Saturday 22nd October 2016

Page 1

FG Upbeat about $1bn Eurobond to Be Issued Before End of Year Obinna Chima with agency report

The federal government yesterday expressed optimism that it would sell Eurobond worth around $1 billion to be issued before the end of the year. The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun who spoke

on the move, also disclosed that the government was in the process of appointing managers for the sale. The Eurobond is part of Nigeria's plans to borrow a total of N1.8 trillion ($5.8 billion) from abroad and at home to fund an expected budget deficit of N2.2 trillion this year.

"We are appointing parties this week, we are hoping to come before the end of the year," Adeosun told Reuters at the sidelines of an investment conference at the London Stock Exchange. She gave no details. "We have headroom and we are very fortunate in that regard, we have very low

debt to GDP ratio," she told the conference. Adeosun informed her audience that Nigeria had started a journey, which would take its economy from being dependent on oil as a primary commodity, to a more productive economy. She recently said the Nigerian economy had moved from

spending 90 per cent of its budget on recurrent items and only 10 per cent on capital expenditure, to 70 per cent on recurrent expenditure and 30 per cent on capital expenditure. “From the numbers that we have done, the infrastructure gap that we face, even if we devote our budget for the next

three years, it is not enough, so we’ve got to look for creative ways to mobilise additional capital. “We started of course with spending our own money (pension funds) because we think, of course, that the first thing Continued on page 6

Again, Fani Kayode Arrested on Fresh Money Laundering Charges ... Page 10 Saturday 22 October, 2016 Vol 21. No 7849 Price: N250

www.thisdaylive.com TR

UT H

& RE A S O

N

$2.1bn Arms Fund: Abuja Chief Judge Directs Dasuki Be Tried By One Judge Tobi Soniyi in Abuja The Chief Judge of the Abuja High Court, Justice Ishaq Bello has directed that one of the two judges handling two separate trials of the former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki should hands off the case.

Before now, Justice Baba Yusuf of Court No 4 and Justice Peter Affen of Court No 24 of the high court were trying Dasuki on two separate but related charges. The two charges involved alleged $2.1 billion fraud, money laundering and breach of trust. By the directive, Justice Affen

will hands off the case leaving only Justice Yusuf to handle the two charges. The decision to allow only one judge to handle the two trials was at the instance of the parties. The Chief Judge directed that the charges handled by Justice Affen be immediately

transferred to Justice Yusuf. The prosecutor, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs SAN, who confirmed this development, said it was the result of several hours of negotiation among the parties. Jacobs told newsmen at the court that the lawyers in the matter were worried over the delay the trial had suffered since

last year when it was initiated by the federal government through the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The prosecution counsel explained that Justice Affen had already been directed to step aside from the trial so that only one judge would take full

charge. He however hinted that the issue of merging the two charges into one as demanded by the ex-NSA would no longer arise having been overtaken by the new step taken in the matter adding that the two charges Continued on page 6

NJC: NBA's Advice to Suspend Judges Before Investigation Unacceptable Insists attacks on judges aimed at intimidating judiciary Invasion portends great danger to nation's democracy

Tobi Soniyi in Abuja The National Judicial Council (NJC) has strongly rejected the recent call by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) that judges recently arrested by the operatives of the Department of State Security Services (DSS) be asked to step aside from performing their judicial functions as judges pending full investigation of the allegations made against them by the security agency and possible trial. In a statement issued yesterday and signed by the council's Acting Director of Information, Mr Soji Oye, NJC said the position taken by the NBA was unacceptable and unconstitutional. NJC said that suspending judges pending investigation would amount to a breach of its regulations. The council said: "Thus, the current position of the Nigerian Bar Association vis-à-vis its recommendation that the affected judicial officers involved in the on-going investigation of judicial officers by the DSS, Continued on page 6

ICE PRINCE ZAMANI

My Hit Single Has Taken Me Through an Incredible Journey

SuperSaturday pg. 8-9

SOMACHI KACHIKWU

I Find Joy in Raising Children

Plus pg. 17-19

ANCHORING RICE PRODUCTION

L-R: Anambra State Governor, Chief Willy Obiano; Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbe; Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele during the inspection tour of the rice farms under the Anchor Borrowers programme in the state...yesterday

FG's Policies, Reforms will End Nigeria's Economic Woes, Says Osinbajo ... Page 6


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.