MONDAY 26TH MARCH 2019

Discos Tell Buhari to Sit Up over Power Supply Say companies no longer responsible for meters Give conditions for stability in electricity supply

Chineme Okafor in Abuja Electricity distribution companies in Nigeria’s power sector yesterday asked President Muhammadu Buhari

to sit up and comprehensively address the challenges in the power sector without recourse to politics.

They also declared that they have been freed from

the responsibility of providing meters to power consumers under their networks, explaining that the newly initiated Meter Assets Provider (MAP) programme of the

Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) is now to be saddled with that task.

Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja, the Executive Director for Research and

Advocacy of the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED), an umbrella body of the Discos, Mr. Sunday Oduntan, said that NERC’s MAP had assumed

At $43.507bn, External Reserves Hit 5-month High...

the responsibility of providing meters to Nigerians, in which case, the Discos no longer hold that primary responsibility.

Continued on page 8

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APC: We'll Enforce Party's Decision on N’Assembly Leadership Lawan vows to obey party's resolution, explains ambition

Ejiofor Alike in Lagos and Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja As the jostle for leadership positions in the ninth National Assembly gathers momentum, the All Progressives Congress

(APC) has said it will ensure that the party’s decisions are respected by members in electing the principal officers.

The position of the ruling party is coming as the Senate Leader, Senator Ahmed

Ibrahim Lawan, has said that his ambition to lead the ninth Senate is predicated on his vision to run a National Assembly that would sustain positive change for the good of Nigerians.

Unlike what happened during its assumption of power in 2015, APC said it would not allow the minority party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to interfere in choosing who emerges as

the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

The National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Mallam Lanre Isa-Onilu, who spoke with THISDAY at the

weekend, assured Nigerians that the party would not allow a repeat of what led to the crisis within its caucus at the National Assembly at the onset of the out-going legislature.

Continued on page 8

INEC Declares Lalong, Ortom, Tambuwal, Ganduje Reelected Mohammed wins extra election in Bauchi PDP kicks over Kano Ile in Abuja The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday finally drew the curtain on governorship elections in four of the seven outstanding states, returning Governors Aminu Tambuwal (Sokoto), Samuel Ortom (Benue), Simon Lalong (Plateau) and Abdullahi Ganduje (Kano) as elected for second term.

Three states, Bauchi, Adamawa and Rivers, however, remain contentious.

In Bauchi, the Peoples

Democratic Party’s (PDP) candidate, Senator Bala Mohammed, won the supplementary election held on Saturday, increasing his votes haul at the March 9 poll that puts him ahead of Governor Mohammed Abubakar, who seems to have lost out in the keen contest.

The only thing standing between Abubakar and eventual defeat is the restraining order he secured last week from an Abuja court, which restrained INEC Continued on page 10

Falana: Assigning Oil Blocks to IOCs, Individuals Unconstitutional... Page 8

PROMOTING ENTREPRENEURSHIP… L-R: Trustee, Tony Elumelu Foundation, Dr. Awele Elumelu; wife of the president of Nigeria, Mrs. Aisha Buhari; and founder, TEF, Mr. Tony Elumelu, during the announcement of 3,050 entrepreneurs of the fifth cycle of TEF Entrepreneurship Programme held in Abuja…Friday

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Falana:AssigningOilBlockstoIOCs,IndividualsUnconstitutional Asks Buhari to stop practice Chineme Okafor in Abuja Renowned lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana SAN, has said the practice of allocating crude oil blocks to individuals and International Oil Companies (IOCs) by the federal government is against the constitution of Nigeria, and should be stopped.

Falana, in this regards asked President Muhammadu Buhari, to henceforth allocate oil blocks only to the federal and state governments, saying that those who got oil blocks often got more money from the blocks than Nigeria did.

In a letter he wrote to the president, and which THISDAY in Abuja sighted, Falana said the practice violates Section 16(2) (c) of the nation’s constitution, which he stated provides that,

“the economic system is not operated in such a manner as to permit the concentration of wealth or the means of production and exchange in the hands of few individuals or of a group.�

He noted that he was aware the government planned to revoke a number of oil blocks and marginal fields hitherto allocated to a few individuals as well as local and foreign corporate bodies by former military and civilian regimes in Nigeria, and encouraged it to go ahead with the plan.

According to him, the plan is a courageous decision, but that the government would have to desist from renewing the remaining licences of other oil block owners in the country. “Having acquired the entire property in and control of all

Calls for allocation to only federal and state minerals, mineral oils and natural gas in, under or upon any land in Nigeria or in, under or upon the territorial waters� and vested same in the federal government on behalf of the people of Nigeria pursuant to section 44(3) of the Constitution, it is inequitable, illegal and unconstitutional to allocate the nation’s oil blocks to a few individuals and corporate bodies including multinational corporations,�

Falana said in the letter.

He claimed the president may not be aware that majority of the owners of the oil blocks allocated to individuals were usually subleased to offshore companies because the beneficiaries often lack the fund and technical expertise to develop them.

He said: “By merely collecting huge rents the

oil block owners become stupendously rich while the federal, state and local governments depend on loans and bailout to pay salaries and carry out basic infrastructural development of the country. “Thus, by allocating oil blocks to a few individuals and corporate bodies the federal government has violated Section 16(2) (c) of the Constitution which provides that “the economic system is not operated in such a manner as to permit the concentration of wealth or the means of production and exchange in the hands of few individuals or of a group.�

He further stated that the allocation of oil blocks to a few individuals and corporate bodies by the government constituted gross violation of the fundamental rights

of the Nigerian people to freedom from discrimination, equal right of access to public property and in the equal enjoyment of the common heritage of mankind as well as the right to social, economic and cultural development guaranteed by articles 2, 13, 22 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act. According to him: “Therefore, pursuant to article 22 thereof which has imposed a duty on the federal government to freely dispose of the wealth and national resources of the nation in the exclusive interests of the Nigerian people, we urge your excellency to desist from allocating oil blocks to a select group of Nigerians and foreigners.

“In view of the foregoing, we urge your excellency to restrict the allocation of oil blocks, including marginal fields to the federal government and the governments of the 36 states of the federation. “This request is in line with Section 16 (1) (b) of the Constitution which has mandated the Nigerian State to “control the national economy in such manner as to secure the maximum welfare, freedom and happiness of every citizen on the basis of social justice and equality of status and opportunity.�

He told the president that he would challenge the constitutional validity of allocating oil blocks and other natural resources to individuals if the government refuses to accede to his request.

that his ambition to lead the ninth Senate is predicated on his vision to run a National Assembly that would sustain positive change for the good of Nigerians.

He said although he had declared his ambition, he would subject it to his party’s decision on the leadership of the federal legislature.

Speaking to journalists yesterday in Lagos, Lawan noted that even though the senators belong to different political parties, they should always work for all Nigerians.

Lawan, who was accompanied by over 12 senators, also declared that he is an apostle of separation of powers who also believes in consultation, synergy and cooperation with the executive arm of government to achieve positive results for the country.

According to him, separation of powers must not be misconstrued as independent of different arms of government but specialisation of functions and interdependence of the various arms. “That does not mean that we will not disagree. But when we disagree, we should not go to the village or market square to settle our differences. That is the way to go to enable Nigerians benefit from democracy,� he said.

According to him, “I believe

in progressive politics; I believe in ensuring that the ordinary people – the masses of Nigeria require every person’s support for opportunities to actualise their potentials and dreams. I also believe that we should do everything possible to encourage and support entrepreneurship, and businesses to grow so that jobs will be created for our teeming population.

Lawan said by June this year, he would have spent 20 years in the National Assembly, as a member of the House of Representatives for eight years and a senator for 12 years, under All Peoples Party (APP), All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) and APC. According to him, 2015 was the first time he would be in the ruling party.

He said: “I am running for this office because I believe that the experience we have gathered over the years in the National Assembly will help us run or operate a National Assembly that will make and provide sustaining positive change through legislative interventions. “Our slogan is a Senate and a National Assembly that works for Nigerians. We believe that we need to work in a united manner. We may be in different platforms but the people we serve are the same. We want wealth to go round and not concentrated in a few hands.

You cannot have security – we cannot sleep with our two eyes closed when the wealth cannot go round. You cannot develop a country if the majority remains poor. You cannot develop Nigeria if ordinary Nigerians cannot go to public schools and actualise their potential in education. These are the things we must do together.�

He said he would support the anti-corruption agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The Senate leader, however, said that as a believer in party supremacy, the decision of his party is final, adding that if the ruling APC zones the Senate presidency to another zone, he would respect his party’s decision.

Earlier in his speech, the Chairman of Ahmed Lawan for Senate Presidency Campaign Organisation, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi (APC – Kebbi North), said Lawan and his team were in Lagos to share their progressive agenda for the 9th Senate with Nigerians.

Other senators-elect with Lawan include Teslim Folarin, Adeola Yayi, Oluremi Tinubu, Opeyemi Bamidele, Dayo Adeyeye, Basiru Ajibola, Olalere Oriolowo, Bayo Osinowo, Musa Sani, Sabi Abdullahi, Mandiya Bello and Gumel.

equally worried about the move to criminalise estimated billing methodology of the NERC, adding that if that happens, they will most likely deny supply to consumers without meters to avoid going to prison for flouting the proposed law. “The moment you make estimated billing a criminal offence for me as a Disco, you are telling me that if I cannot give you a meter, I should not give you light. So, I cannot go to prison. Let common sense prevail if you are saying it is a criminal offence,� he said.

On the conditions required for electricity supply to become stable in the country, Oduntan said it was necessary for the government to allow for costreflective tariff in the sector, provide financial subsidies for people who may not be

able to pay the right tariff, and create regulatory assets scheme for the Discos.

This, he stated, is to make the Discos to be able to source finance from banks to fund their operations in the event that the government is cautious of a public backlash over cost-reflective tariff.

He claimed that the NERC has failed to undertake a review of their tariff since 2016 to allow for a tariff that is cost-efficient.

Oduntan said that the financial shortfall from this was now in excess of N1.4 trillion. “There has never been a single minor tariff review since 2016. We have been expecting reviews since 2016, and anything short of that means that sector will not work,� he added.

APC: WE'LL ENFORCE PARTY'S DECISION ON N’ASSEMBLY LEADERSHIP He said that the party would apply the principle of party supremacy in handling the emergence of new leadership of the incoming National Assembly.

According to him, "We will enforce party discipline. And you have seen what we have done to our very important and mighty party men. “So, you could see that APC is instilling party discipline, bringing cohesion and harmony into our system and we expect everyone who now subscribe to the world view of the APC, to abide by the decision of the party. “So, the party is up and doing.

We don't need to make noise about what we are doing, we have the majority in the Senate and the House of Representatives to choose our leaders and we will choose our leaders.�

On whether the national leadership of the party will enforce its decisions on the zoning of offices in the National Assembly, Onilu said: "That is what is expected and that is what we will do."

According to Onilu, there are various options before the party, including retaining the existing zoning arrangement.

THISDAY gathered that some stakeholders of the party are proposing that the Senate presidency goes to the North-east this time around instead of the North- central.

Those with this line of thought are also pushing for the Southwest to produce the Speaker of the House of Representatives, while the South-east and Northcentral zones are being tipped for Deputy Senate president and Deputy Speaker, respectively.

There are yet other options being canvassed for the sharing of leadership positions in the incoming National Assembly.

It was also learnt that some party leaders, especially those from the South-east and Southsouth are lobbying that their zones be considered for the Senate presidency.

The South-east party leaders said that since the position eluded the zone in the eighth Senate because there was no senator elected on the party’s platform in 2015, it would be wise now to compensate them.

One of the senators from the zone being tipped for the seat is Senator Benjamin Uwajimaogu, representing Imo North senatorial district who was re-elected at the last election.

The crisis that rocked the National Assembly caucus of the ruling party on assumption of power in 2015 was said to be largely due to delays and indecision in addressing the issue of power sharing arrangement among its various power blocs.

The party failed to properly manage the varied interests

within it, hence it played into the hands of the opposition party, which exploited it to its advantage.

But the APC spokesman said the new leadership of the party is mindful of what is at stake and will do everything possible to thwart any move by the PDP to encroach on its interests.

Onilu explained why the ruling party should hold the aces: "You see, what you get in advanced democracies under the presidential system of government is that the winner takes all. “Once you are in majority, you don't have any business with the minority party in deciding who to choose as your leaders.

But because the PDP has the characteristics of a busy body, it has been seeking to get involved. “As it happened in the past, they are still thinking that they will decide for us what the leadership will look like in the National Assembly. They are carrying the joke too far."

Onilu said that although a formal meeting was yet to be held to consider the zoning plan, the party is working quietly behind the scene to resolve the matter.

Lawan Vows to Obey Party Decision, Explains Ambition Meanwhile, the Senate Leader, Senator Ahmed Lawan, has said

DISCOS TELL BUHARI TO SIT UP OVER POWER SUPPLY MAP was initiated by NERC to improve meter deployment rate in the country’s electricity sector using approved thirdparty operators.

The commission had approved 121 firms to participate in the scheme.

But speaking on the development, Oduntan explained that the Discos have taken a backseat in the task, and would only support the MAP operators to do their jobs.

He said: “The failures of the legacy years caught up with us when we came on board and in trying to roll out meters, we need to do a lot more.

"We have done quite a lot in our performance agreements.

There are a number of meters that we were required to provide within five years, and

within the five-year period, we did 88 per cent of what we were required to do.

"But you need to understand that what we were required to do was far low compared to the nation’s metering requirement. “Those who have meters will tell you they are happy, and those who don’t have meters have a right to be aggrieved. So, metering now has been taken off the Discos’ primary responsibilities.�

He added: “In summary, the MAP providers are essentially now in charge of metering and not the Discos. We are participants and have roles to play.

"We are playing along and doing what we are expected to do and asked to do as Discos, but we are not the one that will now provide

meters to Nigerians going forward and people should understand that.�

According to him, the Discos support anything or programme that will make it possible for Nigerians to have meters, adding: “We are partners and want people to understand now because MAP providers are now in charge of meters and that is the fact that Nigerians should understand and I don’t want any politician to start playing politics that it is not, it is MAP and we support MAP. “The more meters we have in our network the better for us because people will for once pay for what they consume.

Studies have shown that those who waste electricity are the ones who are on estimated bills.�

He said the Discos were

TOP GAINERS PRESTIGE MEYER INTERBREW WAPIC CHIPLC TOP LOSERS CADBURY UNIPRESS UPDC

NGN NGN 0.05 0.55 0.05 0.59 1.95 26.00 0.03 0.42 0.02 0.29 NGN 1.10 9.90 0.20 1.85 0.16 1.70 REGENCY 0.02 0.24 PZ 0.75 10.50 HPE Nestle Nig Plc â‚Ś1,500.00 Volume: 231.234 million shares Value: â‚Ś2.616b billion Deals: 3,253 As at Friday 15/3/19 See details on Page 35

% 10.0 9.2 8.1 7.6 7.4 % 10 9.7 8.6 7.6 6.6

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At $43.507bn, External Reserves Hit Five-month High MPC meets tomorrow

Obinna Chima

Buoyed by increasing foreign portfolio investments (FPIs) and stability in crude oil price, Nigeria’s external reserves has risen to a fivemonth high of $43.507 billion as of last Thursday, THISDAY has learnt.

The reserves rose as the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will commence its 266th meeting tomorrow.

The last time the foreign exchange reserves got to its present level was on October 9, 2018.

THISDAY gathered that following the successful completion of the general election, which has since seen the deceleration of political risks in the country, portfolio investors have been taking advantage of Nigeria’s attractive fixed income instruments.

Investor interest, it was learnt, has been upbeat with the recent treasury bills that were auctioned oversubscribed.

Similarly, in the bond market, investors have continued to take position in attractively priced instruments.

On the other hand, the price of crude oil, which is also a major driver of Nigeria’s

external reserves has been stable with the benchmark Brent crude closing at $66.75 to a barrel yesterday.

Meanwhile, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) would commence its 266th meeting tomorrow.

The two-day meeting would be the second this year, with analysts predicting that the central bank would leave all its key monetary policy tools unchanged.

At its meeting in January 2019, the MPC had maintained the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) at 14 per cent, with the asymmetric corridor at +200 and -500 basis points around the MPR. It also retained the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) and Liquidity Ratio (LR) at 22.50 per cent and 30 per cent respectively.

To analysts at FSDH Merchant Bank Limited, looking at the short-term outlook of the economy, members of the MPC will vote to maintain policy rates at the current levels.

They noted that the current position of the external reserves and the increase in FPIs have provided short-term stability for the value of the naira. “Recent data on inflation, exchange rate and interest rate

CBN Governor, Godwin EmeďŹ ele on fixed income securities in Nigeria have shown temporary improvement. “This may mean things are looking up in Nigeria.

Therefore, the temporary stability in key indicators from January 2019 till 21 March 2019 may support an argument for monetary policy easing (reduction in interest rate and other measures that can push more money into the financial system).

“Adding to the debate supporting easing of monetary policy is the fact that the general election is now behind us, so the negative impact of electioneering spending on price stability and associated uncertainties surrounding the election may be over. “However, FSDH Research believes the short-term outlook of the Nigerian economy justifies a hold decision on policy rates at the current

levels. “FSDH Research believes the decision of monetary policy would be based on what will happen to price stability if there is an adjustment to the pump price of Petroleum Motor Spirit (PMS) and the electricity tariff sometime this year,� the firm stated.

But the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) recently predicted an average price of Brent Crude of $62.78 per barrel in 2019, down from $71.19/b in 2018.

This lower oil price, given the OPEC production cut, signifies Nigeria may generate lower revenue in 2019 than in 2018, hence, the need to maintain a tight monetary stance to attract investors into the Nigerian financial system, FSDH added.

To Afrinvest West Africa Limited, with the moderating inflation and improving external reserves, due to a surge in capital inflows post-elections, "the CBN would maintain all policy rates to manage the delicate balance between growth, inflation and exchange rate stability. " "Although the case for monetary easing has become compelling, the CBN is more comfortable using open market operations (OMO) instruments to guide yields rather than

the MPR. This has already resulted in a moderation in average T-bills and bond yields to 13.2 per cent and 14.2 per cent respectively.

"However, this strategy is unlikely to be supportive of growth given that interest rates in the real economy would remain high. Although members expressed concerns about the fragile state of the economy in the last two MPC meetings, we believe the power to adjust yields to attract and sustain capital flows as and when needed supersedes this. We do not see the possibility of a rate hike due to weak economic growth, which remains below population and long-term growth rates of three per cent and 7.6 per cent respectively," the firm added.

The CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, last week projected that the Nigerian economy would grow by three per cent in 2019, higher than the 1.93 per cent it achieved in 2018.

Emefiele also said the central bank would continue to maintain a tight monetary policy stance to rein in inflation, which he said was expected to rise to 12 per cent in the course of the year before moderating.

closest rival, the incumbent governor, who got 465, 453 votes, adding that the margin of lead between the two candidates was 4, 059 votes.

THISDAY had also reported that Prof. Mohammed had earlier cancelled the entire votes of Tafawa Balewa LGA, which has 139,240 registered voters, citing the failure of the Collation Officer, Mrs. Dominion Anosike, to use the prescribed form to enter the result of the elections collated across the local government.

This was despite the explanation given by her to the commission that the result sheets for the governorship election were carted away by thugs who invaded the collation centre in Zwall, Tafawa Balewa LGA, in the early hours of Sunday.

She had also notified the commission via an explanatory memorandum signed by all stakeholders in the election at the collation centre, who unanimously agreed to collate and record the result on another form, and addressed same to the Resident Electoral Commissioner and the State Returning Officer, which was submitted in Bauchi on Sunday.

However, Kyari, rejected the explanation and unilaterally declared that there was no result for Tafawa Balewa LGA and cancelled the election of the entire LGA even though there was no any incident of cancellation, violence or electoral malpractices at both the polling units and wards levels as reported by the Returning Officer.

The PDP candidate was in the lead after results of 19 LGAs were collated, with the incumbent governor trailing behind with a margin of over 4,000 votes.

In the contentious Tafawa Balewa LGA, the PDP had scored 40,000 votes against the APC’s 29,000, putting the PDP ahead with about 15,000 votes.

Announcing the results of the supplementary elections yesterday, the Returning Officer, Prof. Mohammed said: “As you well know, I cannot make a return because I understand that the case of Tafawa Balewa LGA is in court.�

The Federal High Court, Abuja will deliver a final judgment on the results of Tafawa Balewa LGA today

AT LAST, INEC DECLARES TAMBUWAL, ORTOM, LALONG, GANDUJE GOVS-ELECT from resuming the collation and announcement of the results of Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area, a stronghold of the PDP. That litigation is expected to be resolved today as the court listens to the PDP’s position on the matter.

Supplementary elections had held on Saturday in some units in Bauchi, Benue, Plateau, Sokoto and Kano States.

The two leading parties, PDP and All Progressives Congress (APC), won two apiece. The ruling APC retained its hold on Kano and Plateau States, while the main opposition PDP retained Benue and Sokoto States.

Although the PDP sustained its lead in Bauchi, the announcement of the winner of the governorship polls

by INEC is pending today’s court judgment on the result of the Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area.

The presidential candidate of the PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has described the victory of the candidates of the party in both Sokoto and Benue States as an acknowledgement from the Nigerian people that it is the only truly national party in Nigeria.

But his party rejected the outcome of Kano’s poll, saying it was a rape of democracy.

Announcing the result of the Sokoto State contest at Maccido Quranic Institute in Sokoto, the Returning Officer, Prof.

Fatima Mukhtar of Federal University, Dutse in Jigawa State, said Tambuwal of the PDP polled 512,002 votes against his closest rival, Alhaji Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto of APC who polled 511,660.

Mukhtar said Tambuwal having scored the highest lawful votes has been returned

elected.

She added that the votes registered were 1,887,767; accredited votes were 1,083,413, valid votes, 1,036332; rejected votes, 31,662, and number total votes cast were 1,067,994 According to her, during the re-run election, PDP’s Tambuwal polled 22,444 votes while APC’s Aliyu scored 25,515 in the 135 polling units where supplementary elections were conducted.

She further explained that 49 candidates from other participating parties shared the remaining votes cast.

However, the APC agent at the collation centre, Alhaji Maigari Dingyadi, raised the complaints the party made to INEC earlier about the malfunctioning card reader at a polling unit in Tambuwal.

Dingyadi added that election was repeated at the polling unit, after lawful election was conducted on March 9 election.

The PDP agent, Alhaji Umar Bature, dismissed the objections on the grounds that the collation centre was not the right place to lodge the complaint.

Mukhtar noted the complaint and said that it would be reflected in the final report.

Reacting to his victory, Tambuwal said he dedicated the victory to Almighty Allah and the people of the state who found him worthy of their mandate.

He stated that he would run an inclusive government to improve the lives of his people.

"This is the beginning of good things that will happen to the state. I will not take the mandate for granted," he said.

He pleaded with his opponents to join hands with him in building the state,

saying he is not better than them but in any contest there must be winner and loser.

The governor advised his supporters to be magnanimous in victory, stressing that they should not jeopardise the existing peace in the state.

In Benue State, Ortom of the PDP was declared the winner by the state’s Returning Officer, Prof. Sabastine Maimako, having polled 434,473 votes to beat his closest contender, Hon. Emmanuel Jime of APC, who polled 345,155 votes.

According to Maimako, the margin of lead between Ortom and Jime was 89,813.

In his acceptance speech, Ortom said he has dedicated his victory to God by visiting the Redeemed Church of God, Gboko Road, where he offered prayers immediately the result was announced.

Wild jubilation greeted the announcement as major areas of Makurdi town were blocked by his supporters, who were singing his campaign songs.

Meanwhile, the APC has announced that it will be heading to the tribunal.

The party in a statement by its campaign secretary, Professor Eugene Aliegba, indicated that it would seek all constitutional and legal means to claim victory.

According to him, "Because the results announced in favour of Governor Ortom and the PDP is a direct product of brutal violence, vote buying, ballot-stuffing, results-falsification, non-use of the card reader and a range of other irregularities that have no place in our electoral laws; we are making it unequivocally clear that the Benue APC will explore all constitutional and legal options available to ensure the votes of the people count.

“In simple terms, we will make a case before the Elections Petitions Tribunal to subject the Benue governorship elections result to an integrity test. If we opt otherwise, we will be as guilty as those who undertake acts that undermine democracy. We have chosen instead to take action that insulates democracy from practices that threaten it."

In Bauchi State, the candidate of the PDP, Senator Mohammed was declared the winner of the governorship supplementary election held on Saturday in the state.

The result from the supplementary election collated in the 36 Polling Units in 29 Wards across 15 Local Government Areas of the state saw the candidate of the PDP won with 6,376 votes with his closest rival, the candidate of the APC and incumbent governor, Abubakar polling 5,117 votes.

According to the results announced by the State Returning officer, Prof.

Kyari Mohammed, Senator Mohammed led Abubakar with 1,259 votes to emerge the winner of the supplementary elections.

THISDAY checks revealed that no fewer than 22,641 registered voters were supposed to vote in the supplementary election in 36 Polling Units in 29 Registration Areas (wards) scattered across 15 of the 20 LGAs of the state.

It would be recalled that the returning officer of the elections in the state, Prof.

Kyari Mohammed, had in the early hours of Monday, March 11, 2019, declared the governorship election in the state as inconclusive.

According to him, the candidate of the PDP got 469,512 votes to lead his

APC Retains Kano, Plateau Governorship Seats Governor Lalong of Plateau State was declared winner of the rerun gubernatorial election in the state after gathering 595,582 votes to his closest rival, Jeremiah Useni, a retired Army General and candidate of PDP’s, 546,813 votes.

The Returning Officer, Prof.

Richard Kimbir, presented the result yesterday in Jos on behalf of the INEC. “The valid votes totalled 1,159,954, with the rejected votes standing at 16,188, while the total votes cast was 1,176,142,� he said.

The margin of victory between Lalong and Useni is 48,769 votes.

The gubernatorial election held on March 9 in Plateau was declared inconclusive.

This had led to a rerun election in 40 polling units in nine local government areas of the state.

In Kano, Ganduje was declared winner, scoring 1,033,695 votes to his closest rival of the PDP, Abba Yusuf’s 1,024,713.

Continued on page 51

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Group News Editor Ejiofor Alike Email Ejiofor.Alike@thisdaylive.com, 08066066268

FAAN, Air Peace Clash over Arrival of New Aircraft Chinedu Eze

What was supposed to be a moment of jubilation was turned into sadness for Air Peace, Nigeria’s largest carrier, last Wednesday during the arrival of its latest Boeing 777 into Nigeria, as the aircraft was denied landing for several minutes, THISDAY has learnt.

THISDAY gathered that the aircraft, which was supposed to touch down at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos by 3p.m from Dallas, the United States, was stopped from landing 30 minutes to its arrival by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, (FAAN) over alleged “no parking space” at what is supposed to be the largest airport in Nigeria.

The Airport Manager, Mrs. Victoria Shin-aba who was alleged to have refused to come out to resolve the problem, directed the airline to go and park the aircraft at Enugu or Port Harcourt airport.

She was said to have also claimed that she was out of the office, even though FAAN workers said she was at the airport.

Also based on her instruction,

FAAN’s Aviation Security (AVSEC) refused to allow journalists to go to the airside to cover the arrival of the aircraft until the Head of Communication of Air Peace, Chris Iwarah called the General Manager, Corporate of Affairs of FAAN, Mrs. Henrietta Yakubu who intervened.

When contacted, FAAN alleged that Air Peace did not notify it on time about the arrival of the aircraft.

But Iwarah told THISDAY that the aircraft was supposed to have arrived three days earlier, adding that the agency was aware of the delay and the subsequent arrival of the airplane that Wednesday.

FAAN also complained to journalists that Air Peace had earlier brought Boeing 777 and parked them at the airport.

Iwarah also countered this claim, saying that the agency was aware that the aircraft were being prepared for international operations and were going through procedures with the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) before they would be inducted as part of Air Peace fleet so that they would be used for international service.

Iwarah also said the aircraft

were not just parked there but were used for demonstration flight for several hours in order to meet NCAA regulation for the airline to conduct international operations.

He disclosed that the demonstration flights took the aircraft to Sharja in United Arab Emirates, Johannesburg, Dakar, Senegal, Kano, Freetown, Port Harcourt, adding also that they are used everyday for training between Lagos and Abuja.

THISDAY gathered that after negotiations between FAAN and Air Peace, the agency asked the airline to land the aircraft at the cargo section of the airport instead of the terminal where commercial passengers flights land and park.

It took several hours of persuasion before the aircraft was allowed by FAAN to be moved to the passenger terminal and by then, the captain of the flight and his co-pilot had spent

two and half hours in the aircraft after it had landed.

Sources at Air Peace told THISDAY that the two pilots who were supposed to operate the aircraft and train Nigerians that would take over from them decided to leave the country immediately, saying that the airport authorities were against the airline, hence they did not feel safe staying in the country.

When contacted, Yakubu said she was sure that the airport

manager, Shin-aba did not say the airline should take the aircraft to the Enugu or Port Harcourt to park.

She also denied that FAAN was being antagonistic to the airline, saying that the agency earns huge revenue from the indigenous carrier and would not have any reason to they take such an action.

However, Iwarah said FAAN

Continued on page. 52

RE-ELECTED GOVERNORS

Aminu Tambuwal

PDP

Samuel Ortom

PDP

Abdullahi Ganduje

APC

Simon Lalong

APC

Yoruba Elders Task Buhari on True Federalism Following his victory for a second term in office, the Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE) has tasked President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure that he enthrones true federalism and national unity in the country.

The Secretary-General of the group, Dr. Kunle Olajide, who disclosed this at the weekend, added that the president needed to return the country to the era of revenue generation and not sharing of allocation.

Olajide said: “I have written a congratulatory letter to the president on his re-election and assured him of YCE’s support for his administration towards achieving a greater Nigeria.

“In the letter, I told him that his victory carries enormous responsibilities among, which were the need to ensure national unity and a revisit of the ElRufai’s committee report on restructuring.

“The president has replied the letter, appreciating it and the in-depth suggestions.

“He assured me that the suggestions will be given adequate cognisance,” he said.

The YCE leader said the country could achieve rapid growth and development with true federalism which allowed devolution of powers.

He stressed that the decisions of the Governor Nasir el-Rufailed committee on restructuring set up by Buhari’s administration in 2017 was far-reaching, calling on the president to revisit the report.

“We have to gradually move back to the period of generating revenue and not sharing revenue.

“Each federating unit should be allowed to exploit and explore its resources.

“They should then pay an agreed percentage to maintain few essential services in the centre such as defence, foreign

affairs, immigration and customs services,” he said.

Olajide said that there were only 14 items on the exclusive list in the First Republic and the rest were residual for the states.

According to him, “today, there are 66 items on the exclusive list. The intervention of the military in 1966 truncated the march to true federalism.

“So, in the next four years, Buhari should be able to finish the process, foundation and implementation of the El-Rufai’s committee recommendations.

“I think it is very essential that the report is implemented as a first step to entrench a true federal system of government.”

He also called on the president to make national unity a priority, urging him to ensure that all parts of the country were given sense of belonging through appointments and projects.

“The president should ensure that his appointments reflect the diversity of Nigeria and in line with the Federal Character Principle enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution.

“We must ensure that people think of Nigeria before anything else, irrespective of tribe and religious affiliation.

The president must ensure that he bequeaths a legacy of a United Nigeria “He must ensure that the people remained the centre of all their decisions, including security of lives and properties.”

On the 2019 general election, he said that the nation had made some progress, adding that the conduct was still better than those witnessed in the past.

Olajide opined that INEC should be unbundled from its overloaded responsibilities.

He said the electoral umpire should only be responsible for registering of political parties and conduction of elections.

EFCC Declares Ex-NIA DG, Oke, Wife Wanted The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has declared a former DirectorGeneral of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ambassador Ayodele Oke and his wife, Folasade, wanted for failing to appear in court to answer for the N13 billion money laundering charges against them.

Oke and his wife had reportedly travelled out of the country for medical treatment in late January shortly before

they were to be arraigned in court.

Justice Chukwujeku Aneke of a Federal High Court Lagos, had on February 7, 2019, issued an arrest warrant against the couple following an oral application by EFCC counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo.

This was contained in a statement issued yesterday by the acting EFCC spokesman, Tony Orilade.

Oke and his wife are wanted in connection with the $43

million, £27,800 and N23.8 million cash recovered by the commission from an apartment at Osborne Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, in April 2017.

Under the former DG, the NIA was said to have collected $289,202,382 in cash for special operations from the account of the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS) at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in February 2015.

The agency had claimed that

the funds were meant for covert intelligence operations, but the federal government insisted it was a case of looting.

The federal government subsequently set up a three-man panel headed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, which indicted Oke and recommended his dismissal.

Criminal charges were subsequently filed against him and his wife in February this year over the cash found at the Ikoyi apartment.

Helicopter Crash: My Survival Product of God’s Mercy, Says Osinbajo Femi Ogbonnikan in Abeokuta Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, yesterday went down the memory lane, describing his survival from the helicopter’s crash in Kabba, Kogi State, during the last electioneering campaign “as a product of God’s special mercy”.

Osinbajo was giving testimony at an Interdenominational Service of Praise and Thanksgiving organised for him by the Christian communities in Ogun State, held at the Obafemi Awolowo Square, Ikenne-Remo of the state.

With particular reference to his helicopter’s crash of February 2, 2019 at Kabba, in Kogi State, the vice president, who acknowledged the omnipotence of God over his

live, also reiterated that if it were not for God’s mercy, himself and other 11 occupants of the ill-fated chopper would have died in the incident.

Speaking at the event, which has in attendance, governors: Akinwunmi Ambode (Lagos), Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo); as well as the Ogun State governorelect, Dapo Abiodun, the vice president ascribed his survival in the crash to the special mercy of God, who according to him, has seen him through ups-anddowns of life.

He offered prayers for peace, progress and stability in the country and acknowledged that God actually saw him through the rigours and hazards during campaigns in the build up to the 2019 general elections.

Speaking earlier, wife of the

Vice President, Dolapo, who narrated how herself and other family members received the sad news, called on all Nigerians to continue in their prayers for President Muhammadu Buhari and Osinbajo to enable them take the country to the promise land.

In his sermon at the service, the Archbishop of Ecclesiastical Province of Lagos, The Most Reverend Olusina Fape, said that the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the just-concluded presidential election was because of God’s mercy.

While praying that God should see the country to the next level of greatness, Fape, added that it was God’s mercy that diverted untimely death of Osinbajo and urged him to

continue to serve the God who has been merciful to him and his family.

“The election has come and gone. But it was won through the mercy of God. It is mercy that makes difference in lives of individuals. Election is not according to your power, your ability and your wisdom; election is a matter of mercy.

“Mercy does five things; it brings victory; it brings exaltation; it brings wisdom; it brings deliverance and success.

Your Excellency, whatever you might have achieved is not by your power or wisdom, but by the sheer mercy of God. “As you celebrate today, God’s mercy will catapult you to the next level according to the slogan of your party”, Fape stated.

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COMMENT

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

WHY NIGERIA SHOULD JOIN AFCTA Inclusiveness will help the continent a great deal, argues Rufai Oseni

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rade is the cornerstone of man’s existence. This was palpable when Ben Gurion said, “Moses is Moses, business is business�.

The First Anglo-Dutch War was caused by disputes over trade. The war began with English attacks on Dutch merchant shipping, but expanded to vast fleet actions. The Second Anglo-Dutch War was for control over the seas and trade routes, where England tried to end the Dutch domination of world trade during a period of intense European commercial rivalry. The Fourth AngloDutch War was over British and Dutch disagreements on the legality and conduct of Dutch trade with Britain’s enemies in that war. The Shimonoseki Campaign was after the unrest over the Shogunate’s open-door policy to foreign trade. The First Opium War which started after the Qing government blockaded its ports and confined British traders, resulted in the dispatch of the British Navy to China and engaged the Chinese Navy in the Battle of Kowloon. The First Opium War eventually led to the British colony of Hong Kong, and the Second Opium War, which arose from another trade war with the same underlying causes, expanded the British possessions on the island.

Trade has always been in the centre of man’s interactions. Former Prime Minister of France Clemenceau once said, “Oil is more important than blood�. All lot of killings over trade have become the hallmark of man’s existence because man trades in every place he goes. The colonization of Nigeria was as a result of a trading decision; the British colonized African nations through charter companies that had business considerations all over Africa. Goldie Tubman, the leader of the Royal Niger Company, became so influential trading in oil palm and other commodities.

The ingenuity for trade and commerce in Nigeria has always been unmatched.

Records show that British palm-oil purchased in Nigeria stood at 36,583 tonnes with a value of 1,756,000 as at 1854.German exports of palm kernels from Nigeria as at 1890 stood at 52,440 tonnes. The trade was so palpable, as at 1900 there was a Lagos - Hamburg direct shipping line called the Woerman line.

Trade indigenization also continued with the ingenuity of Nigerian business men, the likes of the Dantata, Okunowo who made damask and the Adeola Odutola who was producing bicycle tyres as at the 1960s.

The good old days in Nigeria was the trading days. Hence we need to go back to trading.

On the international scene, trade had been everything across Europe and America; trading considerations was the order of the day. Suffice to say when America opened up its trade potential in the 1800s, the country grew astronomically. Developed countries also sort different trading blocs.

After the Second World War, the dynamics of trade changed tremendously, the war had decimated Europe and the poverty had to be turned with trade, hence the Bretton Wood conference of 1945 that also lead to GATT, General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs GATT was first discussed during the United Nations Conference on Trade and Employment and was the outcome of the failure of negotiat-

IT IS SHOCKING THAT INTER-AFRICA TRADE IS LESS THAN 10 PER CENT. WE NEED TO BREAK THOSE BARRIERS WITH TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETAL INCLUSION AND BUILD VIABLE AND STRONGER PARTNERSHIPS

ing governments to create the International Trade Organization (ITO).

GATT was signed by 23 nations in Geneva on 30 October 1947, and took effect on 1 January 1948. It remained in effect until the signature by 123 nations in Marrakesh on 14 April 1994, of the Uruguay Round Agreements, which established the World Trade Organization (WTO) on 1 January 1995. The WTO is a successor to GATT, and the original GATT text (GATT 1947) is still in effect under the WTO framework, subject to the modifications of GATT 1994. This agreement opened up the trading potential of the world. The European economic union that finally became EU was also a trading union. In the south of America they have Mercosur, China had to build a railing to Europe under the belt and road initiative to facilitate trade. Trade is of the essence in everything.

In 1991,when Francis Fukuyama wrote his book on the end of history, little did he know that the partnership that heralded the trading blocs were going to change and this started in 1990s when the Berlin Wall fell and a disruption happened with nation states leading to more nativists movement. This further increased after the 2008 economic disaster that ushered in nationalistic government all over the west. This prepared the ground for the likes of Donald Trump that has trumpeted his ethos of protectionism. That is bad for trade. Donald trump replaced NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement; Spanish: Tratado de Libre Comercio de AmÊrica del Norte, TLCAN; French: Accord de libre-Êchange nord-amÊricain, ALÉNA) which is an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States, creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America. The agreement came into force on January 1, 1994. It superseded the 1988 Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement between the United States and Canada, and is expected to be replaced by the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement once it is ratified.

While that happened, the likes of England came out of the single market in the EU bolstered by Eurosceptics and the cynicism of nationalist like the UK Independent Party. This has left a precarious outlook on trade. The current tariff war between America and China & Germany has been bewildering. All of this shows that the blocs of trade are definitely affected, but the ray of hope is that others have shown leadership. Example is the leadership Rwanda has shown with the African Continental Free Trade Agreement. While all of the uncertainty continues, I believe greater inclusiveness would help nations. It is a global village and global possibilities abound, and that is why we should encourage, not division that stifles trade and removal of immigrants. Immigrants have the ingenuity to build every nation. In fact we are all immigrants. The polish immigrants in Britain put up to 20 billion into the British economy year-on-year. For trade to grow and impact our society we need to partner. It is shocking that inter-Africa trade is less than 10 per cent. We need to break those barriers with technology and societal inclusion and build viable and stronger partnerships. Nigeria should sign AFcta now and we should innovate with trade. rufaioseni@gmail.com

LOOKING BEYOND HERE AND NOW Bashir Ibrahim Hassan canvasses extension of term for AMCOM

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t is 10 years ago that Nigeria was engulfed in a financial crisis of unprecedented proportion.

Proof that Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) is the pillar of Nigeria’s financial stability mechanism is provided by the fact that during the period Nigeria is able to cope with one bank in crisis or another blue chip company going bust without momentous quiver of our financial-cum-banking system.

Indeed, it is testament to the fact that AMCON has lived up to the expectation of its establishment – it is playing its role as effectively as envisaged.

AMCON’s impressive performance is as a result of hard work by many players. The visionary leadership provided by a through-bred banker Ahmed Kuru has been a fundamental factor. So has the close cooperation of key financial regulatory institutions and very important stakeholders Federal Ministry of Finance, CBN, NDIC and SEC. Underpinning the success of AMCON has been the adoption of a liquidation option that safeguards depositors’ funds and reassures investor confidence in the management of our financial crises.

Whenever there is a crisis in any of our money banks, NDIC is likely to be the first to uncover it. CBN will then move to reorganize the bank’s management. If the crisis persists, it may revoke the bank’s license, and NDIC will return to give a prescriptive remedy—nowadays a bridge bank liquidation option— whereupon AMCON is called to assume the bank’s liabilities, inject funds and set in motion how to recover the taxpayers’ funds invested in the bank and find new investors to take over the bank.

So what is AMCON’s mandate in this collective approach to managing Nigeria’s financial system?

AMCON was established to fulfill the following objectives: assist eligible financial institutions to

efficiently dispose of eligible bank assets; manage efficiently and dispose of eligible bank’s assets acquired by it; and obtain the best achievable financial returns on eligible bank’s assets or other assets acquired by it.

The corporation came at the right time in 2010 when the banking sector had undergone, for the first time, massive structural reforms, which involved bank consolidations, recapitalization and managerial changes at some banks, and portfolio clean-ups. These reforms provided a solution to the banking crisis that Nigeria experienced few years ago. In the end, the soundness in the banking sector was restored.

AMCON then contributed a lot in stabilizing the economy through acquiring the Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) of some of the distressed banks, providing financial accommodation to others, which engendered financial stability in the banking system.

AMCON’s initial achievements were tremendous.

In an unprecedented move AMCON acquired about 13,774 Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) worth N3.6 trillion from 22 commercial banks. That move saved our banking system, while its provision of financial accommodation of N 2.2billion protected about N 4.7trillion of depositors’ funds and interbank takings as well as saved approximately 14,000 jobs. With the settlement of about 56 per cent of the total N3.7 trillion (about N2.072 trillion) bad debts AMCON is not doing badly with recovery efforts, putting into consideration the historical success of other AMC’s in other climes with even much better working environments.

This feat is commendable if one looks at the fact that the country went into recession in 2016-2017.

During this period Nigeria experienced a very sluggish growth in the economy, which was aggravated by inadequate supply of foreign exchange

and accentuated by a falling of the price of oil, the nation’s main foreign exchange earner, accounting for about 75% of its export revenue.

Conveniently out of the recession the renewed efforts at non-oil revenue collection are helping to reduce fiscal vulnerability caused by oil price shocks.

Thanks to the reforms pursued by the Buhari administration to lay a foundation for renewed growth, increased revenues from the non-oil sector are also helping the country.

The enforcement of the treasury single account (TSA) blocked financial leakages. Renewed efforts also went into enforcement of tax compliance, which increased the ratio of capital to recurrent expenditure to 30:70. Above all, there has been continuous support for agencies saddled with the responsibility of stabilising the financial system such as AMCON are fast yielding results.

I can see similarities in the path taken by Nigeria and Europe in managing the financial systems in the post-crises period, including the role of institutions like AMCON. Europe implemented three fundamentals policies in the post 2008/9 financial meltdown. Firstly, it implemented massive reforms and some of the countries that received financial assistance from the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF)/ European Stability Mechanism (ESM), such as Spain and Ireland, have among the highest growth rates in Europe today.

Secondly, closer economic policy coordination between the euro area countries now makes it harder to repeat the mistakes that led to the crisis in the first place. Today there are concerted efforts for a Banking Union through the establishment of the Single Supervisory Mechanism, which now oversees the 130 systemically important banks at the European level, and the Single Resolution Board,

which was set up to wind down failing banks across Europe.

Thirdly, I liken the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) to AMCON. This institution serves as a rescue mechanism for euro area countries that have lost market access. Like AMCON, ESM was not there at the beginning of the crisis, but the ESM is today a permanent institution ready to fight the next crisis when it comes.

The ESM has disbursed a total of ₏279 billion to programme countries. Funding these programmes has made ESM a key market player. ESM has issued more than 100 benchmark bonds and 130 bills over the last seven years (2010-2017). Like the achievements of Nigeria’s AMCON, these achievements by ESM would have been unthinkable only a few years back, but, as a result, the euro area economy is now back on track and rapidly growing again.

Through AMCON, Nigeria is making the best out of the situation of its banks’ toxic loans, which are at the heart of many banking crises. Nigeria is quite lucky to have at the driver’s seat of AMCON in the last three and half years a risk management expert of repute-Ahmed Lawan Kuru—humble, disciplined and firm. Since his arrival on the scene he has further entrenched professionalism in the way and manner AMCON operates. His idea of assets management partners (AMP) is helping AMCON’s recovery efforts. The move is AMCON’s strategy to resolve over 6000 accounts with loan balances of N100 million and below.

Ahmed played at the top echelon of the former Bank PHB as executive director overseeing critical areas like risk management, compliance, commercial banking, Northern operations, public sector, multilateral agencies and the West Coast, East and Central Africa expansion programme of the bank.

Hassan, a ďŹ nancial analyst, wrote from Abuja

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EDITORIAL When Trillions Go To Waste The state-owned petroleum corporation is a drain on the economy

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he recent reports put out by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on its webpage indicated it lost N228.1 billion between April and November 2018, a period of about seven months. To buttress that, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) also reported that the amount spent by the federal government on the importation of petrol soared by nearly 50 per cent to N2.95 trillion last year. Much of this money was spent on the petrol sold at the government regulated price of N145 per litre while the four refineries owned and operated by the NNPC are in a shambles.

It is instructive that the NNPC data noted that the corporation’s revenue dropped from N520.4 billion recorded in April 2018 to N292.3 billion in November 2018. This implied that instead of consolidating on its gains, it dropped the balls. Simply put, a company is IT IS NOT IN THE said to be grossly INTEREST OF NIGERIA mismanaged if TO CONTINUE TO WASTE within a sevenSCARCE RESOURCES ON month period of its business year, it lost THINGS THAT DO NOT a whopping sum DIRECTLY BENEFIT ITS of N228.1 billion ECONOMY AND PEOPLE instead of adding to its operational returns.

That NNPC is a loss-making cost centre is a notorious fact. The Kaduna, Warri and Port Harcourt refineries contributed N81.718 billion of the deficit within the seven-month period and grossly underperformed by 9.8 per cent over a one-year period. The NNPC’s corporate headquarters also in the 2018 accounting cycle recorded a loss of N138.064 billion.

Based on its own account, the NNPC’s refineries in Kaduna specifically did not refine a drop of crude oil between February and November 2018, while

those in Warri and Port Harcourt operated at levels that were inconsistent with their capacities. For example, the corporation said that in February 2018, both refineries in Warri and Port Harcourt recorded capacity utilisations of 8.3 per cent and 24.6 per cent respectively, but this later vacillated in the following months until they posted capacity utilisation levels of 27 per cent and 27.7 per cent respectively in June.

The capacities of the three refineries didn’t do any better in the later part of the year, and were unable to refine oil for Nigerians to use.

T 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

here is also the naughty issue of subsidy expenditure which the NBS said was N2.95 trillion in 2018 alone, up by nearly 50 per cent of the previous year. As at December 2018, NNPC’s Group Managing Director, Maikanti Baru, told Nigerians that the government was paying N25 as subsidy on every single litre of petrol consumed in the country, and that the national daily consumption at that time had gone up to over 50 million litres. But the claims lack transparency and accountability. Unlike before when subsidy expenditures are budgeted and approved by the National Assembly, the NNPC now appropriates at will, leaving so much to be asked about transparency in the process.

We are of the strong view that this financial bleeding of Nigeria should not continue under a government that sermonises about corruption. It is not in the interest of Nigeria to continue to waste scarce resources on things that do not directly benefit its economy and people. In the interest of Nigeria and the NNPC itself, there is an urgent need for the reforms of its operations. Sadly, the opportunity provided with the passage of the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB), and other supplementary Petroleum Industry Bills (PIBs), was wasted by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Whatever may be the reason for withholding assent to the PIGB, what is not in doubt is that the present situation in NNPC is unsustainable.

TO SEND EMAIL: first name.surname@thisdaylive.com

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ATIKU AND ADELEKE’SVICTORY AT THE TRIBUNAL

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demola Adeleke’s victory at the Election Petition Tribunal is a locus classicus for democracy. It jogs the cerebral cortex and revivifies cautious hope in the judiciary. But really, the victory is just one small step to the archipelago of power in Osun State for the “dancing senator”.

In 2016, about 81 elections, conducted during the 2015 general election, were upturned by the courts.

The highest number since the 2007 elections. Of significance is the nullification of the Rivers State governorship election, of which Nyesom Wike was declared winner, by an election petition tribunal. The Appeal Court upheld the decision of the tribunal sacking Wike, and when it seemed doom was certain for him, the Supreme Court affirmed his election.

While the tribunal and the Appeal Court hinged their judgments on alleged malpractices; failure to use card readers, ballot-box snatching, result fabrication and voter intimidation which beleaguered the election, the Supreme Court sat its own judgment on the wrong interpretation of the electoral guidelines as regards the use of card readers by the lower courts.

According to it, the card readers, though a good innovation, do not supersede the voter register,

which was (reportedly) used in the exercise.

Although the facts of the cases vary, the split judgment in favour of Adeleke is not without divergent interpretation, which opens it to contest at the higher courts. In a majority decision held by two out of the three justices of the tribunal, the supplementary poll conducted in 17 polling units in Osun was said to be alien to the law because INEC had no authority to carry out the exercise in the first place. Also, the returning officer, who cancelled the result in the disputed units, was said to have acted beyond the remit of his power.

Conversely, in a minority judgment, one of the justices held that when non-substantial compliance affected the outcome of the election, the tribunal, with respect to Section 140(2) of the Electoral Act, did not have the power to deduct the votes afflicted by irregularities from the scores of the candidates and declare a winner, and that the election petition court only had the power to cancel the results of the polling units affected by the malpractices and order a supplementary election.

So, it is one stream crossed, but two snaky rivers to navigate for Adeleke.

Fredrick Nwabufo,fredricknwabufo@yahoo. com

ASSESSMENT OF POLITICS IN NIGERIA

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olitics is not an end in itself, but a practical means of attaining an end. And the major end of politics is the capture of political power to control the state machinery representing all apparatus of political power. Power is defined as the ability to exercise control and achieve the intended result. The most critical variable in the life of any nation is the seizure, use and consolidation of state power. Politics is a necessary skill required to be possessed by all humans in order to gain access to state power. Inability to exercise politics in our human endeavours will lead to failure, rejection and sorrow. Politics is evident in all endeavours of life. There is politics in family, church, mosque, university, state, hospital, companies, multinational corporations, ministries, department and agencies of government, etc. Therefore it is expedient that every person understands the science of politics. Politics is a strategic tool used by state to achieve state goals and objectives. Nigeria politics is characterized by ethnic chauvinism, religious bigotry, social injustice, regional marginalization, resource perversion and political oppression because opportunist, plunderers, uncivilized political gladiators, criminals and miscreants have hijacked the political apparatus.

Politics is now perceived among the populace as a dirty game which any honourable person should not seek or desire. This idea was sold by politicians

in order to continue plundering and pillaging the resources of the state. Nigerian politics has remained dirty and dishonorable because it has been left for too long in the hands of those whose credentials and potential are against the basic tenets upon which democracy, which they all claim to embrace, is erected. Politics is a determinant of certain variables in a state. Politics is the instrument used in achieving certain goals of the state namely peace, development and unity. Politics is necessary to maintain peace in states. Politics is a key element for driving development and growth of a state. It is the policy formulated by politicians that is used to drive development goals in a state. A comparative assessment of politics practice in other parts of the world is necessary in order to ascertain Nigeria’s political system fairness to his citizens. For instance in United States of America, Barack Obama of the Democratic Party, a party which was in opposition to the ruling Republican Party, won in the 2008 American Presidential election. This however did not evoke any bloodletting or social unrest. The political victory was secured purely on the basis of ideas, conscience and support strategy and not on the basis of charlatanism, chauvinism or atavism.

On the other hand, Nana Akufo-Ado defeated his opponent in Ghanao. He won because the political process instrumental to his victory was unpolluted.

Fredrick Nwabufo,fredricknwabufo@yahoo.com

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Group Politics Editor NSEOBONG OKON-EKONG

Email: nseobong.okonekong@thisdaylive.com 08114495324 SMS ONLY

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

Adeleke Scales One Hurdle, Braces Up for the Future Nseobong Okon-Ekong and Alex Enumah write that the recent decision of the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal has brought an end to the ďŹ rst phase in the legal battle which started about six months ago

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or many who keenly followed the proceedings of the Osun Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Abuja, it would have been a huge surprise if the final verdict had turned out any other way. The expectation was that Governor Gboyega Oyetola of Osun State, the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) could not muster a coherent defense against the overwhelming indictment from evidence presented by the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its governorship candidate, Senator Ademola Adeleke who approached the tribunal, seeking justice for perceived injury that led to his loss in the governorship contest.

The better part of the tribunal sitting, were characterised by stunning sessions as the defendants, Oyetola, APC and INEC employed various delay tactics to sway the course of justice. To the consternation of the legal teams of APC and Oyetola, many of their witnesses inadvertently ruined their case under crossexamination as they sustained evidence that

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countered the submission of their principal.

The Osun State INEC finally nailed the coffin on the case of the defendants when it closed its submission without calling a single witness.

The commission, through its counsel, Adesina Agbede closed the case without canvassing any argument against the presentations, submissions and prayers of the petitioner Senator Ademola Adeleke, that he be declared the rightful winner of the election based on the results of the first ballot on September 22, 2018.

On the contrary, Adeleke and the PDP called 80 witnesses to authenticate their prayers and also tendered over 500 pieces of documentary evidence. By closing its case without any defense, INEC literally endorsed and conceded to the PDP petition seeking declaration of Senator Adeleke as the winner of the election. Since INEC was the one that committed the infractions and had literally accepted the pleadings of Adeleke and the PDP, it would have been a surprise if a different verdict was handed down by the tribunal.

It must be noted, however, that there was the possibility of an upset in favour of Oyetola.

Instead, the three-person tribunal returned a split

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decision of two to one to nullify the election of Oyetola. The verdict returned by the tribunal will remain fresh in the memory of watchers of the polity for a long time.

The setting up of the tribunal itself was the aftermath of the September 22, 2018 governorship election and the September 27, rerun election that followed.

The tribunal’s decision which was announced in Abuja on March 22 has brought to an end the first phase in the legal battle for the number one position in the state which started about six months ago.

The tribunal in its lead judgment also ordered INEC to immediately withdraw the Certificate of Return earlier issued to Oyetola and issue a fresh one to the PDP candidate, Senator Ademola Adeleke being the lawful winner of the election.

INEC had on September 28 declared the candidate of the APC, Oyetola, winner of the 2018 Osun governorship election. Oyetola was returned as governor-elect at the end of a supplementary election which held in seven polling units across four local governments.

According to the electoral body, the APC

candidate had scored a total of 255,505 votes as against the 255,023 scored by his closest rival, candidate of the PDP, Adeleke.

The declaration of Oyetola as governor by INEC set the stage for the legal action which commenced last October with the filing of an application by Adeleke and his party, the PDP for leave of the tribunal to inspect materials used

by INEC in the conduct of the governorship election. The request was to enable them institute and maintain their petition.

While Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN) represented the plaintiffs, Wole Olanipekun SAN appeared for Oyetola; Akin Olujinmi (SAN) for the APC and Lasco Pwahomdi stood in for INEC. This was followed by the main petition filed in October challenging the victory of the APC and Oyetola. The petition among other things was anchored on grounds that the re-run poll was marred by manifest irregularities.

In the petition marked: EPT/OS/GOV/1/2018 Adeleke and the PDP, therefore, urged the tribunal to nullify the victory of Oyetola and declare them as winners of the September 22, governorship election.

‘OsunVerdict Isn’t a Basis for Elections Adjudged Inconclusive’

Nseobong Okon-Ekong dialogues with Abuja-based lawyer, Kayode Ajulo on the different possibilitiesarisingfromtherecentverdictoftheOsunStateGovernorshipElectionPetitionTribunal The Osun Governorship Tribunal has made a landmark pronouncement that the supplementary election should not have been held. What is your opinion?

It’s a landmark in the circumstance of being symbolic and reminder that our court coming out of the blue could give such ruling to remind us that, law is a respecter of no one.

Since APC has vowed to appeal the tribunal’s judgement, we should all wait to know the final determination of the matter as whatever is obtained now should be viewed from an interim point. Its temporal pending when the Appeal court decides and then the possibility of the Supreme Court of Nigeria giving the final judgment. One can therefore be right to say, ‘it’s not yet uhuru’ on Osun State Guber Election.

Does the verdict call for celebration on the part of the Peoples Democratic Party?

It is expected that any party who gets judgment in its favour would want to savour the victory. Victory is sweet.

Surely, they must have burned candles and worked hard to warrant the victory. However, as a lawyer I know litigation is like the sport

of boxing. In the instant case, there are three rounds – first, the tribunal; second, Court of Appeal; and the last round being at the Supreme Court. If I were to be in PDP’s position I would rather prepare for the two legal battles ahead, particularly when appeal is imminent.

How will this judgement affect the other elections that were also adjudged inconclusive?

That would certainly depend on whether those other elections declared inconclusive are on all fours with the instant case. The fact here mostly is on figures which I’m certain differ to other elections.

And let’s not forget that the judgement is still subject to two separate appeals. With all humility, that the judgement shouldn’t be the litmus test for elections adjudged inconclusive.

Do you see this leading to more litigation from aggrieved parties who think they were unfairly treated when their election was adjudged inconclusive?

I believe each case is decided based on its peculiar facts and circumstances. That the tribunal has held in this instant case that the

supplementary election held by INEC in seven units on September 22, 2018 was null and void does not mean every supplementary election would be declared null and void. Facts are the compass for the right application of legal principles. Whatever being the case, litigants should at all times be advised to follow due process than resorting to self-help as our jurisprudence is more developed with each case.

How is this judgement likely to guide the electoral umpire, going forward?

Judicial decisions are part of what forms our law and I believe there are lessons to be learnt from any judgment. I advise INEC to properly review the judgement, not the extant one alone but every decision as it directly or indirectly affects their function as electoral umpire, so as to see how it would further deepen our jurisprudence.

Whatever the tribunal’s ruling is, APC has given an indication to appeal the judgment at the appellate court. Luckily, whatever the court of appeal’s judgement is, Supreme Court is the last court of instance in this legal battle.

In the Rivers State 2015 election petition,

Ajulo

Dakuku Peterside won at the tribunal; won at the Appeal Court, while Nyesom Wike eventually won at the Supreme Court. Today, Wike is still serving as the Executive Governor of Rivers State.

As it is the common practice, status quo ante will be maintained in this regard. Therefore, Gboyega Oyetola remains the Executive Governor of the State of Osun till the last ruling of the Supreme Court. That is the position of the law, not mine.

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MONDAY DISCOURSE

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Adeleke in the September 22, 2018 election had polled the highest number of votes in the first ballot declared by the state returning officer, Prof. Joseph Fuwape. However, Fuwape had declared the election inconclusive on grounds that the number of registered voters in the seven polling units where elections were cancelled was higher than 353 votes with which Adeleke led the runner-up.

Before delivering its judgment in the main suit, the tribunal dismissed the preliminary objection of the APC, Oyetola and INEC to the petition. The tribunal held that the objection was misconceived and that the tribunal had jurisdiction to entertain the suit.

However, the tribunal was split into a fraction of two to one in its judgment with the chairman, Justice Ibrahim Sirajo, assuming a minority position while Justices Peter Obiora and Ayinla Gbolagunte gave the lead judgment that returned Adeleke as governor.

The tribunal in the lead judgment set aside the rerun election conducted on September 27, 2018 for being unlawful. Justice Obiora held that the poll conducted in the 7 units is unknown to law because INEC has no power to conduct it in the first place. “We hold that the cancellation was unlawful and ultra-vires of his powers. The cancellation cannot stand, being a product of illegality,� the

Olanipekun

tribunal held.

According to the tribunal, it is the Presiding Officers in polling units where the alleged electoral infractions took place that are empowered to cancel the result and report same to Ward Collation Officers.

The tribunal held that upon receipt of any of such complaints, the Collation Officer can then fill Form EC40G and submit to the Local Government Collation Officer who will in turn transfer the information in the Form EC40GI and hand same over to the State Collation Returning Officer.

The tribunal held further that since it was not the Presiding Officers who cancelled the results of the seven Polling Units the action of the State Returning Officer amounted to an act of illegality.

The tribunal accordingly invalidated the outcome of the re-run election on the premise that it was not conducted in substantial compliance with the Electoral Act, 2010, as amended.

In another leg of the judgment, the tribunal held that PDP andAdeleke proved beyond reasonable doubt that INEC did not comply substantially with the Electoral Act in 17 polling units during the initial election of September 22, 2018. Based on this, the tribunal, went ahead and deducted votes that were credited to both PDP and APC in those units. In all, a total of 2029 votes that

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were credited to APC in the 17 polling units, as well as a total of 1246 votes that were recorded in favour of the PDP were deducted.

After the deduction of the illegal votes,Adeleke got a total of 253,777 valid votes while Oyetola got 253,476 valid votes in the September 22, poll.

It should be noted that, the tribunal in reaching this decision after a careful scrutiny of exhibits before it, noted that figures in the CTCs were different from those in the signed pink/duplicate copies that were handed to party agents at the end of the governorship election. The tribunal said that evidence adduced before it showed that INEC issued result sheets from same polling units and serial number, that contained different information. “We have no doubt that the alterations were made after the election had been concluded at the polling units and after agents had gone with clean copies.�

The tribunal held that neither INEC nor APC which had agents in all the polling units was able to give any reason behind alterations that were observed on the result sheets. The panel accordingly upheld results contained in the clean copies that were tendered by the petitioners as genuine and regular.

On the issue of vote buying, over-voting in various polling units, the tribunal held that the petitioners failed to prove the allegations.

Overall, the lead judgment held that the

petition was meritorious and subsequently awarded a cost of 200,000.00 against Oyetola and the APC. However, Chairman of Tribunal, Justice Ibrahim Sirajo, in his minority judgment held that the petitioners were unable to prove their claim of substantial non-compliance as alleged in their petition.

He held that both Adeleke and PDP failed to prove how the non-compliance of non-recording in the columns of accredited votes and account of ballots in the result sheets substantially affected the final results.

Justice Sirajo further held that by virtue of section 140(2) of the Electoral Act, the tribunal does not have the power to subtract the votes affected by the non-compliance from the scores of the candidates and announce a winner on the bases of infractions detected from the documents presented before it, adding that the tribunal only has the power to nullify the results of the polling units affected by the non-compliance and order a supplementary poll.

The APC has since indicated its readiness to appeal the tribunal judgment that declared Senator Adeleke of the PDP winner of the September 2018 rerun governorship election in Osun State.

Kunle Oyatomi, Director of Publicity, Research and Strategy for the APC, said the verdict would not stand superior legal scrutiny.

‘I Anticipate Surprises at the Election Tribunals’ Nseobong Okon-Ekong enters a discussion with Mr. Iboro Otu, Akwa Ibom State 2019 governorship candidate of the Abundant Nigeria Renewal Party on his position regarding the pronouncement of the Osun state governorship tribunal As an aggrieved governorship contestant, does the Osun governorship tribunal verdict offer any comfort?

Of course, the verdict of the tribunal on the Osun state elections is great comfort to people like me. It assures us that justice is coming for those who seek it without cease. Of course, we know that this won’t end here, it will go all the way to the Supreme Court, however, it is good for our democratic process and the country in general. Nevertheless, I must also confess that the process isn’t perfect. It is very expensive to do these things, the entry level of our democratic process makes it prohibitive for normal people to get in. I pray President Buhari puts things in place to mitigate other issues that are standing in the way of our growing democratic process. I must use this opportunity to thank the President for his firm stance against unjust influence on our democratic processes at any level, favorable to him or his party or not, this is very highly commendable. His public position on this, whether it is with influencing INEC to favour his party and a host of other possible il-

QUICK FACTS: r5IF 0TVO 4UBUF DIBQUFS PG UIF 1FPQMFT Democratic Party (PDP) and its governorship candidate, Senator Ademola Adeleke had approached the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, seeking justice for perceived injury that led to their loss in the governorship contest of September 22, 2018 and the supplementary election that followed on September 27 r"EFMFLF BOE UIF 1%1 DBMMFE XJUnesses to authenticate their prayers and also tendered over 500 pieces of documentary evidence r8JUOFTTFT DBMMFE CZ UIF "1$ BOE

legal avenues, has strongly brought confidence to the system, nationally and internationally. It is also primarily why people like myself who aren’t traditional politicians are able to engage our political system and stand until today. I pray God gives our President the grace to do more for the sake of this great nation.

sectors in Nigeria, but you’ll agree the wind of change is blowing again. It’s exciting times.

Looking at how the last elections panned out in several states in Nigeria, I anticipate surprises and a lot of turn-around in judgement delivery at the election tribunals.

Apparently, there are still many hurdles before Senator Ademola Adeleke, as the matter is likely to go all the way to the Supreme Court, what do you anticipate?

There are still many hurdles, I can only pray and hope that the better side wins and that justice be truly served. My anticipation is wrapped in belief that the will of God be done in bringing justice to the desire of Osun state people. Only God knows who truly the majority of Osun state people want as their governor, my hope is that He will use the justice system to give justice to Osun people because there is so much suffering in the land.

I know political machinations sometimes have undue influence and reach across several

How will this affect the future of elections in Nigeria?

This will greatly affect the psyche of Nigerians positively and will encourage great people with the needed leadership capabilities to engage the political system. It will also encourage investors, the international community to come in and reposition. No one will take us seriously until we take our country seriously.

Seriousness is amplified when credible people take up leadership positions and when corrupt ones are punished.

We are a great people and it is especially disheartening too when we only read about many wonderful Nigerians celebrated overseas and not in their country of origin, first. We are supposed to be selling our people

Oyetola inadvertently supported the evidence of the PDP r*/&$ DMPTFE JUT TVCNJTTJPO XJUIPVU calling any witness r5IF USJCVOBM SFUVSOFE B UXP UP POF TQMJU decision in favour of Adeleke r5IF USJCVOBM JO UIF MFBE KVEHNFOU TFU aside the rerun election conducted on September 27, 2018 for being unlawful.

Justice Obiora held that the poll conducted in the 7 units is unknown to law because INEC has no power to conduct it in the first place r5IF USJCVOBM IFME GVSUIFS UIBU TJODF it was not the Presiding Officers who cancelled the results of the seven Polling Units, the action of the State Returning

Officer amounted to an act of illegality r5IF USJCVOBM BDDPSEJOHMZ JOWBMJEBUFE the outcome of the re-run election on the premise that it was not conducted in substantial compliance with the Electoral Act, 2010, as amended r0O UIF JTTVF PG WPUF CVZJOH PWFS voting in various polling units, the tribunal held that the petitioners failed to prove the allegations r0WFSBMM UIF MFBE KVEHNFOU IFME UIBU UIF petition was meritorious and subsequently awarded a cost of 200,000.00 against Oyetola and the APC r$IBJSNBO PG 5SJCVOBM +VTUJDF *CSBIJN Sirajo, in his minority judgment held that the petitioners were unable to prove their

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to the world but today, it seems like reverse is the case; the world is selling our best to us. I strongly believe when politicians of the day realize that vote buying themselves into power will be truncated at the tribunals for example, they will be forced to do the right thing and this is where I will make my case as an example to watch.

NOTE: Interested readers should continue in the online edition on www.thisdaylive.com

claim of substantial non-compliance as alleged in their petition r4JSBKP IFME UIBU CPUI "EFMFLF BOE 1%1 failed to prove how the non-compliance of non-recording in the columns of accredited votes and account of ballots in the result sheets substantially affected the final results. r4JSBKP GVSUIFS IFME UIBU CZ WJSUVF PG TFDtion 140(2) of the Electoral Act, the tribunal does not have the power to subtract the votes affected by the non-compliance from the scores of the candidates and announce a winner on the basis of infractions detected r5IF "1$ IBT JOEJDBUFE JUT SFBEJOFTT UP appeal the tribunal judgment

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FEATURES

Group Features Editor: Chiemelie Ezeobi Email chiemelie.ezeobi@thisdaylive.com, 08152252325

Global Collaboration Against Maritime Crimes As the fight against maritime crimes such as piracy and crude oil theft continues, Chiemelie Ezeobi writes that the Senior Leadership Symposium, which is a global collaboration between 21 African and 11 foreign allied navies, was recently held in Lagos to find lasting solutions to the menace

Chief of the Naval Sta, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas, elucidating a point at the Senior Leadership Symposium

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t was a global gathering in all ramifications, comprising navies of 21 African nations and 11 foreign countries, championed by the Nigerian Navy (NN) and the United States Naval Forces Africa (NAVAF). It was the Senior Leadership Symposium, one of the sidelines of the 2019 Operation Obangame Express. Held between March 19 to 21, the symposium elicited discussions geared toward finding solutions to common maritime security challenges by heads of navies and coastguards across the GoG, as well as international partners.

In essence, the aim of the symposium was for all participating navies to rub minds together and decipher a lasting solution to maritime crimes such as sea robbery, piracy, crude oil theft, Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported Fishing (IUUF), human and illicit trafficking of weapons and drugs among others, which constitute serious challenges to the development of all countries in their respective regions.

On Tuesday, Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas, gave the keynote address, while Dean Mangold of the NWC made the opening remarks and Rear Admiral Nancy Lacore of NAVAF handled the introductions. Thereafter, Rear Admiral Saunes of the NWC gave a presentation on ‘Navy, Coast Guard, whole of government relationships’, while Prof. Hensler of the NWC have a presentation on ‘Find, fix and finish threats in the maritime domain’, while Captain Brew, JAGC of (CJTF-HOA) and Ms. Ward (DILLS) and Mr. Serina of UNODC sat on the panel to discuss ‘Establishing maritime legal frameworks and maritime governance’.

Another panel on ‘Naval forces and interagency integration’ saw Captain Schoonover (MOTR, USCG); Commander Atonfack, who is the Cameroonian Minister of Defence; Mr. Bamele (CDI-SEPCIM) and Commodore Mougilim of the Nigerian Navy, deliberate at length. Finally, Ms. Moss of the Maritime Intel Fusion Centre Atlantic did a presentation on ‘Data fusion cell’.

On Wednesday, handling the panel on ‘Regional threat assessment’ were Dr. Bell of Stable Seas; Mr. Sernia of UNODC and Ms. Kirillas of Interpol. The next panel was on ‘commercial shipping operations in the GoG and this was handled by Mr. Large of BIMCO; Mr. Gibson of Shell-OCIMF; Captain Escarras and Lieutenant Commander Parsonage of MDAT-GOG. Also treated was ‘Maritime security policy update in the GoG region’ by Captain Bell Bell of ICC/ICC, while ‘Operationalising the YaoundĂŠ Code of Conduct (YCC)’ was presented by Sr. Captain Konan of CRESMAO and Captain Midianzou of CRESMAC. ‘Execution of combined maritime operations under the YCC’ was handled by Captain Founkoua of Zone D, Commodore Gaya of Zone E, Minister Duarte of Zone G, Vice Admiral Ferreira of Angola Navy and Rear Admiral Mendoua of Cameroon Navy and Commodore Bankole of the NN, who sat on the panel.

Finally, war games preparation was handled in a presentation by Prof Landsman of NWC. On Thursday, which was the final day, theObangame Express update started the event before the War game execution on ‘Integrating the YCC into the operational context’ was handled by Prof Landsman, Lieutenant Colonel Fitzpatrick of USMC and, Mr. Johnson of NWC. After this was the post war games assessment, also handled by the aforementioned trio. It was wrapped by up SLS review and positing a way forward.

The Nigerian Navy’s Record At the three-day event, the NN CNS, Vice Admiral Ibas, who opened the symposium, revealed that on the issue of IUUF, plans have been concluded by the navy and the Federal Department of Fisheries for the acquisition of dedicated vessels to contain the trend.

Ibas who was represented by the Naval Chief of Policy and Plans Rear Admiral Beegroy Ibe-Enwo, while acknowledging the security situation in the Gulf of Guinea (GoG), however

noted that collaboration between the navy, maritime stakeholders in the country and regional forces were addressing the issues, adding that 30 vessels were arrested last year, an improvement on the 37 and 45 arrests recorded in 2016 and 2017 respectively.

He said the NN had as at December last year, handed over 247 cases to prosecuting agencies such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) of which 51 had been successfully prosecuted.

Suffice to state that the NN arrested a total of 30 vessels in 2018 for involvement in various forms of illegality in the nation’s maritime domain. This indicates on the face value a downward trend when compared with 37 and 45 arrests recorded in 2016 and 2017 respectively. “These arrests have served as deterrence and helped to support a more buoyant national economy. For instance, NNPC data indicate that crude oil losses from pipelines reduced from N51.28 billion in 2015 to N4.17 billion in 2017,� he added.

Need for Trans-border Cooperation Acknowledging the need to have seamless borders, Ibas said: "What is even more disturbing is that many of the activities associated with the evolving threat scenario are directed at the economic life line of both littoral and land locked member states. In other words, the scourge of various forms of illegalities, such as sea robbery, piracy, crude oil theft, human and illicit trafficking of weapons and drugs among others constitute serious challenges to the development of all countries in our region.

"In prosecuting these threatening factors, the periodic assessment of the efforts is a credible tool. Accordingly, the interrogation of the implementation level of the YaoundĂŠ Code of Conduct, a major regional framework for maritime security, is unarguably overdue at over six years of existence.

"As maritime insecurity progressively assumes transnational character, trans-border cooperation increasingly becomes the sine qua non in the mitigation of illicit maritime activities.�

Engagement with Stakeholders In addition he said the navy constantly engages with stakeholders, all in a bid to find lasting solutions to maritime crimes. On this he said: "The NN also engages regularly with stakeholders and has taken measures to enhance law enforcement within the maritime domain.

One positive outcome of such consultation is the launch of the Harmonised Standard Operating Procedures (HSOP) on Arrest, Detention and Prosecution of Vessels and Persons (HSOP AD&P) in Nigeria’s Maritime Environment in January 2017.

"Further to the launch, the NN constantly engages with the Office of the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation (HAGF) on modalities for implementation while stakeholders meetings with private maritime logistic support companies and the oil and gas sub-sector are convened periodically.

"These engagements foster a shared vision on the accomplishment of maritime security tasks leading to the successful prosecution of 51 maritime crime related cases or about 20 per cent of the 247 cases which the NN handed over to prosecuting agencies such as EFCC and NSCDC as at December 2018.

"The NN’s seamless collaboration with related agencies has helped to create effective deterrence to criminals through the arrest and prosecution of various criminals. Within the past three years, over 80 errant vessels have been arrested for various acts of illegality.

MT TECNE and MT NIPAL were caught in the act stealing crude oil from the crude oil loading facilities in 2017 and 2018 respectively."

Contributions of Allied Nations On the international front, he acknowledged the contributions of allied nations including the

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FEATURES United States (US), United Kingdom (UK) and France for their footprints of support which have been eloquent towards encouraging and bolstering domestic and regional collaboration in practical terms and on sustainable basis.

Ibas noted: "The NN therefore can hardly wait to experience its partnership once again with the US Navy during Operation JUNCTION RAIN scheduled for April 2019. Already, about 20 different law enforcement agencies and maritime stakeholders have indicated intention to participate in the operation. “As has always been the case, such extensive inter-agency exercise would greatly assist towards the development of organic national capabilities to achieve a sustainable maritime security and enhance the maritime business environment.�

Aggressive Recapitalisation A force is only as good as its military equipment; in the case of the NN, it’s platforms. Bias agrees with this. On the issue of recapitalisation he said: "It is important to note that the improving domestic maritime environment has also benefited from an aggressive NN fleet recapitalisation strategy which has enabled the service to leapfrog from just a few operational capital ships and Riverine Patrol Boats (RPBs) in 2015 to a fleet of over 30 capital ships and 200 RPBs by end of 2018. “Despite these modest acquisitions, more ships with prolonged endurance such as OPVs are needed for the protection of critical assets in the deep offshore areas. Going forward, the NN would leverage such audience to strengthen discussions with international partners regarding a sustainable collaboration towards an enduring means of guaranteeing fleet availability to secure maritime commerce.�

NAVAF Coordinator, US Navy Admiral James Foggo, and others at the sidelines of the symposium

Pivotal Role of NAVAF On this the CNS said: “While our indebtedness is assured to all and sundry, it would only be fair, in view of its unrivalled scope of support, to acknowledge specially the pivotal role of the US Naval Forces Africa Command.

The convening of this forum with its thoughtful theme of operationalising the YaoundĂŠ Code of Conduct to include interagency implications and effects on maritime commercial traffic is yet the latest in a growing list of impactful initiatives and interventions by the command. “Accordingly, I wish to express our unreserved appreciation to Admiral James Foggo, the Commander US Naval Forces Africa for hosting this executive-level seminar and indeed all servicemen and women of that Command and the US Naval War College, for their facilitation.

I am personally excited by the foreseeable prospects of the addition of this Symposium among the activities lined up for the Tenth session of Exercise OBANGAME EXPRESS.�

Challenges On the inherent challenges faced while policing the maritime domain, Ibas said apart from the need to improve maritime platforms for law enforcement at sea, there is also the frustrating part of slow criminal justice system.

He said: “Thus, the inabilities of the GoG navies to fully operationalise the prospects of the YaoundĂŠ Accord to collectively, effectively address the level of insecurity attest to limited multilateral integration among maritime enforcement agencies within the GoG. I should believe that the reversal of this state of affair is the main reason for this symposium. “Quite undoubtedly, the security situation in the maritime space around the GoG had continued to worsen and its deterioration had remained a matter of serious concern to all of us. What is even more disturbing is that many of the activities associated with the evolving threat scenario are directed at the economic life line of both littoral and land locked member states. In other words, the scourge of various forms of illegalities, such as sea robbery, piracy, crude oil theft, poaching, human and illicit trafficking of weapons and drugs among others constitute serious challenges to the development of all countries in our region.â€?

YaoundĂŠ Code of Conduct In prosecuting these threatening factors, the CNS said the periodic assessment of the efforts is a credible tool. Accordingly, he said the interrogation of the implementation level of the YaoundĂŠ Code of Conduct, a major regional framework for maritime security, is unarguably overdue at over six years of existence.

Director of the Maritime Partnership Program, U.S. Naval Forces Europe/Africa/U.S. 6th Fleet, Rear Admiral Nancy Lacore and the CNS He said: “The distinguished audience would recall that as maritime insecurity progressively assumes transnational character, trans-border cooperation increasingly becomes the sine qua non in the mitigation of illicit maritime activities. In appreciation of this and following significant rallying steps by the UN, the ECOWAS and ECCAS developed a regional framework to meet the contingency of operational coordination mechanism. Its adoption in 2013 obligated the signatory states and regional agencies to cooperate to the fullest possible extent in the repression of piracy, armed robbery, other transnational crimes and maritime terrorism, IUU fishing and other illegal activities at sea. “Given the objectives of the Code of Conduct as earlier briefly highlighted, the important task of its assessment would therefore imply or greatly dependent on the scope of the applicability of the regional wide extant strategy to counter violent crimes at sea, strengthen domestic laws and regulations, improve interoperability of communications and sharing of MDA information for robust governance of GoG maritime domain. As this address is essentially to set the tone, it is deemed essential to conduct a review of the actions and inactions of concerned entities pursuant to the fulfilment of the articles of the code, in order to have your evaluation work appropriately set out for you.�

Gains On the gains of the African Integrated Maritime Strategy (AIMS) 2050, which have facilitated capacity building within a defined architecture for regional maritime security operations, Ibas said the instrument and others have emplaced standards for inter-regional co-operation based on law enforcement at sea, information sharing and training, thus further enhancing multilateral collaboration in the GoG. “Also worthy of mention is the adoption of the AU Charter on Maritime Security, Safety and Development in October 2016 in Lome, Togo. Other milestones are the operationalization of the ECOWAS Multinational Maritime Coordination Centre (MMCC) for Zones E, F and G as well as the ECCAS Centre for Multinational Coordination (CMC) for Zones A and D. Only last week, we witnessed the commissioning of a regional MDA Centre in Nigeria for the training of personnel of the NN and other navies of the GoG.

International Partners He further said: “In all these progress we recognise with gratitude the invaluable gestures of our international partners. Quite exemplary here is the support from the US and UK Governments towards the deployment of MDA systems in many States of the GoG.

Also, the transfer of US excess defence articles to GoG navies has significantly enhanced the capacities of these navies to police their waters. “Similarly, partnership between GoG and EU through the Critical Maritime Routes in the GoG project has yielded capacity building and technical support for maritime security to some GoG countries. The opportunities for joint training offered by various multinational exercises such as the US driven EX OBANGAME EXPRESS, in its Ninth edition now and the French Navy organised EX NEMO have steadily improved capacity for collective response to security challenges in the GoG. These inter-regional efforts have some modest gains in respect of curbing insecurity within the GoG thus improving maritime trade and commerce across the respective countries.�

Arising from the marginal progress made, it could be deduced from the foregoing that the best approach for the provision of maritime security towards ensuring freedom of the seas within the GoG is the relentless pursuit of cooperative capacity building through collaborative efforts.

Thus, effective multilateral cooperation in the GoG through harmonised maritime security initiatives and legal frameworks as well as joint maritime operational procedure and establishment of a common mechanism for information sharing could greatly address maritime security challenges.

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REPO 14.83% 14.25%

CALL 1-MONTH 3-MONTH

110.50% 12.25% 13.10%

M A R C H S & P INDEX INDEX LEVEL 1-DAY MONTH-TO-DATE

Group Business Editor Obinna Chima Email obinna.chima@thisdaylive.com 08152447875

2 2 , 384.96% 0.27% 0.78%

2 0 1 9

S & P INDEX 1/4 TO DATE YEAR TO DATE

7.84% 7.84%

EXCHANGE RATE N306.90/1US DOLLAR* *AS AT LAST FRIDAY

Quick Takes CBN Intervenes in FX Mkt

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) last Friday made interventions in the Retail Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS) of the foreign exchange market totalling $268.60million and CNY39.09 million. Figures of the sales revealed that the sums were injected to meet requests of customers in the agricultural, airlines, petroleum products and raw materials and machinery sectors.

The Bank’s Director, Corporate Communications Department, Isaac Okorafor, also conďŹ rmed that the sum of CNY39.09million was for payment of Renminbi-denominated Letters of Credit for agriculture as well as raw materials. Friday’s transaction was in addition to the $210 million injected into the wholesale, small and medium scale enterprises and the invisibles segments of the market on Tuesday, March 19, 2019.

Okorafor expressed satisfaction on the performance and stability of the economy especially after the country’s 2019 general elections.

He attributed the level of stability to the Bank’s transparency in foreign exchange transactions and interventions aimed at the diversiďŹ cation of the economy. The naira exchanged on Friday at N360/$1 in the Bureau De Change (BDC) segment of the market.

Group Trains Advocates in Kano

COURTESYVISIT

L-R: Registrar/CEO, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Mr. Seye Awojobi; President/Chairman of Council, Dr. Uche Olowu; Managing Director, Wema Bank Plc, Mr. Ademola Adebise and First Vice Chairman, CIBN, Mr. Bayo Olugbemi, during a courtesy visit by the CIBN executives to the bank’s headquarters in Lagos‌recently

CBNMullsExtensionofPayment SystemVisionto2030 Nume Ekeghe With just one year to the Payment System Vision (PSV) 2020, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has disclosed that it has commenced a review of the project, just as it hinted of plan to set new targets under a refreshed version tagged PSV 2030.

This was revealed by the Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability (FSS) of the CBN, Mrs Aisha Ahmad, at the 2019 Electronic Payment Incentive Scheme (EPIS) Efficiency Awards held in Lagos at the weekend. According to her while progress has been made in the industry, electronic transactions were yet to reach desired levels.

Ahmad, who also doubles as the Chairman of the Nigeria

ECONOMY InterBank Settlement System (NIBSS), noted that in spite of the milestones and achievements recorded with electronic payment channels, “we are not yet at the goal.� “Electronic transactions are not yet at desired levels, increasing digitisation heightens cyber security threats while policymakers are faced with the twin but often conflicting objectives of fostering technological innovation whilst managing the risks to financial stability,� she added.

She noted that in furtherance of the payment system objectives and in response to developments in the industry, “the CBN is undertaking a review of the PSV 2020, which was created

to provide a sound regulatory framework that supports innovation, protects consumers and promotes financial stability.

The proposed refreshed strategy is tagged PSV 2030. “The payments system has changed significantly and continues to evolve. New technologies and a growing number of financial technology companies in the markets are supporting faster payments and settlements. “Technological advancements and the adoption of mobile as the primary channel has also made it easier and cheaper to conduct electronic transactions. “These developments are validated by the astronomical increases in transaction volumes in virtually all electronic payment platforms.�

PCL to Host Breakfast Meeting

Quoting data provided by NIBSS, she said ATM transactions have risen by over 196 per cent, from 295 million in 2013, to 875 million in 2018, while point of sale transactions rose by 3,076 per cent from nine million in 2013, to 285.89 million in 2018.

She noted further that electronic transfers via web had improved by 2,440 per cent from two million in 2013 to 50.8 million in 2018. “Contrastingly, paper-based payments transactions using cheques declined by over 35 percent between 2013 and 2018, 14 million transactions conducted using cheques in 2013 relative to nine million transactions in 2018,� she added.

Ahmad noted the Shared Continued on page 24

SEC Awaits MTN’s Application to List on NSE Goddy Egene The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last Friday said it was still awaiting the formal application of telecommunication giant, MTN to list its shares on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

The telco recently said its shares would be listed before the end of first half of the year.

However, the Acting Director General of SEC, Ms. Mary Uduk, said even though the regulator has had some discussions on the planned listing

CAPITAL MARKET of the telco, MTN was yet to present a formal application. “I know that MTN has decided to come to the market through listing by introduction and I know they working hard towards it and have visited the commission. But there has not been any formal application from the company,� Uduk said.

The Chief Executive Officer, MTN Nigeria, Mr. Ferdi Moolman, recently disclosed that save for the disagreement the

company had with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) last year, it would have gone ahead with its listing plan.

According to him, they had done a lot of work on the listing and their target was to list in 2018.

He had said: “We are a private company at the moment and we need to change to a public company before we can list. We need to send our directors for training to comply with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Nigerian Stock Exchange

Pan-African digital rights group, Paradigm Initiative, recently held a digital rights workshop for advocates in Kano, Nigeria. The workshop, with support from Macarthur Foundation and Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), under its social and accountability project in Nigeria, had 50 participants in attendance. The workshop was focused on topics around digital rights such as gender perspective to digital rights and the challenges women face online; tackling hate speech and fake news; navigating the grey areas while respecting rights to free speech; digital rights; media advocacy as well as basic digital security tools and practices.

The Digital Rights workshop was part of Paradigm Initiative strategy to employ a proactive approach to ensure that organisations and individuals whose work depend largely on the openness of the internet, as well as those who engage the government through online activism, understand the human rights dynamics on the internet.

Paradigm Initiative has hosted more than 10 editions of the workshop in diverse locations across Nigeria and many African countries such as The Gambia, Uganda, Cameroon and Zambia. The workshop has now held two times in North West Nigeria. In March 2015, an edition was hosted in Kaduna, Nigeria.

requirements to be able to list and a lot of work went on at the backend on the listing. “Then, the CBN issue happened. The truth be told, if we had listed while the CBN issue was on, we would have been negligent. That is because we would have gone to offer our shares to the public when we had an issue at hand with the CBN that was substantial. If I remind you, they (CBN) were talking about $8 billion. “So, I can’t go and list and Continued on page 24

Phillips Consulting is set to host its Chief Information OďŹƒcer (CIO) breakfast meeting in Lagos this Thursday.The meeting which is scheduled to commence by 8am and last three hours later, is a cross-industry event for innovative digital and business leaders seeking to identify and exploit opportunities to drive organisational performance.

In a statement signed by the Associate Partner, Digital Technology & Consulting practice PCL, Jason Ikegwu, said the breakfast meeting which is strictly by invitation would focus on emerging trends and opportunities at the intersection of digital transformation and cybersecurity, with slated speakers of top-level subject matter experts from Microsoft and the Nigerian government.

AccordingtoIkegwu,“Organisationsarereinventingthemselvesthrough digitaltransformation.Poweredbyadvancesinrobotics,AI,dataanalytics, wireless technology, IoT and cloud computing, this transformation is providing the platform through which organisations drive performance and pursue completely novel ways of solving traditional challenges. “This pace of change has been hugely signiďŹ cant, with organisations having to dramatically adapt their digital capabilities to keep up. “While such transformation is inevitable, it is imperative for organisations to secure their transformational initiatives and assets. “Organisations toeing the path of transformation cannot aord to treat security as an afterthought.The best bet of such organisations is to employ a strategic approach in implementing a ground-up cybersecurity framework that mirrors these initiatives. “This security provides the basis for eective transformation. Cyber risk is now as important a priority for business leaders as ďŹ nancial and legal risks. Which is why we will be examining these issues at this year’s breakfast meeting.â€?

“There is no doubt that we need to focus on growing revenue as a government, six, seven or eight per cent of GDP is not good enough. In my view if we all chose to pay our taxes or handle the tax issue in a way that was more effective, we will be better�

Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment

Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah

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24

BUSINESSWORLD CBN MULLS EXTENSION OF PAYMENT SYSTEM VISION TO 2030

Agent Network Expansion Facility (SANEF) which was established in March 2018, by the body of deposit money banks, mobile money operators and super agents, aimed at expanding the number of agent outlets to 500,000, was expected to see the number of agents per 10,000 individuals increase from four agents to 65 agents by 2020.

She noted that a risk-based cyber security framework for deposit money banks and payment service providers was released in 2018 as a demonstration of the CBN’s commitment to strengthening the regulatory and supervisory framework for cyber risk and encouraging vulnerability testing and contingency planning by regulated institutions.

She added: “Our goal is a payments system that is not only nationally utilised but also internationally recognised- one that promotes efficiency, supports innovation while also anticipates and manages the risks from the adoption of new technologies.

SEC AWAITS MTN’S APPLICATION TO LIST ON NSE offer my shares to the public if I have this thing hanging over my neck. We thank God we were able to resolve this on 24th of December. “So, we are working towards the listing and we plan to do the listing before the end of first half 2019 or probably before the end of quarter three.

The MTN boss disclosed that 20 per cent of MTN Nigeria shares are currently owned by Nigerians already, noting that it just that those shares are not traded publicly. “ We trade over the counter, which is a process that Stanbic IBTC manages for us, where about 10 per cent of our shares are traded. So, it is our target to do the listing,� Moolman had said.

He said the company had made significant investment amounting to N2.5 trillion since it came into the country. According to him, the company invested N184 billion on network expansion in 2018 alone.

NEWS

NCC Concludes Process for Subsidy Disbursement to InfraCos Emma Okonji The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said it has concluded the process leading to the disbursement of subsidies to the six licensed Infrastructure Companies (InfraCos).

This was part of the digital transformation agenda, which the NCC has put in place for actualisation. The subsidy would augment the InfraCos’ capital expenditure (CAPEX).

Executive Vice Chairman, NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, made the disclosure at the weekend when he received a delegation from the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) in Abuja.

The USTDA team led by its Acting Country Director, Mr. Thomas Hardy, was received at the instance of the NCC Board members and senior management of the Commission, where Chairman, NCC Board, Senator Olabiyi Durojaiye, called on USTDA to work with the Commission towards addressing deployment challenges being faced by some InfraCo licensees in the southsouth geo-political zone due to the riverine, swampy nature of the region.

While providing updates on the Commission’s broadband infrastructure development project, especially the licensing of InfraCos each in the six geo-

political zones and Lagos, which was carved as the seventh zone, Danbatta said InfraCo scheme has a public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement with a subsidy component that was being worked out for the licensees to fast-track deployment in their respective zones. “The licensees are expected to

play some roles and NCC too is to play some roles to encourage broadband infrastructure deployment by the licensees. Currently, we have seen the licensees’ CAPEX, we have negotiated the CAPEX and we have arrived at percentage of subsidies based on the negotiation that we have had with them.

“However, the subsidy will be paid to them by the Commission upon attainment of reasonable milestones by the licensees in their zones of deployment,� he said.

The USTDA team leader, Thomas Hardy, who commended the NCC for achieving and surpassing the country’s broadband

penetration target of 30 per cent in 2018, said the agency’s mission was to see areas where the agency can help to support the digital transformation goals of the country, by working with the NCC and other organisations “to open up opportunity for greater trade, greater economic development and closer bilateral

STAKEHOLDERS’ ENGAGEMENT

L-R: CEO, Huawei Nigeria, Mr Frank Li; MD, Galaxy Backbone Limited, Mr Yusuf Kazaure and CEO, Huawei Nigeria Enterprise, Mr Tank Li, during the Huawei Nigeria Eco-Connect 2019 held in Lagos‌ recently

SON, NSC Harp on Adherence to Best Practice Eromosele Abiodun The Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) and the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) have called on importers, freight forwarders and other stakeholders to strive to adhere to international best practices in the conduct of their businesses in order to promote trade facilitation in the country.

Heads of both agencies made the call while speaking at a oneday seminar on ethics, jointly organised in Lagos.

In his welcome address, the Executive Secretary of NSC, Mr Hassan Bello, stated that the council’s goal was to promote an efficient port system that would

encourage healthy competition, enthrone transparency, facilitate trade and reduce cost of doing business.

Bello, urged stakeholders to respect trade rules, adding that it would promote efficiency.

He explained that the Council’s goal was to promote an efficiency port system that would make players become aware of their duties, obligations, responsibilities and liabilities. “With high ethical practices in place in the port system, vices such as impunity, presumptuous behaviours and ignorance with respect to adherence to procedures, rules and regulations will be minimised, �he said.

Bello, added that the NSC as

the port economic regulator had evolved new strategies whereby standardised services, tariffs, rates and charges were being put in place with attendant optimal benefits to providers and consumers of port services.

In a paper titled, ‘The Role of Nigerian Shippers Council in Trade Facilitation,’ he argued that trade facilitation was not just a buzzword in international business circles, but now an indication of how a nation fares in the global trading environment.

In his speech on the occasion, the Director-General of SON, Mr. Osita Aboloma, called on importers and freight forwarders to adhere to code of ethics as they were necessary guidelines

for adjudging the integrity with which services are rendered.

Aboloma, who was represented by a Director with SON, Mr Obiora Manafa, said this helps in fostering trust of the stakeholders and the society in general.

He added that SON has been proactive in ensuring that requisite standards are made available for most products in Nigerian markets. “SON has set up regulatory frameworks for compliance with these standards. Procedures are made available and adequate sensitisation s are being carried out to ensure that the public is abreast with the activities of SON. “These are deliberate attempts

to remove doubts and ensure transparency in our operations and services to stakeholders, �he said. In his paper, the Director, Consumer Services, NSC Mr Cajetan Agu, told the stakeholders that, “an effective trade facilitation requires stakeholders collaboration to foster transparency, predictability and efficiency in trade transactions which in turn attract more trade and thereby improve our position on all indices of global business performance.�

He maintained that all stakeholders must therefore accept a paradigm shift in their operations and embrace the streamlining of formalities (documentation and procedures).

Survey: Consumer Goods, Financial Services Most Attractive Sectors in Nigeria Obinna Chima 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) Eromosele Abiodun (Maritime) James Emejo (Finance) Ebere Nwoji (Insurance) Chineme Okafor ((Energy) Reporters

Nume Ekeghe (Money Market) Nosa Alekhuogie (ICT)

KPMG Nigeria, one of the biggest professional services firms in the country recently unveiled the second edition of its ‘Doing Deals’ report which showed that Nigeria remains an attractive destination for investors seeking sustainable growth opportunities within the continent. Precisely, it revealed that the consumer goods, financial services, energy, mining and utilities, telecommunication, media and technology and business services sectors accounted for about 88 per cent of investments in the country in the last two years.

The report titled: ‘Doing Deals in Nigeria 2019 – Key Insights from Dealmakers,’ was the

result of a survey of 50 senior business executives working in global companies which have a presence in Nigeria and have completed at least one acquisition in Nigeria in the last four years.

According the report, seventy per cent of the respondents were strategic investors while 30 per cent were financial investors with 66 per cent resident abroad and 34 per cent being indigenous respondents.

Partner and Head, Deal Advisory and Private Equity, KPMG in Nigeria, Dapo Okubadejo, explained that the focus for the report was, “on investors who not only provide capital but have a presence in Nigeria.

These respondents are able to provide a lot more feedback in

terms of their local experiences, thereby giving a more robust feedback than the First Edition.�

The report also provided potential investors with insights into how best to do deals in Nigeria, leveraging the experiences of people who have been through the process and completed transactions.

The Partner, Deal Advisory, KPMG in Nigeria, Ijeoma Emezie-Ezigbo, noted that the survey findings focused on three parts - the case for Nigeria, deal dynamics and key deal drivers.

Emezie-Ezigbo, noted that, “the survey reiterates that Nigeria is still one of the most compelling M&A markets in Africa.� “Based on the findings, Nigeria will continue to be open

for business and attractive to investors in the long term, with investors expecting consumer goods, financial services and pharma, medical and biotech to be the top three attractive sectors over the next four years. “This is largely similar to the first edition, however, healthcare comprising pharma, medical and biotech improved significantly, from ranking seventh in the last survey, to third sector in terms of attractiveness. “With respect to deal dynamics, the target’s customer base continues to be the most important consideration in target selection for investment. “On the other hand, IP/ technology and regional distribution channels are also

important considerations, based on investors’ response in this edition. “In view of our recent economic recession, it is not surprising that economic volatility ranked number one as the most important challenge to investing in Nigeria, unlike last year, where the survey found the lack of physical infrastructure to be the single most important challenge to investing in Nigeria. “As investors navigate through the challenges of Doing Deals in Nigeria, it is noteworthy that the most important aspect of due diligence they believe they could have done better is ‘to allocate more resources to the transaction evaluation process,� she explained.

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BUSINESSWORLD

MARKET REPORT

Bears Maintain Strong Hold on Nigerian Equities Market Goddy Egene The Nigerian equities market remained bearish last week as investors paid little attention to the announcement of improved results and declaration of dividends by some companies. The market was under the firm control of the bears for four out of the five days.

However, the decline recorded by the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index (ASI) was marginal, as it fell by 0.01 per cent to close at 31,139.35. Market capitalisation shed N1.3 billion to close at N11.6 trillion.

Similarly, three out of the five major sectors tracked declined. They were led by NSE Oil & Gas Index with 3.9 percent, trailed by NSE Consumer Goods Index, which shed 2.3 per cent. The NSE Insurance Index shed 1.09 per cent. On the positive side, the NSE Banking Index appreciated by 3.8 per cent, while NSE Industrial Goods Index garnered 2.4 per cent.

Apart from the Nigerian market that closed negatively, five other markets in Africa had bearish performance. The Egyptian market suffered the highest decline 1.4 per cent. It was followed by Mauritius’ SEMDEX, which fell by 0.7 per cent.

Ghana’s GSE Composite went down by 0.6 per cent, just as Kenya’s NSE 20 closed 0.3 per cent lower. Only Morocco’s Casablanca MASI was the lone gainer, rising 1.8 per cent.

Performance across the developed market was mixed. In the United States (US) markets, the S&P 500 and NASDAQ rose 0.2 per cent and 1.0 per cent respectively. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.3 per cent, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 appreciated 0.8 per cent. Conversely, the United Kingdom FTSE All Share Index fell 0.2 per cent while the France’s CAC 40 and Germany’s XETRA DAX declined two per cent and 2.1 per cent in that order.

In Asia and the Middle East, performance was mixed as two of five markets closed in the green.

The United Arab Emirates’ ADX General Index led the decliners, shedding 2.5 per cent followed by Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul ASI, which fell by 1.4 per cent. Turkey’s BIST 100 went down by 0.9 per cent. On the flip side, Qatar’s DSM 20 and Thailand’s SET indices rose 0.2 per cent and 0.1 per cent respectively.

Market Turnover Meanwhile, investors in the Nigerian market traded 1.198 billion shares worth N12.273 billion in 18,293 last week, compared with 1.113 billion shares valued at N13.465 billion that exchanged hands the previous week in 15,036 deals.

The Financial Services Industry led the activity chart with 1.014 billion shares valued at N9.693 billion traded in 12,165 deals, thus contributing 84.63 per cent and 78.98 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively. The Consumer Goods Industry followed with 58.049 million shares worth N1.398 billion in 2,689 deals. The third place was Conglomorates Industry with a turnover of 46.272 million shares worth N103.316 million in 626 deals.

Trading in the top three equities namely, Access Bank Plc, Zenith Bank Plc and United Bank for Africa Plc accounted for 651.600 million shares worth N6.294 billion in 6,505 deals, contributing 54.4 per cent and 51. 3 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

Also traded during the week were a total of 7,165 units of Exchange

Traded Products (ETPs) valued at N1.933 million executed in two deals compared with a total of 10,598 units valued at N1.355 million that was transacted the preceding week in five deals.

A total of 2,224 units of Federal Government Bonds valued at N2.324

million were traded last week in 18 deals compared with a total of 201 units valued at N205,083.12 transacted two weeks ago in two deals.

Price Gainers and Losers The price movement chart showed

that 32 equities appreciated in price last week, higher than 18 in the previous week, while 38 equities depreciated in price, lower than 45 equities of the previous week.

Mcnichols Plc led the price gainers with 22.8 per cent, trailed by Access Bank Plc with 18.1 per cent.

The financial institution will soon absorbed Diamond Bank Plc in with their merger arrangement.

Last week the NSE suspended trading in shares of Diamond Bank Plc following the Court sanction of the scheme of merger between the bank and Access Bank Plc. The NSE explained that the suspension was required to prevent trading in the shares of Diamond Bank in order to determine the bank’s shareholders who will qualify to receive the scheme consideration. “The bank obtained the Court sanction of the Scheme on Tuesday, 19 March 2019, being the effective date of the scheme. The bank’s shareholders passed a resolution approving the merger between Diamond Bank and Access Bank Plc at the Court ordered meeting of the bank held on Wednesday, 6 March 2019. The Scheme will result in the delisting of Diamond Bank Plc from the Daily Official List of The Exchange,� the NSE had said.

Dangote Flour Mills Plc chalked up 13.7 per cent, just as Fidelity Bank Plc appreciated by 10.7 per cent. Prestige Assurance Plc and Cement Company of Nigeria Plc gained 10 per cent apiece. Other top price gainers included: Caverton Offshore Support Group Plc (9.6 per cent); Meyer Plc (9.2 per cent) Eterna Plc (9.0 per cent) and International Breweries Plc (8.1 per cent).

Conversely, Cutix Plc led the price losers with 17.7 per cent, trailed by Cadbury Nigeria Plc with 17.5 per cent. Cadbury last week announced the appointment of its first female managing director in the person of Mrs. Oyeyimika Adeboye effective April 1, 2019.

Adeboye is the first woman to be appointed MD since the establishment of Cadbury Nigeria over five decades ago. Adeboye, a chartered accountant, joined the board of the company in November 2008, as Finance and Strategy Director, West Africa. “Mrs. Adeboye’s appointment attests to the company’s commitment to promoting gender equality, diversity and inclusion,� the firm said.

Prior to joining Cadbury Nigeria, Mrs. Adeboye was the Director of Finance and Chief Financial Officer of Nigerian Bottling Company Plc. She previously worked for the erstwhile Accounting and Tax Practice of Arthur Andersen & Co as well as the United Kingdom Accounting practice of Midgley Snelling & Co., Chartered Accountants.

Mrs. Adeboye has an impressive track record in finance, strategy and business administration both in Nigeria and the United Kingdom.

She is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Nigeria. Mrs Adeboye has a Bachelor of Science honours degree in Economics and Social Studies from the University College Cardiff, Wales and executive management education certification from the Institute of Management Development (IMD), Lausanne, Switzerland.

Ikeja Hotel Plc was also among the price losers, shedding 17.3 per cent. Royal Exchange Plc and UACN Property Development Company Plc dipped by 17.1 per cent and 12.8 per cent respectively. Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc shed 12 per cent and Presco Plc lost 9.3 per cent.

Associated Bus Company Plc and Beta Glass Plc went down by 9.2 per cent and 8.9 per cent in that order.

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Onyema: We have Completed Preparation to Start International Flights The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Air Peace, Allen Onyema, in this interview says the airline is set to start international operations. He also explains that for the airline to succeed, it requires the support of government, saying that no airline can succeed in the world without the support of its host government. Chinedu Eze brings the excerpts: How far have you gone in your preparation for international operations?

Well, you know doing international operations is not the same as doing domestic operations. It is a different ball game entirely. A lot of things are involved. Besides your technical preparations, you will also think of the international aeropolitics and you think of the cost of having to do these flights. When you want to do international operations the very first time, it is like you are obtaining AOC (Air Operator Certificate) afresh and trying to start airline operations for the first time. So, you must make sure that everything is in place before you go into it. We have been doing domestic operations for the past four years and now we want to go international. It is a different ball game entirely like I said, there are lots of factors that come to play and you must address every issue; you don’t jump into it without looking. If you leap before you look, you may hurt yourself. First of all, the charges, are you prepared for the charges? Assuming you start operations and the passenger load factor is not there, how long can you take it? Like in Air Peace, we have told ourselves that the next one year, good or bad we must continue. The inability to continue has been the bane of most Nigerian airlines, we seem to go in and then run away. This was why we had to acquire four large aircraft for the long haul flights. So we want to prepare ourselves. We don’t want to bite more than we can chew. We want to represent this country well. We want Nigerians to be proud of this airline. We want to be one of the best in the world. We want to set a standard, we want to be recognised globally as a reliable airline with reputation for safety and comfort of our passengers. This is why we are preparing heavily. The time we bought our first 777, some other airlines could have started and before you know it, one day the plane must go technical and you start disappointing people and they start shouting, oh Nigerian airlines. We don’t want to do that. We have acquired four Boeing 777; the third one arrived on Wednesday (March 20, 2019). So this is Air Peace for you; we just don’t want to go out there and just to be counted, no; we want to represent the country very well, so that if any aircraft goes technical at any time, we don’t want to manage our planes. This is the same standard we have maintained at the domestic scene. We don’t manage aircraft. Even when we have met all the requirements after maintenance of our aircraft, we still go beyond what the aircraft manual says by conducting test flight without passengers in the aircraft.

This is to make sure that we are flying safely.

So we are ready, we have done our over five hours of demonstration flight, flying our planes with only the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) officials to Dakar. We came back, we did another return flight to United Arab Emirates, to Sharjah, we came back. We did another one to Johannesburg we came back successfully.

NCAA has put the first two Boeing 777s on our operational specifications so we can start.

That is what we are waiting for. And we hope to start our flight operations in April.

Nigerians are lamenting that no Nigerian airline is operating international service and because of this the country is losing forex revenue. Is there any support you are getting from anywhere for your planned international operations?

I don’t see any help yet. I don’t think we are getting the necessary support we are supposed to get. Because we want to start international operations next month and up till this time, I do not have a business or first class lounge in my own country, while other foreign airlines have.

What it means is that these premium passengers would want to patronise Nigerian indigenous airline, but you don’t expect them to do that at the expense of their comfort. They would rather

Onyema fly another airline, which is a foreign carrier that already has such lounge at our international airport. They will have a place to sit down, enjoy themselves free of charge and then they go into the aircraft. Such passengers may not patronise Air Peace if it is not able to provide that. So the regulatory authorities and all the agencies of government that are in charge of aviation should do everything possible to support indigenous carriers. Indigenous carriers should be protected by government and its agencies because we are the ones providing jobs for the people in the aviation industry. If anybody causes Air Peace to shut down tomorrow, over 4,000 people employed by the airline would be out there in the job market. Half of them or three quarter of them could go into illicit activities in order to survive. I remember my wife going to Kogi and bringing over 200 orphans who have nobody to care for them. They are working here in air Peace earning their livelihood. If they were not provided jobs just think what some of them would become in our society where job is not easy to come by.

In every country, every investment that creates

We don’t want to bite more than we can chew.

We want to represent this country well. We want Nigerians to be proud of this airline. We want to be one of the best in the world. We want to set a standard, we want to be recognised globally as a reliable airline with reputation for safety and comfort of our passengers

jobs is always supported and not frustrated. At times we feel frustrated, a lot of people are saying Air Peace has not started international service but we are being frustrated. I have had two Boeing 777, you know how much that cost, parked for over one year, going through the processes.

Another area we want government’s support is the issue of designations being given to the foreign airlines. I am about to start going to Sharja, Dubai, just last week I read in the papers that another airline from that area has been given rights to be flying to Port Harcourt and given a second right to fly out of Abuja, making it five designations in a day out of the same country. And this is a Nigerian airline, the only one trying to operate international. We expect that for Nigeria to cut back the foreign exchange that is being repatriated government should support any local airline that wants to operate international destinations. If we are losing money to foreign airlines, then support your indigenous carriers; the best way to bring it back is not to allow foreign airlines to ravage us.

To be honest with you, some of these foreign airlines do this deliberately in order to run us out.

Because if you look at the ones they are doing now they are not having full load but because they have state funds, they want to muscle you out, then when you die they go back to their normal frequencies and increase fare. That is what is happening. US has not allowed Middle East airlines to do that in their country. American carriers complain when they feel their business is threatened and their government responds and protects them. Their government responds to them in order to allow their indigenous airline to prosper and create jobs. If you like give the foreign airlines 200 frequencies into Nigeria, all of them put together cannot create 10 per cent of jobs created by Nigerian airlines.

I want Nigerians to put hands together and support Air Peace because it is our airline.

For years now India has been longing for a direct ight from Nigeria to India and it has never worked. So they usually follow other airlines and drop at their hubs

then connect. Don’t you see that, that is a potential market for a Nigerian airline?

The federal government has just signed Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) with India and I thank the federal government for giving Air Peace rights to do direct flights to India. You must have heard the Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria making an announcement on it recently, saying that they expect Air Peace to fly to India. They have held meetings with us and they are eager to with us and we are also eager to work with them. To show their willingness to work with us, they are helping us to quicken the process. This is how things are done. So we are going to get cracking with India, once we start direct flight there, Nigerians will no longer have the problems of having to fly to some countries before they get to India.

And again we are going to sign codeshare or partnership with an Indian carrier, so that when we take you to Mumbai, the other one will take you to your final destination in India.

This is what we are asking for in Nigeria.

Instead of allowing foreign airlines to go to Port Harcourt, from Port Harcourt they go to Abuja before they go to their country, they should partner with Nigerian airlines to distribute passengers for them. They should operate to one airport and then look for Nigerian airline to partner with. If I want to go to Mumbai or New Delhi, Indian authorities will not allow me.

They will want you to key in to one of their airlines. This is how these things are done and when you say Nigerian airlines slack capacity, these are the things that are making them lack capacity. You should lay the foundation for them to have capacity by making it impossible for them to have capacity. How do they grow if you allow them to be competing with airlines that are being funded by the states? Airlines that do not care about profit or about whether they break even. They have other reasons for doing the airlines business. So for us to have capacity government has to help us. For Air Peace with four Boeing 777s we have capacity Continued on page 27

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ONYEMA: WE HAVE COMPLETED PREPARATION TO START INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS now to do the number of routes we want to do.

So, what we need is the support of everybody, government support, support of people and the support of even our staff to make sure they are doing the right thing. So that is where we are, we are ready to get cracking. After Sharja the next one is India, Johannesburg and others.

And God will continue to help us; our banks are always ready to help us.

When the Boeing 737 Max cashed in Ethiopia, there were lots of questions and comments that Air Peace had the aircraft type in its eet, some know that you have ordered the aircraft but you are yet to have it. So I want you to throw more light on this aircraft order?

May the souls of those who perished in that ill-fated flight rest in peace, amen. I commiserate with the Ethiopians, Ethiopian Airlines is one of the best carriers in the world, there is no doubt about that. It is one airline I respect so much, it was unfortunate what happened, happened.

However, an air incident or accident happened in Ethiopia, Ethiopians have never taken their airline that was involved in the accident to the cleaners.

Ethiopians have never up to this moment attacked Ethiopian airlines that bought this aircraft and this aircraft had an accident. South West Airline has so many of these planes, no country has ever attacked those who innocently acquired these planes and who are already using them. We have about 400 of these planes in active service; none of these countries where these plane are operating had ever risen up against their airlines for buying these planes. Not even Ethiopia and Indonesia that had accidents with these planes, their citizens never attacked them. However, Air Peace has been taken to the cleaners by Nigerians for what didn’t even concern us. All the people criticizing are doing so deliberately because they know fully well that we don’t have Boeing 737 MAX in our fleet. They just want to de-market Air Peace. Whether they are being sponsored or they are doing it on their own. But it is so painful that an accident happened in another country and Nigerians swooped on Air Peace.

Yes, of course, we ordered 10 brand new Boeing 737 MAX 8 last year. Before we ordered it there was no accident involving the aircraft. The aircraft is the fastest selling plane under the sun. It is the most fought-after plane in the whole world. It is unfortunate that the accidents happened; it is the dream of every airline to have a B737 MAX 8 or 9. So we joined other reputable airlines in the world to order the aircraft. When we made this 10 firm orders nobody applauded us. We didn’t see any celebration that, at last, another Nigerian airline has started buying brand new planes. There was no such celebration. What every country that has the plane did was to ground the use of the airplane pending when the result of the investigation comes out. We don’t have the plane. Air Peace does not have the plane. When you order brand new plane you queue up. Boeing 737 MAX has hundreds of orders, we ordered just last year. Those that ordered last year will start getting their planes in 2023, which is four years from now. So we don’t even have this plane in Nigeria, Air Peace doesn’t have the plane. Our own is destined to come four years from now and we never told anybody that we will cancel or that we will not cancel, we never said that and we will never tell anybody that. Because it is not for us to say that now, except you want to run yourself into serious litigation and run yourself out of the industry; that is what they are trying to push us to say. Everybody is waiting for the outcome of the investigation. Don’t forget that every aircraft under the sun, once it is a new model, is expected to have some issues and these are corrected over time. The Boeing 787 had lithium battery issue.

Airbus A380 had its own issues, which were corrected. Boeing 787 is flying today as one of the best long haul planes. When something like this happens they go back to the drawing board and find out what happened and what they will modify and what they will change. They have not come up with that. But it is not for us now to jump the gun and say we are cancelling.

So Air Peace never told anybody we are not cancelling; neither did we tell anybody that we are cancelling. So such statement is premature we are not going to make that statement now. And the federal government has come out to say that there is no airline in Nigeria that has the aircraft.

So the sponsors of that propaganda against Air Peace now changed course and started saying

will beg. Give them the same cost as we pay over there and they will all come begging. Why won’t some of them come here and stop here in Nigeria, it pains me. We cannot condemn Nigerian airlines without looking at what they are going through.

Onyema ‘Air Peace dares the world,’ ‘Air peace insists on not cancelling.’ We never said that; neither did we say that we would cancel.

The Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM), which Nigeria is a signatory to enables other African airlines to come to Nigeria but when Nigerian airlines go to their countries, they introduce high and outrageous charges against Nigerian carriers. So is there any way there could be an agreement?

I have heard so many people say that the African market is a cash cow, those people are not talking from practical fact. A lot of people say the west coast is lucrative. People think of the years before, it is no longer like that and I don’t know why. The cross-Sahara African trade is no longer there the way it used to be before.

There were periods the routes in the sub-region were lucrative. Then, Nigerian airlines were the major carriers operating the routes but this is no longer the case.

Presently we have more airlines struggling for fewer passengers; then, of course, we have very inhibitive costs being put out there by these countries against Nigerian airlines. Nigerian airlines are the victims. The costs Nigeria charges these West African carriers is relatively little, about 25 per cent of what they charge Nigerian airlines.

But you need to take a flight to Ghana, Banjul, Dakar, Liberia and come back and see what it is like. I have spoken to the chief finance officer and she said that we lose over N500 million monthly to the West Coast. This is money made from domestic operation that we lose to the West Coast. Except this SAATM is readdressed, Nigerian airlines will go into extinction. Any Nigerian airline venturing to operate West Coast should be ready to lose money; unless the Nigerian government intervenes. If Nigerian carriers continue to operate those routes with the way things are today it will affect their revenue base and they will crumble. That is why most Nigerian airlines could not succeed on those routes; but they did in the past. We are only trying and continue trying because we are going to do international soon and we want to see if we could mop up some passengers there and

Any Nigerian airline venturing to operate West Coast should be ready to lose money; unless the Nigerian government intervenes. If Nigerian carriers continue to operate those routes with the way things are today it will affect their revenue base and they will crumble

start using Nigeria as a hub, that is why we are still on it. So we lose over N500 million monthly to SAATM. The charges levelled on Nigerian airlines by the countries in West Africa are out of this world. The solution to this is if we can have uniform charges. Because when they are coming to Nigeria, I doubt if they pay those charges they ask us to pay in their country.

And in Nigeria they are given something that is acceptable and affordable, so they can now afford to compete with us, bringing down their fares at will because they don’t pay what we pay. African World Airline (AWA) of Ghana charges N40, 000 for Accra-Lagos ticket. But if Ghana takes over $100 from you as charges, how much do you use in buying fuel if you are going to charge N40, 000?

So that is what is happening; the market is skewed against us. The federal government has to intervene if they want Nigerian airlines to succeed on this SAATM. Or slam heavy cost on all these West African airlines coming to Nigeria. If they don’t do that they will kill Nigerian airlines. Air Peace loses N500 million on charges because of the heavy cost of landing in these West African countries. When you bring your passengers from Nigeria they charge you per passenger, when you take out any passenger they charge you.

So they charge as much as $150 yet some of their airlines are charging N40, 000, which is little more than $100. They could charge that amount because they do not pay what we are asked to pay when we go to their countries.

Before the treaty was signed Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) criticised it and demanded for uniform charges, but those championing it told us we were going to benefit from it, but we are not benefitting.

Has there been any ofďŹ cial notiďŹ cation about these differences?

I think our COO has written on this. It is a lot of loss and all these West African airlines are all coming to Nigeria because the competition is high and they are the ones gaining because they don’t pay those cost. We have never carried more than 25 passengers on Abuja-Accra, but the other airlines come twice there because their fares are cheaper than ours. We pay exorbitant charges; they don’t. I don’t think I have seen more than 25 passengers on Abuja-Accra at any point in time. Lagos-Banjul is 17, 20 or 25 passengers. What you carry is not even enough to pay for your fuel.

But wont you consider stopping, when you start international you can code-share unless there is intervention from the Nigerian government and If there is no intervention, when you begin international operations you can partner with the other airlines to bring in passengers because it will cost you more bringing those passengers?

Let me tell you something, why can’t we reciprocate in the same manner? What does it take? You can wake up and under 24 hours and do them the same thing. You will see they

With the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari, what are your expectations in the aviation industry?

The President has done so well for us in the aviation industry. He has done so well on issues of VAT waiver, customs duty waiver on commercial aircraft spares and engines. He has completed some airports but there is still a lot more to be done. Therefore, we expect government to pay very much attention on developing our airport infrastructure. And like I always said, no government has business doing business. I will want this government to pursue the issue of concessioning all Nigerian airports. That is the key solution towards the modernisation of airport infrastructure in the country. I know people are there to sabotage government’s effort towards this, but unless airports are concessioned to private hands, we will continue crying in this country.

Our airports will never be anything to write home about. Let the government be prepared and I trust President Muhammed Buhari, he does not care about political correctness, he cares about the future wellbeing of the country. Let him bring the same weight to bear on airport concessioning. Nigerian airports are not looking like what they should be; airports are run by private hands abroad. The way it is being run now, is not the right way. I am not advocating for people to be sacked because I know some unions will say they should not concession the airports, we must concession airports. For us to be ready to play big in this world, for us to be proud of what we have, then we must concession these airports. What is happening now is an aberration. Everybody must support government to concession the airports. The federal government should come full force to concession these airports. If the government want the airports to meet with international standards, let them send out expression of interest out there, a lot of investors will come in. these is a country of over 180 million people, a lot of investors will be willing to come.

Somebody might say, okay I will take up building airport terminal, concession it to the person even if it is 40 years, let the person build and be paying government taxes. The government might even make more money by doing so. The government will conserve its funds for other sectors of the economy. Somebody might even say, I will build the runway and collect landing charges for the next 50 years. The person might be taking 80 per cent of landing charges, reserving 20 per cent for the government. People will be willing to do that; then you will see better and world standard runways. The government will sit back and regulate to ensure things are properly managed. And if you concession for example, Lagos airport, the concessionaire or would be concessionaire will sit down and look the workforce, re-interview them if possible and know the ones they will use.

They may even recruit more people. They may do away with unskilled personnel because under government a lot of unqualified people will be employed because they have connection.

When you go to the airport there are many of them that are not supposed to be working there. People who do not understand that airlines are their customers that they need to treat them well; they treat the airlines as if they are our bosses; they are not courteous to the airlines, no, it shouldn’t be like that. So these people don’t understand what it takes to work in an airport environment. So the concessionaire should not be forced to take anybody. The ones he cannot work with, the government should absorb those ones in the Ministry and put them where to work, they shouldn’t lose their jobs. I don’t support people losing their jobs. I am sure some of the unions at the airport are kicking against concessioning because they are afraid of their jobs, yes, anybody can be afraid of losing his means of livelihood.

But the government should make it known to everybody that they are not going to lose their jobs. If the concessionaire cannot retain the staff, they absorb them in any ministry. That is the best way and money they are getting from the concessionaire will help in paying their salaries and the airports will be greatly improved.

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Stanbic IBTC Celebrates Gender-balanced Workforce Nume Ekeghe Stanbic IBTC has pledged to maintain a gender-balanced workforce as it strives to continues to provide quality financial services to clients and Nigerians.

The pledge was given at the 2019 Stanbic IBTC Blue Women Network (BWN) fifth anniversary event held in Lagos recently.

The BWN, inaugurated five years ago, according to the bank, has consistently organised the event to commemorate the yearly International Women’s Day (IWD) celebrations.

The 2019 IWD with the theme, ‘BalanceForBetter,’ was a significant opportunity for Stanbic IBTC to celebrate its gender-balanced workforce and its efforts to promote a genderbalanced workplace in society.

The Chief Executive, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, Mr Yinka Sanni, in his opening speech, said the bank was proud to showcase not only its equal opportunity policy, but also its efforts to promote a gender-balanced workplace in society. “In our 30-year history, we have always insisted on equal opportunity. We have also continued to lead the charge in empowering women. This gives me joy and is something

that we are fully committed to as an organisation,� Sanni said.

He added: “I am pleased to let you know that Standard Bank Group has recently joined hands with ‘HeForShe’ (UN Women Solidarity Movement for Gender Equality). “Our Group Chief Executive, Sim Tshabalala, is amongst other African leaders who have already signed up as a ‘HeForShe’ Impact Champion.� On March 8, the official International Women’s Day, Stanbic Bank made a bold statement by changing the colour of its logos from blue to magenta, colour of the UN Women HeForShe brand, on the vast majority of its digital platforms,� he added.

The Stanbic IBTC Blue Women Network is a platform established to provide the women in Stanbic IBTC the opportunity to engage and share knowledge/information among themselves and in the process gain new insights that will enhance their professional skills. In line with the balance theme, Founder/CEO of Channels TV, Mr John Momoh, and the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission, Mrs Yewande Sadiku, who was an ED in Stanbic IBTC before joining government, acted as resource persons for the event.

Momoh, narrated how he started Channels TV with his wife and how his equal opportunity policy has helped to catapult the TV station to the top of the pile in television programming.

Sadiku drew on her over 21-years of work experience with Stanbic IBTC and how she was never discriminated against based on her gender to encourage members of the BWN, especially the young ones, to remain hardworking, dedicated, focussed, and creative in their duties.

She urged them to take advantage of the opportunity provided by Stanbic IBTC to advance their career while admonishing them not to use their gender as an excuse to be sloppy at work.

The chairperson of BWN, Nike Bajomo, who is an executive director, said women have a duty to be diligent at work and be positive about career growth, otherwise, the famed glass ceiling will limit advancement. “I urge you to do your bit to ensure that the future for the female folk is positive, equal, safe and fulfilling. I don’t see glass ceilings preventing me from attaining success. If you do, then you are getting in your own way,� Bajomo said.

SOAN to Hold Election Eromosele Abiodun In a bid to entrench transparency in the election of its executive, the outgoing executive of the Ship Owners Association of Nigeria (SOAN) has invited government agencies in the maritime sector to monitor its upcoming election.

This is coming after the completion of the funeral rites of the of SOAN’s current President, Greg Utowen Ogbeifun.

Sources told THISDAY that serious campaigns by members of SOAN have begun in earnest.

A member of SOAN who did not want his name in print confirmed that a Returning Officer had already been appointed for an election which may hold this week.

The inauguration of the yet to be elected executives was also slated to hold on the 30th of

March, 2019.

The source told THISDAY that invited several stakeholders and government parastatals, including the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), and the Nigerian Chamber of Shipping (NCS) amongst others, to oversee the election because of its desire to sustain its characteristic high profile, objectivity, standard.

Ogbeifun, had on 11th December last year, publicly announced at the SOAN’s 2018 End of Year Workshop and Dinner in Lagos, that he would be stepping down as head of the altruistic ship-owners’ body in March 2019, when the tenure of the present executive would end, to enable members elect another dynamic ship-owner,

having served the statutory two-tenure, constitutionally allowed. He observed at the 2018 Dinner: “It is with mixed feelings that I address you at this gathering for the last time in my capacity as the President of the Shipowners Association of Nigeria (SOAN). “I would like to use this opportunity to thank all the Industry stakeholders and Government MDA’s for the commitment, support and encouragement they have accorded the association since inception. “I urge you to accord the same to the incoming President and EXCO of this honourable Association so that we can consolidate on the gains we have made so far in order to reposition the Maritime and Shipping Industry as a strategic driver for the national economic development of our dear nation.

Hakarat Mall Fetes Customers Sunday Okobi The Hakarat Mall has lined up series of activities for the upcoming Easter celebration as a way to appreciate it customers.

This was disclosed in a statement made available to THISDAY. The campaign tagged: ‘The Easter Trade Fair and Music Festival,’ is to give back to customers for their endearing patronage.

The statement noted that Hakarat, as a business that supports young and upcoming artists in the entertainment industry, musicians, comedians, dancers and all manner of entertainers would be on stage at the venue while different registered vendors will have their stands filled with all manner of discounted prices for goods.

The Executive Director of Hakarat Mall, situated at the Obi Wali axis of Rumigbo in Portharcourt, Mr. Ken Agala, explained that the children play station in the mall would be manned by trained security guards and minders while the sky lounge restaurant would be open in case parents wish to relax and unwind. “The festival also attempts to showcase the rich cultural display of the Rivers people as different dance troupes will also be featuring with divers music and arts,� he stated.

He explained further that the vision and objectives of Hakarat was to meet the different needs of the people by constantly adding and re-adding value to their commitment, love and patronage, adding that “the word

Hakarat is a Hebrew word for ‘Gratitude,’ and this formed the attitude of the management and staff of the mall.�

Agala, promised a fun filled Easter weekend for all attendees, much better than what they had at the Valentine Traffic Light party in February, adding that it is going to be an unforgettable experience.

He said Hakarat being a household name for those living within the area and Port Harcourt generally, the mall which won the 2018 Conglomerate of the year award by the prestigious Orange awards, comprises a well-stocked supermarket, restaurant “with mouth-watering intercontinental dishes, a fantastic bakery, photo studio, salon, spa, a sky and garden lounge all in one facility with top quality products and services.

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T H I S D AY Ëž Í°ÍłËœ 2019

BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

Revised NHF BillWill Make HousingAffordable,Expert Says Hamid Ayodeji A housing industry expert, Mr. John T. Ikyaave, has described the recent passage of the revised National Housing Fund (NHF) bill by the National Assembly as a positive development in the quest to tackle the perennial problem of sustainable housing finance that is required to develop the country’s housing sector.

Ikyaave, who is based in Abuja stated that the provisions contained in the bill are relevant and have enhanced the potential of the NHF scheme to increase access to decent, quality, affordable housing for Nigerian workers, especially those within the low- and medium-income brackets.

According to him, the new NHF bill, which is now awaiting the assent of President Muhammadu Buhari, would support the provision of housing loans at best and lowest market interest rates of between six and nine per cent that

can be paid for period of up to 35 years. “Currently, if you go to commercial or mortgage banks for a housing loan, the interest rates you will be charged usually range from 19 to 25 per cent. Now, how many Nigerian workers can afford that? “The NHF is the only institution that gives housing loans at single digits and for longer-terms of 35 years. A stronger NHF with robust financial inflows will have the capacity to extend its range of affordable housing solutions to more Nigerian workers and create wider impact,� a report quoted him to have said.

Ikyaave, commended all housing industry stakeholders who contributed to the passage of the bill and urged the president to see its merit and sign it into law, so as to kick start a new phase in the provision of social housing in the country.

The National Housing

Fund (NHF) was established in 1992 to mobilise funds for the provision of affordable housing for Nigerians. The National Housing Act 1992 outlined sources of funds for the fund to include contributions by Nigerians in both the public and private sectors; investment in the fund by commercial and merchant banks; investment in the fund by insurance companies and financial contributions by the federal government.

However, over the 27 years of its existence, contributions from Nigerian workers have been the mainstay of the fund.

Lack of compliance to the provisions of the Act by commercial and merchant banks and insurance companies has affected its liquidity and capacity to create the required impact. A situation that gave rise to the review and passage of the new NHF bill by the National Assembly.

GTBank Builds Digital Play Centre for Children Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (GTBank) has announced that it recently completed and opened the first digital playground for children in Nigeria.

Located in Lekki, Lagos State, the GTBank Play Centre is equipped with a wide range of interactive games that would give kids a fun and immersive digital experience whilst aiding their mental and intellectual development.

A statement from the bank disclosed that the facility is open from 10am to 3pm on Weekdays, and 10am to 1pm on Saturdays, and that some of the features of the play centre include a sketch town, where kids can design cars, launch rockets, and bring all their sketches to life.

At the playground, children can also use

the wide range of bricks available to build whatever excites their curiosity and also express themselves creatively by scribbling, writing and drawing on a digital chalkboard.

GTBank recently launched Habari, a digital platform that gives customers unlimited access to local and international music, and at the same time, allows them to shop online, split bills with friends and take care of their everyday needs, in one place. Habari, like the GTBank Play Centre, is the first of its kind in Nigeria, reflecting the Bank’s digital drive as well as its focus on creating unique experiences for all segments of its customer base. Commenting on the launch of the Play Centre, the Managing Director and

Chief Executive Officer of Guaranty Trust Bank plc, Mr Segun Agbaje said: “How and where children play contributes significantly to their cognitive and intellectual development, helping them build better communication and problem-solving skills.

Our new Play Centre will give children a tension-free space to build these critical developmental skills, expose them to new and emerging digital technologies, and, most importantly, give them a wonderful time out.� “At GTBank we are passionate about building the bank of the future, and for us, this means constantly leveraging the best of technology to create amazing digital experiences for all of our customers, in a way that adds real value to their lives.�

L- R: Head, Life Retail Business, Leadway Assurance Company Limited, Bolorunduro Saliu; Head, Corporate Services, Olubunmi Adeleye; General Manager, Life Business, Tinashe Muyambo and Head, Sales & Distribution, Life Business, Oluwafemi Adebayo, during the unveiling of the ‘See-ďŹ nish Campaign’ for the launch of the Leadway Family Benefit Plan Plus held in Lagos ...recently

MARKET INDICATORS MONEY AND CREDIT STATISTICS

(MILLION NAIRA)

NOVEMBER 2018 Money Supply (M3)

31,794,803.44

-- CBN Bills Held by Money Holding Sectors

6,333,064.28

Money Supply (M2)

25,461,739.17

-- Quasi Money

14,773,076.98

-- Narrow Money (M1)

10,688,662.18

---- Currency Outside Banks

1,711,763.59

---- Demand Deposits

8,976,898.59

Net Foreign Assets (NFA)

18,990,400.78

Net Domestic Assets(NDA)

12,804,402.66

-- Net Domestic Credit (NDC)

26,062,986.22

---- Credit to Government (Net)

2,980,229.66

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

7,093,619.43

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

-4,144,571.43

---- Credit to Private Sector (CPS)

23,082,756.56

--Other Assets Net

13,258,583.57

Reserve Money (Base Money

6,811,192.37

--Currency in Circulation

2,100,129.91

--Banks Reserves

4,366,259.05

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)

‘First Bank Looking Forward to the Future’ Ugo Aliogo As part of activities to mark the 125th anniversary of First Bank, the financial institution recently organised 125km relay walk across the country and its overseas subsidiaries.

The Chairman of First Bank Plc, Mrs. Ibukun Awosika, noted that the relay walk gave the bank an opportunity to look forward to the future.

Awosika, who stated this while speaking at the relay walk to celebrate the bank’s unbroken business operations, noting that it has been a relay of different generation building, adding value and passing the baton forward.

In his remarks, the Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Adeshola Adeduntan, said the relay walk was significant and symbolic for the bank.

He said it was symbolic

because it is a collaborative effort not just for First Bank, but other operating entities within the FBN holdings family such as FBNQuest, and FBN Merchant bank.

Adeduntan added: “We came together to organise the relay. The significance is that when you think of a relay and you think of 125km, if you want to run 125km as an individual, you can get tired, but when you collaborate together, and the bits and pieces of the 125 is accomplished by different individuals, that is the power of synergy in display and it shows you what can achieved when you walk together as a team.�

The CEO explained that the relay depicted the fact that over 125years, the leadership of the institu-

tion has moved from one individual to another and one generation to another.

He added that the bank was using the relay to pass the baton of leadership to the next generation of the bank staff, “depicting the fact that the bank tends to be in existence for another 125 years.�

According to Adeduntan, “We came together to organise the relay. The significance is that when you think of a relay and you think of 125km, if you want to run 125km as an individual, you can get tired, but when you collaborate together, and the bits and pieces of the 125 is accomplished by different individuals, that is the power of synergy in display and it shows you what can achieved when you walk together as a team.�

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, 21 MARCH 2019

The price of OPEC basket of fourteen crudes stood at $67.78 a barrel on Thursday, compared with $67.54 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), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE) and Merey (Venezuela) SOURCE: OPEC headquarters, Vienna

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MARKET NEWS

SEC Intensifies Efforts to Reduce Unclaimed Dividends Goddy Egene As part of efforts to tackle unclaimed dividends in the market, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is intensifying the implementation of the electronic dividend and regularisation of multiple shares subscription.

The regulator believes that when investors receive dividends electronically it would reduce unclaimed dividends. It also

believes that when investors who used multiple accounts to buy shares in the boom days consolidate their accounts and begin to claim accumulated dividends, the amount of unclaimed dividends would be reduced.

Speaking in Lagos at a post Capital Market Community(CMC) meeting media briefing, the Acting Executive Commission, Corporate Services, SEC, Mr. Adekunle Rolands, said only 2.7 million investors have mandated

P R I C E S MAIN BOARD

F O R DEALS

their e-dividend accounts. He explained that since SEC asked investors to pay a token of N150 for the e-dividend registration, investors have been reluctant to enroll for e-dividends.

According to him, no investor would be asked to pay at the point of registration but the N150 will be deducted once the account has been mandated, stressing that it is just token of N150 irrespective of the fact whether the dividend is N200,000, N1 million or more.

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He said SEC, registrars and banks would review the process and see how to entice investors to embrace the e-dividend registration.

In her presentation, the Acting Director General of SEC, Ms. Mary Uduk said the multiple account regularisation was extended to December 31, 2019 as part of commitment to reduce the quantum of unclaimed dividends in the market. “Through this exercise, some Nigerian investors in Diaspora have been able to

T R A D E D MAIN BOARD

A S

consolidate their shareholding accounts. Similarly, several local investors with numerous accounts have also been able to consolidate their investments. We therefore enjoin the general public to take advantage of this initiative to regularise their shareholding accounts before the December 31, 2019 deadline,� she said.

Uduk said the year 2019 promises to be an interesting one for the Nigerian capital market as they shall undertake a review

O F

of the 10-year Nigerian Capital Market Master Plan.

According to her, this review is intended to align the master-plan with current realities on macroeconomic, political and market development fronts.

She disclosed that the CMC event was successful, saying the commission has made progress in attempting to resolve the issues around transmission of shares related to the estate of deceased investors.

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38

˾ MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2019

MARCH 25, 2019 ˾ T H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R

39

MARKET NEWS

Firm Launches Two Funds, Calls for More Financial Literacy Goddy Egene

The Managing Director, PAC Asset Management Limited (PACAM), Mr. Dele Ige has called for greater financial literacy to help boost growth in the Nigerian capital market.

Ige made the call in Lagos recently, during the Signing Ceremony of PAC Asset Management Limited (PACAM),

Equity Fund and PAC Asset Management Limited (PACAM), Eurobond Fund.

According to him, the role of financial literacy in powering the capital market cannot be over emphasized.

“It is important that more and more investors are knowledgeable about opportunities in the capital market to enable them become better positioned to make informed

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

investment decisions. Which is why greater awareness about the capital market is required on the part of retail investors to evaluate the choices available to them, especially as it concerns collective investment schemes,” he said.

While commenting on the impact of PACAM on the financial market Ige noted that the company has consistently provided different funds for the

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 21Mar-2019, unless otherwise stated.

benefit of investors.

“Since 2012, when we got our licence to do funds and portfolio management from SEC, we had introduced three funds, namely; PACAM Balance Fund in 2015 and PACAM Money Market Fund alongside PACAM Fixed Income Fund in 2016. Our PACAM Balanced Fund,for example, from inception till date has returned about 50 per cent to investors, so

people who invested N1 million at introduction now enjoy a net worth of N1.50 million today. In a similar vein the fixed income fund has also returned about 25 per cent to investors since its introduction,” he said.

According to him, the company has introduced additional funds into the market, PACAM Equity Fund and PACAM Eurobond Fund, two funds that serve

different concerns in the market.

“For instance the equity fund will cater to the need for professional investment management for investors seeking stock market exposure whereas the Eurobond markets provides an outlet for investors to hedge against forex volatility and earn superior returns on their forex stock. The funds will cater to both retail and large investors.

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 N/A N/A N/A Afrinvest Plutus Fund N/A N/A N/A Nigeria International Debt Fund N/A N/A N/A 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 0.85 0.86 1.62% ACAP Income Funds 0.64 0.64 15.01% 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 13.40% AIICO Balanced Fund 2.28 2.31 2.65% 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 16.80 17.31 1.25% ARM Discovery Fund 361.46 372.36 1.35% ARM Ethical Fund 29.18 30.06 3.33% ARM Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 13.77% 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 102.62 103.34 1.41% AXA Mansard Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 12.76% 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 13.59% Paramount Equity Fund 12.12 12.22 2.61% Women's Investment Fund 105.55 106.12 1.88% 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 100.00 100.00 13.01% Cordros Milestone Fund 2023 101.18 101.27 Cordros Milestone Fund 2028 102.63 103.22 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 1.00 1.00 13.21% Coronation Balanced Fund 0.85 0.85 Coronation Fixed Income Fund 1.17 1.17 4.10% EDC FUNDS MANAGEMENT LIMITED mutualfundng@ecobank.com Web: www.ecobank.com Tel: 012265281 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class A 100.00 100.00 12.32% EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class B 1,000,000.00 1,000,000.00 11.77% 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 1,235.24 1,236.10 4.20% FBN Heritage Fund 145.08 146.32 1.16% FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 14.06% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Institutional 117.13 117.43 2.84% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Retail 117.06 117.36 3.04% FBN Nigeria Smart Beta Equity Fund 0.00 0.00 -100.00% 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 1.21 1.23 -1.13% Legacy Debt Fund 3.33 3.33 2.64% Legacy USD Bond Fund 1.04 1.04 1.05% 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 3,009.59 3,042.58 0.89% Coral Income Fund 2,837.62 2,837.62 3.60% 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 100.00 100.00 12.66% Nigeria Entertainment Fund 109.96 110.63 2.78% 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 100.00 100.00 12.61% Vantage Balanced Fund 2.18 2.21 1.62% Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 15.36% Kedari Investment Fund (KIF) 124.75 125.00 -0.12%

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 1.16 1.19 1.75% Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund 1,100.98 1,100.98 2.91% 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 11.48 11.57 -0.24% Meristem Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 11.37% 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 1.38 1.40 7.88% PACAM Fixed Income Fund 12.34 12.41 1.15% PACAM Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 12.89% 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 126.42 127.11 4.76% 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 1.03 1.03 3.28% 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 2,379.59 2,393.53 2.83% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 196.06 196.06 3.11% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 0.97 0.98 2.63% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 253.39 253.42 2.52% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 166.64 168.48 2.14% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 13.08% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 8,480.00 8,583.42 -0.10% Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund (USD) 1.12 1.12 1.37% 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 1.22 1.22 1.51% United Capital Bond Fund 1.65 1.65 3.72% United Capital Equity Fund 0.70 0.72 -0.75% United Capital Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 14.81% United Capital Eurobond Fund 109.40 109.40 1.99% United Capital Wealth for Women Fund 1.12 1.12 2.28% QUANTUM ZENITH ASSET MANAGEMENT & INVESTMENTS LTD service@quantumzenithasset.com.ng Web: www.quantumzenith.com.ng; Tel: +234 1-2784219 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Zenith Equity Fund 11.22 11.37 5.72% Zenith Ethical Fund 12.34 12.48 2.94% Zenith Income Fund 21.35 21.35 9.95% Zenith Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 11.39%

REITS NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

5.95 119.37 52.08

-39.35% 1.39% 0.66%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

10.51 112.87 88.44

10.61 115.28 90.09

-0.36% -3.77% -0.25%

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

4.08 6.97 14.48 12.39 153.14

4.12 7.05 14.58 12.59 155.14

2.03% -8.49% -3.13% 0.24% 6.65%

NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

107.24

17.42%

INFRASTRUCTURE FUND Fund Name Chapel Hill Denham Nigeria Infrastructure Debt Fund

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 Ëž Í°ÍłËœ Ͱ͎ͯ͡

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 ͙͖͓͓͖͓͔͓͖͑͒

Reawakening a Long Forgotten Tradition There was palpable excitement as the people of Eleme community, one of the local government areas in Rivers State, came out en masse to witness the reawakening of a long forgotten tradition; Okon-Esaa, the Yam Title Festival, which they had abandoned for 44 long years. Mary Nnah reports

E

very ethnic group has a culture or tradition indicated by the display of various activities and events, some of which are typical of their ethnic nationality. The Okon-Esaa, meaning ‘Yam Title Festival’, is one of such cultural events that are distinctive to the Eleme people in Rivers State. However, the last time this festival was celebrated was in 1975, some 44 years ago.

Thankfully, the long forgotten tradition was recently resuscitated by the paramount ruler of Okori, the Egbere Emere Okori 1 of Eleme Kingdom, His Royal Highness King Appolus Chu, as a way of encouraging the younger generation to seek more positive outlets for venting their energy.

Okon-Esaa, a cultural practice that defines the Eleme people was not observed for a very long time. And the failure to observe it raised concerns over the years. It was therefore excitement and funfair when the paramount ruler of Okori, decided to facilitate the reoccurrence of this noble but almost vanished tradition. No wonder he is being held in high esteem by his people for reviving such a gallant tradition.

So, for the first time in 44 years, the people of Eleme Kingdom witnessed the age long tradition, a custom initiated by their forefathers to make people embrace farming and in return be celebrated for being industrious and successful.

The exciting and impressive cultural event held in Eleme local government of Rivers State, drew traditional rulers, politicians and friends from across the country.

Appolus Chu, who resuscitated the noble tradition by planting, harvesting and storing a large number of tubers of yams in his barn, was also honoured with the highest level of yam title, “A-Chu Ette Esaa�, a title that goes with the great feat of being the man with highest number of tuber of yams in the land.

Farm work is symbolic in Eleme culture and tradition. A man is fit to marry a girl only if the parents of the girl can see evidence that the man can take care of their daughter and their children. Therefore, his ability to clear the bush, plant and the strength displayed during the farming and harvesting of the yams is watched with keen interest. Hence, the man must be industrious and hard working. This shows how important the Okon-Esaa Festival is.

HRH Appolus Chu anked by traditional rulers from other parts of the nation during the Yam Title Festival

Chu leading guests and indigenes on a tour of his impressive yam barns

Commendations

Level of Titles There are four levels of Okon-Esaa. A-Chu is the first level. This is a display of 21 tubers of yams on a yam barn in 100 places, bringing the total numbers of yams to 2,100 in a barn, traditionally called O-gun. This what makes up the first title, which is A-Chu. The A-Chu yam title is highly celebrated as the successful farmer bags a chieftaincy title as a reward for hard work. As part of the ceremony, the celebrant is made to climb the symbolic traditional Hill (Epee cha ebo ekpo), an act that signifies that he has been elevated out of the level of an ordinary citizen by reason of his hard work and achievement and called into the class of the title holders, which makes him one of the stakeholders in the community.

There are also other titles in between A-Chu, that follow sequentially in rank like Obo, Obere Obo, Otaa Obo, and then the final level of yam title, A-Chu Ette Esaa, ascribed as the highest level of yam title in Eleme.

Therefore, to earn this title, a man must have 42,000 tubers of yams in his barn and the HRH Appolus Chu successfully attained this feat, which was celebrated in grand style during a ceremony that culminated in his slaughtering of a bull.

Chu who performed the official slaughtering of the bull was later presented with gift items from the family members, friends, in-laws and well-wishers who come from far and near bearing gifts to thank the celebrant for honouring and elevating them in the society.

This is because the honour ascribed to the title covers all those who are related to him in one way or the other and from then on family members are regarded as relatives of an industrious and successful man.

cess, worth and value to the community. Our forefathers initiated these festival as a means of encouraging the youths to channel their energy to farm work. Accumulated energy needs to be expended somewhere and somehow,� he noted further.

Chu was also of the view that one of the reasons for the high rate of criminality in our society today is the fact that young people have so much accumulated energy and just like water which must find it course, such accumulated energy ends up being expended on anti-social activities.

Moreso, the paramount ruler explained further that one more reason why their forefathers instituted the festival and attendant titles was to encourage healthy competition among the people. “No society can grow without healthy competition. In the old days, those who attained these titles were revered as stakeholders in the community.

They along with the king and aged people were the only ones entitled to go about with walking sticks. So the right and privileges enjoyed by the title holders served as a motivation for others to work hard and aspire towards such titles.�

Okon-Esaa, in general, the paramount ruler believes will encourage people, especially the youths to expand their energy on farming rather than engaged in anti-social activities. “I observed that a lot of our youths at the moment are discharging their energy in the wrong direction by engaging in cultism and hereby causing restiveness in the community. So I had to sit and then review what our forefathers had done in the past. I then concluded that such act was a brilliant one because by the time you engage in farming and do all the farming exercise for the day, by the time you walk back home at the end of the day, you are tired and exhausted. All you want is to bath, eat and take a rest for the day so that you can go back to work at the farm strong the next day. With such schedule, you won’t have the time to get involved in nefarious activities�, he explained.

Chu with some family members

Highpoint Another highpoint of the festival was the tour of the yam barns of the paramount ruler, which contained 42,000 tubers of yams. Chu is the first Eleme son to have qualified for the A-Chu Ette Esaa in short period, which otherwise would have taken about 20years for anyone to qualify for such title. “What HRH Appolus Chu has done today is unheard of in the history of Eleme. This is the first time in the annals of Eleme that anyone would be taking all the Okon-Esaa titles at once.

This is a feat that ordinarily would have taken at least 20 years to accomplish but this illustrious son of Eleme has done it at once�, one of the participants at the event quickly chipped in.

The ceremony for A-Chu Ette Esaa title, performed at the front of the yam barn (Nsi Ogun) under a small hut roofed with palm fronds (Ola) had the celebrant, dressed gallantly in richly adorned long attire, a hat and a bell

tied to his waist with a string of cowpea-like instruments handing from one of his shoulders down to his knee. He also had a small traditional musical instrument, the gong, with a stick to play it. He walked majestically in a procession before the people accompanied by various title holders in the land. The climax of the ceremony was the killing of a bull by the celebrant.

SigniďŹ cance Speaking on the significance of the Okon-Esaa Festival in general, Chu, said: “Anyone that loses his culture has automatically lost his identity and when you have lost your identity, you are as good as s stranger in your own land.â€?

He expressed therefore that the festival was a parameter that the forefathers set for hard work, adding that it was a way of celebrating hard work, industry and success among the people of Eleme. “The number of yams a person was able to display in his barn was indicative of his suc-

Little wonder a teenager, Sunny Nnanta said, “Our king has shown example of how rewarding being involved in agriculture could be and as a youth I will like to get involved in yam farming.�

Even the adults were also motivated to toe the line of the paramount ruler while they commended him for reviving a once forgotten culture, saying that it would further encourage the young generation to embrace agriculture.

Former member, House of Representatives, Fred Igwe said, “I just want to thank God that at this point in time, a man like HRH Appolus Chu, has come to revive the culture and with this, you can be rest assured that so many of us who have reached the age of doing it will do and people like me are challenged and we would do it to the last level.�

For Olaka Nwogu, an indigene, it was a beautiful occasion. “This just shows the world the rich culture of the Eleme people and that from time immemorial our people were great farmers. This is just one of the ceremonies that made people achieve food sufficiency and when you are a great farmer, you are honoured�, he added.

The Okalakwu 1 of Igbariam, Anambra State, HRH Nkeli Nzekwe, said that this was a kind of celebration that would bring peace to communities.

Another son of the soil, Mr. Chujor Emeka, a reputable lawyer, explained that the festival is basically to show that you are man of industry, a hard working person, a person who is capable financially and otherwise to lead the community.

For Major General Sanusi Muazu, an Eleme title holder, the concept of the yam festival is a clear signal for the youths, especially unemployed ones to work hard and harvest more yams in the next season.

Title staff were given to a few people during the ceremony and they were to within 12 months observe the yam title festival. This, many said will ensure the continuity of the revived tradition.

41

T H I S D AY ˾ Ͱͳ˜ Ͱͮͯͷ

CRIME&SECURITY

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SECURITY TIPS (PART 56) r #F WJHJMBOU BU QVCMJD QMBDFT BT PCKFDUT TVDI BT CPNCT DBO CF LFQU CZ VOTDSVQVMPVT QFSTPOT JO VOBUUFOEFE CBHT QBDLBHFT DPOUBJOFST DBST FUD r *O UIF VOGPSFTFFO DJSDVNTUBODFT PG B CPNC CMBTU TUBZ BXBZ GSPN UIF CMBTU TDFOF "WPJE UIF UFNQUBUJPO PG SVTIJOH UP UIF TDFOF FYDFQU ZPV XPSL XJUI BOZ PG UIF TFDVSJUZ PS &NFSHFODZ .BOBHFNFOU "HFODJFT 3FNFNCFS UFSSPSJTUT PGUFO EFUPOBUF TFDPOEBSZ FYQMPTJPOT JO PSEFS UP IBSN BEEJUJPOBM CZ TUBOEFST BOE PO MPPLFST r "MXBZT SFQPSU TVTQJDJPVT QFSTPOT PS NPWFNFOUT XJUIJO ZPVS OFJHICPVSIPPE UP UIF QPMJDF PS PUIFS TFDVSJUZ BHFODJFT UISPVHI BWBJMBCMF NFBOT PG DPNNVOJDBUJPO r&WFSZ DJUJ[FO IBT B SPMF UP QMBZ JO UIF Ã HIU BHBJOTU UFSSPSJTN r $SJNJOBMT XPO U TVDDFFE JG TPNFPOF SFQPSUT TVTQJDJPVT BDUJWJUZ UIBU TPNFPOF JT ZPV r"DRVBJOU ZPVSTFMG XJUI QPMJDF FNFSHFODZ OVNCFST Source: Nigeria Police Force Public Relations Department

CONTACT OF SEXUAL ASSAULT REFERRAL CENTRE KADUNA You can now access the Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) at Gambo Sawaba General Hospital, Kofar - Gaya, Zaria. $POUBDU QIPOF OVNCFST

Source: Ministry of Justice, Kaduna State

POLICE STATIONS IN LAGOS WITH FAMILY SUPPORT UNIT The Lagos State Police has released an update on police stations in the state that have Family Support Units (FSUs)/Gender Unit/Juvenile Welfare Centre (JWC) and phone numbers to reach them on.

"EFOJKJ "EFMF -BHPT *TMBOE

The suspect

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CRIME SITUATION REPORTS

QPMJDF UFBN $POÃ SNJOH UIF JODJEFOU UIF TUBUF 1PMJDF 1VCMJD 3FMBUJPOT 0GÃ DFS %41 #BMB &MLBOB TBJE i5XP TVTQFDUT OBNFMZ 4FNJV *CSBIJN BOE 'SBODJT 0CJ BHFE BOE ZFBST SFTQFDUJWFMZ XFSF BSSFTUFE XIJMF $IJOP[P 'FMJY BLB QPXFS BHFE ZFBST BOE *GFBOZJ 6DIF XFSF GBUBMMZ *OKVSFE i5ISFF #FSSFUB 1JTUPMT XJUI UISFF MJWF BNNVOJUJPO BOE UISFF FYQFOEFE BNNVOJUJPO XFSF SFDPWFSFE 0OF VOSFHJTUFSFE #BKBK .PUPSDZDMF XBT BMTP SFDPWFSFE GSPN UIF TDFOF i#FGPSF UIF BSSJWBM PG QPMJDF UIF

SPCCFST TIPU UIF GPMMPXJOH QFSTPOT 0CJOOB &GFOLBOEV BHFE ZFBST PG /P *NVEF (BGBSV CVT TUPQ XIP EJFE PO UIF TQPU XIJMF $PMMJOT *DIV BHFE ZFBST PG UIF TBNF BEESFTTFE BOE "CEVMMBI /JHFS BHFE ZFBST TVTUBJOFE JOKVSJFT i5IF JOKVSFE QFSTPOT XFSF UBLFO UP IPTQJUBM BOE BSF SFDFJWJOH USFBUNFOU 5IF $PNNJTTJPOFS PG 1PMJDF -BHPT 4UBUF $1 ;VCBJSV .VB[V IBT SFJUFSBUFE UIF DPNNBOE T SFBEJOFTT UP EFBM EFDJTJWFMZ XJUI DSJNJOBM FMFNFOUT JO UIF TUBUF BOE DPOUJOVF UP NBLF UIF TUBUF B EJGÃ DVMU QMBDF GPS DSJNJOBM BDUJWJUJFT u

*TPLPLP *MVQFKV 'FTUBD "MBLVLP #BEBHSZ "KBI *LPSPEV *HCPHCP

,FUV *LPUVO (FOEFS %FTL 1PMJDF $PNNBOE (3" *LFKB %JWJTJPOBM 1PMJDF 4UBUJPO +8$ "MBLBSB SOURCE: Lagos State Police Command

SOCIAL MEDIA HANDLES OF THE MILITARY NIGERIAN AirForce r !/JH"JS'PSDF r"JS $PNNPEPSF ,VOMF %BSBNPMB UIF %JSFDUPS PG 1VCMJD 3FMBUJPOT BOE *OGPSNBUJPO %013* !,VOMF%BSBNPMB rFNBJM JOGP!BJSGPSDF NJM OH NIGERIAN ARMY r !)2/JHFSJBO"SNZ r8FCTJUF BSNZ NJM OH

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r8FCTJUF OBWZ NJM OH

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MONDAY MARCH 25, 2019 ˾ T H I S D AY

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INTERNA TIONAL

Brexit: May Faces Possible Plot as Parliament Tries to Grab Control

The UK’s exit from the European Union on Sunday was in disarray as Prime Minister Theresa May faced a possible plot by ministers to topple her and parliament prepared to grab control of Brexit from the government.

At one of the most important junctures for the country since World War Two, British politics was at fever pitch and, almost

three years since the 2016 referendum, it was still unclear how, when or if Brexit will ever take place.

With May humiliated and weakened, ministers insisted she and the British government were still in charge of the country, and that the best option was still for parliament to ratify May’s twice-defeated Brexit

divorce deal.

As hundreds of thousands of people marched across central London on Saturday to demand another Brexit referendum, May was the subject of what The Sunday Times said was a “coup” by senior ministers seeking to oust her.

The newspaper cited 11 unidentified senior ministers

and said they had agreed that the prime minister should stand down, warning that she has become a toxic and erratic figure whose judgment has “gone haywire”.

When asked by Sky about reports in The Sunday Times and other newspapers of a plot and whether she had run out of road, finance minister Philip

Hammond said: “No. I don’t think that is the case at all.”

“Changing prime minister wouldn’t help us, to be talking about changing the players on the board, frankly, is self-indulgent at this time,’’ Hammond said.

Hammond said the best way forward would be for parliament to back May’s deal, although

he said that it might not be approved and so parliament should then try to find a way to end the impasse.

“I’m realistic that we may not be able to get a majority for the prime minister’s Brexit deal and if that is the case then parliament will have to decide not just what it’s against but what it is for,” he said.

American Airlines Extends Boeing Thousands of Moroccan Teachers Trump, Lawmakers Await Details of Mueller’s Stage Protest over Pay Terms 737 MAX Flight Cancellations About 10,000 teachers staged Morocco, which has avoided United States lawmakers drew report.

He and Rod Rosenstein, the a new protest in the Moroccan the turmoil seen by other battle lines on Sunday over how Through April 24 capital Rabat on Sunday to countries during and after the to handle a special counsel deputy attorney general, who

American Airlines on Sunday said it will extend flight cancellation through April 24 because of the grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX after two fatal crashes since October and cut some additional flights.

American, the largest U.S. carrier, said it is cancelling about 90 flights a day.

American is the secondlargest U.S. operator of the MAX in the U.S. with 24 jets, behind Southwest Airlines with 34.

American said earlier this month it was flying about 85 flights a day out of its 6,700 daily departures on 737 MAX planes when the grounded was announced.

The airline said it was making the announcement “to provide more certainty to our customers

and team members and better protect our customers on other flights to their final destination.”

Boeing Co is expected as early as Monday to formally disclose a planned upgrade to its anti-stall system to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that has been in the works since October’s Lion Air crash but still needs approval from U.S. regulators.

The FAA has said it plans to mandate the upgrade by April, however, it is still not clear if the upgrade will address any issues after the March 10 Ethiopian Airlines crash.

On Saturday, Reuters reported American, Southwest and United Airlines were all meeting with Boeing this weekend to review the software upgrade.

demand permanent jobs, hours after police had used water cannon to disperse an overnight demonstration.

The teachers marched from the education ministry to the square in front of parliament where police had intervened after midnight to prevent them from spending the night in the main Mohammed V Avenue.

They want an end to renewable contracts in favour of permanent jobs that offer civil service benefits, including a better retirement pension.

Some also shouted political slogans such as “This is a corrupt country” and “We are ruled by a mafia,” urging Prime Minister Saad Eddine El Othmani and Education Minister Said Amzazi to step down.

Arab Spring of 2011, regularly sees protests though they rarely draw several thousands or involve confrontations with police.

The protest was organised by an alliance of leftist opposition parties, main unions, civil society organisations and university students.

The teachers have been striking for three weeks in a row.

The protesting teachers were threatened by the ministry to return to the classroom or be sacked.

“We are not intimidated by the threats of the education ministry’s because we came to claim our right to be integrated in the civil service and defend the public school,” Abdelilah Taloua, a young teacher, told Reuters.

long-awaited report on Russian meddling in the 2016 election that has cast a pall over Donald Trump’s presidency.

They also raised questions about collusion between his campaign and Moscow.

Members of Congress, the media and Trump himself were waiting for Attorney General William Barr to release a summary of the report by Special Counsel Robert Mueller after his 22-month investigation of Russian connections.

Trump, who decried the probe as a witch hunt and waste of time, was at his resort in Palm Beach, Florida, where he went to his golf club on Saturday and Sunday, however, remained uncharacteristically silent about Friday’s conclusion of the Mueller probe.

Barr, the top U.S. law enforcement official, spent nine hours on Saturday studying the

appointed Mueller, were at the Justice Department again on Sunday.

Barr said he hoped to make public a summary of its “principal conclusions” over the weekend.

“The White House has not received or been briefed on the report,’’ spokesman Hogan Gidley said.

Democrats, whatever the report concludes, vowed to pursue investigations on a wide range of issues involving Trump, from his business dealings to hush-money payments.

They called for the full release of the report, as well as documents backing up its findings, and have promised to subpoena any information they do not get.

Many Republicans also want the report released and say it will vindicate Trump, while some cautioned portions of it might need to remain confidential.

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NEWS XTRA

Shell, UBA Sign $200m Contractor Support Fund Ejiofor Alike The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) has signed a contractor support fund of $200 million with the United Bank for Africa (UBA)

to boost the financial capacity of its vendors and suppliers, With the UBA agreement, SPDC’s total contractor support fund has hit $2.4 billion.

SPDC’s Director and General Manager, Government and Business Relations, Bashir Bello,

APC Sweeps All 25 State Assembly Seats in Kogi Yekini Jimoh in Lokoja The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kogi State has won all the 25 state assembly seats in a historic landslide victory over any opposition in the state political history.

Although the party on March 9, during the gubernatorial and state assembly elections, cleared all the major seats in the state assembly, it had to wait for the rescheduled elections in Lokoja I, Omala and Igalamela/Odolu constituencies where elections were initially declared inconclusive to affirm its winning streak.

After the conduct of the election and collation of results in the affected units last Saturday, the APC has officially won in all the state constituencies, leaving no room for any opposition party in the state assembly.

In Kogi East, the APC, aside winning the senatorial and three House of Representatives seats, the party also won the 11 state constituencies including Ankpa I and II, Bassa, Dekina I and II (Biraidu), Ibaji, Idah, Iagalamela-Odolu, Ofu, Omala and Olamaboro.

Accordig to the party, such feat has never been recorded in Kogi East senatorial district in the history of the state.

Also, in Kogi Central senatorial district, the party also won the Senate as well as all its House of Representatives seats.

The party also clinched state assembly seats in Okene I and II, Adavi, Ajaokuta, Okehi and Ogori-Magongo constituencies.

In Kogi West, the party also won in all its state constituencies including Kabba-Bunu, Ijumu, Yagba-East, Yagba-West, Mopamuro, Lokoja II, Kogi (Kotonkarfe) and Lokoja I constituency.

Speaking on the party’s successful outing in the recently held polls in the state, the Chief of Staff to the state governor, who also doubled as the Director-General of APC Campaign Council in the state, Hon. Edward Onoja, listed seven key factors responsible for the party’s unprecedented victory in the state.

One of the factors, according to Onoja, was the non-imposition of candidates by the party.

He said all the candidates on the platform of the APC in the state were not imposed or given bribes for endorsement, adding that they went through the primaries and came out as the party standard bearers.

Onoja said another critical factor that contributed to the APC winning streak in the state was the quick resolution of pockets of disputes that came up after the primaries were conducted.

According to him, “Those who did not make it at the primaries were quickly engaged in sincere dialogue with the party leadership and they shelved their ambitions; joined the winners of the primaries and worked collectively for the success of the party. This is the principle that everybody is important within the party.”

Useni Heads to Court to Challenge Lalong’s Victory The gubernatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Plateau State, Gen. Jeremiah Useni (rtd), has vowed to challenge the re-election of Governor Simon Lalong for another term.

Lalong was yesterday declared winner of the governorship seat after the supplementary election on March 23.

Lalong, the candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), scored 595,582 votes against Useni of PDP who got 546,813 votes.

But Useni said that he and his team had gone through both the official results released by INEC and the documents submitted by the party’s field staff and had reservations.

“We have every reason to believe that justice has not been done to our people in this election because there was massive rigging and electoral shortcomings.

“After due consultation, I hereby state that the results announced by INEC is not acceptable to us.

“Consequently, we have requested our legal team to

activate all the due processes to reclaim our cherished mandate.

“I give you my word that we will pursue this matter diligently, and by the grace of God, we will overturn and recover the people’s mandate,” he said.

The PDP flag bearer expressed appreciation to the people of Plateau for their massive support to him and the party in their preference for good governance.

Useni said that they did this, in spite of all manner of challenges.

He added that their determination was a clear testimony of their desire to get rid of a non-performing administration that had long turned its back against their welfare and security.

“I assure you that such massive support will not go in vain,” he said.

“I appeal to all of us to unite all the more now and avoid any bickering and blame-giving.

“Let us remain focused on the struggle and avoid anything else that will distract and divide us.

who signed the $200 million Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United Bank for Africa (UBA) in Abuja at the weekend, described the initiative as a product of the continuous effort by SPDC and its joint venture partners – NNPC, Total and Agip – to enhance Nigerian Content and local participation in the nation’s oil and gas value chain.

The fund provides support for contractors to finance projects executed for Shell companies in Nigeria in line with the aspirations of the Nigerian

Content Act. To access the fund, the contractors must have a valid purchase order and meet the bank’s risk assessment criteria.

“Findings indicate that lack of access to capital hinders many Nigerian companies from competing for and executing contracts effectively” said Bello who signed the deal on behalf of SPDC. “This funding will enable us to achieve our community content ambition of increasing participation of host communities in the SPDC value chain,” he added.

The General Manager, Energy Bank of UBA, Ebele Ogbue, said the bank was committed to providing support to Nigerian companies through its partnership with SPDC JV. Ogbue who signed the MoU for UBA, commended the national and community content efforts of Shell companies in Nigeria, noting that UBA was ready to provide the needed financial backing that would empower Nigerian companies to play more active role in the country’s energy sector and beyond.

The Shell Contractor Funding Scheme started in 2011 with the Shell Kobo Fund, which gave rise to the Shell Contractor Support Fund in 2012. The scheme has been redesigned to address the current economic exigencies and to align it with stakeholder needs by merging the two initial initiatives. In 2016, Shell signed a $2.2 billion MoU with seven Nigerian banks that have since then disbursed around $1.5 billion loans to about 372 small- and medium-sized Nigerian suppliers and vendors in the oil and gas industry.

THANKING GOD FOR THEIR VICTORY…

L-R: Oyo State Governor, Sen. Abiola Ajimobi; Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode; Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; his wife, Dolapo; Governor-Elect, Ogun State, Dapo Abiodun; and his wife, Bamidele, during a thanksgiving and praise service in Ikene, Ogun State…yesterday

Igbo Leaders: Restructuring Remains Our Post-election Priority You represent the future of Igbo, Arthur Eze tells Ikpeazu Christopher Isiguzo and Gideon Arinze in Enugu Prominent Igbo leaders led by former National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ben Obi at the weekend in Enugu insisted that restructuring remained the surest way of taking Nigeria to greater heights.

This is coming as Anambra State-born multi billionaire businessman and philanthropist, Prince Arthur Eze, has extolled the virtues of Abia State Governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, saying he represents the future of Ndi Igbo.

The Igbo leaders also canvassed for a post-election Igbo agenda even as they hailed the leadership of the apex Igbo sociocultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo for taking

a firm, enlightened and focused position in the build-up to the just-concluded general elections.

The leaders, including former governors Achike Udenwa and Okwesilieze Nwodo, Senator Azu Agboti, former Chairman Niger Delta Development Commision, (NDDC), Chief Onyema Ugochukwu and former Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Health, Chief Dubem Onyia and Professor ABC Nwosu respectively spoke when they paid a solidarity visit to the Ohanaeze President General, Chief John Nnia Nwodo in Enugu.

They expressed appreciation to Nwodo for standing firm on the priority Igbo position for the restructuring of Nigeria based on greater devolution of power and resources from the centre to the federating units

and praised the President General for ignoring saboteurs of Igbo cause because he has been vindicated by the massive Igbo votes along the direction that Ohanaeze had endorsed.

The Igbo leaders reiterated that the task of restructuring Nigeria into a nation that works for all its citizens and not just for only a section of its citizens, remains the top priority agenda of Ndigbo in Nigeria.

Meanwhile, Anambra State-born multi billionaire businessman and philanthropist, Prince Arthur Eze, has extolled the virtues of Abia State Governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, saying he represents the future of Ndi Igbo.

Eze, who spoke when Ikpeazu paid him a visit at his Enugu residence, at the weekend, said that Ikpeazu

has the character of a true Igbo leader like that of late Dr. Sam Mbakwe, governor of old Imo State.

“You are a good man. Your humility makes people to love you. You also respect people.

This is why Abia people love you. And they voted you again as their governor. Please don’t change this good character.

“You have Igbo character like that of late Sam Mbakwe of old Imo State. Mbakwe took good care of Imo State when he was governor and you are doing the same thing in Abia today. That is why they love you. You are a good Igbo leader. You represent the future of Igbo nation. You in Abia, Governor Ugwuanyi in Enugu and Governor Dave Umahi in Ebonyi, you people must ensure that Ndi Igbo unite.”

Election Petition: Atiku Did His Homework, Says South-west PDP Kayode Fasua The South-west Zone of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said it was privy to the fact that the party’s presidential candidate, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, did his home work, assuring that he will triumph at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal.

The party expressed the optimism in a statement issued yesterday, to rejoice over the victory of the Osun PDP governorship candidate,

Senator Ademola Adeleke, at the state’s election petition tribunal.

In the statement issued by the zone’s publicity secretary of the party, Mr. Ayo Fadaka, the PDP stated: “We want to assure Nigerians that the illegal manipulation of the presidential election is being challenged diligently by our candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

“The party has done its homework in this respect, having gathered evidences of malpractices across the nation; therefore, we declare

that we are confident of getting a fair hearing of our petition before the Presidential Election Tribunal.

“The judiciary will continue to remain the last bastion of our democracy and we trust it to take required actions that will halt impunity, political dishonesty and outright thievery of electoral desires of Nigerians as expressed in the last presidential elections,” the party said.

It congratulated the judiciary “for having expressed loudly, that the impunity of the ruling

party, the APC, which President Buhari described as ‘remote control’ in our elections, is being checkmated and this confirms that our generation owes our children and indeed future generations the responsibility to begin to take actions that will safeguard the future of our nation.”

Commending the Osun verdict, the PDP urged the judiciary not to be deterred in its quest to assert its independence and dispense justice without fear or favour.

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NEWS XTRA

Only FG, Lagos Accessed Capital Market in 2017, Says FRC Peter Uzoho Only the federal government and the Lagos State Government accessed the Capital Market

for bonds in 2017, a Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC) has report said.

According to its 2017 Annual Report and Audited Accounts

FG: Deep Blue Project will End Criminalities in Our Waters The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, has reiterated the federal government’s determination to rid the Nigerian territorial waters of criminalities through the Integrated Security and Waterways Protection Infrastructure, otherwise known as the Deep Blue Project.

Amaechi disclosed this in Lagos during the graduation ceremony for participants of the C4I Intelligence System Operator Course for the Deep Blue Project.

The ceremony was attended by the top echelons of the Nigerian Armed Forces, led by the Chief of Defence Staff, General Gabriel Olonisakin represented by Rear Admiral A. Akinrinade.

Amaechi stated that the 853km long Nigeria coastline and the country’s location in the Gulf of Guinea made it strategic for both maritime activities and security issues.

According to the minister, who was represented by the Director, Maritime Safety and Security, Federal Ministry of Transportation, Dajuma Dauda, “The length of our coastline, our exclusive economic zone, as well as our strategic location on a major shipping route, which is the Gulf of Guinea, means that we cannot afford illegalities, such

as piracy, oil theft, sea robbery, and other crimes.

“The Deep Blue Project is a conscious effort towards addressing illegality in our territorial waters and, indeed, the Gulf of Guinea.”

In his welcome address, the Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside, said the Deep Blue Project would drastically reduce criminalities in the Gulf of Guinea.

Dakuku explained that the project was multifaceted and involved the training of selected officers from the various strata of the security services and NIMASA as well as acquisition of assets to combat maritime crime.

He stated, “The Deep Blue Project is a multipronged approach towards tackling insecurity in our territorial waters and the entire Gulf of Guinea. What we are doing is fulfilling the training aspect of the project and this will also be complemented by acquisition of assets, such as fast intervention vessels, surveillance aircraft, and other facilities, including a command and control centre for data collection and information sharing that will aid our goals of targeted enforcement.”

made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the federal government issued N1.66 trillion in bonds, while Lagos state issued bonds worth N97.39 billion. The report said that the federal government bonds accounted for N1.55 trillion of the amount borrowed from the capital market, Sukuk bond, N100 billion; Savings bond, N7.19 billion; while the Green bond stood at N10.69 billion.

“This implies that out of every N100 borrowed by the

federal government from the capital market in 2017, about N93 was raised through the federal government bond.”

The report said that the Debt Management Office (DMO), did not expressly state the purpose of the bonds, adding that they were likely meant for the augmentation of the 2017 budget.

Giving a breakdown of the Lagos State instrument, the report showed that N46.37 billion was raised at 16.75 per cent for a tenor of seven years

for the channelisation of water, construction and completion of roads and flyovers.

It said that N38.77 billion was issued at 17.25 per cent for a tenor of 10 years for the Lagos Enterprise GI upgrade to execute priority projects in the health and education sectors and the channelisation of water transport routes and completion of roads.

Also, N6.91 billion was raised at 15.60 per cent for a seven-year tenor, while N5.34 billion was raised at 15.85 per cent for a

10-year tenor for the same purposes.

According to the report, the borrowings complied with Sections 41 (1) (a) and 44 (2) of the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) 2007. The act stipulates that borrowing by any government in the federation should be for capital expenditure and human development only.

The FRC was established by the FRA to provide for prudent management of the nation’s resources.

WE APPRECIATE YOUR VISIT…

L-R: Acting Director, United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), Mr. Thomas Hardy; Chairman of Eko Petrochem and Refinery Company Limited, Capt. Emmanuel Iheanacho; and USTDA’s Country Manager, West Africa region, Shannon Roe, during a courtesy visit to Eko Petrochem in Lagos…recently

AT LAST, INEC DECLARES TAMBUWAL, ORTOM, LALONG, GANDUJE GOVS-ELECT But the PDP yesterday rejected the Kano result, insisting that its candidate, Yusuf, was the rightful winner of the election and said any declaration that did not reflect such cannot stand.

The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, in a statement yesterday said the so-called governorship supplementary election in Kano was a national disgrace and a mere figure allocating exercise by compromised INEC officials, who collaborated with power drunk politicians in the APC to award results to the APC candidate.

The party, therefore, cautioned INEC against any attempt to import contrived figures from the March 23 rerun as such would be a clear recipe for anarchy and serious crisis in the state.

Ologbondiyan stated: “The whole world knows that the PDP and its candidate, Abba Yusuf, won the Kano State governorship election since March 9, 2019, having fulfilled the constitutional requirement of securing the highest number of votes and the statutory 25 per cent in two-third of the state.

“The people of Kano State have a long history of firm resistance against corrupt and oppressive forces. Their will must, therefore, not be stretched in this election.

“The Kano people have abundantly expressed their rejection of the corrupt and incompetent government of Abdullahi Ganduje and his party, the APC, and no amount of machination can cow or force them to abandon their

resolve for a new “governor in Abba Yusuf.”

Atiku Congratulates Tambuwal, Ortom In a related development, the presidential candidate of the PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has described the victories of the candidates of the party in both Sokoto and Benue States as an acknowledgement from the Nigerian people that it is the only truly national party in Nigeria.

Atiku congratulated Tambuwal on his re-election and assured the good people of Sokoto State that they have made the right decision that would see them continue on the path of peace, progress and prosperity.

The former vice president also congratulated Ortom over his re-election, stressing that Ortom is not just a credit to the party, but also an epitome of servant leadership.

According to him, “With him again at the helm of affairs in Benue, the people of the “Breadbasket of the Nation” can look forward to times of refreshing and deliverance.”

Atiku also congratulated his party and all its members on these gains, adding that PDP is the true bastion of democracy and should be encouraged by these victories.

He said: “With unity within its midst, it will together continue to extend the boundaries of democracy and shrink the space occupied by tyranny.”

Atiku, however, shares solidarity with Alhaji Bala Mohammed and Abba Kabir Yusuf, who have made a great showing in Bauchi and Kano

States, respectively, saying victory is within reach.

He said they have shown that they are men of the people, while expressing confidence that much good would come out of these men of enviable talents and leadership ability.

INEC, Situation Room Condemn Violence that Characterised Supplementary Elections Meanwhile, INEC has condemned the electoral violence that characterised the supplementary elections held in some states of the federation.

The supplementary election held on Saturday was described by election observers as a show of shame especially in Kano and Benue States as thugs allegedly supported by some security agents and the ruling APC in the state took over some polling units and chased away voters perceived to be sympathetic to opposition party.

In Kano State, where supplementary governorship was held in 21 local government areas of the state, political thugs chased away voters perceived to be from opposition party.

It was also reported that there was brazen display of weapons by supporters of both parties.

Journalists covering the election too were not spared as some of them were attacked by political thugs.

The situation was the same in Benue State as political thugs destroyed and burnt ballot papers and boxes in some parts of the state where the supplementary election took

place.

Also, the local government collation officer for Gboko Local Government Area, Comfort Doshima, was shot by unknown gunmen in Makurdi.

Doshima, a professor and lecturer at the University of Agriculture was on her way to the INEC headquarters, Makurdi, to present results from the local government.

She was rushed to the Benue State University Teaching Hospital, but was later pronounced dead.

However, in an interview with THISDAY yesterday, the Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Mr. Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, insisted that violence negates the tenets if democracy.

According to him, “Violence in any election negates the very tenets of democracy, so is condemnable.”

Despite the electoral body condemning the spate of violence that marred the election, it did not cancel any polling unit distrusted by political thugs.

Also against the violence was the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room, Which expressed concern over the inability of security forces to stem the incidents of political thuggery and intimidation recorded during the supplementary election in Kano state at the weekend.

The election observer group advised that INEC to ensure that measures are taken to discourage the conduct supplementary elections in future due to the violence and malpractices that is associated with the exercise.

It accused politicians

and some officials of the electoral umpire of using the opportunity of such supplementary elections to perpetrate rigging and violence.

While presenting the preliminary report of the group on the supplementary election, the Concerned of the Situation Room, Mr. Clement Nwankwo said the exercise were marred by violence, thuggery and outright intimidation of the electorate by criminal elements.

He added that what was more worrisome is the fact that in some cases such criminality went on despite the presence of security agents.

Nwankwo made particular reference to incidents in Kano state where he said unaccredited party agents and political thugs flooded the polling units and beat up innocent voters.

He said: “Situation Room is further puzzled by the situation in Kano State wherein the deployment of senior Police Officers could not stem the incidents of political thuggery and intimidation.

Reports received from our observers showed instances where security personnel, most especially the Police and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, where challenging security situations were met with inaction.”

He said members of the observer coalition reported incidents in Beli Ward in Rogo Local Government and in Gama Ward in Nasarawa Local Government of Kano state.

According to Nwankwo who was flanked during the press conference in Abuja by alternate chairman of Nigeria

Civil Society Situation Room, Esther Uzoma, said it is a cause for concern that “abuses of electoral process and violence have occurred despite the deployment of top-level Police officials, including a Deputy Inspector General (DIG), 3 Assistant Inspectors General and Commissioners of Police”.

“In the previous elections, the state Commissioner of Police took charge without senior level officers. It is therefore ironic and curious that this level of violence and political thuggery would occur with this quantum of senior Police Officers deployed. Situation Room has always advocated against redeployment of Commissioners of Police ahead of elections.”

The Situation Room also said that there were reports of widespread vote buying in Kano and Bauchi States.

It said the incident was more prevalent in Gama Ward, Nasarawa Local Government of Kano State, as seen in PU 035 and was also observed in PU 013, Madangala Ward, Katagum Local Government of Bauchi State.

According to the group, there were reported cases of attempted inducement of observers with cash by agents of leading political parties.

The Situation Room however said that voting took place in relative peace throughout other areas that the supplementary election took place last Saturday.

It also said that this time, the deployment of the military were done in accordance with section 29(3) of the Electoral Act 2010.

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Aisha Buhari Commends Elumelu Foundation Ndubuisi Francis and James Emejo in Abuja The wife of the President, Mrs. Aisha Muhammadu Buhari has commended the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) for its contribution to the growth of entrepreneurship through the provision of training, mentorship and funding to small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) within Nigeria and across the

African continent.

Her commendation followed the Foundation’s announcement of a total package of $15.25 million for 3,050 successful applicants of its 5th successive edition of the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme held over the weekend in Abuja.

Speaking as the guest of onour at the occasion, she said: “ Now, more than ever, amid

a slow recovery of the world economy, the contribution of entrepreneurship through small and medium-scale enterprises cannot be overemphasised, particularly in emerging economies. “ The first lady, who stated that the importance of entrepreneurship cannot be over-emphasised, noted that the economic empowerment provided by TEF would,

among others, help in curbing the rate of maternal mortality in Nigeria and other African countries.

Expressing delight that the foundation will surely foster entrepreneurship development across the continent by providing much-needed funds, training and mentorship to commercial enterprises that promote social and economic change, she urged youths from

the northern part of Nigeria to embrace TEF’s entrepreneurship scheme by applying for its annual programme.She added that its initiative whereby successful beneficiaries are each provided with a $5,000 start-up funds- will further support growing African businesses through dynamic programmes that provide capital and human resources to budding entrepreneurs.

She expressed satisfaction that the foundation had been able to record progressive increase in female participation in its programme over the years with 41.6 per cent female representation in 2019.

She said: “This is proof of the fact that women have continued to prove their strength and competence in our societies in all spheres even in male dominated professions.”

Idoma SANs Warn against Cover-up over US Agency Lauds Eko Petrochemical Refinery Ogah Jumbo’s Death Alex Enumah in Abuja The Association of Idoma Lawyers have demanded for total justice in the death of an Assistant Superintendent of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, (NSCDC), Ogah Jumbo, warning that any attempt to cover up or foot-drag over the case will be strongly resisted.

The late Jumbo, a native of Otukpo, Benue State, was said to have been brutally killed by two traffic police officers last week in Nyanya, a suburb of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.

In a letter jointly signed and issued to the Acting Inspector General of Police, Adamu Mohammed, over the weekend, the Idoma lawyers queried the decision of the Nigerian Police Force to prosecute a case in which it was the accused.

The letter was signed by the Patron and President of the association, Chief Godwin Obla (SAN) and Dr. J. Y Musa (SAN), respectively.

According to Obla, the decision of the police fell short

of the objective parameters of justice delivery, stressing that even if the deceased officer was guilty of traffic violation as accused by his alleged killers, it was not enough reason for him to be killed, as the law stipulates a penalty of fine for such act.

“The association consistent with its pursuit of objective parameters of justice delivery, wishes to strongly suggest and indicate its interest to be mutually involved in a postmortem examination of the cause of death of the deceased.

“These indication and suggestion should not be understood to mean our lack of confidence in the police authority to carry out a dispassionate work in this regard, but as stated above, only towards achieving the pursuit of the whole hog of objective parameters of justice delivery.

“Otherwise in the event of any cover up or foot-dragging in the prosecution of this heinous and clear case of wanton culpable homicide, the association will spare no efforts at exploring the alternative

prosecutorial route of Direct Criminal Prosecution Laws of the FCT. This we shall not hesitate to undertake alongside an already contemplated civil action in humongous sums in hundreds of millions of naria in damages,” he said.

The association, Obla added, is also worried by the response of the police as postulated by the Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Frank Mba, who in a press breifing on March 21, said that the force was not responsible for the death of the deceased officer.

“While the force public relations officer can choose to interpret the demand of his job descriptions only from the narrow prism of protecting the image of the force at all cost and to any extent even at the expense of values of humanity and sanctity of life, however to do so in the face of contrary hard facts of verifiable eyewitness accounts and video recordings of the incident, is counter-productive to the very ends of good image sought to be achieved by that officer”, the senior lawyer stated.

Bella Disu, Bola Adesola, Others in Kigali for Africa CEO Forum The Executive Vice Chairman of Globacom, Mrs. Bella Disu, is among African business leaders who have arrived in Kigali, Rwanda, for the 2019 Africa CEO Forum, which begins today.

Prime Minister of Côte d’Ivoire, Amadou Gon Coulibaly; Philippe Le Houerou of International Finance Corporation; Chairman of Seplat Petroleum, ABC Orjiako; Senior Vice Chairman of Standard Chartered Bank Group and Ahmed El Sewedy, CEO of El Sewedy Electric, also arrived yesterday evening for the event.

The annual conference brings together Africa’s Chief Executive Officers (CEOs), international investors, experts and high-level policy makers to discuss ways to mobilise African businesses to champion private sector-led growth. Over 700 business leaders are expected to attend the gathering.

According to the programme released by the organisers, Rwandan President, Paul Kagame, will declare the forum open , while Disu will chair the session on “Women in Business Initiative.”

She will also speak at the “Industry Outlook - Digital Economy” session on Tuesday.

Other speakers at the forum include Togolese President, Faure Gnassingbe; Philippe Le Houerou; Amadou Diallo of DHL and Pierre Guislain of African Development Bank as well as Ambroise Fayolle of European Investment Bank; Mathieu Lamiaux of Boston Consulting Group; Luis Cunha of McKinsey & Company Africa, and Mustapha Bakkoury of Nigeria LNG.

FAAN, AIR PEACE CLASH OVER ARRIVAL OF NEW AIRCRAFT and other aviation agencies have always demanded that Nigerian airlines should increase their fleet, stressing that the Wednesday incident was an indication that if the existing airlines increase their fleet to 10 aircraft per airline, there would not be enough space to park them.

“But it is unfortunate that FAAN could take that tone when there are some aircraft that have been parked there for months and years that are not put to use and they want to stop the arrival of our aircraft which we are actively using for international operations,” Iwarah said.

Former Director of Engineering, Medview Airline, Lukeman Animaseun, told THISDAY that FAAN show preference to international airlines because they pay their charges in foreign exchange.

This, he said should not be the case because when Nigerian carriers operate outside Nigeria they also pay in foreign exchange.

He urged domestic carriers to always pay their debts to the agency and other aviation agencies.

“Other countries show preference for their local airlines but I understand that FAAN prefers international airlines because they pay in dollars but that is wrong. If Nigerian airlines operate outside the country they also pay in foreign exchange.

So this should not be the case.

But I call on domestic airlines to pay their debts to FAAN. I am aware that many of them owe the agency and other agencies.

In this kind of business where you rely on revenues paid by your customers, FAAN should not look down on the

organisations that are paying them,” Animaseun said.

Industry consultant and CEO of Belujane Konsult, Chris Aligbe, said FAAN should explain why it said that there would be no parking space for the aircraft, stressing that the agency must have reasons why it said so and “until it comes clear, it would be preposterous to talk about it.”

However, he noted that there should be a standard in industrial relations, which is determined by how “each side plays its own game”.

“These are all part of industrial relations and what I will call low level emotional intelligence. How you relate with them determines how they relate with you because everyone has his ego and if you don’t know how to massage that ego it will determine how you are treated,” he said.

The United States Trade and Development Agency has commended the management of Eko Petrochemical and Refining Company Limited for the level of work done so far, assuring it of continuous and total support.

USTDA acting Director, Mr. Thomas Hardy, gave the commendation during a project inspection of the 20, 000 barrel per day production capacity modular refinery located at Tomaro Island Port in AmuwoOdofin Local Government Area of Lagos State.

According to Hardy, the agency is impressed with the level of activities done so far on the project.

“We will continue to help in sourcing for financiers through companies in America that will support the project for speedy completion of the refinery.

“We are proud to support this project, and this will lead to infrastructure development and economic growth in Nigeria.

“This project represents an excellent opportunity for US businesses to export technologies and services in support of Nigeria’s refining goals,” he said.

Hardy further said: “In 2017, USTDA invested in the engineering design of Eko Petrochemical Refinery Project on Tomaro Island to make the vision of Captain Iheanacho actualised and a reality.

“The idea is to bring jobs into the Nigerian economy by expanding the petro-chemical industry in the country.

“Generally, strengthening the Nigerian economy became paramount to the success of this project.”

He said the move by the US Government was also to see a closer bilateral co-operation between the US and Nigeria.

“Most importantly, invest in private companies and leaders in the business community. They can move the project to generate jobs and growth in the Nigerian

economy.

“I am impressed with what I saw. When we got involved in the very early stage, we knew that there was going to be hurdles.

“So, we decided to invest and bring technical experts into Nigeria to help Iheanacho lay forth the plan he needed to move forward to get the finance to move this project for implementation.

“This is exactly what we intended to do. Our investment is going to be making those connections to finance the sea contracts.

“Anything that can help him achieve his vision for Nigeria and growth of Tomaro Island is our goal right now,” he added.

Also, the Country Manager, Sub-Saharan Africa of USTDA, Ms Shannon Roe, said the agency decided to visit the refinery, adding that that was geared toward creating value and ease reefing project in Nigeria.

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MONDAYSPORTS

Group Sports Editor Duro Ikhazuagbe Email duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com 0811 181 3083 SMS ONLY

I’m Delighted to Give Tanzania First AFCON Ticket in 39 Years, Says Amuneke Femi Solaja Former African Footballer of the Year and Super Eagles winger, Emmanuel Amuneke, was the hero of the night as Taifa Stars of Tanzania yesterday booked the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) final tournament for the first time in 39 years. Amuneke, who was a cult hero moments after he was appointed Head coach of the country’s national team yesterday in a telephone interview with THISDAY last night said passionate football fans in the country were fully behind him and strongly believe the country will qualify to play in Africa’s biggest soccer show piece this time around.

The country, whose last appearance was when the then Green Eagles won the title on home soil in 1980, overpowered the Cranes of Uganda 3-0 before capacity crowd in Dar es Salaam to pick a ticket for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.

“Today is an emotional night for me and I’m delighted to have piloted this team to win this important match. It was an agonizing moments before the match knowing fully well that we must win to stay in the tournament.

“Football is a uniting factor here. I can see happiness on the faces of everybody while the untiring support from the

beginning to the end was a motivational factor for my players who never failed to take their legs off the gas.

“My wish for now is to go back and review the series with my team and to know where we are lacking and also hope we get a good draw when the ceremony hold soon in Cairo, Egypt,” Amuneke remarked shortly after the match in the telephone interview.

On whether he hope to renew or negotiate a fresh contract with the FA, the scorer of Nigeria’s two goals in 2-1 win in the final of 1994 finals in Tunisia said it too early for such talks and that his objective now is to remain focused to see the team go beyond bookmakers’ predictions at the finals.

“This is not the moment to start talking about my relationship with the FA. What is important to me is that my players have brought joy to the nation and I’m happy to be part of this historic moment and would not want to end it soon,” Amuneke reacted.

Amuneke, was celebrated from the stands with few minutes left, fans were chanting his name having broken the jinx that had afflicted Tanzania in the Africa Cup of Nations’ qualifying series since the country last qualified in 1979 for the 1980 tournament.

He will no doubt be celebrated in the East African country

U-23 AFCON QUALIFIER

Nigeria Can Beat Libya Today to Progress to Next Round, Says Okechukwu Captain of Nigeria’s U-23 team, Azubuike Okechukwu has posited that the team has learnt from its first leg loss in Tunis and will work hard to ensure it overturns the results and qualify for the next round of the qualifiers.

Nigeria is to play Libya today in Asaba in the reverse fixture of the qualifying round for the CAF Under-23 AFCON which also serves as qualifier for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.

The 21-year-old captained Nigeria to her maiden CAF U-23 championship title in Senegal four years ago and he still believes he has what it takes to repeat the same feat for the second time.

Speaking after the team’s arrival in Asaba, venue of the second leg, the Turkey-based

midfielder blamed complacency and lack of teamwork for their 2-0 loss to the Libyans last Wednesday.

“In the first leg we did not play compact and we lost concentration and conceded two avoidable goals and the red card made it more difficult but hopefully we will do well in the second leg on Monday (today).

“I still believe qualification is very possible because we are Nigerians and everything is possible with our never say die spirit,” Azubuike said.

Nigeria will host Libya in the return leg of the AFCON U-23 qualifiers today, needing to win by three clear goals to stand any chance of progressing to the final round of the qualifiers.

where he mounted the saddle last August. Amuneke is already noted for landmark achievements having scored the two goals that won for his country, the first African title outside the home turf.

That he did in 1994 before two years later scoring the goal that changed the course of history in the Olympic Games’

football tournament. With his third goal in added time of the final match with Argentina at Atlanta ’96 Olympics, Amuneke made Nigeria to become the first nation outside Europe to win the Olympic Games’ football tournament in 68 years.

Significantly, since Amuneke’s winning goal 23 years ago, no European country has ever won

the Olympic Games’ football event.

In the match proper, Simon Msuva launched the Tanzanians on victory path in the 21st minute to dent the record of Uganda which although already qualified, had not conceded any goal in the entire qualifying series.

Erasto Nyoni added a second after the break with Aggrey

Morris making it 3-0 to Tanzania on a memorable day for the hosts.

With this feat, Amuneke became the second Nigerian coach to qualify a foreign team to the tournament after Late Stephen Keshi did it with Hawks of Togo in 2005 for 2006 tournament held in Egypt the following year as well as Eagles of Mali for AFCON 2010 in Angola.

Emmanuel Amuneke, (left) during a recent match for Taifa Stars of Tanzania who qualified yesterday for AFCON after 39 years wait

Fans Query Rohr’s Capacity to Deliver on Super Eagles’ Job Duro Ikhazuagbe Super Eagles dismal outing in the last AFCON 2019 qualifier against Seychelles has reopened questions on the competence of Nigeria’s Franco-German Coach, Gernot Rohr to the lead the country’s football to El Dorado.

Three-time African champions Nigeria laboured to a 3-1 victory over the largely uncoordinated Indian Ocean island nation after ending the first half one-all.

Although there was nothing at stake in the match for a Nigeria beyond pride as the country’s passage to AFCON 2019 was sealed last November when Eagles drew 1-1 with South Africa in Johannesburg, it was meant to assess the team’s readiness to challenge for the continental title in Egypt next summer.

Most of the fans that thronged the Stephen Keshi Stadium in Asaba for the match last Friday were unanimous in their opinions that Eagles were poor in form with no visible input

of Rohr on the senior national team.

According to an Onitsha-based football academy proprietor, Chike Okolonji, the Super Eagles that played Seychelles did not represent the best of Nigeria’s rich football pedigree. “ Look at the faces of fans here, majority of them came from far and near. Do you think they are happy? No, they are very sad despite the 3-1 victory because this team is not the Super Eagles quality we are used to. This team is poor,” fumed the academy proprietor shortly after the final whistle.

He wants the NFF to probe what is going on; why the team is playing badly ahead of AFCON 2019.

“How long will it take our German coach to give Nigerians the quality team we all are yearning for? This man has been here now for about three years. Is that not enough time for him to impact on our team if he’s a good coach? Sincerely, I don’t think Rohr have what it takes to return our football to

the summit of African football,” Okolonji admonished.

He therefore urged the NFF to review his performance viz-a-viz the contract they entered into with him. “ If he’s not delivering as negotiated, this man’s contract should be reviewed. How can we be struggling at home with the team we defeated 3-0 away, was also beaten 8-1 by Libya.

This is not acceptable.”

A top former Nigerian coach who did not ant his name in print told THISDAY inside the Stephen Keshi Stadium that the coach appears to be under the influence of some powerful elements in the country’s football who wants their wards in o feature for the team no matter their quality.

“I think some top persons are influencing this man’s team selection. Otherwise, why bring half-baked players from lower divisions in Europe to Super Eagles and expect him to succeed?” queried the top gaffer with stints in the national team.

He pointed at such players like Collins Jamilu, Paul Onuachu

and even the first choice goalkeeper, Francis Uzoho who has been off duty since loan move to Cyprus.

However, in what appears to be the defence of his team’s poor form last Friday, Rohr insisted that Seychelles came prepared to play frustrate his wards from free-flow football with defence game-plan.

“We knew it was going to be a difficult game because we were going to face a rejuvenated Seychelles side with new seven plays from the team we defeated 3-0 away. They started their preparation very early in March,” observed Rohr to reporters at the post-match briefing.

The Super Eagles gaffer who also complained about the state of the Asaba Stadium turf believes some of the flaws noticed will be rectified in tomorrow’s international friendly with seven-time champions Egypt.

Goals from Odion Ighalo, Henry Onyekuru and substitute Moses Simon ensured Seychelles left Asaba empty handed.

Pharaohs Land in Asaba for Big Clash with Eagles

Zenith/Delta Principals’ Cup: Keshi Stadium to Host Final April 1

The delegation of seven-time African champions Egypt have arrived in Nigeria for tomorrow’s prestige friendly with Nigeria’s Super Eagles.

Yesterday morning, a chartered Air Peace aircraft flew from Nigeria to Niamey, capital of Niger Republic to airlift the delegation to Asaba, capital of Delta State, where they confront three –time African champions Nigeria to tomorrow evening.

The Pharaohs, already qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations that they host this

The final of this year’s edition of the Delta State Principals’ Cup has been fixed for April 1 and venue is the Stephen Keshi Stadium, Asaba.

Incidentally, this venue has hosted international matches in recent time. The Super Eagles defeated Seychelles 3-1on Friday at the arena and today, the U-23 team will tackle Libya in an AFCON qualifier second led tie. Also tomorrow, the Super Eagle will clash with the Pharaohs in an international friendly encounter.

summer, drew 1-1 with hosts Niger Republic on Saturday in one of the final –day AFCON qualifying matches.

The delegation of 24 players, 21 technical and backroom staff and five journalists landed at the Asaba Airport in the early afternoon, and is accommodated at Golden Tulip Hotel.

The Pharaohs will train at the Stephen Keshi Stadium on Monday evening, after the Africa U23 Cup of Nations qualifier between Nigeria and Libya.

No doubt, the people of Delta will continue with this football feast on Monday next week when the final of the youth football competition sponsored by Zenith Bank takes centre stage.

Governor Ifeanyi Okowa who entered into a partnership agreement with the sponsors three years ago to revive the competition which was in limbo for 27 years, has confirmed that he will be present for the final.

The governor was present at the final of the first and second

edition of the tournament and the young ones will also be glad to have him around this term.

Commissioner for Basic and secondary Education, Chiedu Ebie, confirmed at the weekend that Govvernor Okowa would be at the final.

The organisers led by Tony Pemu are excited as all the four finalists that will compete for honours on the final day.

Pemu said all arrangements have been concluded to make the April 1 date grand for all

participants.

“We are all happy that the date is here and the schools are ready to excite us with their talents,” Pemu said.

Only last week, Group Managing Director of Zenith Bank, Peter Amangbo, stated that plans were in place to make this year’s final better than the previous ones.

He commended the finalists of the competition which involved hundreds of private and public secondary schools in the state.

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MISSILE Wike to Nigeria Army “He is here to fight crime and not to play politics.If soldiers fight crime, the way they intervened in the elections, there will be no kidnapper anywhere.”

– Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike demanding the redeployment of the General Officer Commanding 6 Division, Nigerian Army, Port Harcourt, Maj Gen Jamil Sarham, for his alleged unprofessional conduct during the general election.

ALEXOTTI OUTSIDE THE BOX

alex.otti@thisdaylive.com

First Bank: Still Standing Gidigba 125 Years After

T

his week marks the celebration of the 125th anniversary of the existence of the First Bank franchise in Nigeria.

This stands the bank out as one of the earliest institutions established in West Africa, and obviously, one of the handful still in existence today.

The bank began as the Bank of British West Africa (BBWA) in 1894 and quickly began playing the role of the Central Bank of British West Africa in the absence of a regulator at those medieval times in the sub region. The bank witnessed the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern protectorates and the eventual independence of Nigeria in 1960. It was founded by Alfred Lewis Jones, a shipping magnate who imported silver currency into West Africa through Elder Dempster shipping company also owned by him.

In 1957, the bank changed its name to Bank of West Africa (BWA). Sequel to Nigeria’s independence in 1960, the bank began to extend more credit to indigenous Nigerians as most of its credit facilities were hitherto concentrated on foreigners living in the erstwhile colony.

Standard Bank acquired the Bank of West Africa in 1966 and changed its name to Standard Bank of West Africa. In 1969, Standard Bank of West Africa incorporated its Nigerian operations and its name had to change once again, this time to Standard Bank of Nigeria Ltd (SBN).

In 1971, SBN listed its shares on the Nigerian Stock Exchange and placed 13% of its share capital with Nigerian investors. Following the implementation of the indigenisation policy of the then military government soon after the civil war, Standard Chartered Bank reduced its stake in SBN to 38%. This action led to another change in name to First Bank of Nigeria in 1979 as Standard Chartered Bank insisted that since it had lost majority control, the bank should no longer bear its name since by the action, it had failed to be its full fledged subsidiary.

This marked a watershed in the history of the bank as more Nigerians were appointed to the board and it began to look and operate more like a Nigerian bank. The bank had subsequently moved from a limited liability company to a publicly quoted company and back to a limited liability company which it presently is. The latest status is in compliance with changes in the regulatory environment in 2012 that required that the group operates as a holding company, with the bank as one of its subsidiaries or spin off other operations not related to banking. That marked the birth of FBN Holdings which presently has the bank and non bank subsidiaries as part of the group.

In 1982, First Bank opened a branch in London and converted same to a full fledged subsidiary, FBN Bank (UK) in 2002. Two years later, in 2004, a representative office in Johannesburg, South Africa, debuted. At the moment, First Bank has subsidiaries or representative offices in France, China, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Guinea and Senegal. At the last count, First Bank had presence across 10 countries in three continents. It operates from over 750 locations and employs close to 22,000 people. Its has over N3.3trillion in total assets. It also boasts over N2.5trillion in Customer deposits with a tidy 19% Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR).

The bank has over 1.3m shareholders and over 14million customers.

Before going further, I must, in the full disclosure tradition of this column, declare that I joined First Bank as an Assistant General Manager on April 1, 2001 and left 10 years after, having risen to the position of Executive Director in 2011.

I joined as part of the transformation team of

First Bank MD, Adesola Adeduntan

the bank set up following a decision to institute comprehensive reforms in the bank. The project, titled, “Century 2, the New Frontier” effected a total change in the way things were done in the bank. Readers will realize, in the course of this essay, that a major part of the resilience and longevity of the bank has to do with its ability to keep pace with changes, not just in the banking ecosystem, but the global environment.

It is pertinent to note that so many institutions and companies disappear after only a few years of existence and therefore, there must be some distinguishing characteristics that have made First Bank, not only to survive but to excel in the last one decade and a quarter. I will attempt to share my own thoughts on this, which would definitely not be exhaustive.

One thing that stands the bank out is that everything it does is woven around strategy.

In my days at the institution, and I believe it should still be the same now, the bank will start a year with long board and management strategy sessions. These comprise long and short term strategies. The long term strategies normally have a horizon of 5 years while the short term ones are normally between one and three years.

I am sure some people, particularly in other environments, will argue that 5-year strategies would be at best described as medium term, but the truth is that in the Nigerian market, 5 years is even too long given how rapidly things change here!

Organizations succeed and fail on strategy.

The profound saying that when you fail to plan, you plan to fail fits in perfectly here. It is also said that when you are not certain about where you are going, any road takes you there.

Having a clear strategy is one thing, achieving flawless execution is another. I am aware of organisations that are very long on plans and short on implementation. On this, you must give it to First Bank as it is also very good on monitoring and measurement. It is a known fact that what doesn’t get measured, hardly gets done. So, to execute, you must have measurement tools and put in place, a system that not only rewards good performance but also poor performance. I can still remember our strategy sessions as we joined in 2011, where the then CEO, Mr. Bernard Longe reeled out the Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG) of “being twice as large as the second largest bank in Nigeria by a defined future date”. Yes, the bank may not

have achieved that goal within the timeframe, but it did have a goal and it did work towards that goal. It is in strategy that you define who you want to be, who you want to serve, how you want to serve them and what distinguishes you from the “guy down the road”. Once you have those agreed, the tools and the people must also be addressed. I have seen situations where management disbands a strategy put in place by the organisation only to replace it with a weak strategy or none at all and in consequence end up as lunch for competition.

First Bank is noted for its very strong corporate governance regime. I believe this is at the heart of the longevity of the bank. In our days and I believe it is the same till today, there are things you simply could not do irrespective of who you were. Just like any organsation, the bank had a soul, meaning the key board members who called the shots. But every decision had to go through a process. Having survived over a long period of time, most things were documented and rules were strictly adhered to. I recall that even loan applications from viable businesses of shareholders of the bank must not only be disclosed, but must go through rigorous processes before they were approved. And with the Risk Management function under very experienced professionals with the brilliant Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, who was later to become CEO of the bank and six months later, the CBN Governor and currently the Emir of Kano, you couldn’t go round the process. By the way, it will not be out of place to mention that I was appointed an Executive Director the same day, September 4, 2005 with HRH Sanusi who had joined from UBA. Others appointed same day with us were Oladele Oyelola, Remi Babalola who went on to become Minister of State For Finance, and Mrs Bola Adesola, the current CEO of Standard Chartered Bank. We joined the only surviving executive director from the regime before ours, Mr. John Aboh, who is the current Chairman of Ecobank Nigeria and the then CEO of the bank, Mr. Jacobs Moyo Ajekigbe.

As we were appointed, we were handed over a merger and acquisition deal, (some called it outright takeover bid) with another bank with footprints in some other African countries. The deal looked good on the surface, but some of us saw danger in the whole transaction as proposed.

We struggled with that transaction for close to two years before resting it. Even though there was very strong support for the deal from some influential shareholders, management thought it was not going to create value for First Bank and therefore had to let it die a natural death.

Yours truly had argued then that based on “back of the envelope analysis”, over 60% of mergers and acquisition destroy shareholder value. This my held position was to be corroborated by the Harvard Business Review Report in 2015 which stated that between 70% and 90% of mergers and acquisition destroy shareholder value and in fact fail. The reasons for failure are fully documented in the literature. One is glad that we still have the foremost Nigerian bank with us today celebrating its 125 years anniversary as some of us are persuaded that the situation would not have been the same if that deal went through. On this note, permit me to acknowledge the resilience of Mr. Jacobs Moyo Ajekigbe who showed strength of character as the buck naturally stopped on his table.

One of the lessons to learn from the First Bank story is its ability to adapt to changing situations in the environment. For an organisation to adapt, it must understand the environment and be able to read changes and sometimes predict them,

even before they happen. The reality is that human beings will normally gravitate around their comfort zones and oftentimes, become very resistant to change. It is only an organisation that constantly interrogates the status quo that will be able to adapt to changes or even lead the change itself. In our time, we realized that we had what our Human Capital Management department referred to an “aging workforce”.

Like Clinton would say about Senator Dole, “we did not have a problem with their age, but with the age of their ideas”. The bank started a workforce renewal strategy which saw to the entry of young people with fresh ideas who could relate to the youthful population who were basically in control of the “new money”.

To attract them, one needed people that not only looked like them but also reasoned like them.

An age band was approved by management for different levels in the staff cadre. This tilted the average age of staff down significantly. Younger people were selected to replace those retiring on account of age. Technology was massively deployed as part of strategy. Service delivery, which was measured by external consultants, spiked in the positive direction. The bank was able to compete with smaller and younger banks, giving them a run for their money.

The brand equity is an important part of any organisation, more so a bank. First Bank benefited so much from its brand. Because some banks had come and gone and bank failures has not ceased even at this moment, the bank benefitted from its longevity. Some people joke about dead people’s money being warehoused in the bank.

Besides, what the brand represents is also the conscious effort at tweaking the brand to be in tune with modernity, of course without doing away with the reassuring effect of the ‘elephant’.

I remember with nostalgia, the first strategy session we attended in Gateway Hotel, Otta in 2001, a new colleague, had proposed that the bank should do away with the elephant as the animal is not known to be smart, fast and efficient. We were all shocked at the response he got. Virtually everyone, except those of them that were new, charged at him, in the manner of the elephant he wanted removed. That was the last time he made that kind of suggestion. It was considered a heresy to remove the elephant.

The rest of the people that mustered courage to speak about the elephant talked about how to make it nimble, how to face it forward rather than backwards, how to get the elephant to raise one of its legs and generally how it would reflect efficiency in strength.

Finally, I have always maintained that an organisation cannot be better than its people.

First Bank has built a culture of employing very sound and good people. The recruitment process is excellent and gives little or no room for manipulation. The reward system ensures that the best people stay and misfits are gradually eased out. The compensation system remains competitive from what I hear and positions at the top are tenured such that the CEO and Executive Directors must retire after a maximum of two tenures of 3 years each. This policy makes it difficult for people to sit tight at those levels and also keeps the top open for deserving younger people to aspire. It is my sincere hope and belief that these time-honoured traditions of First Bank endure.

Let me therefore join millions of Nigerians to congratulate First Bank on this 125th Anniversary celebration and wish the Board, Management, Staff, Shareholders and Customers well. Of course, I pray for the continued sense of camaraderie that exists among the ex-staff of First Bank.

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