c) A duty owed in connection with the supply of goods and services to the organisation; d) A duty owed in connection with the construction or maintenance operation carried out by the organisation; e) A duty owed by the organisation when carrying on any activity on a commercial basis.

Furthermore, the Bill makes provision for particular duties of care owed to persons who are held in custody. The Bill provides that a duty of care is owed to a person if: - He is detained at a custodial institution or in a custody area at a court or police station; - He is detained at a removal centre or a short term facility; - He is transported into a vehicle or being held in any premises, in pursuance of prison escort arrangements or immigration escort arrangement; - He is living in a secure accommodation in which he has been placed and - He is a detained patient.

The question as to whether an organisation, government agency or partnership is guilty of a breach of duty of care is one of law to be determined by the court.

• Exemptions The Bill exempts public policies, Armed Forces (the Military, Navy, and Air Force), Ministry of Defense, Police Force and law enforcement, peace keeping operations and operations for dealing with terrorism and civil unrest, fire services and rescue authorities of the Federal and State Government, and Emergency Management agencies from the application of the Bill.

• Penalty The Bill, if passed into law, shall make organisations, agencies and bodies to which it applies liable to a fine of not less than N500,000.00 but not more than N5,000,000.00.

Also, the Bill grants the court the discretion of making a remedial order requiring the organisation to take specified steps to remedy any breach of duty of care that has been the cause of death and any health and safety measures in the company.

Furthermore, the Bill provides that in addition to the liability of the organisation, any person or group of persons who carries out a legitimate duty negligently leading to the death of another person shall be guilty of the offence of accessory to corporate manslaughter and is liable on conviction to a minimum of three years imprisonment or a maximum of seven years imprisonment or the payment of a fine of not less than N100,000.00 but not more than N1,000,000.00 This provision of the Bill applies to persons who negligently fail to carry out their primary responsibilities, supervisors and senior management officers of the organisations who are regarded as the controlling mind of the organisation and are in charge of making decisions on behalf of the company

• Court with Jurisdiction The Bill vests jurisdiction to try the offence of corporate manslaughter or accessory to corporate manslaughter on either the State High Court or the Federal High Court.

We are of the considered view that, the appropriate court should be the State High Court and not the Federal High Court. Section 251 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), provides for the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court and does not lists the offence of corporate manslaughter as one of the items for which the Federal High Court has jurisdiction.

Conclusion As with every law, there certainly will be lacunas. However, the Bill is a welcome and desirable piece of legislation, if passed. It may appear that the penalties proposed by the Bill are inadequate. The essence of penalty in any legislation is to ensure compliance with the provision of the legislation. Where the penalty is inadequate then it can be expected that the provision of the legislation would be observed more in breach than in compliance.

Ekene Ebenuwah- Okwumo is a Corporate Governance Associate at Solola & Akpana.

She practices out of the Firm’s Port Harcourt office.

The Art of Mediation: How To Listen

Abimbola Adeluwoye

W

ith the recent strides in technology, we have developed ways and means of having alternative conversations that do not necessarily make use of spoken speech. We have excused visual conversations for virtual ones and have learnt to morph language to suit this need. Most of us have become very adept at typing on our devices simply because we spend a lot of time on them. Most of us have equally lost our ability to listen because it seems to be less and less of a requirement in this age. As Sound Expert, Julian Treasure said “We are slowly losing our listening”.

The art of reading between the lines and the ability to pick up non-verbal cues are learnt through listening. Non–verbal cues are generally grouped under Kinesics (eye contact, facial expression, body language); haptics (touch); and proxemics (personal space). We read these cues in everyday conversations without necessarily being aware of them.

One of the major strengths of mediation is that it allows parties speak. Whether mediating an Oil Lease Dispute or a Divorce, parties are able to move away from legal rights to birth creative solutions by themselves through dialogue. The courts would strive to restore the wronged party as best as it can. But other equally important issues such as egos that have been bruised, regard that has not been given, integrity that has been

questioned, recognition that has been deprived, or apologies that have not been made, are sometimes beyond the mechanical nature of the law. Often we hear a party tell his Lawyer “It’s not even about the money. But how dare he question my integrity?” A party who understands that what the other party may truly want is an apology or an effort to right a perceived or actual wrong is almost home free. Mediation creates an outlet for understanding these wants which, arguably, are the real matters in dispute. But how do we hear this in Mediation when we don’t know how to listen, or worse still, we think we are listening but are not?

How do you know when someone you are in conversation with is not paying attention? What is it that makes you feel something that is being said to you does not really match the impression you are getting? What is it that even gives you the impression in the first place?

It has been said that “though the clearest form of expression is speech, up to 70% of all communication is non-verbal, that is, body language”. In essence, the true value of what I do is not in what I do, but what I do while doing it. I may appear to be listening and even convey the poses a la cocked head, steady gaze, nodding intermittently, and such other agreeable gestures that I may come up with. Meanwhile, the mind is miles away. As Diana Schilling wrote in Forbes Magazine “genuine listening has become a rare gift”.

This (mimicking listening poses) shows that we know exactly what to do to show the other party

that they have our undivided attention. It is not the purpose of this article to exactly go through them again, but rather, to draw attention to the psychological ploys we need to avoid and indeed what we ourselves and the global environment have unconsciously influenced as listening.

The first point to note, as mundane as it sounds, is that there is a difference between listening and hearing. Vision is one of the best things we do predictably. So is hearing. To quote research; “hearing is simply the act of perceiving sound by the ear.

Listening however is something you consciously choose to do. Listening requires concentration so that your brain processes meaning from sound”.

Hearing is automatic. We do it by rote. Listening on the other hand takes practice; it takes intention.

People are often inclined to the views they take on things. The purpose of Mediation is to seek the other view and understand what is being said. We can only do this successfully by listening. Listening creates dialogue and dialogue oils Mediation.

The secondpoint to note is that listening is not waiting to talk. Sometimes we are so keyed into the adversarial mode that we use this time to gather intelligence for rebuttal and not to birth creative solutions which is what mediation is about. We do not listen to understand; we listen to reply. Especially when emotions are high. Parties need to understand that their counterparts are not necessarily disturbed by the things being said, but by the views taken on them. This is why it is expedient to take advantage of what mediation provides: An opportunity to step back, listen and

reevaluate opinions. Most misunderstandings in such disputes could be resolved by simply asking “What else could this mean?” No better organ convinces of your sincerity and commitment in resolving a dispute than the ear. Listening remains the best means of persuasion.

Now, either because of wandering thoughts or disinterest in what is being said, our minds constantly sieve what it considers worth listening to and ignores what it feels is not. It perhaps favours the loudest noise (coming from the conversations in our heads) of what we want to say while pretending to listen to the other party speaking to us. This is referred to as “controlled impairment”; and many, many of us, fall prey to this at our own peril. You cannot selectively listen to what is being said in Mediation. It does not help the process.

Mediation requires a temporary suspension of self. As easy as it sounds, it is very difficult for most to achieve. Parties tend to think that once they can surmise the gist of the matter, they can “switch off” till it is time for them to speak; only that they end up confusing opinions for facts.

It is a huge disservice to think and act this way; not just to the other party who requires the audience, but even to the party who acts so and it is clearly not for the benefit of the process. As he who comes to equity must come with clean hands, he who comes to Mediation must come with listening ears. It is imperative for the alternative resolution we seek.

Abimbola Adeluwoye is an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitration (CIArb)

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07.06.2016

The Judgment Debtor in Garnishee Proceedings: Spectator Or Party?

Jokpa Utake

T

he issue of whether the judgment debtor can or should be regarded as a party to garnishee proceedings repeatedly confronts Nigerian judges and legal practitioners and ultimately dominates most garnishee proceedings at trial courts and constitutes a major point for consideration on appeal.

There appears to be a significant level of judicial inconsistency and uncertainty on the point. This paper contends that the controversy is needless as the relevant statutory provisions disclose an unambiguous legislative intent.

Introduction In most jurisdictions, litigation has been and will continue to be a long-winded path in the almost-inevitable quest for dispute resolution.

Usually, civil litigation may lead to the award of monetary claims in favour of the claimant(s) and against the defendant(s). Upon such award, the next hurdle before the successful claimant is to enforce payment of the judgment sum. In this regard, the law provides various modes by which such enforcement may be achieved.

Over the years, litigants and legal practitioners in Nigeria have come to regard garnishee proceedings as the most effective way of obtaining payment of judgment debts. This is largely due to the delay, inefficiency and ineptitude associated with the ‘regular’ judgment enforcement procedures including the writs of fifa and sequestration. These writs have the unattractive feature of involving a frustrating blend of judicial and administrative procedures which may drag even longer than the substantive suit which resulted in the judgment sought to be enforced.

The preference for garnishee proceedings appears to be informed by the fact that commercial banks and other financial institutions, which are usually named as garnishees, tend to promptly comply with orders of court made in respect of garnishee proceedings. This willingness is not unrelated to the need for these banks and financial institutions to portray themselves as responsible and law-abiding corporate citizens.

This situation has resulted in the adoption of the garnishee mode of enforcement by most judgment creditors. As expected, the frequency of garnishee proceedings before the courts has culminated in the judicial consideration of certain salient issues relating to such proceedings and the development of what may be regarded as the body of principles governing such proceedings.

A workable definition of terms for the purpose of this paper can be derived from the decision in CBN v AUTO IMPORT EXPORT (2013)2 NWLR (Pt. 1337)80 at 126 where the Court of Appeal explained as follows: The term ‘garnish’ as a verb, means (i) to subject a (property) to garnishment; (ii) to attach a property held by a third party in order to satisfy a debt; (iii) to notify a person, bank, etc of a pendency of a garnishment proceeding that has been undertaken and that he (it) may be liable as stakeholder or custodian of the defendants’ property. Hence, the term ‘garnishee’ denotes a person or an institution (e.g. a bank) that is either indebted to, or is bailed for another, whose property has been subjected to garnishment. Also termed ‘garnishee – defendant’….

Garnishment is a(n) ... inquisitorial proceeding, affording a harsh and extraordinary remedy. It is an anomaly, a statutory invention sui generis, with no affinity to any action known to the common law… It is a method of seizure; but it is not a ‘levy’ in the usual acceptation of that term. It is a proceeding by which a diligent creditor may legally obtain preference over other creditors; and it is in the nature of a creditor’s bill or a sequestration of the effects of a debtor in the hands of his debtor.

Overview of Garnishee Proceedings Part V of the Sheriffs and Civil Process Act (SCPA) 2004 constitutes the primary statutory framework for garnishee proceedings in Nigeria.

As would be observed anon, a proper and holistic understanding of garnishee proceedings requires a combined reading of the SCPA and the Judgment (Enforcement) Rules made pursuant to section 94 of the SCPA. In this regard, section 83(1) of the

SCPA provides that: The court may, upon the ex-parte application of any person who is entitled to the benefit of a judgment for the recovery or payment of money, either before or after any oral examination of the debtor liable under such judgment and upon affidavit by the applicant or his legal practitioner, that judgment has been recovered and that it is still unsatisfied and to what amount, and that any other person is indebted to such debtor and is within the State, order that debts owing from such third person, hereinafter called the garnishee, to such debtor shall be attached to satisfy the judgment or order, together with the costs of the garnishee proceedings and by the same or any subsequent order it may be ordered, that the garnishee shall appear before the court to show why he should not pay to the person who has obtained such judgment or order the debt due from him to such debtor or so much thereof as may be sufficient to satisfy the judgment or order together with costs aforesaid.

The above provision can be broken down as follows: i) The court may grant a garnishee order (nisi) upon the ex-parte application of the judgment creditor; ii) The judgment creditor’s ex-parte application shall be supported by an affidavit stating inter alia that the judgment has been recovered and that it is still unsatisfied and to what amount; (a literal construction of this provision reveals that the garnishee procedure should only be adopted after the judgment debt has been partly recovered perhaps by some other judgment enforcement procedure. This is contrary to the prevailing practice where the garnishee procedure is usually the first mode of enforcement.) iii) The judgment creditor’s affidavit should also state that any other person is indebted to the judgment debtor and is within the State; iv) The garnishee order (nisi) is to the effect that debts owing from a third person (the garnishee) to the judgment debtor shall be attached to satisfy the judgment debt together with the costs of the garnishee proceedings; v) It may also be ordered that the garnishee shall appear before the court to show cause why he should not pay to the judgment creditor the debt due from him to the judgment debtor.

In NDUBUISI & ORS v JOPANPUTRA & ANOR in re: Diamond Bank Ltd (2002) 17 NWLR (Pt. 795)120 at 133, Aderemi JCA (as he then was) explained garnishee proceedings as follows: It behooves a successful plaintiff who does not want to lose the fruits of his victory to move fast against the assets of the judgment debtor to realise the fruits.

One of such methods is to obtain the order of court to attach any debt owing to the judgment debtor from any person or body within the jurisdiction of the court to satisfy the judgment debt. That process is known as ‘attachment of debt’. And it is a separate and distinct action between the plaintiff/judgment creditor and the person or body holding in custody the assets of the judgment debt, although it flows from the judgment that pronounces the debt owing. A successful plaintiff, in his quest to move fast against the assets usually makes an application ex-parte for an order in that direction. If the application brought ex-parte is adjudged to be meritorious, a Judge will make an order which is technically known as a garnishee order nisi attaching the debt due or accruing due to the judgment debtor from such person or body who from the moment of making the order is called the garnishee. The order also carries a directive on the garnishee to appear and show cause why he should not pay to the judgment

creditor the debt owed by it to the judgment debtor or so much of it as may suffice to satisfy his claim.

Similarly, the Supreme Court per Akintan JSC held in UBN PLC v BONEY MARCUS IND. LTD (2005)13 NWLR (Pt. 943)654 at 666 that: Garnishee proceedings are a process of enforcing a money judgment by the seizure or attachment of the debts due or accruing to the judgment debtor which form part of his property available in execution. It is therefore a specie of execution of debts for which the ordinary methods of execution are inapplicable. By this process, the court has power to order a third party to pay direct to the judgment creditor the debt due or accruing due from him to the judgment debtor, or as much of it as may be sufficient to satisfy the amount of the judgment and the costs of the garnishee proceedings.

Upon the issuance of the garnishee order nisi under section 83(1) of the SCPA, it is required under section 83(2) of the SCPA that a copy of the said order nisi should be served on the garnishee and on the judgment debtor at least fourteen days before the day of hearing. This requirement of service has been held to be a mandatory precursor to the issuance of a garnishee order absolute. In CROSS RIVER STATE FORESTRY COMMISSION & ANOR v ANWAN & ORS (2014) All FWLR (Pt. 712)1823 at 1830 the Court of Appeal stated the position as follows: Section 83(2) of the Sheriff and Civil Process Act provides that the judgment debtor must be served the order nisi. This is a condition precedent to the granting of the order absolute. Failure to serve the judgment debtors the order nisi is a fundamental error that robs the court of the necessary vires to continue with this proceeding. (Emphasis mine) The effect of service of the order nisi on the garnishee is stipulated in section 85 of the SCPA. The said provision states that such service shall bind the debt in the hands of the garnishee. This provision was explained in CBN v KRAUS THOMPSON ORGANISATION LTD (2002)5 NWLR (Pt. 765)139 at 154 as follows: It is the law that once a garnishee order nisi has been made in respect of a judgment debtor’s money kept in a garnishee’s possession, then the garnishee must refrain from dealing in any way with such money until it has shown cause as required and by the law and until the order has either been made absolute or discharged.

Upon service of the order nisi on the garnishee, there are primarily two possibilities and attendant consequences envisaged under the SCPA as well as the Judgment Enforcement Rules. The first possibility is that the garnishee does not dispute the debt due or claimed to be due from him to the judgment debtor. In such circumstance, the garnishee is required to pay the attached amount into court within eight (8) days of the service of the order nisi (86 SCPA and Order VIII Rule 5 of the Judgment Enforcement Rules). Under section 86 of the SCPA, if the garnishee fails to make this payment and also fails to appear (upon summons) before the court, …the court upon proof of service may order execution to issue, and it may issue accordingly without any previous writ or process, to levy the amount due from such garnishee, or so much thereof as may be sufficient to satisfy the judgment or order, together with the costs of the garnishee proceedings.

The second possibility is that the garnishee may appear and dispute his liability to the judgment debtor. In practice, upon receipt of the order nisi, most banks react by filing an “affidavit to show cause” which sets out the amount standing to the credit of the judgment debtor. However, a strict application of the SCPA and Judgment Enforcement

Rules indicate that once such order is received and the garnishee has no basis to dispute liability to the judgment debtor, the garnishee ought to pay the attached sum into court rather than filing an affidavit which only states the account balance of the judgment debtor. In this regard, section 87 of the SCPA provides that the court, instead of making an order that execution shall issue, may order that any issue or question necessary for determining the garnishee’s liability be tried or determined in any manner in which any issue or question in any proceedings may be tried or determined, or may refer the matter to a referee.

Furthermore, section 88 of the SCPA provides that whenever in any garnishee proceedings it is suggested by the garnishee that the debt sought to be attached belongs to some third person or that any third person has a lien or charge upon it, the court may order such third person to appear and state the nature and particulars of his claim upon such debt. If the third person does not appear, the court, upon proof of service of the order, may proceed to make an order as if such person had appeared (section 89 of the SCPA).

In the final analysis, section 91 of the SCPA provides that payment made by or execution levied upon a garnishee under any such proceedings constitutes a valid discharge of the garnishee against the judgment debtor to the amount paid or levied.

Interestingly, this discharge remains operative even if the garnishee proceeding is subsequently set aside or the substantive judgment/order against the judgment debtor is reversed. In such a situation, it appears the law expects the judgment debtor to seek a refund or otherwise proceed against the judgment creditor.

Parties to Garnishee proceedings From the above overview, it can be easily deduced that, at least, three parties are involved or envisaged in garnishee proceedings. On one hand, there is the ‘person who is entitled to the benefit of a judgment’, that is, the judgment creditor. There is also the ‘debtor liable under such judgment’, that is, the judgment debtor. Finally, there is ‘the person indebted to such debtor’ and known as the garnishee.

Notwithstanding the mandatory requirement of service of the garnishee order nisi on the garnishee and judgment debtor, it has become a recurring issue before the courts as to whether or not a judgment debtor should be regarded as a party to garnishee proceedings. In this regard, the judicial pronouncements on the issue appear to have occasioned further uncertainty and confusion.

On one hand, the courts have taken the view that a judgment debtor is not a party to garnishee proceedings and cannot be heard therein. It would appear that the rationale for this proposition is that all that needs to be heard from the judgment debtor has been heard before judgment was entered against him. In other words, a man who had no tenable reason to prevent the entry of judgment against him cannot be said to have a justifiable reason to prevent the attachment of his funds in the hands of a third party towards the satisfaction of the said judgment.

For instance, in HON. JUSTICE DENTONWEST v CHIEF CHUKS MUOMA SAN (2008)6 NWLR (Pt. 1083)418 at 442, the Court of Appeal per Kekere-Ekun JCA (as she then was) held inter alia that a judgment debtor is neither a party to a garnishee proceeding nor an aggrieved party that can appeal on a garnishee order nisi. The learned Justice stated that: There is no doubt that garnishee proceedings are separate proceedings between the judgment creditor and the person or body who has custody of the assets of the judgment debtor, even though it flows from the judgment that pronounced the debt owing.

In NITEL PLC v I.C.I.C. (DIRECTORY PUBLISHERS) LTD (2009)16 NWLR (Pt. 1167)356 at 389-390 the same court held, in rather extreme fashion, that: Having found as earlier on stated that, the judgment debtor is a total stranger to a garnishee proceeding, especially after a garnishee order absolute has been made, it becomes manifestly clear that he, that is, the judgment debtor, cannot be heard on it except in a proper appeal.

In CROSS RIVER STATE FORESTRY COMMISSION & ANOR v ANWAN &

CONTINUED ON PAGE 13

07.06.2016

THE LIGHTER SIDE/13

LEGAL HUMOUR

We Hold Your Brief JUDE IGBANOI jude.igbanoi@thisdaylive.com

Dear Counsel, I am Ibo while my wife is Yoruba. I did our traditional marriage with her 19 years ago. Since then it would require pleading before my wife would attend church or my family meetings. Now she neither attends church or family meetings, but has time to attend friends’ club.

She is fond of attending parties and she is not always around to bring up the kids. This is apart from other negative attitudes which space would not permit me to mention.

What legal steps can I take to divorce her?

Chukwu Enweniwe, Abuja.

Dear Mr. Enweniwe, I must let you know that divorce proceedings in court are somehow tedious and often times take a fairly long time to conclude.

However, the Matrimonial Causes Act Chapter 220 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1992 makes very broad and explicit provisions for divorce.

Jurisdiction is vested in state High Courts.

You must avail yourself of the services of a good lawyer who will explain to you the complex process.

For instance, there are provisions in the Act for a decree nisi or a decree absolute, which the judge will apply at his discretion. Others include nullity of a voidable marriage or nullity of a void marriage, judicial separation; restitution of conjugal rights; or jactitation of marriage.

These actions may be instituted under the Act only by a person domiciled in Nigeria.

S.11 for instance provides for Judge to adjourn to allow couple an opportunity for a possible reconciliation.

In your case, the court may require you to prove under 15. (1) that the marriage has broken down irretrievably.

You must also bear in mind that at the end of the proceedings, the court may make orders as provided for under S. 69 – 75 for maintenance and custody of the children.

Discus these and the specific details of the matter with your lawyer to arrive at a sound decision.

The Judge: You may call your next witness.

Defendant's Attorney: Your Honour, at this time I would like to hit [opposing counsel] on the head with his client's deposition.

The Judge: You mean read it?

Defendant's Attorney: No, Sir. I mean to hit him on the head with it. Pursuant to Rule 32, I may use the deposition "for any purpose" and that's the purpose I want to use it for.

The Judge: Well, it does say that.

Quiet pause.

The Judge: There being no objection, you may proceed.

Defendant's Attorney: Thank you, Judge.

Thereafter, Defendant's attorney hit plaintiff's attorney on the head with the deposition.

Plaintiff's Attorney (the victim): But Judge ...

The Judge: Next witness.

Plaintiff's Attorney: ... We object.

The Judge: Sustained. Next witness Lawyer: Does Quicken have -- strike that. Did the Quicken program that you acquired have a capcity to generate a financial statement?

Witness: Yes. Lawyer: Was Quicken a -- was the Quicken program that you -- when did you -- I'm sorry. Let me start over.

When was the Quicken program first acquired?

Witness: January 1st of 1992.

Lawyer: I don't know what I'd do if I weren't so articulate. It's been the key to my success so far.

Defendant: Judge, I want you to appoint me another lawyer.

Judge: And why is that?

Defendant: Because the Public Defender isn't interested in my case.

Judge (addressing the Public Denfender Lawyer): Do you have any comments on the defendant's motion?

Public Defender Lawyer: I'm sorry, Your Honour. I wasn't listening.

THE JUDGMENT DEBTOR IN GARNISHEE PROCEEDINGS: SPECTATOR OR PARTY? CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12 ORS at pp. 1829-1830, the Court of Appeal, while affirming the fundamental requirement of service of the garnishee order nisi on the judgment debtor, held inter alia that: Ordinarily, a judgment debtor is not a necessary party in a garnishee proceeding before the court. However, the court cannot close its eyes to processes filed in court and the law includes the judgment debtor as one of the parties to be served the order nisi…Likewise, the judgment debtor is to be served the order nisi in case he intends to challenge the amount on the order. (Emphasis mine) The above dictum in the Anwan case reveals the difficulty in sustaining the view that the judgment debtor is not a party to garnishee proceedings. Clearly, it is difficult to reconcile the notion that ‘a judgment debtor is not a necessary party’ with the understanding that the judgment debtor is to be served the order nisi ‘in case he intends to challenge the amount on the order’. It is difficult to imagine how such judgment debtor can challenge the amount on the order if he is not regarded as a party to the proceeding.

For instance, A sues B for the sum of N1 million and at the conclusion of hearing, judgment is entered against B for the said sum of N1 million. Further to the judgment, B pays A the sum of N400,000.00 towards satisfaction of the judgment. Subsequently, A obtains a garnishee order nisi against B’s bankers in order to attach the judgment sum of N1 million without disclosing that B had previously paid the sum of N400,000.00. In such instance, it is quite clear that B should be entitled to react to the garnishee order nisi by informing the court of his previous payment of N400,000.00. Indeed, it would be contrary to every notion of justice if B is unable to bring this crucial fact to the attention of the court on the basis of the principle that a judgment debtor is not a party and cannot be heard in garnishee proceedings.

While most judicial authorities cling to the notion that the judgment debtor is a stranger to garnishee proceedings, a few other decisions such as SOKOTO STATE GOVERNMENT v KAMDAX (NIG.) LTD (2004)9 NWLR (Pt. 878)345 at 380 reason that garnishee proceedings ‘envisage three parties to it namely, the judgment creditor (the garnishor), the judgment debtor and the garnishee…’ In CBN v AUTO IMPORT EXPORT (2013)2 NWLR (Pt. 1337)80 at 126 Saulawa JCA held inter alia that ‘both the Garnishor and the garnishee as well as the judgment debtor constitute the parties to the proceedings.’ Admittedly, the issue of whether or not a judgment debtor is a party was not specifically submitted for adjudication in any of these decisions and as such, the court did not go further to elaborate or substantially justify this assertion.

In N.A.O.C. LTD v OGINI (2011)2 NWLR (Pt. 1230)131 at 152-153, the contributory judgment of Ogunwumiju JCA suggested that while the proceedings leading to the grant of the garnishee order nisi are ‘strictly ex parte between the Garnishor (judgment creditor) and the Garnishee (the bank or institution),’ …the registrar must then fix a date not less than 14 days after the service of the order nisi on the judgment creditor, the judgment debtor and

the garnishee for hearing. This subsequent hearing envisages a tripartite proceedings in which all interests are represented. That is when the judgment debtor has the opportunity to convince the court to discharge the order nisi by filing affidavits to that effect. (Emphasis mine) With respect, this reasoning appears inherently contradictory since the ex-parte application by the judgment creditor which results in the garnishee order nisi does not involve or require the participation of the garnishee. In some other decisions where the court recognised the judgment debtor as a party, it would appear that the court did not regard the judgment debtor as a party with full rights to be heard in the proceedings. For instance, in WEMA BANK PLC v BRASTEM-STERR (NIG.) LTD & ANOR (2012) All FWLR (Pt. 624)107 at 120-121 Nwodo JCA (of blessed memory) reasoned inter alia as follows: The phrase “shall” under section 83(2) connotes that service is mandatory. It is indisputable from the nature of garnishee proceedings that the judgment debtor is just a passive respondent as the provision under section 83(1) refers specifically to the garnishee appearing before the court to show cause. The garnishee is the main party under the statute and should be the one reacting to the proceedings, nevertheless the judgment debtor must be put on notice of what happens to money due to him in the possession of the garnishee…Garnishee proceeding is a separate and distinct action between the judgment creditor and the person holding in custody, the assets of the judgment debtor. The statute enjoins service on the judgment debtor whose asset is to be attached from the moment of making an order nisi, the essence is to put him on notice. The garnishee proceedings will certainly affect him as per his assets as a judgment debtor. (Emphasis mine) Similarly, in U.B.A. PLC v EKANEM (2010)6 NWLR (Pt. 1190)207 at 222, Orji-Abadua JCA stated inter alia that: …a judgment debtor is merely a nominal party whose money in the custody of the garnishee is being recovered by the judgment creditor in satisfaction of the judgment debt he is owing to the judgment creditor.

He is not the one requested to appear before the court to show cause why the order nisi should not be made absolute. It is only the garnishee, and only the garnishee is expected to inform the court if there is any third party’s interest in the said judgment debtor’s money in its custody. So, in all ramifications, it is only the garnishee that is expected to react if the law was not properly followed or observed. It is only against the garnishee that execution under the garnishee proceedings could be levied and not against the judgment debtor.

In his contributory judgment, Omokri JCA at 227 reiterated as follows: A careful reading of the provision of section 83(1) and (2), 85, 86, 87 and 90 of Sheriffs and Civil Process Act reveal that the judgment debtor has more or less no role to play in garnishee proceedings. A judgment debtor is merely a nominal party whose money in the custody of garnishee is being recovered by the judgment creditor in satisfaction of the judgment debt owing to the judgment creditor.

In F.B.N. PLC & ANOR v F.C.M.B. PLC & ANOR (2014)

All FWLR (Pt. 751)1451 at 1478-1479, Pemu JCA observed that: It is only reasonable and indeed accords with common sense that, in garnishee proceedings, the appellants [the judgment debtors] are not necessary parties to the proceedings, simply because the crux of the matter at that stage has to do with the judgment creditor and the garnishee simpliciter.

However, when it comes to the issue of service, it is my view that the judgment debtor should also be served, just to fulfill all righteousness. At least, he can keep an eye of (sic) what happens to money due him, which money is in the possession of the garnishee. (Emphasis mine) Status of the Judgment Debtor under the SCPA and Judgment Enforcement Rules It is submitted that a proper appreciation and application of the SCPA and the Judgment Enforcement Rules would easily resolve the needless controversy as to whether or not the judgment debtor is a party to garnishee proceedings. In the first place, it is quite incongruous to suggest that, even in the face of an express requirement that a judgment debtor should be served with the garnishee order nisi, such judgment debtor should not be heard in the proceedings where his attached funds may be dissipated. Indeed, the mere fact that the judgment debtor is required to be served with the order nisi should confirm that the judgment debtor is entitled to be heard as to whether the said order nisi should be made absolute.

In this regard, close attention should be paid to the wording of section 83(2) of the SCPA. The provision states that the garnishee and the judgment debtor should be served with the order nisi ‘at least fourteen days before the day of hearing.’ This means the service is being carried out in order to afford the garnishee and the judgment debtor adequate notice of the day of hearing when the court would ultimately consider whether or not to make the order nisi absolute. This possibly explains the above statement of Ogunwumiju JCA that the day of hearing is when the judgment debtor has the opportunity to convince the court to discharge the order nisi.

In any event, the garnishee order nisi is in itself an ex-parte order and upon being served with such order, the judgment debtor is entitled to take steps to have such order varied or set aside under the relevant rules of court. For instance, Order 26 Rule 11 of the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules 2009 states that: Where an order is made on a motion ex-parte, any person affected by it may, within seven days after service of it, or within such further time as the Court shall allow, apply to the Court by motion to vary or discharge it; and the Court may, on notice to the party obtaining the order, either refuse to vary or discharge it, or may vary or discharge it with or without imposing terms as to costs or security or otherwise as it seems just.

As noted earlier, the controversy over whether the judgment debtor is a party to garnishee proceedings would have been laid to rest if provisions of the Judgment Enforcement Rules were considered along with the substantive provisions of the SCPA. Specifically,

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07.06.2016

Banking Regulation and Supervision: Concept, Theory and Rationale Book Review Title: Editor:: Reviewer:

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Banking: Theory, Regulation, Law and Practice Dr. Oladapo Olanipekun SAN Uche Nwokedi SAN

his Book is a culmination of the work of some of the most experienced and erudite lawyers from the Bench, Bar and Academia.

It brings into sharp focus the concept, theory and rationale of banking regulation and supervision in all its ramifications, from very experienced and erudite members of the Bar. It is written in chapters with each chapter being a contribution from a lawyer or a number of lawyers. All the referencing is by footnotes, using the Oxford Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities (OSCOLA) (4th edition, 2012). So far as it has been possible, most of the writing has been kept gender-neutral.

Given that the anticipated use of the book is not restricted to lawyers, the authors also strived to keep the text in plain english, devoid of legalese and outdated words. In all, there are 25 contributors with 22 chapters of 823 pages, including the index, all of which have been carefully and meticulously edited by the learned Senior Advocate, Dr. Oladapo Olanipekun SAN. Interestingly, the book is published in Nigeria by Au Courant. It is published with good quality materials and neatly bound in hard cover.

The foreword is written by the Honourable Justice John Okoro-Inyang, Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, in a most lucid and captivating manner. It immediately throws light on the book itself. He starts by giving an insight on primitive banking and development banking in a global perspective.

He observes that the legal framework to banking has not been growing at the same pace with the developments in banking generally. He humourously but truthfully, likens the sharp difference between the two with the difference between an Olympic sprinter and a feeble tortoise. He looks at the issues in banking from a judicial perspective and gives the benefit of his experience in deciding banking cases. He concludes that the work is complete and comprehensive. He emphasises the importance of the book for judges, lawyers, the academia, students and researchers and also to heads of corporate organisations and financial institutions.

The publication is well laid, easy to read and easy to reference or cross reference. The topics are thoughtfully chosen and treated. It contains, a table of contents, a preface written by Dr. Oladapo Olanipekun, a foreword written by the Honourable Justice John Inyang Okoro JSC, the editor’s acknowledgement, list of contributors and finally, profiles of the contributors.

The Book opens with a chapter written by Dr. Olanipekun themed on the title of the Book. In this chapter he addresses the theory and rationale for financial regulation from a global perspective in general and and then focuses on Nigeria in

particular. It defines in clear terms, the distinction between regulation and supervision and justifies each aspect. He concludes this chapter by making the case that banking regulation is necessary because of the inherent weaknesses in banking.

He warns however, that there are limits to what regulation can achieve. He notes that there must be a balance between regulation and its benefits otherwise regulation for the sake of itself can be a burden to both the providers of banking services and its consumers.

This chapter is immediately followed by a chapter on the historical development on banking law and regulation in Nigeria whereby the author, Jumoke Oduwole traces the evolution of banking in Nigeria in three broad phases of 1892 to 1952; 1952 to 1985 and 1985 to 2010. Two developments are noted.

In 1944 African Continental Bank (ACB) was taken over from its original owners by Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe for 250 pounds, whilst in 1945 Agbomagbe Bank was established by Chief Okupe. It became Wema Bank in 1969 when it was acquired by the government of the Western Region for 80,000 pounds.

The mushrooming of banking is brought into focus and the eventual collapse of the Nigerian Penny Bank in 1946 which led to the Paton Commission of Enquiry, set up by the colonial administration to investigate banking practices in Nigeria.

The other contributors are Bankole Sodipo and Veronica Ekunday who both articulately present a chapter on Corporate Governance; Iwa Salami’s chapter on Cross Boarder Issues

and Regional Integration in Financial Regulations in Africa identifies the weaknesses of cross border and regional banking and proffers solutions. Akaayar and Christine Sijuwade define banking and banking business in their collaboration on the Regulatory and Supervisory Framework for Banking in Nigeria, whilst Lanre Fagbohun and Adewale Dosunmu focus on the Legal Nature of Negotiable Instruments. Imran Smith looks at Securities for Bankers’ Advances; whilst Justice Nnamdi Dimgba in a Chapter on Secured Credit: Choses in Action as Security, examines the general principles of choses in action, its definition and the applicable rules for consensual security over the intangibles, and explains further the different ways in which a borrower can give security over his property to a lender which are set out as follows; by mortgages, pledges, charges and contractual lien.

Other chapters include a chapter on Maritime Security by Joe Nwobike, a chapter on Documentary Credits by Adewale Olawoyin; Guaranties and Indemnities by Kolawole Mayomi ; Summary Judgment, Undefended List and Garnishee Proceedings

by Yemi Oke; Corporate Insolvency – Receivership, WindingUp and Other Arrangements’ by C.A. Candide-Johnson and Aderonke Alex-Adedipe; Troubled Assets Resolution by Ikani Agabi and Adetola Onayemi which focuses on the concept and practice of troubled assets resolution under the regime established by AMCON Act of 2010.

Khruschev Ekwueme in a chapter on Failure Resolution examines the rationale underpinning the existence of a special insolvency regime for banks in contra-distinction to other companies and identifies the causes and effects of the 2008/2009 financial crises in Nigeria. Fabian Ajogwu provides a chapter on Mergers, Takeovers and Reorganisation of Banks in Nigeria, and Ysuff Alli in his chapter on Non-interest Banking examines the concept, theory and taxation of non-interest banking as well as Islamic banking. The implications of Electronic Banking is discussed in Chapter 20 by O.A. Orifowomo, and Olawale Fayose including the jurisdictional aspects and regulation of mobile banking and mobile payments. The last chapter of the book presented by Khadija Yusuff takes a look at financial crimes and the regulatory framework for evidence and proof of financial crimes. It looks at regulatory bodies like the EFCC and the ICPC and also examines broadly, the elements of corporate fraud, money laundering, terrorism financing and the special orders that Nigerian courts can make in related proceedings.

The book is rich and covers every aspect of banking law and practice in Nigeria and does this extremely well from both Nigerian and international perspectives. It is easily the most comprehensive publication on banking regulation and supervision in Nigeria that I have come across in 31 years of legal practice. More importantly, it gives us the benefit of the experience of 25 seasoned legal minds from the Bench, from active practice, and from academia. All the contributors and most especially the Editor, Dr. Olanipekun have been extremely generous with their experiences and with their knowledge of the subjects they treat. It is a comprehensive one stop-shop on banking law and practice. I commend the Editor, Dr. Dapo Olanipekun for assiduously compiling and editing such stellar work and all the authors for their scholarship. This book is excellent work and a major contribution to the development of the law as it relates to banking supervision and regulation.

Are the ‘Front-Loading’ Provisions of the High Court Civil Procedure Rules Valid?

Abubakar D. Sani

1. It is common knowledge that the so-called ‘front-loading’ provisions of the High Court Rules, e.g., Order 3 Rule 2(2)(b), (c)&(d) and Order 11 Rules 1&4(b) & (c) of the Lagos State High Court Rules 2012 require all Writs of Summons and defences to claims for summary judgment to be accompanied by the Plaintiff’s (or Defendant’s) list of witnesses, written statements on oath of those witnesses as well as the list of documents to be relied upon at the trial be filed and served at the start of proceedings. A witness statement on oath is an affidavit: G. E. INT. OPERATIONS v Q-O & G. SERVICES (2014) ALL FWLR pt.761 pg. 1509@1526C, 1527E & 1530E per Eko, JCA. An affidavit is evidence: BABALE v EZE (2012) All FWLR pt.635pg.287@329F per Tur, JCA. 2. Evidence is Item 23 on the Exclusive Legislative List of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. By virtue of Section 4(3) of the Constitution only the National Assembly is competent to legislate on any matter on that List. This power is not confined to substantive law, but includes procedural or adjectival law: Item 68 of the List as well as Paragraph 2(b) of Part III of the Second Schedule to the Constitution.

3. To the extent that the said front–loading provisions of the Rules regulate the practice and procedure of the court in

matters of evidence as aforesaid, I submit, with the greatest respect, that they are ultra vires the State Chief Judges. This is because, in my view, by the combined effect of the aforesaid provisions of the Constitution, only the National Assembly is competent to enact them. It follows that those rules are invalid, null and void.

4. The foregoing applies, in my view, to the following provisions of the Rules (all references are to the High Court of Lagos Rules 2012): • Order 33: Titled “Affidavits”; • Order 30 Rules 7 & 9 to 15 : Titled “Proceedings at the Trial”; • Order 32: Titled “Evidence Generally”. Rule 1(3) of this Order restricts a witness’ examination-in-chief to simply confirming and adopting his statement on oath or deposition and tendering documents referred to therein; we submit that this contradicts the provisions of Section 215(2) of the Evidence Act 2011 which merely require such testimony to “relate to relevant facts”. It is trite law that a subsidiary legislation cannot curtail a principal legislation: OLANREWAJU v OYEYEMI (2001) 2NWLR pt. 696 pg.229 @2556 per Tabai, JCA (as he then was); AKANNI v ODEJIDE (2004) All FWLR pt. 218 pg.827 @853E per Ibiyeye, JCA. 6. In addition, I believe that the under-listed provisions of the rules are also inconsistent with relevant provisions of the 1999 Constitution, as follows:

i) Order 8 Rules 5 & 7: which deal with service in Lagos State of the processes of foreign courts. I believe they are inconsistent with Item 57 of the Exclusive Legislative List of the Constitution which confers the National Assembly with sole power to legislate on such matters ii) Order 13 Rules 14 to 28: which deal with actions by or against firms or persons carrying on business in names other than their own. This is the subject matter, inter alia, of Item 43 of the Exclusive Legislative List of the Constitution. By virtue of Item 68 of that List as well as Paragraph 2(b) of Part III of the Second Schedule to the Constitution, only the National Assembly is competent to legislate on the practice and procedure of courts of law in such matters iii) Orders 51 and 53: titled “Proceedings for Foreclosure and Redemption under a Mortgage” and “Summary Proceedings for Possession of Landed Property”, respectively. We submit that they are ultra vires the State Chief Judges because their subject-matter – land – its tenure, acquisition and the practice and procedure of courts of law relating thereto, are the exclusive preserve of the National Assembly, under Section 315(5)(d) & (6), Item 68 of the Exclusive Legislative List and Paragraph 2(b) & (c) of Part III of the Second Schedule to the 1999 Constitution.

7. In making the foregoing submissions, I concede that Section

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STATE OF THE ART NNAMDI AWA-KALU

n.awakalu@auklegal.com

Any Chill for Nigerians Using NetflixIssues Concerning Disruption in the Nigerian Video Entertainment Industry

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he rise of Netflix has proven a little unusual for producers and consumers of video entertainment because of its disruptive effect on the market for ICT. Since its appearance in the United States, Netflix has demonstrated that video entertainment remains a profitable business, and the company has continued to set new standards in innovation. Now that Netflix rivals older players in PayTV and cinema having undercut their market advantage with its innovative strategies, it continues to generate questions, most of which speculate on just how sustainable the Netflix expansion project really is.

In January, 2016, Netflix announced its launch in 130 countries around the world, including Nigeria. Nigerian users have become adept at navigating the internet as a vital resource for entertainment, but theirs has been the struggle of illegally downloading movies and TV shows from shady websites at great cost.

This is because even when compressed, some movie files can be as large as 4GB which is worth a lot of money in subscriptions to Internet Service Providers like Smile and Swift, or to the big telcos. Much has been made of Nigeria’s mobile phone market with as many as 148 million subscribers and mobile penetration of 107%. These huge numbers should translate into the kind of megabucks for Nigerian-based providers of internet content and purveyors of e-commerce solutions as happens in other huge consumer bases around the world. Take China for example, where Alibaba, Baidu and Tencent have become multi-billion dollar giants, inspiring the push into e-commerce by entrepreneurs everywhere, including Nigeria.

In the last half-decade or so, Jumia, Konga and their ilk have landed in Nigeria with hyperpositive predictions about their profitability which has drawn in big bets from investors keen to conquer sub-Saharan Africa, the final frontier. The reality has often been different; harnessing a market such as ours, with all its pratfalls, has rarely been an easy task.

One primary reason for the stagnation in productivity is the environment for doing business in Nigeria. The data capture website Doing Business, which assesses the business climate of countries worldwide based on certain metrics, ranks Nigeria very low in the areas of enforcing contracts, starting a business, registering property, paying taxes and trading across borders, all vital regulatory hurdles. For a company like Netflix seeking to prosper in a foreign market, these ought to be troubling statistics which make Nigeria a daunting destination.

Netflix will enter into a Nigerian video entertainment market already controlled by

other powers in their spheres of influence. On one side, DsTV is the dominant power in the PayTV sector against whom Netflix will be forced to compete to provide premium content. DsTV broadcasts Hollywood movies and American television to millions of Nigerians who have an affinity for English-language blockbusters and American serials, in many cases locking down pan-African licences for their intellectual property to the exclusion of their competitors.

Through its Africa Magic stations, DsTV also serves up homegrown content to cater to the increasing popularity of Nollywood. On the other hand, there is the sprawling ecosystem of Onitsha and Alaba which produces and markets these Nollywood films, eventually retailing VCDs and DVDs for as low as N150.

Although Netflix has not pushed to make its DVD rental service available in Nigeria, its streaming service will not become popular except it can thrive amidst the competition from these quarters.

How does this concern the Nigerian lawyer, one might ask? When the Nigerian economy was rebased in 2014, that is to say, the Central bank of Nigeria together with the National Bureau of Statistics reiterated the country’s GDP taking into cognisance input factors which had not been considered in previous estimations while, at the same time, resetting the base year for its calculations. A principal factor previously overlooked was the market for services where productivity in the provision of legal counsel is measured. Their work uncovered the vast contributions of the market for legal services to Nigeria’s growth and standing as an African power. It is not out of place, therefore, to consider the incursion of Netflix into the Nigerian entertainment sector from a legal vantage point as we try to determine

whether, in fact, it will be ‘chill’ for either the company or its customers in what promises to be a long fight for supremacy.

To understand the issues which surround the entry of Netflix into the Nigerian video entertainment market, it is important to understand some of the industry jargon. Both Netflix and DSTV are products of changes in technological advancement and consumer behaviour over the years, as broadcast and recording possibilities have broadened and attitudes to video programming have changed.

Naturally, the media supporting video content programming has evolved.

PayTV refers to subscription-based television whereby customers pay periodic subscriptions for programming provided via analogue or digital cable, terrestrial or satellite television and now the internet. Typically, PayTV is transmitted through a set top box- what DsTV calls a decoder- which initially allowed the creation of targeted and broad-ranging content to satisfy the demands of a variety of viewers. For context, prior to the entry of DsTV into the Nigerian market, television channels were all-in-one stations, attempting to cater to all types of viewers at once and thus providing news, sports, movies, music, talk, documentary and every possible kind of programming. Programming slots had to be scheduled to fit the profile of the viewer likely to be watching TV at that time. So, kids programmes in the early afternoon after school, news in the morning and evening for the working parent, sports on the weekend, movies at late hours for the nocturnal to allow for broadcast of adult themes. PayTV was packaged to present any viewer with her preferred content at any time, with the capacity to broadcast multiple channels simultaneously

so that programming was separated across different stations and available at all times to different types of viewers.PayTV companies like DsTV became the darling of the channel surfer generation just learning to deal with a shorter attention span and media saturation.

Netflix provides streaming services using Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) which transmits television services over an internet protocol suite via packet-switching networks.

Unlike downloadable media, IPTV can be transmitted in small batches, meaning that the client media can commence playback before the entire file is transmitted. This process is what is commonly known as streaming which has become the most popular way to watch video content off the internet. Netflix has harnessed the IPTV model to provide access to a rich catalogue of video entertainment available to stream online for a subscription. Netflix and similar companies have thus barged into the consciousness of the mobile generation, who demand content on the go, in their pockets and in their laps, to be consumed as and when they please, without interruption.

It is inevitable that these two models should clash. In fact, when the roll out of Netflix services across the globe was announced, the tech advocate website Tech Cabal noted that it was ‘sure to cause ripples in the DsTV camp’ as a result of continuing customer complaints due to arbitrary price hikes and service failures. But this clash seems unfairly weighted considering the regulatory burden that DsTV has to shoulder which, on the other hand, Netflix seems to be exempt from.

The Wireless Telegraphy Act 1998 regulates DsTV and other PayTV companies’ broadcast capacity because they use equipment emitting electromagnetic energy. It also falls under the jurisdiction of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and the NBC Act 1992 established to regulate the ownership and operation of radio and television broadcast media among other things. These laws require DsTV to obtain and maintain licences in order to carry on its business in Nigeria. To this writer’s knowledge, there is little in our laws to mandate Netflix to submit to any regulations. There does not even seem any evidence that Netflix has registered a business vehicle for transaction in Nigeria, preferring to operate and transmit its video content from abroad.

When this column returns, we will look more closely at the Netflix phenomenon as manifested in Nigeria and consider ways to ensure that its operations are better governed.

As with all other disruptive technology, it would not pay for new businesses in the country to go unregulated, potentially leaving established companies unprotected from the radical effects this would have on their continued participation in the market.

ARE THE ‘FRONT-LOADING’ PROVISIONS OF THE HIGH COURT CIVIL PROCEDURE RULES VALID? CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14 274 of the 1999 Constitution empowers State Chief Judges to enact rules of practice and procedure as follows: “Subject to the provisions of any law made by the House of Assembly of a State, the Chief Judge of a State may make rules for regulating the practice and procedure of the High Court of the State” However, it can be seen that its provisions are general while those of Constitution and the Evidence Act referred to in Paragraphs 2 - 5 above are specific. To that extent, I submit that the latter override the former, as generalia specialibus non derogant – special things derogate from general things: ATT-GEN. OF THE FED. v ABUBAKAR (2007) All FWLR

pt. 375 pg. 405 @472E per Onu, JSC & @ pg.

524 per Tabai, JSC; SCHROEDER & CO. v MAJOR & CO. (1989) 2 NWLR pt. 101 pg. 1 @ 21 per Agbaje, JSC; GOVT. OF KADUNA STATE v KAGOMA (1982) 6 S.C 87 @ 107-8 per Fatai-Williams, CJN. 8. This means that because the provisions of Section 274 of the Constitution are general, while those of Sections 315(5)(d) & (6) and Items 23, 43, 57, & 68 of the exclusive list as well as paragraph 2(b) & (c) of Part III of the Second Schedule to the Constitution are special, the subject matter of the latter are excluded from the power given by Section 274 of the Constitution.

9. In conclusion, I submit that it is imperative

to revisit the affected provisions of the rules with a view to bringing them into conformity with the Constitution. This would accord with the principle of the rule of law and constitutional supremacy enshrined in Section 1(3) of the 1999 Constitution, and would entail amending the following statutes enacted by the National Assembly: (i) The Evidence Act – to provide for frontloading of evidence; (ii) The Sheriffs & Civil Processes Act – to provide for service of foreign processes in Nigeria; (iii) The Companies & Allied Matters Act – Part B thereof, dealing with business names to provide for the procedure in actions by or

against firms or persons carrying on business in names other than their own; and (iv) The Land Use Act – in this particular case, by amending the Constitution itself, as provided by Section 315(5)(d) of the Constitution.

10. The foregoing solution, and none other, in my view, is apposite because the law-making power of the National Assembly is required to be exercised directly by the Assembly itself, and not delegated, as “delegation by the National Assembly of its essential legislative function is precluded by the Constitution”: per Obaseki, JSC, in ATT-GEN OF BENDEL STATE v ATT-GEN OF THE FED.(1981) 10 S.C.131 Abubakar Sani is a lawyer practicing in Kano

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Another Look at the Place of Justice in CCT’s Trial of Saraki Olukayode Majekodunmi "Justice must be rooted in confidence and confidence is destroyed when right-minded people go away thinking: 'The judge was biased.’’’- Lord Denning, the Master of the Rolls, in Metropolitan Properties Co. (F.G.C.) Ltd. V Lannon (1968) t is not yet very clear what the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is saying. Put differently especially having regards to the clear position of the Attorney General of the Federation on the need to move against (as in prosecution of) the Chairman of Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), with respect to the N10 million bribery allegation levelled against the Chair of CCT by Rasheed Taiwo Owolabi, a retired Comptroller of the Nigerian Customs, what the EFCC says is constantly shifting. We have heard the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission say so many different things at the same time concerning the involvement or otherwise of the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, Danladi Umar before an Abuja High Court.

The initial stance of the EFCC is reflected in the proceedings of the prosecution of Abdullahi before Justice Christiana Orji where the EFCC said the denial made by Abdullahi much later after his first statement of September 9, 2013 was a mere afterthought.

In his evidence before Justice Orji, an operative of the EFCC, AbdulMajeed Ibrahim, who led the investigation into the bribery allegation, told the Judge that Abdullahi freely made a statement on September 9th, 2013 to the effect that the CCT boss Danladi Umar allegedly asked him to act on his behalf. He told the court that the denial by Abdullahi in a subsequent statement cannot invalidate the first statement of 2013 because it was voluntarily made by the accused person.

The witness, who was led in evidence by the EFCC Counsel, Andrew Akoja, urged the court to disregard and reject the denial of Abdullahi that he did not give the bribe money to Mr. Umar.

Also testifying, another detective with the EFCC, Bala Mohammed, stated before the court how he was invited in 2013 to participate in investigation of a petition of one Rasheed Taiwo Owolabi concerning a N10 million bribe demanded by the CCT Chairman.

The witness testified before Justice Orji that the Personal Assistant to the CCT boss, who was on trial, was invited on August 12, 2013 and he volunteered a statement to the EFCC. Mohammed claimed that Abdullahi was investigated in an open hall freely and that there was no duress, intimidation, harassment or coercion in the course of the investigation.

The witness insisted that the statement of Abdullahi was made on his own volition and that he freely signed the statement before the head of the investigating team counter-signed it. Mohammed said the issue of duress raised by Abdullahi was an afterthought and uncalled for because he (Abdullahi) was granted bail on self-recognition. Another EFCC Witness, a Superintendent of Police, Reuben Omosieho, corroborated the evidence of other witnesses to the effect that the statement of Abdullahi in the N10 million bribery allegation was freely, voluntarily and fairly made. The witness told the Abuja High Court that there was nothing unusual in Abdullahi when he was brought before him to suggest that the statement was made under duress or under any inducement. Justice Justina Orji adjourned the case till June 14th for Abdullahi to enter his defence in the trial within trial being conducted by the court over his claims that he made the statement against the CCT boss under duress and inducement.

While the trial of Abdullahi is still ongoing, the germane deduction is that the EFCC appears to stand firm on and is upholding the veracity of the voluntary statement of Abdullahi that inculpates the CCT Chairman.

In a dramatic twist, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) recently declared that there was no strong or sufficient evidence on which it could proceed against the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, Mr Danladi Umar on the allegation of solicitation for bribe. The Head of Public Relations of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, Ibraheem Al-Hassan, published the details of the decision of the EFCC in a statement issued supposedly on behalf of Danladi Umar. The EFCC investigation was triggered by petition against Mr. Umar that he allegedly received a N10

I

million bribe from one Abdul Rashid Owolabi. The EFCC letter with reference number EFCC/P/NHRU/688/V.30/99, and dated April 20th, 2016, was signed by the Secretary to the commission, Emmanuel Aremo. This latter day somersault by the EFCC came at about the time the Chairman of the CCT was faced with an application by counsel for Dr Bukola Saraki to recuse himself on grounds of conflict of interest as the CCT Chairman was himself under investigation by the EFFC which was the same agency handling the trial of Dr Saraki before the CCT. Mr. Umar has come under intense scrutiny since the commencement of trial of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, over alleged false assets declaration, with many accusing him of being equally tainted and calling on him to excuse himself from Mr. Saraki’s case. Last December, a group, the Anti-Corruption Network, had also alleged that Mr. Umar used his office to purchase N34.9million worth of exotic vehicles, furniture and other household items without following due process. The ACN, led

by Senator Dino Melaye, an ally of the Senate President, dragged Mr. Umar before the House of Representatives Committee on Public Petitions over the questionable dealings. Expectedly, Mr. Umar denied the allegations. In December 2015, the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, said there was no “material fact” to put Mr. Umar on trial. Mr. Malami concluded that upon review of the presentation by Mr. Umar in response to the petition by the Mr. Melaye-led ACN and the submission by the EFCC, it would be difficult to initiate prosecution against the CCT Chairman.

The embattled Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki has queried the powers of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, to exculpate the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, Justice Danladi Umar from prosecution, following his alleged complicity in N10 million bribery scandal. The Senate President who dismissed the purported clearance issued to the CCT Chairman by EFCC, contended that under the law, only the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice had the powers to shield an accused person from criminal prosecution. Speaking through his lawyer, Mr. Ajibola Oluyede, Saraki said the clearance the EFCC issued to Umar could not override the recommendation the immediate past AGF made in 2014 for his prosecution.

He said the clean bill of health the anti-graft agency gave the CCT Chairman recently, confirmed his position that the tribunal, under Umar, would not ensure fairness in his ongoing trial. Oluyede argued that only the Attorney General of the Federation could reverse a decision to prosecute an accused person, insisting that his client’s application urging Justice Umar to disqualify himself from the trial was still pending before the tribunal.

In what is turning out to be a spectacular trial of the Senate President Abubakar Bukola Saraki, the case of alleged false declaration of assets has become a case of Saraki’s alleged illegal acquisition of wealth, with many actors, from a section of the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC), to the Code of Conduct Tribunal, and its Chairman, Danladi Umar, playing out different scripts.

Danladi Umar is a very interesting personality, and he is the Judge who himself is on trial. Assuming there was a letter from the former Attorney General of the Federation recommending his trial and the recent position of the EFCC that he is free, he remains on trial in the court of public opinion. Danladi Umar is himself on trial in the minds of those who have passion for justice and those who subscribe to the notion and subscribe to the principle behind the concept that justice not only be seen to be done, but be seen to be clearly done.

In the intervening period while Saraki went on the rigmarole before the Appeal Court and then the Supreme Court to challenge his trial before the CCT, Umar, as a Judge, granted media interviews putting up some defense of himself regarding the weighty allegations against him. This has been followed by an admission as a Judge that a judgment he gave in 2011 was in error. The question that comes to the mind of an objective or reasonable person would be: “were that judgment to have involved life is that how he would have whimsically admitted that he gave a judgment in error?” Relatedly, Danladi Umar declared in open court that he was (or they, the tribunal were) pressurised by external factors in the course of the trial of Bola Ahmed Tinubu (in 2011). This unprovoked assertion in open

Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki

court is unprecedented. It seems Danladi Umar himself is on a campaign to assure the discerning public of his independence from interference. There is the damning admission by Danladi Umar that he actually interacted with, and indeed met with the afore named Rasheed Taiwo Owolabi- a person standing trial before the Code of Conduct Tribunal! The meeting was in the hallowed chamber (office) of the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal.

This case has gone through the whole gamut of the judicial hierarchy of courts in Nigeria. It has been to the Federal High Court where a Judge withdrew in curious circumstances on the strength of allegations from some online media. Another Federal High Court Judge also suspended judgment on the day he was to read his verdict, stating that he could not continue.

Up till today, the judgment remains suspended. At the Court of Appeal, a judgment was once arrested few minutes before its delivery. Eventually when it was delivered, several weeks later, it was a near split decision. The Supreme Court also gave a judgment that some criticised. Many believe that the judgment of the Supreme Court has created some precedents that will have serious implications for the nation’s legal processes in the future.

The public is now so divided with diverse shades of opinions and commentaries on the trial of Dr Bukola Saraki. This writer believes that in saner climes, the Chair of the Code of Conduct Tribunal would have voluntarily exercised the option of stepping aside in the interest of justice. I have heard from some advocates from human rights and Civil Society Organisations that the President of the Senate should step aside pending the final determination of his trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal.

I most humbly beg to disagree. I believe in justice and equity.

What is good for the goose is good for the gander. What was good for Sabit Ikuforiji during his trial at the Federal High Court should be good for Saraki.

To those who may not know, Sabit Ikuforiji was the immediate past Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly and for a substantial part of his term of office, he was on trial by the same EFCC for offences relating to money laundering. At each and every day of his trial, the Lagos State House of Assembly did not sit as the members duly proceeded to Court in solidarity with their Speaker. Justice was finally done in his case as he was adjudged Not Guilty of all charges.

The cardinal issue here is that it is only just and fair that the embattled Senate President be allowed to exercise his rights even to the Supreme Court as this case is indisputably novel and would inevitably set groundbreaking precedent in relation to the place of the Code of Conduct Tribunal’s criminal justice administration.

This case is the trial lawyer’s minefield. The potential issues and grounds for appeal are mouthwatering.

"There is no crueller tyranny than that which is perpetuated under the shield of law and in the name of justice." -CHARLES DE MONTESQUIEU French politician and philosopher, 1689-1755.

Olukayode Majekodunmi writes from Lagos

THE JUDGMENT DEBTOR IN GARNISHEE PROCEEDINGS: SPECTATOR OR PARTY? CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13 Order VIII Rule 6 of the Rules states that: Where money is paid into court by the garnishee, the registrar may by consent of the judgment debtor order the money to be paid out before the return day, or in the absence of the consent of the judgment debtor, the court may on the return day after hearing the judgment creditor and the judgment debtor, if he appears, make such order in the proceedings (including an order as to costs) as may be just. (Emphasis mine) Order VIII Rule 8(1) provides that: If no amount is paid into court, the court, instead of making an order that execution shall issue, may, after hearing the judgment creditor, the garnishee and the judgment debtor or such of them as appear, determine the question of the liability of the garnishee… (Emphasis mine) The above provisions, which were not considered in any of the aforementioned decisions, easily confirm that the court would (or

should) hear the judgment debtor before making any order in the garnishee proceedings. Specifically, Order VIII Rule 6 confirms that the consent of the judgment debtor is required before the registrar can order that money paid into court by the garnishee be paid out. In the absence of such consent by the judgment debtor, the court is required to hear the judgment debtor (if he appears) before making any order in the proceedings. Under Order VIII Rule 8, the court is also required to hear the judgment creditor, the garnishee and the judgment debtor in order to determine the liability of the garnishee. There is simply no indication that the judgment debtor is a stranger who ought not to be heard in garnishee proceedings. In other words, the decisions of the court which recognise garnishee proceedings as tripartite in nature are on terra firma.

Conclusion It would be observed from the weight of judicial authorities that the judgment debtor has been incorrectly relegated to the unfortunate status of a mere spectator in proceedings which may have overreaching and devastating effects on his funds in the hands of a third party (the garnishee). This anomaly is primarily attributable to a failure to properly examine and apply the relevant provisions of the SCPA and the Judgment Enforcement Rules.

One can only hope that there would be a significant and drastic shift in the articulation of these principles in order to place the judgment debtor in the rightful position of a bona fide party to garnishee proceedings with full rights of audience.

Jokpa Utake is a legal practitioner and an Associate at Babalakin & Co

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Implementing Cleanup of Ogoniland After almost five years of inaction on the recommendations of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) on Ogoniland clean-up, the federal government last week commenced its implementation aimed at restoring the heavily polluted environment. Ejiofor Alike reports President Muhammadu Buhari recently demonstrated his administration’s commitment to implementing the recommendation of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) by delegating Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to kick off the clean-up of Ogoniland in Rivers State.

Shortly after assumption of office, Buhari had demonstrated his administration’s commitment to implement the report by approving the compositions of the Governing Council and Board of Trustees of Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project (HYPREP) and also amended the Official Gazette that established HYPREP to reflect a new governance framework on the project.

The setting up of the Governing Council was to boost the efforts of Shell and other stakeholders towards the implementation of the remaining part of the 76 actions recommended by the world body. The progress made by Buhari’s administration came after four years of lacklustre efforts by the past administration to implement the report. The federal government had in 2006 commissioned UNEP to conduct an independent assessment of the environment and public health impacts of oil contamination in Ogoniland and make recommendations for remediation.

The UNEP’s report, which was released in August 2011, revealed that crude oil contamination in Ogoniland was widespread and severely impacting many components of the environment.

According to the report, “The Ogoni people live with this pollution every minute of every day, 365 days a year. Since average life expectancy in Nigeria is less than 50 years, it is a fair assumption that most members of the current Ogoniland community have lived with chronic oil pollution throughout their lives.

“Children born in Ogoniland soon sense oil pollution as the odour of hydrocarbons pervades the air day in, day out. Oil continues to spill from periodic pipeline fractures and the illegal practice of artisanal refining, contaminating creeks and soil, staining and killing vegetation and seeping metres deep into ground, polluting water tables.

“Smoke from artisanal refining is a daily presence and fire close to inhabited areas is a constant threat from pools of oil which gather after a spill due to corrosion or bunkering or where artisanal refining of crude oil takes place,” the report said. The UNEP report said the Ogoniland might require the world’s biggest-ever clean-up that would likely take up to 30 years and recommended that both the federal government and the oil industry should contribute $1billion. The report, which made far-reaching recommendations, also raised local and international concerns on the environmental tragedy in the oil-producing Niger Delta. But despite the local and international outcry that greeted the UNEP report, the former administration did nothing towards the implementation of the report.

Major highlights of the report UNEP had recommended that a total of 76 actions be implemented by the federal government, Shell Petroleum Development Company-operated joint venture and the Ogoni Community.

While the federal government was given 50 actions to implement; Shell and its partners – NNPC, Total and Agip were required to implement 22 actions.

The federal government was among other things, required to establish restoration authority; establish clean-up fund; coordinate multi-stakeholders efforts; carry out emergency measures to reduce community exposure and initiate institutional and regulatory reforms Shell was required to review procedures for clean-up and remediation. The world body also tasked Shell to develop asset integrity management and decommissioning plans for Ogoniland and also contribute to an Ogoni clean-up fund established by government, among others.

UNEP also required the Ogoni community to

Polluted environment implement four out of the 76 recommendations.

The two major ones among the four include that the community should take a pro-active stand against theft and refining and also allow access to clean up spills.

However, some of SPDC’s 22 actions and federal government’s 50 would require collaboration of all the stakeholders. For instance, UNEP advocated that a campaign to bring to an end illegal oil-related activities - tapping into oil wells/pipelines, transportation of crude, artisanal refining should be conducted across Ogoniland. According to the global body, the campaign should be a joint initiative between the federal government, the oil companies, Rivers State and local community authorities.

The report noted that while a National Oil Spill Contingency Plan exists in Ogoniland, with NOSDRA having a clear legislative role, the situation on-the-ground indicates that spills are not being dealt with in an adequate or timely manner.

Past administration’s slow motion When the report was published, the people of the affected community and other stakeholders had expected huge efforts from the past administration towards the speedy implementation of the recommendations, especially as both the President and the Minister of Petroleum Resources were from the oil-producing Niger Delta, which is heavily impacted by oil spill.

But apart from the establishment of the moribund Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project (HYPREP), which ought to have been the vehicle for the implementation of 76 actionable recommendations, no major step was taken towards the implementation of the report by the former administration.

After the report was released almost four years were wasted, holding meetings and conferences on the report, without any tangible actions to implement the report. In fact, HYPREP was set up only in 2012 exactly 12 months after UNEP presented its report, thus demonstrating government’s slow motion in the implementation of the report. Even the 140 staff members of HYPREP were owed 18 months’ salary arrears just barely two years after the agency was established, prompting the intervention of the then Senate Committee on Environment headed by the current Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki in July 2014.

Shell’s efforts The world body had recommended that Shell and its partners – NNPC, Total and Agip should implement 22 out of the 76 recommendations submitted to the federal government.

UNEP recommended that “Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) should conduct a comprehensive review of its assets in Ogoniland, including a thorough test of the integrity of current oilfield infrastructure” with a view to developing an “Asset Integrity Management Plan for Ogoniland.”

It also required the oil giant to map out a comprehensive decommissioning plan and also specify risk levels, inspection routines and maintenance schedules for assets it wants to retain and communicate same to the Ogoni people. Shell was also asked to carry out an environmental due diligence assessment of the plan, prior to the decommissioning plan.

UNEP also called on SPDC to discontinue the then approach of cleaning-up contaminated sites through remediation by enhanced natural attenuation (RENA).

According to UNEP, even SPDCs revised Remediation Management System did not address the issues observed in its assessment.

To address the 22 actions recommended for it in the UNEP report, Shell had in July 2012 requested approval from the federal government to decommission its assets in Ogoniland but it took the past administration 19 months to grant the approval in February 2014.

One of UNEP’s recommendations was for the federal government to secure the environment to ensure easy access for Shell and also end illegal oil-related activities that cause fresh spills.

But four years after the report was released, the federal government has not been able to provide adequate security in Ogoniland to ensure that Shell and other stakeholders carry out effective environmental restoration actions as recommended by UNEP. Despite the challenges, SPDC-operated joint venture has been able to close out 16 out of the 22 actionable plans recommended by UNEP on Ogoniland and is currently working on the remaining six recommendations.

Buhari’s audacious effort President Buhari recently took the bull by the horns when he delegated the Vice President to kick off the clean-up of the area at an event, which took place at Bodo in Gokana Local

Government Area of Rivers State.

In an address read on his behalf by the Vice President, Buhari warned that his administration would no longer condone crude theft and illegal refining in the Niger Delta. The President also charged the regulators in the oil and gas industry to live up to their responsibility by discharging their duties effectively.

“The current oil theft and illegal refining will not be tolerated. The regulators in the oil industry must live up to expectations. They must ensure that oil companies carry out their operations in line with universal best practices,” he explained. Buhari said his administration was laying a foundation for change to ensure the safety of the people and promote the rule of law. He noted that the cleanup of Ogoniland would have sustainable development components that would benefit the people in the areas of diversifying the country’s economy and creating jobs and wealth for the people.

“The methodology of the cleanup will ensure job creation for young people. The agro-allied industries required for processing of agricultural produce will also be put in place,” he added.

In an apparent reference to the approval of the compositions of the Governing Council and Board of Trustees of Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project (HYPREP), the president said approval had been given for the setting up of the necessary institutional framework to drive the implementation of the UNEP report.

In his address, the Governor of Rivers State, Mr. Nyesom Wike congratulated the President for taking the bold step by launching the implementation of the report and promised that the state government would provide the necessary platform for all the stakeholders for the smooth implementation of the report.

Wike recalled that the environmental pollution had adversely affected the ecosystem in the Niger Delta. Also speaking at the event, the Minister for Environment, Ms. Amina Mohammed said the government had taken stock of the work done in the past to commence the restoration of the environment. According to her, the implementation of the UNEP report would require accountability, genuine partnership and proper representation of the people at the grassroots.

In a remark at the event, the Executive Director of UNEP, Achim Steiner said the UN would support Nigeria to ensure full implementation of the report.

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Adio: Nigeria Relies on Sales to Know the Quantum of Oil Produced The Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, Mr. Waziri Adio spoke with Chineme Okafor about the 2013 audit report on Nigeria’s mineral sector. He revealed that Nigeria still cannot account for how much oil she produces, relying on sales owing to the anomalies with the metering at production and export terminals. Excerpts: NEITI’s 2013 audit report on Nigeria’s oil and gas industry is quite revealing, but it also reminds of the country’s laidback attitude to changing the way it runs this industry, but is there really anything different now?

It is good to acknowledge that certain things have changed positively but at the same time, other things still need to change. Certain things that have changed include that there is a significant improvement in the response of companies and other covered entities to NEITI. We have done this audit for some time now and people are getting used to it, people are cooperating more than before and the response time is much better than it used to be.

If you also see the differences between what the companies claimed they had paid to the government and what government claimed to have received, the difference is reducing significantly, this shows that there are better record keeping by some of the covered entities.

When we started, the differences, which are unreconciled amounts used to be hundreds of millions of dollars but that has reduced significantly to a margin that is not statistically significant and that is another area of improvement.

In 2012, unreconciled amount was $46.9 million, the first audit was over $300 million but now, it has reduced to $492,000. If you compare the periods, that is a significant decrease and there is a progress on that front. Another front where we have seen some progress is reduction in gas flaring penalties. In 2012, it was $24 million, in 2013, it was $18 million and that is a decrease of about 25 per cent based on better utilisation of gas and also less gas flaring, so there is positive news on that.

When you also look at underassessment and underpayments by companies, it has reduced by about 64 per cent between 2012 and 2013 alone. There is some progress being made and we need to acknowledge that.

But there are still disturbing trends that need to be improved on Yes, there is a lot that has been done and still a lot that we need to look at. You said we shouldn’t look at the figures because they are out and no point overlabouring them but there are some outstanding issues.

The first is that we still do not know how much crude oil we produce, we know how much oil we sell because we know how much we export but we do not know how much we produce because we do not have meters at places they should be. Metering is still an issue and it was flagged as a significant issue in the first audit for 1999 to 2004 and nothing has been done to address that issue but it is still a major issue.

Another significant issue is that the level of loses is increasing. From the 2013 audit alone, three JV operators reported a loss of $4.7 billion, due to vandalism and theft amongst others.

This is significant because if as a business, you made $58 billion but lose $5 billion, which is close to 10 per cent and it is significant, it should be a worry to us.

We should also be worried by the fact that we have government entities that hold on to monies they shouldn’t hold on to. That is a very serious issue because it raises issues of governance, transparency and accountability.

The 2013 report indicates that NNPC and its subsidiaries held on to $3.8 billion and N358 billion for the year under review and for a group of entities owned by the government to decide to do that is not right, and when you look at their excuses, one of which is the transfer of oil assets to the NPDC, we can leave the worth of the assets to ask about the payment

New fuel policy to eliminate queues in Filling Stations

Adio of the money for the assets.

You have supposedly sold the assets to NPDC which was reaping all the benefits from its production but the country was still paying cash-calls on the divested assets. You cannot eat your cake and still have it but there are serious systemic, governance and process issues which show that we cannot have enough transparency in the sector, this sector still needs as much transparency as you can imagine.

Another area that jumps at me is the NLNG dividends which the NLNG said they paid and NNPC acknowledged but held on to the money. On what ground should NNPC keep the money, there is need to have clarity on this and not just having them sit on it.

There are also some MoUs that have expired and which we should have renewed. Because we don’t have a clear fiscal regime, on account of that, there are two pricing methodology, the government prefers one which is the official price but the oil companies prefer the realisable price and when you look at this you will realise the country lost so much because people did not do their jobs.

The lessons from this report show that there is a lot of work that needs to be done. There are serious issues that need to be rectified and we need to fix these issues now.

In carrying out the audits, did you ask questions about these expired MoUs? What I can tell you about this MoUs is that they were drawn up in 2000 with conditions about what to do when they expire and this was because of uncertainty about what should be paid.

At some point, a committee was set up and there were three issues for discussion, but we think it was not a question of setting up a committee and that before a MoU will expire you should know it would, but we allowed it to expire and nothing was done about that.

Now the country has lost hugely from this.

We think that on the issue of the MoU and metering, the critical factor that has being missing is the lack of political will to do the right things. If there is a political will to show that the country get appropriate value from all these things, it is a piece of cake and not

about setting up committees.

I am also aware that there is a court ruling on this between the FIRS and one of the oil companies on the mode for calculating payments and the judgement was in favour of the FIRS that the official selling price should apply, a tax tribunal took that decision and that should be enough to strengthen the hand of government to take a firm decision on the issue.

Does it then bother NEITI that parts of the critical recommendations you make to government to help it reform the oil sector are seldom taken and implemented well?

It bothers us and sometimes it can be frustrating but having said that let me also say that our works have not been in vain, the impact of our work is felt in the sense that before NEITI came on board, very few people knew or had data about what was going on in the oil sector.

It was a classic black box and nobody knew what happened there but at least, now based on our many reports, people have access on data and there is a conversation that is going on that was not happening before. These are conversations on the basis of evidence.

If you also look at reforms going on now, you see that some of the issues we have raised many times in our reports are reflected. When you recommend something, it does not mean that it will happen immediately, it will accumulate until that momentum is built.

We take a long view of this and change is something that come by increment, and except it is a revolution, I don’t know how else it will happen. There are some of our recommendations that have informed debates and the thinking of people who are looking towards reforms.

You are right that we come up with recommendations after recommendations and the percentage of uptake of these recommendations is very low and that is where I have said that what is missing is the political will. These things are desirable but they’ve not been done because vested interests are there.

But we believe that we have a new government that has a political will to fight corruption and reform the sector. It is a good time to do this type of job, but apart from that we also want to create a demand that is beyond just

recommending, we are also able to engage critically with policy makers.

We want to engage more, we want to step up our advocacy with decision makers, civil societies and the citizens so that the space for the conversations will be expanded beyond just the people in the extractive sectors but also all citizens.

Your basic product - the audits, come once a year, are they enough engagement tools to drive the sort of change NEITI wants in minerals extractive operations?

The only thing we do most of the time is audits and they come once a year, what that means is that invariably we have just one product to engage our stakeholders and which also limit the opportunity for engagement.

We want to create additional products, we have reports that are bulky that many people do not have the time to go through them.

We want to be doing single-issue reports just like the policy brief we did that focused on beneficial ownership. We want to do more of that, focusing on specific issues with platform to engage stakeholders. We want to play more in the policy space to be able to get to the mind of the policy makers. We want to do that with these additional products.

We are going to be doing policy briefs; holding policy dialogues; and doing specific memos on issues to strengthen how we engage and not just do reports, launch them and drop them off.

We will engage at two levels of supply and demand to drive the change we are looking for.

The supply side actors are the policy makers who can take decisions and so we need to engage them with specific issues. Then we will engage with other people at a level they understand because Nigerians have got to a stage where those figures don’t shock them anymore. We now want to break it down and communicate to them in a way they will understand and link the figures to things that matter to them.

People have a voice and come to the table on a position of knowledge for us to have informed debates about the options open to us and we don’t have to assume that people will Continued on page 27

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ADIO: NIGERIA RELIES ON SALES TO KNOW THE QUANTUM OF OIL PRODUCED do that, we have to break it down, empower and mobilise them.

How about outstanding remediation issues from past audit reports, what is their status now?

In terms of remediation, the major platform we use to do that is the Inter Ministerial task Team (IMTT) which we chair and on which you have the major stakeholders responsible for different things. We meet with them and listen to their responses on issues.

What we have been trying to do is to use the power of moral suasion to work things through.

If you ask me, remediation is the weakest link in our activities. We do our audits well and also disseminate but in helping to fix those gaps, that is has become our Achilles heel. We have asked why it is not working and realised it is because the people we are engaging with do not have the incentive to change and we do not have power over them.

It is just like you convene people, they oblige you and send whoever they want to send but at the end they do not do what you want them to do. However, we are not going to jettison the IMTT, the board has decided on how to strengthen it and we are lucky that this time we have a minister as our chairman, who is also the chair of the IMTT. We also have the permanent secretary in the ministry of finance as our board member;

we have decided that he will be a member of the IMTT. We are now going to push for the political will from the government to remedy all these issues. We want to also realign our activities with the priorities of the government because our job allows us to fit well into that.

We also believe that when the president pays more attention to our work, he can achieve his objectives.

So, we are not happy with where we are but there is a good opportunity for us to achieve more, and so we will be working more with the parliamentarians and some of the other government’s anti-corruption agencies because some of our discoveries bother on economic sabotage. NEITI had in the past asked for more power to enable it rein in on defaulters of its mandate, do you subscribe to this?

I will say that the response we get from the operators has improved because when we started, it was entirely new to people and they were finding it difficult to accept as you know that any new thing you introduce has its costs.

Overtime, they are getting used to us and because they are also part of the entire EITI coalition, it has gotten better over these periods, but does that mean that some people still don’t respond on time, yes, or that companies or government agencies still don’t withhold funds, no. It is a work in progress and there is need for more. It is up to us to identify the constraints and see how to work through them.

I accept that some people have said our Act penalises or criminalises certain behaviours and you might want to ask why people have not been penalised or charged over the periods, the Act is silent on who should prosecute and did not give us power to prosecute.

So, if you have the power to prosecute, that will give us more muscles and people will take us more seriously, that is also why we need to think about how to amend the Act. We are going to strengthen our relationship with the National Assembly and there is a process of amending the Act, we will only put that back on the table. But before we get that reviewed, we shouldn’t stop working or limit our abilities.

That is why we will be working more with the ministry of justice and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) so that of we find economic infractions in our reports, we will pass that to me. The fact remains that because we cannot prosecute, it does not stop other people from prosecuting.

We also have the soft power to name and shame, and I don’t want it to appear like we are totally helpless and cannot do things because we are limited by our own imagination.

NEITI in the past also audited government’s fiscal allocations and statutory remittances but then seemed to hang that exercise up, what happened, is that now rested?

In an ideal world where we have all the

money to do all that we want to do, we would but we don’t live in an ideal world.

We are requested not just to do the audits but also about how the money is spent. A particular aspect of our Act specifies that.

This is something we take very seriously but we don’t get all the money we need and it is a function of resources. Once we get the resources, we will do that because it is a very significant report. It is a revolutionary kind of report that we must continue because it tells citizens how the monies their government earn are spent.

That one was actually a pilot and it is something we should be doing for the whole country and in fact, our report should be two parts: the audit and how the monies are spent.

If we tell citizens that our work include letting government know how much it is supposed to get and then letting them know how the government spends the monies, it appeals more to them and that is the frontiers of our work. We also want to go beyond revenue transparency and it is very important because want to know who owns what and whether people are befitting from what they should not befit from through improper relationships with government officials.

We also want to know how these revenues are used, whether they are used for trafficking or terrorists’ funding. We will push to ensure contract transparency as well.

Firm Raises Awareness on Corrosion of Equipment, Integrity of Fuels Ejiofor Alike A Nigerian indigenous firm, Engineering Automation Technology Limited has moved to sensitise oil and gas industry stakeholders on the need to minimise or completely eliminate compromise in terms of corrosion mitigation and the integrity of quality of crude oil and fuels in Nigeria.

Speaking at a recent sensitisation and awareness workshop organised in Lagos by his company and the foreign partners, the Chief Executive Officer of Engineering Automation Technology

Limited, Mr. Emmanuel Okon said no matter the integrity of an aircraft engine, impurities in the aviation fuel could bring down the aircraft.

“We have come to discover that the way the world is going globally and Nigeria in particular, if the quality of fuel used in both upstream and downstream is compromised, it leads to casualties. One of our products has facilities for testing aviation fuel.

All of us know that there is no parking space in the air.

No matter the quality and integrity of an aircraft engine, impurities in the aviation fuel can bring down the aircraft.

Now, to avoid that risk, we decided to bring the product into this country,” Okon said.

Okon added that his company had also worked with the original equipment manufacturers (OEM) to the extent of acquiring the same competence as the manufacturers.

According to him, the company has received approval to serve as the in-country sales centre for the two products, saying the implication is that users of the products do not need to send back the products to the United Kingdom for servicing, repairs, maintenance, revalidation or recalibration.

“As I welcome you all our esteemed Customers, distinguished Regulators, members of the Press and concerned Stakeholders, I humbly place on record that history has again been made today

by Engineering Automation Technology Ltd – EATech with this public statement of pursuing our“Technical Leadership” aspiration through excellence in sales of high end Products, Services and deployment of cutting edge technologies.

Six years ago, the board and management of EATech in a well-attended Product Presentation and Business Forum where Dectron range of high

end products were unveiled, registered its irrevocable commitment to partner the best OEMs to domesticate world class technologies and products. Therefore, this joint Products Presentation and Customers’ Forum is a practical demonstration of that modest Vision,” Okon explained.

Okon noted with satisfaction that the last six years had been an intervening period of intense professional search, identification and evaluation before adding the two OEMs show casing their products, to the list of prestigious partners and

alliances.

Beyond the array of great products and on-hand experts to address customers’ immediate and remote challenges, Okon said his company’s partnerships and collaborations had been carefully packaged to achieve more than 50 per cent market penetration in the next two years.

According to him, in order to jump start this laudable but ambitious Pursuit, two Service Centres - ,one each for the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) are already operational at the company’s Port Harcourt Business Liaison Office.

to Commence Coscharis Technologies Wins FG Moves to Drive Livestock NigerCem Production Soon as Ebonyi, Ibeto APC Best Distributor Award Production Coscharis Technologies, an information and communications technology company based in Nigeria, has been awarded the APC Best Distributor Award (West Africa) at the just concluded Middle East and Africa (MEA) Distributors Conference 2016 organised by APC by Schneider Electric in Geneva, Switzerland.

Incorporated in 1993, Coscharis Technologies is a subsidiary of the Coscharis Group, one of the most diversified conglomerates in Nigeria. The company is at the forefront of innovative pursuits that will change the landscape for the deployment of ICT technologies in the country and is an authorised partner/distributor to some of the world’s best ICT brands such ASUS, APC, Mercury, Samsung, Solidworks, Lenovo, HP(Hewlett Packard), IBM, Microsoft, etc.

Presenting the award, the Vice President, English West Africa, APC by Schneider, Ayo Adegboye, stated that Coscharis Technologies is indeed a dependable IT partner of choice. According to him, “We are not surprised at the level of commitment and growth the company has recorded in

the last three years because of the management structure.”

He further stated that the Best Distributor Award (West Africa) is a well-deserved recognition and encouraged the management not to relent in its pursuit of excellence.

In his response, Managing Director, Coscharis Technologies, Sunday Mukoro dedicated the award to God Almighty for the grace to excel against all odds.

He also thanked all partners nationwide, the APC product head in Costech and all company staff for helping the company achieve the feat.

Speaking further, Mukoro said: “doing business with APC by Schneider has given us an opportunity to contribute positively to both the domestic and industrial power needs of the nation by providing quality and reliable power and physical IT infrastructure for individuals and corporate bodies.”

He also assured that Coscharis Technologies will continue in the stride to always be in the forefront of making APC by Schneider products available to every Nigerian wherever they are in Nigeria.

Chineme Okafor in Abuja In line with its goal of attaining self-sufficiency in the provision of animal protein; creating jobs for millions of youths and contributing to the National Gross Domestic Product optimally, the federal government has mapped out programmes aimed at improving livestock production in the country. The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, disclosed this during a media parley on the forthcoming two-day retreat on Livestock and Dairy Development in Nigeria slated for June 7-8, 2016 in Abuja.

The Minister said the present administration was ready to embark on various agricultural programmes that would develop the nation’s livestock industry.

These programmes according to the Minister, include the establishment of ranches to be planted with high quality improved tropical grass and legume species; provision of irrigation for all year commercial fodder production to enhance settlement of pastoralists; cattle, sheep and goat improvement through an expanded breeding programme that will be aggres-

sively pursued using artificial insemination; establishment of clusters of dairy farmers which would be equipped with milk collection facilities; capacity building programmes for livestock farmers and introduction of single credit facility for livestock and other farming activities.

Ogbeh expressed the regret over the huge import bill of milk, which he put at 1.3 billion dollars and stated that the federal government was determined to intensify efforts in increasing livestock production along its value chains. He added that the ministry was ready to create enabling environments for potential investors to grow and develop the nation’s livestock industry to achieve self-sufficiency as well as become a net exporter to other West African countries.

The Minister explained that the retreat with the theme “Setting an Agenda for commercialising Livestock and Dairy Commodity Value Chain” is being organised by the ministry in collaboration with African Business Roundtable to create an enabling environment to attract private sector investment for the development of livestock and dairy sector in Nigeria.

Sign Pact

Cement production will soon commence at the Nigeria Cement Company in Nkalagu, Ebonyi State.

This followed the signing of deed of understanding/ terms of settlement between NIGERCEM and representatives of the four host communities- Nkalagu, Nkalaha, Umuhuali, Amaezu and the Ebonyi State Government.

With the signing of the pact in Abakaliki on Friday, the legal battle that had stalled the reopening of the once foremost indigenous cement production firm has been put to rest.

The parties resolved to appear in court on Monday to notify the court about the withdrawal of the suit filed by Eastern BulkCem, a subsidiary of Ibeto Group.

The immediate past administration, led by Martin Elechi, was alleged to have turned down suggestions for an out of court settlement, against Dr. Cletus Ibeto, who had tried to revamp the cement factory which was popularly known as Nkalagu Cement Factory.

The Ebonyi State Governor, David Umahi; Ibeto and the SSA to the Governor on Ce-

ment Production, Hon. Sunday Ugwuocha described the signing of the MoU as milestone towards the revitalisation of the company.

Umahi, who said he had in line with the popular demand of the host communities promised to allow Ibeto revamp the firm, noting that the journey to its realisation was not an easy one. He said: “When we were campaigning under divine mandate platform, the only request that the communities made was that Ibeto should be allowed to come and revamp NIGERCEM and we did promise them that that was going to be done.”

Umahi, who thanked the Cement Production Implementation Committee set up by his administration, for doing a good job ,assured Ebonyi people that their 10per cent equity ownership of NIGERCEM was still intact.

“Let me announce to Ebonyi people that our 10% equity with NIGERCEM is still alive,” he assured as he described the land of Ebonyi as a land made up of limestone, gold, frankincense, silver, lead, zinc, etc.

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INDUSTRY

Championing the Use of Concrete in Road Construction

Crusoe Osagie writes on the commitment of both the federal government and Dangote Group to transform the nation’s road infrastructure using concrete

With the commissioning last weekend of the 26km Itori-Ibese concrete road in Ogun State, constructed by the Dangote Group, any doubts that remain about the possibility of constructing the entire failing road infrastructure in the country with cement should be banished.

At the moment, Nigeria produces more cement than any other country in Africa, over 40 million metric tonnes of cement per annum, representing a massive potential to change the nation’s infrastructure story, taking advantage of the abundant availability of the essential building material.

Most roads and other infrastructure in Nigeria and the whole of Africa are in sorry state. As the world currently grapples with a sluggish economy, the flow of investment to and within emerging economies is without doubt more intricate and extremely competitive.

So, Nigeria must look inwards to keep her economy growing.

If the use of cement made in Nigerian factories for road construction is adopted, apart from the critical infrastructure being built, the nation’s industrial capacity utilisation will increase, more taxes will be paid, lots of jobs will be created and the list of economic benefits goes on, giving the country the opportunity of winning in all ways.

Lessons from Abroad Some experts are of the opinion that a good place to begin the paradigm shifts with respect to road management in the country is the diversification of the material used for road construction and maintenance.

Virtually all the roads in Nigeria were made using asphalt and bitumen. Also, all the road maintenance carried out in the country is done using this single material and method, which has failed to give the quality of roads that make nations proud and lure investors.

Construction experts are now asking why cement, which Nigeria now produces locally in very large quantities has not been introduced in road making to save the country from the five-decade long embarrassment.

The fact that Nigeria has failed to use cement for road construction is most embarrassing because other countries such as India, the United States among others have successfully used cement to make roads and maintain them for up to a century or more.

US Cement Roads As a matter of fact, cement and concrete played a major role in the construction of the United States Interstate Highway System during the past 60 years. The national focus has shifted from building new highways to maintaining and repairing the existing highway network.

Recent advances in concrete technology enable highway contractors to rehabilitate the nation’s 160,000 mile national highway system to extend its useful life with minimal disruption of traffic.

The US national highway system, which includes the nearly 45,000 mile interstate system, carries 40 per cent of the nation’s total traffic, including 70 per cent of the commercial traffic and 90 per cent of the tourist traffic, according to the US Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).

About 60 per cent of the interstate system is concrete, especially in urban areas where FHWA anticipates heavy traffic loads. Concrete was selected, in part, because of its durability.

Concrete can support heavy loads, such as truck traffic, with less deformation than asphalt.

Although the initial cost of concrete used to be higher than for asphalt, today concrete has become the least expensive alternative for new construction on a first-cost basis in addition to maintenance costs being generally lower.

In addition, concrete generally has a useful life of twice that of asphalt. Concrete commonly serves 20 to 30 years without needing major repair, while asphalt typically lasts only eight

Cement road construction in progress to 12 years before resurfacing or significant repair is required.

The first concrete highway constructed in the United States was a 24-mile long, 9-foot wide, 5-inch thick strip of concrete pavement built near Pine Bluff, Arkansas, in 1913 – five years after the introduction of the Model T Ford. By 1914, concrete had been used to pave 2,348 miles of roadway.

FG, Dangote Concrete Road Progress The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, last weekend commissioned Dangote Industries Limited’s (DIL’s) 26km Itori-Ibese concrete road in Ogun State. He noted that the investment demonstrated the unwavering commitments

The first concrete highway constructed in the United States was a 24-mile long, 9-foot wide, 5-inch thick strip of concrete pavement built near Pine Bluff, Arkansas, in 1913 – five years after the introduction of the Model T Ford

of indigenous investors towards the industrialisation of Nigeria.

Fashola explained that going forward, the federal government will continue to encourage indigenous companies such as Dangote to compete with the traditional international construction companies to build quality roads at affordable cost in order to consolidate and extend its national road networks, maintaining that this will enable the federal government to actualise some of this administration’s cardinal objectives, which include job creation and economic empowerment of Nigerians.

According to him, one of the key thrust of the present administration is infrastructure development, pointing out that his ministry will soon commence an aggressive road construction and maintenance programme across the length and breadth of the nation.

Meanwhile, worried about the huge sum of money used in road repairs, the president, Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, said plans were in place to revolutionise Nigeria’s road infrastructure building with concrete, stressing that resources used in road repairs and maintenance would be channeled towards the pressing needs of the nation. ”We are going to be building concrete roads in the country so that anytime we build a road, we do not have to go back to repair after the third raining season, but move on and use the resources to address other pressing needs of Nigeria,” Dangote said.

Also, Fashola said concrete road construction is not a new technology, stressing that countries that have achieved self-sufficiency in cement production have found it expedient to adopt the construction of concrete roads because they are cheaper, more durable and environmentally friendly.

“We will ensure that all economically viable projects under the ministry, commenced by the previous administration, are fully implemented, while new ones will be completed during the tenure of this administration. I want to use this medium to assure Nigerians that the present challenges being experienced especially in the power and road sectors of the economy, will soon be a thing of the past.

We are working round the clock to deliver

lasting solutions to the challenges in these sectors,” Fashola pledged.

The minister, during the commissioning, said: “I believe Nigeria should not be an exception. We must move with the times.

I am also told that we have achieved local self-sufficiency in cement production, chiefly due to the activities of Dangote Cement Plc, which is the biggest player in the industry with over 60 percent of the market share.

Therefore, there is no reason why we should not embrace concrete roads technology in the country,” he said.

He said based on the satisfactory report and recommendation of its team of engineers in the ministry, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) recently approved the construction of the 42.5 kilometer Obajana-Kabba Road by AG-Dangote Construction Company Limited using cement concrete, adding that this road project when completed, will be the longest concrete road in Nigeria.

He noted that the federal government also granted DIL 30 per cent tax concession in accordance with the provisions of section 3(1) and (2) of the Companies Income Tax Act (CAP, 21 Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Companies Income Tax (Exemption of Profits) Order 2012 to help recover part of the cost of the project.

He reiterated that the federal government’s desire is to continue to partner and support indigenous firms like DIL that actively invest in employment generation and wealth creation for the benefit of Nigerians.

Also, speaking at the event, the Governor, Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, said the Itori-Ibese concrete road will go a long way in easing vehicular movement and promoting economic activities within Ibese, its environs and the entire Ogun State.

He commended Dangote for the laudable gesture, saying that Dangote has been consistently giving back to society in all the areas of its operation and even beyond.

“Let me use this opportunity to reassure you all that my administration will continue to provide the enabling environment for Dangote Continued on page 29

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BUSINESSWORLD

INDUSTRY CHAMPIONING THE USE OF CONCRETE IN ROAD CONSTRUCTION

and other investors to thrive in Ogun State.

It is my firm conviction that industrialisation remains the only way to rejuvenate our ailing economy,” he said, He added that the benefits of concrete roads are quite numerous, pointing out that concrete roads have a long service life compared to asphalt roads that Nigerians are used to.

Amosun said: “Concrete roads do not also require frequent repair or patching work like asphalt roads. In addition, I am informed that vehicles plying concrete roads have better fuel efficiency compared to those that use asphalt roads. I also learnt that unlike asphalt roads, concrete roads do not get easily damaged by often extreme weather conditions such as excessive rain or extreme heat, which are common in Nigeria. If this is the case, then I would like to enjoin Nigerians to embrace this new concept of concrete roads, being championed by Dangote. This is the way to go.”

“We in Ogun State are delighted to have been a part of Dangote’s success story with their investment in the Ibese Cement Plant.

The company has not only transformed several host communities in the states where they operate, but they have also put Nigeria on the map of major cement-producing countries in the world. This is again, commendable,” he added. Earlier, Dangote noted that 26 km concrete road which is the longest stretch of concrete road in the country today constructed

by AG-Dangote Construction Limited, its joint venture company is in line with what obtains in other parts of the world.

“You will all agree with me that one of the major infrastructural challenges that we face in Nigeria today is lack of good quality roads.

Indeed, most of our highways are in a very deplorable condition due to lack of proper maintenance. That is why travelers on our inter-state routes often spend longer hours on the roads than they should. Obviously, this calls for a review of our existing method of building roads in Nigeria. Roads play an important role in the social and economic development of any nation,” he said.

He said the Nigerian cement industry as DIL’s contribution to finding a cost-effective and lasting solution to this problem, has been advocating the construction of concrete roads as a more viable alternative to asphalt roads.

“That is why we at DIL, are venturing into the construction of concrete roads. Today’s ceremony is just the beginning for us, as we will soon embark on the building of more concrete roads in other States of the federation, including Lagos, Bauchi, Kogi and Kaduna,” he said. He noted that the project conceived in 2014 as part of our efforts to ease movement of our heavy duty trucks from our Ibese Cement Plant to other parts of the country, was borne out of the existing narrow road built in the 70s that had virtually collapsed which needed to be reconstructed to accommodate it’s trucks and other road users. In his words, concrete roads are not only about 20 per cent cheaper than the conventional asphalt roads, but also last longer and do not have potholes, maintaining that concrete roads do not require frequent maintenance and they save fuel for motorists protecting tyres from wear and tear.

He said another advantage of concrete roads is that cement, the basic raw material is for construction, is available locally, and is cheaper to use in the long run than bitumen,

adding that bitumen is a petroleum-based product that is presently imported.

According to him, in Nigeria, economic losses due to poor condition of our roads is estimated at about $1billion annually, saying that the introduction of concrete roads will enable the government to find lasting solution to the poor road network in the country, and also reduce the burden of constantly sourcing for funds to repair roads.

“We are excited that some state governments are already beginning to take more interest in concrete roads in the light of the benefits . I am happy today to announce that in another CSR initiative, we are reconstructing the Ijora Apapa Wharf Road in Lagos State, using cement concrete. I am sure those of you that are familiar with the road will appreciate just how critical it is to the evacuation of goods from Apapa Port. The assistance of the ministry of works is required to enable us to complete the engineering design and preliminary works for the early take off of the construction of this road. Within the next 18 months, we expect to complete the project and bring succour to Lagosians,” he added.

In his words, “We have also submitted to your ministry last year a proposal for the reconstruction of the Papalanto-Shagamu Road in concrete pavement as a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) project on the same terms as the Obajana-Kabba Road project. This road is a critical section of the highway linking Nigeria to neighbouring ECOWAS and it is important for the evacuation of cement from the Dangote Cement and Lafarge plants in Ibese and Ewekoro, respectively.”

He stated that DIL has recently been awarded the contract to reconstruct the 42km

Obajana-Kabba Road in Kogi State, in concrete, pointing out that the estimated cost of the project is N11.5billion while commending the Federal Government for granted a tax waiver to enable the company recoup part of the estimated cost at N5.6billion in tax credits for five years.

“The balance will be our donation as part of our CSR. I wish to express our sincere gratitude to the Honourable Minister for the role you played in getting the Federal Government’s approval for this project after a period of over two years. We are also in discussions with the Kaduna and Bauchi State governments to construct concrete roads in their domain,” he stressed.

He said the concrete road being commissioned, is just one out of the several Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives that the company has put in place for its host communities, adding that this is in line with its corporate philosophy, which is to impact positively on the lives of members of its host communities everywhere it operates, including outside the shores of the country.

“For example, just recently, we donated the sum of N150million to be used for various community-related projects in Ibese, as a mark of our appreciation of the kind hospitality we have enjoyed over the years. It is our hope that these projects will give these communities a sense of belonging,” he said.

Dangote said: “We will continue to invest in the country because we believe this is the only way we can fast track economic development. I therefore encourage you all to join us, as we strive to find ‘home-made’ solutions to the various challenges that we face as a nation.”

Arla Foods Donates Milk to Children at Edo IDP Camp Arla Dano Milk has donated cartons of Dano Milk to over 2,000 children at the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in Uguagolor near Benin-City, Edo State.

The presentation of the product, according to the company, was in commemoration of the World Milk Day 2016 held on June 1 globally and in further demonstration of its commitment to increasing access to affordable nourishing food by millions of people across countries. Speaking at the presentation ceremony witnessed by key officials of the Edo State Government, the Marketing Manager, Dano, Afousat Traore, said the gesture by Arla Foods was a response to the plight of the displaced persons who obviously need everyone’s support and empathy to be able to overcome the present phase of life they are in.

She said Dano Milk recognised that nutritious food was essential for children, nursing mothers and aged people at the camp in order to keep them strong and healthier.

“This gesture by Arla Foods Nigeria is all about responding to the humanitarian need of

the displaced persons at this critical moment of their lives.

We feel their pain and the need to be provided with nutritious food so they can remain healthy and be able to live active life in spite of their current predicament”, Traore said.

While reiterating the company’s continued support to government and improved quality of life among Nigerians across communities, Traore disclosed that Arla Foods Nigeria would increase its social investments in Nigeria through partnerships and collaboration with relevant stakeholders.

She said: “At Arla Foods we are passionate about positively impacting the people and our environment by building partnerships that can drive various interventions. We are happy to partner with the Medical Women Association of Nigeria (MWAN); the Association of Civil Society Organisations for Malaria, Immunization and Nutrition(ACOMIN); National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA); and States’ Emergency Management Agency to make life more

meaningful for Nigerians living in IDP camps.”

The Edo State Commissioner

for Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs. Hanena Jemitola Fulani-Ojo, com-

mended the company for the provision of good nutrition to the children at the camp,

and said the initiative will impact positively on improved quality of life at the camp.

STRENGTHENING PROFESSIONALISM

L-R: Chief Executive Officer, Old Mutual Life Nigeria Assurance Company, Mr. Keith Alford; Commissioner for Insurance, Alhaji Mohammed Kari; Chief Executive Officer, Old Mutual General Insurance Company, Mrs. Rachel Emenike; and President, Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB), Mr. Kayode Okunoren during the 2016 CEO’s Retreat of NCRIB held in Ilesa, Osun State…recently

Substandard Goods: SON Partners NPF on Information Sharing Management Crusoe Osagie The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has partnered the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) on information sharing management to combat the over 90 per cent of fake and substandard products finding their way into the nation through its ports and unmanned routes and borders.

The standards body said this move was to take the agency’s effort to another

level by expanding its net by partnering with its sister bodies to tackle the preponderance of substandard goods in the country.

The Assistant Inspector General (AIG), Maritime Police Command, Mr. Muhammed Katsina, emphasised on the need for stronger collaboration to achieve a zero tolerance for substandard products.

Katsina during a courtesy visit of SON in Lagos, said: “The

technicality of this event is very important and we are going to need the SON to achieve our mandate because they have the power to prosecute. I consider SON as a life partner and a dependable ally, a strategic partner to achieve our mandate to protect the maritime environment. We believe one agency cannot do it alone.

“The issue of substandard product is very worrisome when compared to other crimes we

try to prevent as an agency of government. I am here today telling you as the AIG in charge of this to give a flourishing partnership.

We are going to create a harmonious platform of understanding where there will be cross fertilization of ideas to carry you along with our daily activities to ensure that the environment is safe for everyone to operate.”

He said most of the unscru-

pulous people who deal in fake and substandard goods smile to the bank, stressing that he has an uncompromising standard in the pursuit of high ethical organisational excellence to ensure the partnership achieves its set goal .

Meanwhile, the NPF handed over a container st uck with spare parts and substandard tyres to SON for further investigations, saying that courtesy of its intelligence department, it

intercepted the container, which he said came in from Dubai.

“I hope all of us are going to be on board to clean up this great country. The journey has started and all hands are on deck. We must all have respect for this country.

My office is open 24 hours of the day and we will also come to you at anytime for advice.

We will refer matters relating to your area of jurisdiction to treat, prosecute and advice.

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PROPERTY & ENVIRONMENT Nigeria’s Housing Initiatives Neither Consistent nor Measurable, Says Fashola Over the years, Nigeria has embarked on a series of housing initiatives but not one of them has been pursued with consistency or any measurable sustainability, Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fahola told a meeting called by Shelter Afrique, reports Bennett Oghifo

T

he Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola said he is convinced that Nigeria has over the years embarked on unsustainable efforts in housing provision that “must change, and give way to a sustainable and well thought out initiative.” Fashola stated this at the 35th AGM of Shelter Afrique and Housing Symposium, which held in Abuja, recently.

“We are convinced that this change must be led by Government and subsequently driven by the private sector.” He stated his reason for this and in the process, revealed the road map of Ministry for Housing. He explained that the public housing initiative of the United Kingdom was started by government in 1918 and that as of 2014, 64.8% of UK’s 53 million people were home owners. The Singaporean initiative, he said was started by government in 1960 and that it has provided housing for 80% of its 3 million people.

He said, “What is common to both model, is that there was a uniformity of design, a common target to house working class people, and not the elite, standardisation of fittings like doors, windows, space, electrical and mechanical, and also a common concept of neighborhood.”

Shelter Afrique’s intervention…

Fashola then presented highlight of Shelter Afrique’s report, which he said the institution’s managing director gave him and said, “It does not share these characteristics.”

L-R: Managing Director, Shelter Afrique, James Mugerwa; REDAN President, Mr. Ugochukwu Chime; Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunda Fashola; Ag. Chief Executive Officer Malawi Housing Corporation, Eunice Mussa Napolo; Deputy President, REDAN, Aliyu Wammako; Nat. Sec. REDAN, M. Akintoye Adeoye; and former Managing Director, Shelter Afrique, Prince Seyi Lufadeju, at the signing of an MoU between REDAN and Shelter Afrique at the 35th AGM of Shelter Afrique in Abuja… recently

The report, he said stated that “Between 2005 and 2010, Shelter Afrique in Nigeria had financed 23 initiatives with a total of $52,175,000 (Approximately N10.435 Billion @N200 = $1.00).

Of these initiatives, 15 representing lending for construction of housing projects, out of which the largest was for $7 million for 376 houses of

different types, and 251 serviced plots, followed by 287 mixed housing units for a cooperative society, 55 housing units and 100 Service plots and the least was for 16 maisonettes. This is the intervention on the supply side of housing to provide houses.

“The remaining eight interventions were

for mortgage financing to building societies, credit line for individual mortgages and related financing, on the demand side of housing, to provide finance.”

He said the “other parts of the report also Continued on page 34

GEF,UNDPProjecttoPromoteSustainableManagement,Resilience of Ecosystems The sustainable management and resilience of ecosystems is very important in all human activities, as a means to address food insecurity. For this reason, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is putting together a project on ‘Fostering Resilience and Sustainability for Food Security in Sub Saharan Africa’. The programme aims to promote the sustainable management and resilience of ecosystems as a means to address food insecurity, reports Bennett Oghifo

A

crucial meeting of stakeholders was held at the Women Farmers Advancement Network (WOFAN) Centre in Kano recently to provide inputs to the GEF/UNDP programme, which will support efforts to; scale-up more sustainable and more resilient approaches, practices and technologies, including innovative approaches to improving soil health, water resource management and vegetation cover with direct benefits to the most vulnerable land users; promote impacts at scale, by fostering supportive policies and incentives for smallholder farmers to adopt sustainable and resilient practices; and increased private sector investment in climate-resilient and lowemission food value-chains; and d) promote mechanisms for multi-stakeholder coordination, planning and investment in Sustainable Land Management at scale.

The meeting, which had in attendance people with vast knowledge on environmental and agricultural issues, was designed to have the relevant information/data on the actual situation on ground in the proposed region of focus, so as to foster food security and resilience in the

Professor Emmanuel Oladipo discussing with participants at the GEF/UNDP review meeting at WOFAN Centre in Kano… recently

Sudan Sahel region of Nigeria.

According to the Executive Director, WOFAN, Hajia Salamatu Garba, while discussing ‘Challenges/way forward to ‘Food security in Northern Nigeria’, ¾ of populace are small holder farmers and live in rural areas that are unaware and not literate; rely on rain-fed food production systems (small-scale

farming, herding or fishing) for livelihood; too poor to purchase an adequate, balanced diet; lack the resources to enhancing the productivity of their farms; often excluded from social communication and political systems that might enable them to achieve a better life. Coordinator of the Kano brainstorming sessions, Professor Emmanuel Oladipo set the tone in his presentation

‘UNDP/GEF project: Fostering Sustainability and Resilience for Food Security in Nigeria.’

Stating the project elements, Professor Oladipo said in his ‘Country situation that agriculture accounts for about 24% of the nation’s GDP and employs about 70% of the labour force in Nigeria; Dominated by about 15 million smallholders (mostly women) who account for over 90 percent of the national food; Farm an average of 1 to 2 hectares per smallholder, usually with little or limited mechanization, access to fertilizers, and preservation or storage facilities; Average prevalence of food inadequacy and domestic food price volatility between 2000 and 2013 were 12% and 13% respectively and that food imports despite its abundance of arable land resources – about $11 billion in 2012.

Giving the ‘Situation Analysis’, he said the main divers of food insecurity include: rapidly the growing population; changing and uncertain climate; shrinking farming workforce; poor infrastructure; flat crops yields over the past decades; and conflicts in the northern agroecological zones (AEZs), where most of the Continued on page 34

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NIESV Seeks Strategic Chicason Group, Shelter Afrique Sign N44bn Partnership with Govt Housing Agreement Fadekemi Ajakaiye The Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) has promised to form strategic partnership with government in the areas of their practice.

NIESV President, Dr. Bolarinde Joshua Patunola-Ajayi, stated this during a reception luncheon of his investitures as the 22nd president of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors & Valuers, which held in Lagos recently.

According to the President of the Institution, “Nigeria is going through economic challenges and we shall collaborate with the Government to find solutions to those that are within our socio-economic, and professional purview.

“We shall work with the Government to render our professional services in the following areas: Housing policy formation, execution and management; Infrastructure concession and management including roads, ports, parks, tourist centers, etc; Land acquisition, compensation and administration; Valuation of Assets and Registration.

He said the Institution would also assist government in the creation of Estate Department in all Ministries and MDAs that do not have to ensure proper management of their properties and facilities.

They will also assist in the creation of Estate Surveyor and Valuer General Office at the National and State levels to handle enumeration and valuation of all properties in Nigeria, and to initiate policies on valuation, real estate, facilities management and land matters. This is crucial for Valuation of Assets of Government for implementation of Public Service Accounting Standard: To ensure adherence to code of conduct of the profession and discipline any erring

member; to cooperate with the Government in ensuring payment of relevant tax on the properties under our management; to work with the Government to create jobs within our Professional practice and any other way possible; to collaborate to train estate surveyors and valuer’s in the public service for better performance and consult as Project Managers for Government projects for cost effectiveness and timely completion.

Patunola-Ajayi said the institution would focus on the welfare of members during his tenure, saying “The welfare of members is paramount, and this administration will continue to seek avenue for progress of members in the public and private practice as well as in the academia. This we shall strive to achieve by creating avenues for interactive with the groups to rob minds on the challenges and jointly work out solutions to them.”

This administration, he said “Is looking forward to a new Institution which will build on the achievements of the past ones. We know that there are a lot to do, and we shall work assiduously to raise the banner of progress in “upgrading of our website to enhance online transactions in all areas of our daily operation; build upon the achievement of previous administrations on databank project, and make it available to members for use; I appreciate the past administration in procurement of plots of land for us, and we shall be committed to building our secretariat in Abuja; we must all realise that the Estate Surveyors and Valuers, Registration Board of Nigeria is existing because of us to ensure our success in practice.

We shall work with them to move the Institution forward, and protect our members business.

In furtherance of its resolve to provide decent residential accommodation to the Nigerian public, particularly the Nigerian worker in public and private sectors, Chicason Group through one of its real estate subsidiaries - Afro-Asia Shelters International has signed a real estate development funding agreement with African premier real estate development funding institution, Shelter Afrique International.

The MoU was signed last Tuesday in Abuja during the 35th Annual General Meeting and Symposium of Shelter Afrique.

The agreement is for the funding of the phase one of the N44 Billion 3,000 units Rock City 2 Jibi in the Greater

Abuja area.

This phase will cost about N5.2 Billion with Shelter Afrique contributing 59 percent while Chicason Group will contribute 41 percent of the development cost.

The Rock City 2 development is following after the over N110 Billion Rock City 1 in Lugbe currently under construction by Rock of Ages properties Ltd, a subsidiary of Chicason Group.

Chicason Group through its Real Estate subsidies: Rock of Ages Properties Ltd and Afro Asia Shelter International Ltd is committed to the development of decent residential estate across the country in partnership with the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria.

Signing the deal, the

Managing Director of Shelter Afrique, James Mugerwa noted that Shelter Afrique remains committed to the shared vision of the founding fathers of the organization which is to tackle the ever growing housing deficit in Africa.

He said, “The objective of providing affordable and quality housing to all is at the very heart of our mandate -- it is the core of our operations.

“I am happy to inform you that as we continue in our quest to deliver on that objective, we have created new systems and drafted and put into operation a new strategy.”

Similarly, The Chief Operating Officer of Rock of Ages Properties Limited, Mr. Francis Onwuemele who signed on behalf of his company told

journalists at the sideline of the event that Shelter Afrique, as a credible financial institution in Africa has recognized the contributions of his organization to the development of the housing sector and has agreed to partner with them by providing the required funds at a friendly rate.

According to Onwuemele, his organisation has acquired 443 hectares of land at Lugbe, Abuja from the Federal Government for the expansion of their mass housing scheme.

He disclosed that the funds coming from Shelter Afrique will go a long way in helping them to fastrack the partnership his organisation entered into with the TUC to provide affordable housing to Nigeria workers.

L-R: Second Vice President of Nigeria Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV), Mr. Emmanuel Okas Wike; the President and Chairman of Council, NIESV, Dr. Bolarinde Patunola Ajayi; his wife, Mrs. Olayinka Bolarinde Ajayi; first Vice President, Rowland Abonta; and National Treasurer, Mrs. Toyin Agbalaya, during the investiture ceremony of Dr. Bolarinde Ajayi as the 22nd President and Chairman of Council held at Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos… recently

NIGERIA’S HOUSING INITIATIVES NEITHER CONSISTENT NOR MEASURABLE, SAYS FASHOLA showed a financing of $60,400,000 (Approximately N12.08 billion @N200/$1.00) over the last 3 (three) years in 10 (ten) interventions.

Out of these 10, seven were for housing construction namely (i) 287 units, 90 units, 15 floor commercial complex, 59 housing units, 300 housing units, 130 apartments and 44 housing units on the supply side.

“The remaining 3 (three) interventions were for equity investment in the Nigerian Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC) ($3M); and credit

lines for on-lending for mortgage totaling $13 Million (N2.6 billion).” He said the report shows funding for diverse initiatives such as service plots, commercial complex, apartments, and mixed housing. Fashola said, “I am mindful that Shelter Afrique is not the only interventionist in the market, but I think that if we use this as a case study and benchmark ourselves, we can improve our efforts by measuring our progress and trying new things.”

The minister said the symposium’s topic

‘Housing Africa’s Urban Low Income Population’, was a good reason for him to begin his presentation with an assessment of the impact of Shelter Afrique’s intervention “because I believe that what is not measured does not get done, and what is measured can be improved upon.”

Nigeria’s housing situation…

Fashola said after he announced that the federal government would be building houses, “We have received scores of proposals from people and

something that is common to an overwhelming majority is that they all want to build 10,000 units of housing.

“Now I don’t know what is so attractive about the number 10,000 but I would certainly love to see houses built in such large numbers.

However, our interrogation of these proposals show that none of the people who want to build 10,000 houses can show us where they have previously built 500 houses to show their capacity.”

GEF, UNDP PROJECT TO PROMOTE SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT, RESILIENCE OF ECOSYSTEMS grains are produced.

This, he said puts food security in danger unless the decline in food production is offset by vast increase in-country food production and food imports despite infrastructure, production and market support services constraints.

Project Objective, he said was to “Enhance long-term environmental sustainability and resilience of food production systems of the country to achieve improved national food security.” The areas covered by the project are the Sudan/Sahel regions of Nigeria; North-east; North-central; and North-west, which were all represented at the meeting.

According to the Executive Director, WOFAN, Hajia Salamatu Garba, while discussing ‘Challenges/way forward to

Food security in Northern Nigeria’, said ¾ of populace are small holder farmers and live in rural areas that are unaware and not literate; rely on rain-fed food production systems (small-scale farming, herding or fishing) for livelihood; too poor to purchase an adequate, balanced diet; lack the resources to enhancing the productivity of their farms; often excluded from social communication and political systems that might enable them to achieve a better life.

Climate change threatens food security by decreasing crop productivity, destroying fragile ecosystems and damaging infrastructure, forcing migration, and increasing the risk of conflict over resources. On gender disparity, she said Women make up 60-80 percent of farmers worldwide and provide nearly half of the labor

on farms. They have limited control over land, water and farm inputs. She said women make up 60-80 percent of farmers worldwide and provide nearly half of the labour on farms and that they have limited control over land, water and farm inputs, rarely benefit from agricultural research and extension; have little access to financial and Market services; gender roles along the value chains, not properly defined and lopsided support to vulnerable groups.

She listed the socio-cultural, socio-economical and socio-political limitations as cultural, religious, ethnic, political, educational and marital practices, among others. On the impact of conflict and natural disasters, she said “Major conflicts and natural disasters destabilise local food supplies; seriously disrupt food production systems; and

that 22 percent of the losses are caused by natural disasters, and that they receive less than five percent of post-disaster aid.

In her recommendation/way forward, she called for improving livelihoods and to promote opportunities for women and the youth; promote relevant post-secondary, vocational and business training; data collection , record keeping, financial management services and training should be targeted to enhance agricultural productivity.

She said there should be focus on women and youth small-scale farmers on leadership, access productive assets, resources and markets, training; facilitate access to ICT, extension services Later, the participants were grouped into zones to harmonise their presentations/data for presentation to the plenary.

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TUESDAY JUNE 7, 2016 T H I S D AY

Cordially Invites

THE GENERAL PUBLIC TO:

INAUGURAL

BUHARIMETER

TOWNHALL MEETING

'STATE

ON THE

OF THE

NATION' SPECIAL GUESTS

Amina J. Mohammed Min. of Environment

Udoma Udo Udoma Min. of Budget & National Planning

Lai Mohammed Min. of Information

Raji Fashola Min. of Works, Power & Housing

Audu Ogbe Min. of Agriculture

June 9th, 2016 Ladi Kwali Hall, Sheraton Hotel Abuja 10:00am -1:00pm Buharimeter (www.buharimeter.ng) is conceptualized to monitor and create awareness on the implementation of the electoral promises made by President Muhammadu Buhari in the prelude to the 2015 general elections. The Buharimeter undertakes periodic reviews of government policies and programmes, conduct surveys and convene town halls etc. The initiative is designed to promote democratic accountability.

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T H I S D AY TUESDAY JUNE 7, 2016

Award For The Most Impactful Company in Clean Cooking

BRIEF STORY ON TECHNO OIL COOKSAFE INITIATIVE

Our Advocacy for clean cooking For close to two decades, Techno Oil has been at the forefront of advocacy for a switch from biomass to cooking gas (LPG) as a means of generating dom from biomass to cooking gas (LPG) as a means of generating domestic energy. The

company has taken a leading role in creating awareness of the d company has taken a leading role in creating awareness of the dangers and associated

costs of biomass and is empowering communities by providing effic costs of biomass and is empowering communities by providing efficient and affordable initiatives for making the switch to cooking gas.

One such initiative is the "Techno Oil Cooksafe Initiative". Techno Oil is very passionate

about a cleaner, healthier environment. Under the initiative, our company has adopted and prioritized the use of LPG across a wider section of t and prioritized the use of LPG across a wider section of the populace as part of its

corporate social responsibility. Our primary motivation is to deepen and encourage more Nigerians to embrace the use of LPG.

In furtherance to our advocacy, we have aggressively distributed over 50,000 units of gas stoves at discounted prices through market women across t gas stoves at discounted prices through market women across the country, and also

donated to some indigent households. Beyond creating awar donated to some indigent households. Beyond creating awareness among women, we are also empowering them to be part of the solution - provider are also empowering them to be part of the solution - providers in the value chain.

In 2010, Techno Oil launched an awareness campaign to: Enlighten Nigerians on the benefits of cooking with LPG as a cleaner, safer and more affordable alternative; Empower women to trade in LPG stoves and accessories and thereby, become a solution provider along the value chain; Address the environmental and health hazards associated with cooking with biomass fuels; Reduce the risk of death or serious injury to our women and young ones who are the primary victims of these hazardous cooking methods.

In 2013, the Lagos State Government collaborated with Techno Oil and the Lagos

Chamber of Commerce and Industry to implement CAGEL Scheme, aimed at ensuring a

healthy and sustainable environment in Lagos State. Techno Oil supplied 2,470 units of cylinders to support the Scheme

A recent World Health Organization report says that, cooking with firewood often

resulted in indoor pollution, which globally accounted for over 4 million deaths every year. ``We have a social and moral obligation to protect our women from a potential injurious way of living.

“Cooking with firewood is a silent killer because firewood smoke is more dangerous than cigarette smoke.ʼʼ

Our investments in the LPG Value Chain 5 million annual capacity LPG Cylinder Manufacturing Plant to be commissioned in December 2016 15,000MT LPG Storage Terminal Automated 1,000 MT LPG Bottling/Filling Plant Deployment of LPG skid plants in all our filling stations across Nigeria We believe that all the above listed investments will deepen LPG consumption, make cylinders more available and affordable, create jobs and reduce the depletion of our foreign reserves through LPG cylinder importation

www.technooil.com

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TUESDAY JUNE 7, 2016 • T H I S D AY

INTERNATIONAL

email:foreigndesk@thisdaylive.com

China Rebuffs Taiwan President’s Offer on Democracy China has rejected an offer

by Taiwan’s new president to share the island’s experience of democracy, saying it was confident of the path it had chosen. President Tsai Ing-wen made the offer via Facebook on Saturday in a post about the June 4 anniversary of China’s bloody crackdown on studentled protests in and around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.

Self-ruled Taiwan is the only part of the Chinese-speaking world which holds free elections, and Tsai has already upset China, where officials have accused her of promoting a pro-independence agenda, something anathema to Beijing.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei, asked whether China would be willing to learn from Taiwan’s democratization experience, said the past 30 years had shown China had made the right choice.

“In the last 30 years the success that China’s economy and society have achieved has received worldwide attention and the democratic system has continued to be perfected. The advantages of China’s system continue to show themselves,” Hong told a daily news briefing.

“The facts prove that the path China is now going down accords with the reality of China’s

development and the wishes of the Chinese people and is the correct one,” he added, without elaborating.

China sent in tanks to break up demonstrations on June 4, 1989. Beijing has never released

a death toll but estimates from human rights groups and witnesses range from several hundred to several thousand.

The subject remains all but taboo in China, where President Xi Jinping is overseeing a

broad crackdown on rights groups and activists. China has never renounced the use of force to bring what it views as the wayward province of Taiwan under its control and is deeply suspicious of Tsai, who

assumed office last month, due to her ruling Democratic Progressive Party’s pro-Taiwan independence stance. Tsai says she is committed to maintaining peace across the Taiwan Strait.

US-backed Force in Syria Closes in on IS-held City U.S.-backed Syrian fighters have surrounded the Islamic State-held city of Manbij from three sides as they press an offensive against the jihadists near the Turkish border, a spokesman for the fighters said yesterday.

The Syria Democratic Forces (SDF), including the powerful Kurdish YPG militia and Arab allies, launched the attack last week with the ultimate aim of dislodging Islamic State from its last foothold at the Syrian-Turkish frontier.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based group that reports on the war, said the U.S.-backed forces had cut the road north from Manbij to Islamic

State-held Jarabulus at the Turkish border, which is also expected to be targeted. Sharfan Darwish, spokesman for the Manbij Military Council, said the U.S.-backed alliance had advanced to within 6 km (4 miles) of Manbij, and the attack backed by U.S. special forces was going to plan.

Over 150 jihadists had been killed, with 50 of the bodies in SDF hands, he said. “If we had wanted to reach (Manbij) before this time, or if we wanted to arrive directly, we could have, but as you know the area is vast and there are a large number of civilians,” he said. “Our forces are surrounding Manbij from three directions.”

Nigeria to Have Diaspora Research Centre Zacheaus Somorin

The University of Ibadan is to host the establishment of the first of its kind in Africa, a Diaspora Resource and Research Centre. Dr Senayon Olaoluwa, Head of Diaspora and Transnational Studies in the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan, gave the cheering news during his courtesy visit on the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Hon. Abike Dabiri Erewa in Abuja.

Olaoluwa, who is the coordinator for the proposed centre, said that the world class centre, is being facilitated by Hon. Dabiri-Erewa to aid research on Diaspora development. The Senior Lecturer, who stressed on the importance of Diaspora, said history had shown that economic world powers derived their wealth from their Diasporas.

He said that the centre, which would be knowledge driven and research oriented for Diaspora development, would complement the department which is the first of its kind too in Africa.

Olaoluwa said that there was the need to put in place modalities that would enhance the repatriation of resources of the Diaspora for the

development of the nation According to him, now is the time when Nigeria needs to look at a relationship between I and people in diaspora; saying such would constitute a kind of mutual developmental agenda through which what has been lost can be brought back.

‘And when you are not at home, a space is created, how do we tackle that in terms of resource and how do we gain what we have lost. We are now talking about development that we cannot ignore in the 21st century; the question is now how do we feel the impact of those not at home. And how do we harness the resources being mobilized by our people outside the homeland for the development of the homeland’’, he asked.‘’We need to go beyond the informal mobilization of Diaspora resources to how the Diaspora will be redone as it were for the national development,” he added.

Dabiri-Erewa disclosed that Nigeria is working on a National Diaspora Policy guideline geared towards regulating all engagements with the Diaspora. She explained that the policy when in place, would allow Nigerians in Diaspora to make inputs in policies and programs of the government.

COURTESY VISIT

L-R: Site Director, Ogba Brewery, Arthur Mamvura; British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Paul Arkwright; Corporate Relations Director, of Guinness Nigeria, Sesan Sobowale; Human Resources Director, Guinness Nigeria, Monica Peach and Acting Deputy British High Commissioner, Ahmed Bashir during the visit of the British High Commissioner to Guinness Nigeria Plc in Lagos....weekend ABIODUN AJALA

Russia Promises to Respond to NATO Baltic Activity Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, told his Finnish counterpart that the Kremlin would take unspecified measures to respond to increased NATO activity in the Baltic region, making clear he was vexed by Helsinki’s hosting of alliance drills.

Lavrov made his comments at a news conference in Moscow on Monday with his Finnish counterpart Timo Soini on the same day as NATO

launched Baltops 16, an annual naval exercise, on Finnish soil for the first time. “We do not hide our negative attitude to the movement of NATO’s military infrastructure towards our borders, to dragging new states into the military activity of the bloc,” Lavrov told reporters.

“We will invoke Russia’s sovereign right to guarantee its security with measures proportionate to the current

risks. I am confident that our Finnish friends and neighbors also understand this.” Lavrov, who said he saw no threats in the Baltic region that would justify the area’s militarization, did not elaborate.

Soini told the same news conference that military exercises like the one launched on Monday helped strengthen Finland’s military capacity and were “not directed against anybody.”

He said Finland, not a member of NATO, was taking the“security challenges”it faced seriously, closely cooperating with NATO, and deepening cooperation with next-door Sweden. “This kind of issue can be openly discussed with each other,”said Soini, speaking English. “Finland is independently making these kind of decisions, and of course our aim is currently our security.

There are no other aims.”

‘Brexit Would Make Northern Ireland Border Controls Inevitable’ Damaging border controls between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic are inevitable if Britain votes to leave the European Union this month, UK Chancellor, George Osborne, warned voters in the province yesterday.

Ireland and Britain have allowed the free movement of people across their border for most of the past century, but Osborne said checks on people and goods would be unavoidable if the border becomes an external border of the EU in the wake of the June 23 vote.

That would hit the 3.6 billion pounds ($5.2 billion) of annual trade in goods and services that go to the Republic of Ireland,

37 percent of Northern Ireland’s total, he said.

“It is ... inevitable that there would be changes to border arrangements. Leave campaigners who suggest this is not the case are simply not being straight with people,” Osborne said in a statement ahead of a day of campaigning in Northern Ireland.

The dismantling of military border posts was a key aspect of a 1998 peace deal that ended three decades of violence between Catholic nationalists seeking a united Ireland and Protestant unionists who wanted to keep Northern Ireland British. Over 3,600 died in the conflict.

Some Irish nationalists

have warned that the return of border posts could destabilize the peace process and the largest nationalist party Sinn Fein has called for a referendum on a united Ireland in the event of a Brexit.

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Theresa Villiers, one of several members of the British cabinet campaigning for Brexit, has said repeatedly that there would be no need to erect border controls. But Osborne dismissed such claims as “nonsensical.”

“You can’t say ‘we want to have control of our borders’ as they keep claiming and then say but its not going to effect anything to do with the borders,” Osborne said

in an interview with BBC Radio Ulster.

In addition to the border, Northern Ireland’s dependence on European Union subsidies for agriculture and funding as part of its peace process made it particularly vulnerable and Brexit would shrink the economy and increase unemployment, Osborne warned.

“If the UK votes to leave, every credible independent voice agrees there would be a profound economic shock,” Osborne said. Northern Irish leader Arlene Foster, a member of the anti-EU Democratic Unionist Party, has described warnings of severe damage to the economy as “scaremongering.”

TUESDAY JUNE 7, 2016 • T H I S D AY

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NEWSEXTRA

Boko Haram: NAF Inducts Mi-35M Helicopter Gunship, JF-17 Ground Attack, Super Trainer Aircraft Germany to start supply of military hardware to Nigeria Senator Iroegbu in Abuja As part of preparations towards inducting new platforms, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) is expanding the apron at the military wing of Yola International Airport to enhance air operations against the Boko Haram insurgency in the North-east and is inducting more aircrafts into its inventory.

This came as German government yesterday disclosed its plans to commence the supply of military hardware to support Nigeria’s counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency operations in the North-east and Niger Delta regions, before the end of 2016.

The Director of Public Relations and Information (DOPRI), Captain Ayodele Famuyiwa, in a statement yesterday, said NAF, at present, is at the verge of inducting the Mi35M helicopter gunship and JF-17 Thunder Fighter Ground Attack aircraft in addition to acquiring the Super Mushshack trainer aircraft.

Famuyiwa said that there are also strong indications that the US Government may give the nod sooner than expected with regards to the sale of Super Tucano to the NAF to replace the ageing Alpha Jets.

He said that the proposed fleet expansion, according to the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Baba Abubakar, necessitated the expansion of existing facilities including the apron, pilot crew room, office/ residential accommodation and recreation facilities newly put-in place to enhance the welfare of the personnel and reposition the

NAF for effective and efficient air operations.

The DOPRI said that the Governor of Adamawa State, Sen. Muhammad Umaru Jibrilla Bindow, while commissioning the new projects, lauded the NAF for the commitment towards enhancing the welfare of its personnel.

Bindow, he said, noted that the projects are testaments to the high premium the NAF places on the welfare of its personnel and prudent management of resources by the incumbent leadership.

Famuyiwa said that governor also applauded the NAF for its contributions to the counterinsurgency operations with a promise to continue to work with the Service to achieve more successes.

In a similar development, he stated that Abubakar also used the opportunity of his operational visit to Maiduguri to commission a new block of transit accommodation constructed for officers.

In a related development, Famuyiwa said that NAF had in furtherance of its humanitarian support for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the Northeast, saw another batch of 70 persons benefiting from its free eye surgery.

“The latest beneficiaries followed the first batch of 50 IDPs operated upon by NAF medics in Maiduguri.

So far, the NAF has provided free medical care for over 30,000 victims of the Boko Haram insurgency in the Northeast,” he stated.

Meanwhile, the Permanent Secretary, German Foreign Office, Mr. Markus Elderer, while speaking to journalists on the sideline of the

Ramadan: IG Orders Security Checks at Important Locations Atiku urges soul-searching The Inspector-General of Police (IG), Solomon Arase, has asked state police commissioners across the country to ensure adequate security checks at key places during this Ramadan season.

Arase, according to Premium Times, gave the order in a statement, while extending his regards to Muslim faithful as they commenced the Ramadan season, yesterday.

The statement, signed by Force Public Relations Officer, Olabisi Kolawole, quoted Arase as also calling for the understanding and cooperation of the masses during the period.

“To ensure a peaceful fasting period across the country, the IG has directed state command Commissioners of Police to personally ensure that key and vulnerable points, all places of worship, recreation centres, resorts and other public places are adequately and effectively protected, to enable worshippers and the general public enjoy maximum fulfillment, during and after the period, which will lead to the Eid-el Fitri celebration,” the statement said.

“The IG expresses the belief that Almighty Allah will, in His infinite mercy and in answer to the fervent prayers of Muslim faithful, resolve the country’s numerous challenges and grant the country’s leaders the

wisdom to lead the nation aright.

“Finally, the IG seeks the prayers, support and understanding of Nigerians, assuring that by God’s grace, the battle against crime and criminality will eventually be won”, the statement said.

Meanwhile, former Vice President, AtikuAbubakar, has urged followers of the Islamic faith in the country to observe the Holy month with soulsearching and deeper commitment to family.

He also urged Muslims to pray for Nigeria and its leaders at all levels to overcome the challenges confronting the country.

In a goodwill message to Muslims to mark the commencement of the Ramadan fasting period, the former vice-president said the occasion should be a unique opportunity for Muslims to demonstrate greater self-discipline and compassion for the weak, the poor and the suffering.

He explained that the 30 days period of fasting should be a reminder to Muslims to come to terms with what it means to go without eating from morning to evening, and thereby appreciating the conditions of millions of ordinary Nigerians that go without eating daily.

defence session of the NigeriaGermany Bi-National Commission meeting in Abuja said the decision of his country to support Nigerian security forces efforts in tackling the emerging challenges was at the instance of a request made by President Muhammadu Buhari at the last G-7 summit hosted by Germany last year.

He listed the expected equipment to include ground surveillance equipment, anti-mine equipment, gunboats and others.

He further disclosed that Germany would commence the supply of the equipment as soon as the equipment aid agreement was signed between the representatives of both countries.

Elderer also explained that the military aid to Nigeria would also include training of Nigerian military personnel especially military engineers in the handling and maintenance of the equipment.

He said: “It was at the visit of President Muhammadu Buhari to Germany at the occasion of the G-7 summit that it was decided that we will very practically help to address Nigeria’s security concerns.

“The Nigerian government requested equipment support and military training so we are incorporating all of these in this agreement.

“We are doing this through training, through equipment supply like the ground radar

system, mine clearing equipment and mobile health units for the security forces in order for them to carry out these difficult tasks of combating terrorism.

“We are almost at the finishing line and we are just awaiting the signing of the agreement so that we can begin implementation, I think everything will be done this year,” he added.

Speaking further, Elderer identified other aspects of the agreement as bio-security, mopping of small arms in the country, police training and health support.

Also speaking, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Defence, Ambassador Danjuma Sheni, said that the efforts of the German

government to support Nigeria’s quest for peace and security in the sub region was laudable.

Sheni assured that Nigeria would leverage on the opportunities created through the NigeriaGermany Bi-National Commission to boost other aspects of relations that was beneficial to both countries.

He revealed that the secretariat of the commission was working tirelessly to ensure that the agreement was signed before the end of June.

“We have actually been working on this agreement for a while now, the agreement is particularly important because it would fast track the kind of relationship we have,” he said.

THE GREATEST

Christina Stallings ( second left), and other NTA staff interviewing Muhammad Ali in Lagos in 1974, when he passed through Nigeria during his ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ fight in Kinshasha, Democratic Republic Congo

4th Mainland Bridge: Compensation, Land Acquisition, Others to Gulp N120bn Provision made for light rail, cyclists, pedestrians

Gboyega Akinsanmi A whopping sum of N120 billion will be earmarked for compensation, land acquisition, relocations of service, contingency, design and supervision as part of the cost to build the proposed Fourth Mainland Bridge.

Also, provision has been made for the construction of light rail, cyclists and pedestrians among others on the corridor of the proposed bridge with a total lenght of 38 kilometres, out of which eight kilometres will be on lagoon.

This detail is contained in a document some journalists obtained from Advanced Engineering Consultants, a member of the consortium of investors that signed memorandum of understanding with the Lagos State Government on the bridge that will link Lekki with Ikorodu and Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

The document, which was authored by the firm’s principal partner, Dr. Peter Agunbiade and Consultant, Mr. Gerard Horgan, was

presented to a team of infrastructure development specialists of the state government.

According to the document, the bridge will cost a sum of N844 billion in aggregate. But the initial operational cost of developing the bridge is put at N790 billion precisely between 2016 and 2021.

The document showed other costs to include N5 billion for structural pavement (2028-2033); N10 billion for overlay and refurbish before handover (2055-2061); N19 billion for five-year refresh programme 2030-2061); and N20 billion for annual operating cost 2021-2061), bringing the total cost to N844 billion.

With the new alignment adopted for the project, the document disclosed that 800 structures and shanties “will be affected by the project. The total length Is 38 kilometres. 25 kilometres will fall on the mainland; eight kilometres will fall on the lagoon and five kilometres will be on the Lekki corridor.”

But of the N790 billion initial

operational cost, N20 billion has been earmarked for compensation and land acquisition; N17 billion for relocation of essential services; N67 billion for contingency and N16 billion for design and supervision, thereby bringing the additional expenditures to N120 billion.

The document disclosed that the he bridge “is dependent on the road being built and the road depends on the attraction of the bridge. The bridge can be built in half, but the four lanes would exceed their “level of service within three years and the cost to return to site is not be attractive.”

It further disclosed the tolling strategy, which it said, would encompass the whole project especially in relation “to plaza locations. The overall cost can be reduced. This will be achieved by optimising the alignment design as well as the various structural elements.

“This will happen after the Current Design process is complete, which will also be based on further

site information. The project will have limited interchanges, which will be strategically positioned so as to service all the adjacent main roads & lands,” the document revealed.

The document added that the project “is designed to link to the coastal road at Lekki; will have three toll plazas; have at least two service areas; will accommodate cyclists and pedestrians; provide for a light rail in the centre and additional pedestrian crossings along the route.”

The consortium, which agreed to fund and construct the bridge comprise Visible Asset Limited, Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, Hi-tech Construction Limited, J.P. Morgan, Eldorado Nigeria Limited, Nigerian Westminster Dredging and Marine, Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) and Access Bank.

Designed to decongest Lekki and Victoria Island, the project will be constructed under a build, operate and transfer (BOT) concession and the state’s public-private partnership programme for a period of 40 years.

TUESDAY JUNE 7, 2016 • T H I S D AY

40

CRIME&PUNISHMENT

Dariye: FG Closes Case after Calling 10 Witnesses Judge recuses self from Suswam’s trial

Alex Enumah in Abuja The federal government has closed its case in the trial of the former Plateau State Governor, Joshua Dariye, who is standing trial for alleged diversion of about N1.162billion ecological fund meant for the state in 2004, after the 10th prosecution witness ended its evidence.

The witness, Mr. Mohammed Kawu Mohammed, an operative of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), testifying before Justice Adebukola Banjoko of an Abuja High Court at Gudu, stated that the EFCC took possession of a property belonging to Dariye at Asokoro in Abuja.

Mohammed who is attached to the Assets Forfeiture and Recovery section of the EFCC, revealed that his team took over the ownership of the property in 2012 following an interim forfeiture order from a High Court.

While disclosing that the said property was put on lease by the EFCC, the witness added that the sum of N67 million was realised as rent from the venture.

However, during crossexamination by the defence counsel, Mr. Garba Pwul (SAN), the witness said he was not part of the investigative team that probed the former governor in 2007.

He said:”I did not participate in the investigation of Chief Dariye.

Therefore, I have no idea of how the charges came up.”

Dariye was Governor of Plateau State between 1999 and 2007, though his tenure was interrupted by an impeachment in November, 2006, which lasted for months until he was reinstated by the Supreme Court in April, 2007.

The former governor is now the senator representing Plateau Central in the National Assembly.

The ninth prosecution witness who is a retired detective with the Metropolitan Police in London, Mr. Peter Clerk, at the last adjourned date, narrated to the court the operations that led to the arrest of Dariye, in September 2004.

The witness, who indicated that he started investigating Dariye in January 2004, said Dariye was arrested in his hotel room on September 28, 2004, while on a visit to London.

Meanwhile, the trial judge in the alleged money laundering and criminal breach of trust against former Benue State Governor, Gabriel Suswan and one other, Justice Ahmed Ramat Mohammed, yesterday withdrew from the case.

Mohammed said his withdrawal was based on an allegation by an international online medium that he had been compromised by the defendant to give judgment in his favour.

At the resumed trial yesterday, Justice Mohammed stated that the said publication was capable of bringing both the court and the institution of justice to disrepute in the eyes of the ordinary Nigerian.

According to him, the court had been caught in- between two devils because wherever the pendulum of the decision went at the end of the trial, the issue of the trial would be used to justify or rubbish the outcome of the trial.

Mohammed therefore went ahead to announce his withdrawal from the trial and the transfer of the case file to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Ibrahim Auta for reassignment to another judge.

Before his decision, both counsel to the federal government, Rotimi Jacobs, (SAN) and that of Suswan, Joseph Daudu (SAN), had appealed to the judge to disregard and discountenance the offending publication, and proceed with the trial.

They urged him not to be provoked by the publication and promised him of their respect and confidence in the court.

Both Suswam and a former Commissioner for Finance, Omodachi Okolobia are being

prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a nine-count charge bordering on money laundering, abuse of office and obtaining by false pretense to the tune of N3.1billion.

They were alleged to have diverted the proceeds of the sale of shares owned by the Benue State government and Benue Investment and Property Company Limited.

The offence is punishable under Section 15, sub-section 3 of the

Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act as amended in 2012.

The offence is punishable under Section 15, Sub-section 3 of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act as amended in 2012.

So far, four of the prosecution witnesses had given their testimonies with three already cross-examined by the defence.

If Mohammed’s withdrawal is accepted by the chief judge and the matter reassigned to another court, it therefore means, the case would have to commence afresh.

NO TO SCHOOL PRIVATISATION

Secondary students demonstrating at the entrance of the Oyo State Secretariat to protest government’s policy to privatised public Felix Ademola

schools in the state...yesterday Police Investigate Bank Staff in Minna for Illegal Withdrawal from Court Grants Convicted Customer’s Account Omatseye N.5m Bail Pending ‘We are still investigating the Appeal Laleye Dipo in Minna matter, if it is necessary for arrests The Niger State Police Command is presently investigating a case of illegal withdrawal of money from a customer of a second generation bank account in Minna.

The case was referred to the police by an Minna Chief Magistrate C ourt which received a petition that a staff of the bank illegally withdrew the sum of N2.4m from the account of the customer.

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Bala Elikana, told THISDAY that a report was received on “this matter from the court and we are now investigating it.”

Elikana said though nobody has been arrested in connection with the crime, “a few staff of the bank have been invited and questioned.

to be made we will do so but we have not reached that stage.”

One Mrs Constance Orisakwe had brought ‘a direct criminal complaint’ against the bank staff before an Minna Magistrate Court claiming that the staff allegedly defrauded her of N2.4 million.

The complaint signed on her behalf by Mr Ihemeatulam Gavers of ‘Lord of Justice Chambers’, made available to journalists in Minna yesterday said the action of the bank staff was contrary to Section 315, 364, 179 of penal Code Cap. 94 law of the state.

The document prayed the court to issue a criminal summons for criminal breach of trust, forgery and impersonation against the suspect.

Police Foil Robbery Attack on Supermarket, Arrest Suspects A patrol team attached to the Surulere Police Division of the Lagos State Command yesterday, foiled a robbery attempt at a supermarket and arrested three of the suspects.

The trio, identified as 22-yearold Dada Ramoni, 25-year-old Riliwan Wasiu and 26-year-old

Afeez Azee, had attempted to rob a supermarket at Ogunlana Drive, Surulere.

After foilingtheintendedrobbery attack, the policemen recovered one locally made double barrel short gun withcartridges,justasthecaseiscurrently undergoing investigationat the Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS).

A Federal High Court in Lagos yesterday granted N500,000 bail to the former Director-General of Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Raymond Omatseye, who was convicted on charges of contract scam.

Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia granted the convict bail pending the hearing and determination of his appeal at the court of appeal.

“I have looked at the processes filed by appellant but I have a discretion which must be exercised judicially and judiciously.

“In the applicants affidavit, he deposed to the fact that his child suffers from a severe medical condition, which is an uncontrollable epilepsy seizure which has put the family under serious strain “I will admit the appellant to bail on the single ground of been a mother.

“Even a mad woman will come after you if you toil with her child.

“The applicant is hereby admitted to bail in the sum of N500,000 with two sureties each in like sum; “One of the sureties must be a level 16 officer in the civil service

who must deposit his international passport with the court’s registry,” she held Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia had on May 20, sentenced Omatseye to a prison term of five years for awarding contracts above threshold while in office.

The judge had found Omatseye guilty of 24 out of the 27 counts preferred against him.

She however, discharged and acquitted him of three out of the 27 counts bordering on bid rigging.

Ajumogobia found Omatseye guilty of the offence of awarding contracts above stipulated threshold, and accordingly convicted him on counts 1 to 20,24,25,26, and 27.

In challenging the verdict, Omatseye had prayed the court to grant him bail pending the determination of his appeal lodged at the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division.

According to him, given the number of years it takes to prosecute appeals, it is likely that he could have finished serving the prison term by the time the appeal is determined.

Besides, Omatseye had said he is a father of four children, one of whom is very ill and suffers from “severe medical conditions of epilepsy.

Siblings Jailed for Assault, Breach of Peace in Ekiti Olakiitan Victor in Ado Ekiti Having been tried and found guilty for assault and breach of public peace, a Chief Magistrate’s Court sitting in Efon Alaaye, Ekiti State, has committedtwo brothers to one month imprisonment .

The Chief Magistrate, Bayode Owoeye, in his judgment, found the convicts, Julius Babatope and Sunday Babatope guilty of the charge preferred against them.

The case was filed by the Commissioner of Police, Mr Etop James, against the duo and one Stephen Adarabierin for their alleged conspiracy, grievous assault, malicious damage and breach of public peace.

The accused were said to have committed the offence on April 1, 2013.

They were accused of carrying out an attack on one Jacob Adelowo on the said date in connection with a chieftaincy wrangling in the town.

The defence called four witnesses while the prosecution called six witnesses in the course of the trial.

The court considered that being a magistrate’s court, it lacked the requisite jurisdiction to adjudicate on a chieftaincy matter. Doing so, it held, would amount to judicial rascality.

Owoeye affirmed that any act done without requisite jurisdiction was null and void, consequently his court deliberately refrained from making comments on such testimonies since no probation value whatsoever attached to such.

Having been informed that Adarabierin who was the first accused person had died, the court ordered that Julius and Sunday be discharged and acquitted on conspiracy, grievous assault and malicious damage.

But the two brothers were convicted for breach of public peace with the magistrate sentencing them to one month imprisonment with the option of N2,000 each.

The court granted the accused the right of appeal against the judgment within 21 succeeding days after which the exhibits in the case shall be released to their rightful owners.

TUESDAY JUNE 7, 2016 • T H I S D AY

41

NEWSEXTRA

Obaseki: I Want to Take Edo People to the Promised Land

Don Pedro withdaws from race Ogiemwonyi raises the alarm over buying of votes

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja and Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City One of the frontline aspirants in the Edo State governorship election scheduled for September 10 on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Godwin Obaseki, yesterday said his mission is to serve the people diligently and lead them to the Promised Land.

This came as five of the governorship aspirants yesterday went to the national headquarters of the APC with their supporters to submit their nomination forms.

The aspirants were Obaseki, Chris Ogiemwonyi, Major General Charles Airhiavbere, incumbent Deputy Governor Pius Odubu, and Austin Emuan.

Obaseki who was at the APC national headquarters at about 1p.m. to submit his form, came in company of almost all APC members of the Edo State House of Assembly and the National Assembly from the state.

Addressing journalists shortly after submitting his nomination form to the party officials, Obaseki said he was in the race to lead the people to the promised land.

He said having been an integral part of the outgoing administration of Adams Oshiomhole, he possesses what it takes to ensure the continuity of the on-going transformation of the state.

Obaseki promised to continue with the transformation of the state if elected by ensuring judicious use of the resources of the state.

“I decided to get into the race

of the state governorship election because I have been part of the Edo project, an effort focused on reforming the way things were done in the state,” he said.

The frontline state politician said APC government had improved on the infrastructural development of the state and had been consistent in the payment of workers’ salaries.

On whether he would prefer free, fair and credible primaries or consensus primaries, he said the APC had already established culture, saying the party had changed the face of primaries in 2014 when they voted for President Muhammadu Buhari. ‘’That is the tradition, and l am sure that that is what we would do in the state and that is what I subscribed to,’’ denying an allegation of vote buying by an aide to one of the aspirants, Ogiemwonyi.

“I don’t think Ogiemwonyi can say that. He is too responsible to say such thing. I was in Auchi yesterday where Hon. Philip Shuaibu hosted about 400 delegates and we were all seated there and all the delegates have their voter cards.

“So, for someone to make such unguided statement it is rather unfortunate, and this is what we are trying to discourage that people must run a campaign that is clear and truthful,” he added.

Meanwhile, 48 the APC assured the aspirants in Edo State of a level playing field in this month’s governorship primaries, Don Pedro Obaseki, one of the gubernatorial hopefuls yesterday announced his

withdrawal from the race and membership of APC. The university lecturer and film director who said he hoped to contest the election under a new platform which he is yet to disclose, added however that he was still consulting and that in few days time, he would declare his next destination.

Obaseki who is a cousin to the leading aspirant in the race, Godwin Obaseki, told journalists that he had lost faith in the primary process of the APC. He said it was becoming

obvious to him that the outcome of the primaries was already predetermined to favour a particular aspirant and that the delegates were was just awaiting to rubber stamp the aspirant.

He also said the coming primaries of the APC would be the most expensive in the history of the state as he alleged that the about 3,000 delegates would be bribed with N200,000.

Also, former Minister of State for Works and governorship aspirant in the state, Ogiemwonyi, has accused some members of the National

Assembly caucus from the state of buying up the Permanent Voters Card (PVC) from the accredited delegates.

Addressing a press conference in Abuja yesterday, the former minister, who was represented by his campaign director of planning, strategy and operations, Akemokue Lukman, said: “The issue has to do with the attempt by people who are in high places of governance, who are lawmakers to smuggle in a gubernatorial aspirant under the platform of APC into the candidature of the party through

the back door.

He said the intention is to disenfranchise the party members, especially those of them that are statutory delegates scheduled to take part in the primaries.

The aspirant who threatened to name names of the affected lawmakers also added that “the delegates were summoned to his house, where they were lured to submit their Permanent Voters Cards (PVC) to him, with an intend to disenfranchise the voters and two, use the PVCs for outward purpose.”

FANS Five Northern States to Benefit SOCCER L-R: Brand Manager, Heineken Nigeria, Obabiyi Fagade; Cool FM OAP, Dotun and Actor, Gideon Okeke during the UEFA Champion League finals at the Heineken House, Lagos... recently from $100m GPE Grant for Education Judge Lambasts Dasuki’s Lawyer, Accuses Him of Paul Obi in Abuja As part of efforts to combat poor performance of some northern states in education, five states from the North-west geo-political zone are to benefit from a $100 million grant supported by the Global Partnership for Education (GPE).

The grant is expected to bring relief to funding of education programmes in the North-west, where indexes on education appears to be at the lowest ebb compared to other regions.

The $100 million grant from the Global Partnership on Education (GPE) is also geared towards shoring up basic education in the region.

The Minister of Education, MallamAdamuAdamu, who made this known in Abuja yesterday during the launch of the Nigerian Partnership for Education Project (NIPEP), explained that the money would be used to scale up basic education, with emphasis on the girl-child in the five focal states.

Adamu, who was represented

by Minister of State for Education, Prof. Anthony Anwukah, named the benefiting states to include Kano, Katsina, Kaduna, Jigawa and Sokoto, stating that the grant, which is the GPE intervention in Nigeria, targeted states because of the high number of out-of-school

children in the zone.

“The North-west geo-political zone has the highest number of out-of-school children even before the activities of insurgents compounded the problem with the spillover from the North-east,” Adamu said.

The minister tasked the benefiting states to utilise the fund transparently in line with the anti-corruption stance of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s government.

He reiterated the administration commitment to provide quality education to all children across the country.

Also, the World Bank Specialist in Nigeria, Tunde Adekola, said the GPE, which was put in place in 2002 by member states of the United Nations, channels donations made by international bodies and philanthropists to support educational development.

Further, Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, who spoke on behalf of the benefiting states, pledged that “enabling environment would be provided for the utilisation of the grants to achieve the desired results.”

Tambuwal assured the gathering of the benefiting states’ commitment to ensure that the grant meets the expectations and aspirations it was meant to achieve.

Employing Delay Tactics Tobi Soniyi in Abuja Justice Hussein Baba Yusuf of an Abuja High Court and former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Mr. Joseph Dauda SAN and counsel to former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd), yesterday engaged in uncomplimentary verbal exchange in the open court over the trial of Dasuki for alleged diversion of $2.1billion arms fund diversion.

The trial slated for yesterday could not however go ahead as senior lawyers present in court persuaded the judge to adjourn the trial to calm down the frayed nerves.

Dasuki through Dauda had filed a new application to consolidate the charges against him in two Abuja High Courts.

He claimed that the charges in the two courts constituted abuse of court process because they have same facts and figure and that he would be prejudiced if the two courts try him simultaneously.

However, immediately Daudu introduced the motion, Justice Baba Yusuf became angry and challenged him on what his client would suffer

should the two courts go ahead with the trial.

The judge lambasted Daudu for employing delay tactics to shield Dasuki from trial, insisting that the tactic would not work in his own court.

Daudu’s insistence that the motion be determined one way or the other before the trial would begin further provoked the judge who vowed not to give any indulgence to Daudu or move to delay the trial.

“If you think the mission of this new motion is to delay the trial, I can assure you that it has already failed. I know your antecedents in this type of cases, filing frivolous, baseless and un-warranted motions to frustrate the court and trial of your client.

“I know the next motion you will file will be to ask me to withdraw or disqualify myself from this case, I will not succumb to your old fashion of doing things. It will not work in my court.

“I have over-indulged you and I am ready to go ahead with this trial today. I cannot be coming here to waste my time, I have granted you enough respect, this application is a disrespect to me.

“I have known you for certain things, if you have a court where people will dance to your tune, go to that court. I am not ready to dance to your tune.

“You are here with a dishonest motive as far as this motion is concern. The whole target is to frustrate the trial, but you will fail.

Tension rose to the peak when counsel to the federal government Mr. Rotimi Jacobs (SAN) announced to the court the he respected Daudu a lot as a senior colleague, a role model and former NBA President and ended up describing Daudu’s action with the motion as very unfortunate.

Attempt by Daudu to complain of insult from Jacobs to the Judge was rebuffed when Justice Baba Yusuf said “for your information a junior counsel can advise a senior one and that is my position.

“I have been accommodating all sort of nonsense, yet you are not ready to respect me. You are disgracing me as one who does not know what he is doing here.

“You are subjecting me and this court to public disgrace. When you come to court people are watching and we must behave, that is my advice for you.

At this point a former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Chief Akin Olujimi (SAN) cut-in and prayed the judge to grant adjournment “for us to sort out ourselves.”

Olujimi said: “I have never seen your lordship in this kind of situation and please adjourn to enable us sort out things.”

Justice Baba Yusuf grudgingly adjourned the matter till June 15 for hearing of the motion.

Dasuki had asked the court to consolidate the two criminal charges bordering on alleged corruption and breach of trust brought against him by the federal government in the course of his official duties.

In the fresh motion, the former NSA claimed that the trial in two different courts on the same issues and facts was unconstitutional and prejudicial to his right to fair trial by the court.

Dasuki who is standing trial on allegation of alleged misappropriation of $2.1billion along with four others before Justice Baba Yusuf insisted that the charges against him by the complainant on the same issue constituted a gross abuse of court process.

42

T H I S D AY • TUESDAY, JUNE 7, 2016

BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

Desperate for Funding, Nigeria Prepares to Face Bond Investors Nume Ekeghe with agency report The odds are stacked against Nigeria as it looks to raise debt on the international markets for the first time in almost three years.

According to Bloomberg, Minister of Finance Kemi Adeosun is leading a team of officials that will meet bond investors at London’s five-star Corinthia Hotel on Tuesday at a time when Africa’s biggest economy is on the verge of a recession, oil production has fallen to about a three-decade low, and the budget deficit has swelled to a record. Yields on Nigeria’s existing dollar debt are almost twice as high as those for Kazakhstan and Colombia, two other developing-nation oil producers.

While they’re interested in plans to revive growth, investors said they will also demand to know when and how the central bank will end capital controls and a currency peg that have starved the country of dollars and slowed foreign investment to a trickle.

Tapping the offshore bond market this year is crucial for

Nigeria to fund a budget of N6.1 trillion ($31 billion) meant to stimulate the economy, according to Rand Merchant Bank.

“They will be under immense scrutiny,” an analyst at RMB, FirstRand Limited’s investment-banking unit, Nema Ramkhelawan-Bhana said from Johannesburg.

The Eurobond market, which Nigeria may try to tap for as much as $1 billion, is “an avenue of financing they’re in desperate need of. It’s going to be a tough week for the finance ministry,” she said.

Nigeria has sold dollar bonds twice, the last time in mid-2013, when it raised $1 billion of five- and 10-year debt. Yields on its $500 million of securities maturing in July 2023 fell three basis points to 7.5 percent by 12:15 p.m. in London on Monday and have dropped 1.18 percentage points this year.

Nigeria’s Eurobonds have gained 8.3 percent in 2016, compared with the average of 9.6 percent for high-yielding emergingmarket sovereign dollar-debt tracked by Bloomberg.

Bond investors blame Nigeria’s rigid foreign-exchange regime for draining reserves, which

have fallen to a more than 10-year low, and hindering the economy, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch. The second-biggest U.S. bank by assets says Nigerian Eurobonds would rally more if the government allowed the naira to weaken.

Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele has fixed the naira at N197-N199 per dollar since March 2015, even as other oil exporters from Angola to Kazakhstan have let their currencies drop. Forward contracts suggest it will fall 39 percent to N277 in three months and to N324 in a year. The black-market rate has plummeted to around N355 as the central bank runs out of the foreign-currency that companies need to import raw materials and equipment.

“Without some kind of exchange-rate reform, we doubt the market would look favorably upon a Eurobond,” a London-based economist at Exotix Partners LLP,Alan Cameron said.

“The government’s unwillingness to adjust is likely to be seen as a major turn-off for many investors, even if the headline debt ratios are low.”

How Angel Investors Can Boost SMEs’Growth Peter Uzoho Owners of small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) have been advised to embrace the services of angel investors to accelerate the growth of their business.

The Executive Vice Chairman, Signal Alliance, Mr. Collins Onuegbu said this at the 11th Annual CEO Forum organised

by LEAP AFRICA with the theme: “Attracting Financing For Your Business: Strategies And Opportunities’” that took place in Lagos recently.

An angel investor is an affluent individual, who provides capital for a business start-up, usually in exchange for convertible debt or ownership equity.

“You need an angel investor to scale-up your business. And when do you need the services of an angel investor? I think the best time is at the start stage when you are just coming up, when you have not yet made some mistakes in your business decisions. So that’s the best time to seek the services

of an angel,” Onuegbu said.

“Although, getting one might be difficult, you have to persevere. Normally, they will be turning you around, telling you to give them time to think about it. But you just have to keep talking to them, you need to talk to banks and those that you know can come in, “he added.

Also contributing, Partner, Adleva Capital, Mr. Folabi Esan, who spoke on the “Prerequisites For Accessing External Financing,” advised business owners to ensure good corporate governance, adequate financial record and understanding the strength of management team, saying that these are what prospective investors would look out for before coming to invest in the business, adding that a sound business model and profile should be adopted and strictly adhered too.

“It’s very imperative for you as the CEO of your company to ensure there is good governance in your company; that there is policy scrutiny and

enforcement. That the rules set out for your company is being adhered to. Also, there should be good financial record of all your business transactions; record of your income and expenditure, record of all business agreements and deals,” Esan said.

“Have a strong management team that can be able to make worthwhile inputs.

More importantly, the model of your business should be able to achieve the motive of the business, and if it doesn’t, then you remodel. Again, your company should have good profile.

Company profile is its reputation. So people know your company through you; if you have good profile it reflects on your company and if you have bad profile, automatically people withdraw from your business,” Esan added.

“So the bottom line is that for you to be able to access fund for your business from external sources, all these need to be put in place,” he noted.

FCMB Expands Branch Network For customers and members of the general public who reside in the Gbagada area of Lagos State, First City Monument Bank (FCMB) has announced the opening of a branch for business in the area with effect from Monday, June 13, 2016.

Located at Ifako, Gbagada Street, Lagos, the bank said the move was in line with its expansion plan to extend its reach and make its operation accessible to its customers and members of the general public.

A statement from FCMB explained that the location of the branch took into consideration convenience for FCMB customers and other people living in Gbagada, Shomolu, Anthony, Ogudu,

Oworoshoki, Bariga, Akoka and the environs.

Responding to questions on the opening of the new FCMB branch, the Vice President, Branch Management and Trade Services at First City Monument Bank (FCMB), Mr. Oluwakayode Adigun said: “We are pleased to establish a presence in the neighbourhood, as part of our continued retail drive.

This is not just another branch as each of FCMB’s new branches brings with it, something special in terms of structure, aesthetics and above all, the excellent customer experience, to be provided by an excellent team of service professionals, who

will not only serve you in the traditional manner, but also assist with mobile and internet banking registration and basic tutorials. The branch also offers numerous self-service options such as cash depositing and withdrawal ATMs, and selfservice terminals for routine requests and transfers .”

FCMB said it plan to grow this year substantially in retail banking by adding over 600,000 customers to the existing 3.2 million at the start of the year.

Retail banking revenues and profitability are also expected to grow strongly in spite of the challenging economic environment.

Smart branching and technology will play an equally important role in attaining this objective.

MARKET INDICATORS MONEY AND CREDIT STATISTICS

(MILLION NAIRA)

MARCH 2016 Broad Money (M2)

20,470,436.00

-- Narrow Money (M1)

9,040,817.68

---- Currency Outside Banks

1,441,365.03

---- Demand Deposits

7,599,452.65

-- Quasi Money

11,429,618.32

Net Foreign Assets (NFA)

5,551,714.27

Net Domestic Assets(NDA)

14,918,721.73 22,664,815.74

-- Net Domestic Credit (NDC) ---- Credit to Government (Net)

3,782,578.01

---- Memo: Credit to Govt. (Net) less FMA

4,991,246.39

---- Memo: Fed. and Mirror Accounts (FMA)

-1,208,668.38

---- Credit to Private Sector (CPS)

18,882,237.7

--Other Assets Net

-7,746,094.02

Reserve Money (Base Money)

5,758,634.07

--Currency in Circulation

1,811,090.48

--Banks Reserves

3,383,756.72 • Source - CBN

MANAGED FUNDS Initial Price (N) Stanbic Balanced Fund

Buying Price(N)

Selling Price

1,660.29

1,685.29

Stanbic IBTC NEF

1,000.00

11,002.32

11,326.67.11

Stanbic SIBond

20

120.47

120.47

Stanbic IBTC Ethical

1

1.10

1.13

Stanbic IBTC GIF

142.90

143.38

UBA Balanced Fund

1.2563

1.2493

UBA Bond Fund

1.3443

1.3443

UBA Equity Fund

0.8205

0.8074

UBA Money Market Fund

1.1510

1.1510

ARM Aggressive Growth Fund

N13.0544

N13.4480

ARM Discovery Fund

N288.2515

N296.9425

ARM Ethical Fund

N22.5268

N23.2060

ARM Money Market Fund

13.1030 (Yield % ) • Monetary Policy Rate - 13%

OPEC DAILY BASKET PRICE AS AT FRIDAY, 3 JUNE 2016 Vienna, Austria, 6 June 2016--The price of OPEC basket of thirteen crudes stood at $45.73 a barrel on Friday, compared with $45.58 the previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations.

The new OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Oriente (Ecuador), Minas (Indonesia), Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basra Light (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Qatar Marine (Qatar), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE) and Merey (Venezuela).

SOURCE: OPEC headquarters, Vienna

43

T H I S D AY • TUESDAY, JUNE 7, 2016

Nigeria’s top 50 stocks based on market fundamentals

6-June-16

3-June-16

% Change

Capitalisation

EPS

P/E

P/S

Div. Yld

Price/ Book Value

01 Dangote Cement Plc

171.00

169.50

0.88%

2,913,926,766,255.00

10.64

15.93

5.87

4.72%

4.48

02 Nigerian Brew. Plc.

137.14

137.02

0.09%

1,087,396,895,780.32

5.37

25.52

3.93

2.63%

6.37

03 Nestle Nigeria Plc.

755.00

755.00

0.00%

598,455,470,260.00

29.95

25.21

3.96

3.84%

15.75

04 Guaranty Trust Bank Plc.

18.80

19.20

-2.08%

553,306,169,411.20

3.38

5.68

2.47

9.22%

1.37

05 Zenith Bank Plc

14.80

14.95

-1.00%

464,668,108,032.80

3.37

4.44

1.09

12.04%

0.79

06 Lafarge Africa Plc.

80.01

80.01

0.00%

364,437,693,818.10

5.93

13.50

1.36

3.75%

2.07

07 Ecobank Transnational Incorporated

16.58

16.43

0.91%

304,235,559,144.70

1.39

11.80

0.58

3.77%

0.81

08 Forte Oil Plc.

196.00

196.00

0.00%

255,286,296,188.00

4.45

44.06

2.05

1.76%

5.52

09 Seplat Petroleum Dev. Co. Ltd.

350.00

350.15

-0.04%

193,658,609,550.00

23.48

14.91

1.71

4.55%

0.69

10 United Bank for Africa Plc

4.70

4.72

-0.42%

170,513,773,713.40

1.64

2.87

0.54

12.71%

0.51

11 Access Bank Plc.

5.56

5.56

0.00%

160,839,522,268.36

2.28

2.44

0.48

9.89%

0.44

12 Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc

14.97

15.75

-4.95%

149,700,000,000.00

2.04

7.73

1.33

0.63%

1.40

13 Guinness Nig Plc

99.05

102.00

-2.89%

149,158,225,021.40

0.78

131.06

3.08

0.00%

3.44

14 FBN Holdings Plc

3.89

4.00

-2.75%

139,632,688,960.88

0.42

9.48

0.28

3.75%

0.25

15 Unilever Nigeria Plc.

32.00

32.00

0.00%

121,065,480,000.00

0.32

101.53

2.04

0.16%

15.13

16 P Z Cussons Nigeria Plc.

22.74

22.74

0.00%

90,288,648,003.30

1.10

20.72

1.25

5.72%

2.15

17 7-Up Bottling Comp. Plc.

138.50

138.50

0.00%

88,721,765,275.50

11.12

12.45

1.14

1.59%

3.70

18 Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc

6.80

6.80

0.00%

81,600,000,000.00

0.96

7.07

0.81

7.35%

1.40

19 Oando Plc

6.10

6.16

-0.97%

73,411,175,253.40

0.50

12.32

0.13

12.18%

0.47

20.00

19.60

2.04%

65,884,985,600.00

0.64

30.67

3.49

1.28%

5.36

161.51

161.51

0.00%

58,239,740,765.62

13.51

11.95

0.91

4.46%

3.79

22 Flour Mills Nig. Plc.

21.30

22.00

-3.18%

55,896,252,083.10

1.84

11.95

0.18

9.09%

0.56

23 Julius Berger Nig. Plc.

42.10

43.00

-2.09%

55,572,000,000.00

1.85

23.26

0.42

3.49%

2.34

162.55

170.00

-4.38%

55,189,274,604.35

11.92

14.26

0.28

8.24%

3.55

25 Transnational Corporation Of Nigeria Plc

1.40

1.34

4.48%

54,209,396,395.00

0.05

25.54

1.27

0.00%

0.59

26 Diamond Bank Plc

2.09

2.23

-6.28%

48,405,212,943.12

0.24

9.13

0.24

0.00%

0.24

20 International Breweries Plc. 21 Mobil Oil Nig Plc.

24 Total Nigeria Plc.

27 Sterling Bank Plc.

1.49

1.55

-3.87%

42,897,723,007.74

0.36

4.34

0.40

5.81%

0.47

20.50

20.50

0.00%

38,503,141,820.00

3.21

6.39

1.14

6.34%

3.72

1.28

1.32

-3.03%

37,072,109,685.76

0.48

2.75

0.26

12.12%

0.21

30 U A C N Plc.

19.00

19.00

0.00%

36,496,423,353.00

2.70

7.04

0.50

5.26%

0.49

31 Presco Plc

35.70

35.70

0.00%

35,700,000,000.00

3.28

10.89

3.14

0.28%

1.59

32 FCMB Group Plc.

1.67

1.67

0.00%

33,070,527,004.27

0.24

6.95

0.22

5.99%

0.20

33 Wema Bank Plc.

0.76

0.76

0.00%

29,316,594,221.56

0.06

12.60

0.64

0.00%

0.64

34 Okomu Oil Palm Plc.

30.05

30.05

0.00%

28,664,995,500.00

2.76

10.89

2.94

0.33%

2.38

35 Cap Plc

38.00

36.50

4.11%

26,600,000,000.00

2.49

14.69

3.62

3.15%

16.81

36 Glaxo Smithkline Consumer Nig. Plc.

20.00

20.00

0.00%

23,917,529,760.00

0.81

24.78

0.78

1.50%

1.81

37 National Salt Co. Nig. Plc

8.38

8.00

4.75%

22,202,293,607.64

0.79

10.07

1.31

6.88%

2.99

38 Mansard Insurance Plc

2.10

2.00

5.00%

22,050,000,000.00

0.16

12.63

1.27

2.50%

1.21

39 Custodian And Allied Insurance Plc

3.42

3.42

0.00%

20,115,975,546.90

0.71

4.79

0.68

4.09%

0.77

40 Skye Bank Plc

1.20

1.22

-1.64%

16,656,361,692.00

0.85

1.43

0.12

24.59%

0.12

41 Honeywell Flour Mill Plc

1.67

1.67

0.00%

13,243,430,088.86

0.14

11.82

0.27

9.58%

0.62

42 Continental Reinsurance Plc

1.10

1.10

0.00%

11,410,018,743.20

0.21

5.32

0.58

10.91%

0.73

43 Unity Bank Plc

0.96

0.92

4.35%

11,221,764,424.32

0.54

1.70

0.17

0.00%

0.12

44 Cement Co. Of North.Nig. Plc

7.14

7.14

0.00%

8,972,679,249.24

0.96

7.47

0.69

1.40%

0.88

45 Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc

4.68

4.88

-4.10%

7,601,343,750.00

0.33

14.74

0.93

4.10%

1.30

46 UACN Property Development Co. Limited

4.02

4.02

0.00%

6,909,374,979.90

1.81

2.22

0.62

17.41%

0.21

47 Wapic Insurance Plc

0.50

0.50

0.00%

6,691,369,126.00

0.10

5.16

0.94

6.00%

0.45

48 Resort Savings & Loans Plc

0.50

0.50

0.00%

5,664,866,202.00

4.68

0.11

0.02

0.00%

1.89

49 AIICO Insurance Plc.

0.77

0.74

4.05%

5,336,257,449.60

0.28

2.68

0.16

6.76%

0.53

50 Fidson Healthcare Plc

1.95

2.05

-4.88%

2,925,000,000.00

0.50

4.13

0.37

2.44%

0.49

28 Cadbury Nigeria Plc. 29 Fidelity Bank Plc

TOTAL

8,846,939,488,539.54

TOTAL MARKET CAP

9,478,701,539,024.36

% OF MARKET CAP Annotation - MA* = Simple Moving Average

93.33%

Table 1 Market Statistics Mkt Indicators NSE All Share Index NSE Market Cap (N'Trillion) Thisday BGL 50 Index Thisday BGL 50 Market Cap (N'Trillion)

Open 3-June-16

Close 6-June-16

Change %

27,634.42 9.49

27,598.54 9.48

-0.13% -0.13%

113.75 8.86

113.62 8.85

-0.11% -0.11%

Table 3 Top 5 Gainers Stock

Open Close Change % 3-June-16 6-June-16

Mansard Insurance Plc National Salt Co. Nig. Plc Transnational Corporation Of Nigeria Plc Unity Bank Plc Cap Plc

2.00 8.00 1.34

2.10 8.38 1.40

5.00% 4.75% 4.48%

0.92 36.50

0.96 38.00

4.35% 4.11%

Table 4 Top 5 Losers Stock

Open Close Change % 3-June-16 6-June-16

Diamond Bank Plc Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc Fidson Healthcare Plc Total Nigeria Plc. Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc

2.23 15.75 2.05 170.00 4.88

2.09 14.97 1.95 162.55 4.68

-6.28% -4.95% -4.88% -4.38% -4.10%

Sell Pressure resumes as ASI drops 0.13% Market pulse on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) today – Monday, June 6, 2016 ended on a negative note as the market closed red due to intense sell pressure. This was further highlighted by negative performances from the NSE Sub sectors; Banking, Consumer Goods and Oil & Gas (Save Insurance).

However, trading activities decreased in volume as 142.34 million shares worth N1.42 billion in 3,695 deals exchanged hands today. This is a decrease from the 243.80 million shares worth N2.43 billion in 3,942 deals carried out on Friday. Topping in volume terms was FCMB Plc, Access Bank Plc and Diamond bank Plc, while Nigerian Breweries Plc and Zenith Bank Plc ended trading as the most active stocks in value terms.

The All Share Index (NSEASI) closed negative with a 0.13% (-35.88) decrease to close at 27,598.54 from 27,634.42 the previous trading day. Market Capitalization depreciated in tandem to N9.48 trillion from N9.49 trillion of prior trading day. Similarly, the Thisday BGL 50 Index followed suit with a loss of 0.11% to close at 113.62 from 113.75 recorded the previous trading day, while its market capitalization stood at N8.85 trillion from N8.86 trillion of the previous trading day.

A total number of 16 stocks gained on the bourse today while 25 stocks declined, leaving 48 stocks unchanged. Mansard Insurance Plc emerged the toast of investors as it topped the Thisday BGL 50 Index gainers’ list with a gain of 5.00% to close at N2.10 per share. It was followed by NASCON Plc with a gain of 4.75% to close at N8.38 per share. Others on the gainers list include; Transcorp Plc, Unity Bank Plc and CAP Plc, while on the decliners’ list; Diamond Bank Plc led with a loss of 6.28% to close at N2.09 per share.

Again, it was followed by Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc with a loss of 4.95% to close at N14.97 per share.

Others on the losers list include; Fidson Healthcare Plc, Total Nigeria Plc and Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc.

REQUIRED DISCLOSURE This report has been prepared by BGL Plc. BGL Plc does and seeks to do business with companies covered in its research reports. As a result, the firm may have a conflict of interest that could affect the objectivity of this report. Investors should use this report as one of many other factors in making their investment decisions.

For more details go to www.thisdaylive.com

44

T H I S D AY • TUESDAY, JUNE 7, 2016

MARKET NEWS

Bearish Year Awaits Shareholders as Equity Assurance Records Loss Goddy Egene and Eromosele Abiodun Shareholders of Equity Assurance Plc are likely to experience another bearish year with no dividend as the company has recorded a loss of N132 million for the first quarter (Q1) ended March 31, 2016.

The insurance company had posted a loss of N580 million for the year ended December

31, 2015, making shareholders to stay without dividend for the year.

The firm’s Q1 performance indicates that 2016 may follow the pattern of 2015. The unaudited results of Equity Assurance, made available yesterday, showed a gross written premium of N1.389 billion in Q1 of 2016, up from N1.261 billion in the corresponding period of 2015. Net premium income

stood at N893 million in 2016, compared with N913 million in 2015, while net underwritten income was N926 million as against N913 million.

The company recorded a loss in financial assets of N20.9 million in 2016 compared with N4.633 million in 2015. It posted an impairment loss of N14 million in 2016 as against none in the corresponding period of 2016.

Consequently, Equity Assurance Plc ended the Q1 with a loss of N132 million, compared with a profit of N112 million in 2015.Another insurance company, Niger Insurance Plc ended the Q1 with a fall of 54 per cent in profit after tax. According to the unaudited results, Niger Insurance recorded gross written premium of N2.159 billion in Q1 of 2016, down from N3.048 billion in 2015.

Net premium income fell from

N2.697 billion to N1.990 billion, while profit after tax declined from N342 million to N158 million.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian equities market was bearish yesterday on persistent profit-taking as the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index shedding 0.1 per cent to close at 27,599.48. Similarly, market capitalisation shed N12.3 billion to close at N9.5 trillion.

The performance was driven

by profit-taking in banking stocks. Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated depreciated by 5.0 per cent, 4.9 per cent, 2.1 per cent, 1.0 per cent and 0.9 per cent respectively.

As a result, the NSE Banking Index fell by 1.3 per cent, while the NSE Oil & Gas Index went down by 1.0 per cent.

DAILY STOCK MARKET REPORT T H E

N I G E R I A N

STO C K

Prices for Securities Traded as of 19/04/2016 Printed 19/04/2016 16:42:26.026

40

Price List (Equities) PRICES FOR PREMIUM BOARD SECURITIES FINANCIAL SERVICES S/N 1 BANKING S/N 2 OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRIAL GOODS S/N 3 BUILDING MATERIALS INDUSTRIAL GOODS PREMIUM BOARD TOTALS Price List (Equities) PRICES FOR MAIN BOARD SECURITIES AGRICULTURE S/N 5 6 CROP PRODUCTION S/N 7 FISHING/HUNTING/TRAPPING S/N 8 LIVESTOCK/ANIMAL SPECIALTIES AGRICULTURE CONGLOMERATES S/N 9 12 13 14 DIVERSIFIED INDUSTRIES CONGLOMERATES CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE S/N BUILDING CONSTRUCTION S/N BUILDING STRUCTURE/COMPLETION/ OTHER S/N 18 INFRASTRUCTURE/HEAVY CONSTRUCTION S/N 20 REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT S/N REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUSTS (REITS) CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE CONSUMER GOODS S/N 24 AUTOMOBILES/AUTO PARTS S/N 25 26 27 28 30 BEVERAGES--BREWERS/DISTILLERS S/N 32 BEVERAGES--NON-ALCOHOLIC S/N 33 34 35 37 38 39

E XC H A N G E

FOOD PRODUCTS BANKING ZENITH INTERNATIONAL BANK PLC OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS FBN HOLDINGS PLC

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

361,687.61

11.52

1.95

363

29,713,738

363

29,713,738

TRADES

VOLUME

S/N 46

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

119,890.28

3.34

1.21

BUILDING MATERIMARKET ALS CAP(Nm) DANGOTE CE2,743,521.69 MENT PLC

CROP PRODUCTION OKOMU OIL PALM PLC. PRESCO PLC FISHING/HUNTING/ TRAPPING ELLAH LAKES PLC. LIVESTOCK/ANIMAL SPECIALTIES LIVESTOCK FEEDS PLC. DIVERSIFIED INDUSTRIES A.G. LEVENTIS NIGERIA PLC. S C O A NIG. PLC. TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATION OF NIGERIA PLC U A C N PLC.

S/N

207

6,119,620

207 570

6,119,620 35,833,358

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

161.00

-0.02

49

517,962

49 49 619

517,962 517,962 36,351,320

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

51

-4.75

17

92,552

-

MARKET CAP(Nm)

8 25

10,400 102,952

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

511.20

4.26

-

0

0

53

0

0

54

52

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

1,900.00

0.95

-1.04

39

4,571,285

56

39 64

4,571,285 4,674,237

57

3.95

5

70,000

2,573.31

3.96

-

1

100

40,657.05

1.00

4.17

68

3,159,111

35,401.53

18.43

-5.00

49 123 123

474,908 3,704,119 3,704,119

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

BUILDING STRUCTURE/COMPLETION/OTHER

0

0

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

TRADES

VOLUME

1

38,721

DANGOTE SUGAR REFINERY PLC FLOUR MILLS NIG. PLC. HONEYWELL FLOUR MILL PLC N NIG. FLOUR MILLS PLC. NASCON ALLIED INDUSTRIES PLC P S MANDRIDES & CO PLC.

PERSONAL/HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS CONSUMER GOODS FINANCIAL SERVICES

35.01

0.79

FOOD PRODUCTS

49

30.48

2,091.36

BEVERAGES-NON-ALCOHOLIC 7-UP BOTTLING COMP. PLC.

48

29,075.18

VOLUME

BEVERAGES-BREWERS/DISTILLERS CHAMPION BREW. PLC. GOLDEN GUINEA BREW. PLC. GUINNESS NIG PLC INTERNATIONAL BREWERIES PLC. NIGERIAN BREW. PLC.

S/N

35,010.00

TRADES

AUTOMOBILES/ AUTO PARTS DN TYRE & RUBBER PLC

HOUSEHOLD DURABLES

50

%CHANGE

REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUSTS (REITS)

FOOD PRODUCTS--DIVERSIFIED

VOLUME

PRICE

REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT UACN PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT CO. LIMITED

44

S/N

MARKET CAP(Nm)

MARKET CAP(Nm)

INFRASTRUCTURE/HEAVY CONSTRUCTION JULIUS BERGER NIG. PLC.

43

%CHANGE

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

56,760.00

43.00

-

6

19,910

6

19,910

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

6,875.00

4.00

-

8

14,068

8

14,068

TRADES

VOLUME

0 15

0 72,699

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

2,386.33

0.50

-

3

528,000

3

528,000

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

24,271.44

3.10

-

5

44,869

242.22

0.89

-

1

1,000

150,347.88

99.84

0.35

43

123,324

65,884.99

20.00

-

1

500

812,732.84

102.50

-1.91

131

769,295

181

938,988

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

94,166.78

147.00

-

12

9,320

12

9,320

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

62,040.00

5.17

-

16

154,689

50,805.23

19.36

-

46

252,519

55

58 59 60 BANKING S/N 61 62 63 65 67 70 73 74 77 80 83 87 INSURANCE CARRIERS, BROKERS AND SERVICES S/N 89 MICRO-FINANCE BANKS S/N 91 94 MORTGAGE CARRIERS, BROKERS AND SERVICES S/N 95 96 98 102 103 OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS FINANCIAL SERVICES HEALTHCARE S/N HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS

10,547.16

1.33

-3.62

34

2,388,046

1,185.03

6.65

-

1

3,000

19,605.84

7.40

-

34

553,393

S/N

214.00

5.35

-

2

100

108

S/N MEDICAL SUPPLIES

TIGER BRANDED CONSUMER GOODS PLC FOOD PRODUCTS-DIVERSIFIED CADBURY NIGERIA PLC. NESTLE NIGERIA PLC. HOUSEHOLD DURABLES VITAFOAM NIG PLC. PERSONAL/ HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS P Z CUSSONS NIGERIA PLC. UNILEVER NIGERIA PLC.

12,050.00

MICRO-FINANCE BANKS NPF MICROFINANCE BANK PLC MORTGAGE CARRIERS, BROKERS AND SERVICES ASO SAVINGS AND LOANS PLC UNION HOMES SAVINGS AND LOANS PLC. OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS AFRICA PRUDENTIAL REGISTRARS PLC CUSTODIAN AND ALLIED PLC FCMB GROUP PLC. STANBIC IBTC HOLDINGS PLC UNITED CAPITAL PLC

4.78

23

1,030,185

156

4,381,932

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

27,741.04

14.77

-

21

59,932

507,307.93

640.01

-

63

37,119

84

97,051

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

5,326.78

5.42

-

2

203

2

203 VOLUME

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

80,799.21

20.35

-4.10

18

95,908

110,661.42

29.25

-

38

114,024

56 494

209,932 6,165,426

MARKET BANKING CAP(Nm) ACCESS BANK 107,033.50 PLC. DIAMOND BANK 31,034.92 PLC ECOBANK TRANSNATIONAL 269,738.40 INCORPORATED FIDELITY BANK 33,900.51 PLC GUARANTY TRUST 462,069.51 BANK PLC. SKYE BANK PLC 14,157.91 STERLING BANK 44,913.05 PLC. UNION BANK NIG. 76,888.56 PLC. UNITED BANK FOR 119,722.44 AFRICA PLC UNITY BANK PLC 7,948.75 WEMA BANK PLC. 28,545.10 INSURANCE CARRIERS, BROKERS AND SERVICES AFRICAN ALLIANCE INSURANCE COMPANY PLC AIICO INSURANCE PLC. AXAMANSARD INSURANCE PLC CONTINENTAL REINSURANCE PLC EQUITY ASSURANCE PLC. GUINEA INSURANCE PLC. LASACO ASSURANCE PLC. LAW UNION AND ROCK INS. PLC. N.E.M INSURANCE CO (NIG) PLC. REGENCY ALLIANCE INSURANCE COMPANY PLC STANDARD TRUST ASSURANCE PLC WAPIC INSURANCE PLC

2.41

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

3.70

2.21

188

6,139,279

1.34

-4.96

34

2,608,620

14.70

5.00

71

1,153,190

1.17

-0.85

69

5,918,400

15.70

2.28

288

29,811,746

1.02

0.99

56

3,104,469

1.56

-

23

576,721

4.54

-4.82

25

286,712

3.30

3.13

251

62,208,549

0.68 0.74

-2.86 1.37

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

10,292.50

0.50

-

1

1,000

4,781.84

0.69

-

10

549,318

22,050.00

2.10

2.94

7

105,293

10,683.93

1.03

1.98

14

850,400

7,000.00

0.50

-

27

5,085,907

3,070.00

0.50

-

1

16,800

3,661.72

0.50

-

0

0

1,924.91

0.56

-3.45

50

9,713,044

4,224.40

0.80

3.90

32

10,627,354

3,334.38

0.50

-

1

50

3,070.54

0.50

-

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5,000.00

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8,033,669

143,000.00

14.30

-

8

7,734

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284 18,962,303 1,481 169,952,698

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2.15

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163,315

T H I S D AY TUESDAY JUNE 7, 2016

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TUESDAY JUNE 7, 2016 T H I S D AY

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T H I S D AY • TUESDAY JUNE 7, 2016

TUESDAYSPORTS

Group Sports Editor Duro Ikhazuagbe Email duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com

G L AS S H O U S E TA K E OV E R

Federal High Court Disowns ‘Writ of Execution’ by Giwa Group As FCT police comissioner summons Pinnick, Giwa

Femi Solaja and Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja The unending drama in the Glass House took another turn last night as the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) produced an evidence from the Federal High Court in Jos that disowned the‘writ of execution’being bandied by the Giwa group.

The Head of Communication department of NFF, Ademola Olajire, insisted yestthat the Registrar of the Federal High Court, Jos, Mr. Nasiru Gusau yesterday in said the document circulated in the media lastweek did not emanate from the court.

“We did not issue any writ of execution on this matter. What you are saying is strange to me,”Gusau said in a video interview made available to the media lastnight.

Gusau explained further: “The Giwa people made an application for writ of execution, which the court declined. The court cannot execute a declaratory judgment or an interlocutory order.

“Moreover, if the case is on appeal, how can the High Court issue a writ of execution?”

Olajire claimed that the undated and completely invalid ‘writ of execution’ submitted at the NFF secretariat last Friday, by an Executive Officer (Accounts) with the Federal High Court, Jos, Langmbweng Enoch Wupeh.

“The ‘writ of execution’ was, strangely, prepared and signed by

Plaintiff Counsel (Giwa’s lawyer), and to it was attached only the first two orders made by the court, leaving out the most recent orders that struck out the first two, as well as the Hon. Judge’s clarification. The signature of a‘Judge’(no name) was poorly forged,” he explained.

After its 25 –minute misadventure at the Glass House, the Giwa group issued a self –deluding statement that it had ‘taken over’ the NFF. The invasion came only 24 hours after a peace meeting ordered by the Nigeria Parliament. Deputy Chairman of the House Committee on Sports (which is saddled with the responsibility), Rt. Hon. Anayo Nebe, at the weekend expressed huge disappointment with the Giwa group’s action In a related development, the Federal Capital Teritory (FCT) Police Commissioner, Wilson Inalegwu, yesterday summoned both Amaju Pinnick and Chris Giwa, the two factions claiming the sole of the Glass House.

Pinnick and Giwa held separate meeting with the police chief at his office as the crisis assumed a new and dangerous twist, where in trying to reinforce their claim as the NFF President, and they reported at the Glass House at different time.

Giwa, accommpanied by Effiong Johnson, Sani Ferma and Yahaya Adama, stormed the Glasshouse few minutes after Pinnick addressed the media and secretariat staff.

They were given access by the

Kigigha, Adu, Ofowino, Others Qualify for World Chess Olympiad International Master Oladapo Adu (2314) and FIDE Master Bomo Kigigha (2328) are among other eight players that will represent the country at the forth coming 42nd World Chess Olympiad in Baku, Azerbaijan later this year.

According to the statement from Nigeria Chess Federation (NCF) yesterday, the duo alongside three other male players namely; the rave of the moment and FIDE Master Daniel Anwuli (2338), Candidate Master Adeyinka Adesina (2286) and Ochuko Emuakpeje with elo rating of 2272.

The five female players that qualified for the tournament are; Omolola Sadiku (1910), Deborah Akintoye (1856), Toritsemuwa Ofowino (1779), Olufunmilayo Akinola (1751) and Mandy Enarevba (1710).

The following top players however missed out in the Olympiad train namely; Adebayo Adegboyega (2271), Olufemi Balogun (2262), Odion Aikhoje (2253) and Ademola Sorungbe (2246). Some top female players that missed out are Omolabake Coker (1660), Sandra Aramide (1648), Doris Adebayo (1612) and Olabisi Rabiu (1609).

The tournament will hold in Baku, the birth place of former World Chess Champion, Gary Kasparov from 1st-15th of September this year and most pundits have seen the method of selection by NCF as a clear departure from the past

when a traditional Olympiad trial hold sway.

However the Technical Director of the federation, Alhaji Bode Durotoye, explained that the qualification process of the team was based on the current FIDE rating list released on the 1st of June and the activeness of players in tournaments in a stipulated calendar year.

“In the past, we have invited players for either open trial or selected trial based on their ratings but we have realized that it’s more like a tournament that only produce winners by any means of a tournament rather that genuine form of individual players that will give the country a good representation at the biennial tournament,” he explained.

In the last two years, the Lekan Adeyemi-led board in collaboration with the Chess Players Association of Nigeria (CPAN) has organized several rated tournaments which is unprecedented in the history of the cerebral sport in the country and players have been more active in the recent time to give way to selection based of merit over time rather that producing winners to the the tournament which most time is subjective.

NCF boss, Lekan Adeyemi also explained that with over 30 FIDE rated tournaments in the last one and a half years is quite enough to get get the best players put them in camp for training for a period of time before the Chess Olympiad.

Divisional Police Officer Wuse Zone 3, Supretendent Irek Sunday after getting clearance from Inalegwu.

They later left to inspect the Sunday Dankaro House, the new NFF Secretariat under renovation.

Pinnick insisted he was validly elected NFF President. He said his appeal due to be heard on June 28, negated the ruling of the lower court which gave an order that favour Giwa.

He also accused the Giwa group of trying to sabotaging Nigeria’s quest to qualify for 2018 World Cup in Russia by using force to take over the NFF office last Friday, a day after the House of Representatives Sports Committee brokered a truce between him and Giwa.

He also insisted Giwa remained banned by Confederation of African Football (CAF) which also reserves the right to unban him. “ I should not have sat down with him before the House Committee, I only did it out of respect to the lawmakers and Nigerian government. The issue of lifting his ban is a CAF congressional issue and not a decision by NFF board.

I remainthe President of NFF as I was elected till 2018.

“Aside from that, I was not joined in the court case and can’t be removed from office as ruled by the Supreme Court. The parties joined in the case are Aminu Maigari and Musa Amadu.

I remain the President,“ Pinnick said.

L-R: Members of the Access Bank/ Fifth Chukker team, Julio Estrada (7), Bello Buba (4) Manuel Crespo (7) and Lawal Mohammed (0), celebrating winning the Charity Shield title of the just concluded Access Bank/ UNICEF Charity Polo Tournament in Kangimi Resort, Kaduna State...last Sunday

Access Bank/Fifth Chukker Win 2016 Charity Shield Title Access Bank-Fifth Chukker defeated MRS 8-7 to clinched the Charity Shield title as the 2016 Access Bank-UNICEF Charity Shield Polo tournament came to a flourishing end in Kaduna on Sunday.

Access Bank, in line with this year’s edition aimed at highlighting the plight of the vulnerable children and orphans and the especially Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in northern Nigeria, donated N10,000,000 to UNICEF much to the admiration of Governor Nasir El Rufai, who was one of the dignitaries that attended the final.

Fifth Chukker, formed by Lawal Mohammed (0), Bello Buba (+4), Julio Estrada (+7) and Manuel Crespo (+7) took

control of the game from the start scoring through a 30yarder

by Crespo in the opening chukka to level up having started on a goal deficit due to handicap difference. The Argentine converted another 30 yarder to give Fifth Chukker a 2-1 lead.

Idris Badamasi (+2), Bashir Dantata (+3), Leroux Hendrix (+5) and Tom De Bruin (+7) formed the MRS team, and they even score 2-2 through their South African captain De Bruin to end the first chukka.

Estrada finished off a brilliant move to restore Fifth Chukker’s lead at the start of second chukka but the chance to tie the match again goes begging as De Bruin’s 30yard came off the outside of the post.

They eventually leveled up through a brilliant goal from Dantata. The three-goaler was on hand again to score as MRS, who needed a win, had their nose in front 4-3.

Leroux missed a sitter under pressure from Estrada and they were almost made to pay for it as Buba diverted Crespo’s 60 yarder to goal taking scores 4-4.

De Bruin scored to amend for his 30 yarder which he unexpectedly spurned giving MRS a 5-4 lead heading to the penultimate chukka but Buba responded to tied scores at 6-6.

A moment of magic then followed as Crespo scored from a near impossible angle following up his shot which was rolling off target to give Fifth Chukker the lead.

Estrada kept their lead a bit healthy with another goal to go into the last chukka 7-5.

Buba scores to widened the gap 8-5 but quick-fire goals by Dantata and Badamasi ensued a tense final minute.

Crespo brought the crowd into ecstasy with a diagonal shot from over 80yards but the bell rang with the ball in motion making the effort irrelevant.

Mohammed was adjudged the most improved player which fetched him a holiday ticket to Mauritius.

The tournament is the first phase of the series that will climax in Europe with the Access Bank Charity Shield Polo Day at the prestigious Guards Polo Club in London next month.

President Buhari Peace Cup Debuts September The first edition of the President Muhammadu Buhari youth tournament tagged National Peace and Unity Tournament, ‘MUBU 2016’ will kick off in September this year.

The tournament which is an initiative of Sportswatch Worldwide Concept Ltd in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development is a secondary school football competition from the local government level through

the states, regions and national.

Speaking at unveiling of the competition at a the Oriental hotels in Lekki at the weekend, Chaiman Sportswatch Worldwide Concept Ltd, Abraham Ogenyi stated that the need to engender national peace and encourage socio-cultural relationships among Nigerian youths could effectively be achieved through sports, especially football.

“Sports Watch intends to unearth new Iheanachos, Okochas,

Kanu Nwankwos and groom these budding talents into stars, which is the more reason we are giving it a national outlook. We believe these youngsters can be discovered from any part of the federation” Corroborating this view was the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Youth and Sport, Christain Ohaa, who represented the sports minister, Solomon Dalung at the event, said, “In line

with the “change”mantra of the president, the minister sees it as an opportunity to encourage integration among youths and fostering of peace through football,” he stated.

This year’s edition would feature secondary schools from the 36 states of the federation including the FCT. The final of the tournament is slated for Kaduna, Kaduna State on a yet to be announced date.

Tuesday June 7, 2016

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MISSILE Nigerian Navy to Two N’Delta Communities “The perpetrators must have passed through their villages or they are even from the villages.

So, they know every intruder or anybody that is criminal among them. That’s why I’m giving them time to come up with those behind this attack. The perpetrators must have come through the waters or land. They know those who pass through their communities, if not, we have to start controlling movement which I believe they will find difficult.” – The Nigerian Navy threatening to deal with Ogulagha and Odimodi communities in Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State if they fail to produce the militants that blew up the 48-inch Forcados crude oil trunk line.

eniola.bello@thisdaylive.com

I

@eniolaseni 08055001956

The War Buhari Should Fight

n the last one year since he began piloting the affairs of State, President Muhammadu Buhari has embarked on a two-pronged war – one against Boko Haram insurgents in the Northeast, and another against those who fraudulently enriched themselves, particularly officials of the immediate past government and their collaborators in the private sector. In both wars, the Buhari administration has made significant progress. In the Northeast, Boko Haram has been, to borrow the administration’s lingo, technically defeated. Steady progress is also being made in the anti-corruption war in the light of the huge sums of stolen funds recovered. Even at that, some Niger Delta militants have resumed sabotage operations in the creeks, attacking the facilities of oil majors, breaking pipelines, bombing oil installations and generally disrupting oil production operations. A group, which calls itself the Niger Delta Avengers, has been claiming responsibility for the serial attacks.

A number of reasons have been attributed for the renewed sabotage of oil facilities in the Niger Delta.

Some have attributed it to the Buhari administration’s review of the amnesty programme with 70% reduction in its budget, culminating in 2018 termination plans. Some have said that the Avengers are dancing to the music of ex-militant leader Government Ekpemupolo, aka Tompolo, declared wanted by the EFCC (Economic and Financial Crimes Commission), and being prosecuted for fraud. Others believe it may not be unconnected with the ex-President Goodluck Jonathan’s loss of the 2015 elections, some militants having threatened to make the country ungovernable in the event of Jonathan losing the election, in apparent retaliation to the threat of some northern elements against the former president. The renewed militancy in the creeks may have been caused by one or a combination of all these.

And more.

Whichever it may be, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar hit the right cord when he called for the restructuring of the federation. “Our current structure and the practices it has encouraged has been a major impediment to the economic and political development of our country”, Atiku recently told a gathering in Abuja, at the presentation of a book,

Buhari

We Are All Biafrans. According to him, “Agitations by many right thinking Nigerians call for a restructuring and renewal of our federation to make it less centralized, less suffocating and less dictatorial in the affairs of our country’s constituent units and localities. It has not served Nigeria well… The call for restructuring is even more relevant today in light of the governance and economic challenges facing us, as the rising tide of agitations, some militant and violent, require a reset in our relationships as a united nation.” Whatever may be the political permutations of Atiku’s speech, the former vice president and a major player in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has reopened the debate on Nigeria’s skewed federalism and its impediment to the nation’s growth and progress.

The fact is that, as many people have had reason to assert, Nigeria is not working. The country is dysfunctional with most of those who have found themselves in leadership positions at different times, appropriating the resources of the state for personal enrichment, and in the process pauperizing a great majority of the people. Nigeria suffers from a chronic deficit of everything that confers modernity on civilized nations.

Supply of electricity is more in the breach. Transportation infrastructure is almost non-existent. There is little or no investment in education and public schools are more often than not closed than opened. Only those condemned to suicide arising from poverty, seek treatment from public health institutions. Public water supply is a mirage. A nation of 180

million people, blessed with acres and acres of arable land, is unable to feed its population without food importation. In the last 17 years of democratic government, the nation has made very little progress, if not standing on the same spot by taking one step forward, two sideways and three backwards. And the reason for this can be located in the military’s original sin.

It is not for nothing that the nation’s founding fathers decided to settle for Federal Republic of Nigeria as the country’s name. The name was the result of deep thinking, an indication that the country is a federation whose constituent units have autonomy in line with best global practices where ethnically diverse and multicultural nations like Nigeria are federalist indeed, and in truth. At the heart of self-government is that a community or federating unit owns its resources, generates its own revenue and disburses this in accordance with its needs.

However, following the unsuccessful January 1966 coup led by Major Kaduna Nzeogwu, the then Army Chief Major General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi who assumed the reins of power naively enacted the unification decree. This, among others, resulted in the July 1966 counter coup in which AguiyiIronsi was killed. Although northern military officers killed Aguiyi-Ironsi ostensibly because of the unification decree, which was thereafter repealed, the ensuing 12-state federation was run on the platform of unitary government.

Military governors in the states reported and were beholden to their superiors at the Centre. The government at the Centre allocated revenue to the states on certain criteria that were at best arbitrary. The command and control system, the feature of many years of military administration, grossly distorted the structure of the Nigerian federation, deepened and widened the differences among the constituent units, and sowed the seeds of today’s agitations, violence, militancy and secessionist bids.

Before the military incursion, Nigeria was run as a proper federation.

The constituent units, the regional governments, owned their resources, generated their revenue and paid tax to the central government. Then, the country had no oil but prospered as development in each region was driven on the wheel of its resources – groundnut pyramid in the north, cocoa

and coffee in the southwest, and palm produce and coal in the southeast. Each region ran the race of development at its own pace and there was healthy rivalry and competition among the regional leaders. The military intervened with its command and control structure and things have never been the same again.

It could be understandable if the military soaked the nation’s federalism in the sweat of unitary government.

But then 17 years of democratic government, why have the politicians been unable to dry off this sweat, this centralization of resources, and this reliance by almost all the states on the central government for survival?

Aren’t the politicians worried about the desperation by all and sundry to take over power at the Centre, and when there to stay put? Shouldn’t they be disturbed that this country cannot go on like this; that sooner or later something would have to give? There is no doubt that Nigeria is adrift and if what is required is not done fast, may soon be lost. As the Yoruba love to say, a man who does not know where he is going should remember where he is coming from. After about 50 years of floating nowhere, Nigeria needs to urgently return to the starting block by returning to the federalism practised in the First Republic, not necessarily with three regional structure, or even six as has been advocated by some people lately, but for each constituent unit, as would be negotiated and agreed upon, to own its resources, generate its revenue and simply pay tax to the central government.

Buhari did not show required political correctness to have, in his one-year anniversary interview, dismissed the report of the 2014 Constitutional Conference where some agreements on the rejigging of our federation were negotiated. The leadership of the then opposition APC may not have bought into the conference at the time so as not to give the Jonathan administration any advantage, that is not enough reason for Buhari not to look at the report as certain decisions negotiated mean a great deal to some critical ethnic nationalities in the country. The war to restructure Nigeria into a proper federation is one Buhari should be seen fighting. Without successfully fighting this war, Nigeria, I’m afraid, would be unable to win the war against corruption, militancy, secessionist agitation and violence.

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