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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1, 2017Ëž T H I S D AY
NEWS
Ă?ĂĄĂ? ĂŽĂ“ĂžĂ™Ăœ Davidson Iriekpen Ă—Ă‹Ă“Ă– davidson.iriekpen@thisdaylive.com, 08111813081
Hearing on Suit by Aderinokun’s Daughter against GTBank, Others Fixed for March 24 Davidson Iriekpen A Federal High Court in Lagos yesterday adjourned till March 24, 2017, hearing in the suit filed by Miss Oluwatise Aderinokun, the eight-year-old and last child of the late founder and former Managing Director of
Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (GTB), Olutayo Aderinokun, against the bank and six others over alleged manipulation of her late father’s shares. Others respondents in the ensuing legal battle are GTBank’s Registrar, Datamax Registrar Limited, Kanali
I Will Not Run against Buhari, Says Tinubu Insists he is not preparing for presidential contest The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Bola Tinubu, has said he will never contest against President Muhammadu Buhari nor will he support anyone who does so. In a statement filled with vitriol over a THISDAY news report published yesterday on his preparations for a run for the presidency, the former Lagos State governor denied it, stating that he was not preparing to contest for the presidency in the 2019 elections. He said the story was aimed at placing him at odds with Buhari, adding that it was baseless. A statement by his media office said: “First, Tinubu is not gearing up for a presidential run. So there will not be any doubt about this core matter, we shall state Tinubu’s position clearly and unequivocally. “As long as that patriotic and committed man named Muhammadu Buhari holds and seeks to hold the mantle as our president, then Tinubu stands behind him in unwavering support and confidence. “Tinubu remains faithful to the mission of progressive reform and change that President Buhari, he and the All Progressives Congress (APC) members have started. “Tinubu was instrumental in the formation and success of the APC. His toil and efforts helped establish this government. He is not one to tear down something he laboured so dutifully to build.� The statement said the report misrepresented the mild banter Tinubu had with journalists at the inauguration of Ondo State Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu. “When asked about future political office, Tinubu said he could not discount that possibility if the nation called upon him for such service, provided, he emphasised, that all political conditions were appropriate; particularly the office in question would have to be vacant, even if it’s local government area chairmanship. “In our political lexicon, this means the office is not held by a member of the APC in good standing. We all know this. “Moreover, if you really listen to his words, Tinubu did not mention any office or any timeframe. The conditions he
mentioned may not become ripe for years to come and they might not pertain to the presidency. “In effect, all he said was the position that any political figure would hold. “As a politician, he cannot preclude the possibility of running for office in the future because no man knows what the future will hold,� the statement added. The statement signed by Tinubu’s media aide, Mr. Tunde Rahman, stressed that his principal has not held any planning meetings for any such presidential campaign and is not contemplating any such meetings. “He has no present list of possible running mates because he has no present intention of running,� it noted. It also described as false that Tinubu ever contemplated leaving the APC to join the Peoples Democratic Party (PCP), saying: “Asiwaju is acknowledged to be the intellectual father and the driving force behind the APC. It makes no sense that he would abandon the party that he worked hard to build in order to enter the dilapidated building the PDP has become. “Asiwaju worked for over 16 years to break the PDP yoke on the nation. After breaking that yoke, it is not in his nature to voluntarily place it back on our necks. “Anyone who has followed his career, even his staunchest critics, knows Asiwaju for his partisan consistency. He is not a party hopper. “He is loyal and sticks with the party to which he belongs. After fighting for so many years to elevate his party to the position of national leadership, he would not give that away in order to join with those who blame him for their currently bleak political circumstance.� The statement added that any attempt to put Tinubu at odds with the president would fail, saying he supports and stands behind Buhari. “He wishes the president well and that he returns soon. Whether the president is here or away, he has the full loyalty of Asiwaju Tinubu. “President Buhari can rest assured on this point: Asiwaju Tinubu will never contest against him nor will he support anyone who does,� it said.
r&EJUPS T /PUF 8F TUBOE by our story.
Investments Limited, Day Waterman Company Limited, Caribod Investment Limited, Mr. Babatunwa Aderinokun, and Investment One Financial Services Limited. At the resumed hearing of the suit yesterday, the seventh defendant, Investment One Financial Services Limited, one of the vehicles used by late Aderinokun, to acquire shares in GTBank, informed the court that it had filed an affidavit of facts before to assist the court in the judicious determination of the plaintiff’s suit. In the particulars of the affidavit of facts deposed to by one Mike Okoh, he averred that contrary to the averment of the sixth defendant, Mr. Babatunwa Aderinokun, that the third to fifth defendants companies, namely: Kanali Investment Limited, Day Waterman Company Limited and Cariboo Investment Limited were incorporated as asset holding companies and vehicles through which
late Aderinokun acquired invested and held his asset while planning his Estates during his lifetime. The deponent averred further that other shareholders and board of directors of the above mentioned companies constituting the first wife of the deceased, Mrs. Olufunlola Aderinokun, and the children of late Olutayo Aderinokun were fully aware of the deceased assets protecting strategy via corporate vehicles. He further stated that none of them paid for the shares neither do they participated in the management of the companies during his lifetime but only him ran the affairs of the companies. The deponent averred further that the incomes from the assets of the companies were enjoyed by late Aderinokun mixed with his personal incomes, as he used his personal incomes to purchase assets in the various companies, as his assets are intertwined with the corporate
assets of the companies during his lifetime. He acquired his assets and GTBank’s shares in the name of the three companies, which by his Will, indicated that his GTBank’s shares held in the names of three companies be distributed equally by his children. The issues regarding the distribution of his GTBank’s shares have been the subject of various discussions between the executors of his estates. However, Olumide Aju, lawyer representing Babatunwa Aderinokun, urged the court to strike out the affidavit of fact as it cannot be placed within the realm of any law. In the ensuing legal battle, Oluwatise Aderinokun who is suing GTBank and other respondents through her mother, Mrs. Salamotu Aderinokun, in a suit marked FHC/L/CS/1723/2015, is urging the court to declare that the recognition of three limited liability companies Kanali Investments Limited,
Day Waterman Company Limited and Cariboo Investment Limited (the proxies), as being entitled to the rights accruing to the shares issued by GTBank, held in the proxies’ names and in the name of her late father, Olutayo Aderinokun, is wrong and breach of the implied contract between the defendants and her late father. The plaintiff who is a minor, is also urging the court for an enquiry into what volume of her late father’s shares issued by GTBank were held in his name and the names the three companies, Kanali Investments Limited, Day Waterman Company Limited and Cariboo Investment Limited (being shares/Properties held in trust of the beneficiaries of her late father’s estate), as at the time of his death on June 14, 2011. And an account of the exact dividends due to the joint executors/trustees of her late father’s estate, being dividend accruals on the shares held in
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REFORMS FOR CIVIL SERVICE
L-R: Acting President , Professor Yemi Osinbajo; Head of Service of the Federation, Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita; Alhaji Aji Goni; and President of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, at the Quarterly Civil Service Lecture held at the Conference Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja ...yesterday Ë›
As New Devt Bank Takes off, Finance Ministry, CBN Parley on Intervention for SMEs Ndubuisi Francis Ă“Ă˜ ĂŒĂ&#x;ÔË As the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) begins the final processes of take-off, the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, has disclosed that her ministry is in discussions with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on the need to use the emerging bank to convey any of the CBN’s subsequent Small, Medium Enterpries’ (SMEs) interventions. Adeosun also stated that the DBN is being positioned to galvanise the SMEs sector for the overall development of the nation’s economy. According to her, the present administration is aware of the role of SMEs in national economy, hence
the resolve to position the DBN as a catalyst for the development of the SMEs. The minister, who spoke during a Board/ Management/Development partners’ retreat of the DBN in Abuja, last Monday, also assured the board that the federal government is ready to provide support for the new development financial institution. The DBN had convened its development partners and incoming management team and Board of Directors for an inaugural strategy retreat, in order to ready itself for immediate operation upon the issuance of its licence by the CBN. A statement issued by the minister’s media aide,
Mr. Festus Akanbi, said she decried the present situation where SMEs account for 45 per cent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) but just 10 per cent of bank credit. She pointed out that currently, Nigeria’s financing of MSMEs lagged significantly behind other countries, including Brazil (63 per cent), Ghana (36 per cent), China (30 per cent), Kenya (24 per cent), and South Africa (21 per cent). However, the minister who disclosed that the operating licence for DBN was expected imminently also believed that through the activities of the DBN, some of the problems currently discouraging the growth of the SMEs sector would be effectively tackled. She stated that DBN would
lend to microfinance banks, which will in turn develop specific products for specific markets at a lower interest rate than currently available to SMEs. The DBN is a wholesale financial institution, which aims to increase access to finance for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) through eligible financial intermediaries (“participating financial institutionsâ€?). It will have access to US$1.3 billon (N396.5 billion), which will be provided by the World Bank, KfW (German Development Bank), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Agence Française de Development (French Development Agency).