Monday 1st August 2016

Concerns Mount over $1.3bn Power Sector Loans All Tier 1 banks, others with highest exposure

Obinna Chima Inadequate gas supply due to pipeline vandalism, the looming threat of reversal of electricity tariff hikes,

inability of power companies to sign gas supply contracts, and large amounts of debt owed to power companies by ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of the

three tiers of government have raised concerns around bank loans to the power sector.

A report by Lagos-based CSL Stockbrokers Limited titled: “Banks and Power

Sector Exposure,” obtained

by THISDAY at the weekend, showed that the total power sector exposure of eight banks namely: FBN Holdings Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, United Bank

for Africa Plc (UBA), Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (GTBank), Access Bank Plc, Diamond Bank Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc and Skye Bank Plc stood at N402 billion ($1.3 billion) in

their full year 2015 financial results.

The report estimated that a default in power sector loans Continued on page 10

FG Steps up Food, Shelter Supplies to IDPs in North East...

Page 10

Monday 1 August, 2016 Vol 21. No 7766. Price: N250

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Marketers Accused of Raking in Profits Selling Aviation Fuel as Kerosene

Chinedu Eze

L-R: Executive Director, West African Ventures (WAV), Alhaji Ibrahim Sambo; Legal Manager, WAV, Uchenna Agwagon; Chairman, House of Representatives Oil and Gas Committee, Hon. Emmanuel Okon; member, Hon. Henry Ofongo, Head Safety & Environment, WAV, Mr. Eddy Bassey; and House Member, Hon. Loveth Idisi, during the ongoing verification of indigenous marine capacity at the shipyard and fabrication facilities of WAV in Onne, Rivers State… weekend

As the price of kerosene continues to soar because of inadequate supply, marketers have been accused of selling Jet A1, better known as aviation fuel, as kerosene, in the process making a kill of N50-N100 per litre.

The diversion of the product to fuel outlets where it is sold as household kerosene has also been blamed for the scarcity of Jet A1 and several flight cancellations and delays in the Continued on page 10

PDP Considers Jimi Agbaje as Compromise National Chairman Bode George to declare interest in leadership contest today Party exonerates Anenih of wrongdoing, Sheriff kicks

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja and Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo Despite the protracted crisis in the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which was worsened by a Federal High Court ruling last

week recognising Senator Ali Modu Sherrif as its national chairman, the leadership of the party backing the Ahmed Makarfi-led National Caretaker Committee may be seriously

considering a two-time governorship candidate in Lagos State, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, as the national chairman of the PDP. Should the leadership of the

party including its influential governors get its way, Agbaje will be angling for the post in a field of candidates comprising former Ogun State governor, Gbenga Daniel; Chairman

of DAAR Communications, Chief Raymond Dokpesi; and a former National Deputy Chairman of the PDP, Chief Olabode George, who is expected to throw his hat

JAMB Withdraws Admission List from Varsities, Tertiary Institutions... Page 57

into the ring today to lead the PDP. Last month, the Markafi-led committee had zoned the national chairmanship post of the PDP to the south and presidency to the north.

Continued on page 11

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FG Steps up Food, Shelter Supplies to IDPs in North East Tobi Soniyi in Abuja The Office of the Vice-President has said that over 23,000 bags of assorted food items and 2,155 bags of shelter supplies have been provided by different federal government agencies to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the North-east.

The vice-president’s media aide, Mr Laolu Akande, in a statement yesterday said the supplies were part of ongoing initiatives aimed at ameliorating the plight of the IDPs in areas ravaged by the Boko Haram insurgency.

He explained that under the coordinated federal intervention programme, both the Presidential Initiative on

North East (PINE) and National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) were leading the humanitarian aid with the distribution of 10,300 bags of assorted grains and cereals towards the feeding of over two million persons scattered across the region.

Acording to him, a federal intervention report had shown the level of supplies in the month of July. The report was compiled by the presidential aide for the North-east, Dr. Tope Masha.

Akande said PINE supplied over 10,300 bags of food items such as rice, millet, maize, guinea corn, salt, vegetable oil, beans and noodles to Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Taraba,

Gombe and Bauchi States.

Besides, NEMA also supplied Borno State with 13,200 bags of food items.

The report indicated that PINE, through the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, distributed 2,155 assorted shelter materials in nine different local government areas of Borno State, namely: Bama, Damboa, Bakacy, Dikwa, Monguno, Mafa, Jere, Banki and Gwoza.

The federal government, according to the report, responded swiftly to the reported case of malnutrition in Bama camp, adding that severely malnourished children and adults were moved from Bama to Maiduguri

for comprehensive medical treatment.

Government has also deployed medical teams from the Federal Ministry of Health and the Nigerian Air Force to assist in support missions for nutrition emergency response to those in need.

In addition, the government of Borno State is converting the Islamiya School in Bama to a hospital which will be equipped by the Nigeria Air Force for the quick comprehensive treatment of victims.

President Muhammadu Buhari, in consolidating the federal government’s intervention in the North-east, ordered the establishment of the Presidential Committee

on North-east Interventions (PCNI).

The committee chaired by Gen. Theophilus Danjuma is responsible for the rehabilitation, reconstruction and recovery of the North-east.

Equally, the statement said the federal government had constituted an Inter-ministerial Technical Working Group to facilitate effective humanitarian assistance.

The group has been mandated to expedite waivers and technical assistance by donors providing humanitarian aid in the North-east.

Members of the group include the Office of the VicePresident, Office of the National Security Adviser, NEMA,

Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Justice, Budget & National Planning, Finance, Nigeria Customs and Immigration.

It said the federal government would continue to assess the needs and develop effective ways of addressing them with the active collaboration of local, national and international agencies, including the United Nations system.

“The Buhari presidency will neither relent nor leave any stone unturned in ensuring that our people in the North-east are provided with the assistance and support needed to address the different fallouts and impact of the insurgency that have ravaged the region for years,” the vice-president’s office stated.

a fixed monthly charge), a disruption to supply due to shortage of gas is likely to significantly hurt revenues.

“This, coupled with a reversal of tariff increases may make it almost impossible for power companies to meet their obligations to banks.

“Already we have come across instances in which power companies have shown signs of strain. One of the banks we spoke to mentioned that it had had to resort to its debt service reserve account (DSRA) for some of its power sector exposures.

“The DSRA is a deposit which is equal to a given number of months projected debt service obligations, which serves to protect a lender against unexpected volatility or interruption in the cash flow available to service the debt.

We think this may delay NPL recognition for some of these loans.

“We recognise that some banks are better at managing risks, hedging and securing collateral than others, and therefore the difficulties are unlikely to be experienced evenly.

“The power situation attracts a lot of government attention and we believe the government will be reluctant to see a complete failure of the power sector reforms.

“Consequently, there is a possibility that the government may intervene to help resolve the many problems threatening the industry and this restrains

us from factoring in the above increase in COR into our core scenario for our bank forecasts,” it added.

Commenting on the situation in the power sector, the CEO, Financial Derivatives Company Limited, Mr. Bismarck Rewane, who spoke in a phone interview with THISDAY yesterday, said a lot of banks would definitely restructure their loans to the sector considering the situation in the economy.

“Many of the power firms borrowed in dollars and so they are hit by two things: One is the price of the loans and secondly the foreign currency component.

So they have to be structured properly so that the terms of the loans are synchronised with the projected cash flows.

“Once the loans are structured and the debts are current, then the bank would not have to make any provision because there would be no impairments.

“If restructured, you have to give them moratoriums so that the cash flows would start coming. But if they don’t restructure the loans, everything would collapse,” Rewane added.

The Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer of First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Dr. Adesola Kazeem Adeduntan, in an interview with THISDAY last week, pointed out that the power sector is important to the economy, saying that without the country resolving all the issues around the sector, it might make the country’s push for economic growth

to remain a mirage.

“What we have seen is that given the significance of the sector on the overall health of the economy, government has been heavily involved in resolving all the issues in that sector and I am certain that we would find a win-win situation for everybody.

“Again, it is in the overall interest of the economy for that sector to do well. For that sector to do well, there must be capital injection either by way of equity or by way of debt,” he added.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), last May, disbursed N55,456,161,481 from its Nigerian Electricity Market Stabilisation Facility (NEMSF) to firms in the power sector.

A breakdown of the amount showed that the distribution companies got N8,670,234,863.76, the generating companies – N35,834,536,939, gas suppliers - N10,491,710,788.66, and service providers in the power value chain - N459,678,889.55.

The amount was the fourth batch from the N213 billion stabilisation that was designed by the central bank as part of development finance intervention in the economy.

The central bank also last week directed commercial banks to review and make adequate provisioning for all delinquent foreign currency-denominated loans in line with the July 1, 2010 Prudential Guidelines for Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria.

of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Ken Abazie, who said that the issue of scarcity of aviation fuel could not be taken in isolation, noting that the increasing inability of a lot of importers to open Letters of Credit (LC) due to inadequate availability of FX was the greatest challenge in the importation of petroleum products today, including aviation fuel.

“It has also been reported that because kerosene is currently in short supply in the country, it is being sold at a premium price by importers, and so it is also speculated that some importers of Jet A1 downgrade the product and sell it as Dual Purpose Kerosene (DPK).

“So the combination of these two factors in recent months have led to the scarcity of aviation fuel with all the attendant hardship on airlines and air travellers in the country,” Abazie said.

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CONCERNS MOUNT OVER $1.3BN POWER SECTOR LOANS could raise banks’ cost of risk (COR) in 2016 from 2.4 per cent to 3.9 per cent in aggregate terms.

“We arrive at this by modelling the effect of a 30 per cent default rate on power sector loans. A rise in the COR of this order would lower our 2016 forecast aggregate net profits for the five largest banks by about 18 per cent and a more significant of about 95 per cent for the smaller banks,” it added.

However, it stressed that this would not lead to a crisis, just that it might come at a time when banks are already reeling under the weight of non-performing loans (NPLs) from the oil and gas sector.

Several banks gave loans to the power sector, including significant sums lent to purchase power generation and distribution assets during the privatisation programme.

Though most of these assets are currently performing according to the banks, gas shortages and a reversal of previous tariff hikes are likely to hurt power companies’ cash flow and could threaten the viability of these loans.

“If power sector loans become impaired, GTBank and Access Bank will be the least affected as they made very minimal loans to the power sector. UBA will take the greatest hit among the big banks while Fidelity Bank and Diamond Bank will be worst affected of the Tier 2 banks,” the report added.

The Nigerian power sector

reform has so far brought little improvement to the country’s power situation.

Privatisation of the industry in 2013 transferred generation companies and distribution companies to private ownership but has done little to increase Nigeria’s average output beyond 4,000MW. Although the privatisation scheme was done with extreme care, with an elaborate structure and a number of government agencies to shepherd it through to success, there have always been two major sticking points: inadequate gas supply and unsustainably low electricity tariffs.

In February 2016, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) disclosed that Nigeria, for the first time in its history, generated over 5,000MW of electricity.

Power generation has, however, dropped significantly since the announcement was made. The operational report published by the Nigeria Electricity System Operator (NESO) as of July 25, 2016 showed that the country achieved peak power generation of 3,142.4MW on July 24 compared to a national peak demand forecast of 17,720MW. Much of the blame has been ascribed to inadequate supply of gas to power plants due to pipeline vandalism.

The generating companies have also recently complained that they have been unable to sign contracts to purchase the gas needed to generate power

because banks have refused to provide them with letters of credit (LCs) to guarantee their purchases.

Power Minister Babatunde Fashola, in a bid to create a more viable tariff structure, directed the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to meet with the 11 Discos and come up with what he referred to as a fair tariff system.

Consequently, a number of tariff hikes were implemented in 2015, with the last announced in December but implemented in February.

The last tariff hike resulted in the elimination of the fixed monthly charge that consumers were obliged to pay, irrespective of whether they had consumed electricity or not.

Fixed charges for most residential consumers were between N700 and N800 per month. The increase in tariffs for residential consumers introduced in February ranged from N8-N11.05/kwh.

For CSL Stockbrokers Limited, among the many problems preventing the efficient operation of the power companies, inadequate gas supply and low tariffs are the most serious in its view.

“Militant attacks on gas pipelines and transmission towers, coupled with the inability of power companies to sign gas contracts have resulted in abysmal power supply to households lately. Since power companies now only earn revenue when they supply power (no longer earning

MARKETERS ACCUSED OF RAKING IN PROFITS SELLING AVIATION FUEL AS KEROSENE aviation sector in the last one month, THISDAY has learnt.

Kerosene and jet fuel are nearly identical in every way except for a few additives in modern jet fuel, with industry experts describing the latter as nothing other than cleaner kerosene with no sulphur content.

However, the scarcity of foreign exchange in the country has made it very difficult for oil marketers to import and supply petroleum products that would sufficiently meet the needs of consumers.

As such, several marketers have started diverting Jet A1 to fuel outlets where it is sold as kerosene at a higher price than aviation fuel.

Aviation fuel sells for between N198 and N200 in Lagos while kerosene goes for N200 to N300 per litre.

THISDAY investigations revealed that marketers now prefer to sell Jet A1 as kerosene

after degrading it and that explains the scarcity of aviation fuel in the past one month, leading to flight cancellations and delays.

Informed sources confirmed that aviation fuel is highly refined kerosene with zero sulphur, which when used for cooking leaves the pot without soot.

But instead of importing kerosene, oil marketers import aviation fuel because almost all modern refineries in the world no longer refine kerosene owing to the low demand for the product as a heating oil in several countries.

However, Nigeria’s refineries, which were built between the 1960s and 1980s still produce kerosene and unlike refining plants in other parts of the world, the Nigerian plants have not been upgraded to refine only diesel, petrol and Jet A1.

A seasoned aeronautical

engineer and pilot, who operates a non-scheduled flight out of Lagos, told THISDAY at the weekend that the current scarcity of aviation fuel would persist until marketers and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) begin to import sufficient kerosene to meet consumers’ demands.

The source told THISDAY that every jet engine can use kerosene, but Jet A1 is of higher quality because it has no sulphur.

“Nigerian airlines will not have adequate supply of Jet A1 as long as kerosene is scarce and sells at higher price than aviation fuel. So the solution to the current scarcity is for NNPC to import massive volumes of kerosene, which is a product required by ordinary Nigerians.

“For us in the industry, we have always known that very few refineries in the world still refine kerosene, excluding Nigeria refineries,

and besides higher quality refining, there is really not much different between Jet A1 and kerosene because jet engines can use kerosene.

“The marketers make almost N50 per litre in every litre of aviation fuel sold as kerosene and everyone wants to make as much profit as possible these days when things are very tough.

“People are looking for ways to make money and there is nothing wrong in this, except that the desire to make more profit by the marketers is threatening air transport in Nigeria.

“When we keep Jet A1 for a long time of up to six months, we cannot use it to operate our aircraft again, so we give it out and it is sold as kerosene,” the source said.

The allegation was confirmed by the Chairman of the Petroleum Downstream Group of the Lagos Chambers

% 7.8 7.0 5.7 5.0 4.5 % 9.7 9.0 5.0 5.0 4.9

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T H I S D AY • MONDAY, AUGUST 1, 2016

NEWS

Ambode: Eko Atlantic Will Boost Lagos Economy, Increase IGR Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, yesterday embarked on an extensive tour of Eko Atlantic City, expressing confidence that the project would not only boost the economy of the state, but also increase its internally generated revenue (IGR).

Governor Ambode, who was accompanied on the tour by members of the State Executive Council, pledged the total commitment of his administration towards the success of the project, saying it would go a long way to facilitate the quest to grow the state’s economy.

He said: “I would like to express the total support of this government to this project because at the end of the day we need to grow the economy of Lagos and this obviously is going to have multiplier effect on our IGR. “We promise that we are going to grow our IGR to N30 billion by 2017 and N50 billion by 2018 and this project is a sure outlet in achieving that goal.”

He also expressed

A small basket of tomatoes, which sold for N25,000 in May, now sells for N800 in Kaduna.

It had been all anger and pains for households as the price of tomatoes hit the roof across the country as a result of scarcity caused by 'Tuta Absoluta', a pest also known as “tomato ebola”.

This affected the crop in most parts of the North-west, notably Kaduna, Jigawa, Katsina and Kano States.

satisfaction with the infrastructure already put in place, saying that it now behoves investors to take advantage of the massive opportunities.

The Eko Atlantic City project is a multi-billion dollar undertaking sitting on over 10 million square metres and is expected to accommodate over 150,000 people who would reside there and another 250,000 who would work and commute within the city on a daily basis.

While commending the promoters of the project for their confidence in committing huge resources to the Nigerian economy, Ambode said their investment was a positive sign that the country remains the investment hub in Africa.

The governor said: “Notwithstanding the economic recession that has befallen the country right now, we have come to also show that outside the recession, there is a whole lot of progress going on in the investment climate in Lagos State.

“We are very happy that the signs are looking very good for

Ambode investment in Lagos. We are also very happy that we are doing everything possible to encourage investors to come into the state and I will like to assure you that we are committed to making this project a big success.”

Ambode, who also inspected the 8.5km shoreline wall, otherwise known as the

“Great Wall of Lagos”, built to protect the Eko Atlantic City, said it was gratifying that the project would not only protect the new city, but also protect the whole of Victoria Island against any ocean surge, which was one of the primary reasons for the project.

He added that: “This is a new and a bigger version of

Victoria Island. We are going to have an energy city here, a financial hub that is more or less going to run under a free trade zone and so on.

“Basically, all these put together turns Lagos to that leader that we want it to be in Africa and the quality of infrastructure that has been put here is also encouraging.

“I just want to encourage other investors and other people who had taken one step or the other in respect of Eko Atlantic City that the time is now, because in another one and a half years, this place will be something else.”

So far, out of the over 10 million square metres of the project, about six million square metres have been reclaimed, while there are 15 bridges and two tunnels designed with the project.

Earlier, Chairman of Eko Atlantic City, Mr. Ronald Chagoury, said one of the first two residential buildings in the new city would be completed by the end of August, while the second would be ready before the end of the year, adding that the first office

Price of Tomatoes Crashes

As a result, the basket prices jumped from the range of N800-N1200 to between N25,000 and N40,000 at the height of the crisis.

At the Line Dogo (rail line) tomatoes and vegetable market in Kaduna on Saturday, it was a beehive of activities, reported online news website, The Cable.

Buyers could not believe their eyes, as tomato prices had crashed to a two-month low.

Abass Mai Tumatur, chairman of the tomato sellers said it was a “pleasant relief” for everyone as tomatoes are now available and in large quantities.

“Tomato scarcity is nothing new, but it was made worse this year by the invasion of the moth,” he said.

He said the insects mutate more during the dry season but don’t survive during the rainy season.

“The rains coupled with

block would be ready between September and October 2016.

Chagoury described the project as an impressive financial district, which upon completion, would compare with the financial district in Paris, France and the 5th Avenue in New York, United States.

He added that the Great Wall of Lagos was scientifically designed to withstand any ocean surge and that it was built to last for 1,000 years.

Also, Managing Director of Access Bank, Mr. Herbert Wigwe, whose bank is the major partner with the promoters of Eko Atlantic and the Lagos State Government, said aside the fact that adequate arrangements had been made to protect the city, the project was all about saving the state and creating a new tomorrow for people to live in Lagos.

He said that with the project, the land that was lost over time to the Bar Beach had been reclaimed, adding that investors and interested people need not entertain any fear over the safety of the city.

the efforts of government have helped tremendously in making tomato available,” he said, praising the government for the “timely intervention”.

He assured the public that the worst was over “and hopefully for good”.

Farmers were left stranded and helpless as the moth ravaged their farms and left destruction across the farming community, making a pot of soup as expensive as gold.

Hotels and restaurants, in

particular, faced a nightmare as the crisis also shot up the price of canned tomato paste.

Many were not aware of the reasons for the scarcity as frantic efforts were made to address the situation.

Nasir el-Rufai, the Kaduna State Governor, declared a state of emergency and dispatched officials to Kenya to find ways of tackling the ravaging insects.

The cost of the destruction in the state, according to el-

Rufai, was close to N1 billion.

Audu Ogbeh, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, also commissioned experts to find solutions to the disease outbreak “as soon as possible”.

The insect originated from South America around 1912 and has spread to other parts of the world.

Reports suggest the insects came to Africa through Republic of Niger.

of allegations of anti-party activities levelled against him during the 2015 elections.

The sacked National Working Committee (NWC) of the party had accused Anenih of anti-party activities in Imo State during the last presidential and state elections.

The leadership of the party had in a letter dated May 19, 2015, signed by then PDP National Secretary, Prof. Wale Oladipo, requested Anenih to appear before it. However, he shunned the invitation before he voluntarily relinquished the BoT chairmanship position.

But the Makarfi-led committee, in a letter dated July 22 and addressed to Anenih, informed him of the party’s withdrawal of the summons.

The letter signed by the secretary of the committee, Senator Ben Obi, read in part: “With a view to finally clear all the issues relating to this matter and based on your request to meet with the current caretaker committee, and the agreed meeting which took place on July 13, 2016, the committee chairman, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, wishes to thank you for appearing before it to finally clear all issues relating to this matter.

“Having heard from you and held some consultations, the caretaker committee has reviewed the whole episode and decided to withdraw the said letter from you which was issued by the defunct National Working Committee.”

In his response, Anenih commended the PDP caretaker committee for the steps it took to correct the injustice meted out to him by the immediate past NWC. He also commended the committee for giving him the opportunity to explain himself with respect to the issue, as well as the process it had embarked upon to reposition the party.

However, the ousted former national chairman, Sheriff, has rejected Anenih’s clearance, saying it did not follow due process.

In a statement issued on his behalf yesterday by Hon Bernard Mikko, Sheriff said that Anenih should re-apply to the party, with his response to the pending query for consideration.

Sheriff, who is still contesting the removal of his leadership in court, said: “The attention of the National Working Committee (NWC) of

the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been drawn to the status of Chief Tony Anenih as a member of Board of Trustees (BoT) of the PDP. “Party members and loyalists will recall that the National Working Committee (NWC) issued a query to Chief Tony Anenih in April 2015 as part of disciplinary procedures for his anti-party activities in Imo State during the 2015 general election in line with Article 57(4) of the PDP Constitution 2012 (as amended).

“Chief Anenih did not respond to the query but chose to tender a letter of resignation as BoT member. Up till date, the query remains unanswered and his resignation remains valid.

“Any effort to re-admit the chief will have to follow due process which is well known to all party members. If the chief is desirous of returning as a member of the BoT, he should re-apply to the party, with his response to the pending query for consideration. Party members are hereby assured that no individual or group will be prejudiced in the enforcement of discipline and application of the rule of law.”

PDP CONSIDERS JIMI AGBAJE AS COMPROMISE NATIONAL CHAIRMAN It also fixed August 17, 2016 for its national convention in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, to elect new officers that would take over from the Makarfi-led committee of the party.

However, the leadership of the party and most of its governors may have decided to settle for Agbaje due to the respect he commands in the society and the absence of corruption cases hanging over his head, which the field of other PDP contestants do not possess.

A party chieftain, who spoke to THISDAY on the issue, said: “Agbaje commands respect and has remained above board. Since the party has zoned the chairmanship post to the south, and it is our intention to go ahead with the national convention on August 17, we have decided to back a candidate whose integrity cannot be questioned and who will provide the vision to present the PDP as a reformed party.”

He explained that the choice of Agbaje, which also stemmed from the need to present a neutral leadership that has not been tainted by the leadership tussle in the last few months, would ensure internal democracy, and

one that will engender the confidence of the Nigerian electorate in 2019.

Despite the push by the leadership of the party for the emergence of Agbaje as the new PDP chairman this month, Dokpesi, at the weekend, forged ahead with his campaign in Osogbo, Osun State, where he canvassed for the votes of delegates at the upcoming national convention.

Reacting to the money laundering charges currently preferred against him, Dokpesi said President Muhammadu Buhari was using the same strategy he used in 1983, after taking over power as military head of state, to clamp down on the political class.

According to him, “Many of these politicians were jailed 200 to 300 years by Buhari when he came on board. The same thing is playing out today. What I am accused of is like someone questioning a hotelier for accepting money from a lodger.

“How could a hotelier determine the source of the money he is being paid with; I don’t want to dwell much on the subject. The matter is before a competent court of law. At the appropriate time, I will be vindicated.”

On his plans, if elected PDP chairman, the founder of AIT television and Raypower radio station promised to ensure all interests within the party are united into a formidable force capable of winning elections.

He said the first step towards achieving the objective is by reviewing all the reports of past reconciliatory committees, emphasising on the need to stop the factionalisation of the PDP. He equally assured his audience that he would work to win Osun State for the PDP, even as he pledged allegiance to the Makarfi-led national leadership of the party.

In his remarks, the Osun factional PDP chairman, Dr. Bayo Faforiji, assured the delegation that the state’s delegates would vote for Dokpesi.

He thanked him for visiting state chapters across the country to sell his manifesto, noting that it was the first of its kind since the resumption of party politics in the country.

In a related development, the National Caretaker Committee of the PDP has cleared the former chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT), Chief Tony Anenih,

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MONDAY AUGUST 1, 2016 • T H I S D AY

NEWS

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

Military on High Alert as Militants Declare N’Delta Republic Today Residents flee communities in Bayelsa NPDC pipeline attacked again

Emmanuel Addeh in Yenagoa and Sylvester Idowu in Warri Barring any last minute changes, the Adaka Boro Avengers (ABA), a group of Ijaw militants, which has vowed to declare the independent Republic of Niger Delta, may today make good its threat.

But without mincing words, the Nigerian military has warned that the declaration by the little known warlords would be met with the strongest resistance, adding that it would not allow anybody to hold the country to ransom.

However, following the threat to declare the Republic of Niger Delta, residents of several Ijaw communities are not leaving anything to chance and have started to flee Kaiama, the hometown of the late Major Jasper Adaka Boro in Kolokuma Opukuma Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

Without mentioning names, but in apparent reference to the group, the Joint Task Force Commander in the Niger Delta, codenamed Operation Delta Safe, Rear Admiral Joseph Okojie, told journalists yesterday that the Nigerian Armed Forces would not abdicate their responsibility to protect lives, property and the territorial integrity of the country.

Describing the group’s threat to secede as “faceless”, Okojie asked the people of the region to go about their normal duties, noting that no group or individual could stop anybody from any region in the country to go about their normal business.

“This is to reassure the good people of the Niger Delta that Operation Delta Safe is firmly on the ground to protect them,” he said.

However, the ABA had said after meeting with other militant groups in the region that it had concluded arrangements to declare the Niger Delta region as an independent republic from August 1.

It also gave the federal government an ultimatum to withdraw its personnel and establishments from the region before today.

While ordering people from other regions to vacate its territory, the group, in a statement by its spokesman, “General” Edmos

Ayayeibo, also asked the federal government to move out all military personnel and all government agencies out of the Niger Delta.

On the demand that people from other regions should move out immediately, ABA said: “If they refuse to heed to our warning, we will use so many as example in the Niger Delta region on the due date.”

Reacting to the threat, some Niger Delta elders and leaders of thought of Ijaw extraction, led by Chief Edwin Clark had on Saturday in Warri, Delta State, cautioned the militants against such threats.

The elders said what Ijaw nation wanted was true federalism and the immediate restructuring of the Nigerian nation to enhance development, progress and peace.

Residents Flee

However, the threat by the group of militants to declare an independent Republic of Niger Delta today appeared to be working, as there was a massive exodus of residents of Kaiama, the home town of late Major Jasper Adaka Boro in Kolokuma Opukuma Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

The residents were said to have fled the community for fear of military attacks to quell the proposed rebellion by the militant group.

The leadership of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), who confirmed the mass movement yesterday, however, said there was no plan to declare Niger Delta Republic and urged the people to discountenance the threat by ABA. IYC called on residents of Kaiama town to be calm and go about their normal activities, assuring them that there was no plan by the Ijaw people to declare a republic and the threat by ABA should be completely disregarded.

“We wish to warn groups and individuals not to further expose Ijaw and Niger Delta communities to unnecessary tension and danger.

“The growth in modern means of information technology should not be abused to the detriment of our communities by issuing unnecessary threats and ultimatums,” it warned.

According to a statement by IYC spokesman, Eric Omare, the leadership of the Ijaw body had been inundated with calls in

the last 24 hours relating to the threat by the group called the Adaka Boro Avengers to declare a republic from the 1st day of August, 2016 at Kolokuma Opukuma Local Government Area of Bayelsa State and the massive movement of residents from the community for fear of military attacks.

“The IYC called on security agencies to stop forthwith unnecessary threats and attacks on Ijaw and other Niger Delta communities because of threats by faceless groups.

“The Ijaw nation has a leadership and they should also check with the leadership on issues of security concern instead of threatening or attacking innocent communities and people,” it added.

The Ijaw youths also said there was considerable apprehension among Ijaw people resident in the South-west as a result of the expiration of the ultimatum issued by the Reformed Odua Peoples Congress because of the attacks

by unknown gunmen in parts of Lagos and Ogun States.

On the ultimatum and threat by the Reformed Odua Peoples Congress, the IYC called on South-west group members and the leadership of the Yoruba nation to allow security agents to do their constitutional duties by apprehending the criminals responsible for the Ogun and Lagos attacks.

“As of this morning (yesterday), information at the disposal of the IYC indicates that some Ijaw people resident in Lagos and Ogun States, for fear of attacks, are already relocating from their places of residence to the South-south.

“The IYC seriously warns against attacks on innocent Ijaw people in the South western part of the country, as it would result in unnecessary reprisals in parts of the South-south where Yoruba people are resident as well.”

Again, NPDC Pipeline Bombed

But with tension rising in the oil-rich Niger Delta, this did not stop suspected militants from blasting a 24-inch oil pipeline belonging to the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) in Odimodi community in Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State on Saturday night.

The NPDC 24-inch Brass Creek to Forcados Terminal pipeline, popularly called the Trans Ramos trunk line, conveys crude oil from oil well heads in Bayelsa State to Shell’s Forcados Terminal in Delta State.

Security sources told THISDAY yesterday that the incident occurred at 11 p.m. with a huge fire enveloping the site of the attack.

“Suspected militants attacked the NPDC 24-inch Trans Ramos trunk line operated by NPDC in Odimodi at about 11 p.m. with dynamites. As I am speaking, concerted efforts are being made to put out the fire in the area,” a security source said.

Another community source

confirmed the incident, stating that they heard a huge explosion late Saturday night only to discover that it was a pipeline belonging to NPDC that had been blasted.

“We heard a huge explosion when we were about to retire for the night. We rushed out and found that the NPDC pipeline was on fire. We are not sure whether it was militants that caused it or not,” he said.

It was gathered that the militants had made an attempt last week on the said pipeline, but the attack was foiled by local vigilantes and soldiers.

The Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), the militant group that has claimed responsibility for the destruction of oil facilities in the Niger Delta, was yet to comment on the latest pipeline breach at the time of filing this report.

Also, the Media Relations Manager of NPDC, Mr. Ugo Atugboko, could not be reached to comment on the attack, as his phone was switched off.

ON-THE-SPOTTOUR

L-R: Chairman, Eko Pearl, Mr. Elias Saad; Group Managing Director, Access Bank Plc, Mr. Herbert Wigwe; Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode; andtheChairman,EkoAtlanticCity,Mr.RonaldChagoury,duringtheinspectionvisitbytheGovernortoEkoAtlanticCity,VictoriaIsland,Lagos....yesterday

NERC Fines Enugu, Ibadan, PH, Ikeja Discos Millions of Naira for Regulatory Breaches Chineme Okafor inAbuja The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has fined four electricity distribution companies (Discos) millions of naira as penalty for their failure to satisfactorily treat various service complaints of their customers as well as submit statutory quarterly reports of their operations to it.

NERC said in a statement yesterday in Abuja that the Discos - Ibadan, Ikeja, Port Harcourt and Enugu - breached the terms and conditions of their licences and provisions of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act 2005.

It said their offences also breached its regulations on their operations, hence the fine.

NERC said it had communicated the fine to the affected Discos, and expects them to pay the fines within two weeks, beginning from July 25, 2016, when the directives were signed by its acting Chairman, Dr. Anthony Akah, and General Manager, Legal, Licencing and Enforcement, Mrs. Olufunke Dinneh.

The statement explained that the fines equally attract five per cent daily interests until remedial steps are taken by the Discos.

It said two of the erring

companies, Port Harcourt and Enugu Discos, were sanctioned for their failure to submit quarterly reports on their key performance indicators, whereas Ibadan and Ikeja were fined over failure to attend to customers’ complaints severally referred to them.

According to the statement, Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) flouted the Electric Power Sector Reform (EPSR) Act 2005, its licensing terms and conditions as well as NERC Customer Complaints Handling: Standards and Procedures (CCHSP) Regulation 2006.

“The commission received

several complaints directly from electricity customers in IBEDC operational jurisdiction, based on which same was forwarded via letters dated October 27, 2015, and April 15, 2016, to IBEDC’s Customer Care Unit for resolution, in line with CCHSP, 2006.

“However, IBEDC failed or refused to comply with the commission’s request/directive to resolve the customer complaints in accordance with the provisions of the CCSHP 2006,” NERC said.

It noted that IBEDC was subsequently fined N10,000 on each of the three grounds of misdemeanour beginning from

April 22, 2016, till July 25, 2016, which totalled N2, 850,000 due for payment within two weeks beginning from the July date when the directives were signed.

It said Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (IKEDC) was found guilty on three grounds of violating its licencing terms and conditions, EPSR Act 2005 and CCHSP that compel it to obey every directive of the commission, treat customers complaints within a stipulated time frame as well as oblige the regulator every information sought from the company.

The company was, therefore,

fined N10,000 per day on each of the three grounds of misdemeanour beginning from April 22, 2016 till July 25, 2016 when the directive was signed.

“Failure to pay the fines within the stipulated time shall attract additional interest of five per cent per day until the total fine is paid,” said NERC. It added that both Enugu and Port Harcourt Discos were found liable for their failures to submit quarterly reports on their key performance indicatiors which run contrary to terms and conditions of their licence, Section 63 (1) of the EPSR Act 2005.

T H I S D AY MONDAY AUGUST 1, 2016

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T H I S D AY • MONDAY AUGUST 1, 2016

COMMENT

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

WHERE LIES THE TRUTH?

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The committee set up to investigate procurement of arms has been consistent with its report, argues Suleiman Lawal

he investigative panel set up by President Muhammadu Buhari to probe the procurement of arms in the country from 2007 to 2015 recently submitted its third report, amid mixed reactions from the public.

While some citizens have hailed the committee for what they see as yet another milestone, critics say the recent report was doctored to exonerate some individuals namely the Minister of Interior, Lt. Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau (rtd) and Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Y. Buratai. Critics argue that these men ought to have been indicted in the third report. Buratai had recently come under intense public scrutiny following revelations by Sahara Reporters that the army chief owns some property in Dubai, U.A.E. The Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) has however given him a clean bill of health.

In any case, the committee’s mandate does not cover Buratai tenure in office.

To understand the trend of events in these matters, it is important to take a critical look at all three reports presented by the committee and the findings therein. The first interim report, which was released in late 2015 essentially, gave an overview of the monumental amount of money that was embezzled. Most of the funds, meant for the procurement of arms in the heat of the war against Boko Haram terrorists, were eventually traced to retired military officers, influential politicians, phantom contractors and others. Former National Security Adviser Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd.) was largely blamed for misapplying the funds.

The second report, which was released early this year made astonishing revelations about the fraud that took place in the air force. Former Chiefs of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Sabundu Badeh (rtd.), Air Marshal Mohammed D. Umar (rtd.) and Air Marshal Adesola Amosu (rtd.) were indicted. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is currently prosecuting them.

The third interim report, which was just released, has become controversial because it covers the period during which Lt. Gen. Dambazau served as Chief of Army Staff (COAS). Critics wonder while many service chiefs were indicted in previous reports, Dambazau was given a clean bill of health.

Now, here is the problem. On one hand, Dasuki was NSA from October 2012 to July 2015 and all the former COAS and CAS that were indicted in previous reports served during this era. These are Air Chief Marshal Badeh, chief of air staff from 2012 to 2014; Air Marshal Umar, chief of air staff from 2010 to 2012, and Air Marshal Amosu who was in charge from 2014 to July 2015. In the army, the chiefs were Lt. Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, chief of army staff from 2010 to 2014 and Lt. Gen. Kenneth Minimah (rtd.) who was in charge from February 2014 to July 2015.

On the other hand, all former National Security Advisers from 2007 to 2015 (excluding Dasuki) were not indicted by all the reports released so far. They are Maj. Gen. Abdullahi Sarki Mukhtar (rtd.) (2006-2010); Gen. Aliyu Gusau (March 2010 - September 2010) and late Gen. Andrew Awoye Azazi (October 2010 - October 2012).

IF THE CHIEF OF AIR STAFF DURING HIS TIME, AIR CHIEF MARSHAL PETINRIN WAS GIVEN A CLEAN BILL OF HEALTH, WHY IS DAMBAZAU’S INNOCENCE BEING MADE TO LOOK SPECIAL?

Now if these NSAs were not indicted, it should therefore be no surprise that the CAS and COAS that held office during their era were also given clean bills of health. They are Air Chief Marshal Paul Dike, chief of air staff from May 2006 to 2008 and Air Chief Marshal Oluseyi Petinrin, 2008 - 2010. In the army, the chiefs during that time were late Lt. Gen. Luka N. Yusuf (May 2007 - August 2008) and Lt. Gen Abdulrahman Dambazau, 2008 - 2010.

The question now is this: why should critics single out Dambazau for scrutiny? If the NSA during his time, Gen. Mukhtar was not found wanting, why is it strange that Dambazau was not found with fault?

If the CAS during his time, Air Chief Marshal Petinrin was given a clean bill of health, why is Dambazau’s innocence being made to look special?

The issues around Generals Buratai and Dambazau are only but the most recent criticisms against the committee. From the moment its first interim report was released, interested contractors, politicians and ex-service men have continued to discredit the committee, calling for its dissolution. It was very clear from that moment that nothing that comes from it will be acceptable to some people. Different terms such as witch hunting and revenge seeking were ascribed to the committee in a bid to tarnish its image.

On the contrary, however, it has become glaringly clear now that the committee has not only been consistent in its reports but has become the hallmark of the success so far of President Buhari’s war against corruption and ineptitude. Firstly, the Chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, is a product of the committee. His appointment came as a result of the excellent work of the committee (in which he has been a member). His appointment was announced at about the time that the first interim report was released.

Second, most of the funds so far traced or recovered in the on-going war against corruption are directly or indirectly linked to the work of the committee. Its findings as contained in the various reports are responsible for most of the on-going prosecutions. Critics have continued to put clogs in the wheels of the committee in a bid to discredit it and compel the president to dissolve the panel. Yet no one has brought any credible piece of information to discredit its findings.

In a bid to taint the image of this committee further, a certain security agency reported to be working hand-in-hand with some of those being investigated has illegally detained a member of the committee, accusing him of collecting bribes on behalf of members. No one has been shown the money he allegedly collected and he is not being prosecuted due to lack of evidence. Yet he is still being detained despite a court order directing that he be immediately released for lack of evidence amongst other things.

If the on-going war against corruption must succeed, President Buhari must take the bull by the horn. He must do this by strengthening the committee. This he can do by continuously providing the political support it needs to succeed.

Lawal wrote from Abuja

AMCON, DEBT RECOVERY AND NATIONAL INTEREST

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ebt recovery is as daunting a task.

Ask anyone with banking experience and he/she will tell you how staff in debt recovery departments are loathed by bank debtors. This is what we are witnessing today, the loathing of Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) by some recalcitrant debtors in the wake of its heightened activities in debt recovery.

It is tempting in Nigeria to side with a debtor after narrating his ordeal at the hands of debt collectors because of the picture such encounter evokes in our minds. This is due to the experience we all share of the bad reputation rent collectors acquire in our communities because of the manner they employ to recover their debts, including subjective use of law enforcement agents. It is even more tempting to believe when such narratives are told in our news media with a measure of sophistry.

But reading between the lines will show a strenuous effort to stand truth on its head. The reality that is over the years, there has been developed a body of laws to ensure fair dealings in debt collection in Nigeria and globally. So, that portrayal of the debt collector as a reprehensible villain out to wreck lives of a struggling debtor— either as an individual or a business concern — belongs to the past.

Therefore, before a statutory body in the league of AMCON, established and operating with the purview of law and under a regime committed to laid-down rules is seen in open dispute with a debtor, all amicable options must have been exhausted. This aside, if truth must be told, no company or individual is forced to borrow money in the first place. Ultimately, if companies owe a debt, it’s because they chose to borrow money.

Their lenders made that loan, or offered the credit line, contingent upon a documented pledge to pay it back. This means creditors do have a right to

Bashir Ibrahim Hassan argues that AMCON operates within the law

their money, and a debt collector is simply trying to reclaim what is legally and ethically owed by the debtor.

I once argued that the world economy is supported by debt. This means that we are operating a debt-dependent economy. In essence, therefore, debt in itself is not always a bad thing. The problem of debt arises when there is default. So the question is how do we avoid defaults, and if they eventually happen, how do we manage the crisis that follows?

There is no one-size-fits-all answer to these questions. Every nation studies its economic peculiarities and adopts the best approach that will mitigate the potential for a catastrophe.

We all can recall that Nigeria has had its own fair share of the impact of the 2008 global financial meltdown on its banking sector. And we adopted some innovative measures to prevent systemic collapse of our banking system. Three prominent ones stand out -- bailout, bridge banking and, perhaps the most significant of all, the establishment of AMCON in 2010.

Lest we forget, AMCON was created to be a key stabilising and re-vitalising tool to revive the financial system. It went ahead to efficiently resolve the non-performing loans (NPL) assets of the banks in the Nigerian economy. Its objectives include: assist eligible financial institutions to efficiently dispose of eligible bank assets; efficiently manage and dispose of eligible bank assets acquired by it; and obtain the best achievable financial returns on eligible bank assets or other assets acquired by it.

So far AMCON has acquired about 13,774 non-performing loans worth N3.6 trillion from 22 commercial banks in Nigeria and provided financial accommodation of N2.2billion, a protected N4.7trillion of depositors’ funds and interbank takings as well as saved approximately 14,000 jobs.

This was done in pure national interest. No one can

deny the fact that, through AMCON’s intervention, the federal government successfully managed our debt crises and saved our banking system from imminent systemic collapse. But this achievement will not be complete until and unless it recovers those bad debts, which it uses tax payers’ money to purchase. Lest we also forget, the debtors AMCON is dealing with now have passed through all the three stages of a normal debt recovery process. They have failed to settle their debts with their initial creditor’s internal collectors (bank loan recovery teams) referred to as first-party agency, which is the first stage in the process. The second stage is when a third party is introduced to play the role of debt collector. The third stage is for the original creditor to write off the debt and sell it, which is where AMCON came in. AMCON has acquired the non-performing loans of the banks using tax payers’ money; so it is in the national interest that it recovers these loans from the debtors and to do so in order to turn a profit on its purchase. To do otherwise is to short-change toiling Nigerian tax payers.

To help it in this recovery task, AMCON has recently inducted successful firms that qualified as its Asset Management Partners (AMPs). The AMPs are consortiums with specialist skills required to ensure recovery and debt resolution from banking, legal, valuation and accounting backgrounds. The move is AMCON’s strategy to resolve over 6000 accounts with loan balances of N100 million and below.

I believe these AMPs are familiar with all the provisions of the Nigerian laws and with global best practices that advocate for fair treatment of debtors.

Perhaps they are aware or even belong to professional associations such as ACA International, the world’s largest nonprofit trade group representing collection agencies, creditors, debt buyers, collection attorneys and other industry service providers.

The ACA requires its members to abide by all laws and regulations as well as its own codes of ethics and operations. For example, the ACA requires its members to “treat consumers with consideration and respect” and “communicate with consumers with honesty and integrity.” It also prohibits collectors from engaging in “dishonourable, unethical or unprofessional conduct likely to deceive, defraud, or harm a consumer.”

Indeed, debtors are in safe hands with the current Managing Director/CEO of AMCON, Ahmed Lawan Kuru. His vast experience as a risk management expert is widely acknowledged. He knew his onions, having played at the top echelon of the defunct Bank PHB as executive director overseeing critical areas like risk management, compliance, commercial banking, Northern operations, public sector, multilateral agencies and the West Coast, East and Central Africa expansion programme of the bank.

Before assuming his current position at AMCON, Ahmed was the MD/CEO of Enterprise Bank Limited. He was also Executive Vice Chairman, Emeritus Capital Limited, a financial service firm with speciality in international business development focusing in sub-Saharan Africa.

Surely, he is the type of chief executive who knows that loans are the engine of progress of modern economy; so he will never see debtors as enemies as insinuated in some quarters. On the contrary, he is committed to supporting businesses with a view to enhancing their productivity. And, more, he wants to help them transform their NPLs to RPLs (Re-performing loans). Doing this, Ahmed believes, will provide liquidity to the banks, which will help them meet their own obligations as well.

So he knows how to balance his act between giving a breather to debtors to meet their obligations and the need for AMCON to realise its own mandate.

Hassan is a business and financial analyst

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T H I S D AY • MONDAY AUGUST 1, 2016

EDITORIAL REVIVING RAIL TRANSPORTATION Rail transportation is vital to the economy

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xpressing his delight that train services were back in Nigeria while inaugurating the recently completed Abuja-Kaduna rail line last week, President Muhammadu Buhari spoke of what used to be: “It is on record that between 1963 and the early 1980s, Nigeria had a vibrant rail system which conveyed agricultural produce, livestock and solid mineral resources to Lagos and Port Harcourt sea ports from where they were exported to other parts of the world.”

The statement was an admission of how the nation has mismanaged one of its most vital public utilities. It is also a measure of a nation writ small, that completing a rail project started by previous administrations has become a source of national celebration in the 21st century. All over the world, rail transportation is the most common mode of mass transit, both for short and long distances. In some countries like China and Japan rail transportation has been modernised with high-speed express trains that even compete with airlines. They can cover hundreds of kilometres within IT IS A GIVEN THAT an hour.

A NATION WITH A However, our POPULATION IN EXCESS experience in Nigeria OF 170 MILLION PEOPLE has been that of a CANNOT AFFORD TO gnawing irritation NEGLECT THE RAILS and a chorus of lamentation of what used to be. Even though slow, tedious, painful and often overcrowded, rail transportation was accepted as a means of transport as far back as colonial times where millions of commuters and goods of international commerce like cocoa, groundnut and rubber were moved to the ports during the heyday of agricultural boom. Besides relieving the roads of pressure and traffic snarls, rail transportation was economical and energy efficient. Even more, the railway corporation was then a big employer of labour with more than 40,000 staff on its payroll.

Letters to the Editor

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But against the dictates of common sense, and aided by a marauding group called haulage cartels, the railway lines were gradually neglected and later outrightly abandoned. And since many could not afford to fly and the inland waterways have no ferry system that works, all attention was turned to the roads where trailers, trucks, cars and buses competed for space. Today, most roads in the country are in pitiable conditions, riddled with potholes and craters.

Accidents are common place and are indeed assuming epidemic proportions. It is then little wonder that Nigeria has been put down as one of the countries with the highest fatality rates in road accidents in the world

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T H I S DAY

EDITOR IJEOMA NWOGWUGWU DEPUTY EDITORS BOLAJI ADEBIYI, JOSEPH USHIGIALE 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

et attempts to rehabilitate the rail lines in the last two decades have cost taxpayers a fortune with no tangible result. The late General Sani Abacha government expended some $530 million on a rehabilitation contract with the China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC). Not much was done as the impact was not felt. Between 1999 and 2008, according to the former auditor-general of the federation, Mr. Robert Ejenavi, some N125 billion was sunk into the railway watering hole by the federal government.

Compared with the amount of money that had been sunk at getting the railway on stream and the level of work still outstanding, the current celebrations and back-slapping are misplaced. Yet it is a given that a nation with a population in excess of 170 million people cannot afford to neglect the rails. So to the extent that a resurgence of rail transportation will breathe some fresh life into the sector and reduce the intense pressure on the highways, we hope the Buhari administration will continue where President Goodluck Jonathan stopped to complete all ongoing projects.

To do that, the government has to put pressure on the contractors handling some of the other projects.

It must also inject more funds so as to acquire more locomotive engines, coaches and wagons.

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.

SOUTH-WEST AND THREAT OF MILITANTS

f late the dastardly activities of criminals, some allegedly from the Niger Delta in the South West zone of the country, have become worrisome. Mostly affected are riverine and border communities of Lagos, Ogun and Ondo States. Recently echoes of intermittent gun shots by alleged Niger Delta militants were reportedly heard at the Ewedogbon/Akesan end of the popular LASU-Iba Expressway of Lagos State for hours.

An account has it that it took the efforts of security men to ward off the militants’ belligerence. It eventually took the intervention of men of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) who reportedly deployed and placed two Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) and a combat helicopter on patrol, to ultimately deter the rampaging gunmen from advancing. A few days after this dastardly event, unsubstantiated account claimed militants took on the combined military and police team in another dodgy gun duel at the riverine community of Ishuti in Igando area of Lagos.

Of late such attacks have become common in the South-West.

Recently, about 20 persons were allegedly killed after supposed militants invaded some villages in Imushin, a border community between Lagos and Ogun States. In the said attack, one man was reportedly beheaded by the militants in an operation that was said to have lasted for hours. Similarly, during the last May Day celebration, militants suspected to be Ijaws who reside in a pipeline and riverine area of Ibafo, in Ogun State, engaged in serious gun combats with security agencies right in broad daylight. According to the account, the depth of the operation was akin to a scene from the movies as sounds of guns rented the air with resultant casualties on both sides. The militants were reported to have claimed that the pipelines that passed

through that end of Ibafo belong to them and their ancestors and as such no one could stop them from vandalising or scooping fuel from it.

Currently, a first class monarch in Lagos State, Oba Goriola Oseni, the Oniba of Ibaland, was reportedly kidnapped right inside his palace, in a commando-like operation, by alleged Niger Delta militants who quickly ferried him off in a boat along the creek of Iba. Weeks after the sacrilegious incidence, which ardent custodians of Yoruba tradition and culture have referred to as a taboo and a slap on the entire Yoruba race, the respected monarch is yet to regain his freedom, despite several appeals from his family members, the Lagos State Police Command, Lagos State Government and several other concerned individuals and organisations.

In spite of assurance of safety by relevant security agencies and respective state government of affected communities, out of panic, residents of affected communities have reportedly relocated to other areas considered less volatile. Landlords have had to abandon their property out of fear as the militants were said to have sworn to deal ruthlessly with them for allegedly conniving with security agencies against them.

While trying to explain the motives for the current upsurge in criminal activities in the region, different analysts and commentators have come up with various schools of thought. Prominent among such is that militants are venting their anger on riverine and pipeline routed communities in the South-West because they could no longer continue with their hitherto lucrative bunkering business. This line of thought is premised on recent clampdown on pipeline vandals by security agencies. A typical example is the Arepo and Ibafo communities in Ogun State where security agents have locked out major

routes being used by pipeline vandals in their illicit petrol bunkering enterprise. Indeed, since the Ibafo May Day mayhem where militants openly engaged security operatives in audacious gun duel, armoured tanks manned by soldiers, have been stationed at the major road leading to Ibafo community. This has made it absolutely difficult for bunkers to access the road with their looted cargo which they allegedly usually convey in a convoy of assorted articulated vehicles.

Another school of thought links Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) with renewed militants’ offensive in the South-West. The basis of this line of reckoning is the prior threat of the NDA to take the fight right to the South-West. Major monuments and infrastructure in Lagos, for instance, have allegedly been earmarked for destruction by the group. In this category is the popular Long Bridge on the Lagos end of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, the Third Mainland Bridge, National Theatre, Iganmu, National Stadium, Surulere, among others. Hence, some perceive, either wrongly or rightly, current militant skirmishes in the zone as, perhaps, a dress rehearsal of things to come.

One other school of thought is the political angle. Proponents of this notion are of the view that Niger Delta militants, who are allegedly on the rampage, are merely embarking on a political vendetta. According to exponents of this contemplation, NDA is a militant wing of a clique whose sole agenda is to ensure that every part of the country is engulfed in protracted turmoil so that the Buhari government would become so distracted that it would lose focus and eventually fail in the fulfillment of its electoral promises. Promoters of this point of view jokingly come up with the couch: ‘It is a case of you Boko Haram me, I NDA you’.

Tayo Ogunbiyi, Ministry of Information & Strategy, Alausa, Lagos

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T H I S D AY • MONDAY, AUGUST 1, 2016

POLITICS

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

T H E M O N D AY D I S C O U R S E

PDP’s Convention of Crisis

The path to a successful Peoples Democratic Party national convention is paved with more problems than promises, writes Onyebuchi Ezigbo

Former President Goodluck Jonathan and other party stalwarts at Minna PDP rally ahead of the 2015 elections

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or the second time running, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has had its planned national convention stopped by the courts over internal leadership wrangling.

An Abuja Federal High Court presided over by Justice Okon Abang on Thursday ruled that the National Caretaker Committee of the party that is organising the convention was illegal and therefore, the national convention it had fixed for August should not go on as scheduled. This will be the second time that a court will be intervening to stop PDP from holding its national convention.

The first time was when a Federal High Court in Lagos on May 17 issued an injunction barring the party from conducting election into the offices of the national chairman, national secretary and national auditor pending the determination of a suit seeking to protect their tenure.

Justice Ibrahim Buba gave the order in a suit filed by the National Chairman of the party, Ali Sheriff, the National Secretary, Prof.

Adewale Oladipo and National Auditor, Mr. Fatai Adeyanju asking the court to stop the national convention pending the determination of their substantive suit.

The three national officers had claimed in the suit that their tenures of office were yet to lapse. The court subsequently granted an order of interlocutory injunction as requested by the trio and restricted PDP from conducting any election into the offices of the National Chairman, National Secretary and National Auditor pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.

Even though Sheriff was mentioned as one of those, who instituted the case against his

party at the Federal High Court in Lagos, he denied any involvement in the matter and rather chose to tag along with other leaders of the party, including the governors of the PDP, who were at the forefront of the May 21 national convention.

In a press statement issued by his media

Beyond the show of optimism by the leadership of the opposition party, there is a looming danger that the PDP might suffer irreparable damage in the event that the August 17 national convention is again scuttled…For one, the national caretaker committee which was appointed to act as a rescue group to help put things in order and hand over office to elected leaders has a mandatory three months tenure. The three months will expire by the end August.

aide, Inua Bwala, the former governor of Borno State said he was neither aware of the suit nor did he instruct anyone to file a case on his behalf.

Sheriff needed to give reassurance in order to keep the confidence of the governors, who were then his major support base and who had been prodding him to contest another term in office, it was not until things were sore and there was a sudden switch of support by the governors from Sheriff that the later made a detour to announce a cancelation of the convention, referring to the Lagos Court injunction.

But before Sheriff could finish addressing a press conference, postponing the convention, leaders of the party and hundreds of party delegates had stormed the Liberty Stadium, venue of the convention, ready for the event.

Perhaps, while Sheriff was still contemplating what move to make next, the governors and other key leaders of the party were busy consulting and studying the implications of the court ruling. It therefore came as a major surprise to Sheriff, when the leaders decided to go ahead with the scheduled convention and to move against him through a motion that dissolved the National Working Committee, including the offices of the chairman, secretary and auditor.

Apart from dissolving the NWC, the national convention took definite step to appoint a national caretaker committee with the former governor of Kaduna State, Senator Makarfi as its head. The sack of the NWC and the appointment of a caretaker committee infuriated Sheriff and other members of his group, who immediately rejected it, describing it as illegal.

Sheriff did not stop there, he went back to the court, this time a Federal High Court in Abuja and he was rewarded with another interim injunction by Justice Okon Abang restraining the Makarfi-led caretaker committee from acting as the leadership of the PDP and also ordering that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) must not receive submission of candidates’ names for the Edo and Ondo States’ governorship election from any other person but Sheriff.

However, Sheriff’s victory was short-lived as another court of coordinate jurisdiction, the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, after harmonising the rulings of the Lagos and Abuja courts gave a judgment validating the appointment of the Makarfi-led national caretaker committee at the May 21 national convention and affirmed them as the authentic leadership of the PDP. Sheriff and his group objected to the judgment, insisting that the order it got from the Federal High Court Abuja was still subsisting. According to him, “What it means is that unless the court of appeal decides otherwise I still remain national chairman of PDP. Any court that is of the same jurisdiction, cannot overrule another court except the court of appeal. I got my judgment. We disagree completely with today’s judgment. We’ve asked our lawyers to immediately file an appeal and also asked the same court to stay execution on the judgment”.

On his part, however, Makarfi defended his appointment and the May 21 national convention as legally conducted, saying the ruling of Justice Ibrahim Buba neither barred CONT’D ON NEXT PAGE

17

T H I S D AY • MONDAY, AUGUST 1, 2016

POLITICS/ THE MONDAY DISCOURSE PDP’S CONVENTION OF CRISIS

Chief Uche Secondus handing over to the controversial National Chairman of PDP, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff at inception

the national convention from holding nor did it stop the party from taking decisions on the way forward. He stressed that “In strict compliance and obedience to the above order, the National Convention of the PDP did not conduct election into the above offices or any offices at all.”

Makarfi added: “The ruling of Justice Buba neither touched the National Convention of the Party. We acknowledge that a motion on notice to this effect is pending before Justice Buba. But until that motion is moved and/ or granted or struck-out, there is no adverse judicial pronouncement on the proceedings at the National Convention of the PDP held on Saturday May 21. 2016.

“Moreover, a Court of coordinate jurisdiction (another Federal High Court) sitting in Port Harcourt has given orders deemed appropriate (in the wellconsidered views/opinion of the Court) in respect of specific issues bordering on the outcome of the National Convention held on Saturday May 21, 2016. The said order of Liman J. subsists and specific on the issue as against that of Buba J. which only granted an injunction against conducting elections into certain offices as listed above, and the Party never conducted election into those offices as directed by the Court.”

In the ensuing legal tussle, Sheriff had suffered series of set-backs in his attempt to hang on to office. For instance, Justice Husseini Baba of the FCT High Court had dismissed a suit he filled, seeking to affirm him as the National Chairman of the PDP. The judge, while striking out the case described Sheriff as a busy body after a majority of the former NWC members that Sheriff joined as Plaintiffs denied him in court that they were not party to the suit.

Another Federal High Court in Apo, Abuja presided over by Justice Valentine Ashi also delivered a judgment sacking all national officers of the party, including Sheriff, who assumed office on the basis of an illegal amendment of Article 46(7) of the party’s Constitution.

The latest set-back suffered by Sheriff came when the same FCT Federal High Court in Apo, struck out his motion seeking to set aside its earlier ruling, sacking him as the national chairman of the PDP. What was thought to be the deal-breaker for the PDP came when INEC came up with a decision ratifying the May 21 convention and the appointment of the Makarfi-led caretaker committee of the PDP. INEC said in a statement signed by the Secretary to the commission, Ngozi Ogakwu that it had granted “administrative approval to the

Chairman of the PDP’s national caretaker committee, Senator Ahmed Makarfi”.

The commission said it recognised the Senator Makarfi-led national caretaker committee based on the judgment of the Federal High Court in Port-Harcourt and that it would henceforth work with it for all its activities. Buoyed by that confidenceboosting pronouncement by INEC, the National Caretaker Committee immediately rolled out proposals for a fresh national convention. It also tried to reach out to the Sheriff-led group to negotiate a unification deal but that didn’t work out in the end.

An attempt to secure a peace deal with Sheriff was made by the PDP governors at a meeting held in the Taraba State Governor’s lodge in Asokoro, Abuja a few days before the party’s national caucus meeting. Senator Buruji Kashamu, a strong political ally of Sheriff said there was an agreement to convene an expanded national caucus meeting, where arrangements will be made for a harmonised national convention

So, if the committee is unable to dispense with the key mandate of organising the national convention at which new leadership can emerge, then, the party may witness a leadership vacuum which may lead to its gradual disintegration…This may sound like a doomsday prophesy but unless the party wakes up to the reality that it needs to find political solutions to the current leadership crisis ravaging it, things may brutally fall apart for the once vibrant Africa’s largest ruling party

committee (NCC) to handle the organisation of fresh national convention.

According to Kashamu, after series of consultation with many of the respectable leaders of the party, a larger meeting was held with Sheriff and Makarfi at the Taraba State Governor’s Lodge, and both politicians agreed that they would attend and address members of the party at the national convention.

“In effect, the two great leaders showed that they have the interest of the party at heart. However, the only point of divergence was who should preside over the expanded national caucus meeting and constitute the national convention committee. It was then proposed that they both Co-Chair the expanded national caucus meeting and jointly constitute the national convention committee.

But on the day of the national caucus meeting, where leaders of the PDP resolved to hold fresh national convention on August 17, to elect new national officers of the party, Sheriff did not show up.

Kashamu, a prominent member of his group, however stormed the meeting and gave his endorsement to the decision to hold fresh convention in Port Harcourt.

Addressing party stakeholders at the end of the national caucus meeting at the Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja, Makarfi said the party leaders had resolved to hold another national convention on August 17.

He also said the meeting had reaffirmed the party’s decision that the next presidential candidate should come from the north, while the national chairmanship position is be zoned to the south.

He further said the caretaker committee would constitute a zoning committee to further handle the zoning of other national offices in line with the constitution of the party. Makarfi said the meeting resolved to propose four different amendments to the party’s constitution to align it with recent court judgments. It was later learnt that Sheriff had decided to opt out of the peace deal and that he was insisting on being given the opportunity to convene the convention in Abuja and to moderate deliberations as chairman.

Sheriff later addressed a press conference and vowed to continue with his legal challenge. His action however irked the caretaker committee, who saw it as a ploy to get back to office through the back-door.

Spokesman of the PDP caretaker committee, Dayo Adeyeye described the activities of Sheriff and his key allies, Dr. Cairo Ojuogboh and Senator Hope

Uzodinmma as rebellious. He said it was a wrong perception for one to think that because a few disgruntled elements in the party are aggrieved then the party has broken into factions.

Adeyeye, who spoke to journalists in Abuja shortly after the inauguration of the 88-member zoning committee for the forthcoming PDP national convention said the party had decided not wield the big stick but rather continue to seek reconciliation in the hope that the aggrieved party men will retrace their step.

“There are no factions in the PDP. You see, there could be a few rebels, a few disgruntled people for one reason or the other but if you know our party and the array of personalities in it, you will ask yourself what is a party made up of? The answer is that in a party, you have the governors, members of the National Assembly, state chapters and elders, all of them are together.

“We are going to have a very free, fair and open convention – a unity convention in Port Harcourt on August 17. PDP still remains the biggest party in Nigeria and I can say confidently that by this time next year, our opponents, who are today in power, a good number of its members will be begging to join the PDP. Nigerians are yearning for PDP,” he said.

Adeyeye, who reacted to last Thursday’s court ruling in favour of Sheriff insisted that the national caretaker committee would go ahead with the plan for fresh national convention fixed for August 17 in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

Beyond the show of optimism by the leadership of the opposition party, there is a looming danger that the PDP might suffer irreparable damage in the event that the August 17 national convention is again scuttled.

For one, the national caretaker committee which was appointed to act as a rescue group to help put things in order and hand over office to elected leaders has a mandatory three months tenure. The three months will expire by the end August. So, if the committee is unable to dispense with the key mandate of organising the national convention at which new leadership can emerge, then, the party may witness a leadership vacuum which may lead to its gradual disintegration.

This may sound like a doomsday prophesy but unless the party wakes up to the reality that it needs to find political solutions to the current leadership crisis ravaging it, things may brutally fall apart for the once vibrant Africa’s largest ruling party.

18

T H I S D AY • MONDAY, AUGUST 1, 22016

POLITICS/ PERSPECTIVE

The Audacity of Fulani Herdsmen There is more to the bravery of the Fulani herdsmen than many can relate to, writes Ojo Maduekwe

A cattle herdsman on duty

T

o understand why President Muhammadu Buhari has been silent over the Fulani herdsmen bloodbath across the country, we have to recount some of his administration’s action so far. This will not only give us a glimpse into the mind of the president, but also that of the herdsmen.

One, the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai has deployed troops to “take care of the flash-points and likely areas” where “criminal elements who engage in cattle rustling” are hiding. Two, the Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Dambazau is collaborating with his counterpart in the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh, to set-up a special taskforce to again tackle cattle rustling.

After a recent Federal Executive Council meeting, Ogbeh told State House correspondents that he and Dambazau were planning for farmers to pay protection fees to the federal government against kidnappers while in their farms. It appears this is the “special” taskforce Dambazau was referring to.

Ogbeh justified the idea of a protection fee on the basis that farmers have no right to use AK47 in self-defence. The hypocrisy in that comment is that there’s no talk of plans to disarm the AK47-wielding herdsmen. Rather, to underscore how “special” they are, the federal government wants to provide them with free grazing lands and the Nigerian army as private security to protect the cattle in their care from

rustlers.

If you ever wondered how the herdsmen became emboldened and appear to be untouchable in the face of such atrocities as witnessed in Agatu LGA in Benue and Uzo-Uwani LGA in Enugu, above is your answer. Rather than track down these killers and bring them to justice, the federal government is expending tax payers’ money in search of criminals rustling the cattle under their care.

Having killed over 500 Nigerians as at May, according to media reports, only to attract this lukewarm response from the federal government, the Fulani herdsmen know for certain that no amount of public outcry would compel a rebuke from the government.

Now, there is a reason the federal government pampers these herdsmen and treats them special from farmers and that reason borders on the issue of ownership of cattle. Who owns the cattle that the herdsmen accompany across the country? Is it them or the owners are highly placed individuals either in government or having links to people in government?

It has been alleged that the herdsmen do not own the cattle. There are speculations that they belong to prominent Fulani leaders, who are traditional rulers, government officials, oil businessmen, religious leaders, governors, state and federal lawmakers, and the likes. Some highly placed Southern elite too are also rumoured to have joined in the cattle business.

You can now understand why the bill

to establish grazing reserves in all states of the country has the support of the Fulani elite. The arithmetic is simple: Grazing reserves are cost effective to operating a ranch. The Fulani elite would rather use our collective resources to grow their private business instead of operating ranches.

Buhari himself a Fulani and cattle owner, cannot be exempted from this complicity. His silence in the face of this

Ogbeh justified the idea of a protection fee on the basis that farmers have no right to use AK47 in selfdefence. The hypocrisy in that comment is that there’s no talk of plans to disarm the AK47-wielding herdsmen. Rather, to underscore how “special” they are, the FG wants to provide them with free grazing lands and the Nigerian army as private security to protect the cattle in their care from rustlers

audacious carnage by the herdsmen and the several government policies and actions that seem to favour the herdsmen makes his participation in this conspiracy even more difficult to deny.

And then the argument by foremost Northern traditional institutions on the cultural significance of grazing reserves to the Fulani nomadic way of life is an excuse by the cattle owners to heap the responsibility of grazing their cattle on the Nigerian state. Interestingly the federal government has agreed to import grass for their cattle. Who will pay for the grasses? Nigerians need to know.

This excuse on the cultural significance of grazing reserves also appears to be nothing more than a distractive strategy to put a wedge between ordinary Nigerians and then use that to justify the grazing bill. The Fulani elite, who own the cattle, in collaboration with their cohort in the government should not be allowed to use our commonwealth to fund their private business.

Opportunistic, the goal of the cattle owners is to amass more wealth even to the disadvantage of farming communities that bear the brunt of the herdsmen’s destructive behaviour.

Simply put, what is happening is a class battle, where the minority wealthy cattle owners take advantage of their broad political connections to formulate policies favourable to their private business but detrimental to the majority of the masses! Sadly, the federal government is leading this scheme.

•Maduekwe, a politics writer, is editor at Discussing Africa

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MONDAY, AUGUST 1, 2016 • T H I S D AY

FEATURES

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

Teenage Innovator to Watch Babatimilehin Daomi’s God-given talent could not be suppressed by his father.

His feat in scientific and technological innovation has started earning him accolades even as a teenager, writes Peter Uzoho

H

e is just 15, but his career has already unfolded against the earlier wish of his father who was hell bent on making a lawyer out of him. Young Babatimilehin is the first son of his father, a lawyer and chauvinist of the legal profession, Barrister Olusoji Daomi. His father had ruled that every son and daughter of his family must study law before venturing into any other field. Being bound by the family’s rule, he was forced to become an arts student which would naturally lead him to studying law after his senior secondary school, thereby satisfying the wish of his father.

Against his wish, he was playing along, managing to pay attention to arts lessons for peace to reign, and hoping to move to his natural field someday.

“Actually, my father is a lawyer and he wanted all of us to be lawyers as well.

Unfortunately, I don’t have interest in Law. Though, I’m an art student, I will soon switch over to sciences so I can concentrate in science and technology classes,” Babatimilehin tells THISDAY. But like the moon, his destiny could not be shielded by the rule for long. Babatimilehin’s in-born creativity in science and technology began to play out, often, to his father’s amazement. All the traits of an inventor which he was exhibiting right from his childhood started manifesting themselves gradually.

In just Senior Secondary II, he has constructed a number of technological machine prototypes. They include: spinning light, digital microscope, vacuum cleaner, phone charger, crude oil drilling machine, collapsible bridge, low range FM radio transmitter, motor bike and illusionary.

Showing all the things he has constructed, their useful purposes and the materials used to make them, young Babatimilehin said, “This is called spinning light. The light can be used for house decoration during festivities like Christmas and Easter. All you need to do is just to plug the cable in an energy socket to power the lead and the light comes up in a spinning mode, giving the interior of the house a bright look, he explains. “I used rotor, sticks and some lead to make it,” he said.

Another feat he achieved was the building of a mini digital microscope which he said came out of his effort to solving a problem he discovered in the public schools in Lagos State.

“I made this mini digital microscope. I discovered that the microscopes we have in public schools here in Lagos, provided by the Lagos State Government are analogue.

For instance, when a teacher is trying to show the students that an insect has six legs and he uses an analogue microscope to demonstrate that, the students will not be able to see that at once. Rather, it will be one person after the other, viewing and

Babatimilehin working on his drones

Babatimilehin working in his workshop telling others what he or she has seen. In this case, the result will not be seen by all at the same time; the result cannot be recorded; it cannot be stored, and the result cannot be printed. It means that others have to believe what they are told to be the result from the analogue microscope view of the insect, and it can lead to conflicting results.

“But when a digital microscope is used, it will afford all the students the opportunity of seeing the result at once on a computer screen. The action can be projected for all to see at once; it can be recorded, stored and printed in a hard copy. So that was why I decided to work on that. I made it with a CD Rom and microscope lens,” Babatimilehin explains.

“I made a vacuum cleaner. This vacuum cleaner is used for sweeping the floor. It sucks the dirt into it and after using it you dispose it into a waste bin. I made it with just aluminium sheet, rotor and some plastics.

“I also made a phone charger. I made it with a female battery charging pot. This one is just for emergency; if you travel and there is no electricity, you would have the micro-phone battery to fall back on. The battery can last for about four days and

more. So if your phone battery is down you can easily change it with the micro phone battery,” he says.

Mentioning and giving details of some other things he built, Babatimilehin says, “This one is a crude oil drilling machine.

It’s a mini drilling machine that is used to bring crude oil from the ground. I made it with some sticks, rotor, mechanism and some biro covers,” he tells THISDAY. “I also constructed this collapsible bridge.

It’s like the popular London Bridge that can open when a ship wants to pass and can close back when the ship has already gone. I made it with just paper, sticks and tarmac foam,” he explains.

“You can see a radio station. I constructed it after my visit to TV Continental, Lagos.

I was invited by the station to come and speak to my fellow young ones and the youth during the last Children’s Day. So while I was there, I took time to look around the environment. I looked at all the components of the station and I was imagining how something like that could be made. When I came back I decided that I would construct it; that was how this radio station came about.

“I made an automated sliding door with plastics, sticks and mechanism. The door works as a lock; if you press the button the red light will show and it will open and if you press the button again the red light will show and it will close back,” the young inventor says.

Among other things he has constructed are power bike, water fountain, illusionary, toilet tissue dispenser, wireless energy transfer, portable USB fan and water level indicator.

These have started earning him awards and accolades from different organisations. On July 4, 2016, he was honoured with an award at Abuja by Kids and Teens with Outstanding Ability (KOLA), a non- governmental organisation, for his creative ingenuity.

His school, Dobar Group of School, Maya, Ikorodu, gave him scholarship award for Great Science Inventions, to complete the remaining part of his secondary education in the school.

“I received an award for all these at Abuja just few weeks ago, precisely on July 4 from

It is my hope and vision to make my country great. To produce and invent things we need and consume in my country. It is my dream to reduce our reliance on so-called developed countries and minimise the pressure on my country’s currency. I hope to put my country among the technologically developed countries in the world. So help me God

KOLA.I also received a scholarship on 23rd July,2016, to complete my secondary education and a cash of N20,000 from my school, Dobar Group of School, Maya, Ikorodu, Lagos,” he says.

With all these, he has been able to win his father’s support to move fully into his chosen career.

Interestingly, Babatimilehin is guided by his daily prayer which is borne out of his desire to impact his country positively. “It is my hope and vision to make my country great. To produce and invent things we need and consume in my country. It is my dream to reduce our reliance on so-called developed countries and minimise the pressure on my country’s currency. I hope to put my country among the technologically developed countries in the world. So help me God,” he prays.

Telling THISDAY about his projection into future, he says, “I want to see myself as a great engineer constructing a lot of things.

I want to see myself moving around the globe to see what developed countries have

21

T H I S D AY • MONDAY, AUGUST 1, 2016

FEATURES

Babatimilehin’s power bike

Babatimilehin test-running his vacuum cleaner

Babatimilehin’s low range FM radio transmitter

The digital microscope built by Babatimilehin

Oil drilling machine constructed by young Babatimilehin

The automatic sliding door

Babatimilehin and his father, Daomi, at the KOLA Award in Abuja and the ones they don’t have so that I can invent them. I want to invent what does not exist for the benefit of mankind.”

Meanwhile, the young boy wants government to encourage the youths by providing an enabling environment for them to explore and showcase their potential for the growth of the nation, saying that more people should be sent to developed countries for training so that they would in turn impart the knowledge on others.

“I want the government to encourage the youth and the young ones. They should provide an enabling environment for us to showcase our ingenuity. They should be sending the youth and the young outside the country so that they can learn more about current trends in science and technology, which they will in turn come back to impart on others. I believe if we have more people that are well trained in these areas, our country will develop faster than it is today.”

However, Babatimilehin’s father, Olusoji

Daomi spoke to THISDAY on how it all started.

“From beginning he has shown that trait of going into science. When he was a child, I could remember that each time I bought toys for him, instead of playing with them, he would rather try to loosen them, and trying to see what was inside that make them work. As small as he was, he would try to dismantle them and in the process, he would destroy them because he didn’t have that knowledge of loosening them with a screw. As a matter of fact, I don’t have screw in house; I don’t work with screw, I work with pen, paper and books,” he narrates.

“Initially, it was my intention that all my children would become lawyers because I love Law a lot, I love that profession. It’s what gives me great joy and passion so I insisted that all of them must be lawyers by default. I forced him into arts even when he had started showing interest in sciences he

Babatimilehin’s collapsible bridge is still a happy man. “I’m not disappointed in anyway by his not obeying my wish of becoming a lawyer. I’m a kind of person that wants wherever my children are, they will be happy and they will excel. I’m too rigid, so I don’t like forcing someone to do what is not his or her wish just to please me and in the end he or she will not be happy.

As my first son, I would have loved him to be a lawyer, but now that he has chosen his own profession, if I can encourage him and support him, I believe he can succeed;

the bottom-line of what we’re looking for in life is success,” Daomi said.

Advising parents on making decisions on their children’s career, he said, “My advice to parents is that they should discover where the strength of their children lies. They should not be too rigid in ensuring that their will over their children prevails. It is the will of God for their children that will prevail and not their own will. So I encourage parents to support their children in any field they have chosen for themselves.”

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T H I S D AY • MONDAY, AUGUST 1, 2016

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Abia State Governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu (right), receiving a cheque for the take-off of the Save One Million Lives Programme by the W.H.O from Dr. John Ahukanna, Abia State Commissioner for Health assisted by Mr. Nkwachukwu Agomuo, Permanent Secretary, Abia State Ministry of Health in Umuahia...recently

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N145bn Debt: Gencos Warn of Elongated System Collapse Chineme Okafor in Abuja Six of Nigeria’s privatised electricity generation companies (Gencos) have warned Nigerians to brace up for a long-term loss of the electric power, insisting that it is extremely difficult to continue to generate electricity under the current economic condition.

The power companies, also signalled their intention to shut down operations in a matter of days, citing outstanding N145.475 billion debt owed to them, and government’s economic policies, which they claimed now negatively impact their operations.

The Gencos- Egbin; Trancorp Ugheli; Sapele; Geregu; Kainji/ Jebba and Shiroro, said the

POWER amount owed them for the electricity they generated and supplied to the country’s electricity network over a period have not been paid, adding that the huge debt was hurting their businesses.

Collectively, the six Gencos account for about 3,091 megawatts (MW) of the 7856.52MW available generation capacity of the country. The balance of 4775MW could come from the other 10 power stations of the National Integrated Power Plants (NIPP).

However, the Gencos in a statement they sent to THISDAY, itemised their current operational challenges as well as their resolve to shut down.

They said contrary to widely held belief, they have been at the receiving end of the lapses and deficiencies in Nigeria’s power sector, as well as the current variations in the country’s economy.

According to the power companies, poor revenue remittances; inadequate gas supply; government’s economic policies and unfulfilled contractual terms by other sector operators and the government have collectively contributed to their operational woes, adding that they are currently vulnerable in the sector.

“The fact is that Gencos have been and do remain far more vulnerable than any other player in the electricity supply value chain. For whatever reason, very

little has been put in place to give the Gencos a legitimate chance of survival based on the realities on ground.

“While the Gencos have been carrying the burden of ensuring that the power sector remains functional, and hoping that the obvious gaps, deficiencies and threat to their existence would be addressed, they are presently cringing under the excruciating pains of carrying this burden.

Given that life is literally being snuffed out of the Gencos, they owe all stakeholders and the generality of Nigerians the duty to cry out,” said the statement.

It further stated: “Today, the Gencos are not talking about breaking even or making Continued on page 24

Customs Defaults May Affect 2016 Budget Revenue Target Eromosele Abiodun The federal government’s plan to raise N4.2trillion ($14.3 billion) revenue set in the 2016 budget from its revenue agencies may not materialise, as the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has failed to meet the target set for it by the government.

Just like most other government agencies, THISDAY findings revealed that collections are running behind target at the Nigeria Customs Service.

The NCS averaged N43billion per month in January to April this year, compared with N72billion targets in the 2016 budget.

Analysts believe a combi-

ECONOMY nation of squeezed private consumption and foreign exchange rationing is probably to blame and stressed however that Nigerians can expect some relief from the effective devaluation of the naira.

On its part, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) reported collection rates of about 90 per cent for Q2 2016 and 73 per cent for the first and second quarters combined.

Its chairman, Babatunde Fowler, while announcing the numbers, stated that the revenue agency hopes to hit its target over the full year.

It was unclear whether he was referring to the FIRS’s own target of N4.9 trillion set at the start of the year or the N4.2 trillion ($14.3 billion) in the 2016 budget.

“Either way, the FIRS has developed some positive momentum in identifying new taxpayers and collecting their dues. The FIRS is likely to outperform the other revenue collection agencies this year. The FGN is adamant that it will trim its capital expenditure plans rather than grow the projected deficit if, as we expect, it has to choose,” said analysts at FBN Quest.

However, a different impression was given last week by the

Glo subscribers nationwide have started enjoying 3GB of data for just N500 during weekends, as Globacom unveils a new data tariff called TGIF. The offer will be available to Glo customers from 12:01 am every Saturday morning to Sunday evening at 11:59pm, the company said in a statement released from its headquarters in Lagos.

Globacom encouraged its teeming subscribers to activate the plan by dialling *777# and clicking “Data Services” from the drop down menu.

The company explained that subscribers should select “Buy Data” on the menu and then pick “Night andWeekend Plan” which is number 7 on the next menu page.

Globacom stated that when the menu opens to the “Night and Weekend plans”, subscribers should pick option 2 on the last menu which reads “N500 = 3GB for Sat and Sun.” The network service provider explained that, “As of today, the best competition can offer in the market is a 100MB free data on weekend for between N200 and N500 recharge”.

ItsaidthattheTGIFofferisoneofthecompany’seffortsatresponding to its customer needs, saying iy offers the best value for even less.

“This is simply designed to meet the expectations of subscribers who download and upload a lot of content during weekends.We have observed that subscribers have the time to do heavy browsing on weekends, hence theTGIF bundle is designed to meet that demand,” Globacom added. Just in June this year, Globacom introduced the Data Overload Plan in which customers receive up to two times their data volume, offering as much as 48GB for just N8,000.

Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir David Lawal who stated that collections overall this year were running at 50 per cent to 60 per cent of target.

THISDAY had exclusively reported last week that following the foreign exchange crisis in the country and the exclusion of 41 items from access to forex, the level of operational activities at the port locations in first quarter of 2016 dropped significantly when compared with the same period of 2015.

This was contained in the first quarter 2016 operational report released by the Nigerian Continued on page 24

Oraclehasannouncedthatithasenteredintoadefinitiveagreement to acquire NetSuite the very first cloud company.The transaction is valuedat$109.00pershareincash,whichisapproximately$9.3billion.

According to Oracle’s Chief Executive Officer, Mark Hurd, “Oracle and NetSuite cloud applications are complementary, and will coexist in the marketplace forever. We intend to invest heavily in both products – engineering and distribution.”

ChiefTechnology Officer and Chairman, NetSuite, Evan Goldberg, said: “NetSuite has been working for 18 years to develop a single system for running a business in the cloud. This combination is a winner for NetSuite’s customers, employees and partners.”

The Chief Executive Officer, NetSuite, Zach Nelson, said: “NetSuite will benefit from Oracle’s global scale and reach to accelerate the availabilityofourcloudsolutionsinmoreindustriesandmorecountries.

We are excited to join Oracle and accelerate our pace of innovation.”

The evaluation and negotiation of the transaction was led by a Special Committee of Oracle’s Board of Directors consisting solely of independent directors. The Special Committee unanimously approved the transaction on behalf of Oracle and its Board of Directors.

Google Eyes Wireless Strategy

The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Alphabet, Ruth Porat has confirmed that Google Fiber is mulling wireless as much as cable for connecting US cities.

Speakingfollowingthecompany’sQ2results,Poratwasquestuoned about whether the way ahead was capital intensive and fibre led, as indicated from its capex figures, or whether it was contemplating a rollout that also deployed wireless technology.

Alphabet wants to create “abundant” connectivity, while continuing “to push the frontier with tech innovation”, Porat answered. It is “exploring both fiber and wireless, and you may have seen our recent acquisition of Webpass”.

Google Fiber acquiredWebpass, a wireless based internet service provider in San Francisco, a month ago. The fee was not disclosed.

Webpass’ founder said the two firms could join forces on accelerating high-speed connections across the US.The firm uses point-to-point wireless technology.

Alphabet’s revenue in Q2 shot up 21 per cent to $21.5 billion. Net income was $4.88 billion, a growth of 24 per cent.The primary cause of a particularly strong quarter was strong demand for mobile search.

The company also benefited from solid growth in desktop and tablet search as well as continued strength in YouTube and programmatic advertising.

“Very close home, we have exploration activities on the frontier basin, that is in the Chad and also there are some areas close to the Kolmani River where Shell had made indicative discovery of hydrocarbons” Group Managing Director of NNPC,

Dr. Maikanti Baru

24

T H I S D AY • MONDAY, AUGUST 1, 2016

BUSINESSWORLD N145BN DEBT: GENCOS WARN OF ELONGATED SYSTEM COLLAPSE

profit, which are legitimate expectations of any investor, rather they are crying out about their continued operations at a huge loss and the absence of critically required support.

“The combined effect of these would render the Gencos and their investors incapable of delivering power despite their willingness and readiness to so do. This is leading to a situation where total seizure of operations by Gencos is imminent.”

CONTINUED ON PAGE 31

CUSTOMS DEFAULTS MAY AFFECT 2016 BUDGET REVENUE TARGET

Ports Authority (NPA) revealed that though all cargo types declined during the period, container and general cargo traffic contributed significantly to the overall drop in cargo throughput.

Consequently, the NPA said there is urgent need to complement its investment in infrastructural renewal and automation of Nigerian port operations, by generating enough export cargo to make up for the shortfall of import cargo being witnessed in the ports.

The shortfall, it added, could be attributed to the reduction in government expenditure (a laudable and broad plan of the government to rebuild the economy), the exchange rate volatility as well as global economic crisis.

To address the problem, the NPA said it did an analysis of port capacity as a catalyst to economic development through export commodities.

The analysis, it stated, revealed that about 90per cent of container traffic left the shores of Nigeria empty.

This position was communicated to the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) by NPA management and highlighted the need to sensitize Nigerians on the need to fill the vacuum through export commodities, especially Mines and agro-allied products, “it stated.

Group Business Editor

Chika Amanze-Nwachuku 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 (Maritime) Ejiofor Alike (Energy) James Emejo (Nation’s Capital) Obinna Chima (Money Mkt) Reporters

Nume Ekeghe (Money Market) Nosa Alekhuogie (AgriBusiness)

NEWS

Workers Oppose FG’s Plan to Concession Airports Chinedu Eze Workers of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) under the auspices of the Air Transport Service Senior Staff Association and the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) have rejected the plan by the federal government to concession four major airports in the country located in Abuja, Lagos, Kano and Port Harcourt.

This was disclosed to THISDAY at the weekend by the Assistant General Secretary of NUATE, Mr. Olayinka Abioye, who accused government of not putting the interest of the workers into consideration. He vowed that the workers would resist the plan to concession the airports, recalling that when the defunct Nigeria Airways was liquidated, the workers were left to die without their pay off or pensions, which rose to over N72billion.

The federal government said it could no longer fund the development of airport facilities due to its lean resources.

The government is therefore inviting the private sector to invest in the growth of the facilities through Public, Private Partnership (PPP) and has in its initial plan the concession of the first major airports in the country.

Reacting to this plan Abioye said: “What we need to recognise first of all is the fact that government particularly in the last 10 years, has been shifting its core responsibilities and this may be due to globalisation and neo-liberalism and it wanted to engage in what is called Public, Private Partnership.

There is nothing wrong with

that if it is done with honesty and it is also purpose driven.

Unfortunately we do not believe, particularly with what we are seeing that Nigeria is ripe for concession and privatisation of public utilities.”

Abioye noted that the major reason why workers are opposed to the plan besides lack of consideration for the interest of the workers, was that all efforts in the past to concession airport facilities failed due to lack of objectivity or transparency and the few that could be described as successful were skewed in favour of the investors and against the interest of government which represent

The Assistant Secretary General queried why the government chose to concession the most lucrative airports, which are the mainstay of FAAN’s revenue and provide the resources that are used to manage the other airports.

“So why would it be Murtala Muhammed Airport, Kano airport and Port Harcourt airport that government wants to sell? What is the reason why the other 16 airports that are underutilised are not considered for this purpose? This is because my understanding is that PPP is very good to bring about quality service and so on and so forth.

Having said that; there are other

the public interest.

“We have very bad examples to give. And one of the few successes of such arrangement is Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL) take over and building of the domestic terminal at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMA2), Lagos. Bi-Courtney also has its own problems that we have been battling since the last 10 years or so. We observed that some of these concession arrangements are written in such a manner that at the end of the day it is skewed in favour of the investor against the interest of the Nigerian government and the people. That is our worry,” he said.

situations that government had to do something before we can get to the table and say this is what we are going to do.

“We are aware that people have been going round our airports making inspections and all that, but unfortunately the government is taking us for granted. What do you want to concession? It is the building or the facilities inside? What happens to the federal public servants that are working in those airports? Nobody is addressing those things. A very sad case and reminder is the defunct Nigerian Airways, which government woke up one morning and liquidated,” he said.

STRATEGISING FOR GITEX 2016

L-R: The acting Nigeria Consul General, Dubai, UAE, Ambassador Babagana Wakil; acting Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Dr. Vincent Olatunji; Dr. Obaid Saqer Busit and Jason Ferriman, both of Busit Advocates & Legal Consultants, UAE, at a consultative forum in preparation for GITEX 2016 holding in Dubai, in Abuja...recently

NEPC: Export Expansion Grant Will Soon Be Re-introduced

Britain to Partner LADOL to Facilitate Trade, Investments

Obinna Chima

The United Kingdom (UK) trade envoy to Nigeria, John Howell has pledged to encourage UK companies to partner Lagos Deep Offshore Logistics Base (LADOL) to facilitate trade between Nigeria and his country.

Howell, who stated this when he paid a courtesy visit to LADOL in company of the UK High commissioner to Nigeria, Paul Arkwright, Friday in Lagos, promised to bring UK expertise and encourage companies in its oil and gas sector to work with LADOL. Doing so, he stated, will help create employment and prosperity, a development he stressed, will be of great advantage to the Britain.

Speaking specifically on why he visited the free zone, he said: “I am here because I have been appointed as the UK trade envoy to Nigeria and it is a sign of the commitment that the UK has to Nigeria. It also demonstrates the wish to develop trade between our countries. We are bringing expertise from the UK to help Nigerian companies to be able to take advantage of that for the benefit of all because the more the prosperity is generated in Nigeria the better to Britain as well. It is a very mutual business.”

He hailed LADOL’s management for their ability to galvanise massive investments for the

The Executive Director/ Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Mr. Segun Awolowo has assured exporters in the country that the Export Expansion Grant (EEG), which had been suspended by the federal government would soon be re-introduced.

The federal government had introduced the EEG in 1999 to encourage non-oil exports and cushion the effect of cost disadvantages faced by Nigerian exporters due to infrastructural deficiencies. The grant was planned to be disbursed to qualified exporters in the form of the Negotiable Duty Credit Certificate (NDCC) and utilised by beneficiaries for the payment of customs and excise duty on their export shipments.

The EEG scheme was conceived as a very vital incentive required for the stimulation of export-oriented activities that will lead to significant growth of the non-oil export sector.

The scheme was, however, suspended in January 2014 for it to be reviewed.

But Awolowo said the EEG had increased the non-oil export of the country from

$600 million to $3 billion, adding that the grant was been reviewed holistically by the Federal Executive Council to lower its threshold. He said the review has since passed through the two relevant ministries, which include the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment and the Finance Ministry. He said further that the two ministries were expected to take their recommendations on the EEG to the Federal Executive Council for ratification and onward disbursement of the incentives.

Speaking at the inauguration of the Zero-2-Export project of the NEPC in Lagos recently, Awolowo said an impact assessment has been carried out on the grant, pointing that it would begin to give non-oil exporters 30 per cent incentives as soon as the suspension was over.

“An impact assessment has been carried out on the EEG and it will begin to give non-oil exporters 30 per cent incentives as soon as the suspension is over.

The Zero-2-Export initiative is being funded by Fidelity Bank as an active partner in the project and it’s aimed at training individuals and corpo-

rate bodies on non-oil export products with information, toolkits and other facilities needed to explore market opportunities,” he noted.

According to him, the programme already has four batches trained in agro-export commodity and processing value added export. While the first batch has done a cumulative export of about $16,000, the second batch with a cumulative export of about $23,500, adding that the second batch has exported 12 tonnes of Hibiscus flowers to Mexico and Ukraine.

Awolowo described the initiative as an integral part of pre-export incentives tailored at equipping potential exporters with the requisite knowledge and practical skills needed to enhance their competitiveness in the market place.

According to the NEPC boss, the importance of the partnership with Fidelity Bank on the Zero-2-Export project cannot be over emphasised, adding that the partnership would ensure regularity of the project in such a scale that would enhance the much-needed capacity building required for export business according to international best practices.

Eromosele Abiodun

project calling on heavy duty industries to take advantage of the facilities in the free zone.

According to him, “From what I have seen so far I have been very impressed with the facility here, the state-of-the art equipment, some of the best and best of its kind in Africa. I think that speaks volume about the managements visionary approach to the development here which I am sure is going to stand her in very good stead sin the future.

“That the equipment here are the first of its kind in Africa means that the management of this place is very visionary in been able to address some of the worst problems. It tells us that the owners of this place are in the forefront of been able to galvanise the finance, the interest of companies around the world to be able to put together such an enormous operation that has fantastic confidence in its self, which I think is something that we desperately needs to bring to Nigeria.

“For initiatives such as this I can go back and can talk to our companies in the oil and gas industry for example about what I have seen here. It is not just an idea in a piece of paper but what is happening on the ground and that speaks volume to companies to actually see somebody who is been there touched it and can really talk about it.”

25

T H I S D AY • MONDAY, AUGUST 1, 2016

BUSINESSWORLD

MARKET REPORT

Bargain Hunting Lifts Stock Market Goddy Egene and Nosa Alekhuogie Bearish sentiments came to a halt at the stock market last week after four weeks of bear run as bargain hunters swooped on the market.

For four weeks, Nigerian equities market declined following weak second quarter (Q2) corporate earnings and general economic headwinds. However, bargain hunters took advantage of the low prices and increased demand for some stocks, a development that led to the market recording gains in two days. Consequently, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index (ASI) closed the week 1.47 per cent higher compared with a decline of 3.98 per cent the previous week. The NSE ASI closed at 28,009.93, while the market capitalisation ended the week higher at N9.620trillion.

In a similar vein, all other indices finished higher during the week, with the exception of the NSE Consumer Goods Index, NSE Oil/Gas Index, NSE Lotus II and the NSE Industrial Goods Index that declined by 0.38 per cent, 5.16 per cent, 0.11 per cent and 2.24 per cent respectively, while the NSE ASeM Index closed flat.

The NSE Banking Index rose by 1.64 per cent following rallies in Access Bank Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (+14.36 per cent) and Zenith Bank Plc (+10.02 per cent).

Daily Performance Summary Trading at the stock market had opened on Monday on a bearish note as the NSE ASI extended losses to the sixth trading session on account of sell pressures on bellwether stocks in the Oil & Gas and Industrial Goods sectors which offset bargain hunting in the small- to mid-cap segment.

The ASI fell by 0.11 per cent to close at 27,629.90. Sell-off in Forte Oil Plc (-9.7 per cent), Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc (-5.0 per cent) and Dangote Cement (-2.5 per cent) dragged market performance on Monday. Investors lost a total of N10.1 billion on that day as market capitalisation fell to N9.5 trillion.

The Industrial Goods (-1.57 per cent) and Oil & Gas (-3.89 per cent) indices shed weight, following losses in Dangote Cement, Lafarge Cement Plc (-0.69 per cent), Forte Oil and Seplat respectively. On the positive side, the NSE Banking Index (+1.72 per cent) and NSE Insurance Index (+0.51 per cent) closed in green, driven by positive interest in Zenith Bank (+1.82 per cent), GTBank (+1.28 per cent), FBN Holdings Plc (+1.77 per cent), Custodian Insurance Plc (+4.99 per cent), AXA Mansard Insurance Plc (+4.62 per cent) and AIICO Insurance Plc (+2.86 per cent) respectively.

Similarly, rallies in Nigerian Breweries Plc (+5.00 per cent) and Honeywell Flour Nigeria Plc (+4.86 per cent) drove the Consumer Goods (+2.12 per cent) index northwards.

Market breadth was positive with 26 gainers versus 17 losers, while total volume traded climbed by 48.01 per cent to 378.51 million shares, valued at N2.27billion, and traded in 3,519 deals.

The market rallied on Tuesday as a 6-day bearish run came to an end amid Monetary Policy Committee expectations as well as rally in Tierone banks. The NSE ASI rose 1.14 per cent to close at 27,945.02 points just as market capitalisation closed at N9.6 trillion. The recovery in the market on Tuesday was largely buoyed by banking stocks – GTBank (+5.0 per cent), Zenith Bank (+4.7 per cent) and Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (+8.4 per cent). Also, the positive investors’ reaction to

the FBN Holdings Plc’s half year results led to the performance of the sector.

The bullish sentiments were sustained for a second day session, with the benchmark index closing in green, rising by 0.93 per cent to 28,205.62.

Similarly, market capitalisation added N70.52 billion to N9.69 trillion. A further analysis of the showed that the NSE Banking Index and NSE Industrial Goods indices went up by 1.98 per cent and 0.99 per cent respectively. The two sectors were boosted by gains recorded by GTBank (+4.96 per cent), Zenith Bank (+2.50 per cent), Dangote Cement (+2.89 per cent) and CAP Plc (+4.17 per cent) respectively.

However, the bullish sentiments came to a halt on Thursday as investor appetite weakened following a stream of disappointing earnings by companies such as Seplat, Cement Company of Northern Nigeria Plc and Julius Berger Nigeria Plc; the benchmark index closed 0.56 per cent lower. The NSE ASI closed 0.56 per cent lower at 28,046.96 points, while market capitalisation fell by N54.49 billion to N9.63 trillion. All broad sector indices declined on Thursday . A loss in Oando (-3.13 per cent) led to a decline in the Oil & Gas (-0.24 per cent) index, while the Banking (-1.43 per cent) and Insurance (-1.46 per cent) indices closed in red following losses in FBN Holdings Plc (-4.83 per cent), Zenith Bank (-2.92 per cent), NEM Insurance (-4.17 per cent) and AXA Mansard (-4.68 per cent) respectively.

There was no respite either for the Industrial Goods (-0.03 per cent) and Consumer Goods (-0.52 per cent) indices, due to decline in shares of

Berger Paints (-4.98 per cent), Cutix (-4.97 per cent), Nigerian Breweries Plc (-0.92 per cent) and Honeywell Flour Mills Plc (-3.03 per cent) in that order.

The equity market slide further on the last day of the week as the NSE ASI depreciated by 0.13 per cent to close at 28,009.93. The depreciation recorded in the share prices of

TOP TEN BROKERS(BY VALUE)

Transcorp, Stanbic IBTC, Lafarge Africa, Nigerian Breweries and PZ Cussons were mainly responsible for the loss recorded in the market.

Similarly, the market capitalisation depreciated by 0.13 per cent to close at N9.62 trillion.

Market turnover In line with the bullish week-on-

AS AT LAST FRIDAY

BROKER

VALUE

% VALUE

EFCP LIMITED

3,110,588,448.56

16.71

RENCAPSECURITIES(NIG)LIMITED STANBICIBTCSTOCKBROKERSLIMITED CSLSTOCKBROKERSLIMITED

1,963,498,812.44 1,763,292,040.97 1,325,413,604.63

10.55 9.47 7.12

AFRICAN ALLIANCE STOCKBROKERS LTD INVESTMENTONESTOCKBROKERSINTLLTD-BRD PRIMERA AFRICA SECURITIES LTD CARDINALSTONE SECURITIES LIMITED FBN SECURITIES LIMITED MORGAN CAPITAL SECURITIES LIMITED

TOP TEN BROKERS

(BY VOLUME)

BROKER TRW STOCKBROKERS LIMITED FBN SECURITIES LIMITED MORGAN CAPITAL SECURITIES LIMITED

1,070,227,937.975

5.7

680,736,459.34 566,821,690.78 477,781,485.14

3.66 3.04 2.57

451,263,982.91

2.42

354,252,134.10 11,763,876,596.84

1.90 63.19

AS LAST FRIDAY VOLUME %VOLUME 212,924,635

7.88

151,339,136

5.60

149,462,342

5.53

PRIMERA AFRICA SECURITIES LTD

134,600,151

4.98

EFCP LIMITED

129,126,852

4.78

GOLDEN SECURITIES LIMITED

99,157,443

3.67

STANBIC IBTC STOCKBROKERS LIMITED

89,151,090

3.30

RENCAP SECURITIES (NIG) LIMITED

84,517,530

3.13

AFRICANALLIANCESTOCKBROKERSLTD

83,007,813

3.07

CARDINALSTONE SECURITIES LIMITED

82,057,639

3.04

1,215,344,631

45.01

week performance, volume and value also appreciated last week.

Investors traded 1.867 billion shares worth N16.330 billion in 21,584 deals last week, up from 1.350 billion shares valued at N9.287 billion that exchanged hands the previous weeks. The Financial Services Industry remained the most active with 1.591 billion shares valued at N9.787 billion traded in 13,810 deals, thus contributing 85.18 per cent and 59.93 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively. The Conglomerates Industry followed with 72.101 million shares worth N141.675 million in 857 deals. The third place was occupied by the Healthcare Industry with a turnover of 57.563 million shares worth N148.547 million in 400 deals.

Also traded during the week were a total of 57,510 units of Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) valued at N439,941.91 executed in 32 deals, compared with a total of 11,420 units valued at N136,400.05 transacted the previous week in 42 deals.

A total of 5,749 units of Federal Government Bonds valued at N5.513 million were traded in 7 deals compared to a total of 13,550 units of Federal Government Bonds valued at N14.061 million transacted a week before in six deals.

Gainers and losers Meanwhile, 35 equities appreciated in price during the week, higher than 15 equities of the previous week.

Conversely, 31 equities depreciated in price, lower than 44 equities of the previous week, while 114 equities remained unchanged. MRS Oil Plc led the price gainers with 21.4 per cent, trailed by GTBank Plc with 14.3 per cent. Dangote Flour Mills Plc and Custodian and Allied Plc appreciated by 10.5 per cent.

Other top price gainers included: Axa Mansard Insurance Plc (10.2 per cent); Zenith Bank Plc (10 per cent); Unity Bank Plc (9.6 per cent) DN Meyer Plc (9.6 per cent);Oando Plc (9.3 per cent) and Access Bank Plc (8.1 per cent).

Contrarily, Skye Bank Plc led the price losers with 17.6 per cent trailed

by NEM Insurance Plc (12 per cent), just as Red Star Plc, and Forte Oil Plc shed 10.5 per cent and 9.9 per cent respectively.

Other top losers were: Seplat (9.7 per cent); PZ Cussons Plc (9.7 per cent); Union Bank of Nigeria Plc (7.1 per cent); UACN Property Development Company Plc (6.4 per cent); Lafarge Africa Plc (6.1 per cent) and Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc (5.8 per cent).

26

T H I S D AY • MONDAY, AUGUST 1, 2016

BUSINESSWORLD

INSIDE BROAD STREET

shortage of FX, the MPC decision was the right thing.

“It demonstrates a commitment to FX liberalisation, which alone will undo some of the bottlenecks that have contributed to inflation. While the CBN framed its internal debate as choosing between growth and inflation, we believe there is no meaningful long-term trade off. Establishing more credible policy and attracting greater inflows is about as pro-growth as policy can be, given the challenges currently facing the Nigerian economy. The tightening was an important step in re-establishing the credibility of monetary policy in Nigeria, and should allow for a gradual recovery in FX inflows,” she added.

Commenting on the decision to keep the CRR unchanged at 22.5 per cent, the economist also noted that given weak oil prices and output, she does not see excessive liquidity growth in the Nigerian economy.

“There’s no immediate rationale for a much higher CRR, not least because a more market-determined, inevitably higher USD- NGN rate will keep the spotlight on bank NPLs and capital adequacy ratios. Any further rise in the CRR would only have added pressure to the banking system, with little effect on alleviating the FX shortage.

“In all, we think this was a good outcome to the MPC meeting. As Nigeria embarks upon the path of reform (FX liberalisation, fuel price deregulation, transparency initiatives, efforts to boost revenue mobilisation, power sector reforms), all with a view to easing the economy’s transition to lower oil prices, and creating the foundation for more sound long-term growth, we think that today’s MPC decision represented an important initial step in the right direction,” she added.

A view of Lagos financial district

AKINWUNMI IBRAHIM

Dollar Supply Gap Widens in Forex Market Obinna Chima The naira depreciated against the US dollar at all the foreign exchange market segments last week as dollar liquidity remained tight at the interbank market.

On the interbank market, the naira fell against the greenback by N13.18 to close at N321.16 to a dollar last Friday, as against the N307.98 to a dollar it attained the preceding Friday, amid strain in dollar supply as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) did not intervene in the market. The naira even fell as low as N330/$1 during the week.

Meanwhile, the CBN settled N962.23million in matured 1-month futures contract, being total settlement amount to its banking counterparties at N279/USD last Wednesday.

The expired contract, according to analysts at Cowry Asset Management Limited, was replaced by a new one year contract, NairaDollar JUL 19 2017, with a total notional amount on offer of $1 billion at N250/$1.

Forex traders were said to have executed 51 deals worth $189.37million between last Monday and Thursday.

On the other hand, the naira also depreciated at the Bureaux De Change (BDC) and the parallel market arms of the market by 1.37 per cent and 0.80 per cent to N370/$1 and N378/$1 respectively as unmet dollar demand continued to spill into the alternative market segments.

“We are worried that the increasing gap between the interbank market rate and the parallel market rates may create arbitrage and round tripping opportunities. In the current week, we expect sustained pressure on the naira as the greenback remains in short supply,” Cowry Asset Management Limited stated in a report.

The CBN last Tuesday raised the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), otherwise known as interest rate, by 200 basis points to 14 per cent from 12 per cent. It had also assured Nigerians of the stability of the banking sector, saying

whilst it was poised to deal ruthlessly with any misdemeanour and malpractice, the recent removal of some banks chiefs was not a sign of distress.

The central bank also left the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) and Liquidity Ratio (LR) unchanged at 22.50 per cent and 30 per cent respectively as well as retained the Asymmetric Window at +200 and -500 basis points around the MPR. CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, said five members voted to raise the MPR while three others voted to retain the rate at 12 per cent.

The governor, who admitted the difficulty among members in arriving at a decision over the MPR said it eventually settled for a hike given that the CBN “lacked the instruments required to directly jumpstart growth, and being mindful not to calibrate its instruments in such a manner as to undermine its primary mandate and financial system stability, in assessment of the relevant issues.”

Emefiele further explained that the com-

mittee had considered the high inflationary trend which has culminated into negative real interest rates in the economy, a condition which according to him discouraged savings.

He added that the negative real interest rates did not support the recent flexible foreign exchange market as foreign investors attitude had remained To analysts at CSL Stockbrokers Limited, the MPC decision last week was driven, to a large extent, by a desire to move market interest rates higher, in a bid to attract foreign portfolio flows to the fixed income market in order to improve the supply of foreign exchange. They revealed that since the MPC meeting, yields have moved higher still with FMDQ quoting the secondary market yields for 12-month instruments at 24 per cent on July 27 with 6-month instruments at 17.9 per cent00.

“Indeed, foreign portfolio investors will likely be reluctant to enter the market if they believe that there is further downside for

Interbank Naira Market The Nigerian interbank money market decreased following easing of liquidity conditions. The central bank auctioned 288-day treasury bills worth N87.66 billion at 18 percent stop rate via Open Market Operations (OMO) in order to mop up liquidity following inflows worth N156.99 billion in matured 205- day treasury bills. Consequently, the net inflows resulted in moderation in interbank lending rates across all tenor buckets. Specifically, the Nigerian Interbank Offered Rates (NIBOR) for overnight funds, 1-month, 3-months and 6-month declined to 4.56 per cent (from 20.17 per cent), 15.36 per cent (from 17.99 per cent), 17.17 per cent (from 19.28 per cent) and 19.47 per cent (from 21.19 per cent) respectively.

This week, the CBN will auction treasury bills worth N245.18 billion on Wednesday, 03 August; viz: 91-day bills worth N45.18 billion; 182-day bills worth N80 billion; 364-day bills worth N120 billion. “We expect their marginal rates to remain high in line with inflationary trend. We also anticipate increase in interbank lending rates on anticipated strain in financial system liquidity,” analysts at Cowry Asset Management Limited predicted.

Bond Market The OTC FGN bond market witnessed sustained sell pressure last week, resulting in higher bond yields across all maturities. The 20 year, 10.00% FGN JUL 2030 debt lost N0.32 (yield increased to 15.36%); 10-year, 16.39% FGN JAN 2022 paper shed N1.03 (yield rose to 15.19%); the 7(year, 16.00% FGN JUN 2019 fell by N0.40 (yield increased to 15.51%); while 5(year, 15.10% FGN APR 2017 paper shed N2.53 (yield rose to 19.39%).

On the London Stock Exchange, traded FGN Eurobonds depreciated on sustained sell pressure – the 10(year, 6.75% FGN JAN 2021 paper; the 5(year, 5.13% JUL 12, 2018 bond; and the 10(year, 6.38% JUL 12, 2023 bond lost USD1.54 (yield rose to 6.53%), USD0.49 (yield increased to 4.63%) and USD1.53 (yield climbed to 6.73%) respectively.

Analysts anticipate sustained bear movement at the OTC market, resulting in increase in bond yields against the backdrop of expected strain in financial system liquidity amid investors switch to money market treasury auctions.

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T H I S D AY • MONDAY, AUGUST 1, 2016

BUSINESSWORLD

APPOINTMENT / AWARDS

Afrinvest Makes New Appointments Afrinvest (West Africa) Limited, has announced the appointment of Elkin Pianim as a Director of the firm while Michael Chu’di Ejekam has been named a Director for its broker-dealer subsidiary, Afrinvest Securities Limited (ASL).

A Ghanaian national, Pianim’s appointment, the firm stated, further reflects the pan-African outlook of Afrinvest, which also has Ms. Fatumata Soukouna, a Liberian national on the board of ASL and Dr. Fidelis Nde-Che, a Cameroonian, as Chairman of its Board

of Directors.

Pianim has over 25 years experience in the financial services sector, and has worked on several landmark projects across the United States, United Kingdom, Zimbabwe and Ghana. He is currently Founder and Partner at Serengeti Capital Partners Limited – an AccraHeadquartered financial services group engaged in consultancy and asset management - and his areas of expertise include consumer goods, natural resources, media and technology.

Also, Ejekam, has a

proven track record of full cycle retail investment and development including site origination, equity investment, planning approvals, development management, tenant leasing, asset management and exit of the largest retail malls in Nigeria, Ghana, and the broader West African market.

As Director of Real Estate for West Africa at Actis - a $7.5bn private equity firm, which is the most active retail developer in Sub Saharan Africa - Ejekam originated over $700m in retail projects.

These include the $130m Jabi

Lake Mall Abuja project; $100m Ikeja City Mall Lagos project; Heritage Place, Nigeria’s first green certified commercial building; and the Accra Mall.

Ejekam also has significant experience in international real estate with a United States private real estate investment and development firm with interests in $2bn of real estate assets.

He was previously a Wall Street Investment Banker at Merrill lynch in New York, and participated in $3bn of acquisition, LBO financings, IPO and leverage loans.

Sterling Bank Wins Noninterest Banking Award Sterling Bank Plc has been awarded the ‘Non-interest Bank of the Year – Africa 2016’, for its Non-interest banking window -Sterling Alternative Finance.

The award courtesy “The European,” is one of the major categories at the Global Banking & Finance Awards held in London recently.

Sterling Bank commenced non-interest banking in 2013 when the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) granted the bank the license to operate the window.

The bank in a statement at the weekend noted that the award was conferred on it based on its success story in the last three years coupled with its ability to use non interest banking contracts to structure transactions in the most unique manner.

With about 200 branches offering non interest banking services, the bank explained that its coverage which is considered the best in Africa, quality of staff,

consultants and advisors such as Sheikh Abdulkader Thomas, who belongs to several advisory boards globally also gave it an edge over competitors.

“Since 2013, we have achieved major milestones which include a line of US$30 million from the Islamic Corporation for Development (ICD) and US$25 million from the International Islamic Finance Trade Corporation (ITFC). Both institutions are members of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB). In the same vein, the CBN has approved an array of innovative non-interest financial instruments for us in 2016 which will keep us ahead of industry performance.

“As we celebrate the international recognition that has come via this award, Sterling Bank will continue to intensify efforts to sell our Sterling Alternative Finance offerings to customers and prospects and remain a reference institution in the area of non-interest banking not only in Africa but globally,” it added.

Spectranet Bags Best Broadband Company Award

CONGRATULATIONS

Former Managing Director, Guinness Nigeria Plc, Mr. Seni Adetu; Marketing Executives, Chi Limited, Mr. Godspower Utawure and Ilori Babatunde receiving the award of most outstanding fruit juice on Chivita 100% at the Marketing Edge Brands and Advertising Excellence Awards in Lagos…recently

After one year of rebranding the Spectranet 4GLTE service offering as a premium house hold and business enterprise internet service provider in the country, the organisers of the Nigerian Telecom Awards have the brand as the Broadband Company of the year 2016.

Speaking at the event, the organisers of the Nigerian Telecoms Award stated that the award was based on the overwhelming industry recommendations of very competent officers, coupled with independent research of the assessment team and the interviews of senior officers in relevant sectors.

The Panel of Judges and over 750 assessors were said to have seen the seriousness of purpose in the intention of the company to deliver a first class broadband internet service thereby contributing to the filling of Nigerians Broadband gap.

The spread of Spectranet to major cities with functional offices and activities is believed to have given a high social value to the Brand. It is equally believed in some quarters that the Spectranet prides itself as the first internet service provider to launch 4G LTE in Nigeria and strives to be the favoured to families and small/ medium sized businesses.

Responding to the award, the Chief Executive Officer of the company, David Venn, said: “We are humbled by the vote of confidence from our customers and this encourages us to continue our quest to provide the best internet experience at affordable prices. This award is dedicated to all the loyal customers for choosing the faster, smarter and more reliable internet service. It is a show of appreciation and a call to action for Spectranet to keep pushing the boundaries in service offerings,’’

FBN Holdings Announces New Board Appointments FBN Holdings Plc at the weekend announced new board appointments into the FBN Holdings Group, effective July 19 2016.

The appointments have been approved by the Board of Directors, but are subject to all necessary regulatory approvals.

According to a statement, Ms. Cecilia Akintomide and Mrs. Oluwande Muoyo joined the board of FBN Holdings Plc, while Mrs. Titi Adebiyi and Alhaji Yusufu Modibbo joined the Board of FBN General Insurance Limited, all as Independent Non-executive Directors.

Other appointments in the group have Mr. Akin Osinbajo and Mr. Babatunde Odunayo joined the board of FBN Merchant Bank Limited while Mr. Folarin Alayande joined the board of FBN Insurance

Brokers Limited respectively, all as Non-executive Directors.

The bank stated that the developments are consistent with the FBN Holdings Group’s corporate governance, risk management, efficiency, diversity and sustainability outlook that enables it to take advantage of the synergies from its globally experienced board members for the benefit of its wide array of customers and other stakeholders.

While announcing the appointments, the Group Chairman, FBN Holdings Plc, Dr. Oba Otudeko said: “These appointments are meant to deepen the corporate governance, insight and strategic decision making of the Boards in our Group, while extending value for our customers, shareholders, employees and other stakeholders in a

sustainable manner.”

According to him, with these board appointments, the FBN Holdings Group was poised to continue the drive to deepen its foothold across Africa, whilst maintaining presence in various regions of the world.

The statement pointed out that Akintomide brings varied senior management experience with a legal background. She was until recently Vice President Secretary General of African Development Bank Group, a multilateral development bank, where she was responsible for managing shareholder relations involving 80 member states, providing final level policy and quality review, as well as negotiating project and policy approvals.

Also, Muoyo is a chartered accountant and professional banker with over 30 years’ post-

qualification experience in the private and public sectors. She is the immediate past Honourable Commissioner for Budget and Planning in Ogun State and before then had been in banking for over 22 years. She is skilled in public finance management, budgeting, planning, financial control, treasury and financial services, private banking, foreign operations, corporate banking, transactional banking, auditing and taxation.

With over 30 years’ experience as a practicing attorney, Osinbajo was Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice Ogun State for eight consecutive years. He is a highly experienced Advocate and Commercial Law Practitioner, Chartered Arbitrator and Notary Public, who has represented several multinational and local clients, and worked

with some of the world’s reputed law firms in transactions with trans-national jurisdictions across many continents.

A highly experienced corporate executive, Odunayo, an agriculturist and chartered accountant, was Executive Vice Chairman/CEO of Honeywell Flour Mills Plc where he served for 17 years as pioneer CEO, part of a total 22 years in the service of the Honeywell Group.

Adebiyi, Managing Director, Avit Trust and Investment Limited is a passionate and focused business administrator, with 26 years’ all-round experience in commercial bank branch operations, relationship management, and corporate leadership. She sits on the Board of Sigma Pensions Ltd and will make invaluable contributions to the Board of FBN General

Insurance Limited.

Similarly, it stated that Modibbo, an agriculturist and banker with over 30 years’ experience, is versed in investment banking, public sector, non-interest banking, corporate finance, international operations, credit and marketing as well as corporate development and stockbroking.

Alayande is Head of Strategy and Corporate Development of FBN Holdings Plc with responsibility for growth and innovation across the Group. He was previously pioneer Director of Public Service with global consulting firm Accenture in Nigeria, with responsibility for client account leadership and market development across Tax and Revenue Agencies, Public Sector Operations, and Defence and Public Safety.

28

T H I S D AY • MONDAY, AUGUST 1, 2016

BUSINESSWORLD

ANALYSIS

Growing a Sustainable Economy through SMEs Gbenga Sumonu Hundreds of small businesses in Africa fold up within their first year of operation, according to empirical studies, a situation that has spurned enormous research to unravel the causes, and to proffer appropriate solutions. The major cause, said Ethel Nyembe, Head of Small Enterprise at Standard Bank, is poor forward planning and lack of attention to the financial details that are vital to build a successful enterprise. And to reverse this trend requires considerable empowerment of operators in the Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) segment, applying a multi-pronged approach, she stated.

Nigeria presents a peculiar case. Despite its huge size, the country’s SME sector remains largely underdeveloped. Among notable barriers hindering its growth include undercapitalisation and lack of access to bank facilities; poor infrastructure and dearth of skilled manpower; low level of entrepreneurial skills; limited market access, multiple taxation, unethical practices and cumbersome bureaucratic wedge. Probably most damaging, until recently, was a seeming lack of strategic intervention by government.

SMEs are the engine of growth in many economies. Their importance lies in the capacityto generate employment and wealth, engender poverty alleviation and improved food security, all contributing to significant export earnings and Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

These outcomes accrue from an increase in trading, manufacturing, agricultural productivity and generation of market surpluses, as well as improved access to markets, which a well-organised SME industry stimulates.

Recognising the untapped growth potential and huge economic returns derivable from developing the sector, private sector players, led by banks, have taken the plunge. Nigeria’s current economic predicament, it is believed, provides an additional impetus to focus on the SME space and to support government’s drive to diversify the economy.

Google, Stanbic IBTC Partnership Some remarkable interventions are noteworthy. Recently, it was announced that Stanbic IBTC Bank and foremost technology company, Google, are collaborating to empower operators in Nigeria’s SME sector via acquisition of digital skills for economic advancement.

The thrust of their collaboration, the parties announced, is to facilitate capacity building for SMEs in Nigeria, to help entrepreneurs accelerate their businesses, support digital education initiatives geared towards job creation as well as address key challenges confronting SMEs as earlier highlighted.

Under the initiative, Google aims to digitally train one million youths and another 1,000 SMEs by Stanbic IBTC in one year, with diligent execution, enhancing the prospect of triggering an exponential change in the SME value chain in Nigeria.

The ultimate objective, Obinna Ukachukwu, Head of SME Banking at Stanbic IBTC Bank, stated, is to enhance the adoption of digital technology and enhance the growth

Country Manager, Google Nigeria, Juliet Ehimuan-Chiazor

of the digital economy in Nigeria.

During the first workshop in Lagos on July 19, over 250 participants cutting across the SME spectrum took part, with experts drilling them on the benefits, skills and value of digital marketing. While Google provided the content, trainers, learning assessment and certifications required for the training, including resource materials for further learning and development, Stanbic IBTC Bank, which is steadily evolving as key player in the SME segment, selected the participants, who were drawn from various sectors of the economy. Specific issues addressed at the session included understanding e-Payment and Online banking; using digital platforms to grow businesses; and hiring and retaining third parties.

What makes this collaboration an exciting prospect is the pedigree of the partners, as well as the impact of digital technology on business success. Since it was founded in 1998, Google, with brand value estimated at $82.5 billion in May 2016, has studiously maintained its mission “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”

Google’s phenomenal growth had resulted in the introduction of a chain of products and high-profile acquisitions and partnerships that have largely taken its remit beyond a search engine, to include advertising, operating systems, platforms and enterprise and hardware products. The company’s foray into capacity building initiatives in Africa stems from a simple perspective that: “The internet is at the heart of economic growth and the Digital Skills Program is aimed at helping more Africans play a part in the digital economy.

Everyone can succeed online, start a new business, grow their existing one, or share their passion,” said Juliet Ehimuan-Chiazor, Country Manager, Google Nigeria.

Stanbic IBTC Bank is part of the Standard Bank Group, Africa’s largest financial services group, with operations in 20 markets across the continent. With focus on three main business pillars - Corporate and Investment Banking, Personal and Business Banking and Wealth Management, the group has in 153 years of existence logged an impeccable reputation as a financial services powerhouse. Among its many ‘firsts’ Standard Bank was the first bank on the diamond and gold fields in South Africa, the first commercial bank to launch an Automated Teller Machine (AutoBank) and first to establish a full electronic branch.

Such rich heritage has impacted on Stanbic IBTC via support in such areas as staff training, provision of information technology upgrades and best practice processes as well as strong corporate governance practices.

The focus on digital empowerment of SMEs is understandable. Given the rapid pace of change that the digital economy requires, remaining competitive through adoption of appropriate skills is imperative for survival and success. Globalisation has created fresh opportunities and ideas, opened new markets and fostered greater access to technology, which are all accessible to every business and economy, unlike the early days when the benefits of globalisation accrued mainly to developed economies.

Every business, regardless of size and sector, can harness digital technology to achieve sustainable growth. The adoption of new technology and related investments, even to drive specific aspects of a business, can bequeath the sort of niche that is not often available to big enterprises. Besides, it is believed that the rules of competition are set by businesses that hug and deploy digitisation in the right places and at the right time.

Mitchell Elegbe, CEO and founder of Interswitch Limited, speaking at

Chief Executive Officer of Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, Sola David-Borha

the second edition of the Stanbic IBTC Business Leadership Series, emphasised that there are huge opportunities for African companies in the digital and innovation space.

All they require is the ability to recognise such prospects and subsequently harness them.

Digitalisation is the way of the future, said Ukachukwu, which, when augmented with the development of a vast entrepreneurship class, will reduce poverty Nigeria and Africa. Ranging from considerable reduction in costs, improved turnaround times, elimination of paperwork and administrative or bureaucratic bottlenecks, to the minimisation of manual or back-office involvement, among others, are all deliverables from digitalisation, which will undoubtedly engender improvements in efficiency, and enhance customer experience and service delivery.

A major task is to explore the boundless opportunities digitalisation and technology can avail any business, moreso start-ups and SMEs. Instances abound of small businesses that became quite large riding on the back of technology.

Apple, a Fortune 500 company, did not start with tons of dollars; it started in a garage. Electronics hacker, Steve Wozniack and his friend, Steve Jobs, fantasised about creating a personal computer. In 1976, according to Business Pundit, “the two approached a local electronics store to see if they would be interested in buying a personal computer that Wozniack had built.

The owner of the store became interested and said he wanted 50 units. Wozniack and Jobs, both penniless at the time, went to a local computer parts supplier and ordered the parts on credit, based on their first purchase order. This was the start of Apple.” Apple today has market capitalisation in excess of $580 billion. Google, Dell, Amazon, and Microsoft are

among companies took a similar trajectory.

The Stanbic IBTC Bank and Google collaboration, Ukachukwu noted, fits into the institution’s goal of fostering economic empowerment through strategic interventions that enable individuals and businesses realise their aspirations. The pursuit of this objective underlined the inauguration of the Stanbic IBTC Business Leadership Series, which made its debut in 2014, to build a new cadre of leaders among people and businesses in Nigeria. Similar capacity-building initiatives spanning various sectors of the economy, including MSME, transport and logistics, trade and finance have also been organized by the Stanbic IBTC Group on an ongoing basis to support individuals and businesses.

“We have a strong conviction in the transformative role of digitalisation and technology. This underlines our partnership with Google which will open another window of opportunity to empower people for self-development and business success and ultimately trigger the much-envisaged SME revolution in Nigeria. At Stanbic IBTC Bank, we are mindful of the fact that socio-economic growth and development are anchored on sound education and robust infrastructural base,” he said.

As Africa’s biggest economy, which rebasing few years ago threw up previously underreported sectors such as telecommunications, entertainment, and retail, moving forward requires the development of a critical mass of skilled manpower to drive its future growth, while sustaining its growing international profile and reputation. With 96 percent of Nigerian businesses being SMEs, and approximately 90 percent of them operating in the manufacturing and industrial sectors, the potential to trigger rapid socio-economic transformation remains high.

T H I S D AY MONDAY AUGUST 1, 2016

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MONDAY AUGUST 1, 2016 T H I S D AY

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T H I S D AY • MONDAY, AUGUST 1, 2016

BUSINESSWORLD

NEWS

N145BN DEBT: GENCOS WARN OF ELONGATED SYSTEM COLLAPSE The Gencos, the statement added, “now have very limited options: to either shut down operations proactively or be compelled to do so by the current state of affairs in the power sector.”

Furthermore, the companies explained that much as they remain committed to deliver on their power generation commitments, if such issues as extant liquidity crisis and outstanding receivables; poor gas supply; cost reflective tariff; transmission challenges; and variations in the country’s fiscal terms are not addressed within the next few days, an elongated system collapse will be inevitable.

On liquidity and outstanding receivables, they said that “as from the pre-transitional stage of the electricity market till date, outstanding payments to the Gencos have consistently been on the increase.”

Officials in both the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading Company Plc (NBET) confirmed this development to THISDAY. The Gencos however claimed the intervention by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to bridge the gap between the receivables and actual receipts has been bogged down with bureaucracy typified by long drawn processes, which have ensured that after two years of the said intervention, not much impact has been made on the power sector.

“As at date, the Gencos have not received full disbursement of the intervention fund from CBN, and there is absolutely no clarity as to when remaining payment tranche will be completed. The non-payment of the stabilisation fund as at when it was approved two years ago has impacted on its value as at today,” the statement noted.

It said Egbin was owed N68.71 billion by the market; Transcorp – N28.29 billion;

Shiroro – N9.66 billion; Geregu – N7.975 billion; Kainji/Jebba - N20.94 billion; and Sapele - N9.90 billion, as outstanding debts for energy supplied.

The statement explained that the declaration of a Transitional Electricity Market (TEM) in February 2015, and the expected relief it was expected to bring to Gencos, given the principle that thenceforth, transactions and relationship amongst all market participants should be guided by the terms and conditions of the various contracts entered into by such participants, have not materialised.

It said the the verified amounts invoiced by the Gencos in the TEM arrangement are required to be guaranteed and paid by the NBET, but that the trend of payments from NBET has been very poor, even up to June with an average remittance of 38 and 20.8 per cents for the gas and hydro plants respectively.

In fact, the statement disclosed that for the months of March and April 2016, no payment was made to the hydro power stations by the NBET. They said it was important for these payments to be made.

On shortage of gas, they claimed that since they took over the generation assets in 2013, availability of good quality gas has always being a major issue, and that the immediate past six months has been worst.

“All the issues surrounding gas infrastructure have resulted in a cumulative stranded capacity of circa 5,000 megawatts (MW) being recorded every day. The impact of this is better appreciated by the fact that the total power generation capacity as at today should have been close to 8,000MW as opposed to 2,800MW. The impact of this on the Nigerian economy cannot be overemphasised,” the statement noted.

It said on the impact of foreign exchange vis-à-vis

the country’s economic policy on their operations that their purchasing power for needed spare parts have been eroded.

“When the Gencos acquired the power assets, the exchange rate of the Dollar to Naira was $1/N157. About three years down the line, the cost of the equipment needed to carry out repairs of turbines and associated auxiliaries remain the same on the international market but has increased by about 100 per cent in the last three years arising from the devaluation of the Naira.

“Given the fact that majority of parts and equipment procured by the Gencos are sourced from outside of the country, this has had significant impact on the Gencos purchasing power and inevitably on their ability to upgrade and maintain their various power plants.

“Furthermore, as at the time of paying for the power assets in 2013, some of the acquisition financing were sourced by the Gencos in dollars, to the knowledge of appropriate government and regulatory agencies. The cost of repaying those facilities has significantly increased by about 100 per cent in the last three years arising from the devaluation of the Naira as well.

This has resulted in additional huge losses with suffocating effects on the Gencos,” it stated.

They thus requested for a special consideration on foreign exchange allocation to support the power sector.

On tariff and its current opposition, the statement explained: “The market rules recognise three critical factors that drive tariff: exchange rate; cost of inflation and gas prices.

In recent times, these three drivers have significantly risen by over 100 per cent without commensurate increase in tariff.

“The Gencos position is that they cannot survive, thrive or meet their power generation obligations and expectations under the present state of things.”

Vetiva to List Bond ETF, Pays Interim Dividend on Banking ETF Goddy Egene Vetiva Fund Managers Limited has been given approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Nigerian Stock Exchange(NSE) to introduce and list the Vetiva S & P Nigerian Sovereign Bond Exchange Traded Fund (VS&P ETF). This is sequel to the signing ceremony between the board of Vetiva Fund Managers Limited and all the professional parties. According to Vetiva Fund Managers Limited, upon receipt of final approval from the SEC, the VS&P ETF will be listed on the NSE. This would be the first bond ETF to be listed on the floor of the NSE and it will present an opportunity for investors to access Nigerian Federal Government Bonds in retail lots.

The company said in a statement by Vetiva Fund Managers Limited the VS&P ETF is an optimised bond EFT

issued by Vetiva. It seeks to track Vetiva S& P Nigerian Sovereign Bond Index and by owning units in the ETF an investor obtains exposure to the most liquid and actively traded Federal Government Bond securities.

Meanwhile, the company has announced an interim distribution, for the half-year ended 30th June, 2016, of three kobo per unit of the Vetiva Banking Exchange Traded Fund (VB ETF). The qualification date for the distribution was Monday, 25th July 2016 and payment date of Friday, 29th July 2016.

Speaking on the interim distribution, the Managing Director of Vetiva Fund Managers Limited, Mr. Damilola Ajayi, said: “The distribution is in line with the structure of the Fund to remit distributions to unit holders twice a year. Also, the VB ETF continues to represent a convenient investment vehicle for exposure to the Nigerian

banking sector on the NSE via a single security.”

According to him, the VB ETF is designed to track the performance of the constituent companies of the NSE banking index and to replicate the price and yield performance of the Index. The index tracks the top 10 banks listed on the NSE in terms of market capitalisation and liquidity.

Vetiva Fund Managers Limited is a subsidiary of Vetiva Capital Management Limited and is registered with the SEC to carry out business as Fund/Portfolio Manager.

The company has listed the first equity exchange traded fund (The Vetiva Griffin 30 ETF which tracks the performance of the NSE 30 index) in March 2014. Vetiva also listed the first set of Sectorial exchange traded funds (The Vetiva Banking ETF, Vetiva Consumers Goods ETF and Vetiva Industrial Goods ETF in October 2015).

Sterling Bank to Boost Operations with N35bn Capital Injection Goddy Egene The Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer of Sterling Bank Plc, Mr. Yemi Adeola has said the bank would conclude its N35billion tier 2 capital raising exercise in the second half of the year, prioritise operating efficiency and ensure moderate loan growth going forward.

Speaking against the background of the performance of for the bank for the first half (HI) year ended June 30, 2016, Adeola said while some of the macroeconomic challenges witnessed during the H1 will persist, improvements in the Nigerian economy are being expected, driven by the implementation of the budget and other fiscal palliatives introduced by the federal government.

Hence, the bank is being positioned to take advantage of the improvements and create better value for all stakeholders. According to him, Sterling Bank showed stable and improved the intrinsic fundamentals of its businesses in H1 of 2016 despite the challenging

operating environment.

The bank’s performance showed that net interest income increased by 31.9 per cent to N25.6 billion in H1 2016 as against N19.4 billion in corresponding period of 2015. This was driven by a 22 per cent decrease in interest expense resulting in a 1240 basis point improvement in net interest margin to 61.7 per cent. Non-interest income, however reduced from N15.2billion in 2015 to N8.5billion in 2016. The bank ended the period with profit after tax of N4 billion in 2016, as against N5.426 billion in 2015.

Net loans and advances increased by 36.5 per cent to N462.3billion largely driven by foreign exchange revaluation. Also, customer deposits increased to N627.9 billion from N590.9 billion. Total assets, excluding contingent liabilities, increased by 20 per cent N959.2 billion by June 2016 as against N799.5billion recorded by December 2015.

According to Adeola, the bank prioritised improvement in asset quality which was reflected by a 70 basis point

decline in the non-performing loans and a 100 basis point reduction in cost of risk. Cost of funds also declined by 120 basis points to 4.7 per cent. This was in spite of the foreign exchange liberalisation policy, the attendant liquidity squeeze and the rising inflation rate which peaked at 16.5 per cent in June 2016.

“The bank showed deeper pliability through the re-affirmation of its investment grade ratings at a time when corporate and sovereign ratings were under downward ratings pressure. I am pleased to report that we have successfully migrated to a world-class CORE banking application, which will enable us to better manage a significant uptick in customer base and ensure the required flexibility to deliver unique services across business segments,” Adeola said.

He added that the bank has taken steps to improve staff productivity by introducing a flexible work environment to achieve its goal of building a great workplace and reduce operating expenses.

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MONDAY AUGUST 1, 2016 T H I S D AY

SCHEDULE OF SKYE BANK'S SALES FOR THE WEEK JULY 25 - JULY 29 S/N

CUSTOMER NAME

ITEM OF IMPORT

DATE OF FUND PURCHASE

EXCHANGE RATE

AMOUNT

1.

DIANA EZICHI

EDUCATION / SCHOOL FEES PAYMENT

26-Jul-16

1,014.08

295.00

2.

NNEOMA OZUBELE

EDUCATION / SCHOOL FEES PAYMENT

26-Jul-16

965.25

310.50

3.

KHAIRAT PHARMACY AND VETERINARY COMPANY LIMITED

IMPORTATION OF OXYTETRACYCLINE INJECTION 5PCT 100ML

26-Jul-16

19,343.13

310.50

4.

OLUSEEKE ADEOLA OJUAWO

EDUCATION / SCHOOL FEES PAYMENT

26-Jul-16

3,816.79

310.50

5.

MODUPE CHIDI

EDUCATION / SCHOOL FEES PAYMENT

26-Jul-16

3,150.00

310.50

6.

DAYSPRING SURVEYS

EDUCATION / SCHOOL FEES PAYMENT

26-Jul-16

3,834.15

310.50

26-Jul-16

4,789.50

310.50

DENSITY POLYETHYLENE

26-Jul-16

170.71

310.50

EDUCATION / SCHOOL FEES PAYMENT

26-Jul-16

6,303.57

310.50 335.00

7.

ADEGOKE ADETOLA AYOOLA

EDUCATION / SCHOOL FEES PAYMENT

8.

EUROCHEMCO VENTURES LIMITED

IMPORTATION OF 93.5MT OF LLDP LINEAR LOW

9.

AWOGBEMI OLAWUNMI

10.

BAKO AUDU NYIKUN

EDUCATION / SCHOOL FEES PAYMENT

27-Jul-16

4,000.00

11.

SAVE A -LOT NIGERIA LIMITED

PAMENT FOR IMPORTATION OF CATCO CONCENTRATE

27-Jul-16

145,000.00

308.28

12.

SALAMA SYSTEMS LIMITED(BULUS SULEIMAN DANJUMA )

EDUCATION / SCHOOL FEES PAYMENT

27-Jul-16

4,050.00

335.00 335.00

13.

AYO KASUMU

EDUCATION / SCHOOL FEES PAYMENT

27-Jul-16

7,734.90

14.

MIGHTY RISE GLOBAL BUSINESS CONCERN LIMITED

PAYMENT FOR IMPORTATION OF UNWROUGHT ALUMINIUM

27-Jul-16

150,000.00

335.00

15.

CELINA COASTAL CRUST

IMPORTATION OF AUTO SPARE PARTS

27-Jul-16

74,700.00

335.00

16.

MELVYN NICKSON

IMPORTATION OF INDUSTRIAL RAW MATERIALS

27-Jul-16

18,010.00

335.00

17.

SUNSHINE FLEXPACKAGING LIMITED

IMPORTATION OF SLITTING MAKING MACHINE

27-Jul-16

47,000.00

335.00

18.

KIRANIL NIGERIA LIMITED

IMPORTATION OF UNCOATED PAPER BOARD IN SHEET GSM

27-Jul-16

50,600.00

335.00

19.

SUNSHINE FLEXPACKAGING LIMITED

IMPORTATION OF INDUSTRIAL RAW MATERIALS

27-Jul-16

50,000.00

335.00

20.

EIGER MOTORS LTD

MPORTATION OF BAG MAKING MACHINE

27-Jul-16

148,000.00

335.00

21.

GLOBE CHEM NIGERIA LIMITED

PAYMENT FOR CAUSTIC SODA

27-Jul-16

77,685.00

335.00

22.

JUDDY -BOLEMA INDUSTRIES LIMITED

IMPORTATION OF POLYPROPYLENE (PP) VIRGIN MATERIAL

27-Jul-16

26,640.00

335.00

23.

JUDDY -BOLEMA INDUSTRIES LIMITED

IMPORTATION OF POLYPROPYLENE (PP) VIRGIN MATERIAL

27-Jul-16

159,840.00

335.00

24.

ZEX STANDARD PHARMACEUTICALS LIMITED

IMPORTATION OF 1M LITRES OF ETHYL ALCOHOL ETRA NEUTRAL ALCOHOL -GRAIN PHARMACEUTICAL GRADE

27-Jul-16

146,000.00

335.00

25.

CELINA COASTAL CRUST

IMPORTATION OF AUTO SPARE PARTS

27-Jul-16

28,500.00

335.00

26.

SKYE MASTERCARD OBLIGATION

INVISIBLE PAYMENT

27-Jul-16

34,482.93

335.00

27.

SKYE MASTERCARD OBLIGATION

INVISIBLE PAYMENT

27-Jul-16

104,766.96

335.00

28.

SKYE MASTERCARD OBLIGATION

INVISIBLE PAYMENT

27-Jul-16

33,122.98

335.00 335.00

29.

SKYE MASTERCARD OBLIGATION

INVISIBLE PAYMENT

27-Jul-16

57,541.94

30.

SKYE MASTERCARD OBLIGATION

INVISIBLE PAYMENT

27-Jul-16

46,753.36

335.00

31.

SKYE MASTERCARD OBLIGATION

INVISIBLE PAYMENT

27-Jul-16

50,861.78

335.00

32.

SKYE MASTERCARD OBLIGATION

INVISIBLE PAYMENT

27-Jul-16

288,521.12

335.00

33.

SKYE MASTERCARD OBLIGATION

INVISIBLE PAYMENT

27-Jul-16

106,636.90

335.00

34.

SKYE MASTERCARD OBLIGATION

INVISIBLE PAYMENT

27-Jul-16

95,512.87

335.00

35.

SKYE MASTERCARD OBLIGATION

INVISIBLE PAYMENT

27-Jul-16

72,806.23

335.00

36.

SKYE MASTERCARD OBLIGATION

INVISIBLE PAYMENT

27-Jul-16

262,006.25

335.00

37.

SKYE MASTERCARD OBLIGATION

INVISIBLE PAYMENT

27-Jul-16

79,942.38

335.00

38.

SKYE MASTERCARD OBLIGATION

INVISIBLE PAYMENT

27-Jul-16

105,033.44

335.00

39.

SKYE MASTERCARD OBLIGATION

INVISIBLE PAYMENT

27-Jul-16

74,658.82

335.00

40.

SKYE MASTERCARD OBLIGATION

INVISIBLE PAYMENT

27-Jul-16

97,698.67

335.00

41.

SKYE MASTERCARD OBLIGATION

INVISIBLE PAYMENT

27-Jul-16

146,332.63

335.00

42.

SKYE MASTERCARD OBLIGATION

INVISIBLE PAYMENT

27-Jul-16

45,694.37

335.00

43.

SKYE MASTERCARD OBLIGATION

INVISIBLE PAYMENT

27-Jul-16

39,825.18

335.00

44.

FEMTEJ VENTURES LIMITED

IMPORTATION OF RAW MATERIAL - POLYMEMY POLYOL

27-Jul-16

101,184.00

335.00

45.

ARVEE INDUSTRY LIMITED

IMPORTATION OF POLYURETHANE RESIN PU 225

27-Jul-16

139,200.00

335.00

46.

WANDEL INTERNATIONAL NIGERIA LIMITED

MOTORIZED TRICYCLE IN SPARE PARTS-TVS BRAND

27-Jul-16

200,000.00

335.00

47.

BULB RULE INTERNATIONAL

IMPORTATION OF NEW SPARE PARTS

27-Jul-16

50,000.00

335.00

48.

CHIZZY NIGERIA LIMITED

IMPORTATION OF RAW MATERIALS - STYRENE 114,576.00

335.00

49.

CHIZZY NIGERIA LIMITED

IMPORTATION OF RAW MATERIALS - FORMALDEHYDE 40Z SOLUTION 27-Jul-16

40,028.00

335.00

50.

LIVEZ VENTURES LIMITED

IMPORTATION OF TRACTOR SPARE PARTS

27-Jul-16

100,000.00

335.00

51.

SOLTEC PRODUCTS TECHNOLOGIES

IMPORTATION OF RAW MATERIAL - POLYMEMY POLYOL

27-Jul-16

37,980.50

335.00

52.

SOLTEC PRODUCTS TECHNOLOGIES

IMPORTATION OF RAW MATERIAL - POLYMEMY POLYOL

27-Jul-16

37,980.50

335.00

53.

AUTOMOBILE CHEMICALS NIGERIA LIMITED

IMPORTATION OF RAW MATERIAL - IRON OXIDE

27-Jul-16

39,625.00

335.00

54.

BMS INTERNATIONAL RESOURCES

INDUSTRIAL RAW MATERIAL

27-Jul-16

133,475.00

335.00

55.

FRANKON MANUFACTURING CONCEPT LTD

IMPORTATION OF NEW SPARE PARTS

27-Jul-16

60,000.00

335.00

56.

PAUCO PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRIES NIGERIA LIMITED

IMPORTATION OF PAUCO CRYSTALINE PENICILLINE

27-Jul-16

38,828.00

335.00

57.

ABVEE INDUSTRY LIMITED

LOAN INTEREST REPAYMENT

27-Jul-16

50,000.00

335.00

58.

CHIBZIK GLOBAL RESOURCES NIGERIA LIMITED

IMPORTATION OF NEW MACHINERY AUTO SPARE PARTS

27-Jul-16

51,600.00

335.00

59.

ONYI DIVINE PROMISE AND IYKE LIMITED

IMPORTATION OF NEW MOTORCYCLE SPARE PARTS

27-Jul-16

70,000.00

335.00

60.

AMARILO PLASTICS LIMITED

IMPORTATION OF RAW MATERIAL - DIOCTYLE PHTHALATE

27-Jul-16

23,395.20

335.00

ACRYLIC EMULSION - PIDICRYL

www.skyebankng.com

27-Jul-16

33

T H I S D AY MONDAY AUGUST 1, 2016

SCHEDULE OF SKYE BANK'S SALES FOR THE WEEK JULY 25 - JULY 29 (cont.)

S/N

CUSTOMER NAME

ITEM OF IMPORT

DATE OF FUND PURCHASE

EXCHANGE RATE

AMOUNT

61.

FINE CHEMICALS NIGERIA LIMITED

IMPORTATION OF RAW MATERIALS FOR INDUSTRIAL USE -

62.

FINE CHEMICALS NIGERIA LIMITED

IMPORTATION OF RAW MATERIALS FOR INDUSTRIAL

27-Jul-16

32,961.60

335.00

63.

GLOBAL APPLIANCES NIGERIA LIMITED

USE - IPA PURE

27-Jul-16

47,286.00

335.00

BINATONE ELECTRIC IRON & HAIR CLIPPER

27-Jul-16

99,527.22

64.

KARINA INTERNATIONAL NIGERIA LIMITED

IMPORTATION OF INDUSTRIAL RAW MATERIAL : UNCOATED

335.00

65.

MONARCH STEEL MILLS LIMITED

27-Jul-16

35,280.00

335.00

& METALS ROLLING MILL

27-Jul-16

53,000.00

335.00

METHYL ETHYL RETONE

PAPER BOARD IN SHEETS PLANT & MACHINERY FOR INDUCTION FURNANCE

66.

OLIVE BRANCH ASSOCIATES LIMITED

WIPER BLADE & HYDRAULIC JACK

27-Jul-16

47,896.00

335.00

67.

BROSNA ELECTRICAL PRODUCTS LIMITED

IMPORTATION OF NON ELECTRICAL FAN PARTS

27-Jul-16

93,737.25

335.00

68.

TECHBLOW NIGERIA LIMITED

IMPORTATION OF HDPE BLOW MOULDING (GRADE: 27-Jul-16

296.00

335.00

EXXON MOBILE PAXON AS55-003) 69.

OLAOLUWASUBOMI OGUNGBESAN

EDUCATION / SCHOOL FEES PAYMENT

27-Jul-16

1,505.00

335.00

70.

LUMAX INTEGRATED SERVICES LIMITED

IMPORTATION OF AIRCONDITIONER

28-Jul-16

95,239.20

335.00

71.

SHONGAI TECHNOLOGIES LIMITED

IMPORTATION OF RAW MATERIAL - LLDPE EXXONMOBIL

28-Jul-16

100.00

315.50

72.

KIRANIL NIGERIA LIMITED

IMPORTATION OF UNCOATED PAPER BOARD IN SHEET GSM

28-Jul-16

76,440.00

335.00

73.

MAINSTREET BANK MICRO FINANCEBANK

LOAN REPAYMENT

28-Jul-16

77,910.00

335.00

74.

ABDULLAHI BASHIR

EDUCATION / SCHOOL FEES PAYMENT

28-Jul-16

3,980.00

335.00

75.

ACHIME AND COMPANY ENTERPRISES NIGERIA LIMITED

IMPORTATION OF BABY DIAPERS

28-Jul-16

33,002.60

335.00

76.

ALABI ABDULGANIYU

EDUCATION / SCHOOL FEES PAYMENT

28-Jul-16

2,100.00

335.00

77.

STARPOINT COMMODITIES LIMITED

IMPORTATION OF ABOUT 104TONS IMPROVED NEWSPRINT PAPER IN REELS-RAW MATERIALS

28-Jul-16

33,800.00

335.00

78.

FADI ABOU GHAZALE

PERSONAL HOME REMITTANCE

28-Jul-16

10,000.00

335.00

79.

YUSUF AJIMOT OSENOT ABOLANLE

EDUCATION / SCHOOL FEES PAYMENT

28-Jul-16

5,648.85

335.00

80.

URANTA IWEYIBUNMA BEAUTY

EDUCATION / SCHOOL FEES PAYMENT

28-Jul-16

2,522.90

335.00

81.

JAMILU BALA AHMED

EDUCATION / SCHOOL FEES PAYMENT

28-Jul-16

1,279.91

335.00

82.

EDITH OSAWEMWENZE KAYODE-IYASERE

EDUCATION / SCHOOL FEES PAYMENT

28-Jul-16

5,076.17

335.00

83.

LUMAX INTEGRATED SERVICES LIMITED

IMPORTATION OF AIRCONDITIONER

28-Jul-16

56,900.00

335.00

84.

BESTLIME INTERNATIONAL NIGERIA LIMITED

IMPORTATION OF QUICK LIME

28-Jul-16

43,505.10

335.00

85.

TOMI FOLOWOSELE ABIOLA

EDUCATION / SCHOOL FEES PAYMENT

29-Jul-16

12,175.00

315.50

86.

DIANA EZICHI

EDUCATION / SCHOOL FEES PAYMENT

29-Jul-16

1,500.00

310.50

87.

IGHODAYE ADOGBEJI FIDELIS

MEDICAL FEES PAYMENT

29-Jul-16

3,299.29

335.00

88.

IGHODAYE ADOGBEJI FIDELIS

MEDICAL FEES PAYMENT

29-Jul-16

821.71

315.50

89.

OLAYIWOLA OLAREWAJU

EDUCATION / SCHOOL FEES PAYMENT

29-Jul-16

34,847.50

315.50

90.

GIDBOLA IMPEX NIGERIA LIMITED

IMPORTATION OF AUTO SPARE PARTS

29-Jul-16

7,126.01

315.50

5,144,946.40

SCHEDULE OF SKYE BANK'S PURCHASES FOR THE WEEK JULY 25 - JULY 29 S/N

SOURCE

DATE OF FUND PURCHASE

EXCHANGE RATE AMOUNT

AMOUNT

1

LAGOS STATE HIV/AIDS PROGRAMME DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

26-Jul-16

310.00

18,462.00

2

BAYELSA STATE HIV/AIDS PROGRAMME DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

26-Jul-16

310.00

23,911.10

3

THREE EAGLE DIGITAL INVESTMENT LIMITED

26-Jul-16

294.50

1,014.08

4

UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA

27-Jul-16

307.78

145,000.00

5

NIGERIA LNG LIMITED

27-Jul-16

334.50

4,999,989.00

6

BAUCHI STATE GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA (STATE EDUCATION PROGRAMME INVESTMENT PROJECT)

28-Jul-16

315.00

150.79

7

G.T IMPORTS NIGERIA LIMITED

28-Jul-16

315.00

3,942.56

8

SHONGAI PACKAGING INDUSTRIES LIMITED

28-Jul-16

315.00

7,325.13

9

KOZIC INVESTMENT AND AGRIC SERVICES LIMITED

29-Jul-16

315.00

2,271.74

10

BAYELSA STATE HIV/AIDS PROGRAMME DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

29-Jul-16

310.00

1,500.00

11

RIA FINANCIAL SERVICES

29-Jul-16

315.00

40,815.00

12

AFRICA PAYMENT SYSTEM

29-Jul-16

315.00

565.00

13

EVEREST METAL NIGERIA LIMITED

29-Jul-16

315.00

120,000.00 5,364,946.40

www.skyebankng.com

34

MONDAY AUGUST 1, 2016 T H I S D AY

T H I S D AY MONDAY AUGUST 1, 2016

35

36

MONDAY, AUGUST 1, 2016 • T H I S D AY

BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

Expert Calls for Greater Awareness on Risk Management Obinna Chima Firms in the country have been advised to imbibe risk management principles in order to remain as going concerns in view of the challenges in the economy.

The Managing Partner, Risk Management Consulting International Resources (RMCIR), Mr. Robert Mbonu, made this call during a programme titled: “Current Global Realities: The Imperatives of Risk Management,” that was organised by the firm in Lagos recently.

According to Mbonu, there is a misconception in Nigeria that risk management is for the financial services industry.

He said his vision for RMCIR was to move risk management knowledge out of the financial sector, adding that the business of RMCIR was to make sure businesses perform better and deliver results.

He pointed out that knowledge of risk management can be applied to other sectors

such as aviation, manufacturing, among others.

“An uncertainty only becomes a risk when there is an objective. Everything we do is surrounded by uncertainty.

Risk is a mixture of danger and opportunities. Uncertainty is the risk that something may happen or may not happen, but risk becomes a reality when it occurs and that is what we need to prevent. We are facing a global economy which has a lot of risks.

“In Africa, failure of national governments is a major risk for the continent.

Also, failure of critical infrastructure is another major risk. Unemployment and underemployment and of course, water crisis,” he said.

Mbonu highlighted risk management training as well as it identification as areas RMCIR would focus on.

“Risk identification is one step in the risk process where the risks that affects businesses are identified and prioritised. It is only when

you have identified the risks that you now take steps to identify them. It is only when you have identified the risks that you can know those that can hurt your firm, those that can be more serious and those that can have greater impact.

“Another area we are going to be looking at is risk reporting, which has to do with helping businesses to report their risks and escalating issues that might be catastrophic. Finally, all of this comes to nothing unless a framework is designed.

“As the chief executive of a business, you must have some kind of dashboard that tells you what your critical risks are, what you should be looking out for, what you can let go for your executive management to handle and what you need to know. That is where the framework would be designed from. That framework is the architecture that enables you to understand what risk you are facing,” he added.

Access Bank CEO Pledges Support for Agriculture The Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Access Bank Plc, Herbert Wigwe has restated the bank’s capacity and desire to support the federal government’s efforts in diversification of the economy, especially in the agricultural sector.

In a message posted from his Twitter handle, the Access Bank boss said as the nation desires to diversify its economy; agriculture has become the new focus of government and the private sector, saying that Access Bank had been well positioned to provide necessary support to the sector.

Wigwe advised Nigerians

to take advantage of the various incentives in the financial system that support agriculture. He noted that agricultural intervention schemes from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and some of other facilities come at single-digit interest rates, adding that Access Bank was ready to help customers access any of the agricultural intervention schemes.

According to him, some of the schemes include Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme (CACS), Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Fund (MSMEDF), Non-Oil Export Stimulation Fund (ESF) and

Anchor Borrower Programme (ABP) “Our bank also participates in other agricultural schemes, such as Nigeria Incentive Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL), Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Funds (ACGSF). We indeed provide funding for all agricultural activities along the entire value chain,” he added.

When asked why he chose Twitter to express his line of thinking, he responded that he wanted to give an engaged audience the opportunity to share their thoughts and join the conversation on how we can move Nigeria forward.

Broad street

MARKET INDICATORS MONEY AND CREDIT STATISTICS 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)

The FXTM has become one of the first to launch the long-awaited MT5 trading platform with the option of hedging. The position accounting system will enable traders in Nigeria to perform oppositely-directed deals on a single symbol on real accounts in the fifth generation platform.

Hedging allows FXTM’s clients to open multiple positions per symbol, including oppositely-directed ones.

With the ability to open ‘locked’ positions, traders can now implement more sophisticated trading strategies which can respond to both negative and positive price movements. Traders can also use the new ‘close-by’ feature for closing open positions in hedging accounts, allowing them to save on spreads.

A statement from the firm explained that the

latest version of the MT5 platform additionally offers the ability to evaluate robots and indicators as close to the real conditions as possible, giving traders’ extra insight to enhance their trading strategies.

Other features include updated Market Depth giving users a view of all buy/sell prices available in real market time, and more user-friendly options in terms of language availability and an all-new live chat system.

Commenting on the MT5 update, Vice President of Corporate Development and Market Research, , Jameel Ahmad said: “In line with FXTM’s commitment to provide traders in Nigeria the most innovative solutions in the industry, we are immensely proud to be one of the first brokers to offer the latest and most highly-anticipated version of

the MT5 trading platform.

“With the option of hedging, clients can take their trading to a whole new level. The latest version of the platform will empower traders to take more advantage of the changing market conditions and provide further precision over their trades – enabling them to implement, and maximise, on bi- directional trading strategies.

“This powerful platform - with its versatile technical and fundamental analysis features, and algorithmic and social trading options - has been attracting traders and brokers from the very beginning. Now, with the inclusion of hedging, MetaTrader 5 is an even more efficient, multi-asset trading system, providing users with a complete set of tools for trading in all financial markets.”

-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)

FXTM Updates Forex Trading Platform

(MILLION NAIRA)

MARCH 2016

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 28 JULY 2016 The price of OPEC basket of fourteen crudes stood at $39.79 a barrel on Thursday, compared with $40.49 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 (IslamicRepublic of Iran), Basra Light (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), EsSider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Qatar Marine (Qatar), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE) and Merey (Venezuela).

SOURCE: OPEC headquarters, Vienna

37

MONDAY, AUGUST 1, 2016 • T H I S D AY

MARKET NEWS

Dangote Cement Records N292bn Revenue, N106bn Profit in Six Months Goddy Egene and Nosa Alekhuogie Dangote Cement Plc has reported a revenue of N292billion for the half year ended June 30, 2016, indicating an increase of 20 per cent over N242billion posted in the corresponding period in 2015.

According to the reports filed with the Nigerian Stock

Exchange (NSE), profit before tax rose to N229.9billion in 2016, from N145.6billion in 2015. However, Profit after tax fell by 14 per cent to N106.3billion, compared with N123.1billion in the corresponding period of 2015.

A further analysis of the performance showed that the fall in profit for half year resulted from foreign exchange

T H E

loss of about N101 billion which shot up the finance cost to N118 billion in 2016, up from N24.381 billion in 2015.

Commenting on the results, the Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Cement Plc, Mr. Onne Van der Weijde said: “We have achieved a commendable result, given the very challenging situation in our main market and

N I G E R I A N

general economic weakening across Africa.”

He said the management would continue to respond to the prevailing operating environment with strategically thought measures for the organisation to maintain its leadership and profitability.

Speaking on the expansion, he added: “While the company remains committed to its ambi-

STO C K

tious plans, we are taking a more measured approach to the roll-out of new capacity across Africa.”

Dangote Cement has more than doubled production capacity since 2013 and said in April it may increase cement capacity by a further 77 per cent by the end of 2019.

However, foreign exchange constraints in Nigeria have

E XC H A N G E

prompted the company to reconsider the pace of its expansion and now believes a five-year building program is more appropriate, it said.

According to the company, earnings in the period were affected by lower selling prices, higher fuel costs and the fact that several new plants are still in less-efficient start up phases.

38

T H I S D AY • MONDAY, AUGUST 1, 2016

CITYSTRINGS Nyanya, Abuja’s Neglected Slum

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

Beyond the neon lights and paved lawns of Maitama and Asokoro, Nyanya, one of the Federal Capital Territory’s satellite towns is downtrodden from years of neglect and lack of basic infrastructure, Olawale Ajimotokan reports

A typical street at Area D

N

yanya is a sprawling cobweb of rusty and decrepit low-cost quarters, nestled on the foot of the rolling green peaks in the central area of Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory.

It is a stone throw from the highbrow Asokoro and Mogadishu Cantonment. It is located along a major route that serves as an artery linking the FCT and central part of the country, like Lafia, Jos, Makurdi, Otukpo, Jalingo, Bauchi as far as towns in southern heartland such as Enugu, Nsukka and Onitsha.

Nyanya, where scores were killed following the 2014 bombing by Boko Haram terrorists, is unlikely to evade the gaze of a first time visitor to Abuja from any of the destinations or other places on the route. In fact, Nyanya is the border between the FCT and Nasarawa State.

Such is its prominence that population pressure and development in the communities along the Abuja - Keffi axis is gradually leading to emergence of a conurbation, with Nyanya as the melting pot.

It is a community populated by middle and low class public workers and others in the same category, who cannot afford the high cost of accommodation inside Abuja.

But unfortunately as is the nature of cleverly conceived schemes in this clime, a declining standard of living has set in the area arising from neglect and infrastructural decay, such that to residents and visitors, Nyanya is no more than a slum and an eyesore.

Though it is a satellite town divided into

five areas for proper enumeration and served by a General Hospital plus a Squadron 21 Mobile Police Unit and the Nigeria Police Divisional Police Headquarters, its roads are deplorable and without a bus terminal, public park, market and adequate public schools.

Most Nyanya residents can’t access potable water while the sanitary condition in many houses is alarming because they are not linked to the central sewage plant.

With the effect of the torrential rainfall of recent days, the already bad roads of Nyanya have become impassable, compounding the woes of the residents.

The impact of the rain on the people can be worrisome. The road is a bit poor and not motorable.

There is no drainage and if it rains, the whole place is flooded. It could also pose risk for the health of the people because of concern about cholera and mosquito borne diseases that can be caused by stagnant water

Minister of FCT, Muhammad Musa Bello...all eyes on him to revamp the neglected infrastructure in Nyanya

A local, Abubakar Nagaiza, narrated the residents’ plight to this reporter during an assessment tour of the area.

Nagaiza runs a dry cleaning business from a shop along a street in Area D. He has been residing in Nyanya for about 10 years and said that lack of good roads in addition to poor drainage caused by erosion each time it rains is affecting business.

“The impact of the rain on the people can be worrisome. The road is a bit poor and not motorable. There is no drainage and if it rains, the whole place is flooded. It could also pose risk for the health of the people because of concern about cholera and mosquito borne diseases that can be caused by stagnant water.

“I expect prompt intervention of government to provide basic amenities for the people.

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T H I S D AY • MONDAY, AUGUST 1, 2016

CITYSTRINGS

Another failed portion of the road

Nyanya General Hospital Road

They should fix the road and drainage so that business can thrive. Apart from that they should also address juvenile unemployment as students and youths that are not engaged are prone to criminal acts,’’ Nagaiza pleaded.

Another resident, Garba Yahaya portrayed the wretched state of infrastructure as a deliberate neglect by those in government. He insisted that rather than being allowed to become a slum, Nyanya deserves to be given proper attention as one of FCT satellite towns.

Yahaya rejected the notion that Nyanya’s prevailing conditions resulted out of circumstances that it is a border settlement between Nasarawa State and FCT. He insisted that such should be an issue as Nyanya is legally placed under the administration of Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC).

“It is annoying to hear the argument that Nyanya is on the fringe of Abuja and Nasarawa State when in reality it is under FCT administration and a bonafide part of Abuja. Nyanya is administered by AMAC and not a border. Unfortunately, we are suffering because of the self-serving and lip service attitude of politicians and our past leaders.

We are paying for government negligence,” Yahaya lamented.

The former chief security officer of Power Holding Company (PHC), who has been living in Nyanya for 26 years, said successive administrations were fond of hoodwinking the residents with bogus promises, particularly

Area B and C Road, Nyanya

during election years.

“Usually, such assurances only turn out to be a ruse as they (politicians) disappear and don’t fulfill their promises after getting power through the votes of the electorate. We

It is annoying to hear the argument that Nyanya is on the fringe of Abuja and Nasarawa State when in reality it is under FCT administration and a bonafide part of Abuja.

Nyanya is administered by AMAC and not a border.

Unfortunately, we are suffering because of the self-serving and lip service attitude of politicians and our past leaders. We are paying for government negligence

are pleading with the present government to alleviate our problems as the roads are completely bad. It is unacceptable that it is only one road in the entire Nyanya that is functional and that is Area B and C,” Yahaya said.

Even the so called functional Area C Road often regarded as the ‘Last Road’ is in state of disrepair as it is without drainage while its surface is riddled with craters.

Some residents have even criticised the MOPOL Squadron for the cordon erected on Area D Road as a security measure. They said the measure was causing traffic gridlock during peak hours as many road users resort to finding alternative routes to link up with the main road. ‘’Even the B and C roads are not good.

Look at how the roads are. They are not good.

Nyanya is a good place but unfortunately due to diverse problems, including congestion, people are deserting the area,’’ lamented Donatus Obi. According to Obi, some residents under the aegis of the landlord association had made several unsuccessful representations to the FCTA for upgrading of the facilities in the area.

We gathered that the World Bank even made deliberate efforts to reconstruct the Area B Road given its primacy as the road that links up the General Hospital with Area A. Unfortunately, the project was abandoned

midway after some initial sand filling work.

But the FCT Minister, Muhammad Musa Bello, said the administration would address some of the complaints by providing a new bus terminal to ease traffic congestion in Nyanya. Bello said the terminal which cost is put at N628 million is more than 60 per cent complete and will be inaugurated by the end of the year.

The station will include departure and arrival terminus in addition to banking hall, security block, and garage for buses. Other structures under construction, according to the minister also are a church, a mosque, an administrative block as well as public conveniences.

The minister said the contractors handling the project had assured that they would finish work by the end of the year.

The development of a new Nyanya bus terminal was conceived by the FCT administration to provide a secure and convenient facility with adequate services for use by commuters, sequel to the series of bombing at the old Nyanya Motor Park, which led to the loss of many lives.

Bello, however expressed displeasure over the commencement of the project without taking into account the construction of an access road to the new terminal.

He said that the old bombed site was designed to be a green area and a beautiful enclosure but not a motor park.

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T H I S D AY MONDAY AUGUST 1, 2016

LET'S USE THE POWER OF IDEAS TO CHANGE THE GAME. Global music star Akon joined Shell to shine a light on the power of innovative options for access to smarter energy by unveiling Africa’s first human and solar powered football pitch. The new pitch, at the Federal College of Education Lagos, was developed by the Shell #makethefuture programme, which puts bright energy ideas into action to bring benefits to local communities around the world.

Learn more at www.shellnigeria.com.

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INTERNATIONAL Clinton Says Russian Intelligence Services Hacked DNC

email:foreigndesk@thisdaylive.com

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said Russian intelligence services hacked into Democratic National Committee computers and she accused Republican contender Donald Trump of showing support for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“We know that Russian intelligence services hacked into the DNC and we know that they arranged for a lot of those emails to be released and we know that Donald Trump has shown a very troubling willingness to back up

Putin, to support Putin,” Clinton said in an interview with “Fox News Sunday.”

The United States has not publicly accused Russia of being behind the hack of Democratic Party computers. Cyber security experts and U.S. officials, however, said they believed Russia engineered the release of the emails to influence the Nov. 8 U.S. presidential election.

Asked if she believed Putin wanted Trump to win the White House, Clinton said she was not going to jump to that conclusion.

“But I think laying out the facts raises serious issues about Russian interference in our elections, in our democracy,” Clinton told Fox in the interview, taped Saturday. The United States would not tolerate that from any other country, especially one considered an adversary, she said.

“For Trump to both encourage that and to praise Putin despite what appears to be a deliberate effort to try to affect the election I think raises national security issues,” she said. The New York businessman has praised Putin, saying he was a stronger leader than U.S. President Barack Obama,

a Democrat.

Trump last week invited Russia to dig up tens of thousands of “missing” emails from Clinton’s time at the U.S. State Department. “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,” Trump

told reporters.

The Republican presidential nominee for the Nov. 8 election later said he was being “sarcastic” in his comments, which raised concerns among intelligence experts and criticism that Trump was urging a foreign government to spy on Americans

Trump Rebuts Criticism by Army’s Father Donald Trump rejected criticism from the father of a soldier killed in Iraq who said the Republican presidential nominee had “sacrificed nothing and no one” and questioned whether the mother was allowed to speak during the couple’s appearance at the Democratic convention.

“I think I’ve made a lot of sacrifices,” Trump told ABC News in excerpts of an interview posted on Saturday. “I work very, very hard.” Khizr Khan, a U.S. citizen of Pakistani origin and a Muslim, won widespread praise when he spoke Thursday at the Democratic National Convention, telling the story of his son, U.S. Army Captain Humayun Khan, who was killed by a bomb in Iraq in 2004.

He also attacked Trump for proposing a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States and asked if the candidate had read the U.S. Constitution. He pulled out a pocket-copy from the inside of his suit coat, in one of the most commented moments on the night that Hillary Clinton accepted her party’s nomination for president.

“Did Hillary’s script writers write it?” Trump asked ABC’s George Stephanopoulos in the interview, saying he has indeed sacrificed by employing thousands of people, and raising “millions of dollars” for veterans. Trump said Khan appeared “very emotional and probably looked like a nice guy to me.”

PAPAL VISIT

Pope Francis meets concentration camp survivors in the former Nazi German concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau in Oswiecim, Poland…weekend

Militants Launch Car Bomb, Gun Attack on Somali Police Base Militants yesterday set off two car bombs outside a police base in Somalia’s capital before gunmen stormed inside, leaving at least 10 people dead, police said. Islamist group al Shabaab claimed responsibility for the assault on the headquarters of Somalia’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Mogadishu.

It was the second major operation in the city this week by the group which has kept up a guerilla war on the Western-

backed government in the face of U.S. drone strikes and African peacekeeping forces.

Heavy gunfire rang out inside for about half an hour after the first blast, said witnesses. The bodies of four civilians lay in the street near the compound which was partially destroyed. A kiosk close to the wall caught fire.

“At least 10 people including four militants, five civilians and a soldier died in today’s attack,” Hussein Ali, a police officer, told

Reuters. Another 15 people were injured, some seriously, he added.

Al Shabaab’s military operations spokesman, Abdiasis Abu Musab, said one of its suicide bombers had started the attack by ramming a car bomb into the building’s gate. In al Shabaab’s first attack this week, 13 people were killed when two car bombs went off at the gate of the African Union’s main AMISOM peacekeeping base on Tuesday.

Security analysts have warned

that the group could step up its attacks, taking advantage of the distraction caused by campaigning for a presidential election due in August. Al Shabaab, seeking to impose its harsh form of Islam on the Horn of Africa nation, has also launched attacks in Kenya and Uganda which have contributed troops to the 22,000-strong AMISOM force. Somalia plunged into anarchy in the early 1990s following the toppling of military dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.

IS Militants Attack Energy Plants in Northern Iraq, Kill Five Islamic State militants stormed two energy facilities in northern Iraq yesterday, killing at least five workers and shutting down a major oil pumping station, security and oil sources said. The first attack, on the AB2 gas compressor station, about 15 km (10 miles) northwest of Kirkuk, started around 0300 (0000 GMT) when four gunmen with hand grenades broke through an external door in an attack that left two guards in critical condition.

They then shot dead four employees in a control room inside and planted explosives charges, around five of which went off, the

sources said.

Forces from the elite counterterrorism service stormed the facility, regained control and freed 15 other employees who had hidden in a separate room. Security sources believe the attackers escaped to the Bai Hassan oil station, 25 km further northwest, the sources said.

There they launched a similar attack, one detonating his explosive vest at an external gate to allow the others to enter. Once inside the facility, two more assailants set off their explosive vests, destroying an oil storage tank.

The fourth assailant was later

killed in clashes with security forces. An oil engineer was also killed and six policemen were wounded, security sources said.

The attack forced the suspension of activity at an oil station which had been pumping 55,000 barrels per day to the northern Kurdish region, oil sources said.

It was not clear when operations would return to normal. Kurdish peshmerga forces, which have controlled Kirkuk and surrounding areas for two years, were searching nearby villages for militants suspected of involvement in the attacks.

Amaq news agency, which

supports Islamic State, said in a message distributed online that Islamic State fighters had stormed the Bai Hassan facility, but made no mention of the earlier attack. The group has previously targeted oil facilities in the area with explosives, repeatedly targeting oil wells at Khabbaz oilfield southwest of Kirkuk.

The militants, who seized a third of the OPEC producer’s territory in 2014, have lost many areas to an array of Iraqi forces backed by U.S.-led coalition air strikes but still control the northern city of Mosul, their de facto capital in Iraq.

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T H I S D AY • MONDAY AUGUST 1, 2016

Nigeria’s top 50 stocks based on market fundamentals

29-July-16 28-July-16

% Change

Capitalisation

EPS

P/E

P/S

Div. Yld

Price/ Book Value

Table 1 Market Statistics Mkt Indicators

01 Dangote Cement Plc

180.00

180.06

-0.03%

3,067,291,332,900.00

11.57

15.56

5.93

4.44%

4.39

02 Nigerian Breweries Plc

137.99

138.71

-0.52%

1,094,136,631,535.12

5.37

25.70

3.96

2.61%

6.42

03 Guaranty Trust Bank Plc

24.05

23.50

2.34%

707,819,860,337.20

3.38

7.12

2.37

7.36%

1.63

850.00

850.00

0.00%

673,757,814,200.00

29.95

28.38

4.45

3.41%

17.73

05 Zenith Bank Plc

16.91

16.31

3.68%

530,914,709,921.26

3.33

5.08

1.27

10.64%

0.85

06 Lafarge Africa Plc

56.00

58.00

-3.45%

255,074,501,360.00

5.93

9.45

0.95

5.36%

1.45

07 Ecobank Transnational Incorporated

12.74

12.93

-1.47%

233,773,282,479.10

0.71

18.01

0.43

4.87%

0.46

175.50

175.50

0.00%

228,585,433,576.50

4.58

38.32

1.80

1.97%

4.97

4.55

4.57

-0.44%

165,071,844,765.10

1.64

2.77

0.52

13.19%

0.50

297.83

297.83

0.00%

164,792,410,520.79

23.48

12.68

1.46

5.35%

0.59

5.58

5.51

1.27%

161,418,081,700.98

2.48

2.25

0.47

9.86%

0.42

38.85

37.00

5.00%

154,253,033,198.25

1.10

35.40

2.13

3.35%

3.67

Table 4 Top 5 Losers Stock

04 Nestle Nigeria Plc

08 Forte Oil Plc. 09 United Bank for Africa Plc 10 Seplat Petroleum Dev. Co. Ltd 11 Access Bank Plc 12 Presco Plc 13 Guinness Nig Plc

94.50

94.20

0.32%

142,306,433,766.00

3.70

25.56

1.26

0.00%

3.21

14 Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc

13.25

13.91

-4.74%

132,500,000,000.00

2.04

6.51

1.12

0.75%

1.18

15 Unilever Nigeria Plc

34.65

34.65

0.00%

131,072,298,581.25

0.32

109.93

2.21

0.14%

16.38

3.41

3.35

1.79%

122,402,948,420.72

0.30

11.19

0.24

4.40%

0.20

133.00

133.00

0.00%

85,198,518,279.00

11.12

11.96

1.09

1.65%

3.55

18 Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc

7.00

6.99

0.14%

84,000,000,000.00

0.96

7.28

0.83

7.14%

1.37

19 Oando Plc

5.60

5.89

-4.92%

67,393,865,806.40

0.50

11.20

0.12

13.39%

0.43

20 Julius Berger Nig. Plc

48.39

50.93

-4.99%

63,874,800,000.00

1.85

26.18

0.48

3.10%

2.63

21 International Breweries Plc

19.38

19.58

-1.02%

63,842,551,046.40

0.64

30.32

3.45

1.29%

5.30

22 Total Nigeria Plc

181.50

181.50

0.00%

61,623,213,415.50

11.92

15.23

0.30

7.71%

3.79

23 Mobil Oil Nig Plc

162.00

162.00

0.00%

58,416,432,444.00

13.51

11.99

0.91

4.44%

3.80

20.20

21.14

-4.45%

53,009,591,177.40

5.50

3.68

0.15

9.90%

0.55

1.31

1.44

-9.03%

50,724,506,626.75

0.05

24.97

1.24

0.00%

0.58

20.73

20.73

0.00%

39,819,518,742.51

2.70

7.68

0.54

4.82%

0.54

27 Diamond Bank Plc

1.59

1.60

-0.62%

36,825,018,459.12

0.18

8.67

0.17

0.00%

0.17

28 Sterling Bank Plc

1.25

1.25

0.00%

35,988,022,657.50

0.36

3.50

0.33

7.20%

0.38

29 Fidelity Bank Plc

1.23

1.14

7.89%

35,623,980,401.16

0.47

2.64

0.25

13.01%

0.19

33.66

34.75

-3.14%

32,108,610,600.00

2.76

12.20

3.30

0.30%

2.66

31 Wema Bank Plc

0.74

0.72

2.78%

28,545,104,899.94

0.06

12.27

0.62

0.00%

0.62

32 FCMB Group Plc

1.40

1.34

4.48%

27,723,795,093.40

0.06

24.57

0.19

7.14%

0.17

33 Cadbury Nigeria Plc

14.27

15.02

-4.99%

26,801,943,110.80

3.21

4.45

0.80

9.11%

2.59

34 Cap Plc

37.00

37.50

-1.33%

25,900,000,000.00

2.49

14.89

3.67

3.11%

17.04

35 Custodian And Allied Insurance Plc

3.99

3.83

4.18%

23,468,638,138.05

0.72

5.52

0.74

3.51%

0.85

36 Mansard Insurance Plc

2.15

2.24

-4.02%

22,575,000,000.00

0.16

13.58

1.36

2.33%

1.30

18.45

19.42

-4.99%

22,063,921,203.60

0.72

25.75

0.72

1.63%

1.65

8.09

8.02

0.87%

21,433,956,478.02

0.79

10.18

1.32

6.80%

3.02

39 PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc

18.60

20.60

-9.71%

18,600,000,000.00

3.28

5.67

1.64

0.54%

0.83

40 Honeywell Flour Mill Plc

1.52

1.60

-5.00%

12,053,900,440.16

0.14

10.76

0.25

10.53%

0.56

41 Unity Bank Plc

1.02

1.02

0.00%

11,923,124,700.84

0.54

1.88

0.19

0.00%

0.14

42 Continental Reinsurance Plc

1.07

1.00

7.00%

11,098,836,413.84

0.19

5.57

0.54

11.21%

0.67

43 Skye Bank Plc

0.70

0.70

0.00%

9,716,210,987.00

0.85

0.82

0.07

42.86%

0.07

44 Cement Co. Of North.Nig. Plc

6.99

6.99

0.00%

8,784,177,584.34

0.96

7.31

0.67

1.43%

0.87

45 Wapic Insurance Plc

0.50

0.50

0.00%

6,691,369,126.00

0.10

5.16

0.94

6.00%

0.45

46 Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc

4.00

4.00

0.00%

6,496,875,000.00

0.26

15.57

0.79

5.00%

1.06

47 UACN Property Development Co. Limited

3.60

3.53

1.98%

6,187,499,982.00

1.81

1.99

0.55

19.44%

0.19

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

0.74

0.70

5.71%

5,128,351,315.20

0.28

2.68

0.16

6.76%

0.53

50 Fidson Healthcare Plc

1.92

1.92

0.00%

2,880,000,000.00

0.31

6.26

0.42

2.60%

0.45

16 FBN Holdings Plc 17 7-Up Bottling Comp. Plc

24 Flour Mills Nig. Plc 25 Transnational Corporation Of Nigeria Plc 26 U A C N Plc

30 Okomu Oil Palm Plc

37 Glaxo Smithkline Consumer Nig. Plc 38 National Salt Co. Nig. Plc

TOTAL

9,037,356,817,593.20

TOTAL MARKET CAP

9,619,993,596,791.44

% OF MARKET CAP Annotation - MA* = Simple Moving Average

93.94%

NSE All Share Index NSE Market Cap (N'Trillion) Thisday BGL 50 Index Thisday BGL 50 Market Cap (N'Trillion)

Open Close Change % 28-July-16 29-July-16 28,046.96 9.63

28,009.93 9.62

-0.13 -0.13

116.01 9.03

116.07 9.04

0.05 0.05

Table 3 Top 5 Gainers Stock

Open Close Change 28-July-16 29-July-16 %

Fidelity Bank Plc Continental Reinsurance Plc AIICO Insurance Plc Presco Plc FCMB Group Plc

1.14 1.00 0.70 37.00 1.34

1.23 1.07 0.74 38.85 1.40

7.89 7.00 5.71 5.00 4.48

Open Close Change 28-July-16 29-July-16 %

PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc Transnational Corporation Of Nigeria Plc Honeywell Flour Mill Plc Glaxo Smithkline Consumer Nig. Plc Cadbury Nigeria Plc

20.60 1.44

18.60 1.31

-9.71 -9.03

1.60 19.42

1.52 18.45

-5.00 -4.99

15.02

14.27

-4.99

Market All Share Index dips further by 0.13% Market pulse on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) today – Friday, July 28, 2016 closed bearish for the week as the stock market closed red due cautious trading. However, this was despite positive performances from the NSE sub-sectors: Insurance, Consumer Goods and Oil & Gas (Save Banking). Trading activities increased in volume as 442.53 million shares worth N4.65 billion in 4,427 deals exchanged hands today. This is an increase from the 270.72 million shares worth N2.29 billion in 4,609 deals exchanged on Thursday. Topping in volume terms was FCMB Group Plc, Zenith Bank Plc and United Bank for Africa Plc while Zenith Bank Plc and Nestle Nigeria Plc ended trading as the most active stocks in value terms.

The All Share Index (NSEASI) closed negative with a 0.13% (-37.03) decrease to close at 28,009.93 from 28,046.96 the previous trading day. Market Capitalization depreciated in tandem to N9.62 trillion from N9.63 trillion of prior trading day. On the contrary, the Thisday BGL 50 Index posted a marginal increase of 0.05% to close at 116.07 from 116.01 recorded at the end of the previous trading day, while its market capitalization stood at N9.04 trillion from N9.03 trillion of the previous trading day.

A total number of 18 stocks gained on the bourse today while 26 stocks declined, 54 leaving stocks unchanged. Fidelity Bank Plc emerged the day’s toast of investors as it topped the Thisday BGL 50 Index gainers’ list with a gain of 7.23% to close at N1.23 per share. It was followed by Continental Reinsurance Plc with a gain of 7.00% to close at N1.07 per share. Others on the gainers list include: AIICO Insurance Plc, Presco Plc and FCMB Group Plc, while on the decliners’ list; PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc led with a loss of 9.71% to close at N18.60 per share. It was followed by Transnational Corporation Of Nigeria Plc with a loss of 9.03% to close at N1.31 per share. Others on the losers list include: Honeywell Flour Mill Plc, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nig. Plc and Cadbury Nigeria 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

T H I S D AY MONDAY AUGUST 1, 2016

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NEWSEXTRA

Falana: DSS Lacks Power to Investigate Padding of National Budget Abdulmumin: Obasanjo was right about corruption in N’Assembly Mohammed refutes budget padding allegations SERAP asks Dogara, others to step aside pending EFCC probe Damilola Oyedele in Abuja Lagos-based lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), has said the Department of State Services (DSS) has no powers to investigate the padding of the national budget by members of the House of Representatives.

Falana said it was only the police and the anti-graft agencies that have the powers to invesitigate the allegation.

The lawyer who reacting to a report that the DSS had sealed off the office of the Chairman of the Appropriation Committee, said by virtue of the provisions of the National Security Agencies Act, the powers of the DSS are strictly limited to the ‘preservation and detection within Nigeria of any crime against the internal security of Nigeria.’

The senior advocate said since the padding of the national

FG Bans Distribution of Souvenirs at Govt Events The federal government has banned the procurement and distribution of bags, T-shirts and other souvenirs at events such as conferences and seminars funded by federal ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).

In a statement issued yesterday in Abuja by the Director of Information, Federal Ministry of Finance, Salisu Dambatta, he said President Muhammadu Buhari had approved the ban following recommendations by the Efficiency Unit.

It said the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari, forwarded the directive to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation and the Ministers of Finance and Budget and National Planning for implementation.

According to the statement, the ban was in continuation of the on-going cost-cutting and efficiency drive in the utilisation of public funds by the present administration.

President Buhari had set up the Efficiency Unit to review all federal government’s overhead expenditure to reduce wastage,

promote efficiency and ensure quantifiable savings for the country.

The Minister of Finance, Head of Service of the Federation, Accountant-General of the Federation, Auditor-General of the Federation and Director, Budget Office of the Federation are members of the unit.

The unit identified procurement as the area to begin the execution of its mandate of reducing overhead costs and wastage resources.

The Efficiency Unit, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), had already recorded success in cutting government overhead cost in areas such as travels, welfare, honorarium, sitting allowance, training, adverts and publicity as well as refreshments.

It had gone a step further to relocate some of federal government’s MDAs to recovered looted properties as ways to reduce overhead cost.

“The directive which is a recognition of the fact that in a period of lean financial resources, unnecessary expenditure on overheads such souvenirs are luxuries that the government must eliminate.

Atiku Alleges Plot to Tear APC Apart Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja Former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has raised the alarm over the activities of some fifth columnists trying desperately to cause disunity within the All Progressives Congress (APC) Atiku dismissed as a load of hogwash a newspaper report alleging that he had formed a new political platform on which he would run for president in 2019, with Ondo State Governor Segun Mimiko as his running mate.

He said the aim of those fuelling such trouble was to portray him as being disloyal to President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC leadership.

In statement signed by his Media Adviser, Mr. Paul Ibe, the former vice president said the report bears all the features of a political hatchet job planted by his opponents who have desperately tried to invent events in order to draw a wedge between him and President Buhari

on one hand and APC leadership as a whole.

The statement alerted Nigerians and APC leadership that there are “some people of bad faith trying tooth and nail to spread the seeds of discord in the party, and destroy the much needed unity, harmony and cohesion which are the pillars of strength for every political organisation.”

Ibe said despite all these smear campaigns and reputation-lynching and sponsored falsehoods, the Atiku’s loyalty to President Buhari and the APC leadership would not be shaken an inch.

According to Ibe, “The report was an incompetent product of fiction, so shallow and vacuous that even its authors could not validate its credibility with reliable and verifiable sources.”

He explained that Atiku would ordinarily have ignored the malicious report, but said he chose to react, lest his silence would be mistaken as an admission of the falsehoods published against him.

budget is a straight forward case of economic crime which is not concerned with the internal security of the nation, the DSS should not play into the soiled hands of the criminal suspects in the House of Representatives as they may later turn round to challenge the legal validity of any criminal charge arising from a faulty investigation report.

He said the DSS should be called to order as the nation cannot afford to bungle the investigation of the highly placed politically exposed persons involved in the padding of the budget.

Meanwhile, the erstwhile Chairman of the Committee

on Appropriation, Hon. Jibrin Abdulmumin, has said the statement credited to former President Olusegun Obasanjo that the National Assembly is corrupt, was correct.

He added that the 2,000 insertions made into the 2016 budget by 10 chairmen of standing committees, were worth N284 billion.

Abdulmumin, in an interview with Channels Television monitored by THISDAY last night, said there was institutional corruption in the legislature.

“Obasanjo is not entirely wrong, but we keep living in denial, but the fact remains that there is institutional in the

House,” he said.

Abdulmumin insisted that he had never been corrupt or involved in a corrupt practice in the legislature.

“I have never been involved in any action of corruption, I have never shared money in the House of Representatives,” Abdulmumin said and added that the insertions of N4.1 billion constituency projects credited to him were a creation of Dogara and the fingered principal officers to malign him.

However, the Chairman of the House of Representatives on Basic Education, Hon. Zakari Mohammed, has refuted the allegations of inserting projects

into the 2016 budget made by Abdulmumin.

Mohammed in a statement made available to THISDAY yesterday, said he was ready to appear before any anti-graft agency to prove his innocence.

Mohammed said at no time did he request any form of assistance from Abdulmumin to insert an item or project into the budget.

He challeneged Abdulmumin to produce any documentation that proves otherwise.

Abdulmumin, had alleged that Mohammed was one of the 11 chairmen of committees that formed part of the Speaker,

Cont’d on 57

APC IN CONTROL

Gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, flanked by Governor Adams Oshiomhole (right) and the deputy governorship candidate, Hon. Philip Shaibu (left), at the Edo Central campaign flag-off of the party in Irrua....weekend.

Bank Charges: CPC Orders FCMB to Refund N1.54bn to Bauchi Govt Obinna Chima in Lagos and James Emejo in Abuja The Consumer Protection Council (CPC) has ordered First City Monument Bank (FCMB) to refund, within 30 days, the sum of N1.54 billion it deducted from the Bauchi State Government’s loan account as interest charges.

The council said it established after investigations that the bank had illegally deducted the amount from the state government.

It explained that it gave the order after the conclusion of investigation into a petition from the state government which alleged that it had been short-changed by FCMB to the tune of N1, 864,188,594.78 which arose from excess interest and other charges on its loan account.

It was gathered that the state government had resorted to petitioning the council after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)

allegedly declined further adjudication on the case through a letter dated July 15, 2015 to the petitioner, asking it to “seek alternative means of redress as the case is hereby deemed closed.”

The CPC further disclosed that FCMB, which was then known as First Inland Bank Limited, granted the state government two-term loans of N10 billion and N3 billion in 2009 and 2011 respectively at 13 per cent floating interest rate as claimed by the state government, while FCMB said it was increased to 21 percent, raising the dispute as to whether or not the increase in interest rate was duly communicated to the state.

However, acting on the complaint from the state government to the council, the director-general constituted a panel of experts, including those from the office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), which deliberated extensively on the matter, and provided the parties repeated opportunities to

make representations.

The council noted that following the review of the various responses, documents and presentations made by the parties at the investigative hearings, it found the increase in the interest rate was not duly communicated to the state government and that the interest rates applied across board by FCMB were excessive and arbitrary with some charges as high as over 50 percent.

It added that the probe had further established unlawful deductions of excess processing and management fees which was not provided for in the offer letters.

Speaking on the development, Director General, CPC, Mrs. Dupe Atoki, said Nigerian banks ought to realise that their customers, either corporate or individual, symbolise the essence of their existence, and therefore should exhibit high level of professionalism and ethical

practice in their interaction with the customers.

She, therefore, vowed that the council would continue to fight for the rights of aggrieved consumers in any sector of the country’s economy.

Atoki said the order was in line with its functions to provide redress for unscrupulous exploitation of consumers by companies, firms, trade associations or individuals, under Section 2 (i) of the Consumer Protection Council Act, Cap. C25 of the laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

In his reaction, the Head of Corporate Communications, FCMB, Mr. Diran Olojo said the matter was “not a new issue,” adding that “to respond appropriately, there are documents needed and considering this is Sunday evening, Lola (his colleague) will need to touch base with our colleagues in the legal team tomorrow (Monday).”

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NEWSEXTRA

FG Got N2.2tr from Federation Account in One Year Facts have emerged that the federal government under President Muhammadu Buhari got a total N2,203,573,573,563.25 from the Federation Account as allocation between June 2015 and May 2016.

In a recent search by the Economic Confidential, the economic intelligent magazine and carefully computed, the administration under Buhari’s watch got the highest allocation in July 2015 with N412.60 billion and the lowest allocation within the period under review of N113.80 billion in May 2016.

The report further reveals that in June 2015, the federal government received N173.91 billion made up of N159.72 billion for consolidated Revenue fund, N3.27billion for share of derivation and ecology, N1.63 billion for stabilisation fund, N5.49 billion for development of natural resources, and N3.78 billion for the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA).

In August, September and October 2015, it received N216.99 billion, N180.86 billion and N162.93 billion respectively.

Between November and December 2015, the federal government also got N205.15 billion and N151.64 billion to end the year.

At the start of 2016 and precisely January, it received N175.04 billion made up of N160.87 billion for consolidated revenue fund, N3.10 billion for share of derivation and ecology, N1.77 billion representing that of stabilisation fund, while development of natural resources

and FCT stood at N5.46 billion and N3.82 billion respectively.

As for the month of February, March and April this year, it was the peak of “low returns on investment” as the federal government witnessed in a descending order of N150.32 billion, N139.36 billion, N120.92 billion to close the first quarter in a not too- cheering manner.

Recall that the economic intelligent magazine had recently investigated and published the allocations from the federation account to states and local governments in the country in the last one year, apart from Internally Generated Revenue(IGR) accruing to the 36 states of the federation and Abuja.

It has also published what major revenue collecting agencies have also received within the period.

The report on IGR indicated that only Lagos State generated more revenue than the allocation from the Federation Account which was about 150 per cent.

It also revealed that the IGR of N268 billion by Lagos State in 2015 is more than that of 32 other states put together that generated a total of N257 billion.

Meanwhile, it gathered that apart from the allocations from the Federation Account, as at the end of March this year, total inflows into the Treasury Single Account (TSA) of the federal government under President Buhari stood at N3 trillion while the number of ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) rose to 976.

JAMB Withdraws Admission List fromVarsities,Tertiary Institutions Paul Obi in Abuja The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) yesterday said it had withdrawn the admission lists sent earlier to universities, colleges of education and polytechnics for the 2016 academic session.

The move came amid controversy surrounding the insistence of the federal government to go on with the cancellation of Post-UTME across tertiary institutions in the country.

The decision by the government has continued to receive backlash and criticisms from a broad spectrum of university and tertiary education administrators and stakeholders.

But in a statement on the withdrawal of the admission list, JAMB Head of Media and Information, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, said: “The JAMB have withdrawn the list of recommended candidates for admission earlier sent to the tertiary institutions.

“This is to ensure that the university senate perform its statutory responsibility of conducting the selection of candidates and refer it to JAMB for confirmation in line with the admission criteria of merit, catchment and

educationally disadvantaged states as directed by the Hon. Minister of Education at the policy committee meeting.”

Benjamin explained: “The earlier list was sent to help fast track the process of admission so as to allow other tiers of institutions also conduct their admission.

“Candidates should not panic because this is part of the process of the 2016 admission exercise. JAMB regrets any inconvenience this decision would have caused the tertiary institutions. The Board regrets any inconvenience it’s proactive step would have caused the tertiary institutions.”

More so, the withdrawal of the admission list may not be unconnected with the perceived confusion created earlier with the list, as some parents, guardians and students had misconceived the list to be the final admission list for the 2016 academic session.

According to officials, the withdrawal is an attempt to adhere to the new ban of PostUTME, giving the universities and other tertiary education institutions the window to process the admission before referring to JAMB authorities in Abuja.

However, Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, recently disclosed that the TSA has

significantly witnessed an increase to N3.3 trillion in May 2016, noting that the Finance

Ministry had continuously discovered revenue platforms that had escaped its net

especially, shipping levies, airport landing charges, visa fees amongst others.

FALANA DSS LACKS POWERS TO INVESTIGATE PADDING OF NATIONAL BUDGET Yakubu Dogara’s cabal, who inserted about 2,000 projects into the 2016 budget.

He had also accused Dogara, Deputy Speaker, Yussuf Sulaimon Lasun; Chief Whip, Alhassan Ado Doguwa, and Minority Leader, Leo Ogor, of allocating N40billion to themselves out of the N100billion appropriated for the National Assembly.

He alleged several allegations against the principal officers, and in a series of tweets last weekend, he disclosed that he had formally presented his petition against them to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

But Mohammed said Abdulmumin’s ‘rants’ are due to his removal as chairman of the Appropriation Commitee, and are designed to drag every credible member of the House along “because he does not want to bear his travails on the mismanagement of the 2016 budget alone.

“I have no file with EFCC or its allied agencies but the same cannot be said of the former Appropriation Committee chairman.

Nigerians should therefore disregard his accusations because they are as a result of frustration of his removal,” he added.

Mohammed is the only committee chairman fingered by Abdulmumin who has issued a response. His statement read in full: “His mud-racking at me was the second in a week. Ordinarily, I would have ignored his facesaving tweets but the fact that he is deceptively carrying many Nigerians along makes it imperative to protect my hard-earned integrity and about 10 years of unblemished career as a political office holders.

Prior to joining politics, I had worked as a civil servant for 14 years with outstanding records. I cannot allow a desperado, who is also a gold digger, to rubbish my impeccable integrity.”

“I have not spoken or had personal contact with Jibrin since

November 2015 because I have always had reservations on his conduct and over rated personality, he held every member in contempt and arrogated usurped powers to himself. He was so overwhelmed by his ambition to drag me into his plot to the extent that he referred to me as the chairman of the House Committee on Higher Education because of his orchestrated mission against me.

“I wish to place on record that throughout the period of consideration of the 2016 Appropriation Act, I did not meet or write Jibrin for assistance to include any item or project in my constituency. Not even when he sent Hon Muktar Betera, Chairman Defence Committee to some of us to write via our letter heads requesting for assistance from him, instead, I concentrated on my job as the Chairman of the House Committee on Basic Education. The proposals for Basic Education were easier in treating because the enabling Act of UBEC is explicit on how it should be funded. I want him to produce any of my write ups in my letter head to the public.

“For the avoidance of doubt, I want to state that my submission on the 2016 budget was a product of my committee’s relentless work, in conjunction with the Senate Committee on Basic Education. I challenge Jibrin to point out the specific areas that my committee fell short of its duties.

“In addition, this is my fifth year in the National Assembly, and I have never heard of a budget being padded. What a sitting President brings to the National Assembly, according to Section 80(1) and (2) of the 1999 Constitution is an estimate which the Legislature is expected to consider and assist the Executive in reviewing appropriations for its plans and projects for the country for the fiscal year.

“Jibrin should look elsewhere for his prey. I was a public servant first for 14 years before

taking political appointments in 2002 as a Special Assistant, Commissioner for Sports and later Commissioner for Energy in Kwara State, including pioneering the first football academy in nigeria as chairman of the board and that of the state football team in my home state.my track records are clear and above board.

“On getting to the National Assembly in 2011, I chaired the sensitive media and public affairs committee and I was never found wanting in all aspects of my duties, financially or otherwise, I have gone this far to let the sadistic Abdulmumin Jibrin know that as a student of government I have built a reputation on credible slate without cutting corners.

This assignment cannot be an exception because I have a family name and a lineage which is symbolised by diligence and not riches at all costs.

“As for Jibrin’s formal report to the EFCC, I am more than ready to appear before any agency or anywhere to prove my innocence. I have no skeletons in my cupboard.”

However, a civil society organisation, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), has asked the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dogara Yakubu and other principal officers suspected to be involved in the alleged budget padding to step aside pending the outcome of investigation by the EFCC and other agencies.”

In a letter dated July 29, 2016, and signed by SERAP’s Executive Director, Adetokunbo Mumuni, the group stated that following the confirmation it received from the EFCC that it had taken up and looking into its petition, it was necessary for the officers to step aside pending the out outcome of the investigation.

The group also urged the principal officers of the House suspected to be involved in the alleged padding to step aside

from their positions to allow for the investigation by the EFCC and other agencies to go ahead unhindered.

It said it had also reviewed several documents circulating on the internet on the alleged budget padding and believed that these documents establish a prima-facie case of corruption, which deserves a thorough, transparent, independent and effective investigation by the EFCC and other agencies.

“In the circumstances, SERAP calls on you to demonstrate your often-expressed commitment to transparency, accountability, constitutionalism, democratic governance and the rule of law in Nigeria by now stepping aside from your position as Speaker and to ensure that other principal officers suspected to be involved in the budget padding do the same, pending the outcome of the investigation already by the EFCC. “SERAP’s call is entirely consistent with the constitution of Nigeria 1999 (as amended). As the supreme law of the land, all organs of government including the National Assembly are obliged to perform their functions in accordance with the constitution and other enabling laws.

“SERAP agrees with the Constitutional Court of Uganda when it asserted in Constitutional Petition No. 47 of 2011 Twinobusingye Severino vs Attorney General that, ‘In modern democracies, the term ‘stepping aside’ is now generally taken as part of the responsibility of the holder of a public office in discharging his or her duty of being accountable to the people.

Thus a culture has developed in modern democracies, Uganda inclusive, whereby a public officer whose conduct in a public office is being questioned steps aside, on his or her own, to enable investigations to be carried out without his or her influence.”

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Pipeline Vandalism: Surveillance, Reconnaissance Continue in Lagos, Ogun Creeks Air Force deploys 2 Alpha jets, 1 MIG 34 aircraft, others Surveillance video shows millions of kegs containg stolen petrol Chiemelie Ezeobi The Operation Awatse Joint Task Force, comprising military forces and some elements of the paramilitary, yesterday sustained the tempo in flushing out the dreaded pipeline vandals occupying the creeks and mangrove in Lagos and Ogun States.

Although the weather hampered plans by fighter jets of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), to sustain it’s four days aerial bombardment of the creeks, surveillance and reconnaissance however continued.

Also at alert are the land and maritime component, comprising the special forces of the Nigerian

Army (NA) and Nigerian Navy (NN), respectively, as they constituted a blockade at the different escape routes across the creeks.

The JTF comprises the elements of the navy, army and air force, as well as the Department of State Services (DSS), the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the Nigerian Police Force (NPF).

The aerial bombardment and subsequent invasion of the enclave by the JTF is part of the military’s operation tagged: ‘Operation Awatse’, a Hausa word for ‘scatter’, which has both the land, air and maritime components.

The intensive offensive air strikes

Yari, Zamfara Assembly Reach Deal, Impeachment Threat Withdrawn The Speaker of the Zamfara State Assembly, Sanusi Rikiji, yesterday said lawmakers in the state had withdrawn the impeachment threat against Governor Abdulaziz Yari.

Rikiji made the announcement in Gusau, the state capital, after a meeting of stakeholders.

The stakeholders included the governor, all the 24 members of the assembly and traditional rulers.

The traditional rulers were led

by Attahiru Muhammad, the emir of Anka, who is also the chairman of the state Council of Chiefs.

The speaker told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the end of the meeting that the lawmakers gave the governor terms and conditions before they agreed to suspend the impeachment threat.

He said the intervention of traditional rulers and the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state helped in addressing the issues that caused

the face-off between them and the governor.

In a separate interview with journalists, Yari described the cause of the face-off between him and the legislature as “the handiwork of the devil.”

According to him, “The cause of the misunderstanding was addressed at the meeting and we have now agreed to put aside our differences and work together for the advancement of our state,” he said.

The lawmakers had threatened to impeach the governor for alleged abuse of budget implementation, misappropriation of bailout funds released to the state by the federal government.

Other reasons listed by the legislators included deductions from workers’ salaries and failure

by Mr. Yari to pay the salaries of 1, 400 youths employed by the government two years ago.

were initiated to flush out the pipeline vandals turned militants operating at Ishawo and Igando areas of Ikorodu in Lagos State; then Arepo, Awawa, Elepete and Ibafo areas of Ogun State, given that the JTF was tasked with the responsibility of protecting the NNPC pipelines from Atlas Cove to Mosimi Depot.

Hinged on the pilot scheme of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR), the Air Force deployed two fighter jets, one MIG 34 and ATR4 aircraft for the operation.

THISDAY gathered that the aerial surveillance video obtained by the NAF aircraft showed millions of kegs containing the stolen petrol products, which were chained together and hidden in the creeks.

At the Arepo area in particular, the video showed a massive oil theft cartel, operating their well-oiled operations in the creeks.

A military source who spoke on account anonymity about the ongoing operations said: “The army was supposed to move in on Saturday after our initial bombardments on Thursday and Friday.

“However, they had to put a stop to that because they wanted the Air Force to further bomb more grounds, thereby clearing the thick mangrove to prevent any ambush by the vandals.

“But attempts to fly today (Sunday) was hampered by the rains. We had already assembled at the flight line for take off, only for the rains to start.

Publisher of Ovation, Mr. Dele Momodu, being congratulated by the Ghanaian President, John Dramani Mahama (second right), after being conferred with honorary doctoral degree by the University of Professional Studies, Accra....weekend

Dele Momodu Bags UPSA Honorary Doctorate Degree

Daji Sani in Yola

The Publisher and Chief Executive Officer of Ovation Media Group, Bashorun Dele Momodu, at the weekend bagged an Honorary Doctorate Degree (Honoris Causa) from the University of Professional Studies Accra (UPSA).

The event, which was graced

by Ghanaian President, John Dramani Mahama, took place at the university’s campus in Accra.

The award of Momodu’s honorary doctorate degree also marked the commemoration of the institution’s eighth congregation ceremony.

The university management said it selected Momodu in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the world of business, politics, literature and the media industry as well as his dogged commitment towards projecting the best of Africa to the world.

Delivering a speech after he was decorated by the university’s Pro-Chancellor, Drolor Bosso Adamtey I, Momodu who was

Low turn out of electorate marred the local government polls in Adamawa State held on Saturday and yesterday to elect chairmen and councillors for the 21 local government areas for the 226 wards.

THISDAY observed that in most of the local governments, except the state capital, Yola North and Yola South, the turn out was below 20 per cent recorded at the polling stations and in some local government areas, election was held in the night due to the late arrival of electoral materials.

Also, in most cases, elections were not held as prospective voters waited endlessly for election officials, who did not turn-up, while in some places the elections were said to have been concluded Sunday.

When THISDAY monitored the election in the northern senatorial zone ravaged by Boko Haram insurgents, the situation was not different from other parts of the state.

The military were in full control

innocent civilians were bombed, the Defence spokesman, Brigadier General Rabe Abubakar, said: “There is no way innocent persons would be hit because what we are doing is ‘precision attack on registered target or identified location.’ “No innocent Nigerian was hit. The attack is on the criminals who hide in the creeks.

We are still carrying out the raid.”

Urging people to desist from tagging the criminals as members of a particular ethnic group he said, “We are not carrying out military attack on Ijaw, we are carrying out the operation against criminals.

“We don’t tag them. Militants are militants. We don’t want to know if they are Hausa, Igbo or Yoruba, our war is against pipeline vandals and oil thieves.”

DR. DELE MOMODU

Low Turn out Mars Council Elections in Adamawa of the situation in the zone to prevent any possible attack by the insurgents, even as the elections were conducted under peaceful atmosphere.

Mallam Umar Sanda, a resident of Nassarawo, described the election as the most peaceful and transparent the state has ever had, adding that there were less or no news of violence and crisis in all the 21 local government areas of the state.

He said: “Nigerian are becoming informed by the day and have not allowed greedy politicians to use them to cause crisis especially the youths during elections.”

The results of the elections are being awaited.

However in Numan, unconfirmed reports coming from that area revealed two people were killed by locals of the area as a result of clashes between two rival political groups.

However, every attempt made to speak to the authorities concerned or the police regarding the killing at the time of sending this report proved abortive.

“However, we did surveillance and from the shots we got, we saw over two million kegs possibly containing stolen petrol products.

These people are robbing the country blind.”

Responding to allegations that the bombs might have also killed civilians, he said: “For now, we are focused on using rockets.

“We are yet to start with bombs because the area is swampy. It’s possible to drop a bomb and it won’t detonate because of the swamps.

“We are being careful so that we won’t have a repeat of the Ikeja bomb blast that killed many, years ago. The bombs might just drop into the swamp and won’t detonate only to go off years later.”

Also dispelling rumours that

the sole honoree for the year 2016 and the first non-Ghanaian, thanked the university’s ViceChancellor, Prof. Joshua Alabi, and the Governing Council of UPSA for singling him out for such a great honour.

He recalled with nostalgia, his first contact with Ghana exactly 21 years ago when he fled Nigeria under the brutal dictatorship of the late General Sani Abacha for exile in the United Kingdom.

“I succeeded in crossing through a smugglers’ route into Cotonou, Benin Republic. I was too scared to stay too long in Cotonou and so decided to meander my way to Lome, Togo. Since I couldn’t speak any smattering of French, my best and ultimate destination was Ghana. I crossed the border at Aflao and waltzed my way to Accra that evening… I departed Ghana on the night of July 28, 1995, and landed at London Gatwick on July 29. Ghana remained permanently etched in my mind. I dreamt of a day I would be able to return to the tranquility of Accra.”

Fayose: Sheriff’s Chairmanship of PDP a Mistake Olakiitan Victor in Ado Ekiti Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, has described the chairmanship of Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as a mistake.

Fayose, who noted: “I take responsibility for that? I will not be in the forefront again to carry responsibility for any man” but pointed out that “he will first seek the face of God to choose the right man for the people.”

Fayose, made the remarks at the weekend , in his speech while commenting on the chairmanship tour of Dr. Raymond Dopespi, to Ekiti State at the Jibowu Hall, Government House.

He said the PDP in Ekiti is deeply concern on the current situation of the party right now, saying the party has broken into factions because everybody wants to be masters in the party.

Fayose, who condemned those going to court to express their grievances on party matters,

also condemned those who are paying lip services to the party.

He pointed out that the “dry bones of the PDP will rise again”, saying “God will give the PDP a new leader that will reposition the party to progress in the country.

Fayose said: “In Ekiti, we have no anointed candidate; we would come to Port Harcourt with open mind and let God do justice” In his speech, while soliciting for support in Ekiti, the PDP chairmanship aspirant, Dokpesi, pleaded with the stakeholders to allow him to serve the party.

According to him, he is a leader, a transformer and a bridge builder, who will promote, protect and project the PDP by bringing freshness into the party.

Dokpesi said theAPC since the last general election has not allowed the PDP leaders to rest, he urged the PDP to stand and defend the democracy in the country.

“The leader who believed in the people, that is the leader we need in our democracy.”

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CRIME&PUNISHMENT Armed Militia Kill Five Civilian JTF Members in Benue

George Okoh in Makurdi

Five members of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) in Benue State were at the weekend killed by armed men suspected to be behind recent upsurge in crime in the state.

An eyewitness said the deceased were killed at Kundev ward in Ukum Local Government Area of the state while on a routine meeting in the area.

According to the source, the heavily armed men stormed Alabar, the ward headquarters of Kundev on motorbikes and rode straight to the village hall where the meeting

was being held, captured five of the task force members and butchered them in broad day light.

“They invaded the community at noon on motorcycles and rode straight to where the meeting of the members of the CJTF, was being held in an office hall that was where they caught and killed five of them while other members escaped.”

Reacting to the killings, the state Chairman of the CJTF, Alhaji Aliu Teshaku, who confirmed the action, told THISDAY that the masterminds of the heinous murder were responsible for the rising cases of kidnap, violent crimes

and robberies in parts of the state.

Teshaku alleged: “Five of them were killed by Gana’s boys because we told Gana and his group that they must stop perpetrating crimes and the kidnap of innocent persons. It was since we stepped in that the cases of kidnapping have been brought under control.

“We also went ahead to effect the arrest of his boys who are behind the act in our state, with a promise that we will not allow them chase our people away from their homeland because even our prominent brothers can hardly go to the villages to farm again due to the activities of Gana and his men.

“Angered by our actions, Gana in return sent a message to us that he will come after us, that is why they went and killed members of the CJTF who were holding their meeting in that village.”

Teshaku, who said the CJTF’s resolve is to always assist security agencies to checkmate the perpetrators of violent crimes in the state, said despite the killing, the CJTF would not relent in its responsibilities.”

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Moses who confirmed the attack, said the police would ascertain the masterminds of the attack at the end of its investigations.

In Brief Dino Melaye Drags Manitoba to EFCC over Alleged Diversion of N13.8bn

A group founded by Senator Dino Melaye, Anti-Corruption Network, has petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over an alleged diversion of funds amounting to N13.8 billion and abuse of Public Procurement Act by Manitoba Hydro International Nigeria Limited.

While handing over the petition to the Director of Public Affairs of the agency, Osita Nwaja, at its headquarters at the weekend in Abuja, Melaye stressed that it was the desire of the anti-corruption group to ensure that economic and financial crimes are duly investigated send prosecuted.

He said the company was awarded a management contract to oversee the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) asset and liabilities after the privatisation and unbundling of Power Holding Company of Nigeria to Generating Companies (GENCOS) and distribution Companies (DISCOS)

by Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) in March, 2012 for a term of three years. Melaye revealed that the cost of the contract was first awarded for $30 million and was subsequently renewed for one more year at the cost of $5.2 million, adding that TCN has over 8000km of 330kv line and 12000km of 12kv connecting many substations within Nigeria.

Against this background, he disclosed that investigations conducted uncovered several economic and financial crimes committed by Manitoba and also outright disregard of best practices in TCN. Melaye stated: “In 2015 the company fraudulently diverted funds transferred to the tensions for the 2015 trace maintenance. The company was involved in splitting of contract to avoid TCN Tenders Board and Ministerial Tenders Board as observed in the case of contract of repairs of telecommunications equipment and power stations: 340kv substations (S1 and S2) which amounts to N247,061,796 and N248,859,350 respectively. The awarded of contract verbatim at the cost of 893,000,000 for repair of telecommunications equipment and remote terminal units associated with PHCN (legacy) power stations and TCN 330kv. Though the contract sum was fully paid but there is no evidence that the contract was executed,” Melaye said.

Corruption Should be Fought with Reward and Punishment, Says Gambari

KWARA MUST BE FREE FROM CRIME

L-R: Kwara State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Olushola Amore; Out-going Commissioner of Police, Sam Okaula; and Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed, during a courtesy visit by the commissioners to Government House, Ilorin....weekend

EFCC Invades NAHCO over Alleged Scam Chinedu Eze The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) at the weekend invaded the headquarters of the Nigeria Aviation Handling Company Plc (NAHCO) at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos over an alleged scam committed by the company officials.

THISDAY learnt that the commission acted on a petition written by two former officials of the company who were allegedly sacked unlawfully by the management.

Officials of the EFCC who arrived NAHCO’s premises at about 4p.m. last Thursday were said to have arrested the Chairman of the company, Suleiman Yahaya, as the Managing Director, Nobert Bielderman, travelled out of the country a day before EFCC swooped on the company.

The Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Bamidele Adelaja, was also arrested and was directed by the officials of the EFCC to make certain documents available and was later taken to the commission’s office in Lagos.

But the Manager, Corporate Communications and Services of the company, Tayo Ajakaye, denied that the Chairman of the company was arrested.

In a statement made available to THISDAY yesterday, Ajakaye

said officials of the EFCC on July 28, visited the Head Office.

The visit, which was without incident, was basically a fact-finding one as the operatives asked to see the MD/CEO, Bielderman, who was currently out of the country.

“In the absence of the MD, they asked to see the Executive Director/Company Secretary, Mrs. Folashade Ode, who was also out of the premises at the time. Unable to meet with any of the two top officials of the company, they then requested to see the Chief Financial Officer, Adelaja, with whom they spent some time sorting out some documents which they were interested in.”

The statement also said the CFO confirmed that he was shown a search warrant by the EFCC officials even as he added that NAHCO was always ready to cooperate with government agencies and regulators in every way and was ready to do so in the present case.

“The visit which started around 4p.m. ended a little after 7p.m. when the operatives left with a few documents. The actual cause of the visit remains uncertain as the EFCC officials were tight lipped about the reason for their visit,” the statement also said.

However, Ajakaye disclosed that the company’s Managing Director, Bielderman would return to the country tomorrow night.

Five Kogi Escaped Prisoners Recaptured Yekini Jimoh in Lokoja The Controller-General of Prisons, Ja’afaru Ahmed, has confirmed that 13 prisoners comprising 10 pre-trial detainees and three convicts escaped from Koton Karfe prison at the weekend. He made the confirmation while on an on-the-spot assessment of the incident in Koton Karfe prison, Kogi State.

A statement by the Head of Public Relations, NPS, Francis Enobore, disclosed that five pre-trial detainees out of the escapees had been recaptured with the assistance of other security agencies and local vigilante groups as well as individuals and had been returned to the prison.

In the meantime, the Controller-General has set up a three-man panel to investigate the circumstances surrounding the escape and forward the report to his office for necessary action.

He assures that appropriate measures are being put in place to address congestion phenomenon particularly among awaiting trial prisoners in line with the reform agenda of the federal government.

The Controller General further stated that security arrangement was being strengthened in and around prison facilities across the country to forestall future occurrence.

Meanwhile, Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello,

yesterday urged the federal government to constitute a panel of inquiry to probe the jail break at Koton Karfe Medium Prison at the weekend.

The governor who made the call when he paid an on-spotassessment visit to the prison, said from every indication, an insider played a major role in the escape of the inmates.

The governor, who arrived the prison, could neither meet the state Comptroller of the NPS nor any prison official, wondered why the situation had to be so.

He explained that he had earlier informed the state comptroller, but was surprise not to see any prison official to receive him let alone to assess the situation on ground.

“As the chief security officer of the state, I am supposed to see the situation and report back to the federal government. But unfortunately I could not enter there and see things for myself.”

The governor who called the state Comptroller of Prison on phone on his arrival to the prison, wondered why the comptroller was not around despite the fact that he earlier told him that he was coming to the prison.

“The federal and state governments would be interested in setting up a panel of inquiry to probe the last Saturday morning jail break incident particularly when the state government was combating serious crimes,” the governor noted.

Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, at the weekend advocated for reward and punishment system in carrying out the fight against corruption rather than one sided approach being adopted recently. Gambari who was also former Nigeria Permanent Representative to United Nations stated this while presenting a lecture on the ‘Role of Civil and Public Servants in advancing sustainable Governance in a Democratic setting’ in Lokoja, Kogi State. The professor who is the Chairman and Founder of Savannah Centre for Diplomacy, Democracy and Development (SCDDD), cited the National Merit award as an opportunity for rewarding Nigerians who have excelled in their various fields of endeavors. He explained that a situation where the award is given out to less deserving Nigerians makes mockery of the essence of the award thereby discouraging upcoming future leaders from being committed to the moral ideals of transparency. According to him, the fight against graft and other forms of corruption should not be restricted to punishment by jailing and hunting but also reward those who are not corrupt in their various fields. He said it is important to reward role models who “we want to be emulated especially in the civil service,” as he reiterated the need for planning even for civil servants which will bring about discipline. Gambari, who also faulted the prolonged military rule as the bane of Nigerian lackadaisical civil service where professionalism is not taken as a very serious issue, advocated for moral rejuvenation to advance sustainable governance in the present democratic setting. He explained that the economic and political choices of any society are ultimately determined by their moral values.

FIRS Seals Two Abuja-based Firms over N100m Tax Debt

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has sealed the offices of two Abuja-based firms over tax liabilities totalling N100.8million; it named the affected companies as Eurobond Construction Company Limited, which owes N70.9million for 2014 and 2015; and Design and Build Limited, indebted to the tune of N29.95million for 2014 and 2015. It said in a statement made available to newsmen that the enforcement exercise is part of measures aimed at improving revenue to the federal government.

The statement stated that the FIRS enforcement team, led by Mr. Chinazo Edeh, shut the premises of Design and Build at about 12:23pm and at about 3:17p.m, the same to Eurobond. A notice of enforcement placed at the entrance of the office of Design and Build Ltd read:”Take notice that the owners of these premises have failed to comply with the company ‘s tax obligation under the Value Added Tax Laws of the Federation of Nigeria. Any officer or agent of the company involved in this contravention is liable for non-compliance and punishable under the relevant VAT Act.” Eden explained that the companies failed to remit their taxes despite notices served on them to to do so. He said the premises of the affected companies would remain shut pending when their outstanding liabilities would be paid to the service. At Eurobond’s office, the FIRS officials encountered hostility, as the firm’s management argued that it had no tax liability. A senior official of the company told the enforcement team that the contract upon which the tax liability was to be paid was executed for the government of Zamfara State and the amount payable by the company was deducted as withholding tax by the state government.

But the enforcement team disputed the claim, pointing out that the FIRS’ records showed otherwise and shut the company.

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Group Sports Editor Duro Ikhazuagbe Email duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com

Siasia Appoints Mikel Dream Team Captain Under-23 squad to depart Atlanta for Rio today Oshonaike is Flag Bearer for Team Nigeria

Duro Ikhazuagbe Dream Team VI Head Coach, Samson Siasia, insisted yesterday that Chelsea midfielder, John Mikel Obi was the natural choice to captain the Nigerian Under-23 team at the Olympic Games starting on Friday in Brazil.

Siasia who on Saturday announced the switching of arm band from Okechukwu Azubuike to Mikel, said that as the captain of the Super Eagles and also the captain of Team Nigeria to the Games, it was natural for the Chelsea player to lead the Dream Team VI. “It’s just natural for me to pick Mikel as our captain.

Aside the fact that he is the captain of the Super Eagles, he is also Team Nigeria captain, so after meeting with both of them and explaining my position, I am pleased to say Azubuike who has been our captain understood and was happy to hand over the captain’s band to Mikel.

“It is a thing of joy for my team to produce the first footballer to captain Team Nigeria to the Olympics.

This, to me, is more than gratifying,” stressed Siasia who led Nigeria to the silver

medal at the 2008 edition of the Games in Beijing, China.

The players unanimously accepted Mikel as their captain and expressed delight at the role he has been playing since he joined the team.

On his part, Mikel expressed joy at being made the captain of the Dream Team and said he sees it as an honour that must yield result in Brazil.

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Under-23 squad is scheduled to depart Atlanta, United States of America for Brazil today.

According to the Spokesman of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Ademola Olajire, the earlier arrangement was for the team to depart for Brazil in batches due to difficulties in securing seats for team.

However, the NFF has now decided against that movement and is now thinking of either getting them to Brazil as a team or chartering a private plane to take the team directly to Manaus, venue of the first team’s first match against Japan on Friday. The match is scheduled for 2am Nigerian time.

Earlier yesterday, elegant table tennis star, Funke Oshonaike was also announced

Mikel (right) and Azubuike after their last training in Atlanta before departing for Rio de Janeiro this morning as flag bearer for Team Nigeria at the opening ceremony of Rio2016 at the Maracana Stadium on Friday.

The stylish ping-pong player who would be competing in her sixth Olympic is also the assistant captain of Team

Nigeria.

The Nigerian Table Tennis Federation is lucky to also have another player from its

fold, Segun Toriola, entering history books as the first African athlete to feature in seven Olympic Games.

IOC’s Three-man Mayor of Rio to Welcome Team Nigeria to Panel to Make Final Games Village Decision on Russia The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has said that a three-person panel will have the final say on which Russian athletes can compete at the Rio Olympic Games starting on Friday in Brazil.

Last week the IOC said individual sports’ governing bodies must decide if Russian competitors are clean amid claims of state-sponsored doping.

But it now says the newly convened panel “will decide whether to accept or reject that final proposal”.

More than 250 Russian athletes have so far been cleared to compete.

The three-person panel comprises Ugur Erdener, president of World Archery and head of the IOC medical and scientific commission, Claudia Bokel of the IOC athletes commission, and Spanish IOC member Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr, son of the ex-IOC president of the same name.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) had recommended all Russian athletes be banned after its independently commissioned report found evidence of a four-year “doping programme” across the “vast majority” of Olympic sports.

The IOC stopped short of applying a blanket ban in a move criticised by Wada and others, while swimmers Vladimir Morozov and Nikita Lobintsev have become the first Russian athletes to appeal against their ban to the Court of Arbitration

for Sport.

The Olympics start in Rio on Friday.

Meanwhile, Russian whistleblower Yulia Stepanova has asked again for the IOC to reassess her exclusion from Rio. The 800m runner’s testimony helped shed light on the scale of doping in Russian sport, and she was to compete under a neutral flag in Rio. But the IOC ruled that she should not be allowed to take part as she had previously failed a doping test.

In a letter to the IOC on Saturday, Stepanova and her husband Vitaly asked the body to “reassess the decision on Yulia”.

The IOC responded by saying it had rejected any review of her case and had not discussed the matter at its executive board meeting.

“The final decision has been taken already,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams said.

FIVE DAYS TO GO

Representatives of Team Nigeria would take the centre stage on Wednesday, August 3 when the Mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo da Costa Paes, among other army of dignitaries welcome the largest black nation in the world to the Games Village of the Rio2016.

Each team from the 206 countries is welcomed to the athletes abode in a special ceremony led by the chieftains of the village as well as athletes and officials of other countries.

Team Welcome Ceremonies are a key occasion for athletes, team officials and their guests. It acknowledges their journey to the Games and marks the start of their residency in the village.

The brief but impressive ceremony would see all Nigerian athletes in their national colours.

The Nigerian green, white,

green flag would be raised and the country’s national anthem played. President of Nigeria Olympic Committee, Habu Gumel, who is also a member of International Olympic Committee (IOC), and other Nigerian officials would be in attendance.

Brazilian officials have promised to make sure that the largest athletes’ village in history provides a comfortable, welcoming and inspiring place for all the competitors.

Team Nigeria would be housed in Block 11, occupying four floors with the Nigerian flag fluttering on top of their block.

In the Village, Technogym has installed a state-of-the-art gym, P&G will be managing a beauty salon while Samsung will provide each athlete with a free smartphone on arrival.

Earlier yesterday in Abuja, a send forth reception was

held for Team Nigeria at the High Performance Centre, Package B of the National Stadium, Abuja.

The reception was to formally bid athletes farewell to the Games in Rio. The Chief -de-mission of Team Nigeria who is also the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports, Mr. Chinyeaka Ohaa, thanked the athletes for their qualification and team spirit in the face of paucity of funds.

He charged them to shun all acts capable of bringing the nation to disrepute including the use of performance enhancing drugs and flouting of camp rules.

“Strive to win without cutting corners or cheating.

In particular do not engage in doping. Win cleanly and fairly.”

He promised that the

government will pay all camp allowances and other entitlements due to the athletes before the end of the games.

“I want to assure you that the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development will leave no stone unturned in the implementation of the directives of Mr. President that athletes’ welfare be prioritised.

“Let me inform you that all your allowances, claims and entitlements due to you will be settled before the close of the games. Already, affirmative action has been taken to ensure that your camp allowances are paid.

I’m sure you have started to receive alerts.” Ohaa said.

He urged the athletes who are on their way to Rio at about now to note that over 170 million Nigerians will be banking on them to do Nigeria proud.

GOtv Boxing Night 8: Skoro Wins N1m Best Boxer’s Prize Money Boxing fans yesterday defied the heavy downpour in Lagos on Saturday as they trooped out in their numbers into the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium for the Season 8 of the GOtv Boxing and they were not disappointed as the boxers put up impressive displays.

It was however the fight between Waidi “Skoro” Usman and David Ekpeyong that was the most thrilling and it therefore came as no

surprise that one of them was declared the best boxer of the night.

Usman lived up to his promise to make up for the West African Boxing Union featherweight title he lost to Edward Kekembo of Uganda in December 2015, as he made an explosive ring return and was declared winner via unanimous decision. He also carted away the N1million cash prize for the best boxer of the night.

The capacity crowd at the Indoor Sports Hall of the national Stadium, Lagos, cheered Skoro, whose fight with the equally impressive Ekpeyong was the highlights of the night.

In the main bout of the night, Abolaji emerged the new national middleweight champion, defeating Sunny Iyere by unanimous decision.

Earlier in the night, Rilwan “Baby Face” Babatunde made light

work of Shakiru Lateef, while Stanley Eribo defeated Dele Adeleke via a fifth round knockout in the welterweight category.

The super middleweight clash between Matthew Obinna and Samuel Igbokwe was declared a no-contest.

In the National Lightweight Challenge, fans favourite, Olaide Fijabi took just 58 seconds to dismiss the opposition put up by Tombraye Christmas.

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Enugu Rangers Return to Summit

Wikki Tourists have been knocked off the summit of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) standings following their 0-3 loss to Akwa United in Uyo yesterday.

Hassan Babangida was the hero for the Promise Keepers as he put his side in front, hammering home a rebound after the Wikki Tourists’ goalkeeper, Emeka Nwabulu, parried Fortune Omoniwari’s free kick towards his path in the 11th minute.

Babangida completed his brace on the half hour while Friday Ubong netted a late third to knock the stuffing out of the away side as Akwa United won at a canter.

Wikki thus drop to second place on the standings as they remain on 47 points from 28 matches.

The defeat for Wikki means Enugu Rangers have now moved to the top of the NPFL standings with 48 points as they drew 1-1 with Enyimba in Port Harcourt.

Stephen Chukwude smashed home a fantastic volley to put the home side

in front in the 45th minute but Rangers equalised in first-half stoppage time through Godwin Aguda.

In Lokoja, Abia Warriors surrendered a shock early lead to lose 2-1 to Niger Tornadoes at the Confluence Stadium.

Uche Ihuaralam struck early for the visitors with a superb finish but Lukman Mohammed hit back for the home side in the ninth minute.

Solomon Owello put Tornadoes in front for the first time in the 43rd minute and it turned out to be the winner of the contest which eventually saw Tornadoes finish with 10 men.

In Ibadan, Shooting Stars came from a goal down to defeat Sunshine Stars 2-1.

Meshack Chukwubuikem scored the opening goal for the visitors on 23 minutes but Ajani Ibrahim won a penalty for the hosts which was emphatically converted

by Sunday Adetunji in the 33rd minute as the hosts drew level.

Adetunji netted from the penalty spot at the death as Shooting Stars claimed

a late win.

FC Ifeanyiubah recorded their first ever victory over Kano Pillars in the NPFL as they prevailed 2-1 in Nnewi.

Ismaila Gata put the Anambra Warriors in front but Gambo Mohammed levelled up for the visitors.

Medrano Tamen pushed a dagger into Pillars’ hearts with a late goal as the home side feasted on the spoils.

Kingsley Eduwo, Patrick Ikeokwu and Raphael Ayagwa scored as Lobi Stars overcame Warri Wolves 3-0 at the Aper Aku Stadium.

Kabiru Umar scored the winner on five minutes as Plateau United claimed an unlikely 1-0 success over MFM FC in Agege, Lagos.

RESULTS Akwa Utd 3-0 Wikki Enyimba 1-1 Rangers Tornadoes 2-1 Abia Warriors 3SC 2-1 Sunshine IfeanyiUbah 2-1 Kano Pillars Lobi 3-0 Warri Wolves MFM FC 0-1 Plateau Utd

LMC Reschedules Five NPFL Matches The League Management Company (LMC) have rescheduled five matches in this season’s Nigeria Professional Football League.

The match day 29 fixture involving Rivers United and Ikorodu United which should have been played on July 31 will now come up on August 11 at the Yakubu Gowon

Stadium, Port Harcourt.

An auto crash involving Rivers United on Thursday necessitated the change in date for the fixture which could have seen the Port Harcourt club go level on points with Wikki Tourists at the summit of the NPFL standings if they defeat Ikorodu United.

Meanwhile, four outstanding fixtures involving the champions, Enyimba, have also been rescheduled.

The Peoples Elephant will now face Sunshine Stars in Port Harcourt on August 3 while their outstanding game against Wikki Tourists will now be played on September 7.

STANDINGS POS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

TEAM Rangers Wikki Rivers Utd Kano Pillars Lobi Stars Enyimba Nasarawa IfeanyiUbah Sunshine Akwa Utd MFM FC Tornadoes Plateau Utd 3SC Abia Warriors El-Kanemi Warri Wolves Heartland Ikorodu Utd

P 28 28 26 28 28 26 27 27 26 28 27 27 28 27 28 27 28 27 25

W 13 13 14 12 12 12 13 11 10 11 10 11 9 11 9 11 9 7 3

D 9 8 2 6 6 5 1 7 9 6 6 3 9 3 8 1 7 9 9

L 6 7 10 10 10 9 13 9 7 11 11 13 10 13 11 15 12 11 13

GF 39 37 28 41 31 27 34 28 32 37 28 30 26 32 25 28 23 18 20

GA 31 20 20 29 25 24 33 27 26 34 29 33 29 41 32 34 31 25 41

GD 8 17 8 12 6 3 1 1 6 3 -1 -3 -3 -9 -7 -6 -8 -17 -21

Pts 48 47 44 42 42 41 40 40 39 39 36 36 36 36 35 34 34 30 18

Monday August 1, 2016

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UT H

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Price: N250

MISSILE OPS to FG

“When an economy is contracting as is the case in Nigeria today, countries work closely with the private sector by providing incentives and support to encourage them to maintain their investments and thus sustain employment level. Under such circumstances, taxes are reduced and impediments to growth are removed as Britain did recently following the Brexit” –The organised private sector warning the federal government that Nigeria’s economy is at the verge of tipping over, unless careful steps are taken and rash decisions avoided.

ALEXOTTI OUTSIDE THE BOX

alex.otti@thisdaylive.com

I Still Don’t Do Politics T

wo weeks ago, we started with a discussion of why it is important that we populate the political space with competent and skilled people rather than what it is today, where a lot of mediocrities and charlatans parade themselves as politicians, taking decisions on the lives of people who are more endowed than them. Today’s title should have been “I don’t do Politics Part II” but I remembered a two-volume interesting book I read several years ago which I will still recommend to interested readers today. The first volume is titled “What they don’t teach you at Harvard Business School” while the second volume is “What they still don’t teach you at Harvard Business School”. In these unconventionally titled books, Mark McComarck attempts to compliment what business schools taught by playing up the need to read and understand people as major requirements for the success of a street smart executive. He dwells on instincts, perception and preparations as sine qua non for effective negotiations and sales.

He ends up with tips on how to run successful businesses. Following McComarck’s lead, we have titled today’s piece, “I Still Don’t Do Politics”.

To buttress the point I made about the unpreparedness and mediocrity of some of our politicians, an Indian, resident in California who says he reads this column regularly, while commending my last column sent me a link to a YouTube video of a member of our House of Representatives struggling to answer a question on the economy. That video is better watched than described. Our honourable member in responding to a question on the economy described it as shaking and blinking and about sinking but on top of water, whatever that means. In defending President Muhammadu Buhari’s frequent trips, he explained that the president’s trip to Saudi Arabia was important because he needed to work on the Saudi government to increase oil prices since Nigeria was in his opinion, the largest oil producers. He concluded that he supports the president because he knows he is a “trust man”.

You do not have to take my word for it. Go to YouTube and search “Hilarious video: Nigerian Economy is doing like this and like this”.

We seem to have consigned ourselves to a nation that does not believe in putting our best foot forward.

I do not know of any serious football team that fields its third 11 or like in our case, those who lack football skills and expect to win. Of course, there are all sorts of reasons to justify why our best people show no interest in politics. I had a very interesting discussion with Comrade Peter Esele, a former President of TUC and PENGASSAN, smarting from the All Progressives Congress (APC) primaries where he lost to Godwin Obaseki in Edo State. He had called to discuss the last piece and opined that the major problem is funding.

Running elections is a very expensive venture and without state support, meaning the support of the incumbent, it is impossible for most people to participate successfully, he argued. While agreeing with him, I made the point that my advice goes first and foremost to those who are skilled and are able to fund the process but shy away for all sorts of reasons.

Rome was not built in a day and I strongly believe that if we have more competent people who show interest, it would be a question of time for the political space to be taken over by more qualified people. At the end of the discussion, Esele being convinced, sent me the following message which I have his permission to share: “I have equally made up my mind not to shy away. I am tired of agonising. We have to continue to knock on the door. Someday, somehow, it will

open and we all walk into a new day where critical, strategic and forward thinking leaders will hold sway to usher in a durable peace and progress for this paradise named, Nigeria” I thank Esele for letting me dissuade him from getting despondent from his not too good an experience in the Edo governorship primaries.

The other issue that scares the living daylight out of a lot of people is violence. The truth is that this is premeditated. The logic is that the right people who should be in politics in the country are not necessarily like the “thugs and dogs” who parade themselves as politicians today. They therefore unleash maximum violence including assassination to keep decent people away. Some politicians have perfected the art of arming unemployed youths who would cause mayhem and coerce people into submission right from the beginning of the electoral process. The sad part is that once they have been armed, it becomes impossible to disarm them even after the job for which they were recruited have been delivered. Sometimes, when their services are no longer required, they turn the arms against the people and against their masters that armed them in the first place.

While I will never advocate violence, I am a strong advocate of self-defence, even though no one really has a monopoly of violence. I do not agree that there is any level of violence that should keep people who have capacity to make a positive difference in the lives of the citizenry, away from seeking positions to actualise that.

Most importantly, depending on what and who you believe in, no one’s life is in the hands of any human being. As for me, with my very unshaken and unshakable belief in the power of the Almighty God, it is simply as recorded thus “no weapon fashioned against me shall prosper and any tongue that rises against me in judgement shall be condemned”.

The next issue is the matter of options. Because most of the competent people have options as their skills are required in virtually every area of the polity, they end up along the line of least resistance. A man who is doing well with his business or his profession doesn’t see the need to leave his comfort zone to an uncharted territory.

They feel it is too much risk to take. At times, they tell you that you don’t need to change a winning team. My take is that this is all about selfishness as people concerned here do not spare a thought as to how putting their skills and intellect at the disposal of the larger society can change the lives of millions of people. Public service is about public good. There comes a time when a man should pause and ask himself a few questions.

The wealth that you have accumulated, what do you want to do with it? How many people have gone to the great beyond with tonnes of money both local and foreign currency? What will you be remembered for when you are no more? Could you have been better remembered if you put your God-given intellect and skills to the service of a greater majority of the people?

Sometimes when I look at what our forebears achieved before oil became the mainstay of the Nigerian economy, I begin to wonder how we got to where we are today. The federal government is struggling. Virtually all the states are unable to pay salaries. Infrastructural decay has been our lot even when oil was selling for over $100 per barrel. Our education sector is in a state of hopelessness save for private sector entrance.

The healthcare delivery sector has since gone on retirement. We are unable to refine the crude that we produce and have stupendously enriched a few people with our common patrimony in the name of subsidy. No one talks about research

and development, much more innovation. We import virtually everything including toothpicks and pins. It is simply because we had outsourced leadership to the poorly endowed and poorly prepared while the rest of us have gone to bed.

These less endowed people now use all sorts of tactics including the ones discussed above to not only perpetuate themselves in power, but also keep the better endowed people at bay. Other than intimidation, they use religion and ethnicity as a tool to hold people down. They are good at giving these a slant that serves their interest when the need arises. The near illiteracy of the majority of the electorate adds impetus to these narratives.

I dare say that the refusal of the ruling class to properly fund education is one of the tools to ensure that the primordial narratives get sold to the electorate as a discerning mind knows that the hunger in the land today does not discriminate between the Christian in Onitsha and the Muslim in Kano. Neither does the Mallam in Sokoto buy dollars at a lower rate to import goods than the Diokpa in Asaba.

The next big tool in their kit is bribery. They deploy money to buy votes starting from the primaries to the general elections. Because the people have been so pauperized, both spiritually and materially, they want to live for today. It becomes unimportant that the money being distributed is their money. They forget that they can still take the money and vote their conscience like it has been done in some parts of the country. The distribution of money is sometimes preceded by false promises. This happens where the politicians feel the pressure to campaign. In other cases, they

simply ignore everyone only to show up with money by or just before election day. No one asks them questions and they are not accountable to anyone, knowing that part of the money they have stolen would be deployed at the next season.

The purpose of this intervention is to encourage more people who are endowed and have what it takes to pull this country out of the woods to make the required sacrifice and show interest in how the country is governed. A few good people have since joined, but they are in the minority. Once we have many good people joining, the misfits that dominate the landscape will begin to fade away on their own. I state categorically, that there is not enough intimidation, there is not enough road blocks, there’s not enough challenges to keep good people away. After all, it was Edmund Burke that wrote that the only condition under which evil will triumph is for good people to do nothing.

In the same vain, Albert Einstein remarked that the world will not be destroyed by people who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.

And to those who have arrogated to themselves the toga of “politicians”, these include those who arrogantly rebuked me for intruding in their professional space, those who have no day job but refer to themselves as “seasoned politicians” and those who are now proposing to float a bill at the floor of the Senate to establish “Institute of Chartered Politicians” I will not contend with you here, but will only leave you with this saying “Politicians and diapers have one thing in common; they should be changed regularly, and for the same reason”.

THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR MUCKRAKING… BELIEVE ME - MY PREDECESSOR HAS A LOT OF EXPLAINING TO DO! BUT THIS IS NO TIME FOR MUCKRAKING! I HAVE NO INTEREST IN THE PETTY, TRIFLING MATTERS OF HOW MANY VEHICLES HE WENT AWAY WITH OR…

….WHAT CALIBRE OF VEHICLES WILL ADORN MY OFFICE – THAT’S A MATTER FOR THE TRANSPORT SECTION! IT WORRIES ME THAT THERE ARE TOO MANY HIGH-PROFILE CRIMINAL CASES LEFT UNRESOLVED AND ON THE SHELF!

AND MY FIRST PRIORITY IS TO DUST UP THOSE FILES, REOPEN INVESTIGATIONS AND GET EVERYBODY FIRING ON ALL CYLINDERS! THE POLICE, UNDER MY TENURE WILL BE RESPONSIVE, PEOPLE-FRIENDLY AND ACCOUNTABLE!

THAT’LL BE THE DAY!

27-07-16

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