TUESDAY 24TH SEPTEMBER 2019

NERC Probes Alleged Power Rejection by Discos TCN, electricity distributors renew brickbats over poor supply Ejiofor Alike in Lagos and Chineme Okafor in Abuja The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has launched an

investigation into the frequent claims by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) that the 11 electricity distribution companies (Discos) frequently reject volumes of

electricity sent to them for distribution to homes and offices.

A chief executive officer of one of the Discos told THISDAY that the regulatory

agency was probing the allegations that they were rejecting electricity allocated to them.

“We complain of poor supply and someone is saying

that we reject supply. If I don’t have power to sell, how do I make money? What will I present to my shareholders to justify the huge investments they have made? We don’t

have power because TCN facilities are very weak, among other factors. But the TCN has repeatedly accused us of Continued on page 6

Atiku Asks S’Court to Quash Tribunal’s Affirmation of Buhari’s Election... Page 6 Tuesday 24 September, 2019 Vol 24. No 8933. Price: N250

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Nigeria, Foreign Legal Team Plot Strategy to Stop P&ID’s $9.6bn Award Malami, Emefiele, in London, renew battle for more royalties from oil majors Iyobosa Uwugiaren in Abuja and Ejiofor Alike with agency reports Ahead of Thursday’s legal fireworks in London between Nigeria and Process and Industrial Developments Limited (P&ID) over the $9.6 billion arbitral award a British commercial court affirmed for the company against the federal government, the

Nigerian delegation to the court session and the foreign legal team have held a strategic meeting on how to stop the claim.

The Nigerian delegation, which included the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN); Inspector General of Police, Mr. Continued on page 6

Supreme Court Won’t be Subservient to Anybody, Says CJN Makes case for financial autonomy for judiciary Three years after, Ngwuta resumes Supreme Court sitting Alex Enumah in Abuja The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Ibrahim Muhammad, yesterday assured Nigerians that the Supreme Court under his watch will never be subservient to any person in Nigeria or another arm of government.

He also warned government

at all levels and their agencies against the continued disobedience to court judgments, saying it is time for them to obey the rule of law and court judgments.

The declaration of the CJN, who spoke yesterday in Abuja at a special session of the Supreme Continued on page 8

PROMOTING AFRICAN VALUES...

L-R: President, Dangote Group of Companies, Alhaji Aliko Dangote; Chairman and Founder, Mo Ibrahim Foundation, Dr. Mo Ibrahim and Principal Founder of Microsoft Corporation, Mr. Bill Gates, at the inaugural forum of The African Center in New York… yesterday

Climate Change: World Heads Towards Catastrophe, Buhari Tells UN... Page 8

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Atiku Asks S’Court to Quash Tribunal’s Affirmation of Buhari’s Election Alex Enumah in Abuja The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last presidential election, Atiku Abubakar and his party have formally filed their appeal against the judgment of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal at the Supreme Court.

A senior lawyer in the legal team of Atiku and PDP, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), who confirmed the filing of the appeal to THISDAY yesterday, said the appeal was predicated on 66 grounds, which outlined how the tribunal erred in its verdict on Atiku and PDP's petition against the election of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The five-man tribunal, led

by Justice Mohammed Garba, had in its judgment delivered on September 11, dismissed the petition filed by Atiku and PDP for being incompetent and lacking in merit.

The panel in dismissing the petition, held that Atiku and PDP were unable to substantiate their

allegations that the election was rigged in favour of Buhari and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The tribunal further held that the petitioners did not produce relevant witnesses to convince them that Buhari did not possess necessary educational qualification to be president.

Though Ozekhome did not list any of the 66 grounds on which the appeal was predicated, findings revealed that the appeals are centered on issues bordering on the qualification of Buhari in the election and the controversial Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), server among others.

Earlier, another lawyer to the appellants, who had over the weekend spoken to THISDAY in confidence, had said: “We will file latest on Monday, September 23, and at most, due to any unforeseen reason,

by September 24. Bear in mind that the deadline for submission is Wednesday. We won’t file on Wednesday for tactical reasons.�

Among the grounds he listed included claims that the judgment of the tribunal was not based on the issues canvassed by the petitioners, especially in relation to the respondent’s academic qualifications.

He said: "Take, for instance, one of the respondent’s witnesses, Major General Paul Tarfa (rtd), called by President Muhammadu Buhari’s lawyers said that they did not give their qualifications to the Military Board. Tarfa’s testimony is against the claim

by Buhari that the Nigeria military is in possession of his certificates. “Secondly, Buhari said that he was recruited into the military in 1961 and Tarfa said in 1962, so what is the correct date of his recruitment into the army?

Somebody is not telling the truth.

"The issue in question is who entered the different grades for him from both the Cambridge and the West African School Certificate results? This is the first time that the court will say that the documents are admitted in the interest of justice. So, who

entered the different grades for him and if he did it, why?

Another reason for the appeal is that the president’s Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, brought the Cambridge documents dated July 18 and testified on July 20. “The point here is that it was not pleaded, when the respondent replied to the petition of Atiku and PDP. The position of the appellants is that in law, you don’t speak on documents not pleaded,� the source added.

The appellants are also claiming that the WAEC documents contradicted the Cambridge documents, describing it as a case of forgery and inconsistency in documents.

The lawyer added, “On the INEC server, the judgment of the PEPT said the INEC server was hacked and we then asked, which of the servers was hacked? “The tribunal judgment was based on the Electoral Act section 52 (1) (B), but this aspect of the law has since been deleted in 2015. It is no longer in existence.

This was the case in Wike Vs

Peterside. “If the judgment said INEC server was recklessly hacked, then, there is a server and, therefore, a criminal offence.

Yet, INEC did not claim so or that its documents were stolen.

How come the judge reached this scandalous decision? “The appellants are therefore praying the apex court to hold that the tribunal erred in its decision and consequently set the tribunal's judgment aside and go ahead to grant all the reliefs sought.�

Atiku and PDP had sued INEC before the tribunal for declaring Buhari winner of the February 23 presidential election.

Sued along the electoral umpire include Buhari and APC. In the petition filed on March 18, the petitioners, amongst other things, alleged that INEC in connivance with agencies of the ruling government manipulated the outcome of the poll in favour of Buhari.

They further alleged that Buhari at the time of contesting

the poll was not qualified having not possessed requisite academic qualification and as such all votes credited to him in the election be regarded as wasted votes.

Atiku and PDP in the petition therefore urged the tribunal to nullify the emergence of Buhari on grounds of alleged irregularities, rigging and substantial noncompliance with the electoral provisions, amongst others.

Among the grounds the petitioners were seeking the nullification of Buhari's election was that the president lied on oath in his Form CF001 submitted to INEC for his clearance for the election.

The president had claimed that he possessed three certificates namely, Primary School Certificate, West African School Certificate (WASC) and Officers Cadet Certificate but unlike others did not attach copies of any of the certificates to support his claim.

They therefore prayed the tribunal to declare them winner of the February 23 presidential election.

issue without any results. “We organised a team of six and set them up with a specific mandate to call a meeting with all the Discos and TCN. They all came and we met them for five days to discuss the bottlenecks at the interface and they opened up and at the end of the day, we put them in a room to negotiate a resolution to the challenges.

We enumerated about 25 points that are the challenges and they were able to agree on common challenge and how they will

resolve them. “They all signed and we were very happy that they had finally agreed on how to resolve the issues. We subsequently wrote them letters to intimate them we will be monitoring their progress on the issues.�

He added that the meeting was to address the technical challenges identified as reasons for the load-shedding while the next phase of the investigation would be the commercial aspects.

He said: “We were about to go

on site visits to inspect the extent of their work but I stopped that because we need to also be abreast with the commercial issues so we can engage them comprehensively and that is where we are. “We know the issues are also commercial, but we are putting our hands first in the technical challenges. But all these challenges we will get into them fully and our staff will find out why the MYTO allocations are different

The PSC signed in 1990s allows the federal government to review revenue sharing once the oil price rises above $20 per barrel.

Asked about the government’s demands to recover revenue from the IOCs, Malami said the sums in question were “huge�. “We are taking steps to recover what we feel is due,� said Malami, adding he could not give a precise figure as multiple actions and suits were underway. “One thing I can say is that the amount is substantial and colossal, there is no doubt about it,� said Malami, not naming the companies.

Earlier this year, industry and government sources told Reuters that Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Eni, Total and Equinor were each asked to pay the federal government between $2.5 billion and $5 billion.

A spokesperson for Shell in Nigeria told Reuters yesterday: “We do not agree with the legal basis for the claim that we owe outstanding revenues and the matter is pending before the court.�

Exxon declined to comment.

Eni, Total, Equinor and Chevron did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Oil majors are keen to get involved in developing and operating Nigeria’s giant offshore fields.

Malami is in London as part of a delegation of Nigerian policymakers who will meet stakeholders and investors as well as attend a court hearing on a $9 billion arbitration case the government disputes.

The federal government had earlier given the IOCs operating in Nigeria’s deep offshore and inland basin an ultimatum to pay all outstanding revenues on PSCs. The government had said the revenues are in compliance with the Supreme Court judgment last October.

The judgment noted that the IOCs are in default of adjusting the revenue accruals in accordance with the provisions of section

16(1) of the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contracts Act, Cap D3, Laws of the Federation, 2004.

The government had also threatened to file a complaint against such defaulting oil firm at international fora under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in the United States of America and other related international protocols for failing to observe the mandatory obligations under Section 16(1) of the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Act. Following a suit filed by the Attorneys-General of Rivers, Bayelsa and Akwa Ibom States, the Supreme Court in a landmark judgment on October 17, 2018, had ordered the federal government to adjust its share of proceeds from the sale of crude oil whenever the price exceeds $20 per barrel.

Malami confirmed yesterday that several cases are in court.

NERC PROBES ALLEGED POWER RE JECTION BY DISCOS rejecting electricity allocated to us. Their accusations are in the public domain. And you know that we receive the bashing because we are the only ones in the electricity value chain that deal directly with consumers.

To get to the root of the matter, NERC is carrying out investigation,� the source stated.

Also, the Chairman of NERC, Prof. James Momoh, confirmed to THISDAY yesterday that the regulatory agency had set up a six-man panel, which included

independent external industry operators, to investigate the claims.

He said from the preliminary observations of the investigative team, the country could retrieve up to 3,800 megawatts of electricity for distribution to end-users.

Momoh’s disclosure came just when the TCN and Discos resumed their war of words over poor electricity supply with the Discos accusing the TCN of spending $1.6 billion on transmission projects without

visible results.

The TCN, however, fired back, saying it has not spent $1.6 billion on transmission projects.

It equally claimed that the Discos were ignorant of the procurement processes for its transmission infrastructure.

Momoh, while shedding light on the recriminations between the two key players in the power sector, said: “The commission initiated a fact-finding initiative on load rejection because we had engaged them regularly on this

Continued on page 8

NIGERIA, FOREIGN LEGAL TEAM PLOT STRATEGY TO STOP P&ID’S $9.6BN AWARD Mohammed Adamu and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, which left Nigeria for Britain on Saturday, met for five hours on Sunday with the foreign legal team to brainstorm on steps to quash the judgment of the British court affirming the $6.5 billion arbitral award to P&ID, which, as at the last computation, had ballooned to $9.6 billion due to accretion from interest payment.

Besides Malami, the IG and Emefiele, other members of the delegation are the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed and the acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ibrahim Magu.

Malami, in a text message yesterday, said the Nigerian delegation met with their local and international legal team at the Nigerian High Commission in London and took briefings from the teams in Nigeria and UK on how to develop strategies targeted at setting aside the $9.6 billion judgment in favour of P&ID. Malami’s message came on the same day REUTERS reported him and Emefiele as renewing Nigeria’s battle to get more royalties from crude oil from International Oil Companies (IOCs).

While Emefiele said Nigeria could have earned more from crude oil royalties if the oil majors had been more cooperative, Malami stated that Nigeria was claiming “colossal� sums of money from the oil majors under the Production Sharing Contract (PSC) agreement that allows the government to revisit revenue sharing from petroleum sales if crude exceeds $20 per barrel.

In addition, Malami, Mohammed, Emefiele and Magu took turns, in their engagement with foreign media, to analyse the implications of the British court giving the nod to P&ID to seize Nigeria’s assets to recoup the over $9.6 billion arbitral claim.

The attorney general said Nigeria would do whatever it

could to stop the claim.

However, giving an update on the main mission of the delegation to Britain yesterday, Malami said: “The meeting started at around 6p.m. and concluded at around 11p.m. yesterday, being September 22, 2019. “We had series of press sensitisation engagements today with REUTERS and FINANCIAL TIMES, among others, where we elaborated on the antecedent relating to the contract and entertained questions from the media.�

As to whether the Nigerian delegation have the mandate to file a new case based on the new realities of the contract or would build on the previous judgment, Malami said: “All cards are on table but it all depends on the beneficial that has potency for setting aside the award, having regards to the applicable law in the circumstances.�

Malami said no possibility was ruled out including, “possibility of filling new case or using existing proceedings to seek relief of setting aside the award of the contract cannot be ruled out.’’

FG: We’ll Take Any Step to Protect Nigeria from $9.6bn Payment The attorney general also told REUTERS that Nigeria will do “whatever it takes� to protect its economy from the $9.6 billion arbitral claim.

He, however, added that the federal government would not rule out a settlement with P&ID. “We will do whatever it takes to ensure the protection of the interests of the Nigerian government and the Nigerian people,� he stated.

Asked if the country would be open to an out-of-court settlement, Malami said he was not ruling out any possibilities, though Nigeria had not been approached formally

by P&ID. The company said earlier this month that if the government would “come to the negotiating table, P&ID is ready for serious

talks.� It did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday. “One of the arguments we are putting up is that the court is not supposed to grant the application of P&ID relating to the attachment of Nigerian international assets,� said Malami.

The judge’s decision had converted the arbitration award to a legal judgment and the sum, including interest accrued since 2013, soared to more than $9 billion.

Once the court issues a ruling, P&ID could start targeting assets such as real estate, bank accounts or any kind of moveable wealth.

However, it has to prove the property is unrelated to Nigeria’s operations as a sovereign state.

The information minister also said he expected most assets would not be affected, adding that the government was, however, assessing for vulnerabilities.

Last week, one former petroleum ministry official was charged with accepting bribes and failing to follow protocol, while two men linked to P&ID pleaded guilty to charges of fraud and tax evasion on behalf of the company. “Investigations are ongoing,�

Magu also said.

On his part, Emefiele warned that seizing Nigeria’s assets worth $9.6 billion or more would have ramifications well beyond the economic impact on Nigeria. “You can imagine what sort of refugee situation it will create as Nigeria has the largest populated country in Africa. This should not be allowed to happen. If it happens... what you’ll see with refugees through Libya will be a small thing,� he said.

The federal government had recently served notice that all government officials and others connected with the process through which P&ID got the Gas Supply and Processing Agreement (GSPA) with the federal government and later secured the arbitral award following Nigeria’s alleged default, would not escape the

ongoing probe into the incident.

Malami, EmeďŹ ele, in London, Renew Battle for More Royalties from Oil Majors As part of their engagements yesterday in London, Malami and Emefiele fielded questions from REUTERS during which they made a case for why oil majors should pay more royalties to Nigeria.

Their campaign for more royalties from international oil companies (IOCs) to beef up declining revenue came amidst fiscal crisis occasioned by falling revenue from oil, Nigeria’s major source of foreign exchange earnings.

Emefiele said the country could have earned more from crude oil royalties if the oil majors had been more cooperative.

He accused the oil majors of shortchanging Nigeria by not triggering a process to review the royalties to be paid by the IOCs when oil price exceeded $20 per barrel as stipulated in the PSC agreement signed with the federal government.

According to him, the oil majors have been delaying the process rather than initiating a review once oil prices crossed the $20 per barrel threshold as provided in the PSC. He said: “You think it should be forgotten and we shouldn’t revisit it given that it resulted in substantial loss of revenue to the government? “It stands for me to reason that the IOCs deliberately did not trigger event for review because it benefits them - and that is something that we kick against.�

On his part, Malami said Nigeria was claiming “colossal� sums of money from the oil majors under the PSC agreements that allow the government to revisit revenue sharing from petroleum sales if crude exceeds $20 per barrel.

Malami said yesterday that a number of court cases were already underway.

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Climate Change: World Heads Towards Catastrophe, Buhari Tells UN Unveils Nigeria's plan to achieve 30% energy efficiency in 2030 Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday echoed the SecretaryGeneral of the United Nations (UN), Antonio Gutteres, that the world is heading towards a climate calamity.

Speaking at the UN Climate Action Summit at the ongoing 74th UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, with the theme, 'A Race We Can Win, A Race We Must Win,' Buhari who said he shared the sentiment earlier expressed by Gutteres, described climate change as a global phenomenon.

A copy of the president’s speech, which he delivered at the occasion, was sent to THISDAY by e-mail.

He said: "I share the sentiment expressed by the Secretary General that the world is on the verge of climate catastrophe.

Undeniably, climate change is a human-induced phenomenon."

Reiterating Nigeria’s commitment to the Paris Agreement, Buhari acquainted the summit with Nigeria's plans to combat climate change, saying that in the energy sector for instance, Nigeria is set to achieve 30 per cent energy efficiency and renewable energy by 2030.

"In the energy sector, Nigeria is presently diversifying its energy sources from dependence on gas-powered system to hydro, solar, wind, biomass and nuclear sources. Specifically, Nigeria is progressively working to realise 30 per cent energy efficiency and renewable energy mix by 2030.

This is envisaged to lead to 179 million tonnes of carbon dioxide reduction per annum by 2030."

He expressed Nigeria’s plan towards developing what he described as "a more robust sectoral action plan," to enlarge the frontiers of the country's sovereign green bonds.

He also spoke on the country's

Buhari plan in the water sector, including the federal government's plans on irrigation, water supply, solid and liquid waste management.

The president also told the summit on the plan of the federal government to develop a shelter belt across 11 states covering 1,500 kilometres and beyond as well as the implementation of hydrocarbon pollution

remediation programme in Ogoniland.

"In the water sector, Nigeria will issue a Green Bond for irrigation and construct multi-purpose dams for power, irrigation and water supply. We will strengthen solid and liquid waste management systems to attract more private sector investors.

"We will take concrete steps to harness climate innovative ideas by including youths in decision making processes as part of our over-all climate governance architecture. We will mobilise Nigerian youths towards planting 25 million trees to enhance Nigeria’s carbon sink...

"In addition, our administration intends to develop a shelter belt across 11 states of the federation spanning a distance of 1,500 km and 15km across through the Great Green Wall initiative. Furthermore, the federal government has commenced the implementation

of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Programme in Ogoniland, to recover the carbon sink potential of the mangrove ecosystem of the one thousand square kilometers (1,000 KM2) polluted site in the affected area," he said.

Buhari added that the country has introduced what he termed climate smart agricultural practices to serve as a platform for unlocking 74 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per annum through the use of technologies, advocacy and best practices.

He also spoke passionately about the state of the Lake Chad and called for effective partnership of the international community in the effort to recharge the lake and restore the livelihood of no fewer than 40 million people whom he said depended on the lake for survival.

"As you are aware, the Lake Chad Basin, which used to be a region of productivity, food

security and wealth for an estimated 40 million citizens living around the Chad Basin, has shrunk significantly from its original size due to climate change.

"We will continue to lead in efforts to have solid partnerships for the ecological restoration and recharge of the lake. We are confident that this would improve the living conditions of the diverse nationals living in the area, promote inter-state cooperation, strengthen community resilience, as well as assist in addressing the environmental and security crisis that threaten the region, its resources and inhabitants.

"Finally, permit me to add that the 40 million citizens in the Lake Chad area expect this summit to take into consideration their concerns. They anticipate that the outcomes of this meeting would include solutions to address the climate change impact in the Lake Chad area," he stated.

elements amongst them.

He, however, suggested that in doing so, the judiciary must deploy the self-regulating processes within the NJC and in line with constitutional provisions.

He condemned the process that culminated in the retirement of Justice Onnoghen.

According to the NBA president, the process "showed a brazen external intrusion and interference in the disciplinary processes of the judiciary in a manner that undermine its independence and by extension, the rule of law.

"The process was not only contrary to the provisions of our law but also degraded and desecrated the hallowed dignity that is attached to the office of Chief Justice of Nigeria."

Also speaking, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), called on justices of the Supreme Court not to bow to the pressures of different political actors, irrespective of any irregularity that might have occurred in the course of dispensing justice by different election tribunals. “It is important that this court, as a final arbiter, remains just and resolute in resolving all issues presented before it.

He said, in the last legal year the administration of justice received boosts in the areas of Anti-Corruption Policy Drive (which successfully introduced zero tolerance to corrupt practices and entrenched integrity and

ethical conducts in the task of governance).

Meanwhile, three years after he was suspended from sitting, Justice Ngwuta, who faced trial for corruption, has resumed his official duties.

Fully dressed in the official robe, Justice Ngwuta was sighted yesterday among other justices of the court at the inauguration of new SANs in the Supreme Court’s ceremonial courtroom.

Justice Ngwuta, now one of the most senior Justices of the Supreme Court, has not sat in open court since November 4, 2016 following a directive by the National Judicial Council (NJC) that judicial officers being investigated on corruptionrelated allegations should cease to perform their judicial functions until the conclusion of investigation.

He was one of the two justices of the Supreme Court whose houses were raided by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) between October 7 and 8, 2016.

He is the third most senior judge on the bench of the apex court behind Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivour.

The DSS had claimed that it found hard currencies believed to be proceeds of corruption in his residence.

He was asked to step aside from his duties, though his salary

was not stopped, to face charges of money laundering brought against him at the Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja.

He was first arraigned before the Federal High Court in Abuja on corruption-related charges and later arraigned before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) over his alleged failure to declare some of his assets.

Both charges were filed by the office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF).

On March 23, 2018, the Federal High Court upheld his challenge of the competence of the charge and discharged him.

Justice John Tsoho, in a ruling, relied on the Court of Appeal decision in the appeal by Justice Hyeladzira Nganjiwa (of the Federal High Court) and held that it was wrong to subject Justice Ngwuta to trial before his court without first subjecting him to the disciplinary procedure of the NJC. On May 15, 2018 the CCT also ruled in a similar manner and struck out the charge against Justice Ngwuta.

Since the last decision by the CCT, Justice Ngwuta has not resumed normal judicial functions. He has not been sighted sitting as a member of any panel of the court either.

However, the CCT overruled itself on this precedence in the case of Justice Onnoghen.

Onnoghen was found guilty and convicted of false asset declaration in April – without discipline or recommendation by the NJC.

otherwise. The Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) continues to deal with, largely, a TCN that finds it difficult to move away from a PHCN-legacy of uncleared equipment containers, analogue-based and informal communications systems and frequent explosions and burnings of transmission sub-stations and transformers,� it added.

But in a swift response, the General Manager, Public Affairs of the TCN, Mrs. Ndidi Mbah, said ANED was ignorant of the TREP procurement processes and that the TCN had not spent $1.6 billion as claimed by the association on transmission infrastructure.

Mbah said: “We have not

spent $1.6 billion. Words are usually cheap, and anybody can say things to their desire but let the Discos show prove that we have spent $1.6 billion. “Let them prove the expenditure and numerous collapses. It is ignorant of them to make such claims and that shows they actually do not know how the procurements for transmission infrastructure is done in the TREP. The multilateral funds have been secured but we have to go through procurement on each of the transmission projects that they cover and so far, we have only done that for the Abuja project. These processes take time.�

SUPREME COURT WON’T BE SUBSERVIENT TO ANYBODY, SAYS CJN Court marking the 2019/2020 Legal Year, came against the backdrop of the growing perception by many that the judiciary, including the Supreme Court, have been cowed by the executive could not effectively discharge its functions.

The perception was fed by the perceived underhand tactics allegedly employed by the presidency to oust Justice Muhammad’s predecessor, Justice Walter Onnoghen.

The highlight of yesterday’s event was the inauguration of 38 new Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs), amongst whom are the Solicitor-General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Justice, Dayo Apata; wife of a justice of the apex court, Adedoyin Rhodes-Vivour, and Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa.

However, standing out among those who graced the occasion was Justice Sylvester Ngwuta who returned to the Supreme Court three years after he stepped aside to face trial for corruption.

But Muhammad, in his speech on the state of the judiciary delivered yesterday, said though he might have assumed office as CJN, "after the unfortunate events that shook the Nigerian judiciary to its foundation," he was determined to leave behind a justice system that would be the pride of all.

Speaking on the independence of the judiciary, Muhammad said: "The Nigerian judiciary, to a large extent, is independent in

conducting its affairs and taking decisions on matters before it without any extraneous influence.

"At the Supreme Court, like I have always said, we are totally independent in the way we conduct our affairs, especially judgments. We don't pander to anybody's whims and caprices.

If there is any deity to be feared, it is Almighty God. "We will never be subservient to anybody, no matter his position in the society."

The CJN, however, admitted that the judiciary cannot enjoy or know true independence if it has to beg for funds to run its office, as the current situation portrays.

He said: "It is like saying a cow is free to graze about in the meadow but at the same time, tying it firmly to a tree.

Where is the freedom?�

The CJN appealed to governments at all levels to "free the judiciary from the financial bondage it has been subjected to over the years.�

"Let it not just said to be independent but should, in words and actions, be seen to be truly independent. We would not like to negotiate our financial independence under any guise," he said.

The CJN also used the occasion to stress the need for all to adhere to the tenets of the rule of law at all times to avoid a situation of anarchy and also preserve the nation's democracy.

"The rule of law, which is the bastion of democracy across the world, will be strictly observed

in our dealings and we must impress it on governments at all levels to actively toe that path. The right of every citizen against any form of oppression and impunity must be jealously guided and protected with the legal tools at our disposal.

"All binding court orders must be obeyed; nobody, irrespective of his or her position, will be allowed to toy with court judgments. We must collectively show the desired commitment to the full enthronement of the rule of law in the land.

"As we all know, flagrant disobedience of court orders or non-compliance with judicial orders is a direct invitation to anarchy in the society", he stated.

While stressing that such acts are antithetical to the rule of law in a democratic environment, Muhammad said the Supreme Court under his watch would, however, not tolerate it.

Also, President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Paul Usoro (SAN), decried the poor remuneration of judicial officers, noting that "we betray our vaunted fight against corruption in the judiciary and public sector when we remunerate our judicial and public officers most inadequately as we currently do.�

He appealed to stakeholders to review upward the compensation packages of the judicial officers at all levels as a step towards eliminating corruption in the judiciary.

Usoro similarly tasked the judiciary not to relent on efforts at ridding itself of any corrupt

Three Years After, Ngwuta Resumes Supreme Court Sitting

NERC PROBES ALLEGED POWER RE JECTION BY DISCOS from the daily nominations.�

According to Momoh, the NERC has “no choice and we will get into it.�

But the timeline for resolving the challenges would depend on the project timeline the Discos and TCN presented to NERC. “We discovered that if the interface challenge is resolved, we will be able to release 3,800 megawatts of the stranded power to the grid,� he added.

Meanwhile, the Discos through their trade association – the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED), said the TCN still used analogue system to run the grid.

ANED in a statement from its

Executive Director, Research and Advocacy, Mr. Sunday Oduntan, said the analogue system of the TCN had caused inefficiencies and 5,311 interface disruptions in the first 18 days of September.

It also added that despite $1.6 billion multilateral funding of TCN, its equipment has caused over 100 electricity grid collapses since privatisation in 2013 and nine collapses this year.

ANED said it was responding to a recent TCN report that the Discos misrepresented crucial power evacuation and distribution data, adding that contrary to TCN’s claims, the Discos have not rejected energy load.

It also accused TCN of

falsifying data that conflicts with the data presented to Discos by the National Control Centre (NCC) which is under TCN and coordinate power allocation to Discos. “While TCN headquarter data published on September 20th, 2019, shows 19,173 megawatts (MW) of energy was delivered to Discos between August 22nd and 24th of 2019, the NCC data actually shows it was 13,963MW,�

ANED stated.

It said there was a difference of 5,208MW data within the same company.

It said: “It raises questions as to the veracity and accuracy of TCN’s response in terms of

the energy that it delivered to the Discos. How could TCN’s supposedly sent-out or delivered energy exceed that recorded by its control centre, the singular source for such information?�

While urging the TCN to focus on improving its network, ANED said except for February 1, 2016, when TCN wheeled 4,557MW, it has never wheeled sufficient energy to meet the Disco’s energy off-take assumptions specified under Multi Year Tariff Order (MYTO) 2015. “Despite TCN saying it is implementing its Transmission Rehabilitation Expansion Programme (TREP) with the $1.6 billion fund, the reality is

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 24, 2019 ˾ T H I S D AY

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NEWS

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

Briefing You Publicly Jeopardises Security Operations, Defence Chief Tells House Service chiefs give update of security situation Shola Oyeyipo in Abuja The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Gabriel Olonisakin has told the House of Representatives that the top hierarchy of the Nigerian security architecture is not favourably disposed to divulging military strategies so as not to compromise its operations and endanger the lives of troops on the battle field.

Also the Speaker of House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, has told the Service Chiefs that the giant strides they had recorded in the war against insurgency seem to be retrogressing.

Olonisakin made the clarification yesterday when the Service Chiefs eventually honoured the invitation of the leadership of the House.

However, the service chiefs briefed the lawmakers on the efforts to tackle insecurity in the country.

The obviously miffed Gbajabiamila, had postponed a meeting with the Service Chiefs slated for last Friday following the non-appearance of the Security Chiefs.

In his speech at the meeting held in Room 301, House of Representatives wing of the National Assembly, Olonisakin

noted that: “It is understandable that there must be some concerns about the security situation in the country. We are here to listen to those concerns that you have, that you need to express to us and address, of course with your support.

“However, I need to state that military and operational strategies are not usually discussed in open forums such as this, because we may inadvertently be giving valuable information to the adversary through such discussions.

This could compromise our ongoing operations, put the lives of our troops at greater risk and jeopardise future plans.

“I will therefore crave the indulgence of the House leadership to allow us to listen to your concerns, observations and suggestions, and get back to you in a more appropriate forum. I thank you for your time and your support.”

“I need to add that as the Chief of Defence Staff, my inability to be here in person last week Friday was due to an equally urgent interaction at the Presidency, while the Chief of Army Staff was out of the country at that time. That notwithstanding, our various chiefs of operations were here

CJN Swears in 38 Senior Advocates Alex Enumah in Abuja The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Ibrahim Muhammad, yesterday inaugurated 38 Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN) with a charge on them to display a high sense of integrity always and be good example to junior lawyers in the country.

The CJN reminded the SANs that the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria comes with immense prestige and greater responsibilities and as such should not be taken for granted.

In a speech at the inauguration of the new senior advocates at the Supreme Court complex Abuja, Muhammad, however, warned that the apex court would however not tolerate conduct and attitudes that seem to put the legal profession in a negative light.

Among the newly inaugurated include Solicitor General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Justice, Dayo, Apata; wife of Supreme Court Justice, Adedoyin Rhodes-Vivour and Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa amongst others.

Muhammad congratulated the conferees, noting that it is a well-deserved honour, having emerged successful from among the 117 that applied for the position in 2019.

He disclosed that 80 applicants emerged after the preliminary screening while the list was later pruned down to 38 after the conduct of specified screening carried out by justices of the apex court, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Body of Senior Advocate of Nigeria, general public and the Legal Practitioners’ Privileges

Committee amongst others.

“As Senior Advocates of Nigeria, you carry on your shoulders a lot of responsibilities.

From this moment, your behaviour and general conduct will now be publicly criticized by all those who come in contact with you. There is nothing like private life for you anymore, as everything you do or say will be openly displayed and dissected in the public domain.

“Watch what your utterances, watch your actions and watch your company because you have already assumed the role of Ministers of the Court as you are now expected to assist the court to attain justice, equity and fairness in all ramifications.

“You must display enormous integrity, self-discipline and high standard of advocacy as custodians of justice”, he said.

The CJN further advised them not to feel that they have arrived and thereby become casual visitors to courtrooms, warning that the leadership of the apex court would not tolerate any form of misconduct.

“I have stated severally that lawyers must desist from the practice of filing needless appeals at the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court. Let it be known that the Supreme Court will henceforth be unsparing in punishing blatant abusers of court processes.

“I need to state clearly that any lawyer who does not adhere to the time-honoured dress code of legal practitioners will not be allowed to appear in court. Such attitude is capable of eroding the prestige and respect accorded to lawyers worldwide”, the CJN added.

to represent us. These are senior officers who coordinate all operational matters at the various service headquarters and are adequately qualified to respond to to your questions.

“I wish to put on record that contrary to insinuations, our inability to be here on Friday was not a deliberate act to disrespect the institutions of the National Assembly but due to

the reasons I have earlier stated.

We hold the National Assembly in the highest regard and wish to express our appreciation for your support and encouragement.

“With respect to the security situation in the North-East, especially Borno State, we are all aware that the Armed Forces in collaboration with other security and intelligence agencies have been contending

with insurgency and terrorism for many years now. Indeed, the counter-terrorism and counterinsurgency operations in the North-East predate the current administration of His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari.

“Despite the challenges we are facing, we have made appreciable progress.

The Armed Forces continue to re-strategise to address

the changing operational situation and tactics of the insurgent terrorists. We have achieved better integration of our land and air power, as well as greater coordination with other security and intelligence agencies through regular, strategic meetings at the highest level of commands and down to the chains of commands.”

YOUR LORDSHIP…

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo (left), with the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad, during the Supreme Court’s Special Session for 2019/2020 Legal Year in Abuja...yesterday

Fire Guts Unity Bank Headquarters in Lagos Chiemelie Ezeobi An early morning fire yesterday gutted some floors of Unity Bank headquarters in Victoria Island, Lagos.

Although no life was lost, THISDAY gathered that the fire emanated from the bank’s network server, which triggered an electrical surge.

Banking activities were said to be going on when the smoke was detected and sent everyone into panic mode.

The staffers were quickly

evacuated and emergency response was activated, a move that helped to limit the extent of the damage.

With the help of the Federal Fire Service, Lagos State Fire Service, the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) and other responders, the fire was contained, but not before it had burnt the last four top floors of the 10-storey building.

THISDAY gathered that Lagos State Fire Service did the first and second damping

to impede the spread of fire through walls, floors and partitions.

Reacting to the incident on their Twitter handle, the bank said: “We regret to inform the public that there was a fire incident on one of the floors of our Head Office building early this morning.

“The cause of the fire incident is yet to be ascertained but the fire service has intervened and has brought the situation under control.

“While the extent of damage

is being assessed, we are happy to note that there was no casualty or loss of life as a result of the incident. From current observations, however, the banking hall and other strategic business areas were not affected.

“We are grateful to all the agencies and volunteers that supported in bringing the incident under control.

Further developments regarding the incident will be communicated as it unfolds.”

Police Arrest Seven Dismissed Soldiers, 81 Others for Robbery, Cultism Chiemelie Ezeobi The Lagos State Police Command has arrested 88 suspects for various acts of criminality, including seven dismissed soldiers, who allegedly raided and robbed in military uniforms.

According to the police command, a breakdown of the figure signified that 40 were armed robbery suspects, 29 were cultists and 19 were murder suspects, just as 19 firearms and 51 rounds of live ammunition were recovered while 31 armed robbery attempts were foiled.

The state Commissioner of Police, Zubairu Muazu, who

paraded the suspects at the Police Officers Mess in Ikeja, said the soldiers were arrested after the command received distress calls from residents of Ijegun and environs about their illegal activities.

The dismissed soldiers were identified as Ndidi Oluchukwu, 30; Owolabi Adeyemo, 42; David Olufemi, 47; Samuel Iseyin Israel, 41; Emeka Ibeh, 29; Samuel Anochime, 36, and Ebedo Stephen, 27.

According to him, “One of such incidents happened on February 18at about 4.35p.m. where a commuter, who was traveling to Ibadan from Ijegun, was accosted by the said armed robbers who dispossessed him

of his black Lexus car RX330 at gunpoint.

“It was on the strength of those complaints that we tasked our Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) operatives to identify the gang and apprehend them.

Members of the robbery gang were arrested at Ijegun, Baruwa Estate, Ipaja, IyanaIpaja, Isashi and Ikotun areas of Lagos State.

“Investigation revealed that the suspects are dismissed soldiers, and items-12 pairs of military camouflage uniforms, two cutlasses, ATM cards, military ID cards, jackknives, a female pant, and locally-made ring-were recovered from them.

“The suspects confessed to be responsible for series of robberies within Ijegun and its environs; and the suspects will be charged to court.”

In another development, the CP said the command arrested 18 notorious traffic robbery suspects, who specialised in snatching phones, money and other valuables from unsuspecting members of the public, mostly in traffic gridlocks.

The suspects, who operated mostly on motorcycles, were arrested, and one locally-made pistol, one tricycle, five Bajaj motorcycles, two cutlasses and two phones were recovered from them.

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Zamfara Gov Accuses Politicians of Recruiting Boko Haram to Attack State Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja The Governor of Zamfara State, Bello Mohammed Matawalle, has raised the alarm that politicians in the state were recruiting Boko Haram fighters in order to destabilise the state.

This is coming as the clampdown on fleeing terrorists in the North-east paid off with the arrest of five fleeing insurgents and their logistics suppliers.

Matawalle said the politicians were planning to destabilise the

SGF: Buhari Working Hard to Improve Lives of Nigerians The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Boss Mustapha, has assured Nigerians of President Muhammadu Buhari’s commitment to improving their lives.

Mustapha gave the assurance yesterday in Abuja, at a news conference organised by his office to highlight some of the key activities to mark Nigeria’s 59th Independence Day Anniversary.

Represented by Mr. Gabriel Aduda, Permanent Secretary, Economy and Political Affairs Office, SGF office, Mustapha said the struggle for Nigeria’s independence from its inception was not an easy one According to him, it was as a result of intellectual prowess, patriotic zeal, as well as the love of country that enabled our forebears to succeed in their struggle.

“Nigeria’s leaders since then have made varied contributions to building our nation state.

“Above all, efforts have been made to ensure that the country remains united despite diverse challenges, which are not unexpected in a multicultural society such as ours.

“Independence Day for us is a joyous occasion, but also a sobering one because we are beset with a lot of developmental challenges looking at how far we have come.

“Ideally, we should be far ahead of where we are right now as a people, but never the less President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration is not sitting on its oars. “But working to ensure better livelihoods for the Nigerian people, “ he said.

UN Appoints Dangote, Adesina to Battle Global Malnutrition The United Nations has appointed Africa’s richest man and President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, and President of the African Development Bank, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, as part of 27 global leaders to combat malnutrition across the world.

The appointment was made by the Secertary-general of the United Nations, António Guterres, as part of the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement committed to fighting malnutrition in all its forms.

According to a statement

released by SUN to this effect, the leaders will meet on September 24 to take a decision on the continuation of the SUN Movement into its third phases (2021-2025).

The leaders will also make commitments to achieve its objectives – looking toward the 2020 Tokyo Nutrition for Growth Summit.

The Cable reported that one in three people suffer from malnutrition the world over and 149 million girls and boys are stunted, a trend the group is set up to stop and reverse

state by using Boko Haram to launch attacks on seven local governments of the state.

He said intelligence reports indicated that the attacks were targeted at seven local government areas and other strategic places in the state.

A statement signed by the Director of Press, Idris Gusau, said two important personalities were targeted for elimination.

He said the recruited terrorists were to launch attacks between September 23 and 25.

“Zamfara State Government under the leadership of His Excellency, Governor Bello Mohammed wishes to announce that it is in possession of credible intelligence reports suggesting that some disgruntled politicians of the state origin are making clandestine moves to destabilise

the state.

“They are intending for sinister and personal gains, collaborating with dispersed elements of Boko Haram, to launch series of attacks on innocent and peace-loving people of the state in order to scuttle the relative peace being currently enjoyed as a result of the peace and dialogue process initiated by the present administration,” the statement said.

He added that the governor had decried the unpatriotic disposition of some politicians who plot to visit the state with destruction.

“According to the intelligence report, the cruel and mischievious elements have perfected plans to launch the attacks in seven local

government areas of the state and in other strategic places within the state capital.

“According to the report two important personalities of the state are also targeted for elimination should this dastardly act succeed”.

It said the targets of attack include Gusau which doubles as the state capital, Tsafe, Talata Mafara, Anka, Zurmi, Maru and Maradun.

Other strategic places targeted are Gusau Central Mosque and Gusau Mammy Market where soft targets are known to gather both at day and night.

The governor appealed to the people of state not to panic as security measures were already in place to forstall such eventuality.

He specifically appealed to

CELEBRATING A SENIOR LAWYER…

L-R: Recipient of the prestigious rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr. Paul Harris Adakole Ogbale; Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto State; wife of a former Governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswam; and her husband, during a reception organised in honour of the new SAN in Abuja...yesterday

Tribunal Reaffirms Sanwo-Olu’s Victory, Dismisses LP’s Petition An Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Lagos State yesterday dismissed a petition filed by the Labour Party and reaffirmed Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu as the duly elected Governor of Lagos State in the March 9 polls.

The tribunal described the petition as a “futile and wasteful exercise”, noting that the petitioners (LP and Ifagbemi Awamaridi, its governorship candidate in the election) could not prove their allegations of

mental incompetence against Sanwo-Olu in their evidence before the tribunal.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that the three-man panel of judges led by Justice TT Asua, in its three-hour judgment, held that the petitioners also failed to prove their allegations of election malpractice against Sanwo-Olu and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).

It held that its earlier decision to dismiss the petition, which was later appealed by the petitioners, was still valid because the petition was not filed according to the laws governing the electoral laws.

“The petitioners have failed to meet the requirement of the law. The petitioners have failed in our humble view to discharge the onus of proof which would have been placed on the Respondents.

“We confirm the return of Babajide Sanwo-Olu as the duly elected Governor of the State,” Asua said.

Earlier, the tribunal had struck out the names of the fourth to seventh respondents (The Resident Electoral Commissioner for Lagos State INEC, Returning Officer for Lagos State Governorship Election, the Commissioner of Police in Lagos State and the Nigeria Army).

John Shiklam in Kaduna

shooting sporadically which caused pandemonium, as people were running helter-skelter for safety.

“They came at about 10:00p.m. on Saturday and started shooting. People started running for safety. They abducted seven people while some others were injured in the process,” he said.

In Dutse village, the bandits were said to have invaded the community in the early hours of yesterday.

An eyewitness said the community was awoken by sounds of gunshots at about 3:00a.m., leading to fear and

confusion as people started running for safety.

He said at the end of the attack, which lasted for less than 10 minutes, the bandits abducted six people from the communities.

According to the eyewitness, several communities on the Kaduna-Abuja road are being terrorised by kidnappers on a daily basis.

He added that many people have abandoned their farms for fear of being abducted by gunmen, noting that many others have relocated to other places.

The source, therefore,

called on the Kaduna State Government and security agencies to come to the aid of the communities before they are dislodged by bandits.

Spokesman of the state police command, Mr. Yakubu Sabo, did not respond to telephone calls and text messages sent to him.

Kaduna is one of the states facing serious security challenges occasioned by high rate of kidnappings and banditry, especially on the Kaduna-Abuja road and the Kaduna-Birnin Gwari road as well as endless attacks on many communities in the state.

You ‘ve Nigeria’s Strong Backing, Buhari Tells UNGA President Gunmen Abduct 13 Persons in Kaduna Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja received by the whole world. It President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday in New York paid a courtesy call on the President of the 74th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Prof. Tijjani MuhammadBande, assuring him of Nigeria’s backing.

The president, according to a statement by his spokesman, Mr. Femi Adesina, said Buhari told Muhammad-Bande that he bore a heavy weight on his shoulders, adding that Nigeria was solidly behind him in the onerous task.

“I sincerely congratulate you. Your election was well

was a unanimous support, and the global community received you well. That support puts heavy weight on you, and I wish you well,” Buhari was quoted as saying..

According to the statement, in his response, MuhammadBande said he was delighted to receive the Nigerian President, “along with your team of professionals and politicians.”

He quoted him as saying, “Your nominating me for this position is the greatest honour I can have. The support from Africa and the world has been outstanding so far.”

drivers of commercial vehicles and motorcyclists in the state to be more security conscious and vigilant while carrying out their legitimate businesses and report any suspicious movement of persons, groups or goods to the security agencies in the state.

In another development, an update on the war against insurgency released by the Nigerian Army, said five key terrorists and logistics suppliers were apprehended in the course of “Operation Positive Identification,” launched to track down fleeing insurgents from the North-east.

The operation required residents and travellers in the North-east to identify themselves using valid identity cards, international passport, voters’ card and national identity card.

Thirteen people were reportedly abducted in two communities on the notorious Kaduna-Abuja road.

The two communities namely: Begiwa-Kaso and Dutse were said to have been raided by the bandits last Saturday and yesterday respectively.

A community leader in Begiwa-Kaso, who spoke on the incident in his village, said the incident occurred last Saturday at about 10:00p.m., adding that they were in a large number.

He said the hoodlums started

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T H I S D AY Ëž Ëœ Í°Í˛Ëœ Ͱ͎ͯ͡

COMMENT

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

PCA: WHY SENIORITY SHOULD PREVAIL Judicial precedence favours seniority in appointments to high offices, writes Juliana Adekwagh

H

on. Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem is the next most senior judicial officer in the Court of Appeal. As Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa’s tenure as President, Court of Appeal (PCA) comes to an end in a few months, judicial precedence dictates that the most senior Justice, Court of Appeal, Justice Dongban-Mensem will be nominated by Justice Bulkachuwa to the National Judicial Council for the position. Surprisingly, the reverse appears to be playing out. Insider accounts reveal schemes to block her from ascending the top position. If Justice Dongban-Mensem goes to the Supreme Court as is being speculated, it means she is totally ruled out of contention as PCA and Justice Bulkachuwa can then anoint who she pleases to the office.

This will be standing judicial precedence on its head which favours seniority in appointments to high offices. One is left to wonder why the PCA is hell bent on side stepping her second-in-command and a fellow woman for that matter to step into her shoes!

Feelers however reveal that since she was made PCA, Bukachuwa uses command and control leadership style, leaving little or no room for the judicial officers to operate freely.

Curiously, Justice Bukachuwa, a model of women emancipation while recusing herself from the Presidential Appeal panel rather than nominate the Justice next in rank (who is a female) as a way of keeping faith with her gender, skipped the number two person and brought on board a male, Justice Mohammed Garba.

The judiciary is a profession that gives much consideration to seniority. Hon. Justice Tanko Mohammad is Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) today because he was the next most senior jurist at the time the erstwhile CJN Walter Onnoghen resigned from the office. Clumsy as the whole affair was, Muhammad had to be CJN because of the seniority factor.

For 41 years, no Christian has been PCA. Since the late Hon Justice Daniel Onuorah Ibekwe (PCA 1976-1978), it has been Muslims from North-east and North-west heading the appellate court. Can we call this a coincidence? I suspect there is a thick plot designed to make only a particular group of people to occupy that position. The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) must look into this.

The CJN should investigate how the name of Justice

Monica Dongban-Memsem that was not on a list prepared by the National Judicial Council (NJC) appeared overnight for consideration for appointment to the Supreme Court.

It should be known that twice, Justice Dongban-Mensem’s name was picked for elevation to the Supreme Court but powerful forces did not allow her to enter the Supreme Court. It therefore, becomes suspicious, the recent love for her and desire to make her a justice of the Supreme Court.

It will be quite unwise for her to go to the Supreme Court to be Number 18. Her juniors in the Court of Appeal had been promoted to the Supreme Court at her expense years ago.

Justice Ayo Salami who Justice Bulkachuwa took over from was the most senior in his time. Justice Umar Abdullahi was equally the next in command when he became PCA. So seniority has always been the deciding factor over the decades across the diverse judiciary strata in ascending the highest office.

That of Justice Dongban-Mensem of the Court of Appeal should not be different. Indeed, she is one of the finest justices this country has ever produced and a woman of great wisdom and sterling character. Over the decades, she has demonstrated great commitment to service. The judiciary and indeed Nigeria as a whole will suffer a huge loss if regional, tribal and religious sentiments are allowed to affect her elevation.

THE JUDICIARY IS THE LAST HOPE OF THE COMMON MAN. IT SHOULD NOT BE DESECRATED BY POWER MONGERS WHO ARE IMBUED WITH PETTY JEALOUSY, SECTIONALISM, BIGOTRY, ANIMOSITY AND ILL-WILL

My advice to Justice Bulkachuwa is to have consideration for the Court of Appeal and entrust it in the best of hands available as she takes her bow. She should let the process of succession the judiciary is known for take its course.

Needless for her to stir the hornet’s nest.

The judiciary is the only institution that gives Nigerians hope. It is the last hope of the common man. It should not be desecrated by power mongers who are imbued with petty jealousy, sectionalism, bigotry, animosity and ill-will.

The CJN must critically watch what is happening under him. He should get to the bottom of how Justice DongbanMensem’s name found its way onto the list of justices nominated for appointment to the Supreme Court.

Adekwagh works in a law ďŹ rm in Makurdi

VYING TO PREVAIL Diyyam Warru writes that the PDP’s Presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar should join hands with others to build the nation

D

emocracy provides avenues for citizens to choose their leaders among those who rose to leadership status and present themselves for election into political offices at various levels. The judicial arm of the government seamlessly creates opportunities for the review and adjudication of disputed election results to conclude the electioneering process. Thereafter, the spirit and ethics of democracy, with a fixation for good governance and the overriding interest of the polity, requires leaders and the led, elected and unelected, to revert to common ground of good citizenship, where all and sundry rally round the government of the day, in service to the nation, irrespective of parochial affiliations.

With the successful conduct of the 2019 general elections and the emergence of President Muhammadu Buhari as the choice of the electorate, the main loser and PDP Candidate, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who sought fulfilment of his ambition by judicial process, where a panel of judges replaces the electorate, abandoned the democratic process. The justices unanimously found no basis in his petition to confer on him by judicial fiat what the electorate denied him through the ballot box.

Though the judicial process leaves the petitioner with the option of seeking the Supreme Court’s final intervention, political wisdom counsels sober acceptance of the unanimity of the justices’ decision that the validity of President Buhari’s election outweighs the gravity of the petition by the

defeated contestant, Atiku Abubakar. It calls for a conscientious refocusing of attention and resources towards consolidating the peoples expressed desire for common resolve to strengthen the capacity of the elected government of the day to deliver more dividends of democracy by endorsing its entitlement to a second term.

While it lasted, the protracted legal tussle over the declared outcome of the presidential elections witnessed declining interest of the generality of Nigerians, especially the majority pre-occupied with daily struggle for livelihood, even as the detached constituency of urban elite, mainly politicians, lawyers and media managers, busied themselves prospecting proceedings for isolated group interests. Several months after the Buhari administration was firmly on ground and forging ahead, the whole election petition saga paled into insignificance as reflected in the widespread public indifference to the verdict of the election petition tribunal.

Public interest and concern had definitely shifted to the unfolding highlights of the much-anticipated “next level� of the reelected administration, away from what had become another misstep in the ambitious strides of former VP Atiku Abubakar.

As a veteran politician and presidential contestant with a widely acknowledged keen interest in the unity, peace, progress and development of Nigeria, former VP Atiku Abubakar’s political astuteness ought to preclude falling prey to opportunism or the ingratiating overtures of “loyalists�. He has done the needful to the extent of putting up a robust effort to exercise his right to

seek lawful redress of perceived election “injustice�. This is a mark of mature political leadership that sets the right example in an arena frequently infested with warlords instead of statesmen, pushing the frontiers of political ambition to the realm of empire building.

The logical next level in the former VP’s legitimate quest for political fulfilment as an elder statesman eager to provide leadership should be in the re-evaluation of the way forward. His compass should be pointing ahead to 2023, but his mind must be fixed on today and now because his future prospects are critically rooted in current political dynamics. It must be obvious that the pursuit of legal entitlement to seek post-election presidential anointment was a wild goose chase and a frittering away of precious strategic avenues to a softer 2023 landing. Approaching the Supreme Court is still the same post-election effort to become a president by court declaration that the Presidential election petition tribunal judges wisely found to be unmerited.

The question is: what is Atiku Abubakar’s political status today? For this question to arise at all amounts to a candid indication of how the mighty have fallen! A presidential candidate is on a higher pedestal than a defeated presidential candidate who is still a caliber higher than a defeated presidential candidate who also lost his election petition.

Merely looking around his environs depicts the certainty of diminishing turn out of all but the most tenacious of hangers on, out for more to hang onto. That Atiku Abubakar had to hang out in Dubai while the fate

of his supposedly embattled presidential “victory� was being decimated in Abuja was itself a departure from his VP days of “gallantry� in face-to-face exchange of hostilities with his famous boss who, incidentally, elevated him from a governorship candidate to presidential running mate!

The former VP is clearly in no shape to contemplate 2023 except perhaps as a keen onlooker. What is best for him is to devote what remains of his physical energy and political reputation to redeem his hitherto tenable claim to political astuteness and elder statesmanship, so that he might rewrite what is already in the political domain. That will entail shaking off his ill-fated 2019 presidential bid and all its figments of political futility. He should henceforth be devoted to the noble intent of the ethics and spirit of democracy, whereby failed political leaders revert to the common ground of exemplary statesmanship and rally round the popularly re-elected President Muhammadu Buhari and his administration in service to the people of Nigeria.

The former vice-president now has a rare opportunity to earn the redeeming reconsideration of the people of Nigeria that his entire political career was not motivated by an inordinate ambition to be President of Nigeria by ballot or gavel! He cannot continue to distance himself from constructive contribution to the continuing task of moving the nation forward to overcome prevailing challenges impeding peace, progress and development, as mature political leaders and patriotic elder citizens have always done.

Warru wrote from Jimeta

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T H I S D AY ˾ TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2019

EDITORIAL CHILDREN IN MILITARY DETENTION Children detained without criminal offence should be released

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he recent allegation that the Nigerian military confined and abused thousands of children who had fled from their Boko Haram captors was both awful and shocking. The said abuse, according to the United States-based Human Rights Watch (HRW), took place between January 2013 and March 2019. Nigerian soldiers were alleged to have detained over 3,600 children, including 1,617 girls, for suspected link with Boko Haram. The inhuman treatment is thwarting the goal of protecting and deradicalising these young people and is now reportedly breeding resentment.

In response, the military authorities have dismissed the 56-page report as false. In the rebuttal made by the Acting Director Defence Information (DDI), Col Onyema Nwachukwu, the military said that only profiled terrorists belonging to the Islamic State for West Africa Province (ISWAP) and Boko Haram were held in its detention facilities THE MILITARY and not children.

AUTHORITY SHOULD “Apprehended children are kept in RESPECT THE RIGHTS secured places, where OF THEIR SUSPECTS, they are adequately ESPECIALLY WOMEN fed, profiled and AND CHILDREN de-radicalised before their release,” Nwachukwu said, adding, “the children are provided with regular feeding, clothing, requisite medical attention, in-house spiritual and educational tutoring and other welfare needs.”

The military said troops arrested some of the children while attempting to detonate and provide subterranean support for insurgents as mole that gather intelligence on troops’ movement and deployments. It added that terror suspects were held in detention facilities pending prosecution since the armed forces was not vested with the power of prosecution. It also added that apprehended children were kept in secure places where they were fed, profiled and de-radicalised before being released.

Letters to the Editor

However, the accounts by some former children detained in military facilities in the north-east seem to corroborate the human rights body. The victims, particularly women, alleged being subjected to serious forms of abuse by guards in the camp. They also described the environment where they were held as unsuitable for human habitation as they were made to sleep in crowded, hot rooms without bedding or mosquito nets.

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

T H I S DAY N E W S PA P E R S L I M I T E D EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/CHAIRMAN NDUKA OBAIGBENA GROUP EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS ENIOLA BELLO, KAYODE KOMOLAFE, ISRAEL IWEGBU, IJEOMA NWOGWUGWU, EMMANUEL EFENI DIVISIONAL DIRECTORS BOLAJI ADEBIYI, PETER IWEGBU, ANTHONY OGEDENGBE DEPUTY DIVISIONAL DIRECTOR OJOGUN VICTOR DANBOYI SNR. ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR ERIC OJEH ASSOCIATE DIRECTORS PATRICK EIMIUHI, SAHEED ADEYEMO CONTROLLERS ABIMBOLA TAIWO, UCHENNA DIBIAGWU, NDUKA MOSERI DIRECTOR, PRINTING PRODUCTION CHUKS ONWUDINJO TO SEND EMAIL: first name.surname@thisdaylive.com

TO OUR READERS Letters in response to specific publications in THISDAY should be brief (150-200 words) and straight to the point. Interested readers may send such letters along with their contact details to opinion@thisdaylive.com. We also welcome comments and opinions on topical local, national and international issues provided they are well-written and should also not be longer than (9501000 words). They should be sent to opinion@thisdaylive.com along with the email address and phone numbers of the writer.

THE IMPORTANCE OF ARBITRATION IN TODAY’S WORKPLACE

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frican arbitration practitioners are greatly under-represented in a number of arbitration matters in the African region. However, all is not lost; arbitration is undoubtedly growing as a mechanism for the resolution of domestic and cross-border commercial disputes in Africa. The process of dispute resolution outside the state-sponsored system of litigation is not new, and indeed was the norm in pre-colonial times.

The modern-day arbitration regime is usually backed by the state through legislation and enforcement by national courts, and it is fair to state that there has been considerable growth in Africa’s arbitration industry. In the workplace disputes are likely to arise between the employer and the employee, employees amongst themselves. In my experience as an arbitration practitioner, I have come to understand the benefits of utilising this mode of dispute resolution in the workplace.

The 2018 SOAS Arbitration in Africa Survey unveiled some of the key benefits of the practice in different environments. Solving disputes in the workplace by the use of attorneys and courts is not only time-consuming, but also very expensive, for both parties. The speed and informality of the

ost of the allegations in the HRW report have also been confirmed by a story in Washington Post where seven children, held in some of these military facilities in Borno State, described the abuses to which they were subjected. Some of them alleged spending close to 15 months in military custody before being released to internally displaced persons (IDP) camp in Maiduguri last year. They also gave account of how no fewer than 200 people were crammed into one expansive room filled with human waste. Some alleged inability to eat as a result of seeing maggots crawling in their soup.

We are not unmindful of the challenge faced by the military as it battles attempts by the ISIS remnants. In the face of pushback from its present areas of operations, the extremist group is looking for territories where it could establish a base to further carry out its dastardly international terror. The militant group with perhaps the most brutal version of Islamic rule must not be allowed to gain a foothold in Nigeria or anywhere on the continent littered with angry millions of youths bereft of opportunities. But fighting ISIS or their affiliates should not be an excuse to subject innocent children to brutalities.

The scale of the abuse reported by HRW is both disturbing and unhelpful. It can engender poor relations between the military and the local population and by extension compromise the effort to battle insurgency in the north-east where thousands of Nigerians have been killed and more than two million people displaced.

We call on the military authority to respect the rights of their suspects, especially women and children. We also implore that those detained without any criminal offence should be released.

arbitration process represent the key reasons, by businesses, for selecting arbitration over litigation.

In many cases, arbitration is far shorter a process, and without the use of attorneys, generally less costly. The two parties involved in the dispute have control over the selection of the arbiter - this is a different case altogether when dealing with a court case where the judge and jury selection is out of the hands of the parties involved. Arbitration hearings are private, and the results are not part of the public record, which is beneficial for both parties (especially with regard to future employment as public records of such a matter could negatively influence some employers). Emotional intelligence has proven to be one of the vital ingredients for creating a healthy workplace. The term “emotional intelligence” was coined by Peter Salovey and John D. Mayer who described it as “a form of social intelligence that involves the ability to monitor one’s own and others’ feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them, and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and action”.

Ajibola Dalley, Chairman, Aviation Committee of the Bar Association’s Section on Business Law

USE OF TYPEWRITERS IN SCHOOLS

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t a just concluded Education Summit tagged “The Future of Education Summit” which held in Oyo State 20- 21 September and where I was a Speaker, school owners and representatives in attendance brought to participants’ attention a most distressing trend in our nation’s education curriculum and schools accreditation practice. It was reported that regarding the teaching of the subject of Business Studies for the fulfilment of the current NECO requirement, the decision of accreditation of schools by the Ministry of Education is premised on whether schools own a pool of typewriters for students use and practice rather than on whether there is an equipped functional ICT Lab in the school. Several schools at this summit alleged that they have been continuously denied accreditation to teach Business Studies because they do not maintain typewriters for students use and it is irrelevant to the said accreditation exercise that these schools offer modern ICT facilities and resources for their students use.

The world over, business in the 21st century is entirely driven by modern Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as well as the Internet of Things (IoT). In its 2016 Global Education Monitoring Report, UNESCO mandates

that “Education must keep up with the changing face of work and aim to produce more high skilled workers.” In the transition towards sustainable economies, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, the report emphasizes that the role of education in innovation primarily concerns the dissemination of new technologies for higher education systems and countries must do more to promote high value skills within secondary education. Dear Hon. Minister, it is therefore essential for today’s learners to be empowered with a 21st century relevant education that ensures actual future readiness. Typewriters no longer drive the world of business and ceased to do so a long time ago. Schools should be required to be equipped with current operative tools in business and work systems. Accreditation standards by your ministry must therefore be adapted to the changing face of work. An insistence on typewriters as a precondition for business subject accreditation cannot yield future readiness amongst the current generation of school children and indeed amounts to a social injustice. I hereby call for the immediate overhaul of the use of typewriters as an accreditation standard for schools in the subject of ‘Business Studies’.

Edem Dorothy Ossai, Executive Director, MAYEIN

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TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 24, 2019 • T H I S D AY

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T H I S D AY ˾ TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 24, 2019

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POLITICS

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

TRENDING NEWS

Governance is on the Upswing in Kaduna

Jameelah Sanda writes that the Kaduna State government under the leadership of Governor Nasir elRufai is trying to bring about a shift in the perception of the public regarding governance in the state

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all him ‘unsung’ hero of Kaduna transformation, you will not be far from the truth, but throughout his campaign and until May 29, 2015 when he was sworn-in as the as the Governor of Kaduna State for his first term, Nasir el-Rufai never minced words. He vowed to do all that was humanly possible to move the state forward, and that is exactly what he has been doing.

The Governor el-Rufai administration, which came into power against the background of promise to change the state positively, has a lot to show as evidence of its working to meet peoples’ expectations of its “restoration agenda.”

Some of the major promises he made to do things differently; including putting the people first and to deliver excellent public services to them.

The government pledged to do this by battling waste and fraud, reducing the cost of running government and growing Internally-Generated Revenue (IGR) as ways to free the state from over-dependence on federal allocation.

Armed with these vision, mission and direction, El-Rufai hit the ground running in 2015. He introduced state-wide reforms aimed at cutting the cost of governance and achieving efficiency in public service. First, El-Ruiafi and his deputy announced a 50 percent slash on their salaries and allowances. Next government ministries were trimmed from 19 to 14. The number of commissioners were also reduced from 24 to 15.

Though the cabinet was shrunk, it proved highly effective. According to the governor, the initiative freed up resources used in running the government for public good. For instance, while the budgetary allocation for running government House was around N3 billion in 2015 under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), it but was reduced to about N600 million in the first budget ever prepared by the El-Rufai administration in 2016.

Kaduna’s public service was gulping N2.7 billion monthly when El-Rufai came on the saddle in May 2015, it was brought down to N2.2 billion.

A biometric exercise to verify employees in the state payroll eliminated ghost workers and saved the state N500 million monthly.

In August 2015, at the onset of this administration, Kaduna State pioneered the implementation of Treasury Single Account (TSA) regarded as a policy tool that helps reduce waste and leakages.

The government directed its bankers to close all government accounts and remit the balances to the state’s TSA at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). There had been 470 accounts from which N24.5 billion were remitted to the state’s TSA. Kaduna State adopted zero-based budgeting because budgets were not based on realistic estimates of revenues and thus did not deliver results. Hence, every expenditure item must be justified based on necessity, cost, and availability of funds, vis-a-vis other competing needs before it can be inputted in the budget.

The passing of the Public Procurement Law, 2016 and the creation of Kaduna Public Procurement Agency (KADPPA) guaranteed transparency in public procurement, audited financial accounts are published annually on its official website and the national dailies so citizens are free to scrutinise the state’s accounts. The state also adopted the International Public-Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) aimed at improving transparency and accountability in public finance management and reporting, and the step attracted the commendation of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria.

Still to ensure transparency, Kaduna signed to the Open Governance Partnership (OGP). It was on record that it was the first sub-national in the world to do so. Kaduna therefore committed itself to permit citizens participation in governance and to run an open and transparent governance.

The El-Rufai administration moved to save the local governments from the huge burden of carrying over-bloated civil servants and traditional rulers, whose burden hindered them from rendering services to the grassroots, a major constitutional mandate of the local government

el-Rufai councils by ordering a Staffing Order for LGAs in November 2017. This saw to the reduction of the staff strength of the 23 local government councils of the State to 6, 896, excluding primary school teachers and health workers.

The government restructured the traditional institutions reverting to pre-2001 status of 77 districts and 1429 village units, down from 390 districts and 5882 village units created in 2001. This decision relieved the 23 LGAs of the heavy burden of paying 4766 staff. Presently, all the LGAs have become solvent, able to pay salaries monthly and execute projects without encumbrances.

The need to implement the Restoration Programme, which is the All Progressives Congress (APC) Kaduna version of APC Manifesto on a sustainable basis led to the development of Kaduna State Development Plan (SDP 20162020), which serves as a medium-term goal of APC change platform which reflects the state government’s desire to restore Kaduna State to its lost glory through a planned, orderly and coherent development of the state.

This five-year plan outlined the aspirations of

There have been efforts to reverse the decay in the educational sector. Fifteen secondary schools selected from the three senatorial zones of the state benefited from the “Whole School Renovation Programme”, which include renovation of all existing classrooms, hostels, laboratories and staff quarters

Kaduna Peace Commission, Kaduna Investment Promotion Agency (KADIPA), Kaduna Facility Management Agency (KADFAMA), Kaduna Water Service Regulatory Commission among others, Kaduna State Power Supply Company (KAPSCO) and Kaduna Contributory Health Insurance Authority.

On May 12, 2018, the people of Kaduna State made history when they chose new leaders for its local government councils using electronic voting. The commission has also fixed Wednesday, 6th June 2018 to conduct rescheduled elections in some of the local government areas.

Coming at the time when insecurity and violent clashes became recurrent in some parts of the state such as Birnin Gwari and parts of Southern Kaduna, Governor el-Rufai committed time and resources to providing security for lives and property and peace building in the state. He had inherited some security challenges including ethnic and religious conflicts, urban gangs, cattle rustling and rural banditry, armed robbery and kidnapping. El-Rufai has really tried to stop all these in Kaduna Education, which is known as the greatest leveler among all classes of people in the society, and a ladder for social mobility has become elusive for children of the poor in Kaduna State due to decades of neglect by successive governments in the state. Public education has deteriorated so much that only children of the poor attend public schools and to get a decent education, one must patronise private schools which only children of the rich can afford.

This was the sorry condition for more than 4000 primary schools and more than 1000 secondary the state government to restore Kaduna to its schools in the state before 2015 when Governor former glory, including a strategic framework to El-Rufai assumed leadership of the state. The realize the vision, resource projections to guide state was performing as poorly as four percent and prioritize expenditure, and an implementation in West African Examination (WAEC) in 2010 plan to deliver results and monitor progress. The and 10 percent in 2011.

There have been efforts to reverse the decay in goals were linked to the budget through the Sector Implementation Plans (SIPs) with strengthened the educational sector. Fifteen secondary schools budget and expenditure management systems selected from the three senatorial zones of the state benefited from the “Whole School Renovation and processes.

The El-Rufai administration sets to address Programme”, which include renovation of all the dysfunctional infrastructure that fraught existing classrooms, hostels, laboratories and the state. This led to the development of the staff quarters. It includes provision of teaching Kaduna Infrastructure Master Plan (KADIMP equipment and provision of water and electricity.

2018-2050), a 32-year plan aimed at addressing Beds, mattresses, furniture and books were also supplied to the schools. the state’s infrastructure deficits.

Governor El-Rufai pledged to improve access Implementing Kaduna State Infrastructure Master Plan requires the sum of $65.6b (N20 to healthcare and to improve health outcomes trillion) from government spending, private sector for our people. And achieving this with the investment and support from development partners support of the healthcare workers. The state was anchored on a long-term perspective, 2018- won First Prize in two editions of the Maternal, 2050, in the hope that government, the private Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) Week for sector, communities and external partners will testing more than 200,000 pregnant women, work together to achieve the ambitious targets set. which showed HIV/AIDS prevalence of less As part of efforts to make government more than 0.3%. implementing free healthcare for efficient, some government agencies were re- children under five, pregnant women and the structured and new ones driven by innovations elderly, as promised. Recently, the state cabinet and technology were created to provide services agreed to provide cash cover for the treatment using best global practices. Some of such were of elderly diabetics and hypertensives, starting the Kaduna Geographic Information Service from age 70.

In the area of agriculture, he encouraged farmers (KADGIS), created to digitised land registry ending a regime of land racketeering, fraud, through several initiatives. They know they have a ready route to market and have the assurance and maladministration. r 5IF ,BEVOB *OUFSOBM 3FWFOVF 4FSWJDF of a price support programme. Fertiliser subsidy (KADIRS) was created to replace the old Internal has been eliminated, but farmers still got 50,000 Revenue Service, serving as the sole agency col- tons of fertilizer in 2016 at N4000 per bag. The lecting tax and revenues for the state and the state government accomplished this by refusing 23 local government councils. In its two years to award fertiliser contracts, and by convincing of operations, KADIRS has eclipsed previous a private company to sell fertiliser directly to records of revenue collected in the state without farmers.

Land administration reforms have advanced having to increase revenues for taxpayers. In 2016, Kaduna’s IGR rose from N11 billion (2015) significantly. El-rufai established the Kaduna to N23 billion. This was further raised to N28 Geographic Information Service (KADGIS) billion in 2017. KADIRS is moving towards which is digitizing the land registry. The body achieving complete automation and has since has also commenced the recertification programme banned cash transactions in revenue collections, to convert old, unreliable paper Certificates of blocked leakages and eliminated multiple taxations Occupancy into digital titles, while launching the which were discouraging businesses in the state. systematic land titling and registration to give There were other bodies such as KASTELEA, opportunity to farmers and other untitled land which handles road traffic control, state vigilante owners to get valid title at a fee of N5000. The service, Drugs and Substance Abuse Control security of title, the transparency of land search Agency, Kaduna State Transport Regulation and the ability to transact in land without undue Authority, Kaduna Roads Agency (KADRA), hassles are vital to running a modern economy.

T H I S D AY ËžTUESDAY SEPTEMBER 24, 2019

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TRENDING NEWS

Battle for the Soul of Kogi Begins Ibrahim Oyewale writes that with the successful completion of the primaries of various political parties, all is now set for the governorship battle in Kogi State on November 16

Bello

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he political landscape in Kogi State has been a beehive of activities following the official release of the time table for November 16th governorship election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the electoral umpire in accordance with provisions of Electoral Act 2010 as amended.

The commission had also called on eligible voters who have duly registered and have not collected their Permanent Voter Cards in the Confluence State to use this opportunity to do so to enable them exercise their franchise during the forthcoming governorship election.

At at a recent stakeholders meeting at INEC State Headquarters in Lokoja, the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Professor James Apam disclosed that no fewer than 170,664 PVCs are unclaimed since 2010 and those who registered before 2019 general elections. He told the stakeholders that the the commission would commence distribution of PVCs to assist the owners in their localities across the three senatorial districts of the State.

With the successful completion of the various primaries and emergence of gubernatorial candidates of various political parties, all is now set for the battles ahead as political gladiators who had withdrawn into their cocoon after the general elections in the country are now back to their trenches plotting to win the November 16th gubernatorial election.

The electorate in the Confluence State, no doubt will be filing out once again to elect who will governor the state in the next four years.

The just concluded governorship primaries have produced no fewer that 69 candidates from various political parties jostling to occupy the Lugard House- Seat of Power in Lokoja.

The battle for the soul of Kogi State will be very interesting as the opposition parties candidates vow to unseat the incumbent governor, Yahaya Adoza Bello who is seeking a second term in office.

Wada

Among those eyeing Lugard House are the incumbent governor, Yahaya Bello of All Progressive Congress (APC) seeking another fresh term.

Mr. Musa Wada will be slugging it out with Bello as the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP). The emergence of the two as flag bearers of their parties has not only rekindled the old rivalry between the PDP and APC, but also the battle line may have been clearly drawn.

Others are Samuel Alfa Audu of the Action Alliance (AA), Ibrahim Jubrin of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Dambo Dantelle of the Allied Progressives Movement (APM) , the Amazon, Natasha Akpoti (Social Democratic Party (SDP), Joseph Idachaba of the (PPN), Godwin Atawodi of the Democratic Alliance, Mrs Justina

Political observers and concerned citizens have expressed fears that as witnessed during the last general elections, if stringent measures are not put in place, the November election may end up a charade, except security agencies are challenged to live up to expectexpectations

Abanida of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) ,Jimoh Ahmadu of the MAJA, Ibrahim Itodo of the Labour Party and several others whose names are yet to be made public .

The All Progressive Congress APC and its candidate will rely so much on the massive votes garnered for the President Buhari in the 2019 national elections. The party posted other impressive results, winning 7 out of 9 House of Representatives seats from Kogi State. The APC also won two of the three senatorial seats as well as clinching all the 25 seats in the state Assembly.

Speaking shortly after picking APC ticket Governor Yahaya Bello told journalists in Abuja that his numerous achievements are dotted across the three senatorial districts and he also announced that the government has established infrastructure in each of the 21 local government areas of the state.

The Bello administration is still basking in the euphoria of tackling insecurity which was the greatest problem of the state as citizens sleep with their eyes closed. Businesses have returned and visitors pass through the state unmolested.

Meanwhile the PDP on its part dismissed all the claims of the ruling APC, claiming that existing infrastructure in the state were projects initiated and completed when PDP governors ruled the state and the party was poised to return to power based on that.

The PDP in Kogi claims that there is no way its achievements in 13 years of governing the state could be compared to the four years of alleged maladministration by Governor Bello.

The opposition party alleged that since coming to office the APC administration, it has never won any election genuinely, alleging that the use of force, intimidation and thuggery gave power to the APC and not popularity.

Political observers and concerned citizens have expressed fears that as witnessed during the last general elections, if stringent measures are not put in place, the November elec-

tion may end up a charade, except security agencies are challenged to live up to expectation.

They alleged that in the last national elections, incumbency was fully utilised as all the security apparatus in the state received instructions and directives from the governor who is the Chief Executive and Chief Security Officer of the state. Security officials openly participated in rigging and snatching of ballot boxes, they alleged.

The PDP also accused APC of intimidating voters on the orders of top government house officials who led the operations.

According to reports government house officials used by both fake and conventional police to chase away voters and even arrest prospective voters on trumped up charges. Scores of agents of opposing political parties were arrested and detained in the government house guard room.

Patriotic citizens who reported cases of electoral malpractices were either ignored or arrested. Senior security officers deny or encourage malpractices committed by their juniors.

Another area of concern is the suspected mercenary role played by the Federal Government to state elections especially in favour of the ruling party.

Accusing fingers were pointed at the INEC for either feigning ignorance or outrightly supporting and even participating in electoral malpractices.

There are also allegations that during the last general elections, vote shops were created not far from polling stations where agents of parties and contestants buy votes.

While security agents were used to arrange and organise voters who collected money were directed on how to vote and who to vote for.

Despite allegations and counter allegations, realignment of political forces have continued unabated toward the gubernatorial polls.

Many youth groups are on the match everyday in the major cities of the state, particularly the state capital, Lokoja drumming support for their preferred candidate.

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FEATURES

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

Increasing Rice Yield through Japan’s GGP in Nasarawa Igbawase Ukumba writes that Nasarawa State government recently entered into partnership with the Japanese government to supply 25 per cent of total rice production in Nigeria

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ice is one of the staple crops grown in Nasarawa State. This is plus given that the state has about 140,000 hectres of land that is suitable for rice cultivation.

The state also has the capacity to produce over 350,000 metric tones of rice, which was one of the reasons that prompted the government to go into collaboration with the Japanese government to improve the quality of rice and perhaps enable it supply 25 per cent of the total rice production in Nigeria.

The partnership between the Nasarawa State government and the Japanese government dates back to the year 2011 when the rice post harvest and marketing pilot project was conceived. Through this project, 442 rice farmers were empowered and built to improve the rice production technology of parboiling, milling, marketing and business management.

Similarly, 35 frontline extension agents have been trained on good agricultural practices for dissemination to other farmers.

In addition, 11 extension agents were trained in Japan on improved rice cultivation technology and research method. It is in this connection that the collaboration had resulted to the establishment of the 1.5 tones per hour capacity rice incubation plant for the production and marketing of improved quality rice that could compete with imported rice in Nasarawa State.

The plant is currently leased out to rice millers and dealers who are producing good quality rice called ‘Mama’s Pride’ . In the same vein, 27 destoners were also given to the rice millers in Lafia for the improvement of quality rice which they produce.

Some of the treshers donated by the Japanese government

Grassroots Scheme It was against that backdrop that the Japanese government, under its Grant Assistant for Grassroots Human Security Project (GGP) scheme, recently donated 20 units each of reapers and threshers to some farming communities of Awe, Obi and Keana Local Government Areas of the state.

Flagging off distribution of the machines at Azara, in Awe Local Government area of the state, Governor Abdullahi Sule; in company of the Japanese ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Yutaka Kikuta said the occasion was yet another milestone in his determination to further strengthen the collaboration and partnership with the government of Japan towards achieving

This intervention is in tandem with the vision and development objectives of this administration aimed at giving agriculture its right place as the major mover of our state economy...by the time we ďŹ nish that, Nasarawa State should be producing at least 25 per cent of the total rice production in Nigeria

Japanese Ambassador, Kikuta, in a handshake with Gov Sule at Azara the desired import substitution of backward integration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The governor had therefore hoped that the partnership between the Nasarawa state government and Japan government will be sustained because the state is indeed an agricultural state, hence he commended the government of Japan for the choice of Nasarawa state farmers to benefit from the worthy collaboration considering the comparative advantage the state has in the rice value chain. “Let me assure Your Excellency, the ambassador of Japan, that Nasarawa State government will continue to seek areas of further collaboration with the government and good people of Japan in various sectors including health and education geared towards improving the economy and livelihood of our people. I want to state that this intervention is in tandem with the vision and development objectives of this administration aimed at giving agriculture its right place as the major mover of our state

economy.�

Frontline Rice Production Sule continued that it was in furtherance of his administration’s commitment that he recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with IFAD/FGN for participation in the Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP) additional financing which he said that he has already approved the release of N88 million, which is the counterpart by the state contribution to that effect.

Similarly, the governor told the ambassador of Japan that Olam Group was currently having over 10,000 hectres of land in Rukubi village of Doma Local Government Area for the rice value chain development, especially with the out growers scheme beneficiaries.

Sule who was vividly convinced with the Olam Group’s development said: “The manager of the out growers scheme told me that he has over 4,000 out growers at the moment, and that

to me, is really a huge achievement especially with their target of between 10,000 to 12,000 out growers in this area. So I commend Olam for this and call on all the other commercial farmers who are coming to Nasarawa State to copy from Olam so that we can continue to empower our farmers in the state.� “You will recall that some weeks ago, my administration also signed an MoU with Azman Group for cultivation and processing of 12,400 hectres of land for rice in Toto Local Government Area. This endeavour is aimed at placing Nasarawa state on a global map as a frontline rice producing state. In addition, we are also in negotiations with the Dangote Group to acquire 50,000 hectres of land; both in Doma and Nasarawa Local Government Areas, for further cultivation of rice. By the time we finish that, Nasarawa State should be producing at least 25 per cent of the total rice production in Nigeria.�

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FEATURES Japan’s Goodwill It is pertinent to note that the Japan’s government development of Africa’s agricultural sector is in line with the goals of the 7th Tokyo International Conference on African Development which was concluded in Yokohama, Japan recently. The Japanese ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Yutaka Kikuta, attested to this fact at the handing over ceremony of the reapers and thresher to the Nasarawa rice farming communities at Azara.

Kikuta added that at the TICAD7conference, the government of Japan pledged to further support the economic transformation in Africa, particularly in agriculture to the promotion of Japan’s private sector’s investment in Africa.

Kikuta affirmed that: “The project we are commissioning today in Azara is one of the embodiments of the Tichan 7 commitment. Let me start by thanking Governor Sule for sparing his time to attend these important events for the commissioning and handover ceremony for the provision of rice reapers and threshers machines to farmers in Obi, Awe and Keana LGAs of the state. I wish to congratulate all the people of the communities and appreciate all the stakeholders for their unflinching support towards the process. �Under the scheme of Grant Assistant for Grassroots Human Security Project (GGP), the embassy of Japan has so far in the course of the two decades, executed 170 projects in various regions and areas in Nigeria worth over S12 million. The project of provision of rice reapers and threshers falls under the GGP scheme and it is designed to provide mechanised rice farming equipment to help rice farmers for their work thereby fostering the social and economic development of the communities. “In your communities, local rice farmers spend long time harvesting the rice incurring additional costs with carrying their manual labour in losing up to 20 per cent harvest rice due to damage in operation process. Manual operation is hard work, especially for women.

With the introduction of 20 rice reapers and 20 threshers, it is our expectation that this project will reduce time and loss of rice from reaping and threshing which will increase income for155 farmers and their families. It is expected that the income increase will provide the opportunity to invest more for rice yield so that socio-economic wellbeing of the benefiting communities will be further enhanced,� the ambassador maintained.

It is worthy to state that the gesture from the Japanese government will, no doubt, let the benefiting communities have mechanised rice reapers and threshers that will reduce the burden of the farmers. The mechanisation of the rice production will change the communities significantly like change in quality and productivity.

These envisaged benefits derivable from the introduction of mechanised rice production into the selected Nasarawa communities consequently gladdened the heart of Ambassador Kikuta as he disclosed to the mammoth crowd that came out from the selected communities of the three local governments m to witness the memorable even saying that, “I am equally pleased to let you know that this is a Public, Private Partner-

The project of provision of rice reapers and threshers falls under the GGP scheme and it is designed to provide mechanised rice farming equipment to help rice farmers for their work thereby fostering the social and economic development of the communities

Some units of the reapers donated by Japanese government

Cross section of dignitaries at the Azara event

Japanese Ambassador (l), Governor Sule (m) on their way to commission the Japanese equipment ship Project that the Olam Nigeria Limited which will closely monitor the communities by offering technical assistance. As you may know, Olam Nigeria Limited is a company that the Japanese company; Mitsubishi which has a strong presence and working relation with local farmers in Nigeria, is one of the main shareholders.�

Kikuta maintained that the machines were symbols and goodwill from the people of Japan to the people of Nasarawa State, hence the project will contribute to the better future of Nasarawa State and further strengthen the relationship between Japan and Nasarawa.

Suffice to acknowledge that the collaboration between the Nasarawa State government and the government of Japan in the area of agricultural development dates back to the

year 2011 with the implementation of rice post harvest processing and marketing pilot project that promoted adoption of improved rice technology along all the value chain, the Permanent Secretary in the Nasarawa State ministry of agriculture, Naphtali Dachor, revealed during the commissioning of the Japanese donated machines at Azara.

According to Dachor, “the collaboration is aimed at improving the quality of domestic rice and the state’s yearn for import substitution. The collaboration had led to the establishment of 1.5 tonnes per hour capacity rice incubation plant in Lafia that has already been leased out to the Lafia Rice Millers and Dealers Association. This was then followed by the donation of 27 rice detoners for the improvement of rice quality.

Today we are witnessing another milestone

in our collaboration with the government of Japan through the grant of 20 threshers and 20 rice reapers to Olam Rice out growers in Awe, Obi and Keana Local Government Areas.

Nevertheless, the management of Olam Farm could be the most excited participant because the farmers who had gathered to celebrate the epoch making event at Azara happened to be members of Olam Farm out growers programme. This was attested by the vice president of the Olam Farm, Raji George, during the commissioning of the Japanese donated machines by Governor Sule, as he said that, “it was a short journey that has grown into a very big one. We are very excited and want to seize this opportunity to thank the government and the good people of Nasarawa State for the peace and the enabling environment we have enjoyed so far, and we urge the government not to relent�.

With profound gratitude, George thanked sincerely the good people of Japan for the kind gesture through their GGP programme which has really touched the lives of rural people positively.

He continued that it wouldn’t have come at a better time when research has proven that rice farmers are currently losing 25 per cent of their produce during harvest and post harvest activities as a result of manual harvesting. He expressed optimism that with those equipment donated by the Japanese government, that gap will be significantly narrowed. “To the farmers, to whom much is given, much is expected. We hope and believe that you will not let us down. Continue to do the good work and more is yet to come. Just to support you, Olam Farm, in collaboration with NADP and GIZ green revolution centre, has packaged a training that will speak to the need of the farmer groups on the uses, repairs and maintenances of these equipment. Already we have kicked started the process of selecting 34 young farmers from these groups who will be specially trained on the operation and management of these equipment,� the Olam vice president said.

The traditional rulers of the communities selected as beneficiaries of the Japanese benevolence could not hide their joy as they told the Japanese ambassador that they were very grateful for the reapers and threshers offered to Obi, Keana and Awe Local Government Areas in collaboration with the Nasarawa State government. They assured them that their subjects who are beneficiaries of the gesture were going to make use of those implements judiciously.

The words of appreciations from the royal fathers were conveyed by the Sarkin Azara, Dr. Kabiru, who told the ambassador that the choice of his community (Azara) to flag off the programme was not by mistake. “In Azara alone, we roll out not less than 250 trucks of rice yearly. And each truck is about 30 bags, multiply by 250 will give the numbers of bags turned out annually from this community. We are very grateful because with manual harvest, we lose a lot of the rice before it gets to the point of consumption. However, with your intervention with the mechanised implement, there will be increase in the yield of the commodity,� the paramount ruler said.

A

WEEKLY PULL-OUT

‘THE BAR MUST URGENTLY ADDRESS SEXUAL HARASSMENT’

24.09.2019

Mrs. Miannaya Essien, SAN

2/DASHBOARD

24.09.2019

Permissibility of Ground of Appeal, Not Arising from Court’s Decision PAGE 4

Malami Restates FG’s Commitment to Provide Unhindered Access to Justice PAGE 5

U.S. Mission Supports Intellectual Property Rights Protection in Nigeria PAGE 5

Funke Adekoya, SAN Wins Partner of the Year at the African Legal Awards 2019 PAGE 5

QUOTABLES ‘The relationship between Nigeria and South Africa, is asymmetrical. There is a large number of Nigerians over there, but not the same high number of South Africans, in Nigeria. However, we have a lot of South African investments in Nigeria.....It is the South Africans, that ought to send delegations here to appeal to Nigeria......Nigeria should not give the impression that it is begging South Africa for some consideration, because we are the injured party.....’

– Professor Akin Oyebode, Professor of International Law and Jurisprudence

Ensure Women, Children have Unhindered Access to Justice Anywhere in Nigeria, Women Lawyers tell Government PAGE 6

‘A Lawyer must study, as if his last breath depends on it’

‘No Government, be it colonial or indigenous, military or civilian, will disobey a court order without the connivance of the Attorney-General.’

– Femi Falana, SAN, Human Rights Lawyer and Activist

PAGE 6

COLUMNISTS DR. MIKE OZEKHOME, SAN, OFR, FCIARB, PH.D, LL.D Constitutional Democracy, means a system of government, in which political and governmental power, is defined, limited and shared by a grundnorm called the Constitution, which provides inbuilt checks and balances.

This column seeks to fiercely discuss constitutional, legal and political issues, with a view to strengthening, deepening and widening the plenitude and amplitude of democracy and good governance, without fear or favour.

The writer of this column, Dr. Mike Ozekhome, SAN, is a Constitutional Lawyer, Human Rights Activist, Pro-Democracy Campaigner, Notary Public and Motivational Speaker. He co-founded the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), Nigeria's pioneer human rights league, on October 15,1987, the Universal Defenders of Democracy (UDD), in 1992, and with Chief Gani Fawehinmi and others in 1998, the Joint Action Committee of Nigeria (JACON), to push out the military. In his early days, he lectured at the University of Ife. Dr. Ozekhome is an author of many books. He is also a Special Counsel at the International Criminal Court (ICC), at The Hague.

ABUBAKAR D. SANI Abubakar D. Sani holds a Bachelors degree from the University of Maiduguri, and has been in active private legal practice since he was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1987.

He is the Principal of Abubakar D. Sani & Co., which has offices in Abuja and Kano. " INSIGHT" aims to unravel, analyse and proffer solutions to numerous anomalies in Nigerian law and practice, particularly statutes, vis-a-vis the Constitution, International Treaties and Conventions to which Nigeria is a signatory, Judicial Precedent and other relevant statutes and issues.

ONIKEPO BRAITHWAITE EDITOR JUDE IGBANOI DEPUTY EDITOR AKINWALE AKINTUNDE REPORTER TUNDE BUSARI GROUP HEAD OCHI OGBUAKU II ART DIRECTOR

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Cashless Policy and Other Matters

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CBN’s Asinine ‘Cashless’ Policy he Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s latest ‘Cashless’ Policy, seems to be ill-advised, ill-timed and absurd, to say the least. We have a society where people are still being encouraged to move away from being cash-oriented, to move away from keeping money under their beds at home, for many reasons, including that of the insecurity involved in holding large amounts of cash, yet you want to ‘encourage’ us to become ‘cashless’ by imposing punishment on us by charging individuals 2%, for every lodgement of cash into the bank, of N500,000 and above, and corporate organisations, 3%, for every cash lodgement of N3 million and above. How encouraging is it, especially in this ‘next level’ phase we are in, in which money is extremely hard to come by - for my N500,000 to become N490,000 automatically, because I deposit the money in the bank? Is the CBN trying to be a commission of agent of everybody and every business in Nigeria? Take for example the petrol station retails, where most people pay cash for their petrol and diesel purchases, the CBN wants to become a shareholder by force, by taking 3% of their deposits, when they lodge in their cash everyday? In any event, this new measure will certainly be a catalyst for an increase in the crime rate, as thieves and robbers will be aware that people are keeping more money in cash, to avoid these punitive charges.

Furthermore, Retailers will simply pass on that cost, one way or the other, to consumers, thereby, inflicting more pain on Nigerians, by reducing their already severely diminished disposable income. I submit that, this latest asinine innovation by the CBN, is certainly not in the national interest, contrary to Section 42(1)(c) of the CBN Act 2007. It sounds more like some scam, that is meant to benefit some ‘other’ interests to me! I applaud the House of Representatives, for instructing that the implementation of this policy, be suspended.

I hope that the new economic team created by the President, under the Chairmanship of Professor Doyin Salami, will come up with more ingenious ways to put Nigeria in a better financial position, than simply doing the same old thing, of further taxing the already over-burdened populace, with uncountable taxes. You have certainly not heard the last of this, from me!

South African Xenophobia I still have a little bit more to say on the South African Xenophobia saga. A pertinent question to ask is, where is the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama in all this? Though by virtue of Sections 147(1) and 148(1) and (2)(a) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended)(the Constitution) which vaguely set out his role as a Minister, one would imagine that he would be in the forefront of it all, giving the President direction on foreign policy, being a part of the evacuation of Nigerians from South Africa et al, alas! the Honourable Minister has remained rather quiet and almost invisible, through it all, except for a couple of press conferences! Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the Chairman/CEO of the Nigerian Diaspora Commission, on the other hand, certainly seems to be more up and doing, in this regard. While it seems that Government is confused about roles and the duplication of efforts, as they appear to be at sixes and sevens as to who should be doing what in this affair, it certainly looks like, “what a man can do, a woman can do better!”

Mr Allen Onyema: A Shining Example I join all Nigerians, to thank Mr Allen Onyema, the Chairman of Air Peace, who was kind enough to expend his personal resources and lay on his aircrafts, to evacuate Nigerians from South Africa. Talk about Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)! I do hope that organisations like MTN, DSTV, Stanbic-IBTC etc, are contributing to this laudable venture undertaken by Mr Onyema, to help defray his expenses, or doing something

substantial, to give the Nigerian returnees, a softer landing, because it would be shameful and scandalous, if they are not. After all, they are the ones reaping huge profits from here. I hope for example, that DSTV does not think that the advert campaign against xenophobia which it is presently running, is adequate CSR, because it is not. It is absolutely immoral, unfair and unacceptable, for South African companies to be happily and peacefully making all that money here, while their people slaughter our people, in their country.

I certainly second the motion of Honourable Namdas on the floor of the House of Representatives last week, that Mr Onyema be given a national honour.

The Way Forward: Evacuation Evacuation of our people from South Africa, especially for reasons of xenophobia, is a good decision, to the extent that it shows that South Africans have a senseless intolerance of non- indigenes, and this will, hopefully, be a dampner on FDI (foreign direct investment) in South Africa. It will make people think twice about investing in a country, where uneducated out- of-control citizens are allowed to run amok, with the overt support of their Police, and tacit support of their Government.

So, what, if President Ramaphosa apologised?

Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Xuma before him also apologised, and their apologies achieved nothing – it failed to stop the xenophobia. The apology is simply, inadequate. As for Nigeria running up and down to South Africa all in the name of diplomacy, it should be the other way around.

Economic Sanctions Sometimes, a habitual offender needs to be taught a good lesson, and to teach a person an effective lesson, so that there will never be a repeat of their undesirable behaviour, one must hit them where it hurts the most.

For most people, depriving them of money works like a charm!

Economic Sanctions, are economic measures taken against an offending country, for example, to force the country to change a negative policy, or in the case of South Africa, to force the government to take affirmative action, to stop their people from their incessant xenophobic attacks on Nigerians (and people of other nationalities). Though some have argued against the imposition of economic sanctions, because they inflict suffering on the citizens of the country which they are imposed upon - usually, in those cases, the citizens are not the ones wreaking havoc - it’s usually the

Mr. Allen Onyema, Chairman of Air Peace

autocratic despotic ruler, for example, Iraq and Saddam Hussein. In the case of South Africa, the expression of sympathy of the citizens is inapplicable, because the citizens are the ones actively doing the damage, and killing Nigerians, with gusto and aplomb.

Even the United Nations (UN), imposes sanctions against countries. For instance, targeted sanctions including travel ban and economic sanctions - asset freezing, were imposed by the UN on certain top government officials in Democratic Republic of Congo, for serious human rights abuses. The United States and European Union, also imposed sanctions on some Congolese government officials, for the same reason.

Similarly, Nigeria can reduce the number of flights that South African Airlines makes to Nigeria, and give some slots to Air Peace; sell some of the MTN shares to Glo, a wholly Nigerian-owned company (‘tiwan tiwa’ - our own is our own). That should serve as a stern warning to South Africa, that Nigeria will never tolerate the wanton killing of her citizens, in their country. South Africa has all types of businesses here – from the television business to telecommunications, to banking, aviation, and even something as basic as the supermarket business - Shoprite - all businesses that we Nigerians, can do, and are in fact, doing ourselves.

Take telecoms for instance, MTN is enjoying the benefit of servicing our huge population, which is almost four times larger than theirs - let Glo enjoy it, instead. MTN can never make the profits which they are making in Nigeria, in South Africa or anywhere else in Africa for that matter, because they simply do not have the numbers - Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa. That, in my view, must count for something. When the huge revenue they make from here is threatened or diminished, the South African government will be constrained to curb the nefarious activities of their people against Nigerians, and instead of using the feeble excuse that all Nigerians in South Africa are criminals and deserve to be killed, they will be forced to make the choice, to either clamp down on their people, in order to put an end to their xenophobic crimes, or loose a huge chunk of their juicy income from Nigeria.

P.S.: National Livestock Transformation Plan Congratulations to the Federal Government on the NLTP. All the factories located on the road where a factory in which I am a Director in Ibadan is also situated, have shut down. In

ONIKEPO BRAITHWAITE

THE ADVOCATE onikepo.braithwaite@thisdaylive.com onikepob@yahoo.com Twitter: @TheAdvocateTD

“SOMETIMES, A HABITUAL OFFENDER NEEDS TO BE TAUGHT A GOOD LESSON, AND TO TEACH A PERSON AN EFFECTIVE LESSON, SO THAT THERE WILL NEVER BE A REPEAT OF THEIR UNDESIRABLE BEHAVIOUR, ONE MUST HIT THEM WHERE IT HURTS THE MOST. FOR MOST PEOPLE, DEPRIVING THEM OF MONEY WORKS LIKE A CHARM!” our case, our factory, Nigerian Gas Cylinders Manufacturing Co. Ltd (NGCMC), as the name connotes, manufactures different sizes of gas cylinders and burner cookers, and maintains them. It was the largest of its kind in West Africa, and we were in partnership with one of large companies, Total. At a point, every Total gas cylinder that was used in Nigeria, Ghana and other African countries, were manufactured by us, because we were also exporting. We even won a Government butanisation contract in Ghana, which we had to bid for, against some other European companies at the time.

Today, thanks to inconsistent government policy, corruption, lack of electricity, scarcity/ high cost of LPG etc, the company has become moribund, and we were constrained to sack our 500 or more strength staff. The last Managing Director we had, was a British man, Chief Roy Carrington, now of blessed memory. Yes, unlike the South Africans, the Ibadan people made him feel so welcome, that he was even honoured with a chieftaincy title, in the bargain!

He always wore his ‘ileke’ (coral beads) on his wrist!

I guess the best thing to do, is to gather British Leyland and all the other factories on that road, run riot, get violent, and wreak havoc, so that the Government will also reward us, by providing all the money we require to re-start our businesses, like they have done in the case of the Fulani Herdsmen. After all, the preamble of the Constitution, says it’s essence is to promote equality among Nigerian citizens.

Surely, if the Fulani Herdsmen deserve this break, so do we. Hang on! I’m confused. I thought Government said that, most of the Herdsmen attacking and killing people all over the place, are not Nigerian? Pray tell, why is Government then using a whopping N100 billion of our extremely scarce resources, to support foreigners’ private business? My dear colleagues, maybe you can explain this to us.

4/LAW REPORT

24.09.2019

Permissibility of Ground of Appeal, Not Arising from Court’s Decision

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Counsel for the Respondent countered the submission above, stating that the Respondent’s 1st Ground of Appeal before the Court of Appeal, disclosed a reasonable complaint against the Ruling of the learned trial Judge.

Facts

he Appellants were staff of the Respondent, before they were declared redundant. The Respondent had industrial problem with its workforce in Abuja, which led to the closure of its activities on the 16th June, 1999. By a circular dated 28th June, 1999, the Respondent declared its workers redundant, and informed them that payment of salaries, wages and redundancy benefits for the period ending on 15th June, 1999 would be made on 30th June, 1999; 2nd July, 1999; and 3rd July, 1999. By the circular, the workers living in the Respondent’s quarters, were also informed that they had to vacate the quarters within a period of two days after payment.

The Respondent’s workers, who felt threatened by the provisions of the circular issued, collectively took out a Writ of Summons in a representative capacity, seeking inter alia, an Order of Perpetual Injunction restraining the Respondent and its agents from declaring any of the Appellants redundant, without following the statutorily prescribed due process of law; and an Order of Perpetual Injunction restraining the Respondent from forcefully ejecting them or any of their family members, from any of their official quarters. The Writ of Summons, was not accompanied with a Statement of Claim. The Appellants also filed an application for Interlocutory Injunction dated 1st July, 1999, seeking inter alia, orders restraining the Respondent and its agents from interfering with any of the rights and privileges due to the Appellants as workers of the Respondent; including ejecting them from its official quarters, pending the final determination of the substantive suit.

The processes were duly served on the Respondent, and as a follow up, counsel for the Appellants wrote two letters dated 1st July, 1999 to the Respondent, warning it of the consequences of declaring any of the workers redundant, during the pendency of the suit and application for interlocutory injunction. The Respondent ignored the court processes and letters, and went on to declare the Appellants redundant on 2nd and 3rd July, 1999. The Respondent paid their entitlements, which the Appellants received.

Further to the foregoing, the Appellants filed a Motion on Notice dated 4th October, 2000 before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja seeking an Order reinstating them to the employment of the Respondent pending the determination of the substantive suit, and an Order deeming the Appellants as employees of the Respondent at all times material to the commencement of the suit. The Respondent also filed its counter-affidavit. The trial court delivered its ruling in which it made an Order that the Appellants are deemed to be in the service of the Respondent, until the final determination of the suit.

Dissatisfied, the Respondent filed an appeal against the ruling of the trial court. The Appellants, who were also dissatisfied with part of the ruling, filed a Respondents’ Notice of Appeal. The two appeals were allowed, and the Ruling and Orders of the trial court were set aside. The suit was remitted to the trial court, to be heard by another Judge.

Dissatisfied with the decision of the Court of Appeal, the Appellants appealed to the Supreme Court.

Issues for Determination The three issues distilled for determination of the appeal were: 1. Whether the Court of Appeal was correct in law, to have dismissed the Appellants’ Preliminary Objection against the Respondent’s appeal at the court below.

2. Whether the Court of Appeal was right, to have set aside the decision of the trial court and ordered a retrial of the substantive suit before another Judge, on the ground that the learned trial Judge delved into substantive issues at an interlocutory stage, when it made the order reinstating the Appellants in the Respondent’s employ.

3. Whether the Court of Appeal was correct in the circumstances of the appeal before it, to have held that the learned trial Judge went beyond the reliefs sought on the motion paper, thereby becoming a Father Christmas.

Arguments On the first issue, counsel for the Appellants argued that, the Respondent’s appeal at the Court of Appeal, which challenged the jurisdiction of the trial court to determine the substantive suit at an interlocutory stage, was incompetent, as it was not hinged on the decision/pronouncement of the trial court; hence, the lower court was wrong to

Hon. Paul Adamu Galinje, JSC

In the Supreme Court of Nigeria Holden at Abuja On Friday, the 17th day of May, 2019 Before Their Lordships Olabode Rhodes-Vivour John Inyang Okoro Chima Centus Nweze Amina Adamu Augie Paul Adamu Galinje Justices, Supreme Court SC.197/2011 Between 1. Okwara Agwu 2. Innocent Obinna 3. Charles Onumara 4. Oparaocha Luiz Garba 5. Obiakor Edwin 6. Ekeh Spear.........Appellants And Julius Berger Nigeria PLC ...........Respondent (Lead Judgement delivered by Hon. Paul Adamu Galinje, JSC)

have assumed jurisdiction to entertain the appeal. Counsel submitted that, an appeal must always be against the ratio decidendi of the decision, complained about. He contended that, the 1st Ground of Appeal in the Respondent’s Notice of Appeal at the Court of Appeal, which the Respondent’s sole issue was predicated upon, was vague, and did not arise from the decision of the trial court; therefore, it was invalid.

“.....AS A GENERAL RULE, A GROUND OF APPEAL SHOULD CHALLENGE THE DECISION, PARTICULARLY, THE RATIO DECIDENDI OF THE LOWER COURT. HOWEVER, WHERE A GROUND OF APPEAL QUESTIONS THE JURISDICTION OF A COURT, IT IS IMMATERIAL WHETHER THE GROUND/ ISSUE, CONSTITUTED THE RATIO OF THAT DECISION OR NOT”

Court’s Judgement and Rationale On the first issue, the Supreme Court held that as a general rule, a Ground of Appeal should challenge the decision, particularly, the ratio decidendi of the lower court. However, where a Ground of Appeal questions the jurisdiction of a court, it is immaterial whet the ground/issue constituted the ratio of that decision or not; the competence of such a Ground of Appeal, cannot be challenged merely because it does not arise from the decision of the lower court. Once an issue of jurisdiction is raised, the court is bound to examine whether it is a spurious or genuine claim. In the instant case, the Ground of Appeal against which the Appellants hinged their argument, was on an issue of jurisdiction raised by the Respondent, that the trial court had no jurisdiction to decide substantive matters at interlocutory stage. The lower court was therefore, right, when it overruled the Preliminary Objection of the Appellants thereat, in order to consider the complaint embedded in the Ground of Appeal.

On the second leg of the Appellants’ complaint that the ground was vague and thus, incompetent, their Lordships held that, the essence of a Ground of Appeal is to give notice to the adverse party of what he is expected to encounter at the appellate court, and once the ground is clear and fully understood by the opponent, it cannot be declared incompetent. Relying on its decision in LAGGA v SARHAUNA (2008) 16 NWLR (Part 1114) 427 AT 471-472, Paragraphs H–B, the court held that, substantial justice should not be sacrificed on the altar of technicalities, where such irregularities have not occasioned a miscarriage of justice. The Justices opined that, having read through the Respondent’s first Ground of Appeal before the lower court, it is clear and unambiguous, and cannot be said to have misled the Appellants. The Court of Appeal was thus, right, to have dismissed the Appellant’s preliminary objection against the Respondent’s appeal, at the lower court.

Deciding the second and third issues, the court held that, in dealing with any interlocutory application, the court should not delve into the substantive issues, as it is never proper for a court to make pronouncements in the course of interlocutory proceedings, on issues capable of prejudging the substantive issues before the court - BARIGHA v PDP & 2 ORS (2012) 12 SC (Part V) 1 and MORTUNE v GIMBA (1983) 4 NCLR 237 AT 242. Where the prayers in an application overlap with the substantive claims, it is safer for the court to refuse such application, and order for the hearing of the substantive suit. In this case, the issue of declaration of the Appellants as redundant by the Respondent, was the subject-matter of the Writ of Summons and the Interlocutory Application before the trial court. The said issue, as well as the issue of reinstating them in the employ of the Respondent, were issues to be determined in the substantive matter, and not at the interlocutory stage as done by the trial court. It follows that, the Court of Appeal was right to have set aside the Orders of the trial court.

Further, the trial court went beyond the reliefs sought, which was an Order of Injunction restraining the Respondent from declaring the Appellants redundant. The power of a court does not extend to compelling an unwilling employer, to retain employees it does not need. The only thing a court can do, is to order for payment of all entitlements of the employees, based on the provisions of the contract of employment. The Order made by the trial court, deeming the Appellants as the employees of the Respondent, was beyond its powers, and the Court of Appeal was right when it set the Order aside.

Appeal Dismissed.

Representation S.C. Peters with Hillary Ugwu Esq., Joshua Akor, Esq., Dirrine Davies Esq, and E.B. Ezekiel Esq. for the Appellants.

L. Olaseinde Kareem, Esq. with Joseph Oche for the Respondents.

Reported by Optimum Publishers Limited (Publishers of the Nigerian Monthly Law Reports (NMLR))

24.09.2019

NEWS/5

U.S. Mission Supports Intellectual Property Rights Protection in Nigeria Akinwale Akintunde

L-R: Managing Director of Premier Records Limited, Mr. Toju Ejueyitchie, IP Chair NIALS, Professor Adebambo Adewopo,SAN, Executive Director NFVCB, Alhaji Adebayo Thomas, moderating the discussion, Director General of NCC, Mr. John Asien and Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Mohammed Babandede at the Intellectual Property Symposium organised by the US Embassy in partnership with the American Business Council held at Eko hotel & Suites, Lagos

Malami Restates FG’s Commitment to Provide Unhindered Access to Justice Ibrahim Oyewale in Lokoja The Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr Abubakar Malami, SAN has restated the commitment of the Federal Government under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari, to provide free access to justice and a better life for the down trodden Nigerians.

Malami who disclosed this, while speaking at the opening ceremony of a two-day retreat themed "Repositioning the Legal Aid Council for Better Service Delivery", in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital last weekend, stated that the retreat is coming at a time when the country needs to

ensure that every Nigerian has unhindered access to justice.

He explained that, the Legal Aid Council has a big role to play, and as such, needs to be well repositioned for the task ahead.

The Attorney-General of the Federation added that, one of the services that could be provided to the people, is the unhindered access to justice, of which legal Aid Council stands for.

"As you are aware, the Council was established 1976 with the promulgation of the Legal Aid Decree No. 56, with the mandate to handle criminal matters.

With the passage of time and upsurge of civil mat-

ters, the Act was repealed in 2011, wherein the mandate of the Council was expanded to cover both criminal and civil matters.

This has in no small measure, enabled the Council to cover substantial ground in the administration of justice in the country", the Attorney-General said.

Earlier in his address, the Director General, Legal Aid Council , Abubakar Aliyu explained that, the Legal Aid Council has a long history spanning over 40 years of service to the indigent Nigerians, stressing that the place of the Council in the administration of justice, cannot be over emphasised.

"Together with other key stakeholders, such as the

Nigeria Police Force and the Nigerian Correctional Service, and with support of our parent Ministry, we have been able to achieve some level of success in the discharge of our mandate as contained in enabling Act”, he stressed.

Also speaking, the Chief Judge of Kogi State, Justice Nasiru Ajanah, commended the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria for their role in the administration of justice in Kogi State.

Justice Ajanah noted that, the Council has always been a part of Correctional Centre’s decongestion exercise, saying that the Judiciary will continue to partner with the Legal Aid Council.

CEHEJ Report Reveals how General Electric, other Electricity Contractors Failed Nigerians Akinwale Akintunde A new report released by the Centre for Health Equity and Justice (CEHEJ) has revealed how fraudulent contracts were awarded in the Nigerian power sector.

The report titled, ‘Kept in Darkness – Holding Non-Performing Electricity Contractors Accountable’, specifically revealed how a globally acclaimed giant of electricity, General Electric (GE) with long term presence in Nigeria and other electricity contractors underperformed and failed in their contractual obligations to Nigeria in the electricity sector.

According to the Report, which was presented to the public in Lagos last Thursday by the lead researcher and an associate professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Lagos, Dr. Yemi Oke, General Electric and other failed contractors did not give anything back to Nigeria in exchange for the billions of dollars taken out of the

country other than general darkness.

The 70-page report found that the billions of dollars spent by the Nigerian Government in the power sector have been paid to contractors, most of whom failed to deliver on their projects and promises to Nigeria.

The Report further revealed that corruption in the electricity sector manifested by way of inflation of contracts, fraud, bribery and misappropriation of funds, among others.

“GE, as a so-called development partner of Nigeria has collected more money from Nigeria more than any other entity and has disappointed the most.

In x-raying the Kaduna Power Plant that was awarded to GE as Contractor in consortium with an indigenous company, the report reveals how GE has been very deliberate and systematic in disappointing Nigeria’s legitimate expectations in salvaging

the power sector despite claiming to be Nigeria’s strategic development partner.

“The report shows that although the Kaduna Power Plant contract was awarded since 2009 as a turnkey project with a term of 36 months, it has not been delivered till date, i.e. after over 10 years. Worse still, on average each engineer of GE on the project site gulps from the Nigerian Government purse a daily sum in US dollars that is way higher than the monthly salary of a permanent secretary in the Government Ministries.

The report is convinced that no foreign entity has caused such financial haemorrhage on Nigeria as GE has done.

“In the Course of the investigations culminating in this report, it was discovered that some of the Contracts awarded were for purposes or projects that were not

feasible, while others although feasible, were awarded to fictitious, nonfunctional or non-existent companies which are in other words referred to as shell companies in that they exist only on paper. Of graver worry is the fact that most of the projects for which the contracts were awarded, up until now, remain unattended to, either totally unattended or inexplicably abandoned half-way”, it stated.

The report seeks to ensure that those who failed to perform or deliver on contractual obligations, duties and responsibilities in the power sector are held accountable and punished under the existing law; contractual agreements, and document.

Dr. Oke in his presentation stated that “of the reported or documented cases of under-performing CONTINUED ON PAGE 15

The U.S. Mission in Nigeria and the American Business Council, in partnership with the Government of Nigeria and members of the private sector, launched a two-day Intellectual Property (IP) Symposium in Lagos, last week.

The symposium held at the Eko Hotels & Suites, Lagos, with the theme, ‘The Bane of Counterfeit Pharmaceuticals and Piracy’, brought together a broad range of stakeholders, including senior officials from Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies, legislators, Lawyers, business, and technology leaders.

Businesses and organisations from various sectors of the Nigerian economy, such as the Pharmaceuticals, Consumer goods, Information and Communication technology (ICT) and Entertainment sector, were well represented.

U.S. Embassy Chargé d'affaires, Kathleen FitzGibbon, delivered remarks highlighting the importance of intellectual property rights protection, which enables the innovation and creativity needed to bolster economic growth.

Chargé FitzGibbon noted that, strong intellectual property rights protection is essential to creating jobs, and opening new markets for goods and services.

“This is not just an American issue, this is a global issue and as Nigeria moves ahead with goals of diversifying and shifting to a knowledgebased economy, a strong intellectual property rights regime will help attract investment and protect Nigerian ideas and Nigerian businesses”, Chargé FitzGibbon said.

She urged stakeholders, government, consumers, and businesses, to join forces in ensuring the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights.

Also, speaking at the opening of the symposium were Robert Bowman from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development Assistance and Training, as well as Professor Adebambo Adewopo, SAN, a leading intellectual property scholar and the IP Chair at the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies.

In his keynote address, Professor Adewopo, SAN noted that, the increasing role of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs), as a strategic resource for economic growth, has continued in its ever-growing significance to the core values of human enterprise and development goals.

According to him, in an increasingly borderless world of the 4th Industrial Era, marked by rapid advances in digital technologies, the role of IPRs remain assured.

“The opportunities and challenges of the global economy, can only leave an unconnected country behind. As the opportunities are opening new possibilities, the challenges are cutting new paths for future progress, for the society to benefit from new ideas.

“In this wise, the role of IP has been historic, as it has been multidimensional. It cuts across many productive sectors of the economy and development disciplines.

“It promises to assist in harnessing the enormous human resources that abound everywhere, and in every field of human enterprise. In Nigeria, we often speak of the rich Human Resources, as one of our greatest natural endowments. In reality, that CONTINUED ON PAGE 15

Funke Adekoya, SAN Wins Partner of the Year at the African Legal Awards 2019 Akinwale Akintunde For her exceptional achievement in Africa’s legal services industry, LEX partner, Mrs. Funke Adekoya, SAN, has bagged, Partner of the Year Award at the African Legal Awards 2019.

The scoring criteria include the contestant’s track record of exemplary leadership, strong legal skills, resourcefulness which has led to successes, upright client management practices, and measurable contributions to the wider community.

Funke in over 40 years of practice has received considerable recognition

and numerous awards for excellence in the commercial litigation and corporate dispute resolution areas.

She leads a team at LEX that represents businesses in various sectors.

The awards ceremony took place this month in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Funke Adekoya, SAN

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24.09.2019

Ensure Women, Children have Unhindered Access to Justice Anywhere in Nigeria, Women Lawyers tell Government Akinwale Akintunde African Women Lawyers Association (AWLA), has implored government at all levels, to be more deliberate and intentional towards ensuring that women and children have unhindered access to justice, anywhere in Nigeria.

In order to achieve this and protect the rights of children, prevail over violence to abuse them, the group advocated for a one stop justice system for women and children, with special Federal courts with one jurisdiction and power to deal with any matter involving abuse of women and children, anywhere in Nigeria.

AWLA also called for an adequate support structure for victims of abuse, adding that, they must not be subjected to double jeopardy for reporting.

“They must be supported and protected, all the way. Compensation for victims of abuse, and especially, child defilement. They are victims of, a failed society.”

AWLA made this call through its President, Mrs. Mandy Demechi-Asagba, at the annual celebration of AWLA Parley with the theme, ‘Zero Tolerance Towards Child Abuse’ AWLA Parley is a programme which brings together everyone, including Lawyers, women, children, other NGOs and likeminded stakeholders, to discuss on common ground, in order to raise awareness and collaborate on the way forward for women and children.

Speaking at the Parley, AWLA President, Demechi-Asagba, said the 2019 theme was apt because it is centred on the leaders of tomorrow.

She expressed serious concern, at the alarming increase of women and child abuse across the country.

“It is so glaring, as every day in the media, whether offline or online, we know how child abuse has reached an alarming rate, which takes place in different circumstances and settings. Child abuse and molestation keeps evolving from child labour to child prostitution, child marriage, child sexual violence, child trafficking, child abduction or kidnapping, domestic violence, child torture, indecent treatment of boys and girls, procuring abortion for children, and many more child-related crimes. Even the physically disabled children, are not exempted.

“What about children who are stigmatised

for their colour, sex, race, tribe and medical condition? Sadly, these abusive acts are perpetrated by parents, guardians, neighbours, friends, strangers, teachers, and persons in positions of trust and power.

“Instances of child abuse vary, which includes narratives such as when a woman was arrested by the gender unit desk of the Nigeria Police, for locking an orphan child in a dog cage. Another sad instance, was when a woman killed her daughter for stealing the sum of N350. What about endless torture on children, employed by housemaids?

“Child neglect, is also an instance of child abuse. Depriving children of education and quality healthcare, is a disservice to children and the nation. Some parents and family members, starve their children. They go further to inflict bruises and lacerations, on children. They murder disabled children.

They sell their children, and commit other crimes against the child. Homeless children are roaming the streets, with no hope for the future. Abused children, do not have access to shelter and justice. So, what is the role of the African Women Lawyers Association, in all these sad pictures being painted here?

“At this stage, and as we strive to protect the rights of children and prevail over violence to abused children, we implore the Government at all levels, to be more deliberate and intentional towards ensuring that women and children have unhindered access to justice anywhere and everywhere in Nigeria, as we propose a one-stop justice system for women and children with special Federal courts with one jurisdiction, and power to deal with any matter connected to, or relating to women and children anywhere in Nigeria; adoption of a monistic approach to applicability of any international convention, treatise and protocol pertaining to, and or relating to women and children, thus, automatically incorporating ratified international Conventions, Treatise and Protocols into our National corpus juris, in order not to shut out women and children from non-compliant States from justice, using the model of Section 245 C (2) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (third alteration as amended 2010), in relation to Labour matters; adequate support structure for victims. They must not be subjected to double jeopardy, for reporting. They must be supported and protected all the way,

L-R: Coordinator, AWLA Cross River State, Mrs. Theresa Ibas, Guest Speaker, Her Honour Magistrate Folarin Williams, Bukola Akinloye, representing the Wife of Lagos State Governor, Her Excellency, Dr. Mrs. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, AWLA President, Mandy Asagba, AWLA Regional Coordinator (South South), Mrs. Efe Etomi, Guest Speaker on Plea Bargain, Mr. Akin George, representing RoLAC and Lagos State AttorneyGeneral and Commissioner for Justice and NBA Vice President, Foluke Dada

Mrs. Efe Etomi, receiving the Award of Excellence on behalf of the First Lady of Edo State, Her Excellency Mrs Betsy Obaseki for her selfless and outstanding commitment and contributions to the welfare of the Nigerian Woman

and compensation for victims of abuse and especially, child defilement. They are victims of a failed society.

“If we must end the spate of terror unleashed on children and women, we must take decisive steps”, Demechi-Asagba stated.

Legal Personality of the Week James A James Esq.

‘A Lawyer must study, as if his last breath depends on it’ Please, give a brief introduction of yourself.

My name is James A James Esq, a native of Nkoro town in Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area of Rivers State.

I attended Springfield Nursery School, Borikiri and proceeded to State School 1, Township School Moscow Road, Port Harcourt for my primary education.

Subsequently, I attended Enitonna High School, Borikiri, where I had my secondary education. After my SSCE and JAMB, I got admission to study law at the University of Calabar in Cross River State, where I obtained my Bachelor of law degree.

Thereafter, Iproceeded to the Nigerian Law School (Kano Campus) for my BL, and was called the Bar in 2011. I did my compulsory NYSC in Abia State, at the Judicial Service Commission, Umuahia. I got married to a colleague in 2015, and we are now blessed with a son.

I started my legal practice with Chief M.B.R Urombo of Metong & Metong Fulfillment Chambers, and later, I moved to A. A. Brown & Co. Currently, my wife and I practice in our Chambers, St. James Legal Consult, within Port Harcourt metropolis.

working under a principal who was conservative with knowledge, my legal practice was extremely limited.

What was your worst day as a Lawyer?

My worst day as a Lawyer, was actually my first day in court, where I personally conducted a matter before Hon. Justice B.A. Georgewill, now Justice of the Court of Appeal. He threw so many questions at me, that even the senior colleagues sitting beside me in court that day, could not be of help.

To put it mildly, that day that I first appeared in court on my won to conduct a matter, I was judicially baptised!

James A James Esq

Have you had any challenge on your career as a Lawyer, and if so, what were the main challenges ?

Yes, I have had challenges as a Lawyer.

As a new-commer into the profession,

What is your most memorable experience as a Lawyer?

My most memorable experience as a Lawyer so fat, was the day I crossexamined a Senior Advocate of Nigeria in the witness box.

Who has been most influential in you life?

My darling wife, has been the most influential person in my life.

Why did you become a Lawyer?

I became a Lawyer because I grew up in a neighbourhood where there was so much oppression of the poor, and this consequently, heightened my passion to stand for the oppressed, indigent and the voiceless.

What would be your advice to anyone wanting a career in law?

Becoming a Lawyer is an exciting and noble dream, but one must be prepared, to study as if your last breath depends on it. Aspiring Lawyers, should not be discouraged by the legal challenges ahead.

If you had not become a Lawyer, what other career would you have chosen?

I would have chosen to be a footballer.

I feel fulfilled when I use my experience and skills, to make people happy and relax.

Where do you see yourself in ten years?

I see myself at the echelon of legal practice, and a frontline human rights activist, celebrated across the globe.

24.09.2019

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TALKING CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY DR. MIKE OZEKHOME, SAN

SMS only to 08098898888

The $9 Billion Judgement Debt Brouhaha: Legal Issues Arising (Part 3)

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façade theory in ALade v Alic (Nig. Ltd) ( 2010) 19 NWLR (PT 1226) Pg 111 @ 127 (paras E-F), where it held thus: “it must be stated that, this court as the last court of the land, will not allow a party to use his company as a cover to dupe, cheat and or defraud an innocent citizen who entered into a lawful contract with the company, only to be confronted with the companies legal entity as distinct from his directors’’.

Thus, the federal government may ask that the veil of incorporation of the now dead company be pierced to exhume the real human beings behind it whilst it was alive as a legal entity.

Introduction

e shall now continue with the third part of our submission, on this topical and extremely important issue, which has kept Nigeria on tenterhooks, with the more recent developments, and then fall back again to look at some of the issues arising.

The Federal High Court in Abuja on 19th September, 2019, convicted and subsequently, ordered the winding up of Process and Industrial Developments Ltd and its Nigeria affiliate, P & ID Nigeria Ltd. The order was made by Justice Inyang Ekwo, when some alleged representatives of P& ID pleaded guilty to an 11 count charge of fraud, money laundering, tax evasion and other sundry offences, in connection with the 2010 controversial judgement by a British court. The court had empowered P&ID, to seize about $9.6 billion worth of Nigerian assets.

The judgement also ordered that the “assets and properties” of the two companies, be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria. Through this process, Nigeria hopes to lay a solid foundation that the entire $9.6 judgement debt is rooted in fraud and corruption, and so, cannot stand the test of judicial enforceability.

This, Nigeria hopes, will enable her apply to set aside the judgement liability.

The foreign P & ID incorporated in the British Virgin Island, was said to have been represented in court by its commercial Director, Mohammed Kuchazi, while P & ID Nigeria Ltd was represented by one Adamu Usman, a Lawyer and Director of the company. They were both said to have pleaded guilty to the 11 count charge on behalf of the company, bordering on advance fee fraud (419).

However, P & ID, through its counsel, Andrew Staffort, Q.C, of Kobre & Kim, based in London, has already denounced and Page 1 of 7 repudiated the Federal High Court judgement. He described the trial and judgement as a “sham and entirely illegitimate”. He accused the Buhari administration of targeting innocent individuals associated with the companies with detentions, using the EFCC, and vowed to “continue to identify and seize Nigerian assets”.

The Nigerian Government order obtained from Federal High Court, Abuja, is no doubt a good response from the domestic angle, but it appears to me that, the best way out for us as a Nation, for now, is to first attack the main judgement and the award, and immediately file an appeal and stay of execution of the judgement. The reason is that, the Federal High Court in Abuja does not have extra-territorial jurisdiction over the UK court that okayed the award, and the arbitral tribunal in the UK that initially made the $9.6 billion award. The Federal High Court in Nigeria, can only prevent execution of the award from being effected against government properties and monies domiciled in Nigeria, but not against such properties and monies domiciled within the 28 EU countries and 60 countries that make up the New York Convention, to which the

“HOWEVER, GOING BY THE RULE IN TURQUAND’S CASE, IT MAY BE DIFFICULT FOR NIGERIA TO RELY ON ALLEGED NON-APPROVAL OF THE CONTRACT WITH P & ID, ON THE GROUNDS THAT IT DID NOT FOLLOW DUE PROCESS IN NIGERIA, OR THAT IT WAS NOT APPROVED BY THE FEDERAL EXECUTIVE COUNCIL”

The Rule in Turquand’s Case However, going by The Rule in Turquand’s case, it may be difficult for Nigeria to rely on alleged non-approval of the contract with P & ID, on the grounds that it did not follow due process in Nigeria, or that it was not approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC), or that it breached Sections 2 & 3 of the Infrastructural Regulatory Commission Act. The reason is traceable to The Rule in Turquand’s Case.

President Muhammadu Buhari

arbitral award is subject to execution against Nigeria. I had earlier on posited my legal opinion, pro bono, to the Federal Government, as a Nigerian patriot.

More significantly, the conviction and winding up of the P&ID were carried out, after the arbitral award had been made and entered by aBritish Court. Rights, duties and obligations had already accrued and inured, and same cannot be abated or cancelled retroactively, by a futuristic order as just done by the Federal High Court, Abuja. We should also note that, the company, though limited, has human beings running it as Directors and alter egos, since the P&ID as a corporation, is an inanimate object that acts through the instrumentality of living human beings. This is a trite principle of law, established in the case of Salomon v Salomon.

The Rule in Salomon VS Salomon & Co. Ltd (1897) AC 22.

The principle of Corporate Separate Personality has since been firmly established in common law, since the decision in Salomon v Salomon & Co. Ltd. It is to the effect that, a corporation has a separate legal personality, rights and obligations, totally distinct from those of his shareholders. Legislation and courts neverthe- less sometimes pierce the corporate veil, so as to hold the shareholders personally liable for the liabilities of the corporation. Courts may also lift the corporate veil in the conflict of laws, in order to determine who actually controls the corporation, and thus, to ascertain the corporations through contracts and closest and most real connections. When a company receives a certificate of incorporation, it has a separate legal personality. In law, the company becomes a legal person, in its own right.

The global consensus therefore, is that courts of law in certain circumstances can pierce the veil if there is an abuse by the Shareholders or Directors, or where there is an apparent impropriety. In addition, pundits and legal scholars have also advocated the possibility of holding shareholders liable for the company’s debt, as well. For the veil to be lifted, four conditions must however be met, to wit: 1. A loss must have occurred.

2. A limited liability company must have been used in an artificial and reprehensible way, as a means to avoid a payment liability for its shareholders.

3. There must be a casual link between the loss and the cause and 4. It must be possible to identify the shareholders in the limited liability company.

The above prerequisites must co-exist simultaneously, for the corporate veil to be pierced. This alter ego theory was applied by the Nigerian court in Fairline Pharmaceutical Industries Limited v Trustadjusters Nigeria Limited (2012) LPELR 20860 (CA).

The Nigerian Apex Court, gave credence to this

The Principle as laid down in Royal British Bank v Turquand (1856) 6 E & B 327 This is a very famous company law principle, which held that people transacting with companies are entitled to assume that internal company rules are complied with, even if they are not. This (Indoor Management Rule) or The Rule in Turquand’s Case is applicable in most of the Common Law World, including Nigeria.

It originally mitigated the harshness of the constructive notice doctrine and in the UK, it is now supplemented by the Companies Act, 2006 Section 36-41.

The indoor management rule has been applied in the Nigerian case of Metalimpes v A.G Leventis & Co. Nigeria Limited (1976) 2 SC 91, (1976) 1 ALL NLR (Part 1) 94.

The Court held in that case, that, a person dealing with a company is entitled to assume, in the absence of facts putting him on enquiry, that there has been due compliance with all matters of internal management and procedures required by the Articles, and is not required to enquire into the internal workings of the Company.

Similarly, in the case of Trenco Nigeria Limited v African Real Estate and Investment Company (1978) 3 SC 9, (1978) 1 LRN 146, the Supreme Court also held, applying this rule, that the Defendants were entitled to assume that the Chairman of the Plaintiff’s company, had the authority to enter into a binding contract with a Defendant’s company on behalf of the Plaintiff’s company.

Way out for Nigeria The best way for Nigeria to move forward therefore, is for the Federal Government to further arraign, prosecute and convict the brains behind the company, who are currently abroad. The Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) allows this sort of trial in absentia, if it is shown to the satisfaction of the court that the suspects were duly served with the criminal charges and the date of arraignment communicated to them, but that they refused to make themselves available for trial. A bench warrant will have to first be issued. See Sections 352 (4) of Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015. See also Sections 113, 131, 134, 177, 382 and 399 0f ACJA. See the Cases of Apugo v FRN (2017) lpelr-41643 (CA); Cadbury Nig Plc v FRN (2004) LPELR- 5422 (CA); Chukwu v IGP (2018) LPELR-45249 (CA); Glencore Energy UK Ltd v FRN (2018) LPELR 43860 (CA).

Last week, we had continued with our discourse on the legal issues arising from this $9 judgement debt, wherein, we had considered the legal concept of the “nullus commodity capere protested injuria sua propia”, meaning, ‘no one should be permitted to profit by his own wrong or default’. Today, we shall take a look at other concepts as advanced by pro-government advisors to arrive at a just opinion.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 14

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24.09.2019

Mrs. Miannaya Essien, SAN Photos: Kolawole Alli

‘The Bar Must Urgently Address Sexual Harassment’ She gave her male colleagues, a run for their money. As Chairperson of the Section on Legal Practice (SLP), Mrs. Miannaya Essien, SAN raised the standards of SLP to enviable heights, far beyond where she met them, despite her initial humongous challenges, including the Section being suspended for two years. In a rare feat, her two-year tenure, not only saw the Section’s finances quadruple, Lawyers were opportune to attend very meaningful workshops and mini-Conferences organised by she and her team. Recently, Mrs. Essien, SAN spoke to Onikepo Braithwaite and Jude Igbanoi on her milestones, and how she achieved them. She also expressed her views on the burning global issue of bullying and sexual harassment in the workplace, and why she does not believe that the Nigerian Bar Association, has lost its voice

T

he NBA Section on Legal Practice which you chaired for two years, experienced a phenomenal bounce back after two years in limbo, when its activities were suspended. But, within a very short period of 24 months, you took the Section to greater heights, and made it even better and more relevant in the scheme of things, than it was before you took over as Chairperson. How were you able to accomplish this?

“BETWEEN BOMA ALABI, WHO WAS THE TREASURER, AND I, NOTHING WAS SPENT THAT WAS NOT IN THE BUDGET, OR COULD NOT BE JUSTIFIED. WE HAVE NO APOLOGIES WHATSOEVER, FOR THAT, AS THAT IS HOW IT SHOULD BE. ALTHOUGH, I HEARD FROM THE GRAPEVINE THAT PEOPLE DID NOT WANT TO WORK WITH ME, BECAUSE I WAS NOTORIOUSLY TIGHT FISTED, WHATEVER THAT MEANT”

It was less than 24 months, because due to the peculiar situation the Section had been in, we needed NEC approval before we actually took over. We got that approval on the 23rd of November, 2017 at the NEC meeting which held on that date.

I was able to achieve this with teamwork, passion, and the need to contribute towards the repositioning of the Bar as a tool towards improved legal services.

When you are the lead in a team, you must remember that your accomplishments are only as good as the team you lead. I therefore, could not have done it alone. Some people feel they need to be a lone star. That is not necessary. In our case, I

24.09.2019 am proud to say we had a committed Exco, made up of Seun Abimbola, Boma Alabi OON and Bunmi Ibraheem. Not to mention our Council Members including, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN, Mr. E.C. Ukala, SAN, Mrs. Funke Adekoya, SAN and DC. Denwigwe, SAN, Charles Adeogun Philips and Prof.

Augustine Agom. There are also senior members of the Bar, like J. B. Daudu, SAN and Mallam Yusuf Ali, SAN, to mention a few who were passionate about SLP. Of course, we had the support of the past President, A. B. Mahmoud, SAN, the current President , Paul Usoro, SAN (and their respective Excos) who were instrumental in our achieving the herculean task we had, of rebuilding the Section from the scratch and repositioning it.

Passion for the Section and the need to contribute towards the development of the Bar and Legal Practice, were other drivers. All members of the Exco and Council members, were just as passionate about the fundamental role the Section plays at the Bar. As I keep saying, the Section on Legal Practice encompasses all aspects of Legal Practice, irrespective of your area of specialisation. Recognising it’s importance, the Exco, was committed to revamping and repositioning the Section to bring it in tune with the current realities of legal practice, bringing knowledge and practice tips to members’ doorsteps, or should I say, devices.

Our website was revamped, with members ability to log on and access various resources. We also held two Annual Conferences, a one-day conference, as well as several other activities of which members are aware. We also had our quarterly newsletter and the Section on Legal Practice Journal, which was made available to members. For the newsletter, I ensured we had top-notch, cutting edge articles. I still get calls or messages from colleagues and members of the Judiciary, asking me to forward copies to them.

We had dedicated Committee chairs, who were square pegs in square holes, and derived satisfaction in spreading knowledge from their areas of expertise.

I can say that, one thing that has been consistent is that, throughout my tenure, members of the Bar were overwhelmingly happy the Section was back on track, and we are grateful for that. Hopefully, at least now, when I call my friends and colleagues, they won’t think I am just calling to ask for financial support for the Section!

Our tenure has ended, and it is now for our new Exco, made up of Seun Abimbola, Chief Ferdinand Orbih, SAN, Folashade Alli and Tonye Krukrubo, to continue from where we stopped. I have no doubt that they will do an exceptional job.

Kindly give us an overview of your stewardship which you just completed; what policies the Section was able to drive during your tenure, and whether you were actually able to get some of these policies implemented by the public and private sectors.

We had two Annual conferences. One in April, 2018 in Port Harcourt, and the other in May, 2019 in Akure.

I make bold to say that the Akure conference will also be remembered by most delegates for the Idanre hills hike, which to the best of my knowledge, was

COVER/9 the first of its kind at an NBA conference. Delegates still talk about it. As an avid hiker, I can tell you it was an awesome experience hiking a 500-million-year batholith that is listed as a UNESCO World heritage tentative site. I am looking forward to other trails one can explore in Ondo State, as I hear there are several.

We also had a one-day mini conference in Port Harcourt, which was held by the Democratic and Electoral Litigation Committee of the Section (chaired

by Chief Ferdinand Orbih, SAN). We held a breakfast meeting with In-house Counsel in Lagos, and took part at the Nigerian Association of Law Teachers’ Conference in 2018, which was held at Abuja. Save for the Law Teachers’ Conference, I personally sponsored dozens of young Lawyers to those conferences, including the Annual General Conference which just held. That is the least I could do for my younger colleagues, and I personally paid because it was not in the Section’s budget. Our Annual Report, details what we did in my tenure.

Historically, the Section is proud to have over the years pioneered many professional development initiatives at the NBA, many of which have been absorbed by other Sections and the National Executive. In 2008, the SLP pioneered the Law Firm Management Committee, as a virile committee of the NBA. We set the discussion on professional practice development, standards, etc. for law firms and operations. Again, the SLP initiated the Young Lawyers Mentoring Scheme in 2009, a project other Sections and the Bar have also adopted. In recent times, under my Chairmanship, we partnered with the Nigerian Association of Law Teachers in Abuja.

I am also aware that, the SLP has initiated such partnerships with other institutions and organisations which you will see unveiled in the coming months, and I believe they may have a plan for young Lawyers.

From the just circulated records of the parent body, the NBA, your SLP Exco met N23 million in its kitty, but records show that, you are leaving over N85m for the incoming Exco. Other Sections would be appreciative, if you shared the tips of your prudence, in managing the SLP treasury.

First, let me correct the figures. When we took over in 2017, we met the sum of N21,120,677.00 in the Section’s various accounts, and as at the 31st of July, 2019, we had a cash and bank balance of N80,471,453.00. We circulated our Annual Report and Accounts for 2019, at our Annual General Meeting held on the 29th of August, 2019. Our audited accounts were also circulated by NBA, as an Appendix to the NBA’s audited accounts for 2019, so our financials are a matter of public knowledge.

When we came on board, there was overwhelming support for the Section, and senior members of the Bar, our friends and colleagues, were very comfortable donating to the Section. We also had immense financial support and donations from the Governor of Ondo State, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, the Governor of Rivers State, Chief Nyesom Wike, CON, as well as the Oyo State Governor, Engr.

“AS YOU ARE AWARE, AT THE ANNUAL GENERAL CONFERENCE, THE IBA PRESIDENT, HORACIO BERNARDES NETO, LAUNCHED THE IBA REPORT ON BULLYING AND SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN THE LEGAL COMMUNITY, WHICH SETS OUT IN UNSETTLING DETAILS HOW ENDEMIC THE PROBLEM IS WITHIN THE LEGAL COMMUNITY” Seyi Makinde (prior to his becoming the Governor of Oyo State).

Between Boma Alabi, who was the Treasurer, and I, nothing was spent that was not in the budget or could not be justified. We have no apologies whatsoever, for that, as that is how it should be. Although, I heard from the grapevine that people did not want to work with me because I was notoriously tight fisted, whatever that meant.

Exco and Council members, as well as Committee Chairs, spent their own money on travel and other related expenses. We all believed it was a sacrifice we needed to make, to grow the Section and to leave a legacy. We were also all committed to raising funds for our various events, and as much as possible, ensured that we did not dip our hands into the money we met on resumption, and I am happy we achieved that.

The SLP policy for committee events, is that each committee is responsible for raising money for its events. This was adhered to in all cases, so the Section never funded a committee event, no matter how small.

Another way we managed our costs, was by, as much as is practicable, using the local talent, thereby reducing costs and ensuring the money remained in the city we were, in which helped to empower the local service providers.

Ultimately, other than salaries, rent and running expenses, we basically did not spend money, except on the conferences, breakfast session and other partnerships we undertook. The costs of which, are clearly captured in our accounts.

We are quite pleased that we improved upon what we met, and I am hopeful that the new Exco, will do even better.

During your tenure as SLP Chairperson, we have seen Lawyers, including SANs being sanctioned, one even being convicted of a criminal offence.

What really is the problem in the legal profession today, so much so that, cases of professional impropriety seem to be on the rise? What steps can be taken to stem this negative tide?

In my opinion, there are four key problems - the perception that a Lawyer must always win his case, the inordinate quest for quick money, a failure to adhere to the Rules of Professional Conduct, and the delay in the resolution of disciplinary matters.

To address these issues, I believe there is a need to refocus on knowing appropriate ethical behaviour, professional conduct, and a review of the disciplinary process. During my tenure, we started a publication of the Committee on Professional Ethics (headed

by Folashade Alli), which was the “RPC at a Glance (Know Your Rules Series)”, which we circulated by social media and email. Through that medium, we were able to highlight areas that were of the most concern, and draw Lawyers’ attention to them.

You will be surprised, at some of the feedback I got. For instance, somebody told me he was not aware that he had to have a different account, for his clients’ money. Something that basic. You can of course imagine that, the person is clearly in breach of Rule 23(2).

When you check the law reports, you find that most of the cases of misconduct have to do with Lawyers breaching Rule 27(1) which provides that “A lawyer shall not do any act whereby for his personal benefit or gain he abuses or takes advantage of the confidence reposed in him by the client”.

Based on 31 cases reported in the Nigerian Weekly Law Reports between 2006 and 2017, it was observed that, cases that dealt with Lawyers converting clients property were the highest, at 48%; Not carrying out client’s instructions within the confines of the law – 16%; Lack of diligence in carrying out clients instruction- 14%; Harassment/ Exploitation of client - 6%; Engaging in business inconsistent with that of a legal practitioner - 6%; False allegation against a Judge - 3%; Conflict of interest- 3%; Sharing of legal fees with a non-Lawyers - 3%; Use of indecent language unbecoming of a legal practitioner -3%; Communication with a Judge - 3%.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 10

10/COVER

24.09.2019

‘THE BAR MUST URGENTLY ADDRESS SEXUAL HARASSMENT’ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9 What tends to happen is, when Lawyers are reported, they quickly refund the money or property to the client, who, subsequently (more often than not) withdraws the petition. I am of the view that, there is a need for the Rules to be changed, such that, once there is such an allegation of misconduct in a petition, it cannot be withdrawn by the Petitioner, as misconduct brings the entire profession into disrepute. We need to guard our reputations jealously, as when there are allegations of that nature, we are all tarred with the same brush. This leads to a loss of confidence in Lawyers, by the public. However, where the allegations are frivolous, there should also be sanctions against the person who made the false allegations. I am therefore, of the view that, there is a need to review the disciplinary process to make it more robust, efficient, and time sensitive.

This was also one of the outcomes of the Annual General Conference, and is reflected in the communique.

I believe, if the NBA can declare an emergency, drive this return to ethical conduct and prompt resolution of complaints, we will definitely see a change, and we will all be the better for it. I have also advocated adding ethics as a course, at the undergraduate level.

I know it exists in some universities, but not all.

Your Conferences in Port Harcourt and Akure have become a reference point for organising law conferences.

The topics, resource persons, and venues were A-class. The excitement for young Lawyers was that, the Conferences were affordable and within their reach, despite the excellent quality. What are you leaving in place, to ensure that SLP future conferences are not priced out of their reach?

Our model in SLP, is to ensure our conferences are affordable. That way, a significant number of our members who may face some financial or other challenges, can attend. We always seek sponsorship from corporate organisations, governments etc. and senior members of the Bar - that way, the SLP can absorb the cost, and we significantly reduce the costs for all Lawyers, and not just younger Lawyers. We also encourage senior Lawyers to specifically sponsor younger Lawyers, apart from donating to our conferences. That is our model, and I am hopeful future SLP conferences will not be priced out of reach.

Some of the issues that flowed out of the recently concluded 2019 NBA General Conference, were quite deep and engaging. The issue of sexual harassment in the workplace, is one that is still resonating across the Bar. Some have argued that, both genders could be equally guilty of this malaise. What is your take on this? How can juniors be protected without losing their jobs?

The discussion on sexual harassment and bullying in the workplace, was the focus of one of the General Interest Sessions, at the just concluded Annual General Conference. It was a very heated session, and it was obvious to all who were there, that it is an issue that needs to be addressed by the Bar, and urgently.

As you are aware, at the Annual General Conference, the IBA President, Horacio Bernardes Neto, launched the IBA Report on Bullying and Sexual Harassment in the Legal Community, which sets out in unsettling details how endemic the problem is within the legal

“I AM AWARE THAT BOTH THIS PRESIDENT, PAUL USORO, SAN AND A. B. MAHMOUD, SAN, HIS PREDECESSOR, HAVE SPOKEN OUT ON NUMEROUS ISSUES, ON BEHALF OF THE BAR. REPORTS ABOUND IN THE DAILIES AND THE SOCIAL MEDIA OF SUCH STATEMENTS, AND STEPS TAKEN TOWARDS THOSE ENDS. I THEREFORE, THINK IT IS WRONG TO SAY THAT, NBA HAS LOST ITS VOICE”

community.

It is correct as you have said, that sexual harassment cuts across both genders, but, it is clearly more prevalent against women than men, and various reports attest to this. It is a very serious problem that needs to be addressed urgently, and thankfully, it was addressed in the communique that was issued at the end of the Annual General Conference under Legal Practice and other Stakeholders. It was noted therein that, there is a prevalence of sexual harassment and bullying, and that it should

be specifically addressed in our Rules of Professional Conduct of the legal profession. It was also suggested that, serious consideration should be given, to Lawyers signing a code on bullying and sexual harassment. Some of the stories one hears are horrendous, and the perpetrators can easily be charged for criminal offences.

Unfortunately, unless it is a large firm, the likelihood is that, if a junior complains, he or she is likely to lose his/her job, and there is not much anybody can do, except it can be proved that termination was on grounds of sexual harassment, in which case, one can file an action at the National Industrial Court. However, if it is a large firm, with clear laid out policies and a Human Resources Department, it is highly likely that, once a report is made, if it is not frivolous, the senior Lawyer will most likely be shown the way out. Nobody wants to be around a vile predator. The victim may also seek legal redress, on such grounds.

I will also encourage victims to report to the appropriate law enforcement agencies, and to press charges. Allegations cannot be frivolous, and must meet the relevant onus of proof.

I advocate that the NBA should set up a helpline and help desk, to confidentially handle such allegations.

One thread that runs through studies on the matter, is that the victims always feel helpless and fear reprisal. With such resources, at least, they know where they can report such matters.

I urge the NBA to consider these, as a matter of urgency.

Some Lawyers, including your brother Silk, Femi Falana, are of the opinion that the NBA seems to have lost its voice and focus, and no longer plays the role expected of a Bar Association. Is this a fair assessment?

It is not a fair assessment, to say that NBA has lost its voice and focus.

I am aware that both this President, Paul Usoro, SAN and A. B. Mahmoud, SAN, his predecessor, have spoken out on numerous issues, on behalf of the Bar. Reports abound in the dailies and the social media of such statements, and steps taken towards those ends.

I therefore, think it is wrong to say that NBA has lost its voice.

Each executive and administration has its focal areas, projects, and approach to various issues that have arisen in the past. That approach, may influence the perception you have expressed. However, it is not how loud a person shouts that is material, it is what the person does and achieves, that is relevant. There are lots of people who shout, and after a while, you do not hear from them anymore.

President Buhari just constituted a new Federal cabinet, and sadly, again, only a few females were appointed as Ministers. This doesn’t meet the mandatory United Nations requirement of ratio 45/55. How can this perpetual imbalance be ameliorated?

This is 2019, and the President needs to recognise that there are numerous competent and confident women in all fields, who will make exceptional Ministers. It however, seems to me that, because ministerial positions are primarily political, there is still the perception that women do not play in that terrain, but the reality is that, they do.

The NBA has had only one female President in its history, Dame Priscilla Kuye. 27 years after she held office, our Association is still dominated by men. Is it not time for the women to step up, not just because they are playing the gender card, but because they are up to the task? Some are of the opinion that, you will be a good candidate for NBA President. What are your thoughts on this matter?

Ha ha! There are lots of exceptional women I know that are up to the task.

However, for myself, I have not given it any thought. But then, who knows...

24.09.2019

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INSIGHT ABUBAKAR D. SANI

xL4sure@yahoo.com

Legality of CBN’s Charges on Cash Deposits/Withdrawals

T

the bank or such officer, by this Act”.

This provision evidently shows that, the policy is intended to be final and conclusive, thus certifying it unambiguously as invalid within the contemplation of Section 36(2) of the Constitution.

See BAKARE v L.S.C.S.C (1992) 10 SCNJ 173. More importantly, however, this apparent ouster clause is prohibited under Section 4(8) of the Constitution, which provides thus: ’’the National Assembly or a House of Assembly of a State shall not enact any law that ousts or purports to oust the jurisdiction of a court of law or of a judicial tribunal established by law’.’

Introduction

he recent announcement by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), that cash withdrawals and deposits by individuals in commercial banks in excess of half a million Naira, will henceforth attract charges of 3% and 2% respectively, has elicited generally negative reactions from the banking public, particularly the said individual account holders. Even though corporate entities are also affected (they will have to pay 5% and 3% on cash withdrawals and lodgements respectively, in excess of N3 million), their response has been relatively muted.

CBN hinged the measures on its socalled ‘cashless policy’, which is scheduled to go into full force across the country at the end of March, next year (the present, presumably pilot, phase of the scheme is restricted to only six States – Kano, Lagos, Ogun, Abia, Anambra and Rivers).

The policy has taken the banking public in those States, unawares. Should they have been consulted prior to its sudden introduction? Do their views matter? Do they have any such right under the law?

In any event, does CBN have the right to impose such levies in those circumstances? Does any law empower CBN to dictate to bank customers, which medium to adopt in dealing with their own funds in a bank? Granted that currency notes are, by law, the property of the apex bank, its face value in any given case – either in a bank account or otherwise – belongs to the owner or account-holder, as the case may be. Should such a person be penalised for preferring a particular mode for accessing/dealing with his/ her (or its) funds over another, that is, presumably, more convenient to the apex bank, perhaps in terms of management, handling, etc.? In this apparent clash of interests, which ought to prevail? As, ever, it depends on the law. Let’s investigate . ..

Overview of the Role of CBN under the Law The Central Bank of Nigeria was established by the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007, which repealed and re-enacted the Central Bank of Nigeria Act (formerly Decree) of 1991. The principal objectives of the bank as stated in Section 2 of its enabling statute, are as follows: (a)“To ensure money and price stability; (b)Issue legal tender currency in Nigeria; (c)Maintain external reserves to safeguard the international value of the legal tender currency; (d)Promote a sound financial system in Nigeria; and (e)Act as banker and provide economic and financial advice to the Federal Government”.

Beyond these express powers, however, Section 32(1) of the Act provides, inter alia, that the apex bank may, “subject as is expressly provided in this Act, . . . do all such things as are incidental to or consequential upon the exercise of its powers or the discharge of its duties under this Act”. Also relevant are the provisions of Section 42 of the CBN Act, which stipulate that: “The bank shall, wherever necessary, seek the cooperation of and cooperation with other banks in Nigeria to: a. Promote and maintain adequate and reasonable financial service for the public;

Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele

b. Ensure high standards of conduct and management through the banking system; and c. Such further policies not inconsistent, in the opinion of the bank, with the national interest” Is the Policy Valid?

This is the million-naira question, of course. This question is pertinent, in the light of the provisions of Sections 36(2) and 44(1) & (2)(a) of the 1999 Constitution. The former provides that no law which affects the civil rights and obligations of a person is invalid, if it affords a right of hearing to that person or, alternatively, does not provide that the decision being impugned, is final and conclusive. The latter provides that, no one may be compulsorily deprived of his or her property or compelled to part with same, unless in pursuance of, inter alia, a law which provides for the imposition or enforcement of any tax, rate or duty. Is the CBN’s ‘cash-less’ policy, a general law within the contemplation of this constitutional provision?

“ACCORDINGLY, IN MY OPINION, TO THE EXTENT THAT THE PENALTY PRESCRIBED IN THE CBN POLICY IS NOT DIRECTLY PRESCRIBED IN ANY LAW, IT IS ULTRA VIRES, INVALID, NULL AND VOID”

By no stretch of the imagination can the policy, in and of itself, be regarded as a ‘law’, within the popular meaning of that term. It was never touted, as such.

To that extent, unless the policy can be justified as one of the principal objectives of the bank pursuant to Section 2 of the CBN Act, or can be reasonably construed as incidental or consequential upon CBN’s exercise of its powers or discharge of its duties within the contemplation of Sections 32 and 42 of the Act, as aforesaid, the bank would have exceeded its remit.

A cursory look at Sections 2, 32 and 42 of the CBN Act, would appear to validate the policy under review. I however, submit that such an interpretation would negate the intention, if not the express provisions, of Section 44(1) & (2)(a) of the 1999 Constitution. It will be recalled that those clauses stipulate that, only a law passed by either the National or a State House of Assembly can validly prescribe “the enforcement or imposition of any tax, rate or duty”.

Accordingly, in my opinion, to the extent that the penalty prescribed in the CBN policy is not directly prescribed in any law, it is ultra vires, invalid, null and void. The Constitution is supreme.

Solution to CBN’s Policy?

Any solution in sight? Section 52 of the CBN Act appears to preclude a legal challenge to the policy, as it provides that: “Neither the Government nor the bank nor any officers of the government or the bank, shall be subjected to any claim or demand by or liability to any person in respect of anything done or omitted to be done in good faith, in pursuance or in execution of, or in connection with the execution or intended execution of any power conferred upon that government,

. . . The Small Matter of ‘Remita’ If CBN appears to be audacious in imposing the said charges pursuant to its cash-less policy, it was probably emboldened by the public’s seeming acquiescence in the bank’s prescription of the ‘Remita’ platform, for the purpose of collecting bills payable to the Federal Government. It will be recalled that, prior to the full implementation of this particular policy, bills payable to the Federal Government by members of the public, were done through a multiplicity of bank accounts operated by its Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

For reasons best known to the Federal Government/CBN (publicly touted as a desire to exercise ‘control’), they appointed a number of banks as agents for collecting such bills from the public. That arrangement was evidently a contract, as it had all the trappings of same, especially consideration (said to be 1% or thereabout, of the amount collected).

However, obviously motivated by a desire to transfer this cost to the public, the government ‘secretly’ re-negotiated the contract with its agent-banks directing them to, henceforth (since November, 2018), collect the said commission, hitherto paid by the Government for their services, from the hapless public.

In my view, to the extent that the public was not consulted prior to being saddled with this burden, it is unjust, as even natural justice demands that those whose interests may be directly affected by an act or decision, should be given prior notice and adequate opportunity to be heard: F.R.N. v ABIOLA (1995) 7 SCNJ 283.

At any rate, to the extent that the public (as a class) was not a party to those negotiations, it ought not to be bound by any deal struck between the Government and its agent-banks. This is the well-known principle of privity of contract, which prescribes that only parties to a contract are bound by it, even if it was expressed to have been made for the benefit or on behalf of a third party: BASINCO MOTORS v WOERMANN LINE (2009) All FWLR pt. 485 pg.

12634 @ 1654, S.C. Conclusion For similar reasons to the CBN’s unilateral policy of imposing bank charges on cash withdrawals and deposits, this unilateral transfer of ‘Remita’ costs by CBN to bill-payers, is illegitimate and unwarranted in law. Accordingly, it is ultra vires, invalid, null and void.

CBN ought to continue to bear those costs, as the policy was designed and implemented, for its sole benefit and convenience.

12/

24.09.2019

Missing Magic Wand: Development Law Policy to Transform the Nigerian Economy In this article, Dr. Olisa Agbakoba, SAN shares his views about development law, a public policy tool that intersects law and economic development, as the magic wand (along with the Keynesian expansionary fiscal policy) that can achieve and sustain double-digit growth of at least 10% over 10 years, and lift at least 200 million Nigerians out of poverty, if properly applied to vital sectors like, financial services, maritime and aviation, national trade policy, legal and justice, amongst others

N Introduction

igeria is in a parlous state. GDP is a miserly 1.9%, population exploding past 200 million; debt overhang may strangulate the country. So, to turn this around, it is commendable that the Federal Government has empanelled an Economic Advisory Council of proven experts. My recommendation is that, the Federal Government should adopt the Keynesian expansionary fiscal policy, to achieve and sustain double-digit growth of at least 10% over 10 years, to pull at least 200 million Nigerians out of poverty. But, the magic wand that can achieve this feat, is the concept of development law, a public policy tool that intersects law and economic development.

Development law scholars, agree that there is a strong linkage between law, regulatory institutions, governance, economic development and national welfare. It is argued that, the Nigerian legal and judicial framework is hopelessly outdated, and needs an urgent review to meet current challenges.

Yet, governments generally fail to notice the links between legal policy, economic development, governance, institutions etc. The late Prof.

Mansur, was the leading scholar on this linkage. A sound nation depends on vital legal institutional, regulatory and governance frameworks. The links unfortunately between legal institutions, political economy and development, have often, and in our case, been completely overlooked or missed, hence under-development.

De Soto gives a striking example of law as a key primer of development, using just one index; property law. Property consists of two values, physical and conceptual. The physical value may be fixed in say, a house. The abstract or conceptual value, is fixed in property law systems. In developed nations, property law allows owners of housing, to represent their value in the conceptual realm. This possibility allows easy access to credit, that in turn generates capital for development. In Nigeria, with a very weak legal regime, conceptual representation of property to create value, is absent. Yet the housing assets inventory of Nigerian housing exceeds six trillion Dollars. But, this is dead capital.

If the housing value is indexed to the banking system by massive legal reform of the property law system, we can create an instant credit market with major impact on development. In this way, we wake up dead capital for development.

It is important therefore, that policymakers must, consider that although macro policies are unquestionably important, there is a growing consensus that the quality of business regulations and the legal institutions that enforce it, are a major determinant of development. If development law is applied as a public policy tool in the following areas, for example, Financial Services Sector, Na-

“......THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SHOULD ADOPT THE KEYNESIAN EXPANSIONARY FISCAL POLICY, TO ACHIEVE AND SUSTAIN DOUBLEDIGIT GROWTH OF AT LEAST 10% OVER 10 YEARS, TO PULL AT LEAST 200 MILLION NIGERIANS OUT OF POVERTY”

Dr. Olisa Agbakoba, SAN

tional Trade Policy, Maritime, Aviation and Space, Legal and Justice Sector, Land Administration, Corruption, Social Security Administration etc., it will transform the economy, create millions of jobs, and pull 200 million Nigerians out of poverty.

Financial Services Sector The Financial Services Sector (FSS), is the oxygen and lifeblood of a strong economy. The FSS ought to consist of the following key institutions: the Banks, the National Credit Guarantee Agency, a Development Bank, and the CBN. The banks lend to the real sector of the economy and consumers, and ensure that the economy is stimulated. In Nigeria, it is doubtful if the banks have performed optimally, delivering on cash to the real sector and consumers. They seem to be engaged in short term lending, including treasury bills. The result is that, the economy is anaemic. A banking policy that delivers resources to the economy, is needed. In the US, the Glass – Steagall Act and Frank-Dodd Act, focused banks on the proper role to lend to consumers at low-interest rates.

The second key FSS institution, is the National Credit Guarantee Agency. This is absent, in Nigeria. The National Credit Guarantee Agency, supports viable business proposals. When viable business proposals are guaranteed, the economy gets stimulated and expanded, and that gets

converted to goods and services that are sold on to consumers. The economy will benefit from the establishment of the National Credit Guarantee Agency.

The third FSS institution, is a Development Bank to lend to the vital sectors of the economy. The Development Bank of Nigeria is undercapitalised, and so the CBN plays a distorted role. The Development Bank of Nigeria needs to be properly capitalised, so it can support the economy.

The CBN is the fourth FSS institution. The CBN as presently constituted, is overburdened with far too many things – monetary policy, banking supervision, and banking. The major role of the CBN is monetary policy stability, and so, the CBN may benefit from streamlining and strengthening its legal framework. A new policy and legislation can unbundle the CBN and create a new agency to regulate banks, by ensuring they deliver on core mandate. In England, they have the Prudential Regulatory Authority.

National Trade Policy Tied to the FSS, is the need for a National Trade Policy to stimulate local industry, grow export and reduce dumping of foreign goods. The CBN recently stated at the launch of its vision and CONTINUED ON PAGE 13

24.09.2019

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MISSING MAGIC WAND: DEVELOPMENT LAW POLICY TO TRANSFORM THE NIGERIAN ECONOMY

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12

policy thrust for the next 5 years, that it will target unscrupulous individuals and businesses that embark on massive smuggling and dumping of goods that can be produced in the country, thus, leading to the demise of our agriculture and manufacturing sectors. This needs to be supported.

There is a need to strengthen the National Office of Trade Policy. This Office, has to be at ministerial level. Trade laws have import substitution, as their main goal. This means to reduce imports, and create local industries. The National Assembly can pass legislation to establish the Trade Remedies Agency, devoted fully to fair trade issues. This will support our local industries around rice, maize, cassava, cotton, cocoa, tomato, oil palm, poultry, fish, etc. Trade policy on Fly Nigeria will grow Nigeria Airlines, a strong Cabotage Act will grow shipping lines, oil and gas, legal, banking, insurance, shipping etc. If trade legislation is favourable, Trillions of Naira will flow with job creation in the millions.

Review of Nigeria’s Bilateral Investment Treaties Flowing from the discussion on trade policy; there is a need to review Nigeria's Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs). BITs, are part of a countries trade policy. Nigeria is a signatory to over 30 bilateral investment treaties. The recent arbitration award secured by a company, Process and Industrial Developments Limited (P&IDL), has raised the question of how fair it is for Nigeria to have an arbitration clause, with a foreign seat.

We understand that, an Executive Order is currently under contemplation to make Nigeria the seat of arbitration, and require parties to choose an arbitration institution in Nigeria. While the proposed Executive Order is laudable, it is our opinion that, the Order might be confronted by challenges that might defeat the essence of enacting it. It will be recalled that, Arbitration Agreements are embedded in Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) which Nigeria has signed and ratified with many countries. An Executive Order, may conflict with the BITs. This is so because, BIT’s provide that disputes arising between Nigeria and foreign investors will be determined in foreign institutions of arbitration, and seeking to alter this position simply by an Executive Order, might generate significant opposition by concerned interests.

Furthermore, the Executive Order might conflict with the underpinning principles of arbitration that are premised on the notion that, parties to an arbitration have a right to determine the arbitration institution and arbitrators that will undertake the arbitration proceedings.

Given the above, we would rather suggest that, an Executive Order should create a National Work Group that will be authorised to review the scheme of the arbitration provisions currently incorporated in the BITs, and the task of proposing how Arbitration connected to Nigeria, will have Nigeria as seat of Arbitration.

Maritime Matters This is potentially the largest economic sector, outside of hydrocarbons. Nigeria's maritime sector, is estimated to be capable of generating Seven Trillion Naira Annually and Four Million Jobs over Five Years. However, to tap revenue from this sector, there needs to be an overhaul of policy, institutional, regulatory and legal framework. For instance, the Government needs to immediately implement the policy for Inland Container Depots (ICDS). We have six ICDS spread across the geopolitical zones, that can generate at least 15,000 jobs for different levels of manpower. Due to the lack of infrastructure to support business and operations by concessionaires, these depots have not been optimally utilised. 80 per cent of Nigerian trade, is diverted to ports in Cotonou and other West African ports. Further to this, is the need to review our cabotage regime to stem capital flight and boost capacity for Nigeria's Shipowners. Despite the enactment of the Coastal and Inland Shipping Act 2003, Nigeria loses an estimated Seven Trillion Naira in the shipping sector. Foreign vessels, trade in violation of the Cabotage regime. This is responsible for capital flight.

There is a need for immediate enactment of several critical bills, pending before the National Assembly. This would facilitate the legal framework to move the maritime sector to the next level.

Such bills as the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), the Ports and Harbour Bill, Maritime Zones Bill, Ocean Bill etc. are yet to be passed into law. There is also an urgent need, to review the Nigerian Shipping Policy of 1987.

Aviation/Space The Aviation Sector, requires major reform.

Nigeria has no presence, in the Aviation business.

Nigeria Airways has been long comatose. Foreign

President Muhammadu Buhari

aircrafts dominate the Nigerian airspace and earn well over a trillion Naira, to our exclusion.

A trillion Naira, is about a quarter of our entire national budget. A Fly Nigeria Bill, will ensure that every government Naira used to purchase a ticket must originate and terminate on a Nigerian carrier.

This Fly Nigeria Bill will create an instant market, for our national carrier.

On Space, it has been said that, the future of mankind is in Space. Space has many major applications, for developing our economy. We will mention at least three examples. First, space can be applied to the energy sector, as remote sensing can tell us the quantum of our hydrocarbons. Second, it is the value of space applications to the Maritime sector. Third, it is the link between space and national security. Satellite technology intelligence, gives us vital footprints in the national security infrastructure. The growing threat of terrorism and the adverse impact on economic stability, can only be checked by intelligence provided by space satellites. We must upgrade our space legislation.

Legal/Justice Sector Issues The legal and judicial system, has experienced legal failure. The judicial system, has never really been reformed. The Nigerian judicature, is based on the 1875 Judicature Act. The consequence is that, cases take too long to resolve. It takes between 5 to 20 years, to resolve simple contractual disputes. Investors, whether local and international, will not invest in a country where there is no sanctity of contract, and simple contractual disputes take between 5 to 20 years to resolve.

We must give urgency to this sector, and reverse legal failure. A speed of justice policy, will reduce delays. In this regard, the National Assembly can consider introducing the Administration of Civil Justice Bill, to ensure efficient administration of civil disputes. Also, new methods of dispute resolution should be considered, such as Alternative Dispute Resolutions, small claims courts, traditional and customary arbitration. Finally, quasi-judicial administrative tribunals can be established by sector, following the UK example. In England there exist many administrative courts to cover Telecommunications, taxation, transportation, Insurance, Education, Financial Services, Trade, Investments, etc.

Land Administration The Land Use Act created a framework for

“SATELLITE TECHNOLOGY INTELLIGENCE, GIVES US VITAL FOOTPRINTS IN THE NATIONAL SECURITY INFRASTRUCTURE. THE GROWING THREAT OF TERRORISM, AND THE ADVERSE IMPACT ON ECONOMIC STABILITY, CAN ONLY BE CHECKED BY INTELLIGENCE PROVIDED BY SPACE SATELLITES. WE MUST UPGRADE OUR SPACE LEGISLATION”

Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN

ascertaining title, and therefore, it became easy to determine title. It also meant that, landholding was major collateral for investment and financing. In doing this, the State Governors play an administrative role, issuing consents, licenses, permits etc., which has become overwhelming. The process has become clogged, and as a result of this clog, the impact of land collateralisation on lending and borrowing, is affected. A recent study shows that the housing asset inventory of Nigerian property, exceeds six trillion dollars. Most of this, is dead capital and is not fungible. There is a need to wake up, this six trillion dollars' worth of dead capital.

A Land Use Administration Commission Bill, will make the Land Use Act and consent rules more efficient, and instil confidence in financial institutions. This will impact positively, collateralisation lending and borrowing within the financial system.

Anti-Corruption The war against corruption, requires an effective strategy. In addition to the strategy of prosecution, it is suggested to consider a 2-year moratorium from criminal prosecution. So, legislation may be considered on immunity from criminal prosecution (Moratorium) Act. The Abacha case has now been going 20 years, with little result. This may be controversial, but it is worth considering.

Social Security Administration The Federal Government has committed trillions of Naira to administer social security to the elderly and vulnerable, like the school feeding programme and Trader Moni, but there is no legal framework.

The standard operating model around the world, is the creation of a benefits agency as it is called in England, and a social security agency as it is known in the US, to cater for those who are unable to look after themselves. The government will gain more, by giving a legal framework for these benefits. Enacting a Social Security Administration Bill pursuant to Chapter 2 of the Constitution, will see to the progressive realisation of rights contained in Chapter 2 of the Constitution.

Fourth Branch of Government This was developed by FDR in the 1930s, and is why the US came out of the recession rapidly. The fourth branches are regulators, who implement decisions of the Executive branch, which is the first branch. They are called the fourth branch, because they exercise executive, legislative and quasi-judicial powers. In Nigeria, regulators like NAFDAC, SON, NERC etc. are part of the fourth Branch of government. They can make regulations, enforce them, and impose penalties. Unfortunately, there is no standard operating model for these regulators.

Most of them lack a basic understanding of their role, as the fourth branch of government. It may be worth doing a high-level training workshop, on the role of the fourth branch of government. A strong fourth branch of government, will improve the efficiency of government.

Conclusion Development law policy has succeeded, wherever it has been applied. It has not been applied, in Nigeria. If applied, it will result in double-digit growth, more revenue and will pull millions of Nigerians out of poverty. It is strongly recommended that, the government should adopt a development law policy, as one of its economic policy tools.

Dr Olisa Agbakoba, SAN

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24.09.2019

ACAS Law Mentors NBA Young Members A selected number of young members of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Lagos Branch, were hosted and mentored by the founding Partner of Adepetun, Caxton-Martin, Agbor and Segun ACAS-Law firm last Tuesday, at their offices.

The programme is one, in the series of mentoring sessions by senior Lawyers of younger members of the profession, for which the Tobenna Erojikwe Continuing Legal Education Committee has continued to receive commendations.

Hosting the young Lawyers in their offices, Mr. Adesola Adepetun, one of the founding Partners of ACAS-Law, kept his mentees in rapt attention, as he narrated to them, his challenging rise to the top of legal practice.

Mr. Adepetun told the young Lawyers that, the secret of the success of ACAS, is that the partnership has a culture built on maintaining sustainability in business, through the consistent provision of technically excellent and creative legal solutions, in conformity with the highest standards of integrity.

While welcoming the young Lawyers to the session, NBA Lagos Branch Chairman, Mr. Lateef Omoyemi Akangbe, said the evening was the actualisation of one of the core themes of his administration, which include investment in human capital in the legal profession, and in particular, the continued professional and personal development of young wigs.

A graduate of law from the University of Lagos, Adepetun also holds an LLM from the University of London’s London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

Managing Partner of ACAS, Mrs. Kemi Segun, was also on hand to mentor the young Lawyers on what they should look out for, in their quest for success at the Bar. Adepetun told his mentees that nothing, apart from life itself, is of greater value than

L-R: (Standing): Joy Harrison-Abiola, Practice Administrator (ACAS-Law), Yemi Akangbe, Chairman of NBA Lagos Branch, Oyindamola Johnson, Associate Counsel (ACAS-Law), Nonyelum Izu-Obi, Business Development Manager (ACAS-Law), Tobenna Erojikwe, Chairman of the CPD Committee of the NBA Lagos Branch, Iyunola Adekanye, Senior Counsel (ACAS- Law), Kayode Lawrence-Omole, Senior Counsel (ACAS-Law); L-R (Sitting): Felicia Kemi Segun, Managing Partner (ACAS- Law), Sola Adepetun, Senior Partner (ACAS- Law)

integrity. He advised them to read, and to ensure that they cultivate a reputation for integrity, ‘and the right people will invariably gravitate towards you’.

In his remarks to bring the session to a close, the Chairman of the NBA Lagos Branch Continuing Legal Committee, Tobenna Erojikwe, expressed the gratitude of the Premier Branch

to Mr. Adepetun and ACAS-Law for hosting the event, and pledged the CLE Committee’s continued commitment to the professional and personal development of young Lawyers.

The Continuation.....

Brutalisation of Mr. Destiny Arogunyo by a Nigerian Air Force Officer: Matters Arising You will recall that, the above subject story, was first made public in the edition of This Day Lawyer published on 24 July, 2018.

In the said edition, the Editor of this publication, had written about an incident in which Mr Destiny Arogunyo was assaulted by a Nigerian Air Force Officer (AFO); how the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) had shielded the AFO, from being arrested by the Nigeria Police; and the deplorable financial, as well as the permanent damage to the health of Mr Arogunyo, as a result of the injuries inflicted on him by the AFO. Since then, over a year later, no appreciable progress had been made in this matter.

You will recall that the NAF had referred Mr Arogunyo’s petition to its Provost Investigation Group (PIG) for investigation, and the PIG was delaying in conducting an identification parade, to be carried out to purportedly identify the AFO. The identification parade was eventually conducted, on December 6, 2018, and the eyewitness to the incident, identified the AFO. Inquiry by Mr Arogunyo’s family at the PIG, revealed that the PIG had concluded its investigation and sent its report to the appropriate

office in Abuja.

One would have thought, especially in the circumstances of this matter (where Mr Arogunyo has lost it all - financially and physically), that the NAF would act speedily and make known its report, and what further action will be taken in Mr Arogunyo’s matter, in a manner that is characteristic of our uniformed institutions, but, instead the NAF has kept mute, maintaining a deafening silence, having discovered that it was one of its officers, who was responsible for this dastardly act.

Mr Arogunyo has written several letters to the NAF through his Solicitor, Messrs.

Mike Igbokwe [SAN] & Co., requesting to know the outcome of NAF’s investigation into the matter, but, to date, the NAF is yet to respond to any of the letters written by Messrs. Mike Igbokwe [SAN] & Co. on behalf of Mr Arogunyo.

Update on Mr Arogunyo’s Health Mr Arogunyo’s health has not improved at all, from what it was last year when the matter was made known to the public. Mr

Arogunyo had been taken abroad where he is undergoing speech therapy and physiotherapy, as a result of the injury that he sustained in the left hemisphere of his brain, from the attacks of the AFO on him.

The medical expenses being incurred by Mr Arogunyo and his family, have totally liquidated their finances. Life for Mr Arogunyo and his family, has taken a suffering dimension.

Bearing in mind the magnitude of the offence, and the trauma that Mr. Arogunyo and his family are going through, it is disappointing that the NAF has failed or neglected to do the needful, despite having identified the AFO about nine months ago, which is more than enough time for NAF to act.

Appeal It is time to make a public appeal to the Chief of Air Staff, to rise up to the occasion and use of his good offices to intervene in this matter, with a view to ensuring that the appropriate and deserving justice is meted out to the AFO, and to Mr Arogunyo and his family.

THE $9 BILLION JUDGEMENT DEBT BROUHAHA: LEGAL ISSUES ARISING (PART 3) State Immunity This is another argument, advanced by pro-government Advisors. They claim Nigeria enjoys State immunity against enforcement of such awards.

What is State Immunity State immunity, or sovereign immunity as it is often referred to, is a principle of international law that has become part of the national law of many States. It derives from the theory of the sovereign equality of States, as a consequence of which one State has no right to judge the actions of another by the standards of its national law. It protects an entity in

two ways: by conferring immunity from adjudication (also known as immunity from suit) and by conferring immunity from enforcement and execution.

If a party is immune from adjudication, the court will be prevented from considering claims against that party and awarding a judgement or declaring rights and obligations against it. If a party is immune from enforcement and execution, the court will be prevented from recognising a foreign judgement or an arbitral award against the immune party and from making and executing orders or injunctions against it.

International attitudes towards State

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7

immunity, vary. In general, there are two approaches: the absolute doctrine and the restrictive doctrine.

The Absolute Doctrine of State Immunity Initially the first and only approach, the absolute doctrine still applies in some jurisdictions, notably China and Hong Kong. Under this doctrine, any proceedings against foreign States are inadmissible, unless the State expressly agrees to waive immunity The Restrictive Doctrine The increasing involvement of the

States in world trade activities led to the development of a more restrictive approach to State immunity, where a distinction is now drawn between acts of a sovereign nature and acts of a commercial nature. Under the restrictive approach, immunity is only available in respect of acts resulting from the excesses of a sovereign power. As such, States may not claim immunity in respect of commercial activities, or over commercial assets. (To be continued).

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK “A government is for the benefit of all the people.” (William Howard Taft).

24.09.2019

THE LIGHTER SIDE/15

LEGAL HUMOUR

We Hold Your Brief JUDE IGBANOI jude.igbanoi@thisdaylive.com Dear Counsel, Kindly, assist.

I need your advice, on the issue of company income tax.

Tax officials came to our offices recently, and demanded that we provide them with our tax receipts. Because we had always paid our taxes, we had no problem in making our receipts available to them for inspection. Surprisingly, they then requested that we come to their office, for an assessment, because according to them, we should have been assessed by them, before commencing payment.

When we visited the tax office a few days later as requested, they gave us a sheet showing an exorbitant and outrageous assessment, and requested that we pay up within 28 days. It is very clear that, they over-assessed us. What do I do? They are just not prepared to listen to me.

L.E., Lagos.

Dear L.E., The law permits you to object to the tax assessment of your company by the Federal Inland Revenue Service, where you are convinced that the assessment is wrong.

First, you must give notice to them, that you strongly object to their assessment, and state the reasons why. This must be done, within 30 days of the purported assessment.

The Tax Appeal Commissioners are bound to hear your complaint, and decide within 30 days. Where you are not satisfied with their decision, you are permitted to appeal to the Federal High Court, which will determine the case, accordingly.

You must therefore, secure the services of a Lawyer, to write a strong objection letter to the Federal Inland Revenue Board, to register your objection. If they refuse to reassess your company; your Lawyer may have to file a suit at the Federal High Court, on behalf of your company.

U.S. MISSION SUPPORTS INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS PROTECTION IN NIGERIA resources in context, should be referring to knowledge assets that are the products of creativity and innovation, that constitute the hidden wealth of nations today.

“The main difference between the developed and lesser developed countries, is the gap in the human resources constituted in the production of knowledge assets, and the accompanying technologies that have continued to drive the engine of development and global welfare. Any kind of resources, whether human and natural, is meaningless without the knowledge to harness it for the benefit of the society. That is why human and natural resources, no matter how abundant, are limited without the creative and innovative capacities to turn them into knowledge assets, that are protected by the well-known mechanism of IPRs for global competitiveness.

“IP has never been more economically and politically important than it is today, particularly, in the multidimensional drive towards development. More than before, the global IP system has assumed increasing complexity, which in itself, calls for a better understanding of the dynamic interaction between IP systems and sustainable development goals”, the Senior Advocate said.

A highlight of the ceremony, was a performance by

Protesting too Much Arrested on a robbery charge, our law firm’s client denied the allegations. So, when the victim pointed him out in a lineup as one of four men who had attacked him, our client reacted vociferously.

“He’s lying!” he yelled. “There were only three of us.” ˾˾˾ Usual Suspect While prosecuting a robbery case, I conducted an interview with the arresting officer. My first question: “Did you see the Defendant at the scene?”

“Yes, from a block away,” the officer answered.

“Was the area well lit?”

“No. It was pretty dark.”

“Then how could you identify the Defendant?” I asked, concerned.

Looking at me as if I were nuts, he answered, “I’d recognise my cousin anywhere.” ˾˾˾ Running the Show I am a Deputy Sheriff, assigned to courthouse security. As part of my job, I explain court procedures to visitors. One day I was showing a group of ninth-graders around. Court was on recess, and only the clerk and a young man in custody wearing handcuffs, were in the courtroom. “This is where the Judge sits”, I began, pointing to the bench. “The Lawyers sit at these tables. The court clerk, sits over there. The court recorder, or stenographer, sits over here. Near the Judge is the witness stand, and over there is where the jury sits. “As you can see”, I finished, “there are a lot of people involved in making this system work”.

At that point, the prisoner raised his cuffed hands and said, “Yeah, but I’m the one who makes it all happen.” ˾˾˾ Guilty as Charged In Fort Worth, Texas, I was hauled before the Judge for driving with expired licence plates. The Judge listened attentively, while I gave him a long, plausible explanation.

Then he said with great courtesy, “My dear Sir, we are not blaming you—we’re just fining you”.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5

students of the Caro Favored Schools of Ajegunle. Their dramatic sketch, was designed to raise awareness among young Nigerian consumers, about the importance of trademarks, brands, and the dangers of counterfeit products.

In addition, the opening day of the symposium featured panel discussions, exhibitions, and the screening of the documentary “Fishbone.” The Nollywood-produced film, highlights the menace of counterfeit pharmaceuticals and their effect on both Nigerian citizens and the local economy.

Panelists at the symposium included, DG of National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Christiana Mojisola Adeyeye, DG of Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), Babatunde Irukera, DG of Nigeria Copyright Commision (NCC), John Asien, CEO of the American Business Council, Margaret Olele, David Lossignol of the International Trademark Association (INTA) and Charles Igwe, Principal Consultant/CEO, The Big Picture LLC, Gabriel Ogunyemi of Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Isioma Idigbe of Punuka Solicitors, Chinwe Ohanele of Biaya Consult, to name a few.

They shared insights on issues, and the way forward.

Key addresses were made by Tanya Hill, International

Computer Hacking & Intellectual Property (ICHIP) Attorney Adviser, Sub-Saharan Africa; United States Department of Justice/OPDAT, Hon. Femi Fakeye, Chairman, House Committee on Commerce, and Professor Adebambo Adewopo, SAN of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies.

The American Business Council, is the affiliate of the US Chamber of Commerce, and the voice of US businesses in Nigeria. The Council works with critical stakeholders - US Embassy and other critical stakeholders, to improve the business environment.

On his part, President of American Business Council, Dipo Faulkner said, “Intellectual Property Rights, creates an incentive for innovation and investment in research and development. Both are critical to the future of any business, and the economic growth of a country.

IP protection is of key interest to US companies, as issues of innovation and respect for knowledge assets constitute our intrinsic culture”.

The exhibitions at the symposium, provided a platform to stress the importance of strengthened intellectual property laws, and showcasing products and services of interest to public and private stakeholders. It was an opportunity, to meet an array of prospective Nigerian buyers and partners.

CEHEJ REPORT REVEALS HOW GENERAL ELECTRIC, OTHER ELECTRICITY CONTRACTORS FAILED NIGERIANS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 contracts awarded by the Federal Government of Nigeria in the power sector, those awarded to the contractors General Electric (GE and Rockson) with the Client (Federal Ministry of Power) for the 215MW Kaduna Power Plant appear most suspicious, shoddy, and reckless.”

The associate professor reiterated that GE has brought general darkness to Nigeria and should like all other failed contractors be held accountable and recommended to the Federal Government, the Economic and Financial

Crimes Commission (EFCC), and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) to bring to book those found wanting in the failed contracts.

He recommended that the bidding and awards of contracts processes and power sector should be streamlined and made more transparent.

Present at the Public presentation of the report were the representatives of the office of the Attorney General of the Federation, the Director, head of FOI, Federal Ministry of Justice (Abuja), Mr. Ichibor Gowon, the

National Coordinator of Open Government Partnership in Nigeria, Mr. Benjamin Okolo, Representatives of the Special Assistant to the President Justice Reform, Mrs. Juliet Ibekaku-Nwagwu and Mr. Ibrahim Magu Chairman Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) who was represented by Mr. Osita Nwajah, Director Public Affairs EFCC. Others at the events are Mr. Abiodun Ajayi, President, African Women Lawyers’ Association (AWLA), Mrs. Mandy Demechi-Asagba.

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24.09.2019

WORDS OF WISDOM

(Culled from the Internet)

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TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 24, 2019 • T H I S D AY

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T H I S D AY Ëž Í°Í˛Ëœ 2019

BUSINESSWORLD R A T E S MONEY MARKET OVERNIGHT OBB

A S

A T S E T E M B E R

REPO 7.57 6.43

CALL 1-MONTH 3-MONTH

9.50 74 11

S & P INDEX INDEX LEVEL 1-DAY MONTH-TO-DATE

411.73% 0.25% 0.41%

Group Business Editor Obinna Chima

Email obinna.chima@thisdaylive.com 08152447875

2 0 , S & P INDEX 1/4 TO DATE YEAR TO DATE

2 0 1 9 2.86% 15.34%

EXCHANGE RATE N306.95/1US DOLLAR* ĚŠ

Quick Takes African Alliance Sponsors Conference

YOUTH EMPOWERMENT

L-R: Nollywood Actor/Producer, Richard Mofe-Damijo; Chief Executive Officer, House of Tara, Mrs Tara Fela-Durotoye; Co-Founder/Former Group Executive Director, Sahara Group, Tonye Cole, and Managing Director/CEO, Custodian Investment Plc, Mr. Wole Oshin, during Custodian mentors’ conference, held in Lagos...recently

African Alliance Insurance Plc recently championed the course of promotingleadershipandďŹ nancialindependenceamongNigerianyouths throughsponsorshipoftheHiveAfrica’sGlobalLeadersConference(GLP).

The conference, which was held in Lagos between September 11 – 14, 2019, at Lekki, gathered young global leaders and inuencer.

Speaking at the conference, Head, Group Life for African Alliance Insurance, Mr. Azuka Ochonogor, X-rayed the value of Life Insurance and the role it plays in community. He emphasised the importance of Nigerianslivingahealthylifeandmakingprovisionfortheirdependents while alive. He also stressed the need for making the right investments and tying this to life insurance.

African Alliance recently embarked on campaigns to demystify life insurance across digital channels, promoting its importance in building a healthy relationship and ensuring continuation in life and business.

The Hive Africa GLP was a 3-day program on leadership community, integrating elements of entrepreneurship, purpose, life design, wellness, authentic relating, personal development, and global systems thinking for mission-driven leaders, innovators, and entrepreneurs held around the world African Alliance Insurance said its interest in sponsoring the conference was to support the growing community of youthful leaders on a quest to serve and make an impact in creating a safe and secured world. African Alliance had unveiled a new interactive website that boasts of personalised features and ease of transaction.

IEI Anchor PFA Grows Assets

‘Why Nigerian Cargoes are Diverted to Neighbouring Countries’ Dike Onwuamaeze The Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Hadiza Bala-Usman, has identified four major causes of the diversion of cargoes meant for Nigerian market to ports located in the neighbouring countries around Nigeria.

These, she listed to include the desire to escape payment of high import duties on the cargoes, the non-availability of deep sea ports in the country to welcome larger vessels, slow and frustrating cargo clearance due to 100 per cent physical examination of cargoes in the Nigerian ports as well as the facilitation of smuggled contra banned goods According to the NPA boss, who spoke during a forum hosted by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), consignees divert

MARITIME banned cargoes or those with high import duties such as rice and vehicles to neighbouring ports and smuggle them into Nigeria.

According to her, another reason that accounts for the diversion of cargoes meant for Nigerian market was the absence of deep sea ports in the country, to accommodate larger vessels in an era when the shipping lines were embracing the use of larger vessels that offer them economies of scale.

This, according to her, “is the reason they go to neighbouring countries to berth and bring them into Nigeria in smaller vessels.�

She also identified the inefficiency of cargo clearance in the country as a source of frustration that constrained Nigerian importers to prefer neighbouring ports. “Currently,

Nigeria does not have scanners in its sea ports and therefore subject every cargo to 100 per cent physical examination in the port. Automatically there will be a delay and I will leave you to imagine how efficient that could be. “The need to introduce scanners is very urgent and must fast track its procurement, which is the responsibility of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS),� Bala-Usman said.

Moreover, government agencies that operate in the port process are not connected through the single window system, which enable them to carry out their functions through a common electronic, she noted. “The single window needs to be restored because it is one of the trade facilitation processes for ports efficiency. The absence of scanners and the single window mechanism create longer

turnaround time and frustrate importers, which form the basis for cargo diversion. “Port’s efficiency means that shorter time is required for consignments to get to the consignees’ warehouse after arriving at our port,� she said.

The NPA boss also shed more light on the reasons traffic congestion had become the norm in the Apapa area of Lagos.

According to her, the situation has been around for a much longer time because 95 per cent of the cargoes that arrived at Apapa ports were being evacuated by road.

The resultant effect of this procedure, she stressed was that the roads would be bad and congested.

Therefore, “we must have inter-model transportation system for cargo evacuation Continued on page 24

NEITI:FGPaidN303.4bnBridgingClaimstoOilMarketersinFiveYears Chineme Okafor in Abuja The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has disclosed that the federal government paid out a total of N303.4 billion to petrol marketers in five years – between 2012 and 2016, as financial claims for trucking of petrol to various parts of the country under the bridging claims scheme of the Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF).

NEITI in its latest Fiscal Allocation and Statutory Disbursement (FASD) audit report explained that PEF got N382 billion as bridging allowance within the period under review and paid out N303.4 billion to oil marketers as claims for products

ENERGY bridging. “A total of N499 billion was received by PEF within the review period. Besides, PEF also realised N382 billion bridging allowance. NEITI report revealed that most of its expense totaling about N303.4 billion was expended on claims. “The report noted that the Fund does not impose penalties promptly on defaulting independent and major oil marketers that did not pay their required contribution.

It also noted that utilisation of the Fund is not separated between the core activity and administrative purposes,� said the NEITI report which was

recently released.

According to the PEF, the bridging scheme was originally introduced as a temporary measure during the turn-around maintenance (TAM) of refineries operated by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), wherein government sought to encourage and support marketers in transporting petroleum products nationwide.

The PEF explained that although bridging was meant to be a temporary solution until the refineries were producing back at full capacity, the state of the refineries has worsened over the years.

In addition, it noted that pipeline vandalism by militants and economic saboteurs have been on the increase, to the point

where trucks have become the major source of distributing petroleum products in recent times in Nigeria.

According to the PEF, the initial projection was to have a maximum of 10 per cent of total petroleum products bridged while the remaining portion would be pumped through the pipelines.

However, trend analysis indicated that bridging of products has consistently increased over the years to about 40 per cent.

It explained that there were also noticeable trends whereby products were bridged from Lagos to the South-east and South-south areas of the country, to address products unavailContinued on page 24

IEI Anchor Pension Managers said it has grown Pension Fund Assets underitsmanagementby35percent,fromN68.2billionin2017,toN92 billionin2018. Speakingatthe2018AnnualGeneralMeeting(AGM)ofthe company in Abuja recently, the company’s Chairman, Senator Jonathan Zwingina, said, it maintained its growth trajectory, as its Retirement Savings Accounts also grew from 117,031 in 2017 to 131,047 in 2018.

Operations of the company, he added, ran smoothly, thereby, leading to a general growth in the company.

According to him, “Our Assets Under Management with a 34.96 percent increase from N68, 231, 022, 724 Billion to N92, 081, 663, 564 Billion between January 2018 and December 2018. Operations of the company ran smoothly thereby leading to a general growth in the company.� He, however, said Retirement Savings Accounts of the PFA, grew from 117,031 in 2017 to 131,047 in 2018.� “ThemanagementofthePFAiscommittedtoensuringthatstrategies putinplacearedriventocontinuallygrowthecompany,wewillcontinue to engage our customers constantly and ensure their satisfaction as well as working tirelessly on delivering to our shareholders and stakeholders,� he added.

MFB Gets New Executives

AdvansLaFayetteMicroďŹ nanceBankhasannouncednewexecutive leadership appointments to drive its ongoing transformation into a growth-oriented, customer-centred institution following its national licence status upgrade.

Accordingtoastatement,theManagingDirectorofthebank,GaĂŤtan Debuchy is charged with the task of repositioning the bank.

The statement explained that the new MD was expected to deliver expertservicestotransformthebankintoanexpandedďŹ nancialservices organisation that drives customer satisfaction, Small Medium Scale Enterprise(SME)growthandbecomeareferenceinthebankingindustry.

ThestatementaddedthatChiefExecutiveOďŹƒcer,ObinnaUkachukwu, is expected to combine marketing and communications, risk, back oďŹƒce operations, business development management and strategy into one combined function. “Completing the list is Jean-Luc Nzoubou, alsoappointedasaDeputy/ChiefexecutiveoďŹƒcer,Nzoubouisbacked with solid experience in the launching and rapid growth of aďŹƒliates, in Cameroon and Ivory Coast, with an absolute knowledge of the Advans Group,andcomestoAdvansLaFayettewithaprovenexpertiseinpeople management and microďŹ nance operations. “This is a building block in Advans La Fayette MicroďŹ nance Bank transformational journey, as the organization is moving quickly to structure for faster growth and also to ensure they are positioned to respond to the needs of SMEs, customers, and partners focusing on strategy, governance and vital strategic initiatives.â€?

“Since the policy was first launched, currency management costs have continued to increase year-on-year at an average annual growth rate of 33 per cent. Notwithstanding, electronic transactions have increased within the economy. We have provided alternative channels and people have embraced it�

CBN Governor,

Godwin EmeďŹ ele

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BUSINESSWORLD ‘WHY NIGERIAN CARGOES ARE DIVERTED TO NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES’

to enable us have efficiency in cargo clearance. “This is the reason the ministry of transport is constructing a rail line into Apapa ports to facilitate rail evacuation of cargoes. But this is not what that can be done in two months. “We are also talking with AP Moller to set up inland water ways that can move cargoes from the port to such places like Epe to further facilitate speedy cargo clearance and decongestion of Apapa roads. “The other issue is the need for us to have trailer parks and mandate truck drivers to use them. We are currently discussing with the Lagos and Ogun State’s governments on the establishment of trailer parks to deploy these trucks. “Our stand at NPA is that every truck coming to the port must come from a designated truck park so that they can come to the port only when they are needed. “We want to set up a large truck park in Ogun, then another one in Lagos where they can be situated and a create space in Lilypond where they can wait to take their consignments,� Usman explained.

NEITI: FG PAID N303.4BN BRIDGING CLAIMS TO OIL MARKETERS IN FIVE YEARS

ability from the refineries in Port Harcourt and Warri.

Furthermore, in its FASD report, the NEITI explained that the natural minerals sector of Nigeria contributed N805 billion of N993 billion paid to the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETfund) within the period to support its education intervention job.

NEITI however stated that the TETFund lacked sufficient accounting processes to track its use of funds for its operations.

According to it: “The fund received a total of N993 billion with N805 billion from mineral revenue while N188 billion was received from non-mineral.�

However, the NEITI report noted that the fund does not have a comprehensive accounting and operational manual; hence, there was insufficient guide for accounting and operations’ processes.

NEWS

REA Connects 3000 to 98.8KW Solar Electricity Stories by Chineme Okafor in Abuja

Abubakar Bagudu, to have said at the commissioning of the project that: “The solar hybrid mini-grid will expand and transform the economic landscape of Kebbi state. Small businesses like welders, cold rooms, as well as processing mills can now operate more effectively with reliable and clean electricity as a result of this project.�

Similarly, Executive Director of REF, Dr. Sanusi Ohiare stated that: “KareDadin Kowa community is the second of twelve communities earmarked to benefit from REF grants.

This is due to following and attaining legal, regulatory

and procurement compliance and no objection from the federal government.�

The statement added that in line with REF’s Public Private Partnership (PPP) model, it ensured that private sector participation and investment was involved to guarantee success for the project.

It quoted the Managing Director of Nayo Tropical Technology Limited which executed the project, Mr. Anayo Okenwa to have said that: “The installed solar hybrid mini grid was constructed in line with international standards and best practice. As an indigenous firm, we are

proud to have leveraged the skills and capacity of our host community, in addition to providing the enabling environment for skilled labour and job creation.�

The Minister of Power, Mr. Saleh Mamman, who congratulated parties involved in the project, stated that: “Under my leadership, the ministry of power will continue to provide requisite policy interventions to ensure that transformative projects like this will have the desired impact of electrifying Nigeria.�

The REA reiterated that it was saddled with the job of implementing the federal

government’s policy on electrification of unserved and underserved communities.

It added that the REF provides equitable access to electricity across Nigeria to maximise the economic, social and environmental benefits of rural electrification grants, promote off-grid electrification, and stimulate innovative approaches to rural electrification.

The REF projects, it explained are administered using PPP model, with its first call for project proposal expected to provide electricity to 12 communities and deploy 19,000 Solar Home Systems (SHS).

The Rural Electrification Agency (REA) has disclosed that about 3000 inhabitants of Kare-Dadin Kowa community in Kebbi State have been connected to a 98.8 kilowatt (KW) solar power system built with funds from its Rural Electrification Fund (REF).

It noted that it recently commissioned the 98.8KW solar hybrid mini grid power plant at the community in line with its commitment to provide equitable access to electricity across regions in Nigeria.

According to a statement from the REA, the REF strives to maximise the economic, social and environmental benefits of rural electrification grants, to promote off-grid electrification, and to stimulate innovative approaches to rural electrification.

It stated that the solar hybrid mini grid system would provide clean energy to 483 residential buildings, 82 commercial buildings as well as serve over 3,000 inhabitants of Kare-Dadin Kowa.

A total of 565 high grid solar panels, it explained were installed to power homes, businesses, places of worship, schools, and health centers in the community.

L-R: Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), Mr Ahmed Lawan Kuru; Justice C.M.A. The statement quoted the Olatoregun of the Federal High Court, and Dr. Francis Chuka Agbu, Lead partner at Lexavier Partners, at a one-day seminar for AMCON’s external Governor of Kebbi state, solicitors and Asset Management Partners (AMPs) held in Lagos‌recently

MIND-RUBBING

Rosatom: We’re Committed to Raising Nuclear Experts for Nigeria Russia’s state-run nuclear energy corporation, Rosatom, has said it is committed to raising the next generation of nuclear energy technology experts in Nigeria.

In this regard, it invited students and young professionals in the country to partake in the next edition of its annual online video competition.

Nigeria had signed an agreement with Rosatom for the construction of nuclear power plants and a nuclear research center in the country.

The process was however still underway.

Notwithstanding, Rosatom stated in a statement that the competition which is dubbed

‘Atoms for Africa’ would also be facilitated by EnerConnect as well as the African Young Generation in Nuclear and South African Young Nuclear Professionals Society.

It explained that it would run up until September 30, 2019, adding that the edition would be devoted to supporting interests in nuclear research and capabilities among young Nigerian and African scientists at large.

According to the corporation, participants would be required to research how innovative use of nuclear technologies can assist in achieving the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Africa, adding

that potential participants would have to make a short video about their findings on the topic and share on Facebook.

It said a two-stage judging process would be used to select the winning teams, ad that an independent jury made up of nuclear professionals and experts on sustainability topics will select the top 10 videos, with the public invited to vote for the best video on the Rosatom Africa Facebook page. “The award ceremony will take place within two African Nuclear Youth Summits to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa in early October 2019.

Competitors who created the top two videos will win an

all-expenses paid trip to Russia in November 2019. “The trip to Russia for winning teams will include visits to well-known Moscow landmarks, Russia’s state-of-the-art nuclear facilities, top nuclear universities as well as other scientific and technological facilities.

The winners will also meet African students currently studying various nuclear disciplines in Russia,� said the statement.

It explained in 2018, a Nigerian, Ugenyi Igbokwe, was among the finalists - beating other participants from across Africa in the competition.

Underscoring Rosatom’s commitment to nurturing young African professionals

in nuclear energy and its other adaptations, the corporation’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for Central and Southern Africa, Dmitry Shornikov, said: “One of our key missions at Rosatom is to assist the brightest young minds from across the globe to work together in solving global challenges that will shape the future of energy and the world as we know it.�

Shornikov explained that: “This is a great opportunity for young people from very different walks of life who share a common passion to build a bright and sustainable future for Africa to discover more about various nuclear applications and their vast benefits for the region.

Abuja Disco Secures $1.06m to Support Building of 1,370 Solar-Powered Mini Grids Group Business Editor

Obinna Chima

Capital Market Editor

Goddy Egene

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)

The Abuja electricity distribution company (Disco) has secured from the United States Trade Department Administration (USTDA), up to $1.06 million with which it will use to begin the process of expanding electricity services to underserved communities within its networks.

The fund according to the Managing Director of Abuja Disco, Mr. Ernest Mupwaya, would be deployed first to undertake studies on optimal locations within its network for complimentary mini grid deployments. Speaking at the recent signing ceremony, Mupwaya explained that the decision of the Disco on this was informed by its plan to ensure stable electricity sup-

ply to consumers within its network. According to him, parts of the strategic plan to provide power every day in Abuja were tied to the 1370 solar-powered mini grid it hoped would be deployed as soon as possible.

He stated that the opportunity represented another visible effort for the Disco to explore available solutions for the provision of stable electricity to customers within its franchise area of Abuja, Niger, Nasarawa and Kogi States. “Electricity no doubt is one of the key parameters used in measuring the extent of development of any nation.

There’s evidence backed by research which demonstrate correlation between electricity

consumption and GDP growth. “According to the 2017 report

by International Energy Agency, while many of the developed countries have already attained 100 per cent electrification access, scores of developing nations particularly those in sub-Saharan Africa have remained behind and are recording low access rates that are characterized by poor reliability. The report estimates 1.1 billion of people yet to be connected while another 1 billion is being supplied with poor quality of electricity,� said Mupwaya. He noted that to address the energy poverty challenge, different actors have consensually agreed that what was required was a pragmatic approach that accounted for various options in addressing

the electrification gaps.

According to him, the options available to bridge the energy gap were main grid extension to capture new customers, improvement of quality of supply by augmenting grid supply with other alternative sources, and off grid solution for far flung areas. “In our environment for instance, there is a huge disparity in the level of electrification between urban and rural areas where access to electricity is higher in urban areas compared to rural areas. “As a company, we have designed a strategy which seeks to holistically examine how the obvious huge gaps in the level of electrification can be narrowed. In addition, we are developing and implementing

initiatives to improve the quality of supply in urban areas. We are also considering how we can close up the gaps in rural areas where the challenges, some of which include the affordability of electricity, long distances which require extensive network remain unique to these areas,� he said.

He further noted: “We are grateful that the United States Trade Department and Administration has committed funding to help the Abuja electricity distribution company provide electricity to underserved communities through the implementation of up to 1,370 solar-powered mini-grids with energy storage systems. Colorado’s Rocky Mountain Institute will carry out the study.

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BUSINESSWORLD

ENERGY

Fresh Hope Beckons on Nigeria’s Ailing Refineries The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has set a 2022 date for its three refineries in Kaduna, Warri and Port Harcourt to come back fully to operation, writes Chineme Okafor The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has said that repair works on its three refineries located in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna, which have remained decrepit for years would begin in January of 2020, raising hopes Nigeria could yet again locally refine most of the petroleum products it needs to run her domestic economy.

The corporation has repeatedly made promises of repairing the refineries which efficiency have significantly dropped and often constituted a huge loss-making centre in its financial books.

However, it has never fulfilled any of these promises.

This has also ensured that Nigeria imports most of the petroleum products it uses, an unpleasant development that once pushed the immediate Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, to disclose he would resign his ministerial portfolio by May 2019 if Nigeria continued to import petrol.

Refineries’ conditions In terms of capacity utilisation, in August 2015, when Kachikwu first made a public declaration that the refineries would be repaired and their production levels revived, the NNPC in its monthly operations report had stated that their capacity were collectively on 24.08 per cent utilisation level.

They also recorded huge financial deficits in their operations with N1,940.12 billion recorded in January; N5,768.40 billion in February; N2, 893.56 billion in March; N6,234.59 billion in April; N5,596.15 billion in May; N5,899.34 billion in June; N3,211.34 billion in July; N139.12 million in August; N8,841.63 billion September; N1,445.06 billion in October; N7,211.38 in November; and then N7,824.40 in December.

By January 2016, the NNPC announced that the Port Harcourt and Kaduna refineries had been shut down because of breaches on their crude supply lines. It had also explained the supply interruptions were huge setbacks to its plan to get the refineries fully working, adding that it would subsequently start a comprehensive recovery of their capacities.

Their capacity utilisation in 2017 was further reported by the corporation to be 17.56 per cent in 2017 before they dropped to 8.02 per cent in 2018.

For 2017, the NNPC report showed that all through the year, the Warri refinery managed a 9.56 per cent capacity utilisation record; Port Harcourt made efforts with 24.14 per cent; while Kaduna recorded 14.10 per cent.

They also did not do so well financially, and recorded profits only in January – N3, 356.14 billion; March – N3,399.07; April – N1,577.79 billion; May – N2,678.88 billion; and June – N3,343.19 billion, and then posted deficits of N522.82 million in February; N8,517.78 billion in July; N4,636.29 billion in August; N3,518.60 billion September; N7,762.25 billion in October; N11,144.81 billion in November; and N11,095.28 billion in December.

In 2018, when the refineries’ utilisation dropped to 8.02 per cent, they equally posted deficits of N13,586.11 billion in January; N8,055.05 billion in February; and N11,889.51 billion in March, before making a one-off profit of N6,321.63 billion in April, and then resumed its losses in May with a huge N20,081.80 billion deficits.

Similarly, in June, they posted a deficit of N14,510.02 billion; N10,449.19 billion in July; N10,793.03 billion in August; N6,972.98 billion in September; N9,326.32 billion in October; N9,585.04 billion in November; before ending the year with another remarkable deficit of N17,317.03 billion in December.

Even as the year 2019 turned in, the refineries according to NNPC’s records equally started the year with a loss of N8,

Mele Kyari 362.02 billion, to underpin their inefficiency levels.

Cost of dilapidated refineries Due to the failures of the refineries, Nigeria through the NNPC resorted to importation of petroleum products with which it runs its domestic economy.

This development as explained by industry operators meant the country relies solely on imported petroleum products to run on. It, in fact, also subsidises petrol thus spending billions to keep the pump price at a fixed price.

For instance, in 2018, the NNPC indicated that it imported 21,100,118,126.30 (21 billion) litres of petrol which translated to 57.8 million litres daily, into the country. In 2017, it said it was 14,430,373,377.03 (14 billion) litres; in 2016, it was 9,264,855,130.33 litres; while it was 6,179,719,852.27 litres in 2015.

And, because they were all imported, it thus implied that the country outsources or exports jobs in its midstream oil industry to other countries from where it buys its refined petroleum products.

Apart from the job losses, the government’s subsidising of petrol consumption also meant that the country’s scarce financial resources which should fund the provision of socially beneficial and optimal infrastructure like roads, hospitals and schools are less and often cut down in the national budget.

This equally leaves the country struggling year-on-year with fixing her widening public infrastructure gap.

Furthermore, on what the country losses to the decrepit refineries, a report of the World Bank, had indicated that Nigeria spent N731 billion subsiding petrol consumption.

The report had also stated that most of the volume of petrol Nigeria spent money subsidising in 2018 were inflated as daily

consumption rose to 54 million litres per day (ml/d) from 40ml/d in 2017, ostensibly due partly to out-smuggling.

It specifically stated that with regards to the country’s revenue from oil that: “The oil revenues continue to underperform both relative to the budget targets and their realistic potential due to the unbudgeted fuel subsidy (Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) ‘cost under-recovery’), which amounted to N731 billion in 2018, among other discretionary deductions, and the dollar-naira conversion using an exchange rate lower than that prevailing in the convertible IEFX window. “The NNPC financial reports indicate that about $2 billion (equivalent to 0.6 per cent GDP) were deducted from the gross oil revenue prior to the transfer to the federation account for the unbudgeted fuel subsidy (cost under-recovery). “The calculations for the fuel subsidy are based on heavily inflated fuel consumption estimates, with the fiscally severely constrained Nigerian government effectively subsidising neighbouring countries’ petrol consumption as some of the fuel is informally re-exported through the porous borders,� the World Bank report had explained .

Immediate past repair attempts The NNPC had also recently made efforts to repair the refineries and attempted to get private investors to fund the repair on terms that would have been beneficial to both parties, but the arrangement collapsed eventually when both could not agree on terms.

The model which would have had investors come in to finance the repairs under mutually agreed business terms failed after negotiations reportedly broke down between

the corporation and the investors who were initially interested.

It was reported that within the proposed model, the preferred investors would have brought in funds to repairs, run the facility for a period of time after which they would have recouped their investment.

After the breakdown of negotiations, the NNPC then announced it would now use its own money and debt financing from the financial markets to fix the refineries, starting with Port Harcourt, followed by the Warri and Kaduna.

It explained that the new strategy would involve the original builders as well as in phases. According to the corporation, at the end of the first phase, the Port Harcourt refinery would have attained a 60 per cent capacity utilisation level before shooting up to a minimum of 90 per cent upon the completion of the repair work.

It equally announced that Italian oil firm, Eni/NAOC was engaged as the technical advisor for the exercise and disclosed the first phase would run for six months within which detailed integrity check and equipment inspection of the refinery would take place before JGC of Japan which built it and Tecnimont would be invited to undertake the repair on an Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) basis.

New date for refineries’ to come back However, in a recent statement from the corporation, its Group Managing Director, Malam Mele Kyari, reportedly said that the refineries would again be able to refine crude oil at optimum capacity by 2022.

Signed by its Group General Manager, Public Affairs, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, the statement quoted Mele Kyari, to have disclosed the latest promise of restoring the full refining capacities of the refineries during a facilities tour of the Port-Harcourt Refining and Petrochemical Company (PHRC).

Mele Kyari explained that that full rehabilitation of the plants would commence in January of 2020, and that he was committed to ensuring the refineries deliver real-time value and address the petroleum needs of Nigerians.

According to him: “We will stick to time; we will deliver this project by 2022. We will commence actual rehabilitation work in January. We will do everything possible between October and December to close out all necessary conditions for us to deliver on that project. “I believe that with the support that we have from the shareholders - government of this country, the entire staff of this company and the contractors, I believe it is doable and we will deliver the project.�

Tasking the contractors on the need to consider their reputation in the repair work, Mele Kyari, said: “It’s no longer about business now, but a reputational issue.

For the original builders of the refinery, Tecnimont, Eni/NAOC and NNPC, let us be conscious of the fact that our reputation is at stake as far as this project is concerned. “The NNPC leadership has promised this country that our refineries will work, therefore, we must work not to disappoint over 200 million Nigerian stakeholders.�

He equally noted that the repair would include indigenous workers in the corporation’s bid to help build local capacities and save cost in the process.

The statement similarly noted that the Tecnimont Project Manager, Mr. La Mattina Carmelo, in his presentation on the progress of work on the first phase of the repair work, informed that the inspection aspect of the project had progressed to 91 per cent while final report and Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) proposal was on 75 per cent.

Carmelo, noted that his company would deliver the first phase of the rehabilitation within three weeks from now and assured there were no challenges to a timely delivery of the task.

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Kerani: Energy Access Gap in Nigeria Frightening Deep Karani, is the Exhibition Director for Power Nigeria, West Africa’s power and renewable energy trade exhibition. In this interview with Peter Uzoho, ahead of the eighth edition of Power Nigeria Conference commencing today in Lagos, he speaks about challenges of Nigeria with respect to energy accessibility, what participants should expect at the conference, among others issues. Excerpts: What do you see as the major challenge confronting Nigeria?

The main issue Nigeria is facing is the rapidly increasing population which clearly results in much higher demand of energy needs. Infrastructural investments, regulatory and policy limitations are a major challenge hampering growth of the power sector. Considering how large the Nigerian economy is, it is imperative to invest in energy infrastructure. As modern as we have become today, there are still many people across the country who are forced to use outdated power systems that aren’t as efficient as we would like them to be. While there are off-grid sustainable solutions available, Nigeria also needs good governance; proper regulations and policies that need to be set and enforced for the sector to experience growth.

Multiple government organisations are tirelessly working towards achieving higher energy efficiency and encouraging change in regulations, however the lack of consistency and clarity makes it difficult for developers to invest in the country As an expert in the power sector, what progressive trends have you seen that Nigeria needs to urgently adopt?

Industry sources indicate that the country will need an additional 26.6 GW generation capacity to meet demands through 2020. This will comprise 30 per cent capacity from coal, about 2,200 MW from the NIPP projects (1,896 MW), IPPs (296 MW) and FGN legacy assets [installed - Thermals 5.6 GW, Hydro 1.3 GW and Wind {pilot} 10MW].

In addition, the government of Nigeria is also investing heavily to boost generation through the large, medium and small hydrostatic power plants with total capacity of over 6,024 MW. Despite the various challenges in Nigeria’s power sector today, the decision of the government of Nigeria to privatise the sector provides multiple opportunities for international and local investment.

What are your predictions for the power and energy sector in Nigeria within the next 10 years?

Nigeria is Africa’s largest economy, and it also has one of the widest energy gaps in the world.

With a rapid growth in population and escalating energy demand, it is paramount for Nigeria to improve its power sector. The country’s current

international companies with newer technologies to the show from 2020 onwards, and will be promoting the Nigerian energy event through our plethora of events across the EMEA region.

Kerani installed capacity is reported at 12,500 megawatts, but in practice it is only 3,200 megawatts. The government’s aim to boost electricity access to 90 per cent by 2030 will drive even more demand.

Credible sources have stated that in order to achieve universal access to electricity, Nigeria will have to connect between 500,000 to 800,000 new households to electricity every year between 2018 and 2030.

Both grid extension and off-grid solutions will be needed to provide quality services to the unserved and underserved households and businesses in a timely manner.

My personal prediction is that renewables will play a very important role in Nigeria’s power generation model. It is only a matter of time before we see more clarity in policy & regulations.

However, given the size of the market, Nigeria will continue to be a strong energy market in the next 10 years.

What are Informa’s future plans for Nigeria in the coming years?

Informa has embarked on a long-term journey in Nigeria with a hope to expand heavily in the region. Our plan moving forward is to diversify from the electricity niche and add more parallel sectors to the show, which is why we have made the decision this year to rebrand to Nigeria Energy from 2020 onwards, in where we plan to fully incorporate all aspects of energy, not confining to only conventional power generation, transmission & distribution. We aspire to bring together more

The Power Nigeria Exhibition and Conference is currently in its eighth year, what does this year’s agenda entail?

As organisers, we are very excited about the exhibition and conference. This year, the exhibition is supported by renowned industry brands such as Skipper Seil, Cummins, Eaton, Caterpillar-Mantrac, Jubaili Bros, Total, Lucy Electric, Phillips, Kirloskar, and many more who will be joining us on the show floor to display their latest product lines. We are also looking forward to welcoming key colleagues from AfBD, Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing (Power Sector), Dangote Industries, Central Bank of Nigeria and many more, who will be presenting technical papers highlighting critical topics at the conference. The conference is CPD certified and focuses on key themes broadly ranging between Finance, Technology and Procurement.

In the past few weeks, we’ve received hundreds of registrations from industry professionals who have confirmed their attendance for the event and as organisers, we are very excited to welcome them to the exhibition and conference.

How do you select speakers and exhibitors for Power Nigeria Conference?

Each year, we urge state ministries, regulatory authorities and policy makers to speak about subjects that are most important in the year, educating attending industry professionals about latest developments & future plans in the Nigerian energy sector.

Going beyond governments, we also provide a platform for developers, consultants and system integrators who present technical papers on best practices in energy management. Adding to the selection, we invite a few case studies from key manufacturers or innovators who can speak about latest systems and technologies available from which the country could benefit. On the whole, our objective is to bring together a good mix of international and local industry pioneers who are qualified and have the experience which can help young engineers learn from. Attendance to these presentations activate CPD points for electrical

engineers.

How would you assess the impact of Power Nigeria Conference over the years it has been taking place?

Power Nigeria has organically grown to becoming West Africa’s largest power exhibition and hosts a wide variety of electrical and renewable energy products on display annually. Through our platform, we aspire to create value for all participating and attending stakeholders who have a vested interest in the growth of West Africa’s energy sector, particularly in Nigeria. We are fortunate enough to be backed by Informa, the largest exhibition management company in the world, which also hosts energy events across the globe. Connected to thousands of energy professionals worldwide, we are able to bridge the gap between international investors, developers, manufacturers by linking them with regional consultants, contractors, system integrators and end users.

SpeciďŹ cally, what contribution would you say the conference has had on the Nigerian power sector?

Our ultimate objective is to build Power Nigeria into the largest technology sourcing, knowledge sharing and networking platform connecting local and international companies, assisting them to explore business opportunities, in turn driving growth into future investment opportunities for West Africa. Power Nigeria today is seen as one of the strongest networking arenas for the energy sector in Nigeria, involving various colleagues across multiple cities who attend the exhibition & conference to learn, network & explore business opportunities.

How are participants able to earn the Continuing Professional Development (CDP) certiďŹ cation from attending the conference?

We offer free CPD points across all our energy events in the Middle East and Africa. Visitors who register and attend the conference are further guided by our helpful staff onsite who will verify their attendance by simply scanning their badges to send their contact details to the CPD certification body in the UK who then provide the certificate of attendance and allocate the relevant points.

Automation, Green Buildings & Sustainability.

P & ID Fraud Conviction, EFCC and Malami’s Legacy Wale Solomon The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, introduced an interesting twist to the relationship between Nigeria and Process and Industrial Developments (P&ID) Limited- the company that secured a $9.6 billion judgment against Nigeria at a British court in August.

The anti-graft agency had brought a case of fraud against directors of P&ID Limited, Virgin Island and its Nigerian affiliate, P&ID Nigeria Limited.

The two firms were found guilty on the 11-count charge of tax evasion and money laundering brought against them and were convicted accordingly by the court. In his judgment, Justice Inyang Ekwo held that the firms having admitted to the crime, he had no option than to convict them accordingly. Relying on provisions of section 19(2) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act, 2011, and section 10(2) of the Advance Fee Fraud and other related offences Act, 2006, the court ordered the federal government to wind up the two firms and confiscate all their assets in the country.

The firms were linked to the controversial Gas Supply and Processing Agreement (GSPA) the company signed with the Ministry of Petroleum Resources on behalf of the federal government that led to the British Court’s judgement ordering the seizure of Nigeria’s foreign assets worth $9.6billion.

Wednesday judgment was a significant step towards untangling the web woven around the

Kerani neck of Nigeria by P& ID by the judgment of the British court. As observed by human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, the Abuja court ruling has shown that the contract was a “package of fraud.� And Nigeria can now execute it abroad against P&ID and use it to set aside the judgment of the British court.

In his reaction also, Abubakar Malami, Nigeria’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice, said the Abuja court judgment was a judicial proof that fraud and corruption were the foundation of the

relationship that gave rise to the alleged contract, and noted that a “liability that is rooted in fraud and corruption cannot stand judicial enforceability.�

Nigeria. According to Malami, now has a cogent ground for setting aside the liability imposed on her by the London court. The new twist would now also lead Nigeria to review its strategy in handling the British court judgment.

The development is certainly good news for Nigeria and rekindles hope that there may indeed be a way to fend off the execution of the London judgment. But it also signposts a noticeable trend in the operations of the EFCC which has of recent turned into an effective anti-corruption investigation and prosecution machine.

Only last week this writer celebrated EFCC’s successes in the operations against internet fraudsters called “Yahoo Boys� which encouraged a partnership with the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI. Within the space of one month, the agency was able to complete a clean sweep of cyber criminals across the country in a coordinated operation with the FBI tagged: ‘Operation Rewired’.

The operation was commendable in its swiftness and success as it led to the arrest of 167 suspected cyber criminals and recovery of 169,850 dollars as well as N92 million. In addition, exotic cars, plots of land in choice areas of Lagos and a property in Abuja were recovered during the operations.

The verdict by Justice Inyang Ekwo followed the conviction of P&ID Nigeria Limited and

its parent company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands on an 11-count charge bordering on economic sabotage, money laundering, tax evasion amongst others, which the EFCC preferred against them. According to the EFCC, the firms fraudulently claimed to have acquired land from the Cross-River State Government in 2010 for the gas supply project agreement that resulted to the $9.6bn judgment debt.

The directors of the companies admitted and pleaded guilty to allegation of fraud and that they did not even acquire any land in Calabar for the project in the first place. It says a lot about the quality of investigation the EFCC is now able to carry out that it could get a positive court judgment in such a timely version. This is exactly where I think the legacy of the Minister of Justice would be found long after he has left office.

Malami has instituted a deepening of investigation by prosecuting agencies of government to avoid losing cases and help them get more convictions.

He has raised the bar and standard of criminal investigations for government prosecutorial agencies, including the Nigerian Police Force and the EFCC. A stickler for detailed and meticulous investigations before prosecution, the Justice ministry under Malami had insisted on diligent investigations by prosecuting agencies before charges are filed in court.

Solomon wrote in from Gwarimpa Estate, Abuja

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 24, 2019 • T H I S D AY

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T H I S D AY ˾ TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 24, 2019

PROPERTY & ENVIRONMENT Alaro City’s First 3.5km Four-lane Asphalt Road Sets Unique Standard r Voted Emerging Project of the Year Bennett Oghifo

G

ood roads drive a city’s sustainable development and this is the importance of the high standard being applied by the promoters of the iconic Alaro City in the development of the city’s first 3.5km road, a four-lane, asphalt thoroughfare with a four-metre median.

Alaro City is an inclusive, mixed-use city-scale development in the Lekki Free Zone that has adopted innovative infrastructure building systems that serve as a benchmark for new cities in Nigeria, said officials of constructing the new city.

Also, Alaro City has been awarded “Emerging Project of The Year” at the Africa Real Estate Awards (AFRECA) organised by PropertyPro.ng, a property portal in Nigeria.

Alaro City’s developer has adopted modern best practices and delivered an efficient drainage system

of the road currently being constructed.

The city’s Construction Manager, Bailey Ligtas told journalists during a tour of the city, recently, that the road, designed by leading engineering firm Arup, is the first of four major access points from the Lekki-Epe Expressway.

“Alaro City is also developing an independent power plant solution by connecting to a nearby gas pipeline.

Water supply for the first phase is also at an advanced stage,” he said.

Launched in January 2019, Alaro City is planned as a 2,000-hectare new city located in the North West Quadrant of the Lekki Free Zone. The city will include industrial and logistics locations, complemented by offices, homes, schools, healthcare facilities, hotels, entertainment and parks and open spaces. The project is a joint venture between the Lagos State Government and Rendeavour, the largest new

city builder in Africa.

In building Alaro City, Rendeavour has provided solutions to urban planning and city-building problems unique to Lagos. According to Ligtas, to ensure effective flood management, Rendeavour have adopted a rain garden drainage system that not only provides a unique landscaping opportunity but ensures the development is not afflicted by open drainage systems.

Green areas, parks and open spaces at Alaro City total over 150 hectares and form part of the drainage strategy of the city via five “greenways”.

These are designed to provide an area for leisure activities and also carry surface water to the lagoon.

Alaro City has gained increasing recognition for its world-class master plan and the innovation it represents in modern city building. In July, the city’s master plan won the international Architizer A+ Popular Choice Award, besting prestigious projects

such as the Amazon HQ2 supersite in Dallas and the 5M project in San Francisco.

In September, Alaro City was voted “Emerging Project of the Year” by PropertyPro. ng at the Africa Real Estate Awards.

Chief Executive Officer of Alaro City, Odunayo Ojo said the city has already sold out phase one of its residential “buy-and-build” plots, with phase two well underway, adding that several Nigerian, regional and multinational companies are building commercial and industrial facilities in the city. “Alaro City lies in the growth path of Lagos and aims to serve as a model for what a modern mixed-use city looks like,” he said. “We have partnered with renowned experts in various fields to ensure that our culture of high standards is sustained.”

Commenting on the award, Ojo said: “We are honoured by this latest recognition of Alaro City’s innovation and success. It is a demonstration of the professionalism that characterises our work at

Alaro City, which serves as a magnet for the numerous international and local investors building their businesses and homes with us.”

In July, Alaro City also won the international Architizer A+ Popular Choice Award in the masterplan category. The city’s masterplan was shortlisted from a range of large-scale international projects and was the only entrant from the African region. Alaro City was nominated alongside prestigious projects such as the Amazon HQ2 supersite in Dallas and the 5M project in San Francisco.

“Alaro City leaves no-one in doubt that the model for an inclusive satellite city is finally here in Nigeria. This award is well deserved,” said Sulaiman Balogun, co-founder of PropertyPro. “As this exciting city takes shape, the property market is delighted that it will shape the future of real estate in Nigeria.”

PropertyPro.ng, which acquired Jumia House Nigeria in 2017, has over 200,000 property listings of both

public and private property.

AFRECA is an annual gathering of the industry’s finest minds, top-level business leaders and decision-makers across Africa.

Alaro City has already sold out phase one of its residential “buy-and-build” plots, with phase two well underway.

Several Nigerian, regional and multinational companies are building commercial and industrial facilities in the city. The construction of the city’s first 3.5 km road is in progress; with completion of the first phase expected this year.

The pedigree of the city’s developers, Rendeavour, has also been identified by industry experts as a key contributor to the growing success of the satellite city.

Rendeavour is currently building seven new cities in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Zambia and Democratic Republic of Congo, with over 60 industries already building their businesses at the cities and over 6,000 homes in development.

Nigerian, Australian Builders Sign MoU on Improving Method, Technology of Construction Bennett Oghifo The Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB) said it has signed a memorandum of understanding with its counterpart in Australian to collaborate in effort to

improve on the methodology and technology of building construction.

The memorandum, signed with the Australian Institute of Building (AIB) in Sydney, Australia, recently is aimed at making the NIOB and AIB

have a shared commitment to become a stronger professional institute and educator within the building construction industry, said a statement by the National President of NIOB, Kunle Awobodu.

The MoU, he said was

Tobi Bakre Becomes Novarick Homes Brand Ambassador Novarick Homes and Properties Limited has signed an agreement with ex-BBnaija Housemate, Tobi Bakre as its Brand Ambassador.

The Oyo born Investment Banker who has over the years become one of Nigeria’s most sought after entrepreneur and influencer shared his delight after another cutting-edge progress in his career.

Expectedly, as Brand ambassador, Tobi Bakre embodies the brand identity in every appear-

ance, demeanor, values and would help to create awareness, influence and drive sales.

Speaking to newsmen at the signing of the deal, the CEO, Novarick Homes, Noah Ibrahim introduced Novarick Homes as a reputable real estate company championing the drive for the development of greener and smarter communities across Nigeria.

He noted that by signing Tobi Bakre, as the company’s brand ambassador, Novarick

Homes was rightly positioned to reach and attract millennials and younger audiences, encouraging them to key into early investment in Real Estate.

The vision of Novarick Homes “is to strengthen its position as the premier real estate development firm in Africa, by building green and clean residential communities, as well as creating innovative and secure investment opportunities in real estate,” Ibrahim said.

signed during a construction event, ‘Constructing Our World’, jointly organised in Sydney by the New-Zealand Institute of Building, Australian Institute of Building and Singapore Institute of Building, recently.

According to the National President of AIB, Mr. David Burnell, AIB and NIOB will work together to raise the level of professionalism in the building construction industry and education in Australia and Nigeria.

Looking at this development from an optimistic perspective, Awobodu explained that the collaboration among members of the two institutes would promote research in the field of construction and also encourage greater participation of members in jointly organised construction events for valuable Continuing Professional Development

(CPD).

He said the two parties have also agreed to exchange information relevant to the development of the building construction management profession in Australia and Nigeria in order to facilitate an understanding of each other’s work.

As NIOB takes a giant step into global activities, expanding the scope of its construction knowledge and skills to overseas, establishing opportunities for academic and training exchange programmes, Awobodu has hinted that there were ongoing discussions on collaboration with the New-Zealand Institute of Building and Singapore Institute of Building to create a multilateralism for greater collective drive to technologically shaped construction products.

In his goodwill message

to the Nigerian Institute of Building on the ‘Constructing Our World’ event, the High Commissioner of Nigeria in Australia, Ambassador Bello Kazaure Husseini hoped that the bilateral relationship would advance construction innovations in Nigeria.

Recounting his experience after a tour of building construction sites in Australia, the Vice Chairman of the Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria (CORBON), Dr. Samson Opaluwah commended the compliance with standards, which, of course, CORBON would not relent at promoting in Nigeria. The former General Secretary of NIOB, Mr. Fadil Elegbede expressed his satisfaction on the new value the Sydney event has contributed to the construction knowledge of NIOB members, taking into consideration cultural differences.

Local, Global Real Estate Issues Focus of FIABCI Seminar in Lagos

L-R: Tobi Bakre and Chief Executive Officer, Novarick Homes Noah Ibrahim

Insightful discussions that will touch on both local and global real estate issues will be held by knowledgeable consultants at this year’s FIABCI International Real Estate Consultants (FIREC) programme this week in Lagos.

A statement by the President, FIABCI-Nigeria Chapter, Adeniji Adele, the resource persons are: Bill Endsley, Principal at World Citizen Consulting, and Thomas Cardman, Director of Operations and Finance at Michael Consults.

FIABCI, an acronym for International Real Estate Federation, is an international real estate organisation whose membership cuts across 65 countries of the world. It recognizes the import

of ease of doing business as a catalyst for attracting foreign direct investment (FDI).

According to Adeniji Adele, the organisation is a platform for learning, networking as well as harnessing immeasurable experiences and opportunities.

It is expected that the international speakers at the FIREC programme will be bringing global perspectives to the endless search for solution to the problems of this sector in Nigeria.

“We were careful in the choice of our speakers for this year’s programme. Besides networking, participants will be availed the opportunity of gaining more

insights on how to the approach the many complex challenges we have in real estate in Nigeria,” Adele assured Adele pointed out that FIABCI, as an association of professionals, always takes interest in what happens in the economy, especially as it affects the business environment in which they operate.

He, however, canvassed public private partnership in dealing with the identified challenges in the business environment, contending that government alone cannot solve the problems because of other demands of governance such as health, education, etc.

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 24, 2019 • T H I S D AY

29

30

T H I S D AY Ëž Ëœ Í°Í˛Ëœ 2019

BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

CBN’s Manufacturing Index Sustains Expansion in September Nume Ekeghe The Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI) for September 2019, has shown an expansion in the economy.

According to the PMI report for September released yesterday, the Manufacturing PMI stood at 57.7 points in the month under review, indicating a slower growth rate, compared to the month of August.

In all, 13 of the 14 surveyed subsectors reported growth in the review month in the following order: cement; petroleum & coal products; food, beverage& tobacco products; transportation equipment; printing & related support activities; chemical & pharmaceutical products; furniture

& related products; fabricated metal products; non-metallic mineral products; electrical equipment; textile, apparel, leather & footwear; plastics & rubber products; and primary metal. But, the paper products sub-sector recorded decline in the review period.

Also, at 58.5 points, the production level index for the manufacturing sector grew for the 31st consecutive month in September 2019. The index indicated a slower growth in the current month, when compared to its level in August 2019.

Eleven of the 14 manufacturing sub-sectors recorded increased production level and one remained unchanged.

The report further showed that

at 57.2 points, the new orders index grew for the 30th consecutive month, indicating increase in new orders in September 2019.

The index grew at a faster rate, when compared to its level in August 2019. Nine subsectors reported growth, 1 remained unchanged, while 4 contracted in the review month. On the other hand, the non-Manufacturing PMI report showed that business activity, new orders and inventories grew at a slower rate, while employment level grew at a faster rate in September 2019. The composite PMI for the non-manufacturing sector stood at 58 points in September 2019, indicating expansion in the nonmanufacturing PMI for the 29th consecutive month.

Access Bank, Barclays, Others Launch Global Banking Principles Access Bank Plc has launched the Global Principles for Responsible Banking.

The bank which is as one of the founding signatories signed alongside other global banks.

This move, according to a statement, was a further commitment to strategically align its business with the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

By signing the Principles, Access Bank has demonstrated its commitment towards using its products and services to support and accelerate positive changes in both local and international economies as well as promote lifestyles necessary to achieve shared prosperity for both current and future generations.

The Group Managing Director

of Access Bank Plc, Mr. Herbert Wigwe, stressed the need for continued collaboration and long-term approach to sustainability, recognising the benefits of sustainable banking and the positive effect it has on the Bank and society. “There is a greater need now, more than ever, to promote sustainability in the global financial sector. This is therefore the right time to launch the Global Principles for Responsible Banking. “At Access Bank, we are committed to setting standards and engendering innovative solutions that address social, economic and environmental challenges. We believe that the Sustainable Development Goals will be better achieved if we can work together, using these

Principles as a guide,� he said.

As expressed in the Global Principles for Responsible Banking, Access Bank stated that it was convinced that humans and businesses can only thrive in an inclusive society founded on human dignity, equality and the sustainable use of natural resources.

The official launch of the principles which marked the beginning of the most significant partnership to date between the global banking industry and the UN held at the start of the United Nations General Assembly. “The UN Principles for Responsible Banking are a guide for the global banking industry to respond to, drive and benefit from a sustainable development economy.

Custodian Investment Mentors Young Professionals Custodian Investment Plc, recently hosted the second edition of its mentors’ conference.

The event was designed to connect young professionals with mentors who could teach them practical business lessons.

The one-day conference which held in Lagos, was attended by more than 150 professionals from diverse academic background.

In his address of welcome, the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Custodian Investment, Mr. Wole Oshin, was quoted in a statement to have said, “Last year we decided to influence the thought direction of young people in the country because we realised that a lot of them do not have role models they look up to for direction even

though they have many ideas.�

While narrating the story of how he conceived the idea of Custodian Investment as an undergraduate at the University of Lagos in the days of Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), the GMD/CEO enjoined the young professionals to believe in the country, promising to monitor their progress.

He said Nigeria was blessed with abundant natural resources waiting to be tapped, adding that the youths must be focused and determined if they were to harness the opportunities available to them in the country.

Earlier, in the first talk titled, “Talk Business and Politics with Tonye Cole,� the Co-founder and Former Group Executive Director of Sahara Group, noted that it

would take just one government policy to negatively impact on the fortune of a business and take it from a solvency level to bankruptcy overnight.

He advised the young professionals to always make their presentation as short as possible anytime they are given an opportunity to talk about their businesses.

Also speaking, Mrs. Tara Fela-Durotoye, Chief Executive Officer of House of Tara charged the young professionals not to be afraid to start something new and to pay attention to their customers because sometimes it is the customers that would provide the impetus which would propel the business to the next level of growth and development.

United Capital Launches Nigerian DiasporaTrust With an increasing number of Nigerians living in the diaspora who want to start and grow investments back home, United Capital Trustees has introduced the Nigerian Diaspora Trust. The United Capital Nigerian Diaspora Trust, a product designed to meet the needs of Nigerians living abroad, affords them the opportunity to transfer responsibilities and assets to reliable Trustee who in turn represents and protect their interest while ensuring that their heart desires and objectives are achieved.

According to the Managing

Director/CEO, United Capital Trustees Limited, Tokunbo Ajayi, “with an ever increasing size of Nigerians in the Diaspora, spread across countries like UK, USA, Dublin, Dubai and Canada the birth of the Nigerian Diaspora Trust, comes at a time when Nigerians living abroad want to invest and build legacies back home, but are often faced with the fear of the credibility and reliability of friends and family to carry out their wishes�.

A statement from the firm quoted Ajayi to have further said: “Our Nigerian Diaspora Trust is

a professionally managed fund designed to generate competitive returns while alive and upon demise of the individual. “With a confidentiality that is preserved, the trust will help carry the burden of being your representative where they are not physically present to oversee and execute their investment and home-coming plans�.

United Capital Trustees Limited (UCTL) is a subsidiary of United Capital Plc a leading financial services group in Africa focused on leveraging technology to empower businesses.

L-R: Husband to beneďŹ ciary, Mr. Ede Solomon Adegahi; Food Vendor/beneďŹ ciary, Mrs. Josephine Adegahi, and Category Development /Activation Manager, PZ Wilmar, Popoola-Dania Oluwatoyin, at the presentation of a mobile kitchen to Adegahi by Mamador Empowerment Initiative in Abuja‌recently

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) 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 Ëœ Í°ÍŽ Ͱ͎ͯ͡

The price of OPEC basket of fourteen crudes stood at $65.30 a barrel on Friday, compared with $64.39 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

Lin N ti on

31

T H I S D AY Ëž Ëœ Í°Í˛Ëœ Ͱ͎ͯ͡

MARKET NEWS

Linkage Assurance Seeks Shareholders’ Approval to Raise Funds Goddy Egene The board of directors of Linkage Assurance Plc is seeking shareholders’ approval to raise fresh capital in order to comply with the new share capital requirements for insurance firms as stipulated by National Insurance Commission (NAICOM).

To this end, the company has convened an extra-ordinary general meeting (EGM) for October in Lagos, where the

board would be authorised to raise fresh funds. In a notification to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), yesterday, Linkage Assurance Plc asked shareholders to increase its authorised share capital from N7.5 billion to N15 billion by the creation of additional 15 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each.

The shareholders were also expected to authorise the director to raise additional equity capital for the

P R I C E S MAIN BOARD

F O R DEALS

company up to the maximum limit of the authorised share capital whether by way of special placement or public offer, rights issue or other methods or a combination of any of them either locally or internationally and upon such terms and conditions as the directors may deem fit in the interest of company and subject to the approval of regulatory authorities.

Only last week, WAPIC Insurance Plc applied to the

S E C U R I T I E S MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N )

NSE to raise about N5.932 billion from existing shareholders through a right issue.

Specifically, WAPIC Insurance applied to make a right issue of 15,613,194,623 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each at 38 kobo per share on the basis of seven new ordinary shares for every six ordinary shares held.

Shareholders of WAPIC Insurance Plc had last June approved that the authorised capital base be

T R A D E D MAIN BOARD

A S

increased to N15 billion in the light of ongoing recapitalisation exercise in insurance industry.

Meanwhile, the stock market opened for the week on a negative note as the NSE All-Share Index fell by 0.15 per cent to close at 27,657.27, while market capitalisation shed N20.2 billion to be at N13.5trillion. Based on this, the year-to-date decline has worsened to 12 per cent.

Also, activity level

O F

declined as volume and value traded fell by 38.2 per cent and 85 per cent to 109.6 million units and N888.2 million respectively. The most active stocks by volume were FBN Holdings Plc (20.3 million shares), Transcorp (9.8 million shares) and Access Bank plc (9.7 million shares) while FBN Holdings Plc (N114.3 million), Dangote Cement Plc (N102.9 million) and Zenith Bank Plc (N84.5 million) led by value.

2 3 / 0 9 / 2 0 1 9 DEALS

MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N)

32

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2019 ˾ T H I S D AY

MARKET NEWS

FMDQ Boss Lists Benefits of Depository Subsidiary to Financial Markets Goddy Egene The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, FMDQ Securities Exchange Plc, Mr. Bola Onadele.Koko has said that an effective and fully developed securities depository system is essential for maintaining and enhancing market efficiency.

This he said is one of the core characteristics of a mature capital market and the depository and attendant custodial service is one of the key ingredients of developed global markets.

Onadele stated this against the background of the commencement of operations by the exchange’s wholly owned

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

central securities depository (CSD), FMDQ Depository Limited last month.

According to him, as a strategically positioned CSD, FMDQ Depository will complement the clearing function discharged by FMDQ Clear by providing the requisite framework for

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 20Sep-2019, unless otherwise stated.

collateral caching, asset servicing and settlement services in the Nigerian financial markets, offering market participants an unrivalled opportunity to experience enhanced straightthrough-processing.

He explained that FMDQ Depository is positioned to significantly reduce principal

risks in the nation’s financial markets by linking securities and cash in a way that enhances delivery versus payment, thus facilitating seamless settlement finality.

Ahead of operationalising its business franchise, FMDQ Depository commenced leveraging on strategic

partnerships and alliances formed by the FMDQ entities, whilst engaging its critical stakeholders, including regulators and market participants, across the value chain, on its operational readiness to implement valueadded product and service offerings.

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: +234 818 885 6757 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Afrinvest Equity Fund 141.94 143.81 -9.80% Afrinvest Plutus Fund 100.00 100.00 12.64% Nigeria International Debt Fund 273.36 273.36 0.05% 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 0.88 0.88 4.41% ACAP Income Funds 0.77 0.77 34.95% 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 N/A N/A N/A AIICO Balanced Fund N/A N/A N/A ARM INVESTMENT MANAGERS LTD enquiries@arminvestmentcenter.com Web: www.arm.com.ng; Tel: 0700 CALLARM (0700 225 5276) Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn ARM Aggressive Growth Fund N/A N/A N/A ARM Discovery Fund N/A N/A N/A ARM Ethical Fund N/A N/A N/A ARM Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A AXA MANSARD INVESTMENTS LIMITED investmentcare@axamansard.com Web: www.axamansard.com; Tel: +2341-4488482 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AXA Mansard Equity Income Fund N/A N/A N/A AXA Mansard Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 12.72% CAPITAL EXPRESS ASSET AND TRUST LIMITED info@capitalexpressassetandtrust.com Web: www.capitalexpressassetandtrust.com ; Tel: +234 803 307 5048 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn CEAT Fixed Income Fund 1.86 1.86 11.05% 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 13.60% Paramount Equity Fund 12.19 12.29 3.20% Women's Investment Fund 108.33 109.07 4.64% 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 11.60% Cordros Milestone Fund 2023 96.37 97.06 Cordros Milestone Fund 2028 97.46 98.27 CORONATION ASSEST MANAGEMENT investment@coronationam.com Web:www.coronationam.com , Tel: 012366215 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coronation Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A Coronation Balanced Fund N/A N/A N/A Coronation Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A 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 12.18% EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class B 1,000,000.00 1,000,000.00 12.07% EDC Nigeria Fixed Income Fund 1,108.53 1,114.73 11.55% 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 1,242.54 1,243.32 11.03% FBN BALANCED FUND 140.74 141.67 -1.43% FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 12.39% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Institutional 119.89 120.27 8.45% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Retail 120.19 120.57 8.98% FBN Nigeria Smart Beta Equity Fund N/A N/A N/A 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 Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 10.69% Legacy Debt Fund 3.53 3.53 8.96% Legacy Equity Fund 1.07 1.09 -12.55% Legacy USD Bond Fund 1.07 1.07 3.72% 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 3,008.59 3,039.95 0.83% Coral Income Fund 3,005.84 3,005.84 9.69% FSDH Treasury Bills Fund 100.00 100.00 12.49% 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 11.08% Nigeria Entertainment Fund 110.72 111.73 3.10% GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmanagement@gdl.com.ng Web: www.gdl.com.ng ; Tel: +234 9055691122 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn GDL Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 12.39%

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 11.52% Vantage Balanced Fund 2.17 2.19 0.49% Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 15.81% Kedari Investment Fund (KIF) 130.92 130.81 4.68% 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 1.17 1.19 6.13% Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund 1,119.69 1,119.69 9.73% 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 9.81 9.89 -8.25% Meristem Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 11.14% 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 1.29 1.32 5.13% PACAM Fixed Income Fund 11.97 12.08 7.34% PACAM Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 12.38% 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 123.06 123.12 1.72% 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 10.45% 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 2,368.42 2,379.85 2.30% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 204.89 204.89 7.76% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 0.84 0.85 -11.05% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 266.26 266.36 9.76% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 145.86 147.42 -10.61% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 12.09% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 7,567.64 7,649.75 -10.90% Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund (USD) 1.14 1.14 5.52% Stanbic IBTC Shariah Fixed Income Fund 100.56 100.56 0.00% UNITED CAPITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD Web: www.unitedcapitalplcgroup.com; Tel: +234 803 306 2887 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn United Capital Balanced Fund 1.14 1.15 -2.54% United Capital Bond Fund 1.66 1.66 10.47% United Capital Equity Fund 0.65 0.66 -9.83% United Capital Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 12.72% United Capital Eurobond Fund 109.29 109.23 8.15% United Capital Wealth for Women Fund 1.04 1.05 5.15% 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 9.96 10.13 -5.44% Zenith Ethical Fund 11.24 11.42 -6.35% Zenith Income Fund 22.28 22.28 10.19% Zenith Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 11.68%

REITS NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

5.40 117.09 53.10

-44.85% 5.40% 2.63%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

8.32 88.28 70.89

8.42 90.19 72.24

-16.33% -24.73% -20.03%

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

3.42 5.30 12.01 10.84 148.79

3.46 5.38 12.11 11.04 150.79

-14.34% -30.35% -17.79% -12.24% 12.63%

NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

108.34

17.40%

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.

33

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 24, 2019 ˾ T H I S D AY

INTERNATIONAL

After 178 Years, Thomas Cook Collapses as Last-ditch Rescue Effort Fails Chinedu Eze with agency report After last minute talks to save the 178-year old holiday firm, Thomas Cook, it finally collapsed yesterday with 150,000 travellers stranded.

According to BBC, the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said the tour operator had “ceased trading with immediate effect”, so its four airlines would be grounded.

The company failed after it was unable to secure emergency funding.

The British government said the return of the 178-year-old firm’s 150,000 British customers now in vacation spots across the globe would be the largest repatriation in its peacetime history. The process began Monday and officials warned that delays are inevitable.

With the collapse of the holiday firm, its 21,000 employees in 16 countries, including 9,000 in the U.K., will lose their jobs. The company several months ago had blamed a slowdown in bookings because of Brexit uncertainty for contributing to its crushing debt burden.

The company had said last Friday it was seeking 200 million pounds ($250 million) to avoid

going bust and was in weekend talks with shareholders and creditors to stave off failure.

The firm, whose airliners were a familiar sight in many parts of the world, also operated around 600 U.K. travel stores.

The company’s chief executive, Peter Fankhauser, said in a statement read outside the company’s offices Monday morning that he deeply regretted the shutdown.

“Despite huge efforts over a number of months and further intense negotiations in recent days we have not been able to secure a deal to save our business. I know that this outcome will be devastating to many people and will cause a lot of anxiety, stress and disruption,” he said.

Britain’s CAA said it had arranged an aircraft fleet for the complex British repatriation effort, which is expected to last two weeks.

“Due to the significant scale of the situation, some disruption is inevitable, but the Civil Aviation Authority will endeavor to get people home as close as possible to their planned dates,” the aviation authority said in a statement.

Describing the repatriation plan, British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said dozens of

Brexit: UK Labour Rejects Campaign to Remain in EU Britain’s opposition Labour Party descended into chaos on Monday as it narrowly rejected a grass-roots attempt to force leader Jeremy Corbyn to campaign to remain in the European Union and reverse the outcome of the 2016 Brexit vote.

The 119-year-old party’s annual congress turned into a showdown between its irreconcilably splintered pro- and anti-Brexit wings.

Opinion polls show Corbyn’s efforts to unite the two by either delaying a decision on departure or putting it in hands of voters in a likely early election have led to a dramatic drop in support.

But a motion to force the party to “campaign energetically for a public vote and to stay in the EU in that referendum” was lost in a show-of-hands vote that appeared too close to call, to many watching in the hall.

“In my view, it was carried,” congress chair Wendy Nicholls announced after surveying the hands of 1,200 delegates packed into hall in the English south coast resort city of Brighton.

“No, sorry, it was lost,” she corrected herself a moment later.

Nicholls dismissed pleas from one pro-EU delegate who jumped on stage to ask for a recount.

The results was a triumph for the veteran socialist Corbyn — the official leader of Britain’s opposition since 2015 — and a painful blow for a clutch of leaders who broke ranks and tried to turn Labour into an unambiguously pro-European party.

“We must fight with every fibre of our beings to say between now and 31 October, and afterwards if there is a general election, that any terms of departure, from any

government, must go back to the British public for the final say,” Labour’s foreign affairs spokeswoman Emily Thornberry insisted in an impassioned address.

“Because conference, we are an internationalist party.”

The result means that Labour will leave the conference in the same position that it came in — in favour of a second referendum but against openly campaigning for or against.

The strategy has not been working with voters, who appear to want clear options as the country races toward an October 31 exit from Europe without a plan for future trade.

Two surveys published over the weekend put Labour 15 percentage points behind Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s ruling Conservatives and in danger of losing second place to the pro-EU Liberal Democrats.

Grass roots activists spent hours deep into Sunday night trying to come up with a single Brexit motion that could be put up for a vote at the conference on Monday.

They ended up with three.

They first passed a motion proposed by Corbyn and backed by the ruling executive in a secret ballot that infuriated numerous delegates over the weekend.

It sees Labour adopting no official Brexit position in the general election campaign.

But it promises to consider coming up with one “through a special one-day conference, following the election of a Labour government”.

Labour would then stage a second referendum in which voters would be given the choice of either backing a new Brexit agreement negotiated by Corbyn or staying in the EU.

charter planes, from as far afield as Malaysia, had been hired to fly customers home free of charge. He said hundreds of people were staffing call centers and airport operations centers.

“The task is enormous, the biggest peacetime repatriation in

U.K. history. So there are bound to be problems and delays,” he said.

British travel expert Simon Calder told Sky News that Thomas Cook’s problems started in 1994 when the “open skies” agreement allowed upstarts

easyJet and Ryanair to flourish.

At the same time, he said, the Internet became widely used for travel bookings, lessening the demand for Thomas Cook’s travel agencies.

“There’s still of course a place for travel professionals, there’s

a place for the package already, as companies like Jet2 and TUI are demonstrating, but Thomas Cook was behind the curve and I’m afraid with high costs such as those expensive high street premises they simply couldn’t cope,” he said.

WELCOME MR. PRESIDENT…

L-R: President Muhammadu Buhari; Nigerian Consul General, Mr. Ben Okoyen, Sales and Marketing Officer, Mr. Siddharth Kohli, and Hotel Manager, UN Plaza, Mr. Thom Caska, when the president arrived for the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York...Sunday

Seven Children Killed, 57 Injured after Classroom Collapses in Kenya Kenyan Government on Monday confirmed that seven pupils were killed and 57 others injured after a classroom at a primary school in Nairobi collapsed.

Cyrus Oguna, a government spokesman, said at a press conference that the classroom at the Precious Talent Academy in Nairobi’s western suburb of

Dagoretti, collapsed at 7.30 am (0430 GMT).

A community leader said the first casualties were evacuated to a nearby Catholic clinic by motorbike, because ambulances took an hour and a half to arrive.

The Red Cross announced on its Twitter account that it had set up information and tracing desk and would be offering

psychosocial support services.

Distraught parents and members of the public railed at the school’s administration for what they termed the poor structural quality of the collapsed building.

One parent told dpa that the collapsed building was an iron-sheet walled, one-storey building, with the first floor

built of a concrete slab.

The school’s manager, Moses Ndirangu, said the collapse could be the result of ongoing sewer works on one side of the classrooms.

Local lawmaker, John Kiarie said the school is located in an impoverished informal settlement and the quality of the structures may not be up to par.

Congo to Introduce Second Vaccine against Ebola in Mid-October The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Monday said Congo would introduce a second vaccine against Ebola from mid-October, as the country continues to battle the secondworst outbreak of the disease in history.

WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus said in a statement that the DRC authorities have once again shown leadership and determination to end the outbreak as soon as possible.

The haemorrhagic fever has infected more than 3,000 people and killed at least 2,000 since an outbreak was declared 13 months ago in Congo’s volatile eastern region.

The WHO declared it an international health emergency in July, after the disease spread to Goma, a major urban centre near the border with Rwanda.

The WHO said second vaccine, manufactured by Johnson & Johnson, will be given to at-risk populations

in areas that do not have active Ebola transmission as an additional tool to extend protection against the virus.

Congolese authorities have said they want to target smallscale Congolese traders who cross into Rwanda.

The current vaccine, produced by Merck, has been given to more than 223,000 people at high risk of Ebola, including those who had contact with an infected person.

Congo’s former health

minister, Oly Ilunga, had in July criticised what he said was pressure to use a new Ebola vaccine to try to stem the spread of the virus.

He is now under investigation for allegedly embezzling Ebola funds.

Curbing the spread of the virus in eastern Congo has proved difficult because of the numerous rebel groups operating in the area and a local population are suspicious of health workers.

Ex-Zimbabwean President Mugabe Died of Cancer, Says Mnangagwa Zimbabwen President, Emmerson Mnangagwa, said on Monday that former President Robert Mugabe died of advanced cancer and had already been taken off chemotherapy.

Mnangagwa told supporters of

the ruling party ZANU-PF in New York that Mugabe had to be taken off the chemotherapy because it was no longer effective.

Mnangagwa is in the U.S. for the 74th session of the UN General

Assembly.

Mugabe died in Singapore on Sept. 6, and his body was brought home on Sept. 11. A funeral service attended by regional leaders was held at the National Heroes Acre

on Sept. 14, now lying in state at his home in Harare while a mausoleum was built for him at the national shrine. However, a family source said they were now in charge of the funeral.

Netanyahu Wins Majority of Votes to Head New Israeli Govt Fifty-five members of the Knesset parliament on Monday called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the head of Likud party, to form the next government, compared to 54 votes for the opposition Blue and White political alliance, according to media reports.

On Sunday, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin began two-day consultations with elected parties to pick a politician with the best chance of forming a coalition

government.

According to the Israeli Channel 13, the round of consultations at the president’s headquarters ended with Benjamin Netanyahu’s mandate to form the government.

Netanyahu’s party Likud and allies have secured 55 seats, while Gantz’s Blue and White-led alliance won 54, the channel reported.

The broadcaster added that Netanyahu got the mandate

after the National Democratic Alliance (Balad party), an ally of the Arab Joint List, said it did not support the List’s position to vote for Benny Gantz.

“The only government which can be formed is a broad unity government.

“The only way to reach such a government is to sit down and talk with an open mind,” Netanyahu said on Twitter.

On its turn, the Yisrael Beitenu political party led by

former defense chief Avigdor Lieberman refused to support any of the elected candidates.

The final results of the election will be presented to Rivlin on Sept. 25.

The president will meet with the leaders of the parties elected to parliament to discuss the nominee for the office of prime minister.

After the nominee is chosen, he will have 42 days to form a viable coalition.

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IMAGES

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

L-R: Consul General of Nigeria in New York, Mr Benaoyagha Okoyen; President, Africa Peace Support LLC, Mr Shola Omoregie; President, Go Africa LLC, Mr Dennie Beach and CEO Africa Diaspo, Mr Salim Soumbounou during the 2019 edition of the expo in New York, USA...recently

L-R: Managing Director/CEO, AFP Limited, Mr. Tope Agunbiade; Special Assistance to Ondo State Governor on Investment, Mr. Boye Oyewunmi; General Overseer, Pavilion of Faith Global Church, Apostle Anthony Fasipe and CEO, Rozet Limited, Prince Larry Adeyemo, at the Pavilion of Faith Global Church 5th Anniversary, in Lagos.... recently PHOTO: KOLA OLASUPO

L-R: Chairman/CEO, Blaugrana Group, Leslie Oghomienor; Parent/Special Guests, Children International School, Lekki, Shiva Kumar; Mrs. Onwubuariri Elizabeth; Mr. Tayo Awosanya and Technical Director, Barca Academy, Mr. Jorge Couto, at the Barca Academy Parents Forum in Lagos...recently

L-R: Daughter of the deceased, Adaoha Ubani; wife of the deceased, Ochuwa Ubani; President, Women Arise, Dr Joe Okei-Odumakin; Human Right Lawyer, Femi Falana SAN; and Chirman, NBA Ikeja Branch, Prince Dele Oloke, during the 14th remembrance anniversary of late Chima Ubani at NBA Secretariat, Ikeja, Lagos... recently PHOTO: KOLAWOLE ALLI

L-R: Wife of Lagos State Governor, Dr. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu; Deputy Governor and Celebrant, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat; his wife, Oluremi; Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Mudashiru Ajayi Obasa; his wife, Falilat Olusola; APC Chieftain, Chief Mutiu Are and the State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Aairs, Mrs. Yetunde Arobieke, during the 55th birthday ceremony of the Deputy Governor in Lagos...recently PHOTO: KOLA OLASUPO

L-R: District Governor 404B2, Lion Wesley KaďŹ diya; New President, Osun New Era Lions Club, Lioness Prof.

Olubukola Oyawoye and her Husband, Prof. Enoch Oyawoye, during the investiture ceremony of Oyawoye as 6th President of Osun New Era Lions Club, in Osogbo...recently PHOTO: FELIX ADEMOLA

L-R: Delta State Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa; Commissioner for Works, Chief James Augoye and Chief Ighoyota Amori, during the Governor’s Inspection of Sapele/Warri Express Road, Delta State‌recently

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TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 24, 2019 • T H I S D AY

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 24, 2019 ˾ T H I S D AY

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NEWSXTRA

Tribunal Sacks Benue Assembly Deputy Speaker George Okoh in Makurdi A National and State Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Makurdi, Benue State capital has nullified the election of the Deputy Speaker

of the state House of Assembly, Mr. Chris Adaji of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Adaji as the winner of the March 9 poll

14 Abducted Passengers Rescued in Osun Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo The police in Osun State have announced the rescue of 14 persons kidnapped by suspected Fulani herdsmen at Ajeokun junction, Otan Ile/ Imesi Ile road in Obokun Local Government Area of the state.

The state Commissioner of Police, Mrs. Abiodun Ige, made the announcement yesterday evening while speaking with THISDAY on the phone.

According to the police commissioner, all the abducted victims were rescued unhurt, adding that she could not confirm whether their abductors were Fulani herdsmen or not.

The victims were passengers of a commercial bus that was attacked last Sunday by kidnappers.

The passengers were ambushed at Ajeokun Junction between Otan Ile and Imesi Ile in Obokun LGA of the state, and later taken to a hideout by their abductors.

It was gathered that the kidnappers pointed guns at the bus and ordered the passengers to come out before they were

whisked away to an unknown destination.

The driver, according to the information, would have escaped but the deplorable state of the road hindered him.

However, Osun State Coordinator of the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC), Chief Aladesawe Adedeji, said all the 14 abducted victims have been rescued.

Adedeji, who named Ganiyu Waheed as one of the OPC members who led the operation to free them, said the rescue was made possible with the joint efforts of OPC, vigilance group, police, DSS officers among others.

He said they rescued the victims unhurt after a gun duel with the suspects before they (the abductors) took to their heels when they discovered they could no longer bear their fire powers.

The OPC coordinator warned kidnappers to relocate out of the state or surrender, saying: “Very soon, we are going to come out in full force to fight them.”

I’m Seeking Judicial Redress against Faulty Primaries, Says Alaibe Segun James A governorship aspirant under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in Bayelsa State, Mr. Timi Alaibe has declared his intention to seek judicial redress in order to correct the wrong done to him in what he termed a faulty party primaries conducted by the PDP in the state, adding that he had no intention to dump the PDP for another party.

Alaibe, in a statement signed personally by him, said that despite controversies arising from the “inexcusable faulty processes that preceded the PDP governorship primary election in Bayelsa State, it was the collective decision of those who believe in the future of Bayelsa State, and indeed the future of democracy in Nigeria, that I, Ndutimi Alaibe, an aspirant in that race, should seek judicial redress over the manipulated processes that led to the unacceptable outcome of that election. This was based on the indisputable belief that a faulty process cannot produce a good and acceptable result.”

He described going to court as the obvious best option: “Some people have questioned the need for a court process.

The answer is simple: any injustice that is not challenged and corrected will surely be repeated. And we will be the victims. As an advocate of peace and non-violence, I decided to accept the advice of the stakeholders and seek justice through legal means.

“Although this was misunderstood by some people, I want to sincerely thank my supporters and indeed all lovers of democracy and the rule of law for their understanding and massive support so far. I salute your calmness and perseverance in the face of great injustice. But please understand that I need you now more than ever.”

Alaibe disclosed that people have suggested that he should simply dump the PDP and accept the various offers by other political parties so that “we would realise our vision of implementing the Blue Economy and Project Dolphin in Bayelsa State.

That is indeed an excellent suggestion. It demonstrates the depth of confidence people have in my capacity and competence to deliver on my promises no matter the political platform.

“Others have also advised that I remain in the PDP, seek justice and contribute to the complete reformation of the party. This, also, is a beautiful suggestion that must be considered.

“There is no doubt that the Bayelsa people want to know the way forward after the huge disappoint. I am as concerned as you have been. Let me say that I have diligently listened to your suggestions and I have decided to act appropriately.

In arriving at this decision regarding the way forward, I am conscious of the fact that this is not about any political party. It is not even about me as an individual.”

with 397 votes and cancelled 1,056 votes in the two polling units of Igbanomaje and Odega.

But delivering its judgement yesterday, the Tribunal led by Justice R. O. Odudu, held that the margin with which Adaji led Musa Alechenu Ohimini of All Progressives Congress (APC) was less than the number of votes cancelled.

The Tribunal said INEC ought to have ordered for a rerun in the affected polling

units or declared the election inconclusive.

Justice Odudu held that the declaration and return of Adaji without a rerun in Otega and Ogadagba ward is invalid by reason of non-substantial compliance with the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended). The Tribunal, therefore, issued an order for the withdrawal of certificate of return issued to Adaji and an order directing INEC to conduct a rerun in

the two polling units where elections were cancelled within 90 days.

Vincent Tortsugh, who appeared for the petitioners, described the decision of the Tribunal as “reasonable,” adding that “we didn’t expect anything other than this.”

The APC candidate described the decision as a testimony of the wishes of the people, saying by the decision, the judiciary has reaffirmed

that it remains the last hope of the people.

“I want to appreciate the Tribunal for the good job done.

Let me appreciate the people of Ohimini for standing behind me during the period of the legal struggle,” Alechenu said, while insisting that he would win the rerun.

Adaji’s counsel, Ken Ikonne said he would consult his client before taking any further decision.

EASE OF DOING BUSINESS…

L-R: Permanent Secretary, Lagos State, Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dipe Foluso Adebayo; Permanent Secretary, Public Service Office (PSO), Mr. Ajibade Samson Olusegun; Director General, Office of Transformation, Creativity and Innovation (OTCI), Mr. Toba Otusanya; and Permanent Secretary, Lands Bureau, Mr. Bode Agoro, during a Stakeholders’ Engagement Forum on Ease of Doing Business by Lagos State Office of Transformation, Creativity and Innovation, for Stakeholders in the Built Environment in Lagos ...yesterday KOLA OLASUPO

Community Leader, Two Others Killed in Plateau Attack Seriki Adinoyi in Jos Three days after a meeting to broker peace between the natives and Fulani herdsmen in Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau State was convened at the instance of the state Peace Building Agency, a community leader and two of his subjects have been killed by gunmen suspected to be Fulani herders.

Following previous persistent clashes in the local government area especially between the Irigwes and the Fulani, the Peace Building Agency in the state last Saturday organised a peace parley with the stakeholders in the council on the need to live in harmony.

The two groups agreed to live in peace with each other after the meeting.

But yesterday morning, gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen pounced

on some farmers at Hukke village and killed a community leader identified as Elder Musa Yelvuh, and Mrs. Ladi Wuh and Mrs. Laraba Audu, who were working in their farms.

Four other persons escaped with various degrees of injuries.

Spokesman of Miango Youth Development Association, Mr. Lawrence Zongo, said investigations revealed that those who carried out the attack were Fulani herdsmen from the neighbouring village, adding that the latest attack was a surprise to the people of the local government area considering the recent peace meeting held.

Also speaking, the National President Irigwe Development Association, Hon. Sunday Abdul, said the attack clearly portrayed that the herdsmen did not want peace, adding that with the meeting convened by the Peace Building Agency last

Saturday, it was least expected that another killing would take place three days after.

He said; “These people don’t want peace; anytime there is move for reconciliation and peace, they strike. We have become their prey, they bounce on us any time they want, and their plan is to dislodge us from our ancestral land. But one thing is certain, we cannot become slaves in our own land.”

Reacting to the incident, Director General of the state Peace Building Agency, Mr. Joseph Lengmang, who strongly condemned the killings, said the latest attack, in spite of the Saturday peace meeting held in the area, was a ploy by merchant of violence to re-ignite clashes in the local government area.

He said: “It is a condemnable act; we are devoted to peace building

in this state. Though there are peace spoilers among us, their act would not deter us from pursuing peace. The plan of this set of people is to undo whatever we are doing to promote peace.

“However, we will not be deterred because our target is peace. All those who cherish peace must team up with the agency, as we are determined more than before regardless of what is happening. What happened is discouraging but we are not going to relent.”

Meanwhile, the state Chairman of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association (MACBAN), Mallam Mohammadu Nura, has said he was not aware of any incident in Bassa.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Mathias Terna Tyopev, could not be reached on phone for confirmation.

Obi Berates Ngige over Comments on Road Construction Controversy David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka The vice presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last election, Mr. Peter Obi, has asked the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, to always put his age into consideration in all he does, describing him (Ngige) as being too old for mischief-making.

Obi further told Ngige to focus his energy on how to make Nigeria work rather than continuing to engage

in mischief.

The PDP vice presidential candidate in the last election, who spoke through his Media Adviser, Mr. Valentine Obienyem, in a statement made available to journalists, was reacting to statements allegedly made by Ngige that he was ashamed of the quality of roads constructed by his successors.

Obi, through Obienyem, wondered why Ngige loves attacking him, who had not, except during electioneering, attacked him (Ngige), but

rather compliments him on his modest achievements on roads.

According to the statement, “What are most condemnable in Ngige’s attacks are the lies he tells just to bring Obi down.

How could he mention roads such as Abatete-Nteje-AguleriOtuocha Road, IgboukwuEzenifite-Umunze and Iseeke Roads, and deliberately forgot that Obi did greater portions of those roads?”

Obienyem said it was instructive that over 90

percent of the roads Ngige mentioned were done in his local government area.

He said though Obi used local contractors in line with his policy of supporting his own people, just like he supported Innoson and other industrialists in the state, majority of the roads Obi did, like the Umueze-Anam-Nmiata Road was done by RCC; Ayamelum and Onitsha Roads done by Nigercat; Head bridge-Upper Iweka Road was done by the CCC.

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 24, 2019 • T H I S D AY

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TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 24, 2019 ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWSEXTRA

Buhari Mourns Chief Trade Negotiator Francis Ndubuisi in Abuja President Muhammadu Buhari has condoled with the family of Nigeria’s Chief Trade Negotiator and Director General of the Nigerian Office for Trade

Negotiations, Ambassador Chiedu Osakwe.

The President’s condolence message was communicated through a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu,

Western Ijaw Threatens to Fight Back over Denial of NDDC Headship Dike Onwuamaeze The Western Ijaw Consultative Assembly (WICA) has threatened to resist the current injustice being meted out on the Ijaws in Delta State by the federal government with all the resources within its possession, especially loud and painful denial of its sons and daughters the statutory appointments and opportunities that were due to them.

WICA warned those who were still in doubt of what the Ijaws could do to recall that “if the Ijaws of the Niger Delta sneezes, Nigeria shall not only catch cold, Nigeria will starve.”

The assembly said in a press statement signed by the Chairman and Secretary of WICA, Mr. Ebipade Gbegha and Mr. Ogbein Zidideke respectively that the injustice, marginalisation and oppression meted on the Ijaws would no longer be endured in silence and humility so that it would not amount to stupidity.

The WICA singled out what it termed the deliberately painful exclusion of the Ijaw indigenes in the recent provocative appointment of another Urhobo national as Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mr. Bernard Okumagba instead of an Ijaw person as the height of the oppression of the Ijaws by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The assembly stated that the appointment of Okumagba

would be the third time an Urhobo would be at the helms of the affairs of the NDDC at the expense of the Ijaws in Delta State that had never tasted the position.

“We are calling on all wellmeaning Ijaws to rise up and protest against this robbery and injustice. We are aware of sycophants and traitors in our midst playing selfish anti-ijaw politics on this very important issue, and we warn them to desist. We are calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to correct this injustice as a matter of urgency. Remember, even thunder warns before striking,” the assembly said.

Gbegha and Zidideke regretted that the NDDC, which was established to cater for the oil bearing/impacted communities of the Niger-Delta and appointments to the board was meant to be carried out rotationally to foster fairness, peace and harmony amongst the various nationalities of the region, has become a tool for victimisation and oppression the Ijaws in Delta State.

“From inception, the office of the managing director of the NDDC, has been occupied twice by the Urhobos and one Urhobo has also occupied the Office of Executive Director, whereas their Delta Ijaw brethren has never been considered for the MD position.

“Now, time and the principle of rotation as enshrined in the NDDC’s Establishment Act, has offered the good people of Delta State the opportunity to produce at least another MD.

Oil Pipelines Threaten Completion of Lagos-Ibadan Rail Project Kasim Sumaina in Abuja The federal government’s plan to meet the December deadline for the completion of the IbadanLagos standard gauge railway project may be frustrated by the hurdles of relocation of crude oil pipelines, water pipes, and electricity equipment along the tracks at the Apapa seaports.

The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Chibuike Amaechi, gave the hint yesterday while briefing the journalists yesterday shortly after inspecting level of work of the ongoing project at Ibadan, Oyo State capital.

Though the laying of the tracks from the Agbado-Ibadan may have been completed, the contractors- China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC) are still finding it difficult to relocate the pipelines obstructing the rail tracks.

Amaechi disclosed that the issues of water pipes, gas, and fuel pipelines were major challenge but, that of the bridges have been settled.

“From Iju to Apapa, there is the problem of urbanisation. This has to be dealt with,” Amaechi said.

According to the minister, flour mills will not be a problem.

“We will talk with them; pay them compensation and demolish the portion we need.

“But there is a pipe they have which is very dangerous, it comes from Escravos and the moment you shut that pipe, there will be fuel scarcity.

“We can’t afford fuel scarcity; so, we can’t afford to shut it down.

Of concern to the contractor is the relocation of the Flour Mill Factory constructed on the existing narrow gauge track.”

Speaking further, he decried the slow pace of work by the contractor, CCECC, adding that the company has not done too well.

“I used the phrase too well because at a time, they did us proud by trying to push this job.

They claim that at the end of the last government, we were owing them some money and we had not given approvals for the extra and additional jobs.”

in Abuja.

Osakwe passed on in a Swiss hospital after a brief illness.

A separate statement issued yesterday by the Head, Strategy and Communications, NOTN, Emenike Chibuzor said Osakwe passed on in the early hours of Sunday, September 22 2019, in Geneva, Switzerland, where he was receiving treatment.

The late Osakwe was

appointed as the pioneer DG of NOTN on June 6, 2017.

The President noted that the passing of Osakwe had created a gulf in the Nigerian Office for Trade Negotiations, which he served as pioneer Director General.

He said the deceased had brought and exhibited invaluable experience, knowledge and skill in setting up and motivating the

operations of the agency that was established in 2017.

Buhari commiserated with all friends, relations and professional associates of the deceased.

He acknowledged that Osakwe served the country for many years as Foreign Service Officer, before joining the Word Trade Organisation, and later accepting to return to the country as a Trade Adviser

to the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, and Director General of NOTN. The President affirmed that the intellectual depth, fervour and sense of patriotism that Osakwe handled responsibilities would be sorely missed, ”especially the frontline and historical role of chairing the Negotiating Forum of the African Union (AU) from June 2017 to March 2018.

SERVICE TO MANKIND… …

L-R: Past President, Rotary Club of Lagos Island, District 9110 Nigeria, Rotary International, Rotarian Sanjeev Tandon; District 9110 Nigeria Governor, Rotary International, Dr. Jide Akeredolu; newly installed Charter President, Rotary Club of Eko Atlantic, Dr. Sunit Deb Roy; and the Doyen of the past District 9110 Nigeria Governors, Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi, at the installation of Roy as the Charter President of the club in Lagos…yesterday

FIRS Debunks Allegation of Supporting APC with N90bn James Emejo in Abuja i The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has denied allegations that it supported the All Progressives Congress (APC), through Vice President Yemi Osinbajo with the sum of N90 billion for elections.

Responding to reports published by some online platforms and daily newspapers (Not THISDAY), which had suggested that the Osinbajo had been in trouble following the controversy which had trailed the election funds, the FIRS described the reports as “mendacious, wicked, malicious and a calculated

attempt to smear the image of the service and that of Osinbajo.” The alleged media reports had been attributed to the former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Frank Timi.

However, in a statement made available to THISDAY, the FIRS said:” this campaign of calumny and vilifying false claims are entirely, libellous, unfounded in fact, irresponsible and a brazen assault on the integrity of the service as a responsible and accountable organisation and demonstrates an abysmal ignorance of the budgetary and expenditure process of the FIRS”.

It explained that contrary to claims by the report, the agency had not received up to N100 billion per annum as cost of collection from the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) since its current Executive Chairman, Mr. Tunde Fowler assumed office in the last four years.

The agency further explained that it was from the remittances from FAAC—which had never grossed up to N100 billion per annum, that FIRS pays the salary and emoluments and trains its over 8,000 staff, runs over 150 offices and provides for other needs of the service.

As a result, it argued that

“It is not plausible nor does it make any sense that FIRS will commit its resources to a phantom campaign of N90 billion as suggested by Frank, adding that FIRS does not fund political associations.”

The statement added that it was therefore “unthinkable, malicious and irresponsible for the said Frank to insinuate or infer that N90 billion or any part thereof could be spent illegally and without budgetary approval.”

The revenue agency, therefore urged the public to disregard the allegation as it did not reflect the truth.

Wike Lifts Suspension on Employment at Rivers University Ernest Chinwo in Port Harcourt Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has directed the Governing Council of the Rivers State University to continue with the suspended employment exercise for academic and non-academic staff.

While inaugurating the University Students’ Union building yesterday at the school premises, Wike said he was

compelled to suspend the exercise because of the negative issues that bedevilled it.

The governor said: “I suspended the process for the employment exercise due to the issues that emanated from it. The committee that I set up to investigate the process has turned in its report, and I am satisfied with the report of the committee. Therefore, I have informed the pro-Chancellor to go ahead with the employment exercise.”

Wike said unlike other leaders, he has never interfered with the admission and employment processes of any institution in the state. He said his transparent approach to administration gives him the moral power to discipline any erring official.

Also, the governor has approved the construction of an ultra-modern Senate Building for the Rivers State University. He said if the proChancellor and the acting Vice

Chancellor make the design available on time, the building would be completed by the first anniversary of his second term.

He called on the Students’ Union leadership to use the new facility to fight against cultism, harassment of female students and examination malpractices.

Wike urged the acting Vice-Chancellor to be firm and ensure that the university continues to move forward academically.

Sowore Alleges Maltreatment by DSS The co-convener of #RevolutionNow protest, Mr. Omoyele Sowore, who has been in the detention of the Department of State Services (DSS) since August 3, 2019, has accused the DSS of maltreating him.

The National Legal Adviser of African Action Congress

(AAC), the political party on whose platform Sowore contested the presidential race in this year’s general elections, Inibehe Effiong shared the “Transcript from DSS Interrogation of Sowore Upon Abduction – Excerpt 1,” on his Facebook page yesterday.

According to the transcript, Sowore was interrogated by five DSS operatives in the presence of his lawyer, one “Barrister Sam.” DSS operative identified as Usman Usman, was said to have told Sowore that, “we’ll be asking you questions and our advice is for you to be

truthful to the best of your knowledge. We’ll not force you to say anything. Whatever question we ask and you have a problem with or you don’t have an answer to or you don’t want to answer, there is no compulsion, you simply tell us you’re not going to answer these questions.”

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TUESDAYSPORTS

Group Sports Editor Duro Ikhazuagbe Email duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com 0811 181 3083 SMS ONLY

Messi Wins Record Sixth FIFA Best Player Award Argentina and Barcelona forward, Lionel Messi, won Men’s Player of the Year at the Best FIFA Football Awards for a record sixth time last night in Milan.

USA’s 2019 Women’s World Cup star, Megan Rapinoe emerged winner of the Best Woman award.

Messi was voted ahead of Juventus’ Cristiano Ronaldo and Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk.

The 32-year-old Argentine who helped Barcelona win La Liga and reach the semi-finals of the Champions League, previously won the award in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2015 Liverpool Manager Jurgen Klopp won the men’s Coach of the Year.

Klopp was nominated for the award along with two other Premier League bosses - Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola and Tottenham’s Mauricio Pochettino.

Liverpool beat Spurs in the Champions League final in June and came second in the Premier League in 2018-19.

The Reds have also won THE BEST, IN FULL Men’s Player: Women’s Player: Men’s Coach: Women’s Coach: Men’s Goalkeeper: Women’s Goalkeeper: Puskås Award: Fan Award: Fair Play Award:

all six league matches at the start of 2019-20. “It is great, nobody expected this 20, 10, five, four years ago that I would be standing here,� said Klopp. “We know what an incredible job you (Mauricio Pochettino) did and what Pep did. I have to say thank you to my outstanding club Liverpool FC. “To the owners thank you, they gave me an incredible team. I have to thank my team - as a coach you can only be as good as your team is. I’m really proud of being manager of such an incredible bunch of players.�

In accepting the award, Klopp announced that he is joining the Common Goal initiative set up by Manchester United midfielder Juan Mata.

It means the Reds boss will donate 1% of his salary to the charity, which pledges to “generate social change and improve lives�.

Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson was also a winner as he took the Best Goalkeeper prize ahead of Manchester City’s Ederson and Barcelona’s

Lionel Messi Megan Rapinoe Jurgen Klopp Jill Elliss Alisson Sari van Veenendaal Daniel Zsori Silvia Grecco Marcelo Bielsa

Men’s World11: Alisson; Matthijs de Ligt, Marcelo, Sergio Ramos, Virgil van Dijk; Frenkie de Jong, Eden Hazard, Luka Modric; Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi Women’s World11: Sari van Veenendaal; Lucy Bronze, Nilla Fischer, Kelley O’Hara, Wendie Renard; Julie Ertz, Amandine Henry, Rose Lavelle; Marta, Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe

CHAN 2020

We are Sorry over the Loss to Togo, Home-based Eagles Beg Nigerians Home-based Eagles have apologised to Nigerians for the poor result they posted against Togo on Sunday in an African Nations Championship (CHAN) qualifying match. The players led by goalkeeper Ikechukwu Ezenwa apologised to Nigerians for the shameful outing and promised to repay the Sparrow Hawks in bigger coins in the second leg and claim the Cameroon 2020 ticket.

Sparrow Hawks of Togo thrashed the Eagles 4-1 in a first leg, second round qualifying match of the 2020 CHAN despite the Nigeria being the first on the scoresheet after only eight minutes.

Addressing a disappointed Nigerian Ambassador to Togo, Joseph Olusola Iji after the match, Ezenwa said what had happened on Sunday evening had gone to the past as the team would redeem itself in the final leg of the fixture on October 19. “Sir, we have been truly honoured by your fatherly care for us since we arrived in this country. The Embassy has ensured everything worked for our comfort here. We are pained that we could not reciprocate with a good result from this match. As a

team we apologise for what has happened. What we are saying to you and Nigerians is that we are sorry and that we would make it up by securing the ticket. Kindly exercise some patience with us. “What we are saying in one sentence is that we will qualify; it is not over yet.�

The Ambassador who had promised the team dinner in his residence kept to his promise in spite of the result at Stade de Kegue. “We are all pained but I understand how it works in sports; sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. I ask that you put this result behind you and work towards the ultimate goal of qualifying. The only way to make all Nigerians happy again and give back our voice to us in this country is that you beat them well when they visit Nigeria. And I am sure that you can achieve that.�

The leader of delegation, NFF Board Member Alhaji Ganiyu Majekodunmi said: “Your Excellency, I can tell you that this is far from the expectation of the Federation.

But these young ones have truly shown remorse. They were so dejected to leave their hotel again.

Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa won the Fair Play award after he ordered his team to allow Aston Villa to score an uncontested equaliser

during their 1-1 draw in their Championship match in April.

Eighteen-year-old Daniel Zsori won the Puskas award for the best goal with his

spectacular 93rd-minute overhead kick for Debrecen against Ferencvaros, just after he came on as a substitute for his Hungarian league debut in February.

His strike beat Messi’s chip from the edge of the penalty area against Real Betis and Juan Quintero’s powerful 30-yard free-kick for River Plate against Racing Club.

Lionel Messi (left) and Megan Rapinoe displaying their awards at the FIFA Best awards in Milan’s Teatro alla Scala, Italy‌ last night

Amuneke Warns Rohr on Tammy Abraham, Fikayo Tomori England, Canada wait in the shades to cap them at senior level Duro Ikhazuagbe As Nigerians are clamouring for invitations to be extended to Chelsea stars, Tammy Abraham and Fikayo Tomori, former Super Eagles and Barcelona winger, Emmanuel Amuneke has called for caution, insisting that Abraham in particular should be critically examined in view of options available to the national handlers.

Abraham has been the major talking point of the new English Premier League season since his impressive goal-scoring form for Chelsea, where he has netted seven goals in six games.

Although both Abraham and Tomori have played age grade competitions for England and Canada respectively, the are both qualified to play for any country of their choice since none of them have been capped

in competitive tournaments in line with FIFA rules.

But Amuneke who led Tanzania to the last AFCON 2019 in Egypt before he was relieved of the job due to the inability of the Taifa Stars to go beyond the group stage, insisted that trying to lure Abraham to play for Nigeria in the Brazil friendly in Singapore next month appears hasty.

The AFCON 1994 winner /Atlanta ’96 Olympic gold medalist told Soccernet.ng Coach Gernot Rohr to focus on building the confidence of other strikers such as Victor Osimhen and Henry Onyekuru before extending an invitation to Abraham. “At this point in time, it will be a distraction for the team if the Nigeria Football Federation and the Super Eagles Technical Adviser, Gernot Rohr

continue to focus their attention on Chelsea forward, Tammy Abraham. “Yes, Abraham has shown that he’s a quality striker going by the number of goals he has scored for Chelsea this ongoing season. However, trying to lure him to play for the Super Eagles

against Brazil when he has not made up his mind won’t be the best choice at the moment. “Besides, Victor Osimhen has been impressive for his club, Lille in the Ligue 1, scoring goals at will. He should be encouraged and not be distracted.

Tammy Abraham

Fikayo Tomori

Sports Minister Tasks NBBF Board Members on More Laurels The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr. Sunday Dare, met with the Executive Board of the Nigeria Basketball Federation led by Musa Kida in Abuja on Monday.

The meeting, according to the spokesman for the NBBF Board, Afolabi Oni, “is part of the ongoing drive by the

Minister to get all federations on the same page ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.�

Preparations for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and training plan for the male basketball team D’Tigers, who have secured a ticket and the women’s team D’Tigress, with three more games in the

qualifiers were discussed at the meeting. “There were also discussions on NBBF’s financial situation with a view to exploring new funding options as well as a report submitted by NBBF in response to a request by the ministry,� stressed Oni. Dare expressed excitement

over the qualification of the D’Tigers for the Olympics and pledged the ministry’s support towards NBBF’s preparation for the games.

According to Dare, “Nigerians are now beginning to take note of the excellent performance of the various basketball teams and are eager for more.�

CBN FC Beats Unity Bank FC 1-0 to Win 2019 AFIFC The Central Bank of Nigeria Football Club has won the 2019 All Financial Institutions Football Club (AFIFC) competition after defeating Unity Bank Football Club by a lone goal at the game played at the Pa Ngele Oruta Stadium, formerly known as Abakaliki Township Stadium.

The only goal of the pulsating match was scored

by Lazarus Ijale, via a spot kick in the 63rd minute of the game.

Speaking at the event, which was graced by former Super Eagles star, Victor Ikpeba, the CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, commended all the teams that participated in the competition, and stressed that the tournament was one of the Bank’s foremost and oldest Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) functions.

Mr. Emefiele, whose remarks were delivered by the Deputy Director in the Corporate Communications Department

of the Bank and Head of the Public Relations Division, Mrs. Veronica Aqua, noted that the bank remained committed to contributing to the promotion and development of football in the country, in addition to its contributions in golf and tennis.

He noted that the AFIFC had become a very significant tournament among financial institutions in Nigeria, particularly as it created an opportunity for social

interaction among financial institutions and regulators as well as facilitated the promotion of harmony in Nigeria’s financial system.

While congratulating the winners of this year’s competition, the CBN Governor assured all stakeholders that the apex bank would sustain its sponsorship of the event, even as he urged financial institutions to continue to uphold the spirit of sportsmanship.

Tuesday September 24, 2019

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Price: N250

MISSILE Catholic Bishops to FG “We observe that our democracy is derailing from what it should be. The qualities of accountability, transparency, independence of the judiciary, respect for fundamental rights, observance of the rule of law, and fair and credible electoral process, to mention only these, are still lacking” – Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria declaring that living in Nigeria has become precarious and that the country’s democracy is derailing.

TUESDAY WITH REUBENABATI abati1990@gmail.com

Presidential Powers and the VP

P

resident Muhammadu Buhari recently set up an Economic Advisory Council, to replace the country’s Economic Management Team. He also moved some departments and agencies of government to the new Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development. I don’t see why this should become a source of agitation and frustration for some Nigerians. The Economic Advisory Council is chaired by Professor Doyin Salami, a seasoned intellectual. The members are persons of great technocratic ability with a track record of achievement as economists and policy wonks.

The Council will meet every month and meet with the President every quarter. The Nigerian economy can certainly benefit from new ideas and perspectives. It is also refreshing to see the President put together a team that is not made up of party members, dead woods, or sycophants.

Each member of the Economic Advisory Council inspires confidence. There is a consensus that the President got it right with the list. What the Advisory Council needs is the President’s support and an enabling environment for it to be able to make a difference. How do we achieve double-digit economic growth? What are the fiscal and monetary policies that can position the Nigerian economy differently, for better performance? What do we need to do to reduce unemployment? What kind of injection does the real sector need? The Council can also help generate robust discussions within government on key issues that affect all of us.

It is also a good development that the President is personally taking charge of the economy. The Council will report to him directly. I don’t have a problem with that.

I also like the idea of a new Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development. Such a sharply-focused Ministry should serve as a strategic hub for the management of the many disasters that keep occurring across the country. The missing link in existing efforts is the lack of co-ordination and synergy among various agencies and between the states and the Federal government. This ministry could help send a signal that the Nigerian government now intends to place a higher premium on human lives. It is about time the country took disaster management and humanitarian care more seriously.

I expected many Nigerians to focus on the value of these two initiatives. Instead, what I hear is a disturbing conversation about how both amount to an “enemy action” to whittle down the influence and authority of the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo. Previously, the Vice President was the chairman of the Economic Management Team and the National Economic Council. The first is an ad hoc administrative structure focusing on the economy; the latter is a statutory, constitutional body. I do not share most of the views that have been expressed, or the obvious attempt to politicize what in reality is within the authority of the President.

Afenifere says for example, that the “office of the Vice President has been rendered useless, impotent and irrelevant.” How? Just because the President sets up an Economic Advisory Council and created a new Ministry to ensure greater service delivery in a critical area of national concern? The Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) says Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is being “maltreated” and “that the unconstitutional stripping of Prof.

Buhari Yemi Osinbajo’s official attributes amounts to …continuous humiliation of Christians in high positions of current administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.” There you go. Nigerians are always quick to play the ethnic and religious card. Some other commentators claim that they see the hands of an anti-Osinbajo cabal in the matter. At least one Pastor has prophesied that the cabal will fail. Others have argued that certain forces are determined to stop Vice President Osinbajo just in case he is nursing a 2023 Presidential ambition. Persons have been named who have been penciled down as the VP’s likely replacement. The various conspiracy theories seem suspicious.

Of course, I know that there is never a shortage of mischief-makers in the corridors of power.

The relationship between Presidents and Vice Presidents and between Governors and their Deputies has also always been quite tricky in Nigerian politics. Should the President become incapacitated or he is removed from office, the Vice President replaces him. He is thus just a step away from the office. Deputy Governors stand in the same regard to the Governors in the states. With the kind of politics that we play, Governors and their supporters always keep an eye on the Deputy Governor. If he shows any sign of disloyalty or ambition, all the hawks within the system will go after him and ensure that he is removed, marginalised or humiliated. Presidential politics is worse.

The Presidency is clearly the highest office in the land, it is the home of even more vicious intrigues. And indeed we have had cases in the past of conflicts within the Presidency, between the President and the Vice President. Many will recall how the relationship between President Olusegun Obasanjo and then Vice President Atiku Abubakar deteriorated rapidly after the 2003 Presidential election. The Presidential Villa practically became a war zone. All kinds of opportunists cashed in on this and there was never a shortage of salacious tales emanating from the Villa, from faceless persons casually referred to as “sources within the Presidency.”

Those “sources” are at work again. But we all need to learn from the past. A divided Presidency short-changes the people. Many will also recall the travails of President Goodluck Jonathan as Vice President to President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.

There was a deliberate attempt to frustrate him by those who did not want him as a successor to the late President whose tenure was defined majorly by the politics of illness and death.

When President Yar’Adua left the country for

medical treatment, there were persons within and outside the Presidency who insisted that VP Jonathan would not be allowed to act as President. It took the intervention of men and women of reason and the National Assembly for the letter and spirit of the Constitution to take effect. When VP Jonathan became President, he chose Arc. Namadi Sambo, then Governor of Kaduna State, as his Vice President. Arc Sambo and President Jonathan had a good, rancor-free working relationship, but that does not rule out the fact that certain mischief-makers tried to come between them.

My view is that Professor Yemi Osinbajo would rank as one of the most influential and visible Vice Presidents that Nigeria has had since the return to civilian rule in 1999. With the possible exception of Atiku Abubakar between 1999 and 2003, he has been able to engage the public and connect with the people in a manner no other Vice President before him, did. This probably explains why there has been so much concern about his place in the Presidency, and his relationship with his principal. It also explains why he may attract envy and criticism. I like the fact that he has been very calm and dignified in the face of it all. He has refrained from making any statement that may convey the impression that he also believes the narrative that some persons, wielding long knives, are out for him.

He has not shown any desperation in the face of speculations that he may be removed, nor has he responded to any suggestion that he is under pressure to resign. His media team has not over-reacted. I commend him for his tact, and for staying above the fray.

However, one person who is convinced that the Vice President’s office is truly under siege told me the other day that Professor Osinbajo should go to court. Why would he allow the President to take away his powers over the management of the economy, including bodies of which he is statutorily the Chairman? I laughed.

I told the person that the Vice President will do no such thing. He has no special powers of his own except powers delegated to him by the President, and even that is entirely at the discretion of the President. It is not impossible that many of the persons who are protesting that the Vice President is being marginalized are also under the illusion that there is a power sharing arrangement between the President and the Vice President of Nigeria. No. There is no such thing. Even the VP’s Chairmanship of the National Economic Council, under Section 18 of the Third Schedule is at the pleasure of the President; in any case, the Economic Council, like the Economic Advisory Council, and many such bodies is merely an advisory body. There is only one President of the Federation. He is granted so many powers under the 1999 Constitution, the Nigerian President is almost a constitutional monarch. He is the country’s chief economic manager. He is the “head of State, the Chief Executive of the Federation and Commander-in-Chief of the Federation” (Section 130(2). Whereas in defining the powers of the Federal Government, the Constitution vests legislative (Section 4) and judicial powers (section 6) in institutions and not individuals, Executive Powers (section 5) are vested in the person of the President. It is as follows: “5(1): Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, the executive powers of the Federation – (a) shall be vested in the President and may,

subject as aforesaid and to the provisions of any law made by the National Assembly, be exercised by him either directly or through the Vice-President and Ministers of the Government of the Federation or officers in the public service of the Federation” In other words, the Vice President exercises executive powers only as delegated by the President. The manner and extent to which he does so is at the entire discretion of the President as provided in Section 148 (1): “The President, may in his discretion, assign to the Vice President or any Minister of the Government of the Federation responsibility for any business of the Government of the Federation, including the administration of any department of government.” The operative phrase here is “may in his discretion”. And for the benefit of those wondering whether the President acted rightly by setting up an Economic Advisory Council, Section 151 of the Constitution refers - to wit: “The President may appoint any person as a Special Adviser to assist him in the performance of his functions.”

This, to the best of my knowledge, is the position of the Constitution on how the Vice President stands in relation to Presidential powers.

In the eyes of the Constitution, the buck stops at the President’s desk. His government fails or succeeds strictly on the basis of the choices that he makes. He is not first among equals.

He is the boss. The Vice President is at best his number one aide and adviser. The circumstances, however, under which the Vice President can replace him or act on his behalf are properly spelt out in the same Constitution. It is not for nothing that the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal in a ruling on the 2019 Presidential election recently declared that the Vice President is an ‘appendage.”

When I canvass this view, I am told that I don’t understand the politics that is currently going on in the Villa. My suspicion is that the people who are playing politics are the people latching on to the announcement of an Economic Advisory Council or the revelation that the Vice President must take directives from the President (which is not a problem by the way), to project their own fears onto the national screen- namely their ethnic interests, religious sentiments and personal interests. They do so in rather hyperbolic terms. Just as there are persons threatening to march on the Villa “to defend our VP”, there are those who are seizing the moment to launch personal attacks on the Vice President.

Those who claim to be defending him may be expressing their admiration of him – it is clear he has a followership and a constituency behind him - but they should be careful not to damage his politics and his relationship with his principal. There is definitely also a lesson here for the President and the Presidency.

Perception is everything. Given Nigeria’s politics of suspicion, even the most innocent of gestures could create wicked problems; hence, government must always think ahead and communicate with greater clarity. Flip side: it is definitely clear that Professor Yemi Osinbajo’s followers want him to be given more responsibilities, not a demotion. They don’t want him to be used and dumped, no matter what. Off the books, beyond legalese: address this perception problem. Above all, something must be done about those so-called “reliable sources” in the Presidency. I never liked them. They only make things difficult for everyone.

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