Monday 16th July 2018

Oando: London Arbitration Court Orders Tinubu’s Firms to Pay $680m, Says Volpi Ugo Aliogo There appears to be no end in sight in the tussle between Oando Plc and Ansbury Investments Incorporated as the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) has issued an award

against two companies owned by the Chief Executive Officer of Oando Plc, Mr. Wale Tinubu, and his deputy, Mr. Mofe Boyo, to pay a total debt of US$680 million (N244.8 billion) to Ansbury Investments, owned

by Mr. Gabriele Volpi.

In its ruling on July 6, 2018,

the LCIA held that Ocean and Oil Development Partners (OODP), British Virgin Islands, which owns 55.96 per cent of Oando Plc through a holding company named Ocean and Oil Development Partners (OODP) Nigeria Limited, is indebted to Ansbury

Investments Incorporated to the tune of US$600 million (equivalent of N216 billion).

An international lawyer and counsel to Ansbury Investment, Mr. Andrea Moja, confirmed the LCIA award in a statement yesterday.

According to Moja, the

Arbitration Court also held that a company known as Whitmore Asset Management Limited, whose ultimate beneficial owners are Tinubu and Boyo, were also indebted to Ansbury Investment to the tune of another US$80 million (N28.8 billion).

This made the total debt owed by the Oando chief executives to Ansbury Investment US$680 million.

Documents obtained from the LCIA, which is reputed to be one of the world’s leading Continued on page 8

Volpi to Pay 60% of $600m Judgement Debt Awarded by LCIA, Says Oando… Page 51 Monday 16 July, 2018 Vol 23. No 8488. Price: N250

www.thisdaylive.com TR

UT H

& RE A S O

N

Stock Market Loses N320bn on Profit-taking, Political Uncertainties… Page 16

With Ekiti, APC in Firm Control of South-west

May alter political alignment towards 2019 Buhari, Saraki, Obasanjo, Tinubu congratulate Fayemi PDP, Olusola reject results, say it’s daylight robbery, meet with party leaders APC: People’s will has prevailed

Iyobosa Uwugiaren, Deji Elumoye, Omololu Ogunmade, Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja, Nseobong Okon-Ekong, Victor

Ogunje, in Ado-Ekiti, Femi Ogbonnikan in Abeokuta and Segun James in Lagos

With last Saturday’s election of All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, as the next governor

of Ekiti State, the South-west geo-political zone has now come under the firm grip of the ruling party, a feat that had

not been performed since 1979, when the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), cornered all the three states in the region.

Fayemi had prevailed over the Peoples Democratic Party Continued on page 16

Confusion Persists over Nigeria’s Daily Petrol Consumption Figures NNPC claims 50m litres; PPPRA, 45m litres; DPR insists on 30m litres China NOC to invest $3bn in Nigeria Chineme Okafor in Abuja Confusion has continued to trail the claim by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) that Nigeria consumes 50 million litres of petrol, according to THISDAY checks.

THISDAY gathered that the NNPC, the Department

of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) have stuck to conflicting figures of 50 million litres, 45 million litres and 30 million litres, respectively.

This development is Continued on page 10

France Overpower Croatia to Lift 2018 World Cup … Page 10

4/Ò#/..%#4Ò!.$Ò3(!2%Ò!4Ò5.%15!,,%$Ò30%%$

THE WORLD AT THEIR FEET…

French players celebrate their victory over Croatia at the 2018 FIFA World Cup Final, Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow… last night

2

T H I S D AY ˾ ͯʹ˜ ͰͮͯͶ

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY JULY 16, 2018

3

4

T H I S D AY ˾ ͯʹ˜ ͰͮͯͶ

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY JULY 16, 2018

5

6

T H I S D AY ˾ ͯʹ˜ ͰͮͯͶ

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY JULY 16, 2018

7

8

T H I S D AY ˾ ͯʹ˜ ͰͮͯͶ

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY JULY 16, 2018

9

10

MONDAY, JULY 16, 2018 ˾ T H I S D AY

PAGE TEN

France Overpower Croatia to Lift 2018 World Cup Duro Ikhazuagbe in Moscow France defeated Croatia 4-2 yesterday to lift the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. It was Les Bleus second title after winning the first as host in 1998.

The clash was an entertaining final at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow in what was a fitting end to an outstanding tournament in Russia.

France’s first goal came from Antoine Griezmann's free kick from the right flank and was nodded into Croatia net for an own goal by Mario Mandzukic.

After the interval, France increased their lead through Paul Pogba, whose performances in the tournament deserved a goal in its final.

Quick fire strikes by Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappe midway through the second half put France on course for the title but Mandzukic

was gifted a goal by French keeper, Hugo Lloris, to set up a nervous last 20 minutes.

France, however, withstood a spirited Croatia assault to lift the trophy for the second time, following their success on home soil 20 years ago, and ensure there was no repeat of two years ago when they were beaten in the European Championship final by Portugal in Paris.

The victory means that Didier Deschamps, captain of the 1998 side, becomes the third man to win the World Cup as player and coach after Brazil's Mario Zagallo and Germany's Franz Beckenbauer.

It was the highest-scoring final since England beat West Germany 4-2 after extra-time in 1966 and the highest in normal time since Brazil beat Sweden 5-2, 60 years ago. The landmarks came thick and fast in the first half too.

Croatia had started full of energy but fell behind when Mandzukic, who scored the extra-time winner against England in the semi-final, became the first man to score

an own goal in a World Cup final when a Griezmann’s free kick skidded in off his head in the 18th minute. It was the 12th own goal of the tournament.

That meant it was the fourth successive knockout game that Croatia had conceded first but Perisic, who got the equaliser against England, was on hand again to level the scores 10 minutes later, smashing in a low shot after Sime Vrsaljko had headed Luka Modric's free kick across the box.

But it was then Perisic's turn to go from hero to villain when he flapped an arm at a corner and, after a VAR review, Argentine referee, Nestor Pitana, awarded the 28th penalty of the tournament, another record, which Griezmann stroked home in the 38th minute for his fourth goal of Russia 2018.

That made it the highestscoring first half since 1974, when West Germany led the Netherlands 2-1, also the final score then.

It was harsh on Croatia, who had made most of the running, and they were on top again

after the break, continually winning their one-on-one duels in the air and in every

tackle and forging forward in the French box with plenty of variety.

Expectedly, Griezmann was voted Budweiser Man of the Match.

LEARNING FROM BEST PRACTICES…

L-R: Senate Leader, Senator Ahmad Lawan; Senate President Bukola Saraki; and Ambassador Johnnie Carson of the US Institute of Peace; during the Senate delegation’s visit to the institute in the US… yesterday

C O N F U S I O N P E R S I ST S OV E R N I G E R I A’S DA I LY PETRO L CO N SU MPTI O N FI G U R ES coming as the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) has expressed its readiness to invest additional $3 billion in its existing stakes in offshore oil and gas operations in the country.

THISDAY had reported yesterday that the NNPC and the DPR were in disagreement over the country’s petrol consumption figures, with the corporation reportedly accusing the DPR of making a presentation that was contrary to its claims to the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF).

In a letter from the NNPC to the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, to state its position in the recent controversy surrounding remittance to the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC), the DPR reportedly told the NGF that NNPC’s claims were suspicious.

But the NNPC said the regulatory agency intentionally did that to embarrass the government.

A highly placed official in the PPPRA has added a fresh

perspective to THISDAY’s exclusive report on the reported controversy.

While the NNPC claimed that the country’s daily consumption was averaging 50 million litres, and at some points got to 60 million litres, the PPPRA source who asked not to be named in this report, explained the agency had maintained a 35 million litres per day consumption figure but sometimes mark up to 45 million during periods of national religious celebrations and holidays which push consumption a bit up.

He noted that the agency had never marked up daily consumption to 50 and 60 million litres.

“Consumption is always high during the festive period because people usually travel and there are lots of consumption.

“PPPRA in the past had always placed daily consumption between 30 and 35 million, but the figure rises to 40 to 45 million during the festive periods,” explained the source, who suggested the NNPC might

be exploiting its current role as a sole importer.

Further, THISDAY’s review of the latest petrol products stock data of the PPPRA, which was last updated on July 8, indicated that the country’s total average consumption for petrol was 45 million litres; diesel, nine million litres; household kerosene, eight million litres and aviation fuel, 1.5 million litres.

The document stated that the country’s total petrol stock – marine and land based, was 1,462,329,507 litres, with 32 days sufficiency, which when calculated gave a daily consumption ratio of 44.9 million litres.

The spokesman of the DPR, which is the apex regulator of the oil and gas industry, Mr. Paul Osu, could not be reached yesterday for his official reaction but an official of the Downstream Division, who opted not to be quoted because of the sensitive nature of the issue, told THISDAY that the NNPC operates like a cult, whose activities are not transparent.

He noted that the efforts by

the successive administrations to open up the NNPC failed, adding that the figures being bandied by the NNPC as the country’s daily consumption for petrol were false.

According to him, Nigeria does not consume more than 30 million litres of petrol daily.

“It is false for NNPC to claim high figures. We are not consuming more than 30 million litres daily. But the NNPC operates like a cult and it did not start today. It has always been like that. Successive members of the National Assembly have tried to unravel the mystery behind the cult-like operation of the NNPC but nothing changed. NNPC will go to the National Assembly and make presentations and the matter will end. It is only when you get to the level of the presidency that you will understand how the NNPC operates,” he explained When contacted yesterday, NNPC Group General Manager, Public Affairs, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, refused to comment.

CNOOC to Invest $3bn Meanwhile, the CNOOC has expressed its readiness to invest additional $3 billion in its existing stakes in offshore oil and gas operations in the Nigeria, the NNPC has disclosed.

According to Ughamadu, in a statement he sent to THISDAY in Abuja, a team of CNOOC’s top executives was at the corporation recently over the planned investment.

Ughamadu explained that the team was led by CNOOC’s Chief Executive Officer, Yuan Guangyu, who reportedly described the company’s investment in Nigeria as the most strategic and important overseas business undertaking.

He said CNOOC had invested over $14 billion in its Nigerian operations, and called on the management of the NNPC to seek common grounds of beneficial interest with CNOOC for enhanced productivity.

Guangyu also said Nigeria had remained the largest

investment destination for CNOOC. The statement quoted the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru, who was represented by the corporation’s Chief Operating Officer (COO), Ventures, Dr. Victor Adeniran, to have thanked CNOOC for its interest in Nigeria’s petroleum industry.

He said the corporation was open to new investments and would foster meaningful and mutually beneficial relations with credible entities like CNOOC. The statement added that the CNOOC was founded in 1982, and is one of China’s three big national oil entities.

It added that CNOOC was originally focused on offshore upstream exploration and production, while the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) was slanted towards onshore upstream exploration and production.

SINOPEC, the third of the tripod, it explained was focused on refining and marketing.

OA N D O : LO N D O N A R B I T R AT I O N C O URT O RD ERS TI N U BU ’S FI R MS TO PAY $680M, SAYS VOLPI international institutions for commercial dispute resolution, identified the family of Volpi, a Nigerian-Italian, as the ultimate beneficial owner of Ansbury, while Tinubu and Boyo were identified as the ultimate beneficial owners of Whitmore Assets Management Limited.

The London Arbitration Court held that an existing “Third Shareholders Agreement” between the parties is fully and legally binding on the parties as claimed by Ansbury Investment.

The documents indicated that a Final Award in which the court would pronounce on accrued interests on the debts owed and legal expenses incurred

by Ansbury would follow in the next few days.

The LCIA award was communicated to the parties concerned on July 9, 2018.

The statement added, “The award has been communicated to the parties on July 9th, 2018 and the key terms are as follows:

“The claim of Whitmore Asset Management Limited that the parties agreed to a binding Fourth Shareholders Agreement was rejected. The court upheld the position that the third shareholders’ aagreement is fully and legally binding between the parties as stated by Ansbury Investments Inc. “The alleged agreement by which Whitmore Asset Management Limited was to hold 60% of Ocean and Oil Development Partners (BVI) Ltd is not binding on the parties.

“Ocean and Oil Development Partners (Bvi) Ltd owes a debt to Ansbury Investments Inc for an amount of US$ 600 million.

“Whitmore Asset Management Limited owes a debt to Ansbury Investments Inc for an amount of US$ 80 million.

“This Partial Award will be followed by a Final Award in which the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) will pronounce on interests on

the amounts owed and legal expenses.

“Given the above, Ansbury Investments Inc will immediately submit an application to London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) in which it will be asked to charge Whitmore Asset Management Limited for all the due interests and legal expenses as well.”

In 2012, Ansbury reportedly invested about $700 million in Ocean and Oil Development Partners Limited (OODP BVI), a special purpose vehicle registered in the British Virgin Islands by acquiring a 61.9 per cent stake in the firm, while a company owned by Tinubu, Withmore Limited, held 38.10 per cent of the stake in OODP BVI. Tinubu had approached Volpi to invest in the British Virgin Islands-registered firm when Oando Plc was seeking to acquire ConocoPhillips’ upstream oil and gas assets in Nigeria for $1.5 billion.

OODP BVI, in turn, owns 99.99 per cent of the shares of Ocean and Oil Development Partners Nigeria Limited (OODP Nigeria), which holds 55.96 per cent of the shares in Oando.

When the disagreement broke in 2017, Ansbury had also petitioned the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in May over allegation of financial mismanagement, huge indebtedness as well as falsification of financial statement.

The petition then was titled “Serious Concern to Corporate Governance Existence, Gross Abuse of Corporate Governance and Financial Management in Oando Plc – Request for Urgent Regulatory Intervention.”

In the petition, Ansbury had also cited page eight of the company’s annual report of 2016, alleging that a “strong uncertainty regarding the going concern status of the group had already arisen in 2015 and strengthened in 2016 as clearly pointed out

by the auditors in their report”.

The petitioners had also alleged that “operational management closed with a consistent loss of over N7.68 billion, significantly worse than 2015”, arguing further that “the net loss for the year from continuing operations in 2016 amounted to N25.8 billion, adding to the net loss of N34.9 billion of the previous year (2015)”.

In addition, Ansbury had also informed SEC that Oando’s “current liabilities as at December 31, 2016, far exceeds the current assets by N263.7 billion, confirming serious financial imbalance from the previous financial year”.

The petition had culminated in the suspension of Oando’s shares on the floors of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) in October 2017. The suspension was however lifted on April 11, 2018.

SEC has since ordered a forensic audit of Oando’s financial records.

TOP GAINERS NGN NGN IKEJHOTEL 0.23 2.58 MRSOIL 1.70 36.05 STERLBANK 0.06 1.29 FIDSON 0.25 5.95 LAWUNION 0.04 0.98 TOP LOSERS NGN NGN EQUITY 0.02 0.21 ASSURANCE FIDELITY 0.16 1.90 JAPAUL 0.02 0.24 DANGFLOUR 0.65 8.90 JBERGER 1.45 27.55 HPE Nestle Nig Plc ₦1,600.00 Volume: 256.430 million shares Value: N2.949 billion Deals: 4,911 As at 13/7/18 See details on Page 37

% 9.7 4.9 4.6 4.3 4.2 % 8.7 7.7 7.6 6.8 5.0

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY JULY 16, 2018

11

12

T H I S D AY ˾ ͯʹ˜ ͰͮͯͶ

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY JULY 16, 2018

13

EFFECTIVE NOW

14

T H I S D AY Ëž Ëœ ÍŻÍ´Ëœ Í°ÍŽÍŻÍś

COMMENT

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

FINANCIAL INCLUSION AND NATIONAL POVERTY LEVELS India provides lessons in financial inclusion, writes Yewande Enobakhare-Adewusi

O

f Nigeria’s growing population of an estimated 186 million people, nearly 87 million are living in extreme poverty, according to the World Poverty Clock. And even more disturbing is that the same monitoring tool indicates that the country’s poverty level is on a continuous and rapid rise, with about six people falling into poverty every minute. Lack of access to basic amenities such as food and water, increased spread of diseases and mortality rates against the country’s high corruption level, poor educational system, and under-utilisation of resources are just a few of the factors which cause and enhance this dire situation. Despite the country’s economic growth, in February this year, it was reported by the AfDB that over 150 million Nigerians (81% of the population) live on less than $2 a day – a 20% increase in people since 2014.

Access to financial services such as banking, lending services, micro-financing, and economic resources, i.e., financial inclusion has long been heralded as a way to reduce poverty. Increased banking deposits provide available credit for all people across countries, and enable increased consumption and investment which help to drive economic growth, and in turn, job creation. Ghana, Uganda and India have established and adopted financial inclusion strategies as a means to reducing poverty, and now find themselves seeing significant results. In Uganda, inclusion rates have been on the rise (from 28% in 2009 to 85% in 2017), and the government has developed its national financial inclusion strategy for 2017 to 2022 to accelerate this further. Ghana has had even more success in correlating its financial inclusion strategies with poverty reduction – from an inclusion rate of 41% in 2014, to 58% in 2017, also reflected in mobile money usage, which grew from 13% to 39% in the same period. The poverty population in Ghana declined from to 24% in 2013 to 13% in 2018. The Indian example provides an even stronger illustration of the alignment between financial inclusion and poverty levels – over an eight-year period ending in 2017; there was a 45% increase in the number of financially included citizens, and the country now has 65 people escaping poverty every minute. According to the World Poverty Clock, India has shown one of the fastest rates of poverty reduction in the world, and there are indications that poverty could be eliminated by 2030. India, which has had the highest global poverty rate (in terms of absolute numbers of people) for decades, has now been surpassed by Nigeria. At the end of May 2018, a study showed that in comparison to India’s 73 million citizens (11% of the total population) living in extreme poverty, Nigeria, which has over 40% of its population living in extreme poverty, has now surpassed India.

Furthermore, with a year-on-year population increase of 3%, and the overall number of Nigerians with access to financial services having dropped from 44% in 2014 to 40% in 2017, this report highlights an increased urgency for Nigeria to increase and improve its efforts in establishing stronger and more effective long-term approaches to financial inclusion.

The progress made so far in India provides numerous lessons for achieving success and avoiding pitfalls in Nigeria’s financial inclusion strategy. India has a long history of efforts by various Indian governments to push for increased financial inclusion, but

INCREASED BANKING DEPOSITS PROVIDE AVAILABLE CREDIT FOR ALL PEOPLE ACROSS COUNTRIES, AND ENABLE INCREASED CONSUMPTION AND INVESTMENT WHICH HELP TO DRIVE ECONOMIC GROWTH, AND IN TURN, JOB CREATION

few approaches have had as much impact as Prime Minister Narendra Modi “Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana� (PMJDY) – a wealth scheme launched in 2014.This scheme was established to increase the number of people with bank accounts in the country, which in 2014 was at 53% of citizens aged over 15. This effort was based on no-frills accounts and government subsidy disbursements and drove a large number of account openings – with over 260 million accounts opened between 2014 and 2016. However, this no-frills account structure – which allowed the maintenance of accounts with or with little or no minimum balances – created significant systemic issues. These accounts were largely inactive and thus expensive to maintain, for no associated revenue, while lending done to the recipients quickly became non-performing, leaving significant liabilities on the bank’s balance sheets.

To address these risks, and reduce the burden on the traditional banking sector, the government has established a new banking licence – payment banks – in 2014. This license essentially gives companies which already serve the poorest members of the wider population the ability to offer financial services. Companies of this sort could range from FMCG distributors to telecommunications and retail companies. They provide customers with quick and easy access to a bank account, easy fund transfer, digital debit cards, and interest rates on savings accounts, which all combine to increase their attractiveness. The most successful is Pay TM, an e-commerce company that also operates under the payment banks licence; in just two years of operations, they attracted 300 million customers. By April 2018, the Reserve Bank of India had given licenses to 11 banks, and there were six banks in operation. The successful adoption of these banks is indicative of a likelihood of being able to offer third-party products such as insurance, loans and mutual funds, in the near future.

As with all successful development-driving activities, the Indian government ensured that their efforts towards increasing inclusiveness was closely monitored, with clear benchmarks such that all progress could be easily measured. The country launched its first financial inclusion index in 2013 – the CRISIL Inclusix – with the objective of becoming a critical gauge for measuring progress on financial inclusion based on branch penetration, deposit penetration, credit penetration and insurance penetration. This Index would also enable the government to see where an enhancement of tactics and changes in approach might be required.

However, while enormous growth continues to be recorded in India, a neglect of direct financial literacy efforts has been reported by many, who have illustrated a limited awareness of financial solutions amongst lower income populations and tech-savvy youths. In addition, payment banks face challenges of overcompetition, and an inability to lend money, which result in access limitations. Thus, while India’s approach presents a strong model to follow, the Nigerian market needs to adopt its own markettailored strategy, which accommodates all the various ways to develop a more inclusive society, from immediate banking access to enhanced literacy and awareness to an efficient leveraging of mobile and broadband technology.

Enobakhare-Adewusi is a ďŹ nancial inclusion and digital ďŹ nancial services strategy consultant

NORTHERN MINORITIES: FOLLOW PAUL UNONGO Sebastian Ikyegh Agbinda writes that Unongo provides life-long experience to others

L

ike some eternally mobile Fulani herdsmen, Paul Iorpuu Unongo is a political herdsman. His political mobility has seen him in Ibo party territory as the Secretary General of Zik’s NPP in the Second Republic. As ethnicised as the party, it was seen as a left of centre transactional edifice. This is especially if you attempted to compare it with the far-right conservative NPN, owned literally by Fulani hegemony.

In the NPP, Unongo would exercise some distance from J.S. Tarka. Paul Unongo would be part of the midwifery operations for the NPN-NPP accord which stabilised the Shagari government for which he would be rewarded with a princely ministerial appointment as Minister of Steel – the highest political office he would hold in his tall political career.

The Second Republic would see Wantaregh – son of the Tiv nation – as his Tiv people would prefer him called, moved into the SDP, seen as progressive in comparison to the NRC. In Benue State, he would define the character of the party by mobilising his forces against Fr, Moses Orshio Adasu who would become governor in 1992. Unongo would part ways with the SDP when Fr. Adasu would nominate him to serve on Chief MKO Abiola’s campaign – citing the difficulties of campaigning for a Muslim – Muslim ticket amongst other reasons.

He would then move to the Tofa – Ugoh Muslim – Christian ticket – where his great electioneering skills would be put to little or failed consequences in the Abiola “victory� of June 12th.

Since then, Unongo has remained and played with the conservative North – until early this year, gravitating from one Fulani association to the other until he was rewarded, after the death of Maitama Sule, with the exalted position of Northern Elders Forum – a Fulani hegemonist outfit that positions itself as a counterweight to the Yoruba Elders Forum, Afenifere or the Ibo group, Ohaneze. Why did he leave the Northern Elders Forum? We can say that given the timing of his departure, which coincided with the death of his Tiv people in early January, 2018, in the hands of Fulani herdsmen and with a near casual response from his group or, other “Northern� associations and institutions, Unongo acknowledged in his departure, the contradiction he was as headship and chief spokesman for the far-Northern Fulani outfit and his minority origins.

Before his departure as leader and chief spokesperson for the Northern Elders Forum, Unongo had very flamboyantly told the nation in the midst of the restructuring debate that the North was not going to give up its advantages contained in the present constitution on the alter of restructuring.

This was most telling. First, he admitted that the subsisting constitution contained mostly “Northern advantages�. Secondly, he justified the need for its amendment so that it would be a win-win document for all ethnic or regional entities. The outstanding question was which North was this constitution advantageous to?

This question is important because the Yoruba gerontocratic vehicle Afenifere speaks for the Yoruba - an ethnical monolith.

The Ohaneze, the Ibo Sanhedrin, for the Ibo monolith. The Northern Elders Forum cannot speak for the Fulani for instance, who actually own it, but the Tiv, one of several minority groups in the North - which have very little to share with the Fulani – as Unongo has only belatedly “discovered�.

We may not have the benefit of space here to deliberate on Northern advantages in-built in the present constitution. However, we can say that these advantages are not available to the minorities of the North from where Unongo comes. The North-Central zone from where Unongo comes does not have the local governments or states that the North has. The Fulani that he was speaking for, almost absent-mindedly, have a population only just comparable to his Tiv group yet they exert an unusual control over items in the constitution’s exclusive list, an area of Fulani ethnic control which is unjust, unfair.

The Hausa who have the demographic

advantage are mostly out in the cold.

The “advantages� and advice of Unongo’s withdrawal from the Northern Elders Forum is, given his old age, which comes with wisdom, that minority governors in the North must withdraw from the so-called Northern institutions or associations. Unongo is saying that the message of the Fulani herdsmen, their killing forays in the Middle Belt minority states, belies any form of Northerness – or brotherhood.

Via the Fulani killings, Unongo rediscovered himself. He was truly not a Northerner.

He could not be a Northerner. He could not be a replacement for Maitama Sule. He could not be a spokesman for a “Northern�

Elders Forum. The Fulani herdsmen killings have “restructured� Unongo, whom instead of now spreading the language of restructuring, has driven himself into quiet, timid retrospection, which is wrong.

What Unongo should do now is not to isolate himself painfully in retrospection and shock at how wrong he had characterised his Fulani neighbours.

He should carry out a tour of the Northern minority states – Plateau, Benue, Kwara, Taraba, Adamawa, Nasarawa and tell them to withdraw from all associations and institutions of the North. He should tell them to restructure the North mentally, institutionally, etc., as a prelude to restructuring the centre.

Unongo must join the Fulani herdsmen and Gen. T.Y. Danjuma, J.S. Tarka, Saraki Solomon Lar, Aper Aku and all in this restructuring agenda now or never.

15

T H I S D AY MONDAY, JULY 16, 2018

EDITORIAL THE NFIU ACT AND MATTERS ARISING The government should urgently submit the act to the Egmont group

L

ast week, President Muhammadu Buhari assented to the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) Act, 2018. The law establishes a legal framework for a national centre that will be responsible for the receipt and analysis of information from financial institutions and designated non-financial institutions, for the purpose of generating and disseminating intelligence to all law enforcement agencies and other competent persons. While the absence of a legal framework for financial intelligence unit and lack of operational and financial autonomy, among others were problems in the past, the situation has been redressed with the law.

However, having a law in place is one thing, ensuring effective implementation is even more important. The next thing the president must do urgently is to send the name of a fit and proper person to the National Assembly as head of the unit for consideration while putting in place the necessary structure for a functional agency that will be able to discharge its responsibilities. The 2018 act provides the NFIU with operational independence and autonomy and greater ability to provide financial intelligence to all competent authorities in order to strengthen anti-money laundering THE 2018 ACT and combat the financPROVIDES THE NFIU ing of terrorism (AML/ WITH OPERATIONAL CFT) measures.

INDEPENDENCE AND The NFIU was set AUTONOMY AND up in 2006 as part of GREATER ABILITY TO the efforts to combat money laundering and PROVIDE FINANCIAL the financing of terrorist INTELLIGENCE TO activities in Nigeria, and ALL COMPETENT as a pre-condition for the AUTHORITIES IN ORDER removal of Nigeria from TO STRENGTHEN ANTI- the Financial Action MONEY LAUNDERING Task Force (FATF) list of non-cooperation countries and territories (NCCTs). The deficiency identified by the international community is the absence of operational autonomy, confidentiality and a legal framework.

The mandate of the new NFIU is to receive and collect currency transaction reports (CTRs) as well as suspicious transactions reports (STRs) and other information

Letters to the Editor

relevant to the money laundering and terrorist financing activities from financial institutions and designated non-financial institutions. The unit will also receive reports on cross-border movement of currency and monetary instruments; analyse and assess the information and reports it receives; conduct mandatory review of supervisory reports and criminal referrals; maintain a comprehensive financial intelligence database for information collection and exchange intelligence with counterpart FIUs and law enforcement agencies around the world. All of these, while maintaining a network with the regulatory authorities and law enforcement authorities in Nigeria.

O T H I S DAY EDITOR BOLAJI ADEBIYI DEPUTY EDITOR DAVIDSON IRIEKPEN MANAGING DIRECTOR ENIOLA BELLO DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR KAYODE KOMOLAFE CHAIRMAN EDITORIAL BOARD OLUSEGUN ADENIYI EDITOR NATION’S CAPITAL IYOBOSA UWUGIAREN MANAGING EDITOR JOSEPH USHIGIALE

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, IJEOMA NWOGWUGWU, EMMANUEL EFENI DIVISIONAL DIRECTORS BOLAJI ADEBIYI, PETER IWEGBU, ANTHONY OGEDENGBE DEPUTY DIVISIONAL DIRECTOR OJOGUN VICTOR DANBOYI SNR. ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR ERIC OJEH ASSOCIATE DIRECTORS PATRICK EIMIUHI, SAHEED ADEYEMO CONTROLLERS ABIMBOLA TAIWO, UCHENNA DIBIAGWU, NDUKA MOSERI DIRECTOR, PRINTING PRODUCTION CHUKS ONWUDINJO TO SEND EMAIL: first name.surname@thisdaylive.com

ther functions of the new NFIU will include: to advise the government and regulatory authorities on the prevention and combating of economic and financial crimes; liaise with compliance officers and ensure strong compliance culture in financial institutions; provide financial intelligence reports/statistics in the investigation and prosecution of offenders under the relevant laws; promote public awareness and understanding of matters relating to economic and financial crimes, money laundering and financing of terrorist activities and to trail money transactions in banks and other financial institutions.

However, it is important to highlight the fact that Nigeria remains suspended from the Egmont Group of FIUs, meaning that the country has not been receiving external financial intelligence since July, 2017 and this will remain in force until the suspension is lifted. Now that the NFIU bill is assented, the authorities must move quickly. As the Egmont Plenary holds in September 2018, the federal government must urgently submit the assented copy of the bill to the global body. It is better late than never.

In addition, the executive should work closely with the National Assembly to ensure the prompt passage of the following bills into law: the Proceeds of Crime-POCA; Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters, the repeal and re-enactment of the Money Laundering Prevention and Prohibition Act and the Terrorism Prevention Act, as well as the Whistle Blowers/ Witness Protection. These laws are necessary, if Nigeria must be taken seriously, particularly as the country prepares for an international mutual evaluation by the FATF in 2019.

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.

LAGOS‘SAFETY ARENA’AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

N

o one prays for disaster to happen. But then, the reality is that occurrence of natural and man-made disasters is an integral part of our daily living.

Nevertheless, in as much as no one can really predict where, when and how tragedy might occur, its containment whenever it does come up could be strategically planned for ahead of time.

It is in line with this reality that the Lagos State government established “The Safety Arena” at Cappa, Oshodi. The creation of the arena was borne out of the need to synchronise activities of the various departments and agencies that are saddled with the task of managing safety and emergency in the state. These include Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA); Fire Service Department; Environmental Health Department; Lagos State Ambulance Services (LASAMBUS); State Environmental Health Monitoring Unit (SEHMU); Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA); Safety Commission; Lagos State Neighbourhood Safety Corps (LNSC); Nigerian Legion; Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in a particular place since they are inter-dependent.

The goal is to bring about improved inter-sectoral collaboration for emergency responders in the state. Undoubtedly, constant interface between various governmental agencies is quite central to safety and emergency management. Cheerfully, the coming on board of the arena has brought about easy synchronisation of activities of all relevant stakeholders to achieve a common goal.

Currently, emergency management is being reinvented in the state to meet global standard. Part of the strategy is the repositioning of the

Lagos State Emergency Agency (LASEMA). The agency now operates via four additional centres, namely Command & Control Centre, Alausa, Ikeja; LASEMA Response Unit (LRU) Cappa Oshodi; LASEMA Response Unit, Lekki (by Lekki-Ikoyi Link Bridge) and LASEMA Response Unit Onipanu. Presently, plans are ongoing to establish additional three divisional (upgraded) dispatch centres at Ijanikin (to cover Badagry Axis); Temu Junction, Epe (to cover Epe-Itokin and Epe-Ijebu-Ode axis) LASPOTECH, Ikorodu (to cover Ikorodu-Agbowa Axis), and a fourth conventional LASEMA Response Unit (LRU) at Costain (to cover Apapa axis and its environs).

It needs to be stressed that while the Lekki Response Unit was strategically located to facilitate quick response to emergencies on the state’s waterways and for proximity to riverine areas of Lekki and environs, a new ultra-modern LASEMA Response Unit (LRU), strategically located along Ikorodu Road, a central location within the Lagos Mainland, was recently created. Also, relief/resettlement camps have been created in Agbowa and Igando to cater for disaster-related Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) across the state while work has commenced on the construction of a third Relief/ Rehabilitation Camp in Lekki.

Since emergency management is mostly enhanced by improved tools, the LRU is now well equipped with modern emergency management apparatuses ranging from trucks, power bikes, heavy-duty vehicles and fire trucks, to mobile intensive care ambulances (MICA) which are stationed at strategic locations. In February, 2018, light rescue equipment such as hydraulic rescue equipment, power unit attached with spreader, rescue ram, cutters combi tools and concrete cutters

were procured to further enhance emergency operation in the state.

The agency also recently launched 14 BMW power bikes which are used for on-spot reconnaissance assessments of emergency incidents.

Also, the scope of the activities of Emergency Management Volunteers, (EMVs) in the state is being widened to enhance their operation.

The, EMVs, which were drawn from all the local government/council development areas of the state is a scheme designed to co-opt more people into emergency response enterprise.

Similarly, with a view to improving its emergency response implementation strategy, a State Incident Management System (SIMS) at the command and control centre has been developed to ensure that communications and coordination between responders are handled effectively, regardless of agency affiliations or event type or size. The capacity of the centre to receive calls and transfer same to the appropriate agencies that would promptly react to the emergency has also been greatly enhanced. This has significantly helped in the response to most emergency cases.

In a bid to considerably reduce occurrence of man-made disasters in the State, safety matters are currently being promoted through the endorsement of effective and sustainable safety standard templates.

Currently, emphasis in terms of safety advocacy is shifting from an intransigent mode to a more pragmatic model. Thus, awareness campaigns on the imperatives for reduction in exposure to risks at all levels through civic enlightenment, monitoring and above all improved safety consciousness are now being methodically carried out on a regular basis.

Tayo Ogunbiyi, Alausa, Lagos

16

Ëœ ͚͞˜ ͺ͸͚͜ Ëž T H I S D AY

PAGE SIXTEEN

Stock Market Loses N320bn on ProďŹ t-taking, Political Uncertainties With two weeks into the

second half (H2) of the year, the Nigerian equities market has lost a total of N320 billion following weak demand by investors who are adopting cautious trading.

The stock market, which ended 2017, as the third best performer, had sustained that uptrend in the beginning of 2018. But profit-taking that followed thereafter pared the gains and made the market to close the first half (H1) of the year with a marginal growth of 0.09 per cent.

However, the factors that fuelled the persistent bear run since the second quarter of the year have continued, leading to a decline of N320 billion in the market capitalisation in the first two weeks of H2.

Specifically, the market capitalisation fell from N13.866 trillion to N13.546 trillion, indicating a decline of 2.3 per cent.

Although many analysts believe that stocks in the

Nigerian market are relatively cheaper, the market has continued its downward trend as some investors have remained on the sidelines watching developments in the political environment.

Analysts at Afrinvest Research recently said five factors would drive the market in H2 of 2018.

They cited the factors as new listings, budget implementation, elections uncertainties, sustained liquidity in forex exchange (FX), and corporate earnings.

According to the analysts, the general election uncertainties would make investors to adopt cautious trading in equities. “In line with historical trend, investors tend to reduce exposure to risky assets in the year leading up to general elections and this is similar to the situation in Nigeria. “The one thing investors detest is “uncertainty� and as such, this downside risk

Brokers on the oor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange is expected to worsen as 2019 general election draws closer,� they said.

They added that while the

delayed passage of the 2018 budget could potentially have stalled some of the expected benefits associated with the

budget implementation, “we believe sufficient implementation will have a feedback positive impact

intractable problems that have held us back.�

programmes of his first term, while urging him to also work to grow the state's economy in order to leave behind a sustainable legacy.

He said the victory was a sign that the people of Ekiti State still had confidence in the governor-elect’s ability to provide good governance and render efficient service to the state and its people. He also advised the governor-elect to maintain his focus on how to bring more development to the state and improve the standard of living of the people.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo in his own reaction, congratulated Fayemi and charged him to reciprocate the trust the Ekiti people reposed on him by doing everything humanly possible to strengthen the faith in democracy within his ability in order to bring about improved material conditions and better service delivery.

He said the success recorded by the governor re-elect was an aftermath of a hard fought campaign, which he said was a proof that the people valued the latter's leadership and appreciated the efforts he had made thus far on their behalf.

The APC National Leader, Senator Tinubu hailed Fayemi for his victory, urging him to avoid recriminations and run an all-inclusive government.

In a statement entitled, "Ekiti Election: A Victory for the People," Tinubu said the people had voted to take a path different from the one on which they had been.

"In Ekiti, a chapter has closed and a new one has begun,� he said, adding, “This was not done by contrivance or artifice, nor was it the product of intimidation or improper influence. This came about because it was the will of the people of Ekiti as expressed and manifested in the conduct of a free and fair election in that state.�

He urged Governor Ayo Fayose and Olusola to accept the results of the election in good faith. “Let there be an

on companies’ earnings as well as consumer spending.�

Speaking on the impact of forex market, Afrinvest said since the launch of the Investors’ & Exporters’ FX window in April 2017, which resulted in increased foreign portfolio inflows into the domestic market, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been able to sustain liquidity via weekly retail and wholesale interventions. “However, while we note that FX liquidity in the market has remained somewhat adequate, the continued focus of the CBN on keeping rates within a particular band, has weighed on investors’ confidence. “Furthermore, the fact that the CBN remains the major supplier of FX to the market has also weighed on sentiment and this could continue to pressure foreign investor sentiment, which will have a feedback negative impact on the equities market,� they said.

W I T H E K I T I , A P C I N F I R M C O N T R O L O F SO U TH -W EST (PDP) candidate, Professor Kolapo Olusola, by 197,459 to 178,115 of the 384,594 votes cast in the keenly contested election.

While President Muhammadu Buhari led the retinue of celebrants that congratulated Fayemi on his victory yesterday, the PDP rejected the results of the election, calling it a daylight robbery.

The PDP leaders went into a meeting yesterday to review the election and decide on its next move, party sources told THISDAY. But former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Senate President Bukola Saraki and the APC National Leader, Senate Bola Tinubu, hailed Fayemi’s victory, asking the losers to take their defeat in good faith or seek judicial redress if they felt cheated.

The outcome of the Ekiti outof-season election, analysts said yesterday could significantly alter the political alignment in the country and reshape the struggle for power at the centre in 2019.

Safe for the North-west, which is wholly controlled by the APC, no other region is totally controlled by a single party. Although the PDP dominates the South-east and the South-south, its hold is punctuated by the reign of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Anambra State and APC in Imo and Edo States.

With Ekiti in the kitty, the APC now has absolute control of the South-west, bringing under its sphere the two most populous regions, with massive electorate.

In the 2015 presidential election, it was the collaboration of the North-west and the South-west that did in former President Goodluck Jonathan, and the PDP aware of this has been strategising on how to take the South-west, its former stronghold back from the APC. With Ekiti, the opposition party and its allies would now have to go back to the drawing board, a process it began last night with its leaders meeting into the early hours of this morning on what its next move should be.

For the emerging opposition political alliance massed in the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) spearheaded last week by the PDP and reformed All Progressives Congress (rAPC) along with 38 other parties, therefore, the outcome of last Saturday’s election was a major setback as it suggested the electioneering strength of the ruling party, in spite of widespread economic hardship and the mounting body counts arising from the almost free reign of suspected herdsmen and bandits around the country.

PDP, Olusola Reject Results, Say It’s Daylight Robbery However, the PDP has rejected the results of the election, describing it as a clear electoral banditry and daylight robbery.

The PDP said that it had details of results at polling units where its candidate won the election and also evidences of how its accredited agents were chased away by security agents in order to substitute results with falsified ones.

Its candidate, Olusola, also at a press conference in Ado-Ekiti, rejected the results, saying they were falsified and could not stand.

The PDP accused the APC of colluding with security agents and officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission to manipulate election results to favour, Fayemi.

Addressing a press conference yesterday afternoon in Abuja, the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan said, "This electoral banditry cannot stand and the PDP is already collating results and evidences and will make known the next step towards reclaiming our mandate in Ekiti State," adding, "PDP rejects in its entirety the results concocted by the APC, the INEC and security agencies, in the governorship election in Ekiti State and declared by INEC.�

The party like its candidate claimed the results were falsified

to give the edge to Fayemi.

It said that from the authentic results flowing directly from the polling centers across the state, it was clear that its candidate incontrovertibly won the election, with very comfortable margin over the APC candidate and that INEC allegedly allowed the results to be altered at collation centers.

Ologbondiyan who read a text to journalists said PDP decried the harassment and intimidation meted out to its party supporters and agents before, during and immediately after the election was concluded.

On what the PDP plans to do next, the party’s spokesman said it is presently gathering details of the alleged malfeasance, adding that it would make its decision public soon.

APC: People’s Will Has Prevailed Dismissing the PDP’s complaints, the APC yesterday congratulated Fayemi, saying that the people’s will had prevailed even as it commended him for running an effective and positive campaign focused on his agenda of rebuilding the economy of the state and returning its lost values of integrity, prudence and decency.

The party in a statement by the National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, commended the INEC, security agencies, local and international observers, as well as other stakeholders, for their admirable role in making the Ekiti gubernatorial election one in which the people’s will had prevailed.

"We thank the Ekiti electorate for voting en masse for our party’s candidate. This is a demonstration of their trust and confidence in Dr. Kayode Fayemi's ability to deliver on his campaign promises and a rejection of the crude and pedestrian politics of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),� it said, adding, "We assure the people of Ekiti, and indeed all Nigerians, that our party is best placed to move the country forward and resolve the seemingly

Buhari, Saraki, Obasanjo, Tinubu Congratulate Fayemi President Buhari was one of the earliest persons to react yesterday, congratulating Fayemi, saying he deserved the victory.

According to his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, the president also commended the APC and party supporters for what he described as hard fought victory after a dignified campaign.

Buhari commended the people of the state for their matured and peaceful conduct as they made their choice using the power of the ballot.

He also applauded the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for adequate preparations and displaying impartiality throughout the process, adding that security agencies also deserved praise for creating the right atmosphere for the relatively peaceful conduct of the polls and urges them to sustain the peace.

Buhari commended local and international observers and monitors for their vigilance and contributions towards the relatively hitch-free exercise.

"The president urges the losers to be gallant in conceding defeat and use constitutional means to settle whatever grievances they may have rather than resort to self-help,� the statement said, adding, "President Buhari appeals to all stakeholders in Ekiti State to work towards a successful transition to a new administration in the higher interest of not only the state but the entire nation.�

Senate President Saraki Joined in Congratulating Fayemi yesterday.

In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Alhaji Yusuph Olaniyonu, he stated that the governor-elect should use his second-coming to continue his people-centered policies and

orderly transition from the outgoing to the incoming government,� he said.

Fayemi Hails Victory, Urges Fayose, Olusola to Accept Defeat Fayemi, in address to his supporters at the APC headquarters in Ado-Ekiti, urged Fayose and Olusola to accept their electoral defeat in good faith.

Assuring workers that his government would accord priority to the payment of backlog of salary arrears and youth empowerment as well as rural development, he promised to run an all-inclusive government. “Despite the divisive nature of the contest, I want you to remember our bond of unity as Ekiti people. I, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, hereby offer myself to be the governor of all irrespective of faith, creed or political belief,� he said, holding out a hand of friendship to his opponents, “I salute all fellow candidates for enriching the process and for your civility and patriotism in accepting the outcome of this exercise. I look forward to consulting with you all to secure your input as we finetune our governance agenda for the years ahead.�

But his main opponent, Olusola, rejected his declaration as the validly elected governor, describing the incidences of electoral malfeasance that allegedly dogged the election as unfortunate and dangerous events in the nation’s electoral history.

Olusola accused the APC, which he described as ‘desperado’ of hijacking the process, leveraging on what he termed federal might to pervert the electoral process and subvert the will of Ekiti people.

He said, “This is the most audacious electoral robbery of our recent history. It shall not stand. By the grace of Almighty God and your support, I will pursue and regain my mandate.�

He said he would test the results in court.

MONDAY, JULY 16, 2018Ëž T H I S D AY

17

NEWS

ĂœĂ™Ă&#x;Ăš Ă?ĂĄĂ? ĂŽĂ“ĂžĂ™Ăœ Ejiofor Alike Ă—Ă‹Ă“Ă– Ejiofor.Alike@thisdaylive.com, 08066066268

Federation Account: Stakeholders Move to Stop NNPC from Collecting, Remitting Oil Royalty FAAC to probe N90bn underpayment by FIRS Ndubuisi Francis Ă“Ă˜ ĂŒĂ&#x;ÔË To check the controversy associated with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) remittances into the Federation Account, stakeholders in the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) are moving to stop the state oil company from collecting and remitting royalties accruing from oil FAAC has also unveiled plans to probe the N90 billion allegedly underpaid into the Federation Account by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).

The move, largely championed by the states, represented in FAAC by the commissioners for finance is considered a potent way of checking the recent frequent deadlocks at FAAC meeting occasioned by the rejection of NNPC remittances.

Controversies surrounding alleged under-remittance by NNPC had culminated in five inconclusive FAAC meetings this year alone-three of them occurring between June 27 and July 12.

FAAC membership comprises minister of finance (chairman), commissioner for finance of each state in the federation; two persons appointed by the president, the AccountantGeneral of the Federation, and the permanent secretary in the Federal Ministry of Finance or such officer as may be designated by the minister shall be the secretary to the committee.

The Chairman, Commissioners for Finance Forum, Mr. Mahmoud Yunusa, disclosed in an interview in Abuja at the weekend that part of the move to put in place

a more credible process was to strip the NNPC of the power of collecting oil royalty and transfer same to the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) while the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) handles Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT) as was the practice in the past.

Yunusa also alleged that the amount, which the FIRS paid into the Federation Account in May, showed a decline of about N90 billion, adding that the committee would probe the underpayment. “Part of the process of strengthening the system will be to take the collection and remittance of royalty from NNPC to the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) while the collection and remittance of PPT will also be returned to the FIRS in line with the law. “This is part of the process that we are trying to strengthen and adopt. It is there, it is part of the law under oil and gas, like in any other IOC (International Oil Company), that all royalties should be collected and remitted to the Federation Account by the DPR. It is DPR’s responsibility.

Before DPR collects that, it has to make sure that the actual amount that is supposed to be remitted is remitted. “If it is under-remitted, the DPR will be responsible for the shortfall, and I know DPR would not want to be responsible for a shortage that they are not even aware of. “If you are supposed to remit X billion naira, and you remit B billion naira to them, they won’t accept because it is under-remitted. The royalty is calculated and paid based on

the oil lifted, the same thing with PPT. “The NNPC has to remit the same amount that has to be remitted to FIRS, if not, the FIRS will not accept because they would not want to be responsible for the shortfall or under-remittance that ordinarily they shouldn’t be responsible.

So that will balance the revenue collecting system. “There should be a kind of checks and balances. Had it been we had this, this issue wouldn’t have cropped up. That is the system we are trying to strengthen and adopt,� he said.

On whether royalty and PPT are the only two issues the federation account was looking at addressing, Yunusa answered in the affirmative, adding: “If you are running a company and then you see that you are having a kind of bumps,

potholes on the way and a lot of things are not very clear to you, you could expand the horizon of your checks. But for now, we want these two to be addressed and respected. “If the NNPC remits its royalty and remits its PPT, it can’t come to FAAC and say we are contributing zero amount to the federation. If they say they are contributing zero and may be they get away with it that month, the following month would it come and say it is contributing zero? “Their conscience will not allow them. Let’s even assume they have the guts to do it the second month, how long will it continue? But don’t forget both the first and second month, we are getting our royalty and PPT intact, but what is its own worth of doing business? What value has that added to the Federation Account and what value have

they added to Nigeria?� Yunusa queried.

On why FAAC meetings were cancelled three times in a row, Yunusa said: “We thought we had concluded our reconciliation where whatever that we have put forward to government based on our projections is supposed to have been solved so that we can have FAAC, and then we move on. But due to some other issues, the government was not able to get the desired attention it was supposed to have gotten in respect of the process we said it should be followed. “However, from the feelers that we have gotten, the top management of the NNPC is out of the country for a meeting; by the time they return, all these things will be put in order. It’s just fair that if such decision should be taken, it should be in a joint session that will involve the Governor’s

Forum, the Ministry of Finance, the NNPC as well as the Forum of Finance Commissioners. We are on course towards solving all the problems and we are focus,� he stated.

On the issue of hiring a forensic auditors and consultants to work with the NNPC as suggested by FAAC in March, Mahmoud said: “We are on course, but we want to take these problems one after the other. NNPC is not the only revenue generating agency in the country but NNPC is having this much attention because it is the major driver of revenue; all the tiers of government rely to some extent, on the revenue that is driven from the centre and the major contributor of that revenue from the entre is NNPC and we can’t afford not to fix whatever problem we see or we presume is there in NNPC,â€? the chairman of finance commissioners forum said.Â

Nigeria, Netherlands’ Trade Volume Hits N1.2tn, Says Envoy PROJECT INSPECTION L-R: Representative of the Lagos State Governor and Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Mr. Adebowale Akinsanya; Managing Nigeria Ambassador to the Netherlands, Oji Ngofa, has expressed satisfaction with the current volume of trade between the two countries, which stood at ₏3 billion (N1.2 trillion) in the first quarter of 2018.

Ngofa made this known in The Hague yesterday during his background briefing to journalists ahead of President Muhammadu Buhari’s arrival to the Netherlands.

He said top Nigerian government officials would be on hand to have bilateral meetings with their Dutch counterparts in different areas, all geared towards improving the security, economy and governance of Nigeria.

According to the envoy, Nigeria is working assiduously to diversify its export base and increase the non-oil exports from the country to the Netherlands, in line with the administration’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP). ‘‘The latest figures released

by the National Bureau of Statistics for the first quarter 2018 show that the Netherlands is currently Nigeria’s largest trading partner with trade volume of over â‚Ź3 billion Euro (N1.2 trillion),â€? he said. ‘‘This total is composed of imports from the Netherlands worth â‚Ź726 million Euro and exports to the Netherlands of â‚Ź2.29 billion. Nigeria, therefore, has a healthy trade surplus with the Netherlands. ‘‘However, a majority of the value of the exports are petroleum based,’’ he said.

The first quarter 2018 figures by the NBS list Nigeria’s top 10 export trading partners as Netherlands, India, Spain and United States.

While in the Netherlands, President Buhari is also scheduled to meet with the Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte. ‘‘The security and economic development of Nigeria is firmly on the agenda, ’’ the envoy added.

Director, Hitech Construction Company, Mr. Ivan Becker; Special Adviser to the Governor on Finance and Audit Control, Mr. Adeniyi Popoola, and Director of Project, Ministry of Works, Mr. Rotimi Thomas, during an inspection of the ongoing reconstruction of the Oshodi-International Airport Road in Lagos...recently

Boko Haram Ambush: 23 Soldiers, Eight Trucks Missing No fewer than 23 Nigerian soldiers were yet to be accounted for yesterday, after Boko Haram insurgents ambushed a military convoy at Boboshe village in Bama Local Government Area (LGA) of Borno State.

Five officers, 18 soldiers and eight trucks were missing after the attack, which occurred at the weekend.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) learnt that the military, acting on intelligence, mobilised troops in a convoy of 11 trucks to clear the insurgents from the deserted village.

The attacking insurgents were believed to have been those who escaped the ongoing offensive by

the military to flush out the Boko Haram terrorists in the fringes of Sambisa Forest and the Lake Chad region.

A competent military source said the insurgents in their hundreds ambushed the troops, and in the process, many of them were missing.

He disclosed that only three of the 11 trucks deployed in the area returned to their base in Maiduguri, the state capital, after suffering huge loss in the battle with the insurgents. “There was a quick response by the army when they received reports that hundreds of the insurgents gathered at Boboshe on Maiduguri-Konduga-Bama road.

“The gallant soldiers were ambushed by the insurgents, only three of the 11 trucks returned to the base. “It is not clear what happened but it was assumed the soldiers were missing, following the ambush,� he added.

Meanwhile, residents of Jilli community in Gubio LGA of the state on Saturday fled the town sequel to an attack by the Boko Haram insurgents.

It was learnt that the insurgents attacked the area from the axis of Lake Chad, forcing the residents to flee.

One of the residents, Bukar Mustapha, said he and other villagers fled their homes when they received report that the insurgents were coming

to attack them. “In the afternoon on Saturday, we heard that the insurgents gathered in the nearby bush preparing for the attack. “I am one of those who ran to Maiduguri, which is about 45 kilometres from my village. “On Sunday morning, I called Gubio and I was told that the insurgents had attacked the town during the night time. I do not have the casualties because the situation is still not clear at Jilli,�

Mustapha said.

Another resident who pleaded anonymity, said troops had been deployed in the area.

18

T H I S D AY • MONDAY, JULY 16, 2018

POLITICS

Group Politics Editor NSEOBONG OKON-EKONG Email nseobong.okonekong@thisdaylive.com 08114495324 SMS ONLY

TRENDING NEWS

Difficult Hike To Expectations Nseobong Okon-Ekong reports that though the Ekiti State governorship election did not record fatalities, there were still a lot of room for better performance

Adams Oshiomhole

W

hatever the people expect from Dr. John Kayode Fayemi, Governor-elect of Ekiti State, it does not look like he wants to populism for which outgoing Governor Ayodele Fayose is known.

On the day of the governorship election, Fayemi again failed to seize the moment to show off himself as a people of the people.

Choosing to ride in a convoy of cars for the short distance between his and the polling unit, he again showed insensitivity to the people who trekked longer distances to vote for him.

Fayemi candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the election arrived his Polling Unit 009 in Isan Ekiti, local government area at 10.20am accompanied by his wife and members of his household.

He promptly took his place on the queue, but one of the Presiding Officers approached and offered him the opportunity to cast his vote immediately. However, Fayemi weighed the option for a while and consulted with his wife. Thereafter, he asked the voters, if they would permit him to vote ahead of them.

Their response was an overwhelming, ‘yes’.

After casting his vote, Fayemi noted that the process has been smooth. “It has been seamless, so far. I was accredited and voted seamlessly. But I have heard reports of issues with the card reader from other parts of the state. Largely, we thank God that not much ugly incidents have been recorded. “ Isan-Ilafon-Elemeso axis, which is in Ward 11 in Oye local government area has 12 Polling Units. It is also home to the governorship candidates of the Unity Party of Nigeria, Mr. Olufemi Bade-Gboyega (UPN) and Senator Bode Olowoporoku of the Advanced Congress for Democracy.

It is not doubt that his people love and that

Aminu Tambuwal

he have committed himself to other ways of reciprocating their support for his ambition.

The evidence abound. He won the election convincingly in his ward. His result in the entire Oye local government area was also very impressive and showed that he had a firm crop in his homestead. It may even be argued that his popularity covers the whole

Ekiti has an ugly past steeped in electoral violence, pre-dating its excision from the old Ondo State. A couple of violent incidents were recorded during campaigns leading to the 2018 governorship election, which led many political pundits to predict that 2018 governorship election may spark another round of violence

state. With a total number of 197,462 votes, ahead of his closest rival, Prof. Kolapo Olusola of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who scored 177,927 votes, Fayemi who contested on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was declared winner.

The difference in votes that separated the two leading candidates in the election stood at 19,535 votes. A breakdown of the result by Collation Officers from the 16 local government areas revealed that the APC won in 12 local government areas including Oye local government area, the home of Fayemi, where he polled the largest number of 14995 votes. The PDP candidate, Olusola won in four local government areas including Ikere where he polled a total number of 32,810 votes, the largest number of votes recorded in any local government area.

Fayemi returns again as the Number One in Ekiti State where he previously governed between 2007 and 2011.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) commenced collation of the governorship election result in the state around 2:00 am on Sunday, July 15 amidst tight security.

Both Fayemi and Olusola won in their home local governments of Oye and Ikere respectively. However, one of the recorded upsets in the election was the loss suffered by the PDP in Irepodun-Ifelodun local government area, home of Governor Ayodele Fayose.

The APC scored 13,869 votes against 11,456 votes for the PDP. The election took place in all the sixteen (16) local government areas and the three (3) senatorial districts in the southwest state.

With 913334 registered voteres exercising their right to vote in 2195.Polling Units spread across 177 wards, the turn out of voters was between 44 per cent, lower than the 2014. average turnout of 47 per cent.

Some of the highlights of the election were cancellation of results in places like Efon local government area, where polls in 11units were cancelled due to incidents of violence like snatching of ballot boxes, harassment of INEC officials and gunshots. According to Yiaga Executive Director, Mr. Samson Itodo the incident of violence recorded stood at 1 per cent and was not enough to mar the result of the election. Though monies openly exchanged hands between persons suspected to be officials of the different political parties and voters at the polling stations, INEC said they had no way of knowing if the purpose was to influence voters. An INEC official in Ijero local government area told our reporter, “How do I know if the man was paying off a debt or he asked the person to buy refreshment? And besides they are wearing anything to identify they belong to a political party. “ Another remarkable feature of the election was enthusiasm shown by People With Disabilities (PWD), who actively took part in the election I’m many local government areas.

Voters in the Ekiti State governorship election exercised their right to vote, under an atmosphere that was largely secure, calm and peaceful.

In all the polling units visited in seven local governments including Ado, Oye, IrepodunIfelodun, Ikere, Ilejemeje, Ijero and Ido-Osi, agents of the umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), voters, security agents, the media and election monitors were participating in the electoral process without any hindrance.

All the polling units had the presence of a police team comprising five unarmed personnel.

The INEC officials were clearly distinguished in their uniforms. The voting area was also secluded to ensure privacy for voters and set a distance from the accreditation point

19

T H I S D AY • MONDAY, JULY 16, 2018

POLITICS However, armed soldiers were observed mounting roadblock and sometimes patrolling major highways. Other armed personnel of security agents including the Police, the DSS and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence moved around the state to keep would be trouble makers at bay, but they observed the INEC electoral guidelines which forbids armed personnel coming close to a voting area.

Commenting on the security siuation, an independent election monitor, Mr. Chapp Jumbo Jonathan, Coordinator, Values Reorientation Initiatives and Advocacy observed that earlier reports on the social media were scary and did not at all coroborrate the largely peaceful nature of the election. He said, “Going by the image painted in the media, you would have thought that Ekiti State would go up in flames today, but we are on ground and everything is going well.

There is calm and peace everywhere. “ Another civil society organisation, Yaga Africa Watching the Vote led by its Executive Director, Mr. Samson Itodo noted, “This has been a very impressive election, in 79 per cent of the polling units, INEC officials arrived at 7.30am. We have 541 observers on ground. We are going to jndependently verify the result of today’s election. “ Impressed by the determination of the people to end the cycle of violence during electoral process in Ekiti, Mr. Obinna Nwaka, director, Political and Democratic Matters of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) , commended The synergy between the agents of the political gladiators in the Ekiti governorship contest. “I think we witnessed a new Ekiti. They have sent a loud and clear message to youths in other parts of the country:. Don’t kill your brother over political differences.”

In the same vein, the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Paul Thomas Arkwright said, “the most important thing is that people are allowed to vote and be seen to have done so in a secure environment and that is what seems to be happening. “ Ekiti has an ugly past steeped in electoral violence, pre-dating its excision from the old Ondo State. A couple of violent incidents were recorded during campaigns leading to the 2018 governorship election, which led many political pundits to predict that 2018 governorship election may spark another round of violence.

Despite the fact that the INEC accredited candidates representing 35 political parties for the Ekiti state governorship election, in many polling units visited by THISDAY, only the APC and the PDP had agents to monitor the electoral process on their behalf. But in Ward A, Polling Unit 006 at the Ilori Community High School in Ijero local government area, Bamidele Moses Oluwafemi acted as agent for the African Democratic Party (ADP), Mr. Segun Adewale.

Mr. Oladapo Kolawole, a former commissioner in the state spoke in the same vein as Fayemi.

He observed, “Thank God that I am not disenfranchised like the 2014 governorship election. Though I was a commissioner, I had to run into the bush. In this town (IloroEkiti), I know a polling booth where my candidate will lose. I know where I hope to win. Overall, I am confident that my party, the APC will emerge victorious. “ Early indications from some polling units in Oye local government area confirm prediction by many political pundits, that the Ekiti State governorship election was mainly contested by Fayemi of the APC and Olusola of the PDP. INEC accredited aspirants representing 35 political parties, but in Ward 11 comprising Isan-Ilafon-Elemeso which has 12 polling units, only the APC and PDP were represented at polling units. Agents of the other political parties were not in attendance.

At Isan, the hometown of Fayemi , polling unit 010.had Abejide Kayode representing the APC, while Akanbi Tafa stood for the PDP. Polling Agent Ogunnola Lateef was on the look out for PDP at unit 005, his counterpart, Garba Olalere Wasiu was the APC watchdog. Oyenusi Mayowa was on duty for the APC at unit 007, where the PDP was represented by Oyeleye Sanjo. Polling Unit 009 had Ogundare Johnson Ilesanmi representing the APC. Gboyega Idowu John represented the PDP at unit 006, while the APC had Ajayi Olaoluwa minding its affairs.

THISDAY observed that the party agents carried out their duties without accrimony. One of them told our reporter that they resolved

Jigawa State Governor Mohammed Badaru; Kobbi State Governor/Chairman APC national Campaign Council for Ekiti State, Alhaji Atiku Bagudu; Governor-Elect, Ekiti State, Dr Kayode Fayemi; his wife, Erelu Bisi Fayemi and Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun at Fayemi’s Isan Ekiti home, shortly after his declaration as winner of Ekiti State governorship election...on Sunday

Governor elect, ekiti state, Dr Kayode Fayemi amid jubilant supporters shortly after he was declared winner of saturday’s governorship election.

to eschew bitterness for the progess of their community. He said, “We are all from this town. We know ourselves. We are brothers.

We cannot allow political differences to tear us apart. If we destroy anything here, we have only set ourselves back. “ INEC Electoral Guidelines allows candidates in an election to nominate an agent who is duly accredited to monitor the election in the interest of his principal and the party he represents.

A major stakeholder thatdevised a scientific method of monitoring the election, Yiaga

Some of the highlights of the election were cancellation of results in places like Efon local government area, where polls in 11units were cancelled due to incidents of violence like snatching of ballot boxes, harassment of INEC officials and gunshots

Africa Watching The Vote released both a preliminary report on the eve of the electoral room day in which it made various suppositions. It’s ExecutivecDirector, Mr. Samson Itodo and his team published another report after INEC announced the result. The group deployed 500 stationary observers in pairs to a representative statistical sample of 250 polling units and 25 mobile observers located in all 16 local government areas of Ekiti state. WTV also deployed 16 collation centre observers to each of the LGA Collation Centres. This deployment strategy enabled YI AFRICA to provide timely and accurate information on the conduct of accreditation, voting, and counting as well as to independently verify the official results and turnout for the Ekiti gubernatorial election as announced by INEC. Yiaga Africa validated the INEC result this: “Based on reports from 98% (246 of 250) sampled polling units YIAGA AFRICA’s statistical analysis shows that All Progressives Congress (APC) should receive between 49.1% and 54.7% of the vote; Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) should receive between 43.1% and 48.7% of the vote; no other party should receive more than 1% of the vote share.he INEC official result is for the 2018 Ekiti State gubernatorial election consistent with the YIAGA AFRICA WTV estimate. Had the official results been changed at the ward, LGA or state collation centres, the official results would not have fallen within the YIAGA AFRICA WTV estimated ranges.

Because the official results fall within the estimated ranges, governorship contestants, parties, and voters should have confidence that INEC’s official results for the Ekiti 2018 gubernatorial election reflect the ballots cast at polling units. It is important to highlight

the counting process at polling units was transparent and included representatives from the two political parties that received the most votes.”

The organization noted further that “NEC’s official results for turnout and rejected ballots are also consistent with YIAGA AFRICA WTV estimates. YIAGA AFRICA is able to estimate that turnout is 44.5% with a margin of error of ±3.1% (between 41.4% and 47.6%) while INEC’s official result is 44.4%. Similarly, YIAGA AFRICA estimates rejected ballots are 4.3% with a margin of error of ±1.1% (between 3.2% and 5.4%) while INEC’s official result is 4.7%. These results are consistent.”

In conclusion, Tisha posited that “In view of the consistency between INEC official results and our WTV estimates, we confirm that the official results reflect the ballot cast at the polling unit. To this end, we urge all stakeholders to accept the outcome of the election or seek redress using legal means of electoral dispute resolution.”

Itodo who delivered the Yiaga report to the media stayed, “The incidence of vote buying and voter inducement during elections undermines political legitimacy and makes a mockery of our democracy. This growing trend needs to be abated ahead of subsequent elections. INEC should take intentional steps to protect the secrecy of the ballot to enforcing her electoral guidelines. The Security agencies should devise new strategies for detecting and apprehending individuals or groups involved in vote buying and selling during elections. Stakeholders like INEC, NOA and CSOs should engage in robust advocacy against vote buying. Political parties and candidates should be encouraged to promote issued-based participation at elections.”

20

T H I S D AY Ëž Ëœ ÍŻÍ´Ëœ Í°ÍŽÍŻÍś

FEATURES

Group Features Editor: Chiemelie Ezeobi Email chiemelie.ezeobi@thisdaylive.com, 07010510430

Bracing for Security Challenges in Niger Delta To be in top form in the on-going war against militancy and other forms of criminality in the Niger Delta, the Nigerian military recently undertook exercises to brush up the skills of its men in weapons handling and marksmanship.

Emmanuel Addeh reports

Soldiers undergoing 'Stripping and Assembly' test

I

t was not an occasion for the faint-hearted. The air was filled with the booming sound of guns. It was, indeed, a tense atmosphere as the trainees (officers and soldiers) kept strictly to instructions by their senior officers (the trainers), who were not ready to forgive any unnecessary errors. For the senior officers and their lieutenants, it was an opportunity to show those seated, including civilians, that the Federal Government's investment in their capacity to tackle security threats in the Niger Delta was not a waste.

Operation Delta Safe

Four joint sectors of the Operation Delta Safe (OP DS), the codename under which the special outfit operates, were to take part in the competency test of arms which would prepare them for any confrontation with the 'bad boys', a term used to described the criminals in the creeks who usually engage in sea robbery, pipeline vandalism and militancy.

The OP DS deployed to protect oil installations in the Niger Delta comprises the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Air Force, Nigerian Police, the Department of State Services (DSS) Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) among others.

Relative Peace

Although there is relative peace in the region, especially in relation to the former outright destruction of oil facilities, which usually resulted in the shutdown of the

Photos: Emmanuel Addeh

affected platforms and loss of revenue to the country, such confrontations between the military and the criminals are often commonplace.

While destruction of oil facilities seems to have piped down, other forms of criminalities including kidnapping, sea robbery and cultism pose as a serious concern.

JTF Mandate

The mandate of the Joint Task Force (JTF), comprising all the military and paramilitary forces, continues to expand to curb these burgeoning acts of criminality. The expansion of this mandate lies in the fact that different communities continue to complain of intermittent raids

The training is to make the personnel more proďŹ cient and increase their precision to defend themselves when under attack and to defend the citizens and oil infrastructure

by the hoodlums, while traders along the waterways of the Niger Delta have repeatedly reported the forcible seizure of their wares by pirates. Not left out are those who have turned abduction for ransom into a cash cow.

Weapons Handling

So, it was for those reasons that several senior military officers converged at the Elele military cantonment shooting range, Rivers State, to formally conclude the training exercise put together by the JTF headquarters in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, to combat the existing threats. According to the JTF, the shooting and marksmanship exercise which also witnessed an intersector skills at arms competition among the four sectors of the force based in the region was to enhance the precision of troops in the battle against criminals in the region.

At the ranger were Commander, JTF, Rear Admiral Suleiman Apochi; Rear Admiral Saleh Usman, Flag Officer Commanding, Central Naval Command, Bayelsa; Air Officer Commanding, Mobility Command, Air Vice Marshal, Stephen Onuh and Commander, Land Component, JTF, Brig.-Gen Kevin Aligbe who also doubles as the Commander 16 Brigade, Bayelsa. Other senior officers were: Brig.-Gen IM Obot, Deputy Force Commander, OpDS; Commander, NNS Soroh, Bayelsa, Commodore Felix Esekhile, among others.

During the competition, sector three won the gold trophy, sector two clinched

silver while sector one went home with the bronze after various tests including accuracy in hitting targets, best shot, compliance with the rules and stripping and assembly.

Governor’s rating

At the event, Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa, who was the special guest, reiterated that the performance of the military depends largely on their skills which should be constantly sharpened by training. Dickson who spoke through his Deputy, Rear Admiral John Jonah (rtd), appealed for the sustenance of the culture of periodic training of the armed forces to help them overcome the security challenges facing the country.

He noted that the Niger Delta environment, which consists of creeks, swamps, rivers with settlements along the Atlantic coastline was a very difficult terrain for military operations, adding that the challenging terrain was a blessing in disguise as it provides a suitable training environment for the military and other security agencies. The governor therefore urged the officers and men to take the competition seriously and imbibe all the skills they had been taught in their everyday professional reality.

Combat Readiness

The gains of a combat ready military cannot be overemphasised. A strong believer in this ideology, Rear Admiral Apochi noted that the training exercise was designed to enhance the combat

21

T H I S D AY Ëž Ëœ ÍŻÍ´Ëœ Í°ÍŽÍŻÍś

FEATURES

L-R: AVM Onuh AOC, Rear Adm Apochi and Dep. Gov Bayelsa, Rear Admiral Jonah (rtd)

readiness of the troops in view of the enormous risks they face in the field of operations.

Apochi said, “The need for training cannot be over emphasised, more so due to the composition of the force with personnel across the services of the military. It is also to make the personnel from different services work as a team. The training is to make the personnel more proficient and increase their precision to defend themselves when under attack and to defend the citizens and oil infrastructure. “The Skills at Arms contest was just an icing on the cake aimed at building team spirit, understanding amongst personnel from various services who are perhaps training together after their deployments to the joint force.�

Quoting Tsun Tzu, the famous Chinese military strategist, Apochi said that military training remained an integral part of combat discipline, which is a prerequisite for mission accomplishment. “The mandate of OpDS is to protect oil and gas infrastructure, deter and prevent militancy, crude oil theft and sea robbery or other criminalities within our joint operations area that could impact negatively on our area of operation,� he stated. “Our troops need exposure to these kinds of trainings not just to enhance their state of preparedness but to ensure precision. The skills at arms will also enhance cooperation across the forces.�

The FOC, Central Naval Command, Rear Admiral Usman, in his comments, said the exercise was to prepare the military to be battle-ready anytime they are called upon.

Usman stated, “When you train, on the D-day it becomes easier. Even the sound of the weapons alone is a form of training. Security personnel will know the kind of weapon by the sound, whether it is GPMG, AK 47 or just a pistol. These trainings keep you abreast. “These soldiers are deployed to various areas of operation in the creeks in the north east and other areas and it is about confronting the bad boys. You have seen criminals arrested with more sophisticated weapons. So, the best shot takes the day.

You don’t just wait till when your life is taken. So, their life and destiny are in their hands.

Sector three received overall best award in the competition

“This is the first for the year and for the result, it is rated above average because not everybody here fired a shot. For the

The mandate of Operation Delta Safe is to protect oil and gas infrastructure, deter and prevent militancy, crude oil theft and sea robbery or other criminalities within our joint operation areas

men on the battlefront, the morale is high.

If you have any of those who took trophies in your team, you are home and dry.�

AVM Onuh, who is in charge of air mobility in his remarks, said the exercise was important for the fact that the forces always have to be combat-ready for any eventuality. “This is a range classification exercise for the OpDS joint operations. The importance of this cannot be overemphasised.

Continuous assessment makes you perform better and know how well you will do in real time. This is a real time exercise that people are being assessed on. “The JTF is given the responsibility of securing the Niger Delta, so they have to be at their optimum at all times. These kinds of events should take place regularly,�

Onuh advised.

Reward for Success

At the end of the event, certificates of merit were presented to those who were

tops in the exercises, including Lance Corporal Eze Bitrus who emerged the winner of the best shot at target. Best ‘stripping and assembly' award went to Private Mikano Millan from sector three while the same sector also got accolades for the use of women soldiers in the entire wrung of the competition.

Some of the participants were also exposed to actual combat situations where they were expected to hit special targets in moving and roughly driven military vehicles. However, there were also boos for those who did not measure up to the standard set by the crew of umpires, who painstakingly ensured adherence to the rules.

As the heads of all the military and paramilitary forces drove out of the venue of the range classification, they were satisfied that the officers and men under their command were more prepared to face any threat to peace in the Niger Delta.

22

IMAGES

L-R: Legal OďŹƒcer, Lagos State Lotteries Board, Simisola Abass; Assistant Director,National Lottery Regulatory Commission Lagos, Joy Okuna; General Manager, Bounce News, Goodluck Ikporo; Head, Consumer Protection Council, Lagos oďŹƒce, Susie Onwuka; and Head,Marketing, Bounce News, Modupe Ogunyemi, at the Bounce News awoof promo ďŹ nal draw to select the Grand prize winners to London & Dubai with all expenses paid trips held in Lagos. recently

T H I S D AY Ëž ÍŻÍ´Ëœ Í°ÍŽÍŻÍś

Photo Editor ĂŒĂ“Ă™ĂŽĂ&#x;Ă˜ ÔËÖË Email Ă‹ĂŒĂ“Ă™ĂŽĂ&#x;Ă˜Ë›Ă‹Ă”Ă‹Ă–Ă‹ĚśĂžĂ’Ă“Ă?ĂŽĂ‹ĂŁĂ–Ă“Ă Ă?Ë›Ă?Ù×

L-R: Management Board Member, Lagos Business School (LBS), Charles Ivenso; Dean,LBS, Dr. Enase Okonedo; Head, Communications / Knowledge Engagement, FBNQuest Merchant Bank, Lolade Sasore; and Managing Director/CEO, FBNQuest Merchant Bank, Kayode Akinkugbe, at the press conference on the FBNQuest bloomberg room expansion at Lagos Business School- Pan Atlantic University recently.

L-R: Publisher/CEO, MarketingEdge, Mr. John Ajayi;Executive Vice Chairman, Unilever,Ghana/Nigeria, Mr. Yaw Nsarkoh;Chairman, Sona Group of Industries, Mr. Argan Mirchandani;Chief Operating OďŹƒcer, Sona Group of Industries, Mr. Ashok Manghnani; and Group Managing Director, SO&U Group, Mr. Udeme Ufot, at the national marketing stakeholder summit organised by MarketingEdge in Lagos recently PHOTO; ETOP UKUTT L-R: Hon Justice Evelyn Nkeonye Maha and Former Director General, Ngerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS), Prof Epiphany Azinge, after the swearing in of Justice Maha as Judge of Federal High Court held in Abuja recently PHOTO: JULIUS ATOI

L-R: Founder Mind To Mind Initiative, Chinasa Amaechi; CEO Eco-Care Integrated Systems and Solutions Ltd/ award recipient, Victor Alex-Okolie; representative of Chairman FIRS, Mr. Wale Shonekan; and Chairman Mind to Mind Initiative, Pastor Ituah Ighodalo, during the presentation of cash prizes and awards to winners of the business plan writing competition organised by Mind To Mind Initiative held in Lagos recently.

PHOTO: SUNDAY ADIGUN

Members of the Committee of Friends for Humanity (COFFHA) led by its President, Chief (Mrs) Carolyn Akum Ufere (middle), visited the Herat of Gold Hospice, Surulere, Lagos and made donations to the challenged children of the Home recently

L-R:Head, Human Resources, SCIB Insurance Brokers, Mrs. Aderemi Adekunle; Executive Director, Operations, Mr. Solanke Ogunlana;Managing Director/ CEO, Mr. Shola Tinubu;and Head, Finance, Mr. Olawale Okuyedi, at the SCIB Insurance Brokers press brieďŹ ng on the company’s 40th anniversary in Lagos recently PHOTO: ETOP UKUTT

L-R: Executive Director, Corporate Services, UAC Nigeria PLC, Mrs. Omolara Elemide; Group Chief Executive OďŹƒcer, Mr. Abdul Bello; and Non-Executive Chairman, Mr. Daniel Aghor, at the annual general meeting of UAC Nigeria Plc in Lagos... recently PHOTO: YOMI AKINYELE

23

T H I S D AY ˞ ˜ JULY 16, 2018

Group Business Editor Obinna Chima

BUSINESSWORLD R A T E S MONEY MARKET OBB OVERNIGHT

A S

A T

REPO 8.92 % 9..42 %

CALL 1-MONTH 3-MONTH

12% 12.75 % 13.50%

Email obinna.chima@thisdaylive.com 08024557078, 08091152219

J U L Y 1 3 , 2 0 1 8 S & P INDEX INDEX LEVEL 1-DAY MONTH-TO-DATE

S & P INDEX 1/4 TO DATE

353.03% -0.03% -0.32%

YEAR TO DATE

-0.32% 7.15%

EXCHANGE RATE N305.801US DOLLAR* *AS AT LAST FRIDAY

Quick Takes Ecobank Engages Youths

DISCUSSING TOURISM SECTOR

L-R: Managing Director,WHospitality Group, Mr.TrevorWard; President, National Association of NigeriaTravel Agencies (NANTA), Mr. Bankole Bernard; President/ Chairman Governing Council, Institute of Director (IoD), Alhaji Ahmed Rufai Mohammed and Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer, Transcorp Hotel Plc, Mr. Valentine Ozigbo during the IoD’s 2018 Tourism and Hospitality forum held in Lagos‌recently

New Code of Corporate Governance Silent on Religious Bodies, CSOs Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja The draft Nigerian Code of Corporate Governance put together by the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN) is silent on religious bodies, and civil society organisations, apparently signalling a shift from the controversy which trailed the previous code suspended by the federal government, last year.

In the suspended law, the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria Act, No. 6 of 2016, had prescribed a maximum period of 20 years in office for heads of registered churches, mosques and civil society organisations.

Following its implementation, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church

ECONOMY of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye, had announced a new National Overseer for RCCG Nigeria on January 7, 2017.

On the heels of the suspension of the controversial code was the removal of the former Executive Secretary of FRCN, Jim Obazee, and his replacement with Mr. Daniel Asapokhai.

At a public hearing on the draft Nigerian Code of Corporate Governance 2018, in Abuja at the weekend, Asapokhai said the new code was developed by a 15-member technical committee, which involved extensive consultative and collaborative engagement with a wide range of stakeholders and other regulators.

According to him, “the Nigerian Code of Corporate Governance has adopted the ‘Apply and Explain’ principle, which requires companies to apply the requirements of the Code and to explain how they did so.�

The decision to adopt the ‘Apply and Explain approach, he said, was taken after careful considerations of several factors, including the Nigerian legal system, Nigerian culture and history, government policies, state of the Nigerian economy, global economic and political climate and levels of capital inflow of investments into the country.

The FRCN chief executive stated that the new code “shall apply to all public companies;

whether listed or not, all private companies that are holding companies of public companies and other regulated entities, concessioned and privatised companies, and regulated private companies.�

By this classification, the draft 2018 Code is therefore silent on churches, mosques and civil society organisations, which triggered a major controversy in the suspended 2016 variant.

Asapokhai explained that the evolving code would be a marked departure from rule-based to principle-based approach, adding that it is anchored on 28 principles.

The Code, he explained, targets companies of varying Continued on page 24

Ports Congestion: Customs Agents Appeal for Waivers on Demurrage Eromosele Abiodun Following the seven days industrial embarked upon by truckers at Apapa ports to protest alleged extortion by security agencies, which has since been called off, customs agents have appealed to terminal operators and shipping companies to grant them waivers on demurrage which had accrued on the consignment that were trapped at the ports during the crisis.

This is just as some licenced customs agents and freight forwarders in the maritime sector have threatened to stop paying customs duties and other charges to terminal operators and shipping companies on account of the industrial action.

The Vice- President of the Western Zone of the National

MARITIME Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Ibrahim Tanko made the call in a letter of appeal written to all the service providers.

Tanko, who was speaking on behalf of all his colleagues, noted that the strike action was not their own making, hence his appeal for demurrage waivers.

Speaking to newsmen at Apapa port, the customs agents said it was wrong for customs to keep charging duties while demurrage and rent kept accruing for agents and importers to pay.

The representative of customs agents said there should be an understanding after the industrial action has been called off, and the need for terminal operators

to waive some demurrages. “At Grimaldi now, people are still writing TDO, I have finished my job since last week, but I have not taken the delivery, now I have to go and re-rate at N169,000. The transporters meant well, they have given enough time for NPA to address the situation and the alleged extortion� “Government is collecting duty and that is why they don’t want to intervene, and we are the cause of it. If we stop paying duty for two weeks and no money is going anywhere, they will seat up. But as it is, it doesn’t concern them, the government has collected their money, “he said Also, a licensed Customs Agent, Mr Ojo Akintoye lamented that the nine days industrial action affected

operations.

He however stated that, “The good news is that the truck owners are holding series of meetings with the government and they are looking for a permanent solution to the problem of articulated trucks. “The strike action has had nothing to do with revenue, the Nigeria Customs Service are collecting their revenue, the terminal operators are dropping containers for examination and they are also ready for the delivery of cargoes.�

Meanwhile, port operators may now heave a sigh of relief as the stand-off between truck drivers and the Nigerian Navy over alleged extortions in the traffic call up system has ended.

For almost two weeks, the Continued on page 24

In continuation of its youth engagement program in tertiary institutions across the country, Ecobank on Friday stormed the University of Ibadan, Oyo State with the Ecobank Xpress Account Concert.

In a statement signed by the Head, Consumer Marketing, Insights and Analytics, Ecobank Nigeria, Ikechukwu Kalu, disclosed that the concert featured popular artistes. Kalu also stated that various prizes ranging from laptops, tablets and fridges, among others where won at the event. “This is one concert students and youths around the campus must not miss. It promises to be fun and excitement all the way and besides, many of the attendees will be going home with various gifts,� he added.

Ecobank recently agged o an initiative themed, ‘Ecobank Xpress Campus Storm,’to avail students of tertiary institutions the opportunity to open the Ecobank Xpress account, a digital account that requires no documentation, minimum balance or paperwork, simply by downloading the Ecobank Mobile app. With the Ecobank Xpress account, students will be able to access ďŹ nancial services such as airtime top up, funds transfer and bills payment from their mobile devices. Parents and guardians will also be able to transfer money to their children or wards‘ Xpress accounts which they can withdraw from without a card at any Ecobank ATM or Xpress point. The ďŹ rst phase of this initiative will cover 24 universities, polytechnics and colleagues of education across the country.

Sofar,theCampusStormteamhasvisitedUniversityofLagos,University of Benin, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife and others.

Afreximbank Launches Data Platform

TheAfricanExport-ImportBank(Afreximbank)haslaunched‘Mansa’–a pan-African customer due diligence platform.

The platform will facilitate African trade by providing the single trusted source of primary data required to conduct due diligence checks on counterparties in Africa. The Mansa platform is being positioned as the centralised‘goto’platformforfulďŹ llingclientduediligence(CDD)andknow your customer (KYC) requirements throughout the African continent.

According to Afreximbank, by providing comprehensive due diligence informationitwillendthesubjectiveevaluationofcustomersandeliminate the perceived, and often unfair, risk in trading with African counterparties.

The platform also oers insight into the investment climate and information on related services on the continent.

The platform is named after Mansa Musa, a powerful ruler of theWest African Malian Empire in the 1300s, who was responsible for opening up trade across Africa by establishing Timbuktu as a commercial, cultural and religious centre.

Firm Launches Entertainment App

Vskit, an app for creating and sharing short interesting and funny videos majorly for entertainment has been launched.

Oered by Vskit Group, the app was said to be becoming popular among Nigerian youths because it enhances their never-ending pursuit for popularity, followers, social likes and comments. “The app is tremendously fun and features a wide range of lip-synced videos with popular songs in the background, short musical performances, singing, comedy, dancing, among others. “There are also ďŹ lters and other video eects available to give users the optimum experience. “The social sharing also goes beyondVskit; once a user posts a video, they can share their videos on Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp or simply copy the link and share on their various social media platforms. “However for the most part, the app is harmless but from a privacy point of view, Vskit defaults to posting everything publicly like many social media apps, which means anyone can watch and comment on a video,â€? it promoters explained in a statement.

Ericsson Inspires 500 Girls

Ericsson has highlighted the beneďŹ ts of exploring careers in ICT for over 500 young girls aged nine to 18, across 90 schools in the Middle East and Africa Market. Ericsson celebrated Girls in ICT day in the region by hosting the ‘Girls Who Innovate,’competition with prizes including to win job shadow days, blog features and a 1,000 EUR prize for their ideas to use technology to change the future of education. Ericsson aims to embrace genderdiversitybyreecting30percentfemaleinclusionacrossitsentire workforce by 2020.

“The expectation for us is for something like Lagos-Ibadan, we are going to invest a lot of money to that project in order to see visible progress of that road. We expect that road be completed in 36 months�

MD, Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority,

Uche Orji

T H I S D AY Ëž Ëœ ÍŻÍ´Ëœ Í°ÍŽÍŻÍś

24

BUSINESSWORLD NEW CODE OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE SILENT ON RELIGIOUS BODIES, CSOS

sizes and complexities, which operate in diverse industries, including financial services, energy and natural resources, consumer and industrial markets and technology, media and telecommunications.

One of the hallmarks of the code, he pointed out, is flexibility.

According to the FRC chief executive, the Nigerian Code of Corporate Governance 2018 shall apply to all public companies; whether listed or not, all private companies that are holding companies of public companies and other regulated entities, concessioned and privatised companies, and regulated private companies.

The Nigerian Code of Corporate Governance 2018 was developed based on a comprehensive review of the suspended 2016 Code of Corporate Governance by a fifteen-man technical committee, and extensive consultative and collaborative engagement with a wide range of stakeholders and other regulators.

Series of public hearings on the draft code are being held across the six geopolitical zones to get the input of stakeholders.

PORTS CONGESTION: CUSTOMS AGENTS APPEAL FOR WAIVERS ON DEMURRAGE

truck drivers, protesting the alleged extortion by the Naval officers, Nigerian Ports Authority officials and the operatives of Lagos State Transport Management Authority (LASTMA ) involved in the Apapa traffic call up system, disrupted port activities when they embarked on a strike action.

However, it was after the intervention of the Executive Secretary of Nigerian Shippers Council, Hassan Bello, that the truck drivers agreed to shelve their strike action.

The Chairman of Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMARTO) Chief Remi Ogungbemi, who had confirmed the resumption of services in a chat with THSIADAY in Lagos, explained that the industrial action was suspended after a meeting that was attended by NARTO, AMARTO, RTEAN, NPA and the Navy

NEWS

Report: AfCFTA WillYield Substantial Benefits to African Trade rOsakwe: Why Nigeria won’t sign agreement in hurry Emma Okonji and Ebere Nwoji The Afreximbank 2018 report has predicted that African economies would grow by 4.1 per cent in 2018 if the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement is implemented.

This is just as the federal government has explained reasons why Nigeria cannot speedily sign the agreement, saying stakeholders in the six geopolitical zones of the country were apprehensive of its possible negative consequences to the nation’s socio-economic development.

The Afreximbank report, which was launched by South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa; the Commissioner for Trade and Industry of the African Union Commission, Ambassador Albert Muchanga; and the President of Afreximbank, Dr. Benedict Oramah, during Afreximbank’s Annual Meetings and 25th anniversary celebrations in Abuja recently, states that the implementation of the AfCFTA will create opportunities for Intra-African market access and will significantly increase trade flows.

According to the report, tariff removal and cost reduction under the pact would reduce production costs and induce economies of scale, spurring higher domestic production and investment into different sectors of the economy.

This is also expected to boost value addition in production and enhance export growth across sectors.

According to the report, the AfCFTA arrangement needs

to go beyond a 100 per cent tariff reduction in all goods, noting that non-tariff barriers are also major constraints on intra-African trade.

Such non-tariff barriers include standards, custom procedures, technical barriers, licences, prohibitions, distribution restrictions, procurement restrictions, competition measures and rules of origin.

Oramah said: “Intra-African trade is only 15 per cent of Africa’s total trade, compared to Europe’s 67 per cent and we need a sustained strategic shift to industrialisation, increased intra-African trade, and

de-commoditisation through increased value addition and export diversification. “The AfCFTA agreement and Afreximbank’s Fifth Strategic Plan both emphasise the need for this structural transformation of African economies. “Afreximbank is committed to weaning the continent from overdependence on commodities and our programmes, notably the Africa Commodities Initiative, contribute to higher value addition by supporting processing and industrial capacities in various commodity sectors.�

The report noted that the African continent relies on the

rest of the world for more than 80 per cent of its trade whereas its share of global trade remains at less than three per cent, in part, due to the small size of many African economies which limits their individual global bargaining strength.

It further notes that 16 of the 55 African countries are landlocked and rely on their coastal neighbours for extraAfrican trade and development, using ports and shipping lines.

But trade among the landlocked countries and their neighbours has remained low, with much of what goes across the borders being destined for,

or being inward bound, from other continents.

Meanwhile, despite pleas and diplomatic pressure that was put on Nigeria by other African countries at the just concluded 2018 Annual General Meeting of Afreximbank, the country has maintained that it was still carrying out consultations.

Responding to question, the Chief Trade Negotiator for Nigeria and Director General, Nigerian office for trade negotiations, Amb. Chiedu Osakwe, pointed out that feelers from stakeholders contacted at the six geopolitical zones of the country.

REWARD FOR CUSTOMER LOYALTY

L-R: Head, Consumer Protection Council, Lagos Office, Susie Onwuka; Chief Executive Officer, Spectranet 4GLTE, Ajay Awasthi; Assistant Director, National Lottery Regulatory Commission, Lagos Office, Joy Okuna; Head of Marketing, Spectranet 4GLTE, Mike Ogor and Legal Officer, Lagos State Lottery Board, Adenike Oyebamiji, at Spectranet World Cup Promo Draw in Lagos... recently

Dakuku: Intermodal Transport System Essential for Port Efficiency Eromosele Abiodun The Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside has said that for any country to achieve efficiency at its ports, intermodal transport system is an essential factor to consider.

Peterside who said this while addressing journalists in Lagos, noted that in order to attract investment to the maritime sector, a seamless transport system was very crucial, saying there must

be a good connection between the road and rail to the ports.

Accordingly, Peterside stated that, “take maritime for instance, if the lands transport system is efficient, vessels idle time in the port will be highly minimized or completely eliminated, thereby reducing the turnaround time of vessels. When the turnaround time is low, the berth occupancy ratio of the port will be high and the port will be more efficient, more competitive and more profitable.�

Speaking further, the NIMASA

boss observed that port congestion was mainly caused by the inability to evacuate imported goods out of the ports, which can be attributed to the inefficiency of land transport connections to the ports. He added, “When the connection is inefficient, the cargo dwell time will increase, thereby causing congestion. The resultant effect of this is that there will be no spaces left to discharge cargoes and offloading from vessels will be stopped, pending evacuation of the already discharged ones. Whenever this

happens, vessels will be delayed, the revenue of the port will drop, shippers will incur unnecessary demurrages and the port will become unattractive.�

Peterside, who highlighted the impact of intermodal transport to the maritime sector as; improvement on the cargo handling time in the ports, improvement of security in the ports, reduction of damages and losses, ease of transfer to other modes of transport and faster transportation to the final destination amongst others.

He noted that it is a greater enabler for multimodal transport system, which is a means of door to door delivery of goods using different modes of transport.

Furthermore, he used the opportunity to assure the international community that the President Muhammadu Buhari’s led federal government was leaving no stone unturned to ensure that the access roads leading to Nigerian ports are very accessible so that vessels accessing our ports do not exceed their dwell time.

Osinbajo Faults Efforts to Tackle Lead Poisoning Kasim Sumaina in Abuja Group Business Editor

Obinna Chima

Capital Market Editor

Goddy Egene

AgriBusiness/Industry Editor

Jonathan Eze

Comms/e-Business Editor

Emma Okonji

Senior Correspondent

Raheem Akingbolu (Advertising) Correspondents

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

Nume Ekeghe (Money Market) Nosa Alekhuogie (Maritime)

Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo have faulted the ongoing efforts by various stakeholders in the mining sector towards curtailing the acute lead poisoning which has killed over 400 children in Zamfara and Niger states, The Vice President, while declaring open in Abuja recently, the second International conference on lead poisoning, associated with artisanal gold mining in Nigeria, said regrettably, five years after the Zamfara outbreak, another outbreak of severe lead poisoning was recorded in April 2015 in two villages in Niger state.

According to him, “As with the outbreaks in Zamfara State, this new outbreak was precipitated by

environmental lead contamination from artisanal gold mining activities, nearly 30 children died from severe lead complications and many more were poisoned.�

The VP, said: “We must start by admitting that the current efforts in tackling lead poising in artisanal gold mining have not been adequate, what better evidence do we have for that than the fact that the Niger State outbreak happened 5 years after we though we have contained that problem. “Indications of recontamination in previously remediated sites in Zamfara compel us to rethink and refocus our commitment and strategy to protecting our vulnerable children and coimmunuteus at large.�

He added, “I am aware that

the first international conference on lead poisoning was a joint effort of the Federal Ministry of Health and Medecins San Frontieres and that was held here in Abuja in May 2012. “The 2012 conference covered technical aspects, environmental management and the treatment of poisoned children. But today’s event has been organised by the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development in collaboration with Medecins San Frontieres, and it would provide a platform for key national, regional and international stakeholders to come together to develop a multi-sectoral disciplinary and pragmatic national strategy for forestalling future outbreak of lead poison associated with

artisanal gold mining, and to prevent the recontamination of previously remediated sites.�

He explained that, while the federal government has pursued a National Gold Purchase Scheme as well as the development of a National Gold Policy, “gold mining in Nigeria has been heard repeatedly is currently dominated by artisanal miners using rudimentary mining methods and crude processing techniques. “The obvious consequence is the exposure of miners, environment and local communities to serious dangers in areas where gold ore contain high concentration of heavy metals like lead, exposure to the dust released by these methods lead to serious health consequences to

the person directly involved in the mining, and also for all the neigbouring areas. Children, of course are the ones most at risk of death and disability. “Many will recall the outbreak of lead poisoning that occurred in Zamfara State and that has also been repeated many times today, in 2010 as a result of the processing of lead-rich gold ore by artisanal gold miners in residential compounds and village squares.�

Osinbajo, observed that, “Studies carried out in the affected village at that time showed that more than seventeen thousand people were severely exposed and an estimated four hundred to five hundred children lost their lives due to acute lead poisoning.

25

T H I S D AY Ëž Ëœ ÍŻÍ´Ëœ Í°ÍŽÍŻÍś

Nebo: Nigeria Will Never Have Electricity Sufficiency Using Main Grid He was Nigeria’s Minister of Power for two years where the enormity of the power challenge stared him in the face. He is convinced that Nigeria cannot get power sufficiency but can deploy power generation to needed areas using the latest generation machines one of which he has invented. Professor Chinedu Nebo has completed research on what would be a power generating revolution that he explained to Charles Ajunwa and Ahamefula Ogbu Your record at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) as Vice Chancellor was so resounding. A lot of Nigerians expected you to replicate same feat at the Ministry of Power when you served as minister. Why was that not possible?

With regards to power, you know when I came to the Ministry of Power the entire power system in the country was in a transition because government had decided to privatise all the generating companies (Gencos) and all the distribution companies (Discos) and to retain only the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

So, that period was not an easy one at all because that time of transition so many things were happening. There was so much unrest among the labour union members and so on. But in spite of that, we did a lot of innovations. We were able to get signed a policy for renewable energy in Nigeria and such a policy was put in place during the time I was minister. We also did the bill that made Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA) a national agency of the country. In addition to that, we did quite a lot of things with regard renewable energy, solar power and so on, where we demonstrated using three towns- Shape, Walu and Durumi that people could use 24/7 power supply using only solar without being connected to the power grid. We really did quite a few things. We started Operation Light Up Rural Nigeria, but unfortunately, we were cut short. You know I was only there for two years and two months before our government was changed and then of course, I stopped being a minister. So, I would say that we didn’t have all the time in the world to do all those wonderful revolutionary power systems we wanted to set up for the country. But because of that when I left office, I felt I still owe the country and that was what led me into continuing searching for a way of solving energy crisis in Nigeria, and by the grace of God we have something to show for it now.

Can we know that thing you have to show for it?

I have been working with so many young people in different places right from before I even became Minister of Power. The first time was when I was even Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Enugu State University of Science and Technology. I had an ally and we were talking about big power station, I said no, let’s start with renewable and we did a lot of research. I had always believed, and I still believe, that we can generate electricity without fuel not necessarily using only gas or even solar or wind or hydro, but purely electromechanical means of sustained electricity generation. So, I had funded some people that are technologically savvy. They were talented. I notice them, fished them out and start working with them. But then when I became minister, there was a power group we started that I tried to encourage people in different places. So, I started working with them and soon after that, we were swept out of office.

Of course, we continued the research. By the grace of God, we have invented a means of generating electricity using minimum fuel supply. What we have been able to do, is to build our own turbine system that incorporates an electro mechanical system, iterative system that multiplies power that is generated by a small engine. So, we have a small engine driving a large turbine. What we have succeeded in doing, is that we actually have 22.1 kilowatt engine driving a 250 kilowatt turbine using only the fuel of the 22.1 kilowatt engine. In other words, producing 10 times the power using the same amount of fuel as the small engine would use.

We have been able to get enough equipment to

Nebo

measure the electricity output and we found out that we could generate over 200 kilowatts from a 22 kilowatt engine. That is almost 10 times. You can imagine the fuel savings! So, it’s just that we don’t have the resources. I invested substantially because the research is 100 per cent funded by me. So, I have received no money from anybody within the country or even outside. It was just recently that some people started showing interest but we still are yet to find investors. We have not publicised it, we are hoping that soon that we will do a public display of this machine then we will attract investors to come. So, what we have calculated is for this people using 500 kilowatts to 1,000 kilowatts generators, if they did a 10-hour shift every day we could save them N30-N50 million every year for each generator by the savings they get from fuel.

Have you patented it?

It’s patented, we have a Nigerian patent. I’m the leader of the group.

But is the federal government aware of this?

The government is aware, but I’m sorry that the government doesn’t seem to be interested in anything. It’s surprising! The government has an idea because we presented this to the Ministry

But again, I have never believed that government can solve Nigeria’s power problems. It has to be solved by the private sector and much of the problems that we have in this country are seemingly intractable for government to solve

of Science and Technology. You would have expected that somehow the ministry would say “Okay why don’t we fund this or the research through the Energy Commission or through any other commission or any other agency.�

But there hasn’t been a single response from the government on that. But again, I have never believed that government can solve Nigeria’s power problems. It has to be solved by the private sector and much of the problems that we have in this country are seemingly intractable for government to solve. So, the private sector has to sit up and I believe solutions will come from the private sector.

What is the problem with the electricity architecture of the country?

The problem, first and foremost, people wonder whether the government has good intentions. You know after the unfortunate military interregnum when President Obasanjo came to power he started very aggressive programme and that was what brought the National Integrated Power Projects (NIPP) into limelight and funded it. Unfortunately, it was discontinued when President Yar’Adua took over, but later President Jonathan revived all of that. That was an aggressive way of giving Nigerians several thousands of more megawatts of electricity. But I have been crying from the first day that I took office as Minister of Power that Nigeria will never, I repeat never have energy or electricity supply sufficiency using the Main Grid. It cannot happen. The reason is very easily obvious – To give every part of Nigeria the transmission infrastructure that would eventually distil to distribution infrastructure needed for every community to get electricity in Nigeria will cost several trillions of naira.

Electricity or power supply is not the only problem government has; government has to work with health, give road infrastructure, do educational infrastructure, aviation, environment and so on. So many babies that the government has and the government cannot put trillions of naira in transmission infrastructure with the same amount of money they would have used in building very formidable, I would say, transmission infrastructure. They can

take electricity to the people where they need it by what you call direct distributed power.

You go to a community build a small power plant, use distribution network to do it or embedded generation. You take small engines, small generators or turbines to communities, to institutions - whether it’s agriculture or business cluster or industrial cluster, you measure the power they need and give it to them. If they grow, you increase your capacity incrementally as growth comes. But when the country insists on doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result each time, it’s one of the Chinese definitions of insanity. You cannot be doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result each time.

It doesn’t work! But that is what Nigeria has been doing and unfortunately, for the past few years not much has happened in the power sector. We are not generating anything more 4,000 megawatts till today. It’s horrible! It’s harrowing!

Industries are folding up on a regular basis and we are pointing to government, to make the government look at power generation and distribution from another angle – Imbedded generation and distributed power. That is the way to go and then we need to capture renewable energy. Every part of Nigeria is amenable to renewable energy especially solar.

Many parts are amenable to wind especially the coastal areas and some high wind velocity areas and a few are amenable to hydro power of different sizes. There are also even miniature hydro power plants that can be built easily with very little problem. But the government doesn’t seem to care about these things and it’s most unfortunate. And for us, these power turbines that we have built, we have done some tests and also realised that we can power the same turbine without a single drop of fuel by using compressed air and water. That is the next level we are going. So, while we are launching this one and as we get the resources for more research, we will be able to perfect it where it will be driven either by solar or by what we call aero hydro technology using compressed air and water to drive the same turbine that we are using small engines to drive now. When we do that, it means we can generate electricity anywhere in this country and give people the power. There is going to be industrial revolution based on our findings. In fact, an American friend of mine that I told about what we are doing said “This is disruptive technology�. It’s going to change the way power is generated in the whole world not just Nigeria. But as you speak, even engineers don’t understand this.

They don’t believe it. They don’t know it’s a reality. That is why we decided to mount it, it’s now mounted where we are going to do the display and presentation to the country at Coal City University, Enugu, where I happen to be Pro-Chancellor of the Governing Council.

Still on the problems of electricity, what is wrong with the privatisation policy of the federal government?

I don’t think anything is wrong. It’s just that governments appear to be too much in a hurry.

It’s the greatest or the biggest privatisation ever done in history with regards to power and I would have thought government would have done that incrementally. Sell a few Discos, not just outright sale because government still retains 40 per cent in the Discos and maybe 10 per cent or so in the Gencos. But they should have done that in piecemeal so that you learn as it matures, but this one fell-swoop privatisation took everybody by storm and some of those who bought the companies were not ready.

They claimed to have what they didn’t have.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 26

26

T H I S D AY Ëž Ëœ ÍŻÍ´Ëœ Í°ÍŽÍŻÍś

NEBO: NIGERIA WILL NEVER HAVE ELECTRICITY SUFFICIENCY USING MAIN GRID

They said they had creditworthiness, many of them didn’t. They said that they had resources, many of them didn’t. Some said they have technical experts and partners, many of them didn’t. That is why the government is still subsidising them underground to make sure that everything is afloat otherwise the entire system would collapse. But I tell you that the thought and the principle is correct. It’s just that we should have taken these things stepwise or done that incrementally and if we were to do it completely the way it was done, I think a lot greater level of due diligence should have been done before privatising.

Is there any way you can interface this new technology that you are on now with the present turbine system that Nigeria has invested so many billions of dollars on?

Right now, what these turbines that Nigeria has built many of them especially the NIPP ones have not been commissioned. Most of them were almost essentially completed during the President Jonathan administration, but the current administration, because of some level of lackadaisical attitude doesn’t seem to be interested in pushing everything forward in making sure because these people still need some kind of support. You don’t give birth to a child and the child becomes independent the very first day.

You keep allowing the child to learn how to crawl and then how to walk and then how to run eventually. That has not happened. It didn’t take much time before we left the office. We are still in the learning process. But with our own technology, the beauty of it is we can design a one-megawatt generator that can be driven by only a 50-100 kilowatt engine or when we now have the resources to perfect the aero hydro technology driven by water and compressed air. We take it to anywhere even in the cities where there is constant power failure, we can sell power directly to the Discos and that is one good thing this government has tried to do by encouraging more people if you can generate up to two megawatts you are free to sell your power if you have a license. So, I believe if you look at the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), it should be able to grant licences, so, we can sell directly or do them in smaller bits of 500 kilowatts and so on. Go to a Disco and tell a Disco, this is a high-priced area, these people need power and they are only getting six hours a day let’s give you 24/7 power and we will sell it to you at the same price or slightly discount it from what you are getting from Gencos. So, it’s a win-win situation for everybody. People get power 24/7, Discos make their money and we make our money.

You know, what really pains me is one day a big going concern- General Electric, Siemens or even Mikano - any of them can come and buy our licence and start producing and we would lose the base.

We have no support from anybody, Nigerians are not interested. But it’s horrible, nobody wants to do research. How can you think of me a public servant funding research? It’s not done anywhere! But we have to do it because I

They have no moral justification where you have most of those so-called free world still using coal today and then they are telling Africa you can’t do what we are doing because you are going to pollute the world. They have already polluted the world. I don’t think what we are doing is going to pollute the world if we use the best technology of clean coal.

Nebo

passionately believed in this, even mortgaging asset that I have had for more than 30 years in order to make sure that this works. Thankfully, by the grace of God, we are at the verge of a new dawn. I believe we are very close to industrial revolution because with this system anywhere you want to site your industry, anywhere you want to build an estate, anywhere you want to do agricultural processing you get a machine like this. You don’t need to be connected to the National Grid and you would get power 24/7.

Don’t you think politics in the Nigerian system can negatively affect what you are doing?

Certainly, you know one of the greatest problems in our land is politicising everything.

It’s most unfortunate. Yes, but it could be that politics could also hamper this. For instance, people would say, how come it’s coming from this part of the country? We are not going to support it. Or people can say well, if this thing goes on it’s a 100 per cent Nigerian project. All of us who are part of this are Nigerians. So, this is a Nigerian technology there wouldn’t be any opportunity for anybody to corruptly enrich themselves. Look at Nigeria, importing finished petroleum products till today. How can a country like Nigeria be importing fuel? Ghana wants to produce more electricity, why? They want to sell it to Nigeria. They buy gas from us, produce electricity and sell to us because we can’t even produce our own with the gas we have in quantum. We have the seventh or eighth largest gas reserve in the whole world, what are we doing with it? Nothing! So, I believe that politics could affect it. We need a government that is proactive, a government that is competent and a government that is technologically savvy, that would see the opportunities in this kind of thing. Can you imagine that for instance,

Coronation Merchant Bank Named Best Investment Bank in Nigeria Coronation Merchant Bank has been named the Best Investment Bank in Nigeria at the 2018 World Finance Awards.

The award was organised by the World Finance magazine which has been celebrating individual and company achievements, innovation and brilliance through its annual awards since 2007.

Commenting on the award, the Group Managing Director/ CEO of Coronation Merchant Bank, Abu Jimoh, said, “we are delighted to be recognised as the Best Investment Bank in Nigeria. “Our successes and achievements over the years is a reflection of the hard work and commitment of our staff, management and board in ensuring we maintain our core values of integrity, innovation and excellence in service delivery.�

He further stated that, “this award affirms that we are on course to achieving our longterm goal of becoming Africa’s premier investment bank.�

Coronation Merchant Bank group was established to fill the gap in a long-underserved market segment, seeking to address the need for long term capital across key sectors of the economy. The group offers investment and corporate banking, private banking/ wealth management and global markets/treasury services to its diverse clients. It also offers securities trading/brokerage, asset management and trustees services via its subsidiaries; Coronation Securities Limited, Coronation Asset Management Limited respectively.

Driven by its vision of becoming Africa’s premier investment bank and with an asset base of

over N130 billion, the banking group is certain to leverage its privileged direction by some of Nigeria’s individuals who excelled and rose to the top of merchant banking sector at its height of excellence to become the industry model for risk management, corporate governance and responsible business practices.

On his part, the Group Managing Director of World Finance, Michael McCaw, said the the World Finance Banking Awards celebrates the institutions “that can confidently proclaim they are part of a more responsible and sustainable industry than the one that existed ten years ago.� “Over the past 12 months, these organisations have helped set new benchmarks for the financial sector in terms of customer service and digital innovation.

one big international firm comes and buys this licence or when they frustrate us as they tried to frustrate many people and we choose to go outside and manufacture it, people are now going to start importing it into Nigeria.

Who makes all the money? The international companies. Now, we have an opportunity to do it in Nigeria, use our currency, have the industry, have tens of thousands of engineers working. Nobody is listening. They don’t give a damn about these things. You can see how it hurts to know that here is an opportunity of a lifetime, of a Nigerian technology to change the way electricity is generated for the whole world and nobody gives a damn.

Talking about research, what has happened to the coal we have in abundance in the country?

Well, very thankfully, coal is now being mined in the country and we are hoping that some of it would be used for electricity generation.

Thankfully, Zuma mines in Kogi and Dangote mines also in Kogi, while Mill House Energy Resources mines in Enugu.

And some of these are great things that the previous administration did by encouraging people to start utilising or exploiting the coal resources we have in abundance in Nigeria. We are quite thankful that very soon we are going to have people using coal to generate electricity in Nigeria. World Bank will complain and say why are you using coal, it’s not clean. We have clean coal technology now that is as clean as anything you can imagine.

So, I don’t think there is any problem with that.

They developed their own countries using coal and it’s our turn to develop and they are telling us we can’t do that, and I think it’s not right.

What component of your invention is manufactured in Nigeria?

Well, this is one of our problems and that is why we want to really invite investors who care because apart from the design that we have done which is really very expensive for us much of the other components we use we have to import. For instance, nobody produces the kind of transformers we need. There are some now in Lagos being produced and we are happy about that but most of these are produced by foreigners. The little engines that we use to drive the turbines that we manufactured we can source locally, the components we use in manufacturing the turbines. So much of it we can do local but there are components that we need like electric motors, engines, alternators, and others we still have to import. But that is part of the reason we will want to start manufacturing those things in Nigeria and it doesn’t cost an arm and a foot. If the Bank of Industry were to bankroll an industry like that, we start producing transformers.

We start producing small electric motors and some of the components that we need to get our turbines designed and built, and I think that will be in the best interest of Nigeria.

As former Minister of Power, what do you think would be a quick ďŹ x to the problems of power in Nigeria?

Well, there aren’t easy quick fixes. Let me just give an illustration, Azura Power in Edo State has come on stream. How many years did it take to conceive that idea, to do the design, to market the design, then to have financial closures, get buy-in from international organisations, get the requisite bank guarantees? Now secure the soft loans and then begin to do the EPC, manufacturing of the components and so on.

At the end of the year, you find out it needs a minimum of four to six years to get 100 or 200 megawatts in place. Six years, average five years my brothers! How do you wait for that?

We don’t wait, every day we are producing children, everyday people are streaming from villages and coming to the cities. You don’t wait for five years. For our system if we have everything we need same 200 megawatts we can produce in a year easily and we can multiply this in so many places so that with this kind of system we have now, if we had the kind of investment people are talking about. For instance, for our own one megawatt, we could produce conveniently one megawatt of power with about 300,000 to 350,000 Dollars. A typical one megawatt deployed of these big engines is about $1.2 million.

Again, Access Bank Wins Karlsruhe Sustainable Awards Access Bank Plc has once more received honours at the 2018 Karlsruhe Sustainable Finance Awards in Germany as the bank emerged winner across two categories.

This recognition came, barely 24 hours after the bank bagged the Euromoney Awards for Excellence as “Africa’s Best Bank for Corporate Social Responsibility� in London.

Access Bank received the Karlsruhe award for “Outstanding Business Sustainability Achievement� in recognition of the bank’s impressive success in holistically embedding sustainability across all aspects of operations.

This was the third consecutive win for the bank and further reinforces the institution’s status as an industry pioneer in sustainable development.

Access Bank Group Managing Director/CEO, Herbert

Wigwe, was also honoured for his remarkable leadership and commitment to sustainable development with the “Sustainable Leader of the Year for Africa� award.

The award was presented in recognition of Wigwe’s exceptional leadership in driving business transformation through incorporating social, environmental and economic values in the bank’s operations. “We are honoured to receive this level of recognition,� Wigwe said. “At Access Bank, sustainability is a part of our DNA and we promise to continue to be the face of social, economic and environmental developments that facilitates an inclusive and vibrant economy, business transformations and increase our shareholders value for tomorrow,� he added.

In attendance at the awards

ceremony were CEOs of leading global financial institutions, senior executives, top German government officials, policy makers, regulators and key sustainability stakeholders.

Meanwhile, speaking after receiving the Euromoney award in London, the bank’s CFO, Seyi Kumapayi, said the award validated the bank’s continuous efforts and commitment to the sustainable development of Nigeria’s financial industry: “This serves as a testament to the bank’s resolute efforts in financing sustainable economies in the societies in which we operate. As such, we believe the net impact of our business activities must be positive to accelerate our drive towards the achievement of the sustainable development goals and the development of a resilient and vibrant economy across Africa.�

27

T H I S D AY Ëž Ëœ ÍŻÍ´Ëœ Í°ÍŽÍŻÍś

Heritage Bank Partners CIBN Heritage Bank Plc has announced its partnership with the Lagos branch of the Chartered Institute of Bankers (CIBN) to host the 2018 Lagos Bankers & Stakeholders’ night.

General Manager and Chief Compliance Officer of Heritage Bank, Mr. Wumi Adeniyi, who disclosed this in a statement, said the bank decided to support the Lagos CIBN’s initiative because the event would foster

a robust engagement among professionals in the sector as well as customers of banks. “We take very significant recognition of the fact that we are a bank which must interface with our colleagues and customers at a time like this. “It is a significant event in the calendar of the banking community in Nigeria and Heritage Bank, being a member of that community, must participate

GSMA Supports NCC’s Spectrum Trading Policy Emma Okonji The GSMA, a global telecommunications body has commended the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) over its position on spectrum trading and sharing policies.

The GSMA said the initiative will allow for a telecoms environment that would ensure efficient use of scarce spectrum resources.

The Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, had penultimate week in Lagos, assured Nigerians of the Commission’s plan to release new guidelines on spectrum trading and sharing policies.

According to him, the new guidelines would allow operators that have spectrum licence that are not put into use, to either trade or share such licence with other operators who need same but do not have it.

The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, uniting nearly 800 operators with almost 300 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset and device makers, software companies, equipment providers and internet companies, as well as organisations in adjacent industry sectors.

The body disclosed that it had a long-standing engagement with the NCC with respect to the need to develop guidelines to facilitate the transfer, leasing and sharing

of spectrum.

The engagement, according to GSMA included liaison with its members, participation and presentations at local workshops on the subject, as well as written submissions to the leadership of the NCC. “We are happy that NCC has published the new regulatory guidelines that now facilitate the trading and sharing of spectrum in Nigeria. The GSMA was actively involved in the development of the work that culminated in these guidelines,� GSMA said in a statement.

The statement noted that the policy is a great revolution in the Nigerian regulatory environment and a great achievement for the spectrum, policy and regulatory team in the sub-Saharan Africa region.

The new spectrum trading guidelines adopted the GSMA recommendations, specifically in allowing not only spectrum trading and leasing, but also spectrum sharing.

The GSMA also recommended the adoption of a one per cent administrative fee as opposed to the 10 per cent and then five per cent, which the NCC initially intended.

Based on GSMA recommendations, the NCC also came up with ways to ensure the technical and financial capabilities of the buying/leasing party in its consideration for spectrum trading applications.

AIB, UNILAG Sign Pact on Use of Laboratory Chinedu Eze The Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) and University of Lagos have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the usage of the agency’s $5.8 million metallurgical laboratory at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja. The agreement was signed in Lagos at the weekend. The Commissioner and CEO of the agency, Akin Olateru said the laboratory would provide an opportunity for the university to further its research in that area of metallurgy. The Commissioner noted that it was worrisome that both private and public business organisations in Nigeria expend little or no resource to funding of researches and projects. He remarked that with adequate research the country would develop its own products, adding that universities would also come up with more discoveries to the benefit of their

students. Olateru explained that the vision of AIB management was to make the laboratory a world class facility where giant construction companies and countries like South Africa, United Kingdom and other European nations could come to conduct research.

He said the collaboration with the university would lead to the recognition of Nigeria as a serious nation in research in the international community.

Olateru, also noted that usage of the facility would lead to human capital development in the country, while the laboratory would also give students more opportunity to practice whatever they had been taught in the classrooms. He stated that it would help curb capital flight, stressing that some of the students who go to US, UK, China usually rush back without completing the courses because of many factors.

in it and we have supported the initiative over the years.�

Speaking at the event, the guest speaker and Executive Vice Chairman of Computer Warehouse Group, Mr. Austin Okere, in his paper entitled: “Big data, Fintech and the future of banking,� noted that the evolving technology which goes beyond financial application is expected to disrupt global supply chain by boosting transaction schemes across borders and improving the transparency of the process.

He said technology uses the blockchain technology which has created the backbone of a new type of internet which was originally devised for the digital currency, remarking that it is this technology that Fintechs are leveraging to disrupt traditional banks.

He noted that the most disruptive application of the blockchain technology would be in the financial sector as consistent complaints about banks have reached a crescendo in recent times.

According to him, after centuries of receiving deposits and making loans, two customer groups have emerged, and both are calling for a change.

The first group comprises of under-banked adults while the second comprises of members of the elite who believe that the relationship is absolutely skewed in favour of the banks.

He said the biggest threat to banks is the perception that they can always make profits even in times of economic downturn when the real sector of the

economy suffered the most.

Okere contended that this had led many banks to believe that they are invincible, that is now characterised by loss of touch with customers.

He said the way forward for the banking industry was to collaborate with Fintech companies to deliver financial services because Fintechs have taken over financial services up to a third percentage of the population in volume and in value incountries like Kenya and China.

L-R: Chief Executive, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Dr Demola Sogunle; Executive Director, Personal / Business Banking, Mr. Babatunde Macaulay; Country Head , Human Capital, Olufunke Amobi and Partner / Lead, Digital Transformation Technology, KPMG, Boye Ademola, at the bank’s 2018 work place banking seminar in Lagos‌recently ETOP UKUTT

Govt Recruits Inspectors to Enforce Workplace Rules Ugo Aliogo The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, has stated that plans are underway by the federal government to recruit more labour inspectors to boost compliance with regulations at workplaces.

Addressing journalists in Abuja recently, Ngige described the initiative as a vital area of labour administration, which has suffered inadequate funding.

The minister decried the fact that there was shortage of labour inspectors because they are often times not replaced as the aged

ones were exiting the service.

He added, “As at today, we have only about 100 Labour Inspectors across the country.

While we are recruiting labour inspectors to bridge the gap, we are also training the existing ones.�

Ngige hinted that the International Labour Organisation (ILO) was collaborating with Nigeria on the inspectors’ train-the-trainers programme.

He also revealed that the government had purchased safety equipment and other tools labour inspectors need to ensure that companies,

shopping malls and business concerns complied with the law. “Labour inspection is done in two ways. The first is to ensure that the jobs that are done are decent in accordance with the Decent Work agenda of the ILO. “Under this, we examine the staff strength, no casualisation of staff and that workers are not maltreated under any guise. The second aspect is the safety of the workers,� he stated. “We have been fighting against indiscriminate sack of workers not only in the telecommunica-

tion sector, but also in the oil and gas and banking sectors. “Government will always insist that workers can only be sacked if the jobs are not enough to go round and must also provide evidence of that and they must also negotiate with the affected workers on the manner of exit which must be based on ‘first to come, first to exit’ principle. “If the unions notice that any employer fail to comply with this and report to the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, such employer would be in trouble,� he added.

Russian Firm Restates Commitment to Nigeria’s Mineral Sector Kasim Sumaina in Abuja Buoyed by recent positive developments in the country’s mineral sector, a Russian mineral deposits prospecting company, JSC Zarubezhgeologia has come back to invest in Nigeria, 35 years after it closed business in the country.

JSC Zarubezhgeologia that left the country in 1983, recently renewed interest in investing in Nigeria’s mineral sector.

The Russian Ambassador to Nigeria, Alexey Shebarshin, who assumed office recently, made

this known when he paid a courtesy visit to the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development (MMSD) in Abuja.

According to the Ambassador, “JSC Zarubezhgeologia specialises in the study and evaluation of mineral, energy, water, land, and other natural resources, as well as geoecological research and projects. “The organisation was founded to carry out production, design, and scientific work in the field of geology in foreign countries. “Zarubezhgeologia functioned as a general service

provider and contractor for the former USSR Ministry of Geology in organising technical collaboration with partner countries, and in geological research under international agreements. The company was also involved in the supply of materials and equipment, as well as providing Russian specialists for projects abroad.�

Shebashin, who led the company’s delegation from his country to the ministry during the visit, said he was in Nigeria to build on the long existing relationship between

his country and Nigeria.

He said, “The Embassy avails itself ofthe opportunity to express to the Ministry the renewed assurance of its highest consideration.� In his response, the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Alh. Abubakar Bawa-Bwari, expressed delight in the visit by the ambassador.

According to him, “Russia has been a development partner of Nigeria and the relationship was what led to the establishment of Ajaokuta Steel Plant whose objectives has unfortunately not been realised to date.

28

T H I S D AY ˾ ͯʹ˜ ͰͮͯͶ

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY JULY 16, 2018

29

30

T H I S D AY Ëž Ëœ ÍŻÍ´Ëœ Í°ÍŽÍŻÍś

SEC: As Uduk Lives the Buhari Vision Femi Akinlolu One major blight of capital markets across the globe is a tendency towards opacity, an inclination to work the books just to appear healthy and bullish. The Nigerian capital market is not immune to such tendency, historically. This is why not a few have continued to applaud the appointment of Ms. Mary Uduk as the Acting Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission(SEC) the regulator of the nation’s capital market.

Minister of Finance Mrs. Kemi Adeosun has shown sufficient courage to debug the system and get it on the path of transparency, which fits into the vision and value system of President Muhammadu Buhari. The minister has had to contend with the bogey of graft and underhand dealings within the capital market circuit.

Given the role of the capital market as the barometer with which investors and entrepreneurs measure the health, short term and long term, of any economy, it stands to reason that if the Buhari government must make good its promise to grow the economy, create job and create wealth, it must arrest the hemorrhage in the sector and curb excesses of the regulator and operators which often are driven by personal and parochial sentiments rather than public interest. This is the context in which the appointment of Uduk by the minister is viewed as the perfect elixir to stem the rot in the capital market.

The minister had explained that Uduk’s appointment in April was governed by the provisions of the Investments and Securities Act (ISA), 2007 and the conditions of service applicable to the Director-General of the Commission.

In the letter dated April 13, 2018, Adeosun explained that Uduk’s appointment was necessitated by the need to ensure effective regulation of the capital market. The minister said the appointment would, subject to satisfactory performance, subsist until further notice.

The minister subsequently announced the redeployment of the former acting DirectorGeneral, Dr Abdul Zubair, to External Relations Department. There were other reassignments approved by the minister including: Reginald Karawusa (Acting Executive Commissioner, Legal and Enforcement), Isiyaku Tilde (Acting Executive Commissioner, Operations), and Henry Adekunle (Acting Executive Commissioner, Corporate Services).

So far, Uduk has demonstrated a good grasp of what “effective regulation� of the capital market entails. By word and deeds, she has inclined herself on the same plane with the values of President Buhari to engender a culture of transparency in the system. She is treading the path of openness and zero corruption.

She believes that investors’ confidence is

Uduk

key to ensuring that Nigeria makes the most of the rich potential in her capital market, arguably one of the most dynamic in Africa.

This also is in tandem with the mission of SEC which is “to develop and regulate a capital market that is dynamic, fair, transparent and efficient, to contribute to the nation’s economic development�.

Regulating the capital market of Africa’s largest economy does not come cheap. It comes with its peculiar challenges and throws up even more spikes on its path. Cases of insider dealings, outright stealing and various criminal acts all fuelled by greed and negligence among some of the operators are rife. All of this should engage the attention of Uduk as she steels herself to right the many wrongs that dogged the tenure of her predecessors. So far, the received opinion is that she has shown the capacity to undertake a major transformation of the market and sustain it.

Capital market watchers who have been disappointed in the past by the messy turn of events have said that her appointment was well deserved. She has been inside the system having joined SEC in 1986 as an assistant financial analyst. Ever since, her career as a regulator has spanned many portfolios and departments within the Commission. She has had experience in corporate finance, administration and in providing structural, policy and due diligence for capital market transactions.

In addition, she has been responsible for managing several landmark capital market projects including the registration of capital market operators(CMOs), articulating rules

for bonds and equities; Mergers, acquisitions and takeovers, and managing the banking and insurance industry consolidations between 2005-2007.

She also served as the pioneer Head of the Operations Division in the Lagos Zonal Office, and has headed a number of departments in the commission which include Internal Control, Investment Management, Financial Standards and Corporate Governance and Securities, and Investment Services Department, among others.

She thus comes to her new station not as a rookie but as a rounded and primed staff.

Her cross-departments experience gives her a head-start in a sector where being brilliant and intelligent is not enough, you need to also get smart, be knowledgeable and have the capacity to always read the prompts on the dashboard ahead of others. This is where her appointment makes much sense. A regulator must avoid the din and must never be a victim of follow-the-crowd syndrome.

The banana peeling that became the Achilles heels of some of her predecessors was that they could not put down the marker to separate the regulator from the operators. Often, the regulator for some strange reasons mostly bordering on graft becomes subsumed under the influence of the operators, something akin to the referee becoming a player. It gives room for corruption, manipulation and pervasive swindle of the investing publics.

Many believe Uduk’s leadership style, her career path and temperament lend her to easily navigate the banana peeling. SEC is driven by values namely: leadership by example,

transparency, discipline, honesty, effectiveness, commitment to excellence, punctuality, fairness and proactiveness. Over the years, she has come to embody these values without attracting undue attention to herself.

The commission’s duties are critical to reflating the economy, sustaining growth and promoting healthy competition. It does this through registration, inspection, surveillance, investigation, enforcement and rule-making. Each of these duties has a direct nexus with the others such that if the commission fails in one, it triggers a backlash on the entire system. Uduk knows this too well being a SEC insider for many decades. Getting all of these responsibilities right has been the challenge of SEC leadership.

The issues of surveillance, inspection, investigation and enforcement, for instance, must never be taken lightly. This is at the core of various manipulations by shady operators. They cheat through the system and get away with it sometimes because the regulator looked away or slacked in its surveillance and inspection duties. The effect of this is a toll on investors’ confidence.

The Acting SEC DG is up to this. During a chat with journalists after the commission’s Capital Market Committee (CMC) meeting in Lagos recently, she left no one in doubt of her resolve and that of her new team to continue to bolster investors’ confidence in the market.

She said: “Members of the new management team have worked in the commission for many years with experiences in different departments of the commission and aspects of the capital market. We have always been part of the commission’s efforts at improving investors’ confidence and implementing the Capital Market Master Plan. “The Master Plan will continue to be our working document and we shall continue to implement initiatives that will promote investors’ confidence such as E-Dividend registration, Direct Cash Settlement, Dematerialization, Complaint Management Framework, Financial Literacy and Investors’ Protection Fund, among others.�

Without a doubt, Nigeria has lost so much in investment because of capital market volatility.

Some investors simply lost confidence in the system and walked away. The challenge is to bring them back and even more.

The new SEC leadership is showing much promise. They are following the template of President Buhari on transparency, integrity in service delivery and a commitment to deliver the vision of the founding technocrats of SEC which is “to be Africa’s leading capital market regulator�. They must resolve to make their moment count. The capital market seriously needs this breath of fresh air. .Akinlolu, a capital market and investment analyst writes from Abuja.

TEXEM Holds Strategic Leadership Training for Executives Nosa Alekhuogie An international training institution, TEXEM, has said its upcoming program is targeted at enhancing efficiency in organisations in order to improve the socio-economic landscape in Nigeria.

Clearly, we are living in turbulent times characterised by political uncertainty, increasing insecurity, rollercoaster paced product innovation, stiff competition, depressing customer income and increasing cost of operation.

Thus, there is an urgent need for unusual leaders who are strategic, agile, who can build resilience, develop values that endure and develop an intrepreneurial culture that fosters high performance.

Based on this volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous landscape in Nigeria, TEXEM UK, presents her forthcoming executive development programme tailored to help senior executives develop requisite leadership quotient.

Delegates will develop competence in forging strategies that create a competitive edge in Laline turbulent times.

Participants will become more aware of organisational performance World-renowned Professor Rodria Laline their leadership style, strengths and blind spots and how to effectively inspire diverse will deliver this programme on ‘Developing stakeholders and develop actionable frameworks and Leading High-Performance Organisations for stimulating superlative; individual and for Superlative Results,’ on July 18th and 19th

2018 at Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Professor Laline is a Visiting Professor at Harvard, Insead and IESE and Chair of Intrabond Capital.

Laline has been CEO of global research and development collaborations with IBM, ING, Hewlett-Packard, Digital Equipment Corporation, Honeywell Bull, Elsevier Science, Oracle Corporation, Siemens, and Philips. She was Co-founder of the Global Chipcard Alliance and Board member of the Open Software Foundation and developed the intellectual property that is used on every ATM card globally.

When asked why executives should attend the forthcoming programme, Laline said, “Participants are assured of geometric return of investment via enhanced social capital through networking with other impressive leaders and future partners – both during the executive development programme and after. “Furthermore, leaders will have the opportunity to challenge and debate with the faculties who have a wealth of applicable theoretical and practical leadership experience-For example, at the risk of being accused of being self-asserting, permit me to say that I have delivered executive development programmes in almost every continent in the world and

for participants from over eighty countries through my work at Harvard, Insead, IMD and IESE. “I have practical senior executive and board-level experience, and I have advised many boards across Europe, America, Asia, and Africa. Specifically, upon completion of this programme, you will be more self-aware and equipped with critical and relevant strategies on how to propel your leadership trajectory for improved capacity to inspire your organisation to deliver results in a resource-constrained operating landscape. “Other vital takeaways include actionable learning outcomes such as improved leadership quotient on how to bridge differences and explore synergies more effectively, via case studies translate leadership concepts into action, and being more adept at articulating goals to increase individual, organisational as well as industry influence and impact.�

This program has been designed to equip executives with tools for driving organisational and people capabilities, which will, in turn, enhance performance, help them recognise the characteristics of high-performing workgroups, encourage an environment that inspires high performance, effectively drive and manage change and create plans to eradicate the barriers to high performance.

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY JULY 16, 2018

31

32

T H I S D AY ˾ ͯʹ˜ ͰͮͯͶ

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY JULY 16, 2018

33

34

T H I S D AY ˾ ͯʹ˜ ͰͮͯͶ

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY JULY 16, 2018

35

T H I S D AY ˞ ˜ JULY 16, 2018

36

BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

Experts Highlight Conditions for Digital Transformation in Nigeria Peter Uzoho Some professionals have outlined certain conditions that Nigeria needs to meet to fully adopt digital transformation for the development of its economy.

Presenting a paper titled, ‘Digital Disruption: Implications for Businesses,’ at the 2018 KPMG Alumni Cocktail in Lagos at the weekend, the Managing Director, Venture Garden Group, Mr. Bunmi Akinyemiju, stressed that Nigeria needs to build ecosystems, form partnerships, train talents, and make capital

available for investment.

He said to create the needed environment for digital transformation in the country, firms, financial institutions, consumers, corporates, government, regulators, among others, have to forge strong collaboration. He added, “You need to create the right environment; create a community, because digital disruption is not something you get five people involved and they make it happen. “You actually need that whole ecosystem to come together. You need partnership – you can’t do

it alone; partner with start-ups, partner with foreign companies, partner with the institutions, and so on. And then, training. “Our population is replete with a huge talented young men and women that we can leverage on to maximise the potential of digital disruption.

We have them here in Nigeria and many of them are also in the Diaspora. “We need data, data is the new oil, data enables and accelerates digital transformation. Again, we need to have more entrepreneurship, more innovators to drive this.

Transcorp CEO Harps on Enabling Environment for Tourism Ugo Aliogo The Managing Director of Transcorp, Mr Valentine Ozigbo has called on governments at all levels to encourage the growth of marketing destinations, which he noted, will do a lot in promoting tourism and aid the growth of the Nigerian economy.

Ozigbo said this while speaking as one of the panelists during the Institute of Directors’ 2018 Tourism and Hospitality forum, with the theme, ‘Domestic Tourism as a Catalyst to the Growth of Nigeria Economy,’ that took place in Lagos.

Ozigbo who spoke on the challenges of the hospitality sector, emphasised the need to give hotels and tourism the enabling environment to help the sector thrive.

He, also called for the creation

of a tourism ministry as well as to create the enabling environment for businesses to strive and survive.

According to Ozigbo,� It will do us a lot of good as a country, if government lends the needed support to tourism and hospitality by encouraging marketing destinations,� adding that “as practitioners we would also play our own role in encouraging marketing destinations.� “This is so because as at today, we have not fully tapped into the full potential of the tourism sector what we are doing is merely scratching the surface. “It will interest us to know that the tourism sector is one of the greatest employer of labour in the world and its contribution to the economy is quite huge. “Without a doubt, if the authorities with the collaborative effort of the private sector,

effectively look in this direction, our fortunes will change for good,� Ozigbo added.

According to him, “Government needs to consider tourism as an important ministry. There should be policies put in place to drive the development of the sector. “Government has no function in doing business. They are not wired to do business.

Government should create the enabling environment and get the businesses to survive and strive. This allows people make money and sustain their businesses. “When this is done in a sustainable manner, you will see sporadic growth in the sector and other bottlenecks such as visas.�

Tourism sector can contribute over 10 per cent to the economy.

For the past eight years, we have done 1.5, 1.6 and 1.8 percent.

FirstBank Unveils Naira MasterCard Promo First Bank of Nigeria Limited has announced a promotional campaign to reward its customers for using their naira MasterCard for international transactions.

The bank explained in a statement that the promo will run for four months, beginning from July 2018, through October 2018.

The FirstBank naira MasterCard variants include the classic MasterCard Debit, Platinum MasterCard Debit, and the Expressions on cards.

The cards are denominated in naira and issued in partnership with MasterCard worldwide.

The cards are linked directly

to customers’ naira denominated current and/or savings accounts and offer a convenient alternative to the use of cash and cheques by giving direct access to funds in cardholders’ accounts across all channels such as ATM, PoS and web.

FirstBank explained that its naira MasterCard holders who transact on PoS/web for values between $2,000 and $3,000 per month will get the naira equivalent of 0.5 per cent the value of the transactions credited back into their accounts, while customers who transact on PoS/web for values between $3,001 and $5,000 per month, will get the naira equivalent of

one per cent the value of the transactions credited back into their accounts.

These cards can be used to pay for goods and services at over 29 million locations and merchant outlets as well as withdraw cash from over 1.8 million ATMs worldwide.

According to its Group Head, e-Business, First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Mr. Chuma Ezirim, “FirstBank is delighted to reward its customers who carry out their financial transactions in an easy, secure and seamless way at any given time and anywhere during this summer period all around the world�.

AXA Mansard Upgrades Payment Channels AXA Mansard Plc, a member of the AXA Group has announced its introduction of more payment channels to eliminate challenges its customers may have experienced in the past with regards to payments.

With the introduction of these multiple payment platforms, users will have easy, quick and convenient mode of premium payments.

The insurer explained in a statement that its payment processes have been digitised and automated for improved customer service and reduced turnaround time for all transac-

tions.

With the latest innovation, customers will be able to make payments on various platforms, which include Quickteller (Website and Mobile App); PayDirect; GT Collections; and the Point of Sales (POS) terminal, it explained.

Others include the AXA Mansard Website; cheques, bank drafts and internet banking platforms of selected banks.

Commenting on the new multiple payments initiative, the Chief Executive Officer, AXA Mansard Insurance Plc,

Kunle Ahmed, was quoted in the statement to have explained that, “In order to serve our customers better, we have introduced new payment channels that will help simplify the processes through which they can make premium payments for their new and renewed policies.�

According to Ahmed, “With the payment channels, all the encumbrances associated with premium remittance from clients have been resolved and reconciliation challenges will no longer impede service delivery to our clientele.�

L-R: Managing Director, Springfield Agro, Mr. Tarun Kumar Das; Chief of International Operations, Mahindra & Mahindra Limited, Mr. Arvind Mathew and Chairman, Geepee Group, Mr. Prakash Vaswani at the Mahindra farm tech, mobility and power solutions for Nigeria in Lagos‌recently

MARKET INDICATORS MONEY AND CREDIT STATISTICS

(MILLION NAIRA)

MARCH 2018 Broad Money (M2)

24,303,049.86

-- Narrow Money (M1)

10,912,604.10

---- Currency Outside Banks

1,668,378.21

---- Demand Deposits

9,244,225.90

-- Quasi Money

13,390,445.76

Net Foreign Assets (NFA)

15,619,134.18

Net Domestic Assets(NDA)

8,683,915.68

-- Net Domestic Credit (NDC)

26,267,136.53

---- Credit to Government (Net)

3,823,345.45

---- Memo: Credit to Govt. (Net) less FMA

5,433,209.43

---- Memo: Fed. and Mirror Accounts (FMA)

-1,609,863.98

---- Credit to Private Sector (CPS)

22,443,791.08

--Other Assets Net

-17,583,220.85

Reserve Money (Base Money)

6,746,646.49

--Currency in Circulation

1,668,378.21

--Banks Reserves

4,357,551.58 Ëž Ă™Ă&#x;ĂœĂ?Ă? Ě‹

Money Market Indicators (in Percentage) Month

March 2018

Inter-Bank Call Rate

15.16

Minimum Rediscount Rate (MRR) Monetary Policy Rate (MPR)

14.00

Treasury Bill Rate

11.84

Savings Deposit Rate

4.07

1 Month Deposit Rate

8.82

3 Months Deposit Rate

9.72

6 Months Deposit Rate

10.93

12 Months Deposit Rate

10.21

Prime Lending rate

17.35

Maximum Lending Rate

31.55

Ëž Ă™Ă˜Ă?ĂžĂ‹ĂœĂŁ ÙÖÓĂ?ĂŁ Ă‹ĂžĂ? Ě‹ ͯ͹Ϲ

OPEC DAILY BASKET PRICE AS AT THURSDAY JULY 12, 2018

The price of OPEC basket of ďŹ fteen crudes stood at $72.15 a barrel on Thursday, compared with $74.40 the previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations.

The OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Djeno (Congo), Oriente (Ecuador), ZaďŹ ro (Equatorial Guinea), Rabi Light (Gabon), Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basra Light (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Qatar Marine (Qatar), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE) and Merey (Venezuela) SOURCE: OPEC headquarters, Vienna

37

T H I S D AY Ëž Ëœ ÍŻÍ´Ëœ Í°ÍŽÍŻÍś

MARKET NEWS

NSE CEO Urges Companies to Adhere to Corporate Governance Goddy Egene The Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr. Oscar Onyema has said with the fast-changing macroeconomic environment in Nigeria and globally, listed companies should strive for sustainability by adhering to high standards of corporate governance, deeper social impact, higher regulatory compliance, and greater returns for shareholders.

Onyema, spoke through the Executive Director, Regulation, NSE, Ms. Tinuade Awe at the ‘Facts behind the figures presentation’ ceremony of Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc last week.

He said the NSE provides a platform to support listed corporates to meet their strategic business objectives. “We continue to position ourselves as the African exchange of choice for African issuers and

P R I C E S MAIN BOARD

F O R DEALS

global investors by implementing far-reaching transformational policies aimed at strengthening the corporate governance of our listed companies, providing products that are aligned to investors’ requirements whilst also ensuring a fair and orderly market. “These initiatives have improved investor confidence and repositioned firms listed on the Exchange as attractive investment opportunities,�

Onyema said. Onyema noted

S E C U R I T I E S

MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N )

that as part of the exchange’s effort to deliver a world class market infrastructure, they have launched a market surveillance platform - SMARTS – powered

by NASDAQ and X-Academy as part of our continuous drive to ensure increased capacity building as well as the launch of a Data Centre. “The data centre is consistent with our tradition of pioneering far-reaching innovations within the Nigerian capital market. With

T R A D E D MAIN BOARD

A S

this launch, the NSE now offers a secure, cost efficient and holistic cloud solutions to different stakeholders,� he said.

Commenting on Seplat, he said the exchange was pleased that the company chose to use this platform to inform the market of its financial performance, as well as its strategic and operational developments. “ Given that the market is driven by timely, relevant, and accurate information, your inter-

O F

action with the market through this forum is very welcome and we encourage you to continue with this trend. “It goes without saying that Seplat remains a dominant player in the oil and gas sector of the economy. We commend the management for ensuring a return to full year profitability, strong cash flow generation and for its successfully concluded over-subscribed one-year extension of revolving credit facility.

1 3 / 0 7 / 2 0 1 8 DEALS

MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N)

38

˜ ͹;˜ ͺ͸͹Ͷ ˾ T H I S D AY

39

˾ MONDAY, JULY 16, 2018

MARKET NEWS

Conoil Pays N9.1billion in Dividends to Shareholders in Five Years Goddy Egene Conoil Plc has remained consistent in payment of dividend to shareholders in the past five years, paying a total of N9.074 billion. Out of the N9.074 billion dividend, N1.4 billion is to be paid in respect of 2017 financial year. The energy company, which has ensured regular dividend payment despite the challenging operating, last Friday reiterated its resolve to maintain its leadership position

in the downstream petroleum sector by building a stronger financial position and creating higher value for shareholders.

The company ended the 2017 year with profit after tax (PAT) of N1.578 billion, while the board recommended dividend of N1.4 billion, which was approved by the shareholders on Friday at its 48th annual general meeting(AGM) held in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

The company assured its shareholders that conscious efforts will be directed at

A Mutual fund (Unit Trust) is an investment vehicle managed by a SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) registered Fund Manager.

Investors with similar objectives buy units of the Fund so that the Fund Manager can buy securities that willl generate their desired return.

An ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) is a type of fund which owns the assets (shares of stock, bonds, oil futures, gold bars, foreign currency, etc.) and divides ownership of those assets into shares. Investors can buy these ‘shares’ on the

achieving better execution of value-added products and services especially in the areas of marketing and customer management.

In his address to shareholders, Chairman of Conoil Plc, Mike Adenuga(jnr), noted that while 2018 would be tough given the current state of the nation’s economy, he expressed optimism that the company would strive hard to maintain profitability.

According to him, the company keeps expanding

floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

A REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) is an investment vehicle that allows both small and large investors to part-own real estate ventures (eg.

Offices, Houses, Hospitals) in proportion to their investments. The assets are divided into shares that are traded on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

GUIDE TO DATA: Date: All fund prices are quoted in Naira as at 12-July-2018, unless otherwise stated.

its retail network across the country and the non-fuel retail business is being revamped with a view to achieving future growth targets.

He noted that every segment of the business from aviation to LPG to specialized products would continue to receive the desired attention with a view to achieving and maintaining world-class levels of operating and capital discipline.

He declared that the company was fully charged to consolidate its competitiveness

in the different segments of its business by exploring and developing emerging markets while holding its grounds in areas where it has competitive advantage.

Towards this goal, he said company has introduced into the market, another brand of quality engine oil, Conoil Crown Heavy Duty Oil manufactured specially for the mass market of car owners.

“With the introduction of this product, we are poised

to fill the yawning void in the industry as a pragmatic marketer of first choice,” Adenuga said.

He expressed gratitude to stakeholders for their support for the modest progress it recorded in spite of the odds and the unfriendly business environment it operated last year.

Going forward, he said the company would re-channel its resources with a view to strengthening its business for the long haul.

Offer price: The price at which units of a trust or ETF are bought by investors.

Bid Price: The price at which Investors redeem (sell) units of a trust or ETF. Yield/Total Return: Denotes the total return an investor would have earned on his investment. Money Market Funds report Yield while others report Year- to-date Total Return.

NAV: Is value per share of the real estate assets held by a REIT on a specific date.

DAILY PRICE LIST FOR MUTUAL FUNDS, REITS and ETFS MUTUAL FUNDS / UNIT TRUSTS AFRINVEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD aaml@afrinvest.com Web: www.afrinvest.com; Tel: +234 1 270 1680 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Afrinvest Equity Fund 183.86 183.93 3.27% Nigeria International Debt Fund 245.15 245.22 5.98% ALTERNATIVE CAPITAL PARTNERS LTD info@acapng.com Web: www.acapng.com, Tel: +234 1 291 2406, +234 1 291 2868 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn ACAP Canary Growth Fund 0.84 0.85 2.30% ACAP Income Funds 0.65 0.65 7.21% AIICO CAPITAL LTD ammf@aiicocapital.com Web: www.aiicocapital.com, Tel: +234-1-2792974 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AIICO Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 12.85% ARM INVESTMENT MANAGERS LTD enquiries@arminvestmentcenter.com Web: www.arm.com.ng; Tel: 0700 CALLARM (0700 225 5276) Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn ARM Aggressive Growth Fund N/A N/A N/A ARM Discovery Fund N/A N/A N/A ARM Ethical Fund N/A N/A N/A ARM Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A AXA MANSARD INVESTMENTS LIMITED investmentcare@axamansard.com Web: www.axamansard.com; Tel: +2341-4488482 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AXA Mansard Equity Income Fund 147.93 148.97 -2.48% AXA Mansard Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 12.37% CHAPELHILL DENHAM MANAGEMENT LTD investmentmanagement@chapelhilldenham.com Web: www.chapelhilldenham.com, Tel: +234 461 0691 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Chapelhill Denham Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 10.61% Paramount Equity Fund 11.85 12.16 6.90% Women's Investment Fund 104.30 106.97 3.65% CORDROS ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmgtteam@cordros.com Web: www.cordros.com, Tel: 019036947 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Cordros Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A CORONATION ASSEST MANAGEMENT investment@coronationam.com Web:www.coronationam.com , Tel: 012366215 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coronation Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A Coronation Balanced Fund N/A N/A N/A Coronation Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A FBNQUEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD invest@fbnquest.com Web: www.fbnquest.com/asset-management; Tel: +234-81 0082 0082 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn FBN Fixed Income Fund 1,167.28 1,167.99 7.89% FBN Heritage Fund 146.93 148.16 5.34% FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 12.26% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Institutional $112.65 $113.09 2.22% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Retail $112.46 $112.90 2.16% FBN Nigeria Smart Beta Equity Fund 169.48 171.91 5.68% FIRST CITY ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD fcamhelpdesk@fcmb.com Web: www.fcamltd.com; Tel: +234 1 462 2596 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Legacy Equity Fund 1.36 1.38 4.20% Legacy Debt Fund 3.08 3.08 6.87% FSDH ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD coralfunds@fsdhgroup.com Web: www.fsdhaml.com; Tel: 01-270 4884-5; 01-280 9740-1 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coral Growth Fund N/A N/A N/A Coral Income Fund N/A N/A N/A GREENWICH ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmanagement@gtlgroup.com Web: www.gtlgroup.com ; Tel: +234 1 4619261-2 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Greenwich Plus Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A Nigeria Entertainment Fund N/A N/A N/A INVESTMENT ONE FUNDS MANAGEMENT LTD enquiries@investment-one.com Web: www.investment-one.com; Tel: +234 812 992 1045,+234 1 448 8888 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Abacus Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 12.26% Vantage Balanced Fund 2.17 2.19 2.83% Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 14.20% Kedari Investment Fund (KIF) 120.69 121.04 4.93%

LOTUS CAPITAL LTD fincon@lotuscapitallimited.com Web: www.lotuscapitallimited.com; Tel: +234 1-291 4626 / +234 1-291 4624 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Lotus Halal Investment Fund N/A N/A N/A Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A MERISTEM WEALTH MANAGEMENT LTD info@meristemwealth.com Web: http://www.meristemwealth.com/funds/ ; Tel: +234 1-4488260 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Meristem Equity Market Fund 13.15 13.27 0.38% Meristem Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 11.31% PAC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD info@pacassetmanagement.com Web: www.pacassetmanagement.com/mutualfunds; Tel: +234 1 271 8632 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn PACAM Balanced Fund 1.34 1.37 12.73% PACAM Fixed Income Fund 11.84 11.90 7.27% PACAM Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 11.00% SCM CAPITAL LIMITED info@scmcapitalng.com Web: www.scmcapitalng.com; Tel: +234 1-280 2226,+234 1- 280 2227 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn SCM Capital Frontier Fund 133.48 135.88 3.66% SFS CAPITAL NIGERIA LTD investments@sfsnigeria.com Web: www.sfsnigeria.com, Tel: +234 (01) 2801400 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn SFS Fixed Income Fund 1.60 1.60 8.09% STANBIC IBTC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD assetmanagement@stanbicibtc.com Web: www.stanbicibtcassetmanagement.com; Tel: +234 1 280 1266; 0700 MUTUALFUNDS Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Stanbic IBTC Balanced Fund 2,369.22 2,388.96 5.63% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 186.67 186.67 5.79% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 1.03 1.04 2.48% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 240.59 240.64 9.25% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 180.37 182.39 0.71% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 12.20% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 9,673.31 9,804.57 0.04% Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund (USD) 1.10 1.10 3.90% UNITED CAPITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD unitedcapitalplcgroup.com Web: www.unitedcapitalplcgroup.com; Tel: +234 803 306 2887 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn United Capital Balanced Fund 1.32 1.33 -1.56% United Capital Bond Fund 1.67 1.67 6.75% United Capital Equity Fund 0.94 0.96 2.68% United Capital Money Market Fund 1.14 1.00 11.50% United Capital Eurobond Fund 106.87 106.87 3.86% United Capital Wealth for Women Fund 1.14 1.14 4.54% ZENITH ASSETS MANAGEMENT LTD info@zenith-funds.com Web: www.zenith-funds.com; Tel: +234 1-2784219 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Zenith Equity Fund 12.91 13.12 3.36% Zenith Ethical Fund 13.59 13.74 3.19% Zenith Income Fund 20.52 20.52 8.44% Zenith Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 12.15%

REITS NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

11.41

1.01%

136.57

3.10%

51.39

1.10%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

11.97 146.59 108.99

12.07 149.55 110.97

-1.25% 2.58% -0.26%

Fund Name FSDH UPDC Real Estate Investment Fund SFS Skye Shelter Fund Union Homes REIT

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS Fund Name Lotus Halal Equity Exchange Traded Fund SIAML Pension ETF 40 Stanbic IBTC ETF 30 Fund

VETIVA FUND MANAGERS LTD Web: www.vetiva.com; Tel: +234 1 453 0697 Fund Name Vetiva Banking Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva Consumer Goods Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva Griffin 30 Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva Industrial Goods Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva S&P Nigeria Sovereign Bond Exchange Traded Fund

funds@vetiva.com Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

4.62 8.83 17.42 18.56 144.67

4.66 8.91 17.52 18.76 146.67

-2.54% -7.73% -0.52% -5.59% 5.75%

The value of investments and the income from them may fall as well as rise. Past performance is a guide and not an indication of future returns. Fund prices published in this edition are also available on each fund manager’s website and FMAN’s website at www.fman.com.ng. Fund prices are supplied by the operator of the relevant fund and are published for information purposes only.

40

T H I S D AY ˾ ͯʹ˜ ͰͮͯͶ

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY JULY 16, 2018

41

42

T H I S D AY ˾ ͯʹ˜ ͰͮͯͶ

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY JULY 16, 2018

43

44

T H I S D AY ˾ ͯʹ˜ ͰͮͯͶ

ADVERTORIAL

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY JULY 16, 2018

45

46

T H I S D AY Ëž Ëœ ÍŻÍ´Ëœ Í°ÍŽÍŻÍś

CITYSTRINGS

Group Features Editor: Chiemelie Ezeobi Ă—Ă‹Ă“Ă– Ă?Ă’Ă“Ă?Ă—Ă?Ă–Ă“Ă?Ë›Ă?äĂ?Ă™ĂŒĂ“ĚśĂžĂ’Ă“Ă?ĂŽĂ‹ĂŁĂ–Ă“Ă Ă?Ë›Ă?Ă™Ă—Ëœ ͖͕͔͑͑͒͑͒͑͑͘

A Decade of Love for Widows Peter Uzoho, who was at the 10th anniversary of the Rose of Sharon Foundation in Lagos, writes on the love shown widows and orphans by Africa's richest woman, Mrs. Folorunsho Alakija, in the last decade

RoSF Widows presenting gifts to Alakija and Ambode at the event

L

ike the biblical Dorcas, whose good deeds to widows and orphans still resounds, founder, Rose of Sharon Foundation (RoSF), Mrs Folorunso Alakija, has been a great succour to the widows and orphans in her time. Also recognised as one of Africa’s richest women, the oil tycoon has kept faith with those widows and orphans that the society hasn't been fair to.

Worldwide, it has been estimated that there are about 258 million widows, and about half of them live in extreme poverty. They are often subjected to cruelty by their immediate families while some even face discrimination.

Turned immediate breadwinners after the death of their husbands, these widows often find it difficult getting their footing back.

It was to carter for such widows that the RoSF was born 10 years ago, making it a decade-long affair of transforming the lives of widows.

Inception According to Alakija, it all started 10 years ago, when she received a revelation about the harrowing experiences of widows, their children and orphans.

This came with an instruction – to help these less-privileged and vulnerable people by putting a smile on their faces, and to fill the vacuum created by the death of their loved ones.

Without hesitation and realising the urgency of the assignment, she set off to search for these widows. Initially, she succeeded in finding just two.

Not deterred, she started organising prayer, praise and counselling sessions with them. From just two persons, the ministry soon blossomed into RoSF.

Vision Established on June 23, 2008, the vision of RoSF is to be a refuge for widows and orphans. Founded as a humanitarian non-governmental organisation, RoSF’ focus is primarily to alleviate the plight of widows and orphans. And, the project has, since inception, seen the lives of such widows and orphans transformed positively in line with God’s mandate and goal of the founder and its board of trustees.

Success Stories In the last 10 years, RoSF has tried to put smiles on the faces of the widows and orphans. Its success stories have been achieved through

When I made a move of setting up a crèche, I sent my proposal to the foundation and they came to check out every other facility which was not there and they encouraged me. Today, not just a crèche, I have a nursery and primary school approved by the Lagos State Ministry of Education

the impactful projects embarked upon by the foundation. At the moment, over 3000 widows have benefited from the foundation’s vocational skills empowerment programmes, and another 1000 widows have received its interest-free loans to start up or support their businesses.

The RoSF has equally awarded scholarships to 1, 366 students and, in addition, adopted 86 orphans whom it provides accommodation and monthly allowances for. Similarly, the foundation has provided funding for either business or residential purposes to 82 widows who were in dire need as a result of extreme situations or occurrences like fire or sudden ejection.

Celebration To mark a decade of its existence, the Queens Park Event Centre, Corporation Drive, Oniru, Lagos, venue of the occasion, buzzed on June 23, as thousands of these jubilant widows, their children and orphans thrilled guests with songs, dances and poetic renditions.

Amid their joyful rendition, they made sure all understood what the founder had done in their lives through the foundation. The celebration which held same day with the International Widows Day had the theme: 'Widowhood in the Midst of Despair'.

Meanwhile, the foundation’s support list keeps increasing as many widows are being registered in its platform as beneficiaries. Recently, another set of 100 widows were empowered with machines for the production of raw pasta, macaroni and spaghetti during the 10th anniversary of the foundation in Lagos. The widows equally received free cancer screening at the

ultra-modern mobile cancer centre donated to Lagos State by Famfa Oil Limited, Alakija’s oil company.

Dignitaries who graced the occasion included the First Lady of Lagos State and Matron of the foundation, Mrs Bolanle Ambode; former First Lady of Cross River State, Mrs Owanari Duke; Guest speaker and Group Managing Director of Safari 54, Dr. Shedrack Madlion; Chief Executive Officer of Emzor Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Stella Okoli; and Vice Chairman of Channels Television, Mrs Shola Momoh, among others.

Testimonies With overwhelming joy, one of the orphans and beneficiaries of the foundation, Master Seun Eruenah said, “I am an orphan and the struggle was too much for me but Mummy Alakija has been a blessing to us.

"Through her, I am in my final year at Destiny Institute. I am a dance trainee and an actor. By God’s grace, all the dancing you’ve been enjoying since morning, I was the one that taught the dancers."

One of the widows, Mrs Blessing Osezua, said the foundation had wiped away her tears. “As a young widow, the foundation tried as much as possible to wipe away my tears,â€? Osezua said. “She (Alakija) took care of me and my children. In fact, she inherited my children as her grandchildren. When I made a move of setting up a crèche, I sent my proposal to the foundation and they came to me, they checked out every other facility which was not there and they encouraged me. Today, not just a crèche, I have a nursery and primary school approved by the Lagos State Ministry of Education.â€?

47

T H I S D AY Ëž Ëœ ÍŻÍ´Ëœ Í°ÍŽÍŻÍś

CITYSTRINGS

A cross-section of the 100 widows empowered at the occasion

Founder’s Joy For the founder and her team, seeing these widows and orphans happy again is a great achievement. According to her, “June 23 of every year was designated by the United Nations as the International Day for Widows, and today, we join the rest of the world to celebrate these women as well as raise awareness about their plight. “It is heart-warming and gratifying to see lives and hope restored and transformed over the years. The joy of seeing smiles on the faces of our beneficiaries where there used to be anxiety is indescribable.

"Those with low self-esteem are now walking confidently with their heads held high, because their lives have taken a turn for the better. Area boys and girls have become successful entrepreneurs and employers of labour, while school dropouts have become graduates.

"Those who were once dejected, rejected and treated as outcasts by family and friends have now become the toast of their families. Indeed, the ‘stone the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. “We at the Rose of Sharon Foundation are grateful to God for the privilege of being a part of history. With 10 years of on-the-ground experience working with widows and orphans in Nigeria, we understand that deploying comprehensive programmes that address their social and economic empowerment are the most effective ways to impact them directly.

"We believe that when a widow who is a breadwinner of the family is empowered, the entire household becomes the direct beneficiaries of the impact. Therefore, we create opportunities for them through financial support, provision of scholarships for their children and skills acquisition.

This enables them to secure decent jobs, help to protect their children and avoid the cycle of inter-generational poverty and deprivation. “I am glad to report that our programmes have contributed in no small measure in alleviating poverty as well as reducing crime rate incidence in the country. It has been an extraordinary time for us –one that is filled with good experiences and reports, significant learning processes and the creation of many memorable moments.�

She explained that the successes recorded by the foundation in the mission were wrapped around programmes, such as the RoSF Widows’ Empower-

L-R: Guest speaker and GMD, Safari 54, Dr. Shedrack Madlion; CEO, Emzor Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Stella Okoli; Lagos State First Lady, Mrs Bolanle Ambode; Founder, Rose of Sharon Foundation (RoSH), billionaire oil magnate, Mrs Folorunso Alakija; and former First Lady of Cross River State, Mrs Owanari Duke, during the cutting of the RoSH 10th anniversary cake in Lagos...recently ment Programme (WEP) – Micro Credit Interest Free Loan Scheme and the Enterprise Development and Skills

Many a tear has been wiped away, many a sorrow has been transformed into laughter; inferiority complex has been changed to conďŹ dence, helplessness to hopefulness and weakness to strength. Fear has turned to courage and poverty into economic independence. It has indeed been a walk of faith, hope and transformation

Acquisition (EDTP); RoSF Educational Programme (REP), RoSF Advocacy programme (RAP), RoSF Agric-Business Programme (RAB), and the Youth Empowerment Program (YEP).

She added, “Many a tear has been wiped away, many a sorrow has been transformed into laughter, inferiority has been changed to confidence, helplessness to hopefulness and weakness to strength. Fear has turned to courage and poverty into economic independence. It has indeed been a walk of faith, hope and transformation.�

Encouragement The special guest at the occasion and Lagos State First Lady, Mrs Bolanle Ambode, who also doubles as the matron of the foundation, encouraged the widows to be strong. While expressing her pleasure for being part of the remarkable occasion, she said she was more pleased to share the broad vision of humanity for widows and orphans which the foundation has championed since 10 years.

Ambode who painted a touching

picture of the plight of widows and orphans described their condition as pathetic. According to her, what used to be the burden of two people suddenly becomes the burden of one.

She said, “The condition of our orphans is even more pathetic. These thoughts on our minds impose the moral duty on our conscience to take steps to positively affect the lives of children in this condition and on women in widowhood. “This is what Rose of Sharon Foundation has been doing since the past 10 years and still counting. Tears had been wiped, lives transformed, women empowered and children put on a solid academic footing to live great lives."

Ambode, who was also one of the recipients of awards for supporting the humanitarian work of the foundation, encouraged the widows and the children to have hope despite their condition, saying there is reason to hope.

Meanwhile, in appreciation of Alakija’s benevolence to them for the past 10 years, the widows presented a joint gift to her.

Ëœ ͚͞˜ ͺ͸͚͜ Ëž T H I S D AY

48

FOREIGN/DIPLOMATIC AFFAIRS

Editor: VINCENT OBIA vincent.obia@thisdaylive.com 0805 468 1757

In Brief Protests in Chicago As Police Kill Black Man Protests erupted in Chicago as people demanded answers after the fatal shooting of a black man by the police. The demonstrations degenerated into violent confrontations with the police in the Illinois city. “The whole damn system is guilty as hell,� dozens chanted hours after police shot and killed 37-yearold Harith Augustus in the South Shore neighbourhood of Chicago. Augustus is known in the community as Snoop the barber, local media reported. The city’s police patrol chief Fred Waller told reporters that Augustus was shot after police officers on foot tried to question him because “the bulge around his waistband� suggested he was armed.

Augustus became combative and eventually broke free from the officers, Waller said.

Syrian Government Widens Offensive near Quneitra

L-R: Trump, May, Johnson

Hard Landing for Theresa May’s ‘Soft’ Brexit Theresa May’s Brexit strategy faces a double-barrelled assault from Trump and Brexiteers poised to derail it, writes Vincent Obia

R

ecent resignations from Prime Minister Theresa May’s cabinet are a clear indication that her plan for Britain’s exit from the European Union faces a tough prospect. But that is made even worse by US President Donald Trump’s unrelenting assault on May’s Brexit strategy.

David Davis resigned as Brexit secretary penultimate Sunday, in a blow to the prime minister’s plan. Davies cited May’s policies and strategy for the impending withdrawal from the EU, a plan that seeks to commit the United Kingdom to the EU rulebook on trade. He said the government’s approach will keep Britain as a “ruletaker� even after Brexit. “Having watched this process, I’ve been involved in this process for the last couple years, I’m worried about the fine details and I’m worried what would come our way in return,� Davis, who resigned along with his deputy, Steve Baker, told the BBC. His sentiments were echoed by many Brexitsupporting ministers in May’s cabinet and the Conservative Party. Only two days before the Brexit secretary’s resignation, the former foreign minister, Boris Johnson, called May’s Brexit plan “an absolute stinker� during a meeting at the prime minister’s residence to agree on negotiating positions with the EU. Though, Johnson backed the proposals at Chequers, he resigned as foreign secretary on July 9, less than 24 hours after Davis quit as Brexit secretary, amid the escalating crisis over UK’s strategy for exiting the EU. Johnson wrote in his resignation letter, “Brexit should be about opportunity and hope. It should be a chance to do things differently, to be more nimble and dynamic, and to maximise the particular advantages of the UK as an open, outward-looking global economy. “That dream is dying, suffocated by needless self-doubt.�

Dominic Raab was promoted to replace Davis

as Brexit secretary, following a mini reshuffle

by May. And Jeremy Hunt replaced Johnson as foreign secretary. But that does not reduce the devastating effect of the resignations, which came barely eight months to the March 29, 2019 target for conclusion of the process of UK’s exit from EU. The process began March 29, 2017.

Analysts say this is the first time since 1979 that two British cabinet ministers would quit within 24 hours of each other, outside cabinet reshuffles.

Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn said at the House of Commons on July 9 that the cabinet ministers had “jumped the sinking ship,� in a mockery of May’s government.

Corbyn stated, while responding to May’s statement in the Commons, “Mr. Speaker, this mess is all of the prime minister’s own making. “For too long, she has spent more time negotiating divisions in her party than putting any focus on the needs of our economy... “The team the prime minister appointed to secure this deal for our country have jumped the sinking ship.� “Far from strong and stable, there are ministers overboard and the ship is listing – all at the worst possible time.�

Brexit’s tough fate is made worse by Trump’s rigid position towards the May strategy. He has criticised May for forcing on the British people a “soft� Brexit scheme that contradicts the much harder approach they voted for two years ago.

An unrepentant critic of European trade policy, Trump told the CBS News on Sunday, “I think the European Union is a foe, what they do to us in trade. Now you wouldn’t think of the European Union but they’re a foe.�

May’s leadership and Brexit are really in a state of crisis, with assaults from its biggest supporters and Britain’s most important ally.

Though the exit of the two staunch Brexit champions does not seem to dampen the

resolve of the UK electorate, who voted in a referendum on June 23, 2016 to leave the EU, a vote the Brexiters won by 51.9 per cent in a turnout of 72.2 per cent. And the overwhelming sentiment in the Conservative Party does not seem to be for May’s exit.

But the prime minister faces the problem of how to convince the EU to accept her proposals for a deep, comprehensive, and unique trade deal. She wants a soft Brexit approach that affords Britain a much closer economic relationship with the EU, and to do that, Britain has to follow the EU’s rules and regulations, which means accepting to some extent the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice. Almost a third of the Tory MPs have opposed this, saying it is not the kind of Brexit they signed up for. The Brexiter leader of the Commons, Andrea Leadsom, has said there must be “no special favours� for EU nationals after Brexit, which contradicts May. In Brussels, too, rejection seems to await the UK Brexit proposals. The EU is not likely to give Britain the unique deal May is proposing, different from what the body has always given to other countries. EU seems to have laid its cards on the table already, which is to either let Britain have the Canada model, which commits them to operating outside the customs union and the single market, or the Norway model, in which case Britain would stay in the single market and the customs union and be subjected to the organisation’s rules on trade.

May wants a deal that keeps Britain somewhere in-between those two models, to enjoy some services and keep trade between UK and EU. Analysts say the EU would almost certainly reject this.

But May has also suggested a no-deal Brexit, in the worst-case scenario.

How she would stay in power under these circumstances will be interesting to watch.

Troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad widened their offensive in the country’s southwest to an adjacent province, days after reaching an evacuation agreement with rebels in southern Deraa province. Pro-government troops, backed

by Russian air support, bombed a rebel-held village in Quneitra - an area adjoining the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights - as they look to recapture a strip of land straddling Deraa and Quneitra provinces still in rebel hands, Al Jzeera reported. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said fighter jets believed to belong to the Russian air force overflew the village of Mashara, located 11km away from the Golan frontier. Hezbollah-linked al-Mayadeen TV said pro-government troops were advancing on the elevated Tel Mashara area.

Pakistan Opens Terrorism Investigation Pakistani authorities have opened a criminal investigation into leaders of jailed exprime minister Nawaz Sharif’s political party under an anti-terrorism law, 10 days before a hotly contested general election, according to a police report. The case relates to a march staged by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on July 13, when Sharif returned to Pakistan, which defied a ban on holding public rallies on a Friday. The former premier was arrested minutes after landing in the country after being sentenced in absentia by an anti-corruption court last week. Copies of two separate First Information Reports (FIR), which mark the formal opening of a criminal investigation, named PML-N leader Shehbaz Sharif, who is Nawaz Sharif’s brother, and a number of other key figures. They include Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, another former prime minister.

Ethiopia, Eritrea Leaders Preach Unity Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki preached love and unity on Sunday at a concert attended by thousands of flag-waving guests, part of a rapprochement between the two nations after years of hostility. Isaias arrived in Ethiopia on Saturday for a threeday visit, a week after Abiy visited Eritrea.

The Horn of Africa neighbours declared on Monday that their “state of war� over after two decades. As they entered the Millennium Hall on Sunday evening, Abiy and Isaias held hands and waved at the crowd, prompting loud cheers. Musicians performed under giant portraits of the two men. “We have chosen to tread a path and work together for development, prosperity and peace, having overcome a conspiracy of hatred, revenge and destruction,� Isaias told the audience, which included Ethiopian celebrities, according to Reuters.

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY JULY 16, 2018

49

50

MONDAY, JULY 16, 2018˾ T H I S D AY

REACTIONS TO EKITI GUBER POLL…

REACTIONS TO EKITI GUBER POLL…

Justice Will Surely Prevail, Says Secondus Atiku urges PDP supporters to remain calm Our Correspondents The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Uche Secondus, has charged Nigerians who believe in democracy and the rule of law not to be deterred by the robbery in Ekiti State at the weekend because it would not stand the test of time.

This is as former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, has urged the supporters of PDP in Ekiti State to remain calm and peaceful despite the unfavorable outcome of the Saturday’s governorship election Secondus said justice has the stamina to go all the way to the destination while injustice cannot as it terminates midway to the race, what we need is patience.

In a statement issued by his media office and signed by his Media Adviser, Ike Abonyi, Secondus thanked Nigerians particularly those who stood by the party during the struggle for Ekiti and assured them that Justice surely would prevail.

He said PDP knew from inception that rescuing Nigeria from anti democratic forces is not going to be an easy thing but has remained emboldened by the fact that Nigerians are resolved to stop the circle of bad governance, violence and bloodletting in our land today.

Meanwhile, Atiku in a statement issued said the PDP had an excellent candidate in Prof. Kolapo Olubunmi Olusola in the governorship election and gave solid support to the state chapter of the party.

Narrow as his victory may have been and irregularities notwithstanding, Atiku urged all PDP supporters in Ekiti State to remain peaceful and orderly and cooperate with the party at the state and national levels as they determine the next steps.

He commended Olusola, who has shown great restraint and stands in solidarity with Governor Ayodele Fayose, whose commitment to the people of Ekiti continues to inspire Nigerians beyond the state.

“We will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with them through these difficult times,” Atiku said.

Obaseki Congratulates Fayemi on Victory, Commends INEC, Media, Others The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has congratulated the Ekiti State governor-elect Dr. Kayode Fayemi, on his victory at the gubernatorial election.

A statement made available to the THISDAY by the Senior Special Assistant to the state governor on Media and Communication Strategy, Mr. Crusoe Osagie, said the governor commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for ensuring that the wishes of Ekiti people prevailed in their collective commitment to consolidate on the gains of the country’s fledgling democracy.

The statement also stated that the Ekiti gubernatorial election result was a reflection of the many successes that await the All Progressives Congress (APC) in future elections and validates its growing popularity as a party as they strive to meet the yearnings and aspirations of Nigerians.

Osagie, in the statement, said the latest political development in Ekiti State, has opened a new vista of opportunities for the people of the state, who have joined the list of progressives in the country.

Ekiti Election Ends Politics of Rascality, Says Ganduje Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano State yesterday congratulated President Muhammadu Buhari on the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in last Saturday’s election of Ekiti State, describing the victory as marking the end of ‘politics of rascality.’

Ganduje emphasized: “Our victory in the just concluded Ekiti State election marks the end of politics of rascality.”

He said it was a great victory that attracted celebration, adding, “It marks the end of politics of hate speech. It also puts a stop to the mocking of our dear president unnecessarily.

“Our success has beaten under the sun the so-called reformed All Progressive Congress (rAPC). Some of them that are on the fence and those that are within but undermining our party are put to shame,” he said.

Ajimobi: Fayemi’s Victory, a Demonstration of Ekiti People’s Faith in APC Oyo State Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, has described the victory of Dr. Kayode Fayemi in the just-concluded gubernatorial election in Ekiti State as a demonstration of the people’s trust in the All Progressives Congress (APC) as a party that has the capacity to liberate the state from mis-governance and gross under-development.

The governor stated this in a congratulatory message issued by his Special Adviser on Communication and Strategy, Mr. Bolaji Tunji in Ibadan yesterday.

He said the outcome of the election which he described as free, fair and credible, was a reflection of the wishes and aspirations of the people of the state and a further demonstration of their faith that Fayemi’s second coming as governor would bring the socio-economic development which the state had been yearning for.

While congratulating the governor-elect for engaging in intellectual and issue-based electioneering in all parts of the state, Ajimobi described his victory at the polls as well-deserved.

Victory Impressive but Hard Earned, Says Niger Governor Niger State Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, has described as “very impressive but a hard earned the victory” of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Kayode Fayemi in last

Governor-elect of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, being congratulated by his supporters after his victory in last Saturday’s governorship election in Ado-Ekiti....yesterday Saturday’ss governorship election in Ekiti State.

In the statement signed by the governors Chief Press Secretary, Jibrin Baba Ndace “Fayemi’s victory also demonstrates the people’s acceptance and confidence in the APC to successfully pilot the affairs of the country to the next level.”

Bello expressed the hope that Fayemi’s second coming as governor would transform the state and bring it to an enviable level among its peers.

“The victory itself demonstrates how much the people love and trust you. We are sure that you would do all you can to provide your people the best dividends of democracy they have ever had.”

While also commending the people of Ekiti State for the confidence reposed in the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government of the APC, Governor Sani-Bello acknowledged the effort the party machinery that worked tirelessly to ensure the former ministers victory at the polls.

Election Worst Political Robbery in History, Says Wike Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has declared that what transpired during the Ekiti State governorship election was the worst political robbery in the nation’s democratic history.

Speaking yesterday at the Anglican Cathedral Church of Saint Paul, Port Harcourt during the thanksgiving service to mark the end of third year anniversary celebration of his administration, said he was aware that the APC-led federal government was planning to replicate what it did in Ekiti State in Rivers State.

He however said the plans would fail as the people were poised to resist the plans.

He said: “Don’t be worried about what happened in Ekiti State.

We are prepared. It will not happen here in Rivers State.

“I have never experienced that kind of robbery in politics. I told my colleagues, do not give them any chance. Most of them in APC are happy that they will repeat the same thing in Rivers State, we are waiting, come and repeat. Let your spirit not be down, work hard and victory will be ours.”

Kogi Gov Congratulates Fayemi The Governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, has congratulated the governor-elect of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi on his victory at the just concluded poll.

This was contained in a statement issued yesterday by his Chief Press Secretary, Mrs. Petra Akinti Onyegbule.

Bello added that a victory for Fayemi is a victory for democracy and a sign that the people of Ekiti State are ready to join the fold of the rogressives.

The governor noted that under President Muhammadu Buhari, elections have continued to be free and fair, a pointer to what 2019 will bring.

While congratulating the people of the state for making the right choice, he praised them for their peaceful conduct during the elections.

Ambode Congratulates Gov-elect

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, yesterday congratulated the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and governor-elect of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi for emerging victorious at the keenly contested governorship election held on Saturday.

Ambode in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Habib Aruna, commended President Muhammadu Buhari, leadership and members of APC and its supporters for the hardfought victory adding that it was a testament to the fact that the

electoral value of the party has not waned.

The governor specially praised and congratulated Fayemi for his hard fought victory and wished him well as he prepares to take the mantle of leadership of the state for a second time.

APGA Congratulates Fayemi The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has congratulated the governor-elect of Ekiti, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, on his victory at just-concluded governorship election in the state.

In a statement personally signed by the National Chairman of the party, Ozonkpu Dr. Victor Ike Oye, the party expressed satisfaction with the smooth conduct of the election which it attributed to the determination of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to bequeathe to the nation a legacy of free, fair and credible election.

The party urged the governor-elect not to view his victory as a personal achievement, rather he should take it as victory for sustainable democracy.

It thanked INEC, political parties, security agents and, particularly, the Ekiti State electorate for doing a good job which led to the averting of anarchy and unnecessary blood-letting during the poll.

Votes Buying’ll Make Nigerian Leaders Irresponsible, Warns CSO A civil society organisation (CSO), Centre for Transparency Advocacy (CTA), has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to tackle the menace of votes buying to avert increasing poverty level in the country.

The group expressed fear that relying on purchase of votes to win elections may make holders of political offices to abandon their responsibilities to the people.

Speaking in Ado Ekiti yesterday after its preliminary report on the 2018 Ekiti gubernatorial election, the CTA Executive Director, Dr. Chima Amadi, said the country’s electoral system must be cleaned up to add to the credibility of the elections.

Amadi added that the group deployed a total of 62 observers to Ekiti to monitor the Saturday’s election, to forestall case of election rigging.

He said: “Enough of votes buying in our electoral system. It is capable of increasing the level of poverty in the land, because our leaders will become more lax and irresponsible when they knew that spending on election day will make them win elections.

“Our electoral system can only be better when all stakeholders like INEC, security and political parties play their roles well. “We want to thank the INEC for cleaning up the electoral system and the security but the political parties are not helping matters. Their actors are the one inducing the voters with money.”

Flag-Amachree Hails Election The Chairman of the Rivers State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ojukaye Flag-Amachree, congratulated the governor-elect of Ekiti State, Dr. John Kayode Fayemi (JFK) over his victory in last Saturday’s keenly contested Ekiti governorship election.

In a statement released in Port Harcourt yesterday, Flag-Amachree lauded the people of Ekiti for their choice.

“For more than three years, Fayose deceived himself believing he was deceiving the good people of Ekiti State; for over three years, Fayose unleashed propaganda on his own people, claiming he is part of the masses by eating ponmo at roadside bukas while stealing Ekiti dry. But yesterday, the people spoke with their PVCs by rejecting the governor and his handpicked successor. Ekiti people simply liberated themselves from the shackles of Fayose and his theatrics,” he said.

MONDAY, JULY 16, 2018˾ T H I S D AY

51

NEWSXTRA

Volpi to Pay 60% of $600m Judgement Debt Awarded by LCIA, Says Oando Ugo Aliogo Oando Plc yesterday clarified the judgement of the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), saying while it was true that Ansbury Investment Incorporated, owned by Mr. Gabriele Volpi, was awarded $680million as debt owed it

by Ocean and Oil Development Partners (OODP) and Whitemore Asset Management Limited, the

latter was liable for only $80m, redemption of which it said was being negotiated.

Ansbury’s counsel, Mr. Andrea Moja, had in a statement yesterday said the LCIA issued an award against two companies owned by the Chief Executive Officer of Oando Plc, Mr. Wale Tinubu, and his deputy, Mr. Mofe Boyo, to pay a total debt of US$680 million (N244.8 billion) to Ansbury Investments.

House Names 11-Member Committee to Probe Recovery of Abacha Loot Former presidents, Adeosun, others to be questioned

He said the court in its ruling on July 6, 2018 held that OODP, British Virgin Islands, which owns 55.96 per cent of Oando Plc through a holding company named Ocean and Oil Development Partners (OODP) Nigeria Limited, is indebted to Ansbury to the tune of US$600 million (equivalent of N216 billion), while Whitemore owed $80million.

But Oando in its clarification yesterday said Moja’s statement was misleading, pointing out that the implication of the judgement was that Volpi, a co-owner of OODP, would pay 60 per cent of the $600million judgement as his commensurate stake in the company.

“The amounts owed to

Ansbury Investments Inc, owned by Mr. Gabriele Volpi, is in fact $80m by Whitmore Asset Management Limited, while the balance of $600m is owed by Ocean and Oil Development Partners (OODP) BVI,” Oando said, adding, “Ocean and Oil Development Partners (OODP) BVI Ltd, is owned by all three parties Wale Tinubu, Mofe Boyo and Gabriele Volpi, hence the judgement by the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) implies that Volpi as part owner of OODP BVI owes himself by virtue of his ownership in the company.”

It stated that OODP British Virgin Islands owned 99.99% of OODP Nigeria, which in turn owned 55.96% of Oando PLC.

The dispute between Volpi and the principals of Oando, according to the statement, had been on for over a year and had been a cause of concern for companies and individuals alike who looked for investments to grow their business via individuals in the form of equity or debt.

It explained that Volpi, a significant shareholder in OODP invested in the company during Oando’s acquisition of ConocoPhillips Nigeria assets, which it said at the time would have seemed like the investment of a lifetime.

The company stated, “Unfortunately shortly after, the price of oil crashed and saw many oil and gas companies fold.

That Oando is still alive today is testament to its principals’ resilience and hard work.

“The assumption would be that against this backdrop Gabrielle Volpi would wait for OODP to start to reap the rewards of its investment however he has faced near financial ruin in his home country Italy and it seems is now by any means necessary trying to recoup his investments.

“Since the upturn in commodity prices, Oando has recorded 6 consecutive quarters of profits. The company kicked off 2018 on a positive note also, through continued restoration of value to its shareholders via profits in the first quarter of the year.

James Emejo ÓØ ÌßÔË

moved under matters of urgent public importance by The House of Representatives Hon. Sunday Karimi (PDP, Kogi) has constituted an 11-member on the urgent need to stop the ad-hoc committee chaired by federal executive from expending Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin (APC, the last tranche of the Abacha Kano) to investigate the total loot or any recovered loot at all amount recovered from the without parliamentary approval. infamous Sani Abacha loot by The lawmakers had sought the federal government from 1998 to establish the sources of the to date, THISDAY has learnt. monies; payments to lawyers, It was gathered that the if any, and whether procedures committee was saddled with were followed in the negotiation the responsibility of ascertaining process for the release of the loot the sources and utilisation of the as well as to establish if the loot, so that the issue, which had Memorandum of Understanding generated a lot of controversy (MoU) between the federal in recent times, could be laid government and foreign countries to rest by the lower chamber. on the repatriation was in line According to the spokesman with constitutional provision of the House, Hon. Abdulrazak and if recovered funds had Namdas, the committee would been utilised for the benefits determine, among other things, of the common man. the amount spent from the loot Karimi’s motion originally on specific projects and the requested that the sum of balance to be spent. $322 million to be released by THISDAY also gathered the Switzerland Government be that the investigative sitting, paid to the Consolidated Revenue which would begin this week Fund (CRF) and distributed to the would have former presidents federating units in line with the interviewed in their residences current revenue sharing formula. on the recovery of the loot by The motion further urged their respective administrations. the federal government to Also to be invited are key come up with a supplementary government officials from the appropriation bill, earmarking the office of the Accountant General funds due to it from the loot for of the Federation (AGF), and the completion of the Ajaokuta the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Stell Complex, and the federal Kemi Adeosun. government to immediately The House had earlier passed present to the National Assembly, a resolution to set up an ad-hoc the total money released from committee to investigate the the recovered loot and how they matter, following a motion were spent.

Gunmen Kill Four Policemen, Burn Patrol Vehicle in Edo Adibe Emenyonu ÓØ ÏØÓØ ÓÞã Unidentified assailants have reportedly killed four policemen attached to the Sabongida-Ora Divisional Police Headquarters in Owan West Local Government Area (LGA) of Edo State, and set their bodies and operational vehicle ablaze.

It was gathered that the incident occurred on Saturday evening at Uzebba-Aviose junction along Ifon road, Sabongida-Ora. It was also learnt that after killing their victims, the perpetrators were said to have made away with their guns.

According to an eyewitness living around the area, “Nobody can really explain what happened because there was no sound of gun shots. We only saw the police

van burning and realised on a closer look, that there were four policemen burning inside.”

“The people responsible must have planned this thing as they carried out the job neatly. How do you explain killing of the officers and loading their dead bodies inside their van and setting it ablaze?”

“This check point has for long been in existence and we have never experienced anything of such - not even exchange of gun fire in the area. We are at a loss as to what must have happened and how it occurred. It is even more confusing as there was no incident of armed robbery around the area on Friday or Saturday,” he added.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

L-R: Managing Director/CEO, Scib Nigeria and Company Limited, Mr. Sola Tinubu; Founder and Chairman, Chief Olabode Ogunlana; his wife, Kehinde; a client of Scib and Founder, Shebah School Magodo, Mrs. Titi Lawani; and wife of Managing Director of Scib, Mrs. Feyi Tinubu, during the 40th anniversary of scib held in Lagos... recently.

Trading in Chinese Renminbi to Commence Before End of July, Says CBN Moves against currency hawkers Obinna Chima ÓØ ËÑÙÝ ËØÎ Ademola Babalola ÓØ ÌËÎËØ The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday disclosed that trading in the Chinese Renminbi would commence before the end of this month.

A top CBN official, who disclosed this in a chat with THISDAY, said the CBN was finalising modalities for the trading in the Chinese currency.

This followed a $2.5 billion bilateral currency swap agreement signed in May between the CBN and the People’s Bank of China (PBoC).

According to the source, the CBN wants to ensure that the regulations around the trading of the Renminbi are tightened so as not to create any room

for arbitrage and currency manipulation.

“All hands are on deck, all the work is being done and in the next two weeks trading will commence.

“There will be very marginal discount to encourage people to go for it. But the discount will be so small as not to encourage arbitrage, but encourage those who really want to do so that they can get an advantage for embracing the Renminbi currency,” the source added.

The CBN recently held town hall meetings in some cities in the country in its bid to woo businesses importing goods from China to use the Yuan instead of the United States dollar in its effort to support its naira currency and boost reserves.

Officials said the deal was aimed

at reducing reliance on the dollar and “as such, reduce the pressure on the naira-dollar exchange rate.”

Under the swap arrangement, the central bank would hold N720 billion in an account in favour of the PBoC while the Chinese central bank would hold 15 billion Yuan, implying an exchange rate of N48 to the Yuan.

The bank also said the move was aimed at encouraging Chinese firms buying local raw materials and semi-finished goods to pay in naira.

THISDAY had reported that First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Stanbic IBTC, Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) and Zenith Bank Plc had been appointed the settlement banks for the bilateral currency swap deal.

Meanwhile, the CBN has warned that hard times now await

hawkers of the naira, especially those who exchange new currency notes for old ones at motor parks or parties and other social functions.

CBN over the weekend in Ibadan assured economic agents such as the marketers, merchants, shopping malls, supermarkets of the bank’s continuous and direct supply of huge volumes of the banknotes to traders’ unions.

The development, according to the acting Director, Currency Operations Department, CBN, Mrs. Priscilla Eleje, was to ease difficulties being encountered by the traders and customers occasioned by the inadequate circulation of the lower denomination banks notes like N200, N100, N50, N20, N10 and N5.

Another Nigerian Shot Dead in South Africa Barely four days after the South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, assured Nigerians that they were not targetted for killings in South Africa, the Nigerian community in that country has expressed shock over the killing of another Nigerian, Martin Ebuzoeme, by unknown assailants.

The President of Nigerian Union in South Africa, Adetola

Olubola, confirmed to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja yesterday that the victim was killed in Yeoville, Johannesburg around 7:30p.m. on July 12.

The killing occurred barely 24 hours after the visit of Ramaphosa to Nigeria.

Ramaphosa had during his visit on July 11 said the killing of Nigerians and other foreign

nationals in the country was an act of criminality, not specifically targeted at Nigerians.

“The killings are caused by high level of unemployment among the youths as well as other social factors emanating from long apartheid misrule.

“Government is however, doing its best to bring it down,” Ramaphosa had said.

The Nigerian Consul General in Johannesburg, Godwin Adama, said the latest killing did not have anything to do with xenophobic attacks.

Adama said the killing happened in a crime-prone area of the country.

“The man was killed by unknown gunmen and has nothing to do with xenophobic.

52

T H I S D AY ˾ ͯʹ˜ ͰͮͯͶ

MONDAY, JULY 16, 2018˾ T H I S D AY

53

NEWSXTRA

EFCC Vows to Prosecute Fayose over Alleged N1.3bn Poultry Fraud Fayemi to probe governor Chiemelie Ezeobi ËØÎ Chinedu Eze Barely hours after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Kayode Fayemi of the All Progressives Congress (APC), winner of the Ekiti State gubernatorial election, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has declared its intention to prosecute the incumbent Governor Ayodele Fayose of the state.

This coming as Fayemi has said he would probe the Fayose’s administration.

According to a tweet from the twitter handle of the EFCC, the agency will prosecute Fayose over an alleged fraud at the Integrated Poultry Project/Biological Concepts Limited to the tune of N1.3billion.

While the agency is raring to prosecute Fayose, they will however, have to wait for his immunity as governor to elapse in 60 days’ time when he will hand over to Fayemi.

The EFCC handle fondly referred to as ‘The Eagle’ on social media set twitter ablaze with this tweet accompanied with a purported

picture of the poultry farm; “The parri (party) is over; the cloak of immunity torn apart, and the staff broken. “#Ekiti Integrated Poultry Project/Biological Concepts Limited N1.3billion fraud case file dusted off the shelves. See you soon.”

But some twitter followers did not particularly find that tweet amusing, as they labelled it a witch hunt from an unprofessional agency.

Tweeting from @YoungProf_ MUFC, one of the antagonists, said: “Rubbish. Why couldn’t you start this investigation, when he was the governor?

“You are just letting the world know that you witch hunt the sitting president’s political opponents.”

To this allegation, the EFCC clarified: “This case has been on since 2005, but became a pending case due to the immunity. There’s nothing new here. #NoWitchHunt.”

Meanwhile, Fayemi has said he would probe the Fayose administration when he gets into office.

Fayemi made this known in an interview with the Channels Television yesterday He said he would want to know how funds were expended in the state since 2014 when he left office.

“I will look at the records when I get into office. You can call it probe if you like. I will want to know what happened in the state in the last four years,” the governor-elect said.

He said his priority would be how to pay the backlog of salaries to the workers of the state and promised that he would work with the Fayose government in a transition process to know how much the workers are owed and if the payment could start before he takes over.

He said that he is ready for the electoral tribunal if the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) decides to contest the election at the tribunal, adding that he would also be happy if the defeated candidate of the party called to acknowledge his victory, just as he did when he was defeated in 2014.

SERAP Tasks Adeosun on Alleged Forged NYSC Certificate The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), has urged the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, to show responsibility and clear the air over the damaging allegations of certificate forgery against her and settle the facts of the case once and for all.

SERAP said the suspicion of certificate forgery involving a senior member of the government if not urgently and satisfactorily addressed, would weaken public trust in the

government’s commitment to transparency and accountability.

In a statement issued yesterday by SERAP’s Deputy Director, Timothy Adewale, the organisation said, “Clarifying the allegations of certificate forgery would show a commitment to doing the right thing, and a natural disposition toward openness. The failure or refusal to speak to Nigerians on these allegations amounts to a betrayal of public trust.

If she can show the courage

to clear the air on the allegations, Mrs. Adeosun can be a strong promoter of the values of transparency and accountability – something, which the government of President Muhammadu Buhari has regularly expressed commitment to embrace and achieve,” SERAP said.

The organisation said the failure to address the allegations might create public anger and lead to accusation of cover-up.

2019: Atiku Begins Nationwide Tour, Set Mega Declaration for July 21 A former Vice President and presidential aspirant under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, will commence a consultation and familiarisation tour across the country beginning from July 16, 2018 ahead of the presidential primaries of the party.

The former number two citizen will begin with a scheduled visit to Gombe State today, then proceed to Borno State on Tuesday, Taraba on Wednesday and Adamawa on

Thursday.

According to a schedule released by the the Director General of the Atiku Presidential Campaign Organisation and former Governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, Alhaji Atiku will commence the Southwest visitation on July 30 in Lagos while that of North-east will start from Jigawa on August 6with North-west, South-east and North-central scheduled forAugust 7, August 13 and August 15 respectively.

An official reception in respect of his presidential ambition has been slated for Saturday, July 21 in Yola by the Adamawa State chapter of the PDP, tagged “Mega Rally” The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)’s timetable released in January mandates all political parties to conduct party primaries, including resolution of disputes arising from the primaries between August 18 and October 7, 2018.

Amby Ezem Holds Triple Book Launch Olawale Ajimotokan ËØÎ Udora Orizu ÓØ ÌßÔË UK-based writer, Amby Chizaram Ezem will be formerly introduced to the Nigerian literary enthusiasts, book reviewers and the media on July 20, at the launch of her three books at Jades Hotel, Wuse Zone 5, Abuja.

The University of Readingeducated pharmacist is the author of Soul Exhale (Breathing and Bleeding), Aha m bu (My Name is) Chizaram and Cinnamon Letters.

The Chairman of the occasion is

the former Governor of Abia State, Senator Theodore Orji, while the Captain of IBB International Golf and Country Club, Abuja, Oseni Ahmed, who is one of the colaunchers and other dignitaries, would be in attendance.

Ezem will be partnering Lively Hope World Scholarship Scheme that aims to raise funds through the book profits, sales, donations and sponsorship on the launch in support of charity.

Shedding light on her interest in charity, Eze said: ”The charity belongs to my parents, so; I am thinking of ways to partner

and help out with charity and scholarship. I decided that since I have written books and books is education, I will love to help in the way the funds will go to the charity. Also, it is mostly privately funded; so, I decided it is time to get the public more hands to help”.

Ezem, who is from UbalakaUmuahia, Abia State, likened the proposed launch to a home coming, noting that her books were well received in the UK and partially in the United States.

Ëœ ͚͞˜ ͺ͸͚΀ Ëž T H I S D AY

54

MONDAYSPORTS

Group Sports Editor Duro Ikhazuagbe Email duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com 0811 181 3083 SMS ONLY

WORLD CUP 2018‌

JUNE 14 TO JULY 15

Modric Emerges Best Player of Russia 2018 Mbappe, Kane, Courtois  also on winners list

Duro Ikhazuagbe in Moscow Luka Modric was confirmed as the best player at the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia after

the official awards were announced last night. The Croatian midfielder won the adidas Golden Ball which is awarded to the best player by

the FIFA Technical Study Group (TSG). Eden Hazard and Antoine Griezmann came second and third respectively.

The adidas Golden Boot was

won by Harry Kane with 6 goals.

Antoine Griezmann collected the Silver Boot while Romelu Lukaku won the Bronze.

Belgium’s Goalkeeper, Thibaut

Courtois, collected the adidas Golden Glove while Spain took the FIFA Fair Play Trophy. The FIFA Young Player Award went to Kylian Mbappe .

Spain emerged the winner of the Fair Play trophy with a prize tag of $50,000 while Mbappe also bagged the Young Player of the Year trophy.

Journey to 2022: FIFA President Meets Leadership of Qatar’s Supreme Committee As soon as referee Nestor Pitana blew the final whistle and the Trophy was lifted by France’s Hugo Lloris, the fireworks lighted up the Luzhniki Stadium to announce an epic end to the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia, as well as the beginning of a unique journey to Qatar. The hosts of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, who have been actively working on preparations for the event since 2011, are getting ready to take the World Cup centre stage.

Over the past six weeks, 180 professionals appointed by Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) have been shadowing and observing the 2018 FIFA World Cup operation in the 11 Host Cities. On top of that, more than 30,000 football fans have already visited the exhibits managed by the SC in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, a taste of the atmosphere they can expect in 2022.Â

Lukas Modric and Kylian Mbappe with their respective awards last nightÂ

The next four years were also discussed in a meeting held on Friday between FIFA President Gianni Infantino and the Managing Director of the SC, H.E. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Hamad Al Thani. “We already work very closely with Qatar 2022, and the experience here in Russia made the bonds even stronger. The shadowing programme provided a fantastic opportunity to share knowledge and exchange experience,� said Infantino.  “Qatar’s public interactions in Moscow and Saint Petersburg have ignited excitement among the global football community and the reaction has been fantastic, with fans and the general public very keen to engage with Qatari culture and heritage. The activities showcase the fact that Qatar will host a unique tournament – one that is compact, welcoming to all and family-friendly.�

D U R O ’S R U S S I A N OT E . . .

The Morning after the Beautiful Game Ended in Russia Against all propaganda of racism and hostile negativity, the 2018 FIFA World Cup ended last night here in Russia with fanfare as France defeated Croatia 4-2 to win Les Blues second title. The host country put up a showpiece that matched, perhaps, the best of the Mundial that the world has seen in recent time. For us visitors to Russia, this World Cup here has opened our eyes.

Now we know better when any one is talking negatively about the Russian people. It has been 32 days of unforgettable football experience, moving from one beautiful city to another. Russia 2018 will remain a memory to treasure, just like the 2010 edition Africa hosted for the first time in Mandela’s country, South Africa.

Twenty-four hours to yesterday’s closing ceremony, top officials of the next host in four years, Qatar, gave thumb up to the Russian LOC for putting up a great spectacle during the 28 days of total football showpiece.

Now that Russia has lifted the bar, Qatar2022 will have no choice but strive to match the efficiency exhibited here at Russia 2018.

Right from the point of entry at the Pulkovo Airport into St Petersburg on June 13, this reporter was welcomed into Russia by adoring volunteers. Some of us who had read so much western media propaganda against Russia took such smiles and open arms from the volunteers with a pinch of salt. We were sort of edgy and did all we could to be on the watch. Not even similar friendly welcome from warm hotel staff at the Park Inn by Radisson Pribaltiyskaya could disarm that impression of racism drummed into us. But after just

two days in that beautiful city of skyscrapers, it became obvious that all that we have been fed with were mere lies, aimed at painting a terrible image of the Russian people. Nigerians and other nationals began to open open to Russians and enjoy all that was available to savour.

From Moscow to St Petersburg, Kazan, Volgograd, Kaliningrad, Ekaterinburg, Sochi, Saransk, Samara, Rostov-On-Don and Nizhny Novgorod, the story of friendliness was all the same.

Supporters from all the continents, coaches, footballers and their back room staff are all saying that what they witnessed here during the Mundial is totally different from the pictures of Russia painted before visitors arrived here.

One of the stand-out feature that made Russia 2018 different was the introduction of Fan ID that made it easier for visitors to have easy passage here.

Visitors to Russia applied for a laminated Fan ID photo card to bypass entry visa rules. The process also allowed Russian authorities to screen people considered to be a security threat, and monitor who entered stadiums. Some saw the ID system as a data protection risk, yet many fans embraced their laminates as though members of a World Cup club. The ID gave visitors a special privilege which the locals were ever willing to assist when the need arises. Of course, like in any society bad eggs took advantage to fleece unsuspecting visitors of their hard earned money and personal effects. Such reports were insignificant when compared with the hundreds of thousands of visitors that flocked Russian cities to be part of the football show.

For Nigerian and African fans here, the World Cup ended for us long time ago when none of the five teams from the continent could make it out of the group stage. Of course, not to that we were expecting any miracle of a sort happening, we had expected at least one or two to make it to the second round and may be

, the quarter, like Ghana did at South Africa 2010. But after they all crashed, we had no choice to adopt countries featuring our ‘black brothers’ like France, Belgium and England.

If football aficionados here were not taken by surprise the spectacular performance of host Russia, this reporter was.

I had nursed the fears that the stadia may no longer enjoy full patronage once Russia crash out at the group stage. The hosts finished ahead of several more glamorous names, such as Germany, Argentina, Portugal and Spain - beaten by Russia on penalties in the Round of 16 -, while Brazil and Uruguay were

knocked out at the same stage. “I’m grateful to the players for this tournament,� Russian head coach Stanislav Cherchesov said the morning after the team crashed out. “Fifty days have flown by like one. Thanks to the fans as well, it’s down to them that we got so far. We didn’t have any standout players, it was the team that stood out. All 23 players deserve respect, they all gave it their all. Only by working hard can we get people to believe in us and love us. Now the whole country knows what kind of national team they have. I hope we’ve changed attitudes for the better,� concludes the Russian manager.

For fans without tickets, the Fan Fests scattered all over the 11 host cities were the perfect place to be. They provided the entertainment like no other.

There were vibrant presence of fans mostly from Argentina, Peru, Mexico, Croatia and others.

Fans made friends with other nationalities and even locals. Of course, some new affairs of the hearts were sealed in some of the Fan Fests. It will not be too long for the world to begin to hear of marriages whose beginning started here in Russia. Russia was truly a lovely place for the Mundial. Â

N OT E ‌

President of France, Emmanuel Macron (left) and his Croatian counterpart, Andrej Plenkovic in warm greetings before the match while the FIFA President, Gianni Infantino watches with keen interest last night  Â

Till four years time when the world will gather in Qatar for the 2022 World Cup, it has been a wonderful time out here chronicling events from Day One for THISDAY Newspaper titles. To our partner, MultiChoice Nigeria Limited whose DSTV sports pay television channel made the trip possible, we say a BIG THANK YOU.

55

T H I S D AY Ëž Ëœ ͚͞˜ ͺ͸͚͜

FRIDAYSPORTS

WORLD CUP 2018...

JUNE 14 TO JULY 15

WORLD CUP 2018...

President Emmanuel Macron celebrates the opening goal by France in grand style

France players celebrating with Antoine Greizeman for the penalty goal that gave the team the second goal

France supporters following the telecast in an open park celebrating one of the goals

World Cup winning coach, Didier Deschamps in majestic celebration with his players after the match

Djokovic Wins Fourth Wimbledon Tittle Novak Djokovic earned his first Grand Slam title in more than two years by beating Kevin Anderson to win his fourth Wimbledon championship.

Djokovic, seeded 12th, won 6-2 6-2 7-6 (7-3) to claim a 13th Slam - his first major since the 2016 French Open.

The Serb, 31, quickly took control to win the opening set in 29 minutes, breaking twice more in the second set.

Djokovic saw off five set points in an even third set before dominating the tie-break to seal victory. He dropped to his haunches just inside the baseline as Centre Court rose to acclaim the champion, hugging South African Anderson at the net

before skipping over towards his box and celebrating wildly in front of his coaching team and wife Jelena. “I had many moments of doubt, I didn’t know if could come back to this level to compete,� said Djokovic, who also won the Wimbledon title in 2011, 2014 and 2015. “There is no better place to make a comeback, it’s a sacred place for the world of tennis, it’s very special.�

He is now in outright fourth place on the all-time list of Grand Slam men’s singles titles, moving clear of Roy Emerson and closing the gap on Roger Federer (20), Rafael Nadal (17) and Pete Sampras (14).

Access Bank Charity Polo Raises N800m The former world number one will move back into the top 10 when the latest rankings are released today.

Djokovic dominated the men’s game earlier this

decade, holding the number one ranking for 223 weeks and completing a career Grand Slam when he claimed the title at Roland Garros two years ago.

COUNTDOWN TO CAA ASABA 2018

Millions Rain at Fund Raising Dinner as Okowa Gets Accolades for Keshi Stadium Host City Asaba and Delta State Government of organising the CAA Asaba 2018 African Senior Athletics Championships got a boost over the weekend as millions of naira were raised at dinner organised to raise fund for the event at Grand Hotel Asaba.

Hon. Bukola Olopade the consultant for the dinner told newsmen shortly before the end of the dinner that the response

of Deltans and friends of Delta was very good, “I can’t give you the exact figure now, more donations and pledges are still coming but we highly impressed by peoples’ response�.

Zenith Bank Plc led the donors at the event with the sum of N300 million while Bube Dan gave N20 million, Levant Construction N20 million, Gomene N11 million, Delta State

House of Assembly N7 million, Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development with N5 million, among others.

Some corporate organisations and individuals made their donations anonymously.

Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, his wife, Dame Okowa, Deputy Governor Kingsley Otuaro, Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, LOC

Chairman Solomon Ogba, his deputy Tony Okowa, Minister of Sports,Solomon Dalung, President of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Ibrahim Gusau, among numerous others attended the fundraising “In less than three weeks from today, athletes from 47 African countries, as well as officials, will begin to converge in Asaba for this historic event.

This year’s Access Bank Polo Day, held at the prestigious Guards Polo Club,Windsor, United Kingdom was one of the prominent initiatives sponsored by The Access Bank UK, a wholy-owned subsidiary of Access Bank Plc in its drive to aid educational and social development in the communities the bank serves.

Over $2.2m (N800 million) was raised in pledges to build new school classrooms that will provide continuous education for an estimated under privileged and displaced children in the northern part of Nigeria over the next 5 years.

An auction of contemporary African Art by Bonhams also raised over $30,000 that will go towards classrooms and student equipment.

Access Bank UK Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Jamie Simmonds said, “the way in which we balance our economic, environmental

and social impact while continuing to grow our business and enhance our reputation is an area of key importance for us.� “This year we have grown our balance sheet by 26 percent and increased year on year profits by 76 per cent�

Our achievements owe much to the strong partnership we have with our parent bank�. “Our joint support of this new decade of the ACCESS Bank Group\UNICEF Charity Shield with Fifth Chukker is evidence of the social and economic value of that partnership,� he added.

Herbert Wigwe, Group Managing Director of Access Bank PLC and Chairman of The Access Bank UK Ltd, says “In a year that marks the end of its’ 9th full year of trading the Bank has gone from strength to strength despite the longlasting worldwide financial and economic challenges that have followed on from the global crisis of 2008.�

55

T H I S D AY • MONDAY JULY 16, 2018

FRIDAYSPORTS

WORLD CUP 2018...

JUNE 14 TO JULY 15

WORLD CUP 2018...

President Emmanuel Macron celebrates the opening goal by France in grand style

France players celebrating with Antoine Greizeman for the penalty goal that gave the team the second goal

France supporters following the telecast in an open park celebrating one of the goals

World Cup winning coach, Didier Deschamps in majestic celebration with his players after the match

Djokovic Wins Fourth Wimbledon Tittle Novak Djokovic earned his first Grand Slam title in more than two years by beating Kevin Anderson to win his fourth Wimbledon championship.

Djokovic, seeded 12th, won 6-2 6-2 7-6 (7-3) to claim a 13th Slam - his first major since the 2016 French Open.

The Serb, 31, quickly took control to win the opening set in 29 minutes, breaking twice more in the second set.

Djokovic saw off five set points in an even third set before dominating the tie-break to seal victory. He dropped to his haunches just inside the baseline as Centre Court rose to acclaim the champion, hugging South African Anderson at the net

before skipping over towards his box and celebrating wildly in front of his coaching team and wife Jelena.

“I had many moments of doubt, I didn’t know if could come back to this level to compete,” said Djokovic, who also won the Wimbledon title in 2011, 2014 and 2015.

“There is no better place to make a comeback, it’s a sacred place for the world of tennis, it’s very special.”

He is now in outright fourth place on the all-time list of Grand Slam men’s singles titles, moving clear of Roy Emerson and closing the gap on Roger Federer (20), Rafael Nadal (17) and Pete Sampras (14).

Access Bank Charity Polo Raises N800m The former world number one will move back into the top 10 when the latest rankings are released today.

Djokovic dominated the men’s game earlier this

decade, holding the number one ranking for 223 weeks and completing a career Grand Slam when he claimed the title at Roland Garros two years ago.

COUNTDOWN TO CAA ASABA 2018

Millions Rain at Fund Raising Dinner as Okowa Gets Accolades for Keshi Stadium Host City Asaba and Delta State Government of organising the CAA Asaba 2018 African Senior Athletics Championships got a boost over the weekend as millions of naira were raised at dinner organised to raise fund for the event at Grand Hotel Asaba.

Hon. Bukola Olopade the consultant for the dinner told newsmen shortly before the end of the dinner that the response

of Deltans and friends of Delta was very good, “I can’t give you the exact figure now, more donations and pledges are still coming but we highly impressed by peoples’ response”.

Zenith Bank Plc led the donors at the event with the sum of N300 million while Bube Dan gave N20 million, Levant Construction N20 million, Gomene N11 million, Delta State

House of Assembly N7 million, Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development with N5 million, among others.

Some corporate organisations and individuals made their donations anonymously.

Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, his wife, Dame Okowa, Deputy Governor Kingsley Otuaro, Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, LOC

Chairman Solomon Ogba, his deputy Tony Okowa, Minister of Sports,Solomon Dalung, President of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Ibrahim Gusau, among numerous others attended the fundraising “In less than three weeks from today, athletes from 47 African countries, as well as officials, will begin to converge in Asaba for this historic event.

This year’s Access Bank Polo Day, held at the prestigious Guards Polo Club,Windsor, United Kingdom was one of the prominent initiatives sponsored by The Access Bank UK, a wholy-owned subsidiary of Access Bank Plc in its drive to aid educational and social development in the communities the bank serves.

Over $2.2m (N800 million) was raised in pledges to build new school classrooms that will provide continuous education for an estimated under privileged and displaced children in the northern part of Nigeria over the next 5 years.

An auction of contemporary African Art by Bonhams also raised over $30,000 that will go towards classrooms and student equipment.

Access Bank UK Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Jamie Simmonds said, “the way in which we balance our economic, environmental

and social impact while continuing to grow our business and enhance our reputation is an area of key importance for us.” “This year we have grown our balance sheet by 26 percent and increased year on year profits by 76 per cent” Our achievements owe much to the strong partnership we have with our parent bank”.

“Our joint support of this new decade of the ACCESS Bank Group\UNICEF Charity Shield with Fifth Chukker is evidence of the social and economic value of that partnership,” he added.

Herbert Wigwe, Group Managing Director of Access Bank PLC and Chairman of The Access Bank UK Ltd, says “In a year that marks the end of its’ 9th full year of trading the Bank has gone from strength to strength despite the longlasting worldwide financial and economic challenges that have followed on from the global crisis of 2008.”

TR

Monday July 16, 2018

UT H

& RE A S O

N

Price: N250

MISSILE Tambuwal to Federal Government “The worst part is that these deaths are avoidable and the killings preventable.

It boils down, at the end of the day, to failure of leadership. Nigeria cannot progress and be part of a 21st century forward looking world by creating new batches of mourner every other day. That is not what Nigerians voted for in 2015” – Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal, blaming the killings across the country on leadership failure.

ALEXOTTI OUTSIDE THE BOX

alex.otti@thisdaylive.com

Let The Rates Tumble

“There is no difference where aims are concerned, between a terrorist with a gun and bombs in his hand and a terrorist who has dollars, euros and interest rates” Recep Tayyip Erdogan

T

he ordinary person on the street may not appreciate the importance of interest rates to day to day existence, or even their implication to the peace and security of a country. The following account of what happened in Turkey not too long ago, may help bring this matter into sharper focus. Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, 64, a one time footballer, became President of Turkey in 2014, having served as Prime Minister from 2003 to 2014. He has invested massively in infrastructure, providing roads, airports and high speed train network, in the country. An attempt by the military to topple his government in 2016, failed and he responded with a very big stick, purging the military, clamping down on opposition and throwing so many people in jail.

Not long ago, Erdogan reshuffled his cabinet, appointing his son in law as Economic Minister (sounds familiar, right?). The market responded with strong disapproval leading to a massive loss in the value of the local currency, Lira and the stock market. Mr. Erdogan in that famous quote above insists that an armed terrorist has the same intention with a foreign funds provider who must collect his principal with interest, irrespective of what happens to the borrower.

He must have been referring to foreign lenders here and the jury is still out on whether he was right or wrong . Nevertheless, our intervention today is not necessarily on debt, but on interest rates on the local currency.

In a previous piece in this column, we had defined interest rates as the difference between money borrowed and money paid back in relation to the time the money was kept by the borrower.

It is calculated in percentages over a period of time, usually one year or fractions thereof. In economics, there are various justifications for applying interest on funds. The first one is because of a concept known as the “time value of money”. Because money is what money can buy, what money can buy today, in most cases, is not what the same amount of money can buy tomorrow. Another term for this is “inflation”. In layman’s language, inflation defines the situation where what money can buy tomorrow is less than what that same amount of money could buy yesterday. To cushion the effect of inflation on the lender, interest rates are applied which ensures that the lender is not worse off than he was when he made the lending decision.

Again, there is an inherent risk associated with lending. The risk is that the money may not be paid back either wholly or partially, for all sorts of reasons. To compensate for that risk, the lender will usually apply an interest charge to the funds being borrowed. The more the perceived risk, the higher the interest rate and vice versa. Closely related to risk is return. It is expected that the loan should have been efficiently deployed to make additional money over and above the loan amount, all things being equal.

It is therefore, appropriate that the lender gets some part of the return not only to compensate him for parting with his money, but also to share in the prosperity created by the economic activity generated by the loan.

Beyond the simplistic uses of interest rates as highlighted above, there are more fundamental macroeconomic uses. Interest rates are central to influencing the direction of the economy as a major tool of monetary policy. They are also used

Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun to encourage or discourage savings, investments and consumption. Inflation management and foreign exchange management have a lot to do with interest rates. They influence borrowing and lending decisions as well as the stock market trading activities. The Central Bank, also known as the Reserve Bank in some countries, is the body that has the responsibility to manipulate or adjust interest rates to control money supply and set the direction of the economy along desired lines as highlighted above. The major challenge with this role is that the dependencies and variables in the economy can be likened to juggling balls in the air. Sometimes, in a bid to catch one of the balls, another one or two may slip through and drop. The major outcomes that most Central Banks grapple with are inflation, foreign exchange management, savings, consumption, lending and investment. Depending on the outcome the Central Bank wants to achieve, it would tinker with interest rates accordingly.

Theoretically, if the Central Bank wants to encourage Savings and Investment, it would increase interest rates. If it wants to reduce savings, it would reduce interest rates. When savings go up, consumption is reduced. If the Central Bank wants to encourage lending, it will reduce interest rates. If it increases interest rates then lending will reduce and vice versa. The more complex situation would be when the Central Bank wants to reduce inflation and at the same time increase spending. Reducing interest would increase spending but it will also push inflation up in the short run. This is the dilemma that a lot of Central Banks face. So some trade offs must be done at this stage. The Central bank must determine what its priority is. It must be willing to tolerate one set of outcomes over and above others.

It is on this basis that we want to once again look at interest rates in Nigeria. Exactly two years ago in July 2016, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank Of Nigeria (CBN) moved the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) up, from 12% to 14%. The MPR is the benchmark rate for the market, and the rate at which the CBN would lend to banks if they were to borrow from it. It is theoretically (and traditionally) the lowest rate that exists in the market. Virtually every other rate takes a cue from this rate. The CBN has continued to maintain the MPR at 14% in the last two years. One may then ask, why did the CBN keep the MPR at these high levels for such a length of time? Simply put, it wanted to discourage speculative attacks on the Naira and stop the exchange rate from spiraling out of control. Understandably, exchange rates

had gone beyond the N500 per dollar mark at the parallel market on the back of dwindling oil prices and slow down in the growth of the economy and subsequently, recession. The second argument was that lower interest rates would worsen the inflationary situation and lead to even deeper economic crisis.

On the issue of foreign exchange rate management, we have always held the view that the greater problem lies in the attempt to fix rates and hold them “by fire, by force” at artificial predetermined levels. The argument of maintaining high interest rates to discourage borrowing for speculative attacks on the Naira is palpably flawed. We had contended that if in the minds of speculators, the rate of depreciation of the Naira will more than compensate for the high interest rates, they will continue to borrow to stockpile foreign currency, no matter where you take interest rates to. Besides, funding for foreign exchange speculation does not necessarily have to come from bank loans. It could be from disposal of assets including investment in the stock market, and savings. It therefore implies that keeping interest rates high in a bid to protect the naira may just be counter productive. Since we do not have all the foreign exchange we require, it would be wise to stop the attempt at fixing the rates and holding them at predetermined levels. Doing that is the greatest incentive to foreign exchange speculators. While we acknowledge that floating the currency may lead to temporary increase in exchange rates, we must also agree that it could lead to more inflow of foreign currency into the market and ultimately, exchange rates could come down and settle at more realistic levels than where they were in a controlled environment. Yet, another advantage is that exports will be encouraged as exporters will earn more from their foreign exchange while imports will be discouraged as they become more expensive locally. Finally, the government which today is the largest supplier of foreign exchange in the Nigerian market will earn more naira for its dollar and would be able to do more locally, both in terms of paying local debt and reducing its local currency borrowing.

This, to my mind, is the only path to a more transparent market which would ensure that speculation gives way to long term stability and confidence.

Today, with MPR at 14%, there is no incentive for real players in the economy to borrow. There is hardly any legitimate business that can borrow at rates indexed to the MPR (and in some cases, borrowers are made to pay MPR x 2 which is 28% per annum) and return a profit. On the part of investors, rather than take risks in other markets, it makes more sense to keep the money in the bank or buy government instruments at rates hovering around MPR and go to bed, knowing fully well that their investment is risk free. To the commercial banks, there is no reason to extend facilities to business enterprises and individuals in the productive sectors of the economy. Why would they do that when there are government instruments that are risk free and which generate returns that are very close to the Monetary policy rates? Of course the banks know that when interest rates are very high, the chances of booking bad loans also become high. This is because the possibility of business failures is enhanced. Meanwhile, the high cost of administering the loan would still be factored in.

Again, on account of massive government borrowing, the local (private sector) borrowers are crowded out of the market. To the extent

that there are appropriately priced government instruments available, as alternatives, lenders would naturally go for those instruments. With the MPR at 14%, pricing of such treasury bills and treasury certificates should be indexed to the reserve rate. At the end of the day, the private sector is the loser which ultimately translates to a collective loss for the entire economy. From a macroeconomic point of view, whenever the economy is experiencing a decline or slow growth, the solution is to stimulate such an economy.

Stimulation of the economy can happen in different ways, but its effect is always to put more money into the economy. The policy that would get the economy out of the woods should therefore be an expansionary one. Anything that is done to tighten money supply would simply not work. High interest rate is not an expansionary policy. Like we had explained, when interest rates are high, savings increase and consumption is reduced. This is fatalistic for the economy as reduction in consumption means reduction in output of goods and services as such are geared towards consumption.

Reduction in output leads to reduction in labour and other factors of production and ultimately results in lay-offs and shutdowns. When these happen, taxes are also affected and government revenue would go down and the only way the government could fund its consumption is by further borrowing, thus piling further pressure on interest rates.

The same effect would be noticed if the discussion is approached from the side of businesses. High interest rates discourage businesses from borrowing as their margins would be eroded by such loans. The converse is also true when rates go down. So to encourage businesses to borrow and increase economic activities that would generate employment and improve GDP, interest rates must be reasonably low. Keeping them high would keep businesses away from borrowing and deny the economy the needed growth.

Interest rates also affect borrowing by individuals and firms. If interest rates are high, the tendency is for businesses to stay away from loans. When loans are cheap, the incentive to borrow is higher because businesses would be able to return the loan, the interest and keep reasonable margins for themselves. With low interest rates, investment in the stock market would increase. However, in a high interest rate regime, investments in the stock market would reduce. The only exception is where the change in interest rates is outweighed by the rate of change of the price of bonds. For instance, if interest rate increase is lower than the rate of change in stock prices such that healthy margins still exist, then it would still be profitable for the investor to borrow and invest in the stock, again subject to other alternative options open to him.

Except if someone can demonstrate to us that the above analysis is wrong, we are persuaded that the way to go is to let interest rates tumble now in order to stimulate this economy and begin to experience reasonable growth. Yes, we have got out of recession and the economy has started growing again, but the quantum of growth which by the way has been declining in the last three quarters, is still minuscule at an average rate of about 2% per quarter. Dissecting the numbers would also show that the major driver is crude oil with the recovery in price. I will conclude with this witty quote by George Washington thus “ the worry is the interest rate paid by those who borrow trouble”

Printed and Published in Lagos by Leaders & Company Limited . Lagos: 35 Creek Road, Apapa, Lagos. Abuja: Plot 1, Sector Centre B, Jabi Business District, Solomon Lar Way, Jabi North East, Abuja .

All Correspondence to POBox 54749, Ikoyi, Lagos. EMAIL: editor@thisdaylive.com, info@thisdaylive.com. TELEPHONE Lagos: 0802 2924721-2, 08022924485. Abuja: Tel: 08155555292, 08155555929 24/7 ADVERTISING HOT LINES: 0811 181 3086, 0811 181 3087, 0811 181 3088, 0811 181 3089, 0811 181 3090, 0811 181 3085. ENQUIRIES & BOOKING: adsbooking@thisdaylive.com