TUESDAY 29TH OCTOBER 2019

Emefiele: Border Closure is Creating Jobs, Boosting Local Demand Says reopening must be based on terms, conditions Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, yesterday listed the gains of border closure since

August to include boosting domestic trade, job creation and enhancing Nigeria's economic policies.

Though he said he was not an advocate of permanent

border closure, Emefiele added that before the borders would eventually be reopened, affected countries must be effectively engaged with a view to agreeing on certain

terms and conditions.

Answering questions from State House correspondents in Abuja after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari before the president's

departure to Saudi Arabia, Emefiele illustrated how some businesses, which he said had almost collapsed before the border closure, suddenly became productive barely a

week after the closure.

He narrated the experiences of rice millers and members of the Poultry Association of Continued on page 9

Foreign Airlines Reap $700m from Ticket Sales in Eight Months... Page 6 Tuesday 29 October, 2019 Vol 24. No 8968. Price: N250

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Consequential Adjustment Depends on Ability to Pay, Govs Insist Be fair to workers, Labour urges Chuks Okocha and Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja Governors of the 36 states of the federation have rejected a uniform minimum wage that is based on the consequential

adjustment to the N30,000 minimum pay agreed between the federal government and organised labour.

Rising from a two-hour meeting yesterday in Abuja, the governors said payment of

FG: There can’t be uniformity

the consequential adjustment could not be uniform and would have to depend on the capacity of each state to pay.

The governors got a swift backing from the Minister of Labour and Employment,

Senator Chris Ngige, who said the adjustment should be negotiated by the states and their respective state joint negotiating council.

But the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) is unhappy

with the governors’ decision as it called on them to obey the National Minimum Wage Act. Briefing journalists after its meeting, the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) and Ekiti

State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, said the governors reviewed the progress in the implementation of the minimum wage law and Continued on page 9

Nigeria to Earn Additional $1.4bn Annually from Amendment of PSC Act House considers bill today Ejiofor Alike Nigeria is projected to earn an additional income of $1.4 billion annually from oil majors if the bill seeking the amendment of the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contract (DOIBPSC) is passed and signed into law.

According to a document obtained by THISDAY from the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), the amendment is expected to improve the fiscal position of all tiers of government and place them in a more stable source of revenues as royalties are payable on production rather than profits.

The country first signed the first set of Production Sharing Contracts (PSC) in 1993, while the Deep Offshore

and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contract Act (DOA) was enacted in 1999 to govern operations in acreages located beyond 200 metres and the Inland Basin.

A study carried out by NEITI stated that Nigeria lost at least $16 billion and potentially as high as $28.6 billion due to the failure to Amend the Act. The bill seeking to amend the DOIBPSC was re-submitted

by President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to the current National Assembly this month.

It has been passed by the Senate while the House of Representatives is expected to consider the bill today.

The initial effort by this administration to amend Continued on page 9

Lawan Rejects Call for Unicameral Legislature, Scrapping of Senate... Page 8

GOING FOR FUTURE INITIATIVE...

L-R: President Muhammadu Buhari; Minister of Police Affairs, Alhaji Maigari Dingyadi; Minister of FCT, Mallam Muhammad Bello; and Chief of Staff, Mallam Abba Kyari, during the president’s departure to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in Abuja…yesterday

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

Foreign Airlines Reap $700m from Ticket Sales in Eight Months Target $1bn by December Chinedu Eze Following the improvement in the Nigerian economy after the recession that hit the country, foreign airlines operating in the country sold tickets worth $700 million as at the end of August 2019, according to figures obtained from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

The data represented a significant increase in ticket sales compared with the total of $800 million recorded in the whole of 2018.

IATA has projected $1 billion foreign airlines’ ticket sales for 2019.

While the improved economic climate encouraged more international travels by Nigerians on businesses and pleasures trips, as well as foreigners, who come into Nigeria for businesses, some Nigerians also travelled out in search of greener pastures.

President of the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA), Mr. Bankole Bernard, who confirmed the development in a telephone interview with THISDAY, anticipated that the country might surpass the projected $1 billion by the end of the year due to the Christmas season, which records influx of inbound passenger movement, as many Nigerians return to the country to celebrate the Yuletide season.

Quoting IATA records, Bankole said, “The market has stabilised. There is upward trend and more foreign airlines have shown interest in Nigeria. This confirms that the industry is doing well under the Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika.

I am seeing significant changes.

There are a lot of changes taking place under the minister.”

He acknowledged that generally the nation’s economy

is not yet doing very well but projected that more Nigerians would be travelling overseas as the economy improved and that means more ticket sales by the airlines.

Bernard, the Chief Executive Officer of one of the biggest travel agencies in Nigeria, Finchglow Travels, said the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) was pleased with the Nigerian aviation sector because of the positive air safety record, hence the high interest of foreign airlines in Nigeria.

He said: “For us in the downstream sub-sector of the industry there has been no default in payment of ticket revenues to the airlines like in the past. IATA acknowledged this and that is why it introduced IATA Easy Pay in Nigeria first before many other countries in the continent.

“In fact, Kenya, which hitherto had bigger travel agencies, came to understudy us. If we are not doing something good, they would not have come to understudy us and this shows that we are doing better than Kenya now.”

Travel expert and organiser of Akwaaba African Travel Market, Ikechi Uko, attributed the increase in ticket sales to slight improvement in the economy, higher outbound flights as well as the search of greener pastures.

“From the figures made available recently by NANTA, there is increase in international passenger movement this year and last year due to slight improvement in the economy.

“There is also more one-way ticket on outbound flights, which many attributed to apprehension and many of those not coming back are heading to Canada and Australia.

This is affecting the Nigerian

middle class mainly; those with skills, from medical doctors, to bankers, engineers, journalists and even photographers. This is because these countries want to double their population but they are making the choice of those they want to allow to come.

They have significantly reduced the middle-class population in Nigeria,” Uko noted.

However, some operators have expressed concern that over 85 per cent of ticket sales by the foreign airlines would be repatriated.

Industry consultant and CEO of Belujane Konsult, Chris Aligbe, said something has to be done urgently to recover the loss Nigeria was recording with the repatriation of huge foreign exchange from the country.

“We have to do something quickly and see how we

can pull back the loss. If we don’t do something quickly it will escalate as our economy improves because more Nigerians will travel and that means more money for the foreign carriers. I don’t see how any responsible government will allow that to continue to happen,” Aligbe said.

Also reacting to the huge revenue from ticket sales by foreign airlines in Nigeria, the President of Sabre Network, Africa and also the President of industry think-tank body, Aviation Round Table (ART), Dr. Gbenga Olowo, told THISDAY that even though Nigeria needs the foreign airlines, efforts should be made by the country to balance the trade by empowering local carriers to compete with the international airlines.

He called for the strengthening of Nigerian airlines so that they could compete and reverse the negative balance of trade.

But the CEO of Aero Contractors, Captain Ado Sanusi, said there was no need to tackle the foreign carriers, saying policies should be developed to encourage Nigerian carriers to operate international routes.

“For example, Air Peace and Emirates can code-share on the UAE routes. We should begin to cut back on the money being repatriated from Nigeria by foreign carriers. In the US, a foreign carrier that operates to the country is not allowed to bring in cargo flight; it must contract a local airline to do that. A lot of cargo come to Nigeria from Emirates and all

the Emirates flights that come to Nigeria is always filled with cargo,” he said.

He rejected the argument by government officials from the Ministry of Aviation that many foreign airlines are allowed to come into the country in order to encourage competition and low fares, saying that foreign airlines have relatively outrageous fares for Nigerian routes because indigenous carriers are not competing effectively with them.

Former Managing Director of Capital Airlines and industry consultant, Mr. Amos Akpan, said the fact that foreign airlines would sell about $1 billion ticket in a year in Nigeria showed that Nigeria remains an important market and Nigerian airlines should be made to benefit from the huge potential.

AGAINST PAY UNIFORMITY...

L-R: Chairman, Nigeria Governors' Forum, Dr. Kayode Fayemi; his deputy, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal (Sokoto); and Nasir el-Rufai (Kaduna) during a media briefing after the forum’s meeting in Abuja…yesterday

Buhari Warns Police against Use of Excessive Force Chiemelie Ezeobi President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday in Lagos, read the riot act to erring police officers, warning them against the use of weapons and excessive force on members of the public.

Buhari issued the stern warning while declaring open a three-day conference and retreat for senior police officers in Lagos themed: 'Repositioning the force for the challenges of effective policing in the 21st century.'

Represented by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, the president said it was the duty of senior and strategic leaders of the police force to ensure that impunity of any kind was discouraged and punished whereever it was found.

On the other hand, he also commended them for being one of the country's proudest national assets, being the largest police force in Africa and for its role in peace keeping missions

outside the country.

“The image of the police as an interlocutor of fairness, justice, and decency in the enforcement of peace, law and order must be maintained at all times in the interest of the credibility of the force as a whole,” he said.

Giving statistics of the achievements of the police, he said in the past 10 months over 2,348 armed robbery suspects; 1,412 suspected kidnappers; 694 murder suspects and 1,513 cultists had been arrested. Also, 826 kidnap victims were rescued and 1,660 firearms and 1,612 stolen vehicles recovered.

He noted that the retreat was appropriately timed as it presented a unique opportunity, not only to review internal security and policing issues, but also to acquire contemporary professional information and knowledge, undertake some peer review and build important networks needed to efficiently deal with

current and anticipated internal security challenges.

He said: "Aside from the threat of terrorism in the North-east, we are currently combating a series of crimes that constitute significant drawbacks to our national security.

“These include banditry, kidnapping, armed robbery, cybercrime, small and light arms proliferation and sundry transnational crimes.”

The dynamics of crime in the country, according to him, had over time become increasingly complex due largely to the impact of technology, global terrorism, socio-economic challenges and other security situations especially within the African continent.

He added that it was in response and in anticipation to these challenges that upon the inception of this administration, concerted efforts were made towards formulating policies that would re- engineer the

Nigeria Police and ensure the restoration of the agency’s primacy within the internal security architecture of the country.

“In this regard, funding, limited manpower profile, professional capacity gaps and issues arising from the relationship between the police and the citizens were identified as challenges and are being addressed,” he said.

Lagos Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who was represented by his deputy, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, pledged his administration’s support to provide the necessary wherewithal for the police in order to ensure safe environment for the populace.

In his remarks, the Minister of Police Affairs, Alhaji Mohammed Dingyadi, the conference coincided with Buhari’s determination to reposition the force with the establishment of Police Affairs

ministry and the signing of the Police Trust Fund into law.

These measures, he said, were a clear testimony of the desire to take the force to the next level.

“The ministry under my watch has ensured the police are given state-of-the art equipment to help in combating crimes and criminalities,” he said, adding: “It’s also to enhance the welfare of personnel through the provision of conducive offices and residential accommodation so as to motivate them for optimum efficiency.”

He urged them reciprocate government’s good gesture by dedicating themselves to their jobs, saying the citizens looked up to them to serve and protect them optimally.

Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State in an interview with THISDAY, threw his weight behind community policing.

He said: “Our model for community policing is key and

we are working very hard with the IG’s office. Don’t forget that when the current IG was AIG in Edo State, that was when we started working on the whole concept of community policing and that’s why one of the reasons I am here is to work with the senior management of the police in terms of providing security in the state.”

Earlier in his opening remarks, the convener, the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Adamu, explained that the idea of the retreat was in furtherance of the policing vision, which emphasises capacity building as pathway to enhancing edge time police service delivery in the country.

“We intend to utilise this forum to undertake an egotistic evaluation of the current internal security threats and crime dynamics in the country, identify factors engendering crimes and project to the future,” Adamu said.

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Lawan Rejects Call for Unicameral Legislature, Scrapping of Senate Accuses revenue generating agencies of low remittances Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja The Senate President, Dr. Ahmad Lawan, has kicked against the call for unicameral legislature, which means the scrapping of the Senate or the House of Representatives.

Lawan stated this yesterday in Abuja at the third convocation of the Nigerian Institute of Legislative and Development Studies (NILDS), University of Benin, Benin City, Edo State.

He said Nigeria adopted consciously bicameral National Assembly because of the peculiarity of the country, adding that the diversity and the ethnic composition of the country requires a system that would ensure equity and value.

Lawan explained that Bayelsa State with five members of the House of Representatives could not compete with Kano that has 24 in the House, but added that in the Senate, Kano has three senators just like Bayelsa, describing it as a leveller.

According to him, "So, it is a conscious decision and design to ensure that everybody is represented. We need a bicameral legislature in Nigeria. What we should be

looking out for is productivity.

“Members of the National Assembly must justify the expenditure on them and that is what we should be concerned with. We must be productive and we are on the way to proving that we are going to be productive."

The Senate president noted that the members of the National Assembly have committed themselves more than ever before to make sure that budget defence is completed on time.

He noted that the target of October 29th as the last date for budget defence remains sacrosanct, adding that from the 30th of October to the 5th of November, all committees are expected to defend their budget before the Appropriation Committees of both the Senate and the House.

The Senate president said that the National Assembly is desirous and determined to ensure that the budget is laid on 28th of November in both chambers, while also ensuring that the budget is passed before the end of December.

Going forward, Lawan said that the lawmakers would ensure that the

budget is implemented, though he acknowledged that availability of revenue is the main constraint in budget implementation.

He stated: "Today, Nigeria is challenged by availability of revenue. We can pass the budget in record time, but when it comes to implementation, we have to be subject to how much we are able to gather. Nigeria has a lot of revenue, but majority of the revenue generating agencies don’t remit most of these revenues and have forced the government to

resort to borrowing."

The Senate president said the time has come for the National Assembly to continually engage with the revenue generating agencies to know what their challenges are.

He said once they have target, the National Assembly would ensure that they meet the target and when they are not able to meet the target, they would find out why to know if the problem is institutional problem or a systemic issue.

Lawan added: "We have

so many areas of revenue generation everyday and yet, we hardly see these revenues.

I think it is a big challenge to the National Assembly and this National Assembly will go all the way, take the bull by the horn and look for our revenues where ever they are.

“We don’t have to continue to borrow. When you are a little poorer, you start looking for who is owing you. Now we have problem and if we had surplus before and ignored so many things, today, there is paucity of fund and so every single kobo counts

and we will look for that where ever it is."

Earlier, the DG of NILDS, Prof. Abubakar Sulaiman, said that in the first five academic sessions since inception, especially from 2013/2014-2018/2019, a total of 271 students enrolled for various programmes.

He said this year, 65 students would be conferred with various degrees broken down to 28 Master's in Legislative Studies, 15 Master's in Legislative Drafting and 22 Master's in Parliamentary Administration.

PDP Demands Withdrawal of INEC's Presiding Officers’ List in Bayelsa Emmanuel Addeh in Yenagoa The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Campaign Organisation in Bayelsa State has called on the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, to withdraw the list of presiding officers for the November 16 governorship poll in the state.

The party said it was shocked by the discovery that the commission in the state had published a list of Supervisory Presiding Officers (SPOs), which was allegedly handed to it by the opposition in a desperate bid to rig the governorship election slated for November 16.

The Director of Media and Publicity of the Senator Douye Diri Campaign Organisation, Jonathan Obuebite, who fingered a Deputy Vice Chancellor of a federal institution of being the arrowhead of the plot, called on the INEC national chairman to prevail on the REC to withdraw the list without delay in the interest of peace.

The party urged the electoral body to engage the services of neutral and credible SPOs from institutions outside the state.

Obuebite said that the electoral body has a responsibility to assure the Bayelsa people by its actions

that it was prepared to conduct free, fair and credible election.

“Bayelsans and Nigerians have seen that with what has just happened; the APC is not ready for a free, fair and credible election, but I am not surprised because they have a penchant for illicit behaviours during electioneering period.

“All they have always been known for is to truncate, undermine and subvert the will of the people.

"I, therefore, call on the INEC chairman to caution the Bayelsa State REC as it is glaring that his relationship with the APC to work against the PDP will further tarnish the reputation of INEC. “I also call on the international community and all security agencies to be aware of what the REC in Bayelsa State is doing to jeopardise the forthcoming governorship elections in the state.

The PDP campaign team urged INEC to deploy RECs and commissioners of proven integrity with a reputation for impartiality and competence for the election rather than those he said are doing the dirty jobs of smearing the image of the commission.

He said that INEC should be guided strongly by a consciousness of its reputation to halt the 'evil plot' to send compromised officials to taint the electoral process in Bayelsa.

CASE FOR BICAMERAL LEGISLATURE...

Former president of the Senate, Senator Ken Nnamani (left), and the incumbent, Dr. Ahmad Lawan, during the third University of Benin/National Institute for legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS) convocation ceremony in Abuja…yesterday

Again, Supreme Court Strikes Out HDP's Suit against Buhari Alex Enumah in Abuja The Supreme Court for the second time yesterday struck out the appeal of the candidate of the Hope Democratic Party (HDP), Chief Ambrose Owuru, and his party, against the verdict of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, which dismissed their petition against the election of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The five-member panel of the apex court in a unanimous decision, struck out the appeal shortly after it was withdrawn by counsel to the plaintiffs, Sunday Ezema.

The Supreme Court had on October 3 struck out the same appeal on the grounds that Owuru and his party engaged in gross abuse of court processes by filing two notices of appeal contrary to the provisions of the law.

Owuru and HDP had approached the Supreme Court to set aside the judgment of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, which dismissed their petition against Buhari's election.

The apex court had in its

ruling of October 3, struck out the appeal for being unmeritorious and an abuse of court process.

Another ground on which the appeal was struck out was that the appellants failed to appeal the August 22 ruling of the tribunal, which had struck out their petition for being incompetent.

Not satisfied, Owuru and his party in a fresh application asked the Supreme Court to reverse itself in the judgment delivered on October 3, which dismissed their appeal for being incompetent.

The appellants in the fresh application claimed that the judgment delivered in favour of Buhari on October 3 is invalid and unconstitutional on the grounds that it was based on technicalities.

In the fresh motion on notice brought pursuant to order eight, rule two of the Supreme Court rules and Sections 6 and 36 of the 1999 Constitution as well as Section 22 of the Supreme Court Act, the appellants pleaded with the court to restore their appeal for fresh hearing on its merit.

The appellants insisted that the dismissal of their appeal on October 3 on technical grounds was without compliance with the mandatory procedure.

The fresh motion predicated on eight grounds indicated that the appeal dismissed on preliminary objection without requisite applications after filed briefs and incorporation of notice of objection without leave of the apex court is a nullity and liable to be set aside.

However, when the matter was called, counsel to the 1st respondent, (President Buhari), Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), stated that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the appeal because the constitutional provision of 60 days for the apex court to hear the appeal has lapsed.

In addition the senior lawyer stated that the appeal is incompetent on the grounds that the 14 days required by the law for an appellant to file an appeal has lapsed, and urged the court to dismiss the appeal.

Both counsel to the Independent National

Electoral Commission (INEC) and the All Progressives Congress (APC), Yunus Usman (SAN) and Yakubu Maikyau (SAN), respectively, aligned themselves with the submission of Olanipekun and urged the court to impose substantial cost against the counsel to the appellants for wasting the time and resources of the court and the respondents.

When asked by the presiding Justice of the five man panel of apex court, Justice Kayode Ariwoola if the appeal was not cut up with Section 285 of the constitution, counsel to the appellants, took the hint and accordingly made an oral application for the withdrawal of the appeal.

The apex court by law must hear and determine the appeal within 60 days.

However, from the August 22 date wherein the tribunal delivered its judgment to yesterday, October 28, was 66 days, making the appeal to become statute-barred.

"This application having been withdrawn is hereby struck out", Justice Ariwoola held.

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Another Nigerian Killed, Two Others Injured

by Unknown Gunmen in South Africa Chuks Okocha in Abuja The Nigerian community in South Africa has again been thrown into mourning following the killing by unknown gun men of one of its members who also left two others injured.

This is coming as a former Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, has taken the case of the disturbing wave of xenophobic attacks to the October Session of the International Parliament for Tolerance and Peace (IPTP) holding in Ethiopia.

The national Spokesperson of

Nigerian Union in South Africa, Mr. Odefa Ikele, disclosed the latest incident to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Lagos.

Ikele said the incident that led to the death of Mr. Chikamso Ufordi, who hailed from Awgu Local Government Area of Enugu State and injuries sustained by the two others happened at about 7 p.m. on Saturday, October 26, in Nigel.

Nigel is a small gold mining town in Gauteng Province, East Rand near Johannesburg.

“One of the witnesses informed us that the deceased,

Mr. Chikamso Ufordi, from Awgu LGA in Enugu State, was trailed by some unknown gun men, and was shot point blank while in his car with two other Nigerian friends.

“His friends also sustained injuries, but the late Chikamso died immediately before help could arrive from the province’s Emergency Medical Services (EMS) team.

“The injured were rushed to the nearest hospital. A case of murder and attempted murder have already been opened at Nigel Police Cluster,’’ Ikele told NAN on telephone.

It will be recalled that three

Nigerians were among other foreign nationals who on October 22, suffered from fresh xenophobic attacks on foreigners in different locations of Witbank, Mpumanlaga Province, South Africa.

The October 22 attacks came on the heels of efforts

by Presidents Muhammadu Buhari and Cyril Ramaphosa to ensure they found amicable and lasting solution to the xenophobia in the latter’s country.

Meanwhile, Ekweremadu, has taken the case of the disturbing wave of xenophobic attacks to the October Session

of the International Parliament for Tolerance and Peace (IPTP) holding in Ethiopia.

Speaking yesterday at the opening plenary of the parliament in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, Ekweremadu, who chairs the Legal and Legislative Affairs Committee of the IPTP, urged the Parliament to pay special attention to problem of xenophobic attacks on the African continent.

According to a statement by his media aide, Uche Anichukwu, Ekweremadu said, “Since we are holding this session in Africa, permit

me to mention the issue of xenophobia, a development that worries me. There is a growing trend in acts and incidences of intolerance, which is destroying the brotherhood, peace, and mutual relationship among the people of Africa. As a special Parliament focusing on tolerance and peace, we will not close our eyes to the cases of xenophobia wherever it exists.

“I also appeal to our brothers and sisters in Africa to not only continue to tolerate, but to also respectfully accept one another as one people with a common destiny”.

$20 per barrel, the share of the additional revenues will be adjusted in favour of the Nigeria’s government.”

The conditions warranting the amendment of the Act was first met in 2003 but unfortunately previous administrations failed to actualise its aspirations.

In 2008, a notice of change was issued by NNPC to enable the commencement of the

amendment of the Act but this initiative was truncated in 2012 by the then Minister of Petroleum Resources.

“It should be noted that crude oil price was at its highest levels between 2008 and early 2014. Therefore, this singular act denied Nigeria billions of dollars while allowing the oil majors to reap significant profits,” the document said.

Nigerian neighbours before the borders are reopened.

According to him, such terms and conditions must include the kinds of commodities that can be shipped to their countries, pointing out that such commodities must be meant only for their local consumption.

He added that situations where certain commodities, after being shipped to such countries, head for Nigeria would not be acceptable as they undermine the country's economic policies, threaten the productivity of domestic industries and the desire for job creation.

According to him: "We are not saying that the borders should be closed in perpetuity, but before the borders are reopened, there must be concrete engagements with countries that are involved in

using their ports and countries as landing ports for bringing in goods that are smuggled into Nigeria.

"That engagement must be held so that we agree on the basis under which: what are the kinds of products that they can land in their countries because if they land those products in their countries, and it is meant for their own local consumption, it is understandable.

"But the fact that those products are landed in their countries and then trans shipment of smuggled items into Nigeria is something that I am sure you all agree as Nigerians we should not allow to happen because it undermines our economic policy. It undermines our own desire to make sure that industries are alive and jobs are created in Nigeria."

NIGERIA TO EARN ADDITIONAL $1.4BN ANNUALLY FROM AMENDMENT OF PSC ACT the Act was forestalled by the immediate past National Assembly, which received the bill in June 2018 but failed to pass the Amendment.

“It is expected that the House of Representatives will expeditiously concur with the version of the bill passed by the Senate, which will contribute positively to the fiscal position of all tiers of government and

will also contribute to the successful implementation of the 2020 Budget,” the document stated.

The bill introduces a royalty of 10 per cent for all fields above 200 metres and 7.5 per cent for Frontier/Inland Basin.

Currently royalty is zero per cent for fields at above 1,000 metres.

The bill also introduces a

royalty by price when crude oil exceeds $20 per barrel starting at 2.5 per cent to 10 per cent when the price exceeds $150 per barrel.

In order to encourage exploration in the Deep Offshore and Inland Basins at a time of low oil price in the 1990’s, the government had granted generous fiscal provisions to encourage investors to explore

for oil in the Deep Offshore and Inland Basins.

However, Section 16 of the DOA provided for the review of the DOA after a period of 15 years from commencement and every five years thereafter.

The law, according to the NEITI document also stipulated that the amendment would ensure that “if at any time crude oil price exceeds

EMEFIELE: BORDER CLOSURE IS CREATING JOBS, BOOSTING LOCAL DEMAND Nigeria whom he said had before the closure called him to lament about low sales, only to witness a sharp rise in demand shortly after the closure.

He described smuggling of foreign products into the country as a major impediment to the growth of local industries and businesses, adding that rice and poultry businesses have been booming optimally since the borders were closed.

According to Emefiele, the closure of the borders has not only boosted businesses in the urban areas, rural areas are also bubbling because businesses such as grain production are now productive as farmers have maximised profits since the closure.

He said: "Recently, and this is the absolute truth. About two weeks before the border closure, the chairman of the

Rice Processors Association, incidentally, he owns Umza Rice in Kano, called me and said that all the rice millers and processors were carrying in their warehouses nothing less than 25,000 metric tonnes of milled rice in their warehouses; that this rice had been unsold because of smuggling and dumping of rice through the Republic of Benin and other border posts that we have in the country and that he would want us to do something about it.

"Secondly, we also have members of the Poultry Association of Nigeria who also complained that they have thousands of crates of eggs that they could not sell together with even some of the processed chickens that they could not sell, also arising from the problem of smuggling and dumping of poultry products

into Nigeria.”

He said he was told that after some meetings that were held in addition to those engagements that the CBN also held with the president, the border was closed subsequently.

A week after the borders were closed, he narrated, the same Rice Millers' Association called to tell the bank that all the rice that they had in their warehouses had all been sold.

“Indeed, a lot of people have been depositing money in their accounts and they have even been telling them 'please hold on don't even pay money yet until we finish processing your rice,” he said.

Emefiele said the poultry association had told him that they had sold all their eggs.

“They have sold all their processed chickens and that demand is rising. So, when you

asked, what is the benefit, the benefit of the border closure on the economy of Nigeria (I just used two products poultry and rice) that it has helped to create jobs for our people. It has helped to bring our integrated rice milling that we have in the country back to business again and they are making money,” he said.

The CBN governor said the rural communities were bubbling because there were activities and rice farmers were able to sell their paddy, adding that the poultry business was also doing well even as maize farmers, who produced maize from which feeds were produced were also doing business.

“These are the benefits," he emphasised.

Emefiele urged the federal government to list out terms and conditions to be met by

CONSEQUENTIAL ADJUSTMENT DEPENDS ON ABILITY TO PAY, GOVS INSIST resolved that consequential increments will depend on the capacity of each state government.

He acknowledged that there would be consequential adjustment for the payment of the minimum wage to workers in the states but argued that the second tier of government would have to exercise its right to determine what its purse could carry.

Fayemi said: "The FEC (Federal Executive Council) does not determine what happens in the states; states have their own state executive council and that is the highest decision making body at the state level. The forum as the representative body of the states keenly followed what happened in the negotiations that transpired and led to that template.

"As far as we are concerned, the best the forum can do is to stick with what has been agreed with the states. States are part of the tripartite negotiations.

States agreed to that N30,000 minimum wage increase. States also know that there will be consequential adjustment but

that will be determined on what happened on the state-by-state basis because there are different number of workers at state level, there are different issues at the state level.”

He said every state had its own trade union joint negotiating committee and would have to hold discussion with their state governments.

“You know that the day after this agreement was reached with labour, I was on record and I made the position of the governors clear that for us, this was a national minimum wage increase, not a general minimum wage review,” he clarified.

Throwing his weight behind the governors’ decision, Ngige said the federal government would send the template of the adjustment to the states latest by the end of this week for negotiation with the workers.

He said: "The governors are right; it is consequential adjustment; it is based on capacity to pay. It is about sustainability and ability to pay, that is the guiding principle.

The governors are right but they must negotiate it with joint negotiating council at

the state level.”

He said the minimum wage adjustment template would be sent to the states by the Salaries and Wages Commission, saying he expected the national leadership of labour to make available copies of the adjustment template to their state branches.

"It was a tripartite agreement and labour has a copy that can serve as a guide for their members at the state level," Ngige said.

But organised labour has rejected the governors’ resolution, insisting that the new minimum wage is already a law and that the governors could not cherry pick.

NLC's Head of Information and Publicity, Mr. Benson Upah, told THISDAY that as far as the workers were concerned, every state was bound to adhere to it.

"That is totally inconceivable because the governors should not only obey the laws of the land but should be seen to be doing so. The new minimum wage is already a law and the governors cannot cherry pick on the laws. They cannot choose what to obey and what not to

obey," he said.

Speaking on the governors’ position that the adjustment is subject to negotiation, Benson said even though the workers would negotiate with the state governments, the governors are expected to be fair in view of the current economic hardship in the country Also, in the communiqué of the meeting, the governors commended the rapid response of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the National Primary Health Care Development Agency to nip the August 2019 yellow fever outbreak, which broke out across of the country.

They pledged to commit counterpart resources to strengthen mass vaccination campaigns in their respective states.

"Members commended the progress made by state governments through their social health insurance authorities to enrol and provide health insurance cover for citizens across the country,” it said, adding: "In the last one year, state governments have registered over two million

people compared to five million Nigerians registered under the National Health Scheme over the last 14 years.”

The governors, it said, remembered, Dr. Stella Adadevoh, the physician, who attended to Patient William Sawyer during the Ebola Outbreak in 20 I 4 in Lagos State.

“Adadevoh died from the Ebola virus on October 21, 2014, but her memory lives on with the dream of ‘Healthcare for all Nigerians,” the governors stated.

On the N614 billion bailout debt by states to the federal government, Fayemi said they had commenced payment, adding that there was no problem about it.

He said the governors did not have issues with the deduction, adding that it had been deducted, as far as he was aware, from states’ accounts."

He also said Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir el-Rufai, would submit the report of the committee he chaired on the crude oil and other special reports to the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting today.

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TUESDAY OCTOBER 29, 2019 ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWS

ASUU Meets Lawan, Rejects IPPIS Deji Elumoye and Chuks Okocha in Abuja The Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Universities (ASUU) yesterday met for several hours with the principal officers of the Senate over the contentious Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), vowing not to participate in the central salary paying system.

ASUU President, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, who spoke with journalists yesterday evening after the closed- door meeting held at Senate Committee Room 301, however, said meaningful discussions were held between ASUU and the Senate leadership over the matter.

“We made progress at the meeting and fruitful discussions over the matter with the meeting adjourning to a later date for the two parties to conclude on issues around the IPPIS.” Presenting an eight-page position of ASUU on IPPIS

to the Senate President, Dr. Ahmad Lawan, earlier before the closed-door meeting, Ogunyemi told the Senate President that the union had resolved not to participate in the system because it runs contrary to the autonomy, which the public universities currently enjoy.

“The centralisation of payroll is a violation of university autonomy. It contradicts the principle of the superiority of the Governing Council in the control and management of university funds, and employment and promotion of staff. Universities all over the world have a tradition of independence and complete separation from the structure of the civil service. The attempt to bring Nigerian universities under a general practice that is meant for the civil service will not only undermine university autonomy; it will also infringe on academic freedom, and consequently retard the efforts of our country to develop the much sought-after knowledge-

based economy.

“In particular, ASUU would like to draw the attention of the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) to the Principle of University Autonomy as enshrined in section 2AA of the Universities Miscellaneous Provisions (Amendment) Act 2003 which states that: “The powers of the Council shall be exercised, as in the law and statutes of each university and to that extent, establishment circulars that are inconsistent with the laws and statutes of the university shall not apply to the universities.

“Also Section 2AAA of the same Act states: (1) The Governing Council of a university shall be free in the discharge of its functions and exercise of its responsibilities for the common management, growth and development of

the university. “(2) The council of a university in the discharge of its functions shall ensure that disbursement of funds of the university complies with the approved budgetary ratio for: (a) Personnel costs; (b) Overhead costs; (c) Research and development; (d) library development; and(e) The balance in expenditure between academic vis-à-vis non-academic activities.

“For example, the 1992 Act of the University of Abuja expressly states in Section 6: Functions of the Council and its Finance and General Purposes Committee: (1) Subject to the provisions of this Act relating to the Visitor, the Council shall be the governing body of each university and shall be charged with the general control and superintendence of the policy, finance and property of the university

including its public relations.

There shall be a committee of the Council to be known as the Finance and General Purposes Committee, which shall, subject to the directions of the Council, exercise control over the property and expenditure of the university and perform such other functions of the Council as the Council may, from time to time, delegate to it”.

According to ASUU President, it is clear from this provision that the circular from the OAGF directing the implementation of IPPIS violates the provisions of the Establishment Act of the university (and all other Federal Universities).

ASUU President also told Lawan that the federal government has for long refused to adequately fund the universities resulting in their inability to function

optimally, adding that “in the last 10 years or so, hardly were annual budgets of universities, especially the capital components, implemented up to 50 per cent.

Responding, the Senate President wondered why government should ever enter into agreements they could not implement.

“I know several agreements government entered which they know they cannot enforce.

Why would somebody enter agreement you know you cannot implement because of pressure?”

“I have been part of Committee on Education since 2005 when I was in the House of Representatives and since I became a Senator, I have always been a member of Committee on Education and Tertiary Institutions; so, I know what I’m saying”.

Nigeria Ranks Number One on Open Defecation Globally, Says FG The federal government has said Nigeria now ranks number one in the world in terms of the number of people practising open defecation.

The Minister of Ministry of Water Resources, Mr. Suleiman Adamu, disclosed this while declaring open a two-day Private Sector Forum on Sanitation, yesterday in Abuja.

The forum was organised by the Organised Private Sector on Sanitation with the theme: “Coordinating Indigenous Private Sector Initiatives to End Open Defecation in Nigeria”.

It would be recalled that on October 2, India exited as the world number one with the highest number of people practising open defecation in the world.

According to Adamu, Nigeria currently ranks at number one, in terms of the number of people practicing open defecation in Africa.

“Moreover, we are on the brink of being ranked first globally, as

approximately 47 million people do not have access to sanitation services in its most basic form.

“Understandably, this is a serious concern to all of us as it has immense economic consequences and also hinders the social development of the country,” he said.

He said that the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) six is aimed at ensuring availability of WASH services as well as the sustainable management of water and sanitation for all by 2030.

He said that the SDGs, Target 6.2 also focused on achieving access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and to end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations.

Adamu said that although the SDGs have stipulated these targets, they have also highlighted some hurdles that would require collaborative efforts to overcome them “which is our concern for the course of this workshop’’.

Bandits Kill Three Persons, Abduct Six in Niger Laleye Dipo in Minna Bandits were again on rampage in the Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State, sacking six communities.

The bandits also reportedly killed three villagers, kidnapped six others and rustled not less than 1,200 herd of cattle in the incident that occurred last week.

Some of the communities attacked according to the report were: Beri Kargo, Kini, Anguwan Makaranta and Shema.

The bandits were said to have operated under the cover of darkness shooting sporadically into the air to scare the villagers.

It was gathered that the bandits also avoided areas where military operations were

ongoing resulting in their escape from arrest.

The police when contacted did not react to the incident but the state government had dispatched officials of Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA) to the local government to distribute relief materials to the victims.

NSEMA Director General, Alhaji Ibrahim Inga, when contacted said: “We have a marching order from Mr. Governor to provide relief materials to the victims.”

He said three Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps have been set up at Jigiwa, Gurmana and Allawa each accommodating not less than 1,000 displaced people.

GIVING BACK TO THE SOCIETY...

L-R: Consul General of France in Lagos, Laurence Monmayran; Convener, Ake Arts and Book Festival, Lola Shoneyin; and Chief Executive Officer, Sterling Bank Plc, Abubakar Suleiman, during the opening ceremony of Ake Arts and Book Festival powered by Sterling Bank in

Buhari to Proceed to UK from Saudi Arabia Nov 2 Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja President Muhammadu Buhari who left the country for Saudi Arabia yesterday to attend the Economic Forum of the Future Investment Initiative (FII) in Riyadh, will proceed to the United Kingdom on November 2 for 15 days on a private visit from Saudi Arabia.

A statement by the president’s spokesman, Mr. Femi Adesina, said Buhari who would hold bilateral talks with King Salman of Saudi Arabia and King Abdullah

ll of Jordan, on the sidelines of the Saudi event, would return to the country from the United Kingdom on November 17.

The president returned to Nigeria on Friday after participating in Russia-Africa summit.

According to Adesina, while in Saudi, Buhari would participate in what he described as the high level event, titled: “What is Next for Africa: How will Investment and Trade Transform the Continent into the Next Great Economic Success Story?” along

with presidents of Kenya, CongoBrazzaville and Burkina Faso.

“President Muhammadu Buhari leaves the country today on an official trip to Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to attend Economic Forum of the Future Investment Initiative (FII) in Riyadh.

“On the sideline of the event, President Buhari will hold bilateral talks with His Majesty King Salman and His Majesty King Abdullah ll of Jordan.

“On Wednesday, October 30, 2019, the President will

participate in the High Level Event titled “What is Next for Africa: How will Investment and Trade Transform the Continent into the Next Great Economic Success Story?” with Presidents of Kenya, Congo-Brazzaville and Burkina Faso.

“At the end of the summit, President Buhari will on Saturday 2nd November, 2019, proceed to the United Kingdom on a private visit.

He is expected to return to Nigeria on 17th November, 2019.”

100 Inmates Rearrested as 200 Escape from Correctional Centre in Kogi Ibrahim Oyewale in Lokoja No fewer than 200 inmates from the Koto- Karfe custodian centre of Federal Correctional Services escaped at the early hours of yesterday.

The inmates escaped following the collapse of some parts of the building housing them even as many other houses were

submerged by the flood.

Sources at the facility told journalists that at least 100 of the inmates have been rearrested, while unspecified number of inmates voluntarily returned to the back of custodian centre.

It was gathered that the rain started around 2 a.m. and lasted for several hours, leading to the massive flooding that destroyed

many houses, including parts of the Custodian Centre.

The Acting Chief Imam of Koton-Karfi Karfi Central Mosque, Saidu Suleiman Nuhu told the Journalists that the heavy downpour led to River Osugu overflooding its embankment and destroying so many houses, including a part of the correctional centre.

Efforts to speak with correctional officers proved abortive as they refused to speak on the situation.

But a source close to the Prison Service disclosed that about 100 of the inmates who escaped have been rearrested by the security agents.

THISDAY visited the correctional director general’s office but could not find any officer in the office.

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COMMENT

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

CHINA, NIGERIA IN THE NEW ERA China is joining hands with Nigeria to build a prosperous future, writes Zhou Pingjian

T

he First of October this year marked the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. What path did China take? Where is China going? What are China’s goals in shaping the world? How will a developing China interact with the rest of the world?

In response to the foregoing questions and aiming to give the international community a better understanding of China’s development, the State Council Information Office of China recently published a white paper entitled “China and the World in the New Era”. The white paper systematically introduces China’s achievements, development path and directions over the past 70 years and deeply elaborated on China’s relations with the world.

Over the past seven decades, China has achieved great success.

From 1952 to 2018, China’s industrial added value increased with an average annual growth rate of 11 per cent. China’s GDP increased with an average annual growth rate of 8.1 per cent, and per capita GDP increased by 70 times at constant prices. China’s life expectancy has increased from 35 years in 1949 to 77 years in 2018, higher than the world’s average of 72 years. The living conditions of the Chinese people have been greatly improved. China’s rural population living under the current poverty line decreased from 770 million in 1978 to 16.6 million in 2018. China has established a preliminary social security system covering the largest population in the world. China was one of the poorest and most backward countries in 1949, now it is the second largest economy in the world.

How has China scored remarkable accomplishments? First, the right path of development. The choice of path is critical to the successful development of a country. China has found and will continue on the right path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, which is the ultimate reason for China’s success over the past 70 years. As a vast country with nearly 1.4 billion people, China has no experience of modernization to borrow from in history. It has to blaze its own path. Second, steadfast leadership. The Communist Party of China (CPC) is China’s core leadership, ruling the country for long and supported by the people. China’s success over the past 70 years boils down to the CPC’s leadership. Due to China’s vast territory and complicated national conditions, the governance of China is uniquely difficult. Without centralized, unified and firm leadership, China would have tended towards division and disintegration and caused widespread chaos beyond its own borders.

Third, the industrious people. A large country with huge population, China cannot achieve prosperity by asking for assistance and waiting. The only option is hard work. China relied on the solid and unremitting efforts of generations of Chinese people, relied on fulfilling its own responsibility in good times and in adversity, without exporting or shifting problems elsewhere, and without seeking development by trading under coercion or exploiting other countries.

Over the past 70 years, China has defused many risks and overcome many challenges, and marched forward step after step.

The Chinese nation has risen and become prosperous, China’s development path will look on brighter and brighter prospects as time moves on. China has entered a new era of development, which also constitutes even greater opportunity for Nigeria and the world.

China’s All-round opening up creates more opportunities. China pursues a mutually beneficial strategy of opening up and strives to open up wider. It is not only “the world’s factory”, but also a global market.

With a population of nearly 1.4 billion and a middle-income group of 400 million, China has the largest market in the world. Its huge consumer demand provides an enormous market for countries all over the world. In the coming 15 years, China’s imports of goods and services are expected to exceed US$30 trillion and US$10 trillion.

Owing to the initiative of Chinese President Xi Jinping, the China

A LARGE COUNTRY WITH HUGE POPULATION, CHINA CANNOT ACHIEVE PROSPERITY BY ASKING FOR ASSISTANCE AND WAITING. THE ONLY OPTION IS HARD WORK. CHINA RELIED ON THE SOLID AND UNREMITTING EFFORTS OF GENERATIONS OF CHINESE PEOPLE, RELIED ON FULFILLING ITS OWN RESPONSIBILITY IN GOOD TIMES AND IN ADVERSITY, WITHOUT EXPORTING OR SHIFTING PROBLEMS ELSEWHERE

International Import Expo (CIIE) was launched in Shanghai in 2018, aiming at giving firm support to trade liberalization and economic globalization and actively opening the Chinese market to the world.

The second session of CIIE will be held from 5th to 10th November in Shanghai. We welcome more and more Nigerian companies could utilize this channel to explore the Chinese market.

China-initiated cooperative mechanisms boost dynamic growth.

China has benefited from the international community for its development, and it has never forgotten to provide it with more and better public goods in return. The most convincing mechanism is the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) which is an economic cooperation initiative proposed in 2013 by President Xi and is aiming at exploring new driving force for the world economy and building a new platform for world economic cooperation. The BRI originated in China, but the opportunities and achievements belong to the whole world. We are pleased to see that in Africa, the African Union and 39 African countries have already signed documents on BRI cooperation with China. We stand ready to strengthen comprehensive cooperation with the African countries in jointly building the Belt and Road to share the win-win outcomes.

China’s development provides experience and reference. There is no such thing as one single path or model that is universally applicable. Whether the path of a country is the right one depends on whether this path can solve the historic and practical problems facing the country, whether it can improve people’s wellbeing, and whether it can win the recognition and support of the people.

China respects the different paths chosen by other countries. It does not “import” foreign models, nor “export” the Chinese model, and will never require other countries to replicate its practices. We will continue to contribute wisdom and strength to global issues including poverty alleviation and reduction, disease prevention and control, and refugee relief, letting the sunlight of common development dispel the shadow of poverty and backwardness and illuminate a future of shared prosperity.

The world is undergoing a level of profound change that has not been seen in a hundred years. The rise of China, Nigeria and other emerging market and developing countries is fundamentally altering the international structures of power. Under this great transformation, China and Africa have a common fate. China is the largest developing country in the world. Nigeria is the largest developing country in Africa. And Africa is the continent with the largest number of developing countries. Both Nigeria and China are new forces in this great transformation, who bear similar historical experiences, development tasks and political aspirations, and have formed a very close community with a shared future.

Only through mutually beneficial cooperation and common development can we make significant and sustainable achievements that are beneficial to all. Some countries are getting richer while others are becoming poorer, which makes it impossible to maintain lasting peace and prosperity around the world. Just as President Muhammadu Buhari incisively points out in his statement delivered at the general debate of the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York last month, “A developed Africa will not be antagonistic to industrialized countries but will become friends and partners in prosperity, security and development. A prosperous Africa will mean greater prosperity for the rest of the world. A poor Africa will be a drag on the rest of the world”.

China is ready to join hands with Nigeria, through pursuing high-quality BRI cooperation and through the implementation the outcomes of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Beijing Summit, to build up a prosperous world and bring greater benefits to our peoples and the world.

Dr. Pingjian is the Ambassador of China to Nigeria

A SHOWDOWN LOOMS Abiodun Komolafe enjoins leaders to put the people first

T

he 14th Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II recently told a moving story of how a mother watched her sick child die while waiting to ask the Emir for financial assistance, because she could not afford to buy prescribed drugs of N3000.00. Since “he who feels it knows it”, the ‘Aristocratic banker’ was overwhelmed, and the croaky, breaking voice of the eminently affable Emir, betrayed his emotions!

Well, Emir Sanusi’s address to the United Nation’s meeting on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has been appropriately documented for posterity. However, Nigerians ought to salute his courage for identifying with the downtrodden and appreciating the dilemma and the plight of the poor in the society! Furthermore, that the Emir could muster enough courage to apologize to Nigerians for any ‘unintended consequences’ of the classical, free market policies he pushed during his tenure as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) reveals the enormous social capital ascribed to his social status, the purity of nobility, and his sincere love for humanity.

Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the onetime CBN

Governor, ruled Nigeria’s economic firmament, believing in the classical, neo-liberal macroeconomic philosophy, only to discover later that those theories were designed to keep us perpetually in the valley of socio-economic backwardness. However, Sanusi has blazed the trail by being blunt in expressing his regrets, and firmly calling for a paradigm shift in our applied economic theories, and an overhaul of our public administration. This is indeed the dawn of a new era in public leadership. It has not always been like this. At least, that is what a synoptic view of past leadership in the country reveals.

That said, it must not be lost on Nigerians that Sanusi’s argument is how we must seek the prosperity of the average Nigerian for peace that is contingent on the prosperity of the citizenry to reign in the land. It is instructive to note that Sanusi is now an Emir, a royal father. So, he has his domain to worry about! As an Emir, he also has multiple roles to play. He is a respected Islamic scholar and a religious priest whose pronouncements are weighty. In the political spheres, he is the father for everybody in Kano and its environs. He is a banker, nobleman and

public analyst. He is a father and a husband. He is an uncle to some people; and a cousin to others.

So, the man has a lot on his plate; and uneasy lies the head that wears the crown!

Like Karl Marx, Sanusi has spoken about how deep our challenges are. He has also prophesied what is likely to happen to us if certain things are not done. He has challenged the elites of this country who are currently standing aloof or pretending not to see the obvious fact that the country has for some time been haemorrhaging.

He has also drawn their attention to the fact that their being rich is also defined by the existence of the country; and that, if the country is no longer there, the definition of who they are will have to be reconfigured.

Basically, the truth about democracy is that, no matter the politics of the government in power, the people must come first. Again, this is where the current actors on the political scene must learn to be faithful to their calling. It is a shame that, every year, the first thing they fight for is their personal budget or those things that will accrue to them. If they are not careful, it will get to a stage where there will be no budget to fight for.

This is not a prediction of doom. The truth is: if those who are privileged now don’t begin to attend to the needs of the society, it will get to a stage whereby the dignity and the honour, which their positions attract, will disappear. For example, a senator is supposed to be somebody who is revered in the society. But, by the time poverty makes the people to look at him with suspicion – as somebody who has flashy cars, owns palatial buildings and lives large, then, the society is in for a big trouble. So, it’s time the political class keyed into Sanusi’s optimism by locating the algorithms that Nigeria needs with a view to understanding the mechanics of governance in a way that will take Sanusi’s worries seriously before things get worse.

Finally, Sanusi has a word for the recalcitrant leaders: “They call you ‘Rankadede’ now. In a couple of years, they will throw stones at you.”

The question is: are we going to wait till people start stoning people, which, of course, can be likened to a point of no return? Well, Sierra Leone (1991) and Ivory Coast (2000) have eloquently spoken to the options before us!

Komolafe wrote from Ijebu-Jesa, Osun State

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EDITORIAL MILITARY INCURSION INTO CIVIC SPACE The army’s ‘operation positive identification’ will infringe on civil liberties

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he recent announcement by the Nigerian army of a nationwide “Operation Positive Identification” (OPI) has once again highlighted the precarious nature of our democracy. According to the directive by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Buratai, from 1st November to 23rd December 2019, Nigerians should move about with “legitimate means of identification such as National Identification Card, Voters Registration Card, Drivers’ Licence and International Passport or other valid official identification”.

To the extent that section 41(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) guarantees the right to freedom of movement, this curious decision to subject law abiding citizens to personal identification in the course of moving about within the country is not only illegal, it is unprecedented. More disturbing is that it has presented a ready excuse for all manner of abuse by IT IS NECESSARY TO POINT soldiers who are now OUT THAT THE MOST practically licensed to EFFECTIVE SECURITY abridge the rights of OPERATIONS ARE innocent Nigerians.

The justification CARRIED OUT QUIETLY for this affront on AND CLANDESTINELY the law by the army is that the exercise, which will last almost two months, is “to check out for bandits, kidnappers, armed robbers, ethnic militia, cattle rustlers as well as other sundry crimes across the various regions of Nigeria.” But there are many fundamental questions arising from this declaration.

In a democracy, why would internal civil security issues and operations be in the hands of the army?

Even if there is a need for troops to be deployed in the streets for some specialised civil action, should the directive not emanate from the minister of defence rather than the army chief? Was this statement authorised by the president? How precisely will soldiers ‘check out’ the sundry cartel of criminal gangs? What happens to people in the rural areas who have no

Letters to the Editor

official means of identification?

Whatever may be the weakness of the police force in Nigeria today, it remains the constitutionally authorised institution to deal with internal security and the military can only be co-opted, where and when necessary. The federal government, specifically President Muhammadu Buhari, therefore has a responsibility to reassert the civil essence of this democracy. Unless that is done, we degenerate into a regimental enclave and these routine infringements on civil liberty become axiomatic.

W

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.

DIRI DOUYE ‘SVISION FOR BAYELSA

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ntense has always been Senator Diri Douye prayers for one Bayelsa; and fervent has been his hope for a united Ijaw nation. Diri Douye believes clearly that the Bayelsa strength is in its diversity, and that they are greater together than apart. It is the vision of Diri Douye that the people of Bayelsa State get determined to keep standing on a solid rock of great expectations for a united Bayelsa enwrapped in greatness and interethnic understanding.

Even with the beehive of hate we see with our eyes; and the unrelenting splatter of mean words our ears hear from the mouth of scapegraces in our midst; unrattled should remain our resolve to stand alongside with him and other peace loving Bayelsans who unabashedly stand for a Bayelsa that sticks together. Douye prays that the day the people of Bayelsa will completely give up on prosperity and harmony will never come.

Diri Douye believes that our frustration with some who speak a different dialect in Bayelsa or belong to a different religion must not drive us to forget many of the same tribe and faith of our adversaries who have shown true affection for Bayelsa. Douye is of the position that diversity in any society ought to be a pathway to economic growth and buoyancy. He believes it is supposed to be a fostering force for progress and advancement.

Diri Douye wants the people of Bayelsa to reflect and take an example from Nigerian history at independence when

e are worried because this is not an isolated incident. It is a growing pattern. In the guise of national security, the military has encroached into the civil space. Yet, the continuous presence of soldiers in combat gear all over the country is a negative indicator to the civil populace. It erodes the sense of democratic freedom. It signals to outsiders that all is not well. The soldiers themselves get into the belief that we are in an emergency situation in which they can trample on the rights of citizens.

It is necessary to point out that the most effective security operations are carried out quietly and clandestinely. But the Nigerian army has in recent years formed the bad habit of staging these elaborate PR campaigns on internal security operations with all sorts of code names. Sadly, aside terrorising innocent citizens, it is hard to match the success of these elaborate security festivals with the ever increasing surge of criminal activities all over the country. That is why we urge President Buhari to call to order Buratai and his men.

What the authorities fail to understand is that the regimental and martial approach to internal security, the disregard for court orders and suppression of the right to protest can only lead to the enthronement of illiberal democracy of the variety we see in some countries, including on the continent where people may be free to troop out and vote without being availed their democratic rights and freedoms. That is not the road Nigerians want to travel.

a Yoruba man, Mr. Willoughby, was the accountant general in Enugu; and Alhaji Umoru Altine, a Fulani man, was also elected mayor of the same deep Igbo state.

It means that the Igbo must have felt at ease voting for men who did not speak their language. Douye said that is the spirit he prays to be embedded on every Bayelsans irrespective of mother tongue.

Douye is fully of the view that every part of Bayelsa can survive with its agricultural potential as an independent nation without depending on oil. But none of these little enclaves will rival the capacity of a united and reconciled Bayelsa. He urges all Bayelsans to rise up and save the land from a trajectory that will bring disharmony and failure in this election season.

Diri Douye prays that the people of Bayelsa to join hands with him and confront the truth so some riddle will be solved. He wants all hands to continue to be on deck, so the impact of government through job creation, abundant food supply, aggressive youth development and empowerment will bring great harmony and prosperity as he hopes to lead Bayelsa to greater height.

Diri Douye prays that come November 16, 2019 all Bayelsans with permanent voters card shall go out in peace and harmony, bearing prosperity and forward together mantra in mind to exercise their sovereign right so that greater height and harmony will not be a mere admiration.

Allison Abanum, Abuja

CORRECTIONAL OR TORTURED CENTRES?

R

ecently, both the conventional and social media were awash with the news of the raiding of some correctional centres across the North. It started in Daura, Katsina State where a rehabilitation centre was cracked and dehumanised inmates freed. In Kaduna State, the executive governor of the state, Nasir el-Rufai led a combined team of security forces to Rigasa on the outskirts of the state where an old correctional centre was closed and nearly 200 tortured and emaciated adults and children were released. This action has sent warning signals to other centres across the region which they hurriedly closed down. These stone-age correction centres aroused several questions: For how long have these centres been operating? Are the parents of these inmates aware of the condition under which their children are kept? Where was the government when all this was going on?

It would be recalled that correc-

tional centres have been in existence for decades, especially in Northern Nigeria.

However, in recent times, their mode of operation has been crude and fallen short of religious and cultural standards.

The centres were established to train victims of drug abuse, mental disorders and cases of juvenile delinquency among children. When undergoing rehabilitation, the victims are expected to learn religious and vocational education.

Instead of these, the centres have derailed and converted to havens of torture. While narrating their ordeal, the freed inmates recounted how they were chained, lived in crowded rooms which they also used as convenience, amid starvation.

Sometimes, they were sodomised.

Sadly, many parents believe that these so-called correctional centres are the solution to their wards misbehaviour. The government should continue to wield the big stick against these unlicensed rehabilitation centres.

Ibrahim Mustapha, Pambegua, Kaduna State

16

TUESDAY OCTOBER 29, 2019 ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWS

Nearly 90m Nigerians Live in Extreme Poverty, Says Minister Adedayo Akinwale ín Abuja The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Mrs. Sadiya Umar Farouq, yesterday said that 90 million Nigerians

live in extreme poverty across the country.

She made this disclosure while presenting a budget estimates of N44.21 billion for 2020 before the House of Representatives’ Committee on Internally Displaced

Police Inspector Shoots Wife, Self Dead in Lagos Chiemelie Ezeobi A police inspector, whose identity is yet to be disclosed, shot his wife, who was a prison warden, dead at the Ikoyi Prison Barracks, Lagos, during a scuffle and thereafter shot himself in the head.

According to the neighbours, who were reluctant to talk for fear of arrest, the inspector shot his wife dead after she allegedly threatened to walk out of the marriage.

The police inspector, who was attached to the Highway Patrol, was said to have shot her at close range and she died on the spot.

Apparently realising the magnitude of his deed, he reportedly shot himself in the head and was rushed to an undisclosed hospital where he later died despite efforts by the doctors to save him.

Another account of some of the neighbours was that the policeman came home drunk Saturday evening and engaged his wife in a scuffle.

His wife, who was said to be having problems with him over matters bothering on his overpossessiveness and suspicious attitude, had allegedly threatened to quit the marriage.

She was also said to have told her husband to stop coming to the apartment, which was

given to her by the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS) as official accomodation.

But some neighbours alleged that the scuffle was over allegations of extra marital affairs leveled against the woman by her husband.

A resident who spoke on anonymity said: “I was in a barbing saloon to have a haircut when we heard a gunshot. It was followed by another. We were rattled.

“We went to check and discovered it was from one of the rooms upstairs. But nobody could go near there for fear of the unexpected. We had to call on the attention of the prison authorities.

By the time they came, they found the couple in the pool of their blood, on the floor.

“They were rushed to the hospital but the woman was dead, while the man died yesterday.

Only God knows the height of provocation that led to this tragic act.”

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Bala Elkana, who confirmed the incident, said investigation had begun to ascertain the circumstances that led to it.

He also said the deceased inspector would be stripped of his rank, which means that all the entitlements will not be paid.

AMCON Boss Urges Senate to Make Arik National Carrier Chinedu Eze The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), Mr. Ahmed Lawan Kuru has urged the 9th Senate to work towards making Arik Air a national carrier.

Kuru said that this is necessary because the country needs major airlines that could effectively compete with international carriers, adding that Arik has the capacity to become the fulcrum to a new national airline in the bid to stem the imbalance where huge amount of money is repatriated out of the country by foreign carriers.

He said the time is now for the National Assembly to ensure that the government leverages Arik Airline as a stepping stone towards setting up a national carrier rather than trying to set up a brand new airline from the scratch, which would cost the federal government a fortune, especially in the face of the nation’s tight budget.

Kuru who made the call in Abuja yesterday when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial

Institutions, called on the National Assembly to reform the aviation sector, which would help local airline grow and attract many other investors that are eying Nigeria’s huge aviation business opportunity.

The AMCON Chief Executive also recalled how respite came the way of Arik Airlines, which was immersed in heavy financial debt burden that threatened to permanently ground the airline when AMCON took over and restructured the operations of the airline.

According to Kuru, prior to AMCON intervention, the airline, which hitherto carried about 55 per cent of the load factor in the domestic market in the country, went through difficult times that were attributable to allegedly bad corporate governance, erratic operational challenges, inability to pay staff salaries and heavy debt burden among other issues.

He said that it was this unfavourable situation that led to AMCON intervention.

“If AMCON did not step in at the time it did, Arik would have gone under like many before it,” Kuru said.

Persons and Refugees.

Farouq said that the ministry has the enormous responsibility of addressing some of the underlining causes and consequences of humanitarian crises and underdevelopment.

She stated: “90 million of the country’s 198 million population live in extreme overty; relatively high unemployment,at 23.2 per cent, with over 40 million unemployed or underemployed.

“High number of persons of concern, including over two million internally displaced

persons (IDPs); 230,000 Nigerian refugees in Niger, Chad and Cameroon; and 45,000 refugees in Nigeria); over 22 million persons with disabilities; over 14 million persons in one form of drug and substance abuse or the other; and growing needs of the elderly and other vulnerable groups.”

Farouq revealed that the ministry has six agencies under its supervision, including the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons

(NCFRMI); National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA); National Social Investment Office (NSIO); North East Development Commission (NEDC); Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (OSSAPSDGs); and National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP).

She added that the Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Departments were moved from the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development with their

personnel, policies, programmes and projects to her ministry.

Farouq noted that she required maximum support and cooperation of the committee to be able to address the humanitarian crisis in the country.

The minister emphasised that the proposed budget for the year 2020 would enable the ministry and relevant agencies to intervene in areas that would stabilise IDPs, refugees and other persons of concern (POCs) in Nigeria and beyond.

150 HEARTY CHEERS…

L-R: Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Lagos, Most Rev. Ayo Olawuyi; Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu; Bishop of Ereko Methodist Cathedral, Rt. Rev. Joshua Adeogun; and Secretary of the conference, Methodist Church Nigeria, Rt. Rev. Michael Akinwale, during the 150th Anniversary Fund Raising and Dinner of Ereko Methodist Cathedral in Lagos… weekend

APC Accuses PDP, Atiku of Fresh Plot to Malign Supreme Court Justices Adedayo Akinwale ín Abuja The All Progressives Congress (APC) has raised the alarm over alleged sinister plot by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar to malign Supreme Court Justices using foreign media organisations ahead of the hearings of the Supreme Court on the 2019 presidential election petition.

The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mallam Lanre Issa-

Onilu, while addressing a press conference in Abuja yesterday, also alleged that PDP had made up its mind to pursue a destructive agenda against Nigeria for the next four years.

According to him, “This is no longer opposition politics.

It is an unpatriotic agenda by people who do not mean well for their country. It is important we continue to alert Nigerian to the devious plan of the PDP.” He noted that the judiciary is an important institution and its

integrity cannot be subjected to political machinations, stressing that it is the responsibility of every truly patriotic Nigerian to rise against the PDP to ensure they do not succeed in undermining the corporate existence of the country.

But in a swift response, the National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Kola Ologbodiyan, described the ruling party’s allegation as ‘’irresponsible’’, saying the party will formally respond to issues today.

But the ruling party insisted that, “among the columnists that have been contracted to make spurious and false publications include an American lawyer who served in the Ronald Reagan administration and writes articles in several notable foreign newspapers.”

The party alleged that the said US lawyer had written several articles, all critical of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

Akeredolu: Over Four MillionYouths Pursuing One Million Jobs James Sowole in Akure Ondo State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, yesterday said one of the major problems facing the youths in the country is unemployment, as over four million youths are struggling to get jobs meant for one million persons very year.

Akeredolu stated this in Akure, Ondo State capital, at the opening of a three-day training organised

by the Ministry of Youth and Social Development in conjunction with the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The governor, who was represented by his Deputy, Hon Agboola Ajayi, said one of the core values of his cardinal action plan as a government was human capital development, being the foundation of the socio-economic growth of

the state.

About 360 persons are participating in the training on different business enterprise which started yesterday.

According to Akeredolu, “As our administration is committed to sustainable youth empowerment, this three-day capacity building training is intended to unlock and re-invent your creative potential and provide another opportunity for you to either start or scale up

your existing businesses.

“We cannot pretend to be unaware of the teething challenges confronting up and coming young entrepreneurs, notably the inability to access the initial capital outlay.”

Akeredolu said the agricultural value chain business was significant aspect of his government’s plan to create jobs for the unemployed youths and to grow the state economy.

Aggrieved Edo Lawmakers Urge Buhari to Prevail on Obaseki Adedayo Akinwale ín Abuja Aggrieved Edo lawmakers have called on President Muhammadu Buhari to prevail on the State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, to issue a fresh proclamation for the inauguration of the state’s House of Assembly.

Addressing a press conference on yesterday in Abuja on behalf of the 14 aggrieved lawmakers, Mr. Washington Usifo, said that

it became pertinent to remind the President since he had promised to intervene in the matter after the inauguration of his cabinet.

Though, the aggrieved lawmakers claimed to be 14, only seven were present at the press conference.

The lawmakers claimed that Obaseki has done “manifest injustice to democracy,” adding that his actions were alien to the people of the state.

Usifo noted that Obaseki wanted to make a mess of APC after he had enjoyed the goodwill of the party and flown on its wings to rise to political prominence.

He stated categorically that Obaseki was guilty of maladministration as a governor and insubordination as a party member because of his second term ambition.

The aggrieved lawmakers recalled that President Buhari made

a promise to Bauchi lawmakers that he would not allow any injustice done to the constitution to stand in any part of the country.

Usifo stated: “Mr. President, you sent that message to us that immediately your cabinet is inaugurated, the first assignment for your Attorney General and Minister of Justice will be to look into the issues of Edo and Bauchi with a view of righting the wrong.”

TUESDAY OCTOBER 29, 2019 • T H I S D AY

17

T H I S D AY ˾ TUESDAY OCTOBER 29, 2019

18

POLITICS

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

Can Dickson Pull Off the Jagaban Phenomenon in Bayelsa?

Emmanuel Addeh ponders how the attempt by Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State to control all levers of power will impact on the fortunes of the Peoples Democratic Party in the November 16 governorship election in the state

Dickson

Jonathan

Cleopas

Diri

O

tion that he has not ‘forgiven’ those who have seemingly kept him in the cooler concerning political decisions in the state.

Not known to have come from the ‘get it at all cost’ political leaning, Jonathan has chosen to stay away from any activity leading up to the November 16 election, fuelling speculation that the Senator Bukola Saraki reconciliation panel set up to assuage aggrieved individuals and groups within the PDP may have hit a brick wall.

Jonathan’s action was not totally unexpected.

It was one talking point in the build-up to the party primary. The question that agitated many mind was whether the former President could sort out his differences with Dickson and the leadership of the party.

During last March’s National Assembly elections, it was the same standoffish attitude of the former president which many think led to the APC gaining major ground in Bayelsa East, comprising Brass, Nembe, Ogbia, where they won a senatorial seat, a House of Representatives position and a couple of state assembly seats.

He also reportedly bluntly refused to use his contacts in the military to cause the young officers deployed in the three local governments to halt the muzzling and harassment of voters by the security agencies in the last poll in Bayelsa East.

Though series of meetings were held between him and Governor Dickson as a precursor to the primary, negotiations appeared to have broken down irretrievably when they could not agree on the decision to back a single candidate, making both support different aspirants at the time.

In the end, Diri, the governor’s former Deputy Chief of Staff and Secretary won the

poll, while Alaibe came second and Keniebi Okoko, a businessman came third.

For Alaibe, who is currently in court to quash the primary that produced Diri, his major grouse is that the process that led to his (Diri’s) emergence was not transparent. He believes that some of the delegates, especially the ad-hoc ones, were not qualified to vote at the primary.

According to him, the eight local government chairmen and 105 local government councillors did not satisfy the statutory length of time after their election to qualify as delegates.

Reports also indicate that Alaibe who has variously been accused by his supporters of giving up his political fights too easily is now determined to pursue his case to a logical conclusion this time and thereby making Saraki’s job even harder.

Presenting a very popular candidate, it is believed, would have made Dickson’s ambition of being the go-to power broker in Bayelsa a lot easier. His choice and support for Diri did not elicit excitement when it was announced.

But the governor has said it several times that the ‘Ijaw Cause’ which he says is very dear to him remains one of the reasons he’s backing Diri, who hails from Kolokuma/Opokuma, the smallest local government in the state.

The governor also has going for him, his firm grip on the structure of government. In the last two weeks , he has appointed at least 100 additional aides, including Commissioners, Special Advisers, Rural Development Authorities Chairmen among others.

But with all the odds, not excluding the main opposition APC and its drive to claim the oil-rich state, Dickson radiates a rare kind of confidence or what his detractors routinely term overconfidence.

He blurts that he has seen even worse times.

He takes the defection reports with a pinch of salt. The governor adds that by the same time in 2015 when he won re-election, more persons had already dumped the party, yet he emerged victorious.

Dickson opines that the purported members of the PDP who defected to the APC are outsiders to the party, concluding that the defectors are elements within the party who were engrossed in sabotage against the party.

He said that most of the defectors who formed an opposition group within the PDP actually supported the Action Democratic Congress (ADC) in the last election while the rest refused to work for the party.

The governor in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Fidelis Soriwei, reiterated his position that the defections which he described as infinitesimal would not have any detrimental effect on the electoral fortunes of the PDP in the next governorship election in the state as shown by the general acceptability of the party.

According to him, the very few members of the ‘Restoration Team’ who left the party

are still in touch with the government.

“I can say confidently that 90 percent of the defectors are outsiders to the PDP. They have not been at the core of the PDP affairs in the state and most of them were the ones doing anti-party, the household of the opposition group within the party.

“A number of them supported the ADC in the last election while others have been on the fence. The good people of Bayelsa should note that these purported defections cannot affect the core of what we do in the PDP. “Only very few people who were part of the PDP have defected and they are still in touch with the leadership of the party because we are open for discussion, we are still reaching out to them.”

Agreeing with Dickson, the Bayelsa State Chairman of the PDP, Chief Moses Cleopas, said that the party was not under any threat from the opposition APC as a result of a few politicians who defected to the opposition.

The PDP State Chairman said that all those who defected were those who were readmitted into the party with the former Managing Director of the NDDC, Chief Alaibe, in November last year.

He said that Bayelsans and Nigerians would readily observe that only a few passive members of the party and opposition politicians mobilised

by Alaibe for the purpose of his election defected from the party.

According to him, the supporters of Alaibe whose original motive was to support him under the platform of the ADC and who were readmitted with him into the PDP in November are the ones leaving for their party.

He listed the politicians as Chief Peremobowei Ebebi, Prof Seiyefa Brisibe, who was Alaibe’s Campaign Director General, now alternate DG in APC, Chief Nimi Amange, APC Senatorial Candidate, Hon. Enegesi, Mike Ogiasa, Beinmo Spiff, and Hon. Tiwei, Orunimighe, a former State Chairman of the APC who came with Alaibe.

“The good people of Bayelsa State should ignore the orchestrated report of defections in the PDP. The fact is that Chief Timi Alaibe mobilised some passive members of the party and opposition elements to pursue his gubernatorial agenda. These are the people who are defecting.

“Alaibe’s supporters whose original objective was to support him on the platform of the ADC came to fight within the party and are the purported party leaders who are leaving. They all came with him from the APC in November.

“The PDP is stronger, more united and vibrant and as far as we are concerned, victory is a certainty in this election”.

The political atmosphere remains uncertain, with no clear prediction where the pendulum will swing, but one thing is sure, if Governor Dickson succeeds in this vaulting task, then for a long time, he will remain the political leader of not just Bayelsa, but the Ijaw people.

nce he was asked where he draws his physical strength from, which some of his aides complain overstretches them during activities involving field work, Dickson who he is a teetotaller and doesn’t smoke, jokingly told reporters that he does the ‘kind of things, you people do aside smoking and drinking.’

He exudes the confidence of a lion, king of the jungle and talks like a man truly in charge of goings-on around him. The Toru-Orua, Sagbama-born politician seems not moved by what scares others, at least, in the eye of the public.

Bayelsa literally lives on top of water, being about 70 percent sea, rivers, lakes and other water bodies. It is no surprise then that the former policeman chose Ofurumapepe (Ijaw for the ‘the great white shark’, which weathers the most difficult tempests in the oceans) as his political nick name.

But even the lion, which royally traverses the wild, sometimes encounters challenges, its greatest threat being the hyena. And the great white shark, which rules in the waters, encounters the killer whale, its most potent enemy.

Dickson’s name will not be on the ballot in about three weeks from now, when the voters in the state troop out to elect who will govern them in the succeeding four years. But he’s facing the next biggest task and perhaps, the most daunting since 2015 when he won re-election for a second term. That huge mountain is to determine who succeeds him and to take firm control of the politics of Bayelsa.

His biggest impediment, however, to achieving what is regarded as the Jagaban phenomenon, an easy reference to former governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu, who maintains an unyielding grip on Lagos politics since 1999, may not be the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) which has suddenly found its groove, but centrifugal forces from within his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Easily the highest ranking Ijaw politician today, Dickson has, by some of his decisions in the build-up to the November 16 governorship election, made enemies from his own party and unwittingly alienated others who are pissed by his rumoured push to control all the levers of power in Bayelsa.

From former President Goodluck Jonathan to ex-Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Managing Director, Timi Alaibe; from some of his aides who have already defected to the opposition, to seek greener pastures, given the governor’s purported statement that nobody will make millions in his government, interpreted, rightly or wrongly to mean impoverishment, quite a number, genuinely or not, feel disgruntled.

For one, Jonathan has refused to appear in any of the PDP candidate, Senator Douye Diri’s campaign trail, ostensibly bolstering insinua-

Dickson opines that the purported members of the PDP who defected to the APC are outsiders to the party, concluding that the defectors are elements within the party who were engrossed in sabotage against the party

T H I S D AY TUESDAY OCTOBER 29, 2019

19

BAYELSA/KOGI DECIDE 2019

CAN, JNI Warn INEC, Security Agencies Against Compromise Ahead of the scheduled governorship election in Kogi State on November 16, religious leaders in the state have warned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies not to compromise on their duties.

The religious leaders gave the warning while speaking at a stakeholders meeting in Lokoja.

They said that the rising tension in the state was an indication that all was not well.

The leaders insisted that the only way to avoid violence during the election was to create a level playing ground for all candidates and for results to reflect the wish of the people.

The state Chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Bishop John Ibenu said the lukewarm attitude of the group to the election was due to certain things that happened during the last general eletion.

“Some of the things that happened during the last elections actually discouraged us, but as elders, we have decided to move forward. We all know what to do and what to say, but the problem is with the implementation,” Ibenu said.

He said that CAN deployed

observers to monitor the elections but expressed shock that those trained by the commission to conduct the last general election were replaced. He also expressed shock that the INEC staff were yet to master the operation of the card reader machine, describing the development as unfortunate.

The clergyman said that the biggest problem facing election in Nigeria today was at the collation centres where he said INEC staff and security agents see “elections not as a national issue but pocket issue.”

He said that Nigeria was ripe for electronic voting, urging the the National Assembly to work toward realising it.

The state Chairman of the Jamatul Nasril Islam (JNI), Amb. Usman Bello, explained that the success of the coming election depended on INEC, police and the political parties.

Bello said that the only way to avoid violence in the election was to ensure justice and fairness for all parties.

He charged government to rise up to its responsibility of providing security for the people and work for peace on the election day.

Kogi Elite Movement Promotes Bello/Onoja Ticket The Kogi Elite Movement for Bello/Onoja reelection has predicted a landslide victory for the All Progressive Congress, (APC) governorship candidate, Alhaji Yahaya Bello and his running mate, Edward Onoja in the November 16 governorship election in the state.

Speaking at a solidarity rally in Okene, Kogi central, Chairperson of the group, Sofiat Umar said the rally was part of several activities mapped out by the group to drum support for the second term ambition of the incumbent, Governor Yahaya Bello.

According to her, Governor Bello has impacted on the citizenry through the provision of critical infrastructures, saying that a second term would enable him to consolidate on this past achievements.

Pointing out some of the achievements of the governor, Umar noted that the governor’s giant stride in securing lives and property is unparalleled in the

history of governance in the state.

She noted that as a detribalized leader, Governor Bello has ensured even development of the state in the provision of roads, water, qualitative healthcare delivery and intervention in schools.

Other achievements of the governor according to Umar include; youth and women empowerment, youths inclusion in governance, provision of massive employment through agriculture among others.

She urged the people to come out in their numbers on 16 November to cast their votes for the governor and his deputy, saying that, “one good term deserves another” Giving more reasons to support the reelection of Governor Bello, Co-chairperson of the group, Mr. Raji Adeiza said, the group had gone round all the zones in the state to canvass support for Governor Yahaya Bello and his running mate Edward Onoja.

Oshiomhole Promises More Dividends of Democracy for Kogi The National Chairman of All Progressive Congress (APC), Mr. Adams Oshiomhole has assured the people of Kogi State that the party will deliver more dividends of democracy to people of the state and pledged that all electoral promises would fulfilled.

Oshiomhole disclosed at the Kogi gubernatorial flag off of the party in Idah, explained that APC will not leave any stone unturned to ensure equitable distribution of projects across the three senatorial districts of the state.

The APC National Chairman called on the electorate in the state to vote the APC governor-

ship candidate, Yahaya Bello and his running mate, Edward Onoja in the November 16 governorship election.

Oshiomhole described Bello as a tested and trusted politician, who has performed excellently during his first tenure.

He said the party’s candidate has passion for the sustainable development of the state, adding that he would not disappoint the people of the state.

“If you know where this state was during the reign of the PDP and where the governor has taken it now, you will understand there is a need to vote for Bello for continuity.

PDP will Recapture Kogi, Says Secondus Stories by Ibrahim Oyewale The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has stated its resolve to win the November 16 governorship election in Kogi State.

The National Chairman of party, Prince Uche Secondus disclosed this while speaking at the governorship flag off rally at the Lokoja Confluence Stadium. He said that the PDP was ready to take

back possession of Kogi State.

Secondus explained that the incoming PDP administration will move the people of the state out of the wilderness and its current travails.

He called on the electorate to vote out APC candidate, Yahaya Bello, adding that the Peoples Democratic Party has a marketable product in Dr. Musa Wada as governor.

Secondus also called on the people of Kogi West to vote

overwhelmingly for Senator Dino Melaye to return to the Red Chamber of the National Assembly.

He added that Dino Melaye must not be allowed to go into oblivion.

The Chairman of PDP governor’s forum and Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson who spoke on behalf of seven governors called for peaceful election in Kogi State, stressing that election is not

war.

Dickson stated that the incoming PDP administration in Kogi will emancipate the people of the state, adding that Wada will promptly pay salary of civil servants and pensioners.

He noted that when PDP comes on board, Wada will not sack his deputy. He also promised that the party will form a broad based government to unite the state.

GO FOR IT

L-R Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole handing over the party’s flag to Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi at the flag off of APC Kogi State governorship campaign

Clergyman Tasks Electorate to Ignore Fear of Violence in Kogi Guber Election As voters await the November 16 governorship election in Kogi State, Pastor Joshua Ibitomi of The Apostolic Church (TAC) Nigeria, Ganaja Assembly Lokoja, has said that God will not allow bloodshed in Kogi State. Urging the electorate to ignore fear of possible violence, he encouraged them to vote the candidate of their choice.

Speaking at a church service in Lokoja, he said the church had been praying and fasting for several months to avert the plans of the enemies in the state stressing that, God has concluded His work to

protect His people during the exercise.

“If politicians fear God, I don’t think anybody will be scared of violence in November.

I am using this sermon to our our people in Kogi state that the forthcoming election will be peaceful. Nobody should be scared of coming out to cast their votes,” the preacher said.

Ibitomi said emphatically that people should put aside fear that the election might be marred with violence, thereby staying back at home, instead of coming out to vote.

The clergy also stated that, the will of God will prevail

in the election just as he admonished security agencies, the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) and all the political gladiators to have the fear of God, in order to prevent casualties.

He noted further, that the absence of the fear of God is one of the reasons there is electoral fraud and violence during elections.

Ibitomi also emphasized the need for Nigerians to rediscover their lost virtues which is the fear of God saying “In the past, people feared God. What we have today, is the reverse. Where

there is fear of God, none of us will be talking of insurgency, kidnappings, corruption or violence in our country. We now live in a society where there is no value for human lives. The people must change their ways before thing get out of hand.”

According to the Preacher, “If politicians fear God, I don’t think anybody will be scared of violence in November. I am using this sermon to enjoin our people in Kogi state that the forthcoming election will be peaceful. Nobody should be scared of coming out to cast their vote.”

Idah Rally Provides Auspicious Sign For APC, Says Ohikere The Secretary of the Media and Publicity Committee of the Kogi State 2019 All Progressives Congress (APC) Governorship Campaign Council, Dr Tom Ohikere has disclosed that his party was being strategic in the choice of Idah, the seat of the Igala Kingdom, to formally launch its governorship reelection campaign.

He noted that Idah is a major stronghold of the party and that the rally was an auspicious sign to show that voters in Kogi subscribe to Governor Yahaya Bello’s reelection.

He said, “You can see the crowd that thronged our rally and the excitement. The people of Idah are excited to see an administration, directly administered by Governor

Yahaya Bello and friend, Edward Onoja. That kind of amity in government is good. The contribution to the development of the area by the governor and his deputy are there for all to see and verify.”

Continuing his interpretation of the scenario at the commencement of the APC governorship campaign in Idah, Ohikere pointed to the presence of the leadership of the party as a good sign. “You can see the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, the Chairman of our party, Adams Oshiomhole in full spirit. They are impressed with the formidable bond and unity in Kogi State APC. The Vice President even commented that it is a model in reconciliation

management. That is indication of our commitment to work for the return of Yahaya Bello and Edward Onoja as his deputy, come November 16.

Other members of the APC NEC also came to support the campaign to show that party takes it seriously. And the people did not disappoint us. This is not the first time, Idah is always for APC. If we have Idah, we have the lead in the race, so we ask our supporters to keep up the tempo.

Market, communicate and share the Bello/Onoja governance brand. They have done it for the people of Kogi East, the Igala Unity House, the road constructions and rehabilitation and many other projects are there to see.”

Ohikere said he believed the synergy between Edward Onoja and Governor Yahaya Bello can work well for the development of the state and consolidate on the achievements of the first term.

“Every indicator at the rally,” he said, “shows that Kogi East has succumbed to the Bello and Onoja mandate.

Our people are captivated and inspired. Idah is taking the lead. You know the strength of Idah in the political equation.

I believe it is a done deal.

This government has always cooperated with the Attah of Igala and his council of chiefs, I have no doubt they will bless. That is why there is strong and surging APC membership in that axis.”

A

29.10.2019

WEEKLY PULL-OUT

KOGI: ONE GOVERNOR, ONE DEPUTY, ONE PRETENDER

Kogi State Chief Judge, Hon. Justice Nasiru Ajanah

Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello

Kogi State Deputy Governor, Simeon Achuba

President Muhammadu Buhari

Edward Onoja

2/DASHBOARD

29.10.2019

Powers of the Court of Appeal to transfer a Case PAGE 4

Osinbajo, Ogunbanjo, Okoro, Akintomide, Others, to be Honoured at 2019 Nigerian Legal Awards PAGE 5

Alleged Fraud: Court Adjourns Suit against Bianca Ojukwu's Estate Agent to Jan. 23 PAGE 5

White & Case’s 35th Anniversary of being in Nigeria PAGE 6

QUOTABLES ‘I think where we got it wrong, is where we started placing round pegs in square holes. If we had competent Nigerians running the country, things would not have got this bad......Nigeria can still make it, but, that is, if we survive the current threats to its future.’

– Professor Akin Oyebode, Professor of International Law & Jurisprudence

‘A career in Law comes with Responsibilities’ PAGE 6

‘Our justice system, is a system of injustice. Our criminal justice system, is a criminal system without the justice, because everyone is a victim.....

The system doesn’t work, and because it doesn’t work, it doesn’t deliver justice.’

– Boma Alabi OON, former President, Commonwealth Lawyers Association

COLUMNIST 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.

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

/3

The Coup Makers in Kogi State

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Negative Trend

ave you noticed the recent negative trend in Nigeria, where people, especially Government and its officials, do things that are clearly unconstitutional or unlawful, and then retort that, the courts (some of which may already be compromised in their favour) will interpret their actions and decide on them, when we all know that those actions are clearly and unequivocally wrongful, and should not have been done in the first place?

Let me break it down, further. If a man is caught in the act of raping a woman, we all know that rape is a heinous criminal offence contrary to Sections 357 and 282 of the Criminal Code and Penal Code Acts, respectively. Do we need the courts to interpret those provisions of the law, before we know that rape is a crime?

I think not. The provisions are clear enough.

In the same vein, I believe that Section 188, particularly 188(8) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) (the Constitution) is as clear as a bell - what further interpretation, is then required? If the allegation of gross misconduct is not proven against the official sought to be impeached and removed, no further proceedings shall continue in the matter - shi ke nan! I have always maintained that our Constitution is nothing more than decoration, and I stand by my assertion. I venture further to say that, it is a habit of Government and its officials, most especially, to regularly bypass and flout the provisions of the Constitution at will, to suit their own purposes.

Last Tuesday, I listened to a telephone interview of the Deputy Governor of Kogi State, Mr Simeon Achuba, and the pretender to that office, Mr Edward Onoja, and my conclusion is that, allowing Governor Yahaya Bello and his ‘puppet’ House of Assembly get away with this coup, rape and violation of our Constitution portends nothing good for our nascent democracy, and sets a bad precedent instead, if allowed to stand. On a lighter note, during the interview, it was rather hilarious to see that Mr Onoja seemed more than anything, to be extremely concerned that the interviewer did not address him as ‘Your Excellency!’, as if that is the most important issue in this unfortunate incident.

The world is watching, and what Governor Yahaya Bello and the Kogi State House of Assembly (KSHA) have sought to do, is to make a mockery of our Constitution and the rule of law, and show that, being the ‘political godson’ of Baba (President Muhammadu Buhari) (according to the Governor’s own Special Adviser, Kingsley Fanwo), his status supersedes the ‘grundnorm’, that is, the Constitution, and so much for Section 1(1) and (3) of the Constitution which provide

Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello

otherwise. Sadly, Yahaya Bello has made Nigeria look like a Banana Republic in the eyes of the world, once again.

Section 188 of the Constitution I suppose that, in accordance to Section 188(5) of the Constitution, the Chief Judge of Kogi State, Honourable Justice Nasiru Ajanah constituted a Panel to investigate the allegations levelled against Mr Achuba.

The Panel, subsequently, reported that the allegations were not proven. Accordingly, Section 188(8) provides inter alia that: “....no further proceedings shall be taken in respect of the matter”, if allegations of misconduct are not proven. At this point, the impeachment proceedings against Mr Achuba, ended by operation of law. The word “shall” in our jurisprudence means a command, mandatory, not optional. It follows therefore that, failure to prove any misconduct against Mr Achuba, must automatically have resulted in the cessation of removal proceedings against him, but, instead, KSHA continued with the proceedings, unlawfully, and illegally removed him. The purported removal of Mr Achuba without adhering to the laid down process in Section 188, is a nullity.

In the impeachment case of Governor Rasheed Ladoja of Oyo State - Hon Muyiwa Inakoju & 17 Ors v Hon Abraham Adeleke & 3 Ors SC 272/2006 (2007) NGSC 55 (12/1/2007), in which the Supreme Court upheld the decision of the Court Appeal sitting at Ibadan, Governor Ladoja’s impeachment was held to be unconstitutional, null and void, and he was restored to his position of Governor of Oyo State, because the process that led to his impeachment was faulty. Some of the improprieties/infractions (eight in number) cited by the court, included the fact that the Legislators had sat in a hotel (D’Rovans) instead of the House of Assembly, to deliberate upon the impeachment; sending the notice of impeachment through the newspapers contrary to Section 188(2)(b) of the Constitution, which provides that such notice be served on the person to be removed and each member of the House of Assembly. If Governor Ladoja’s impeachment/removal could be reversed on these issues, how much more something as fundamental as not meeting the precondition of the basis of impeachment/removal, that is, proof of allegations of gross misconduct, in order to be able to proceed further to remove?

Furthermore, Section 188(10) which seeks to oust the jurisdiction of the courts, is unconstitutional, and goes against the rules of natural justice and equity, by virtue of the fact that it runs foul of Section 36(1) which enshrines our right to fair hearing, and Section 6(6)(b) of the Constitution which gives the courts judicial powers to adjudicate on all matters between persons, or between

Edward Onoja

government or authority and individuals.

In any event, Section 188(10) cannot be invoked by those who have orchestrated the impeachment/removal, if they have not adhered to the provisions in Section 188(1) - (8) of the Constitution. See the case of Hon Mike Balonwu & 5 Ors v Mr Peter Obi (Governor of Anambra State) & 29 Ors 2009 LPELR - SC.233/2008; 2009 18 NWLR Part 1172 13 SC; Inakoju & Ors v Adeleke & Ors (Supra).

So, for those members of KSHA and the Governor, who may wish to rely on Section 188(10) as a basis to maintain that their action cannot be challenged in a court of law, think again, having failed to observe the provisions of Section 188 to the letter!

Section 4(8) of the Constitution, also bars the Legislature from enacting any law that ousts the jurisdiction of the courts. One can only rightfully conclude that, the purport of the Constitution is that, there is really no room for ouster clauses from adjudication by courts of law, especially not when the provisions of the Constitution have been flouted (though, Section 6(6)(c) of the Constitution ousts the jurisdiction of the courts in respect of Chapter 2 - Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy, which I have always said is wrong because it has created an atmosphere of non-accountability, on the part of Government).

Justice Nasiru Ajanah: Swearing in Mr Onoja To be honest, I was not particularly disappointed at the actions of Governor Bello and his ‘rubber stamp’ KSHA, who either do not know any better, or, more likely, do not give a hoot, because even if Mr Achuba gets justice in court, it will take some time, and this term is almost over anyway. So, if the plan was just to get Mr Achuba out of the way for election purposes, by keeping him busy with this drama, the plan has succeeded. At best, any unpaid salaries and goodies like retirement benefits that are due to Mr Achuba, may be paid upon his restoration, but there’s no law that constrains Governor Bello to select him as his running mate again.

However, what shocked me was Justice Ajanah’s complicity in this sordid affair.

Why did he agree to swear in Mr Onoja, knowing that it was unconstitutional and unlawful, knowing that there was no vacancy, knowing the decisions in the Ladoja and Obi impeachment cases? I had an argument with a friend of mine who happens to be a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, on the matter.

While the Learned Silk agreed with me that the impeachment and removal of Mr Achuba was unconstitutional, he felt that since the act of his removal had already been completed by KSHA, albeit illegally, the failure of Justice Ajanah to perform his

ONIKEPO BRAITHWAITE

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

“HOWEVER, WHAT SHOCKED ME WAS JUSTICE AJANAH’S COMPLICITY IN THIS SORDID AFFAIR.....THE CHIEF JUDGE WHO IS THE CHIEF JUDICIAL OFFICER OF KOGI STATE, SHOULD HAVE RECUSED HIMSELF AND DECLINED TO PARTAKE IN THE SWEARING IN CEREMONY, CITING SECTIONS 188(8) AND 9 PART 1 5TH SCHEDULE TO THE CONSTITUTION, AND THE AUTHORITIES WHICH I HAVE MENTIONED ABOVE, IN SUPPORT OF HIS DECISION” constitutional role of swearing in a Deputy Governor (Section 185(2) of the Constitution), would have been tantamount to his Lordship disobeying Section 185(2), and also, descending into the arena (in favour of Mr Achuba). I disagree.

For one, Section 9 Part 1 Fifth Schedule to the Constitution, prohibits a public officer (which includes a judicial officer) from doing any act prejudicial to the rights of any other person, knowing that such an act is unlawful. The whole of Nigeria was aware of the findings of the Panel instituted by the Chief Judge, before the purported swearing in – that the allegations against Mr Achuba were not proven, and therefore, any further proceedings in the matter would be unlawful.

It is my humble opinion therefore, that, the Chief Judge who is the Chief Judicial Officer of Kogi State, should have recused himself and declined to partake in the swearing in ceremony, citing Sections 188(8) and 9 Part 1 5th Schedule to the Constitution, and the authorities which I have mentioned above, in support of his decision. And, as for descending into the arena, if the matter ended up in court, the Chief Judge would assign it to another Judge, and not himself.

The mere fact that Justice Ajanah agreed to be a part of this sham, has misled the not so learned public as to the constitutionality of the whole incident, and caused unnecessary confusion, such as raising questions like: “how can the swearing in of Mr Onoja be unlawful, if the Chief Judge himself, was the one who swore him in?”. Well, the correct answer is that, it is unlawful!

Hopefully, this will not be the beginning of another nasty trend - Governors removing their Deputies unlawfully, after one disagreement or the other, since Nigerians are prone to picking up bad habits easily.

4/LAW REPORT

29.10.2019

Powers of the Court of Appeal to transfer a Case

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the parties the opportunity to be heard on the point. He argued that, this is against the principle of fair hearing and cannot be sustained.

Facts

ometime in March 1999, the Appellant and the Respondent entered into a contract for the design and construction of subsurface and submarine natural gas pipeline for transmission and distribution of natural gas to Agbara and Ota to commence on 15th March and complete on 20th October 2000. During the execution of the contract, dispute arose between them, which led to the termination of the contract by the Respondent.

Further to this, the Appellant instituted an action against the Respondent at the Federal High Court, Lagos Judicial Division, claiming inter alia, special damages for outstanding payment on work done with respect to the original contract and the value of completed additional works as agreed, as well as pre- judgement and post judgement interest. The Appellant also claimed, general damages. The court delivered its judgement, and granted all the reliefs sought by the Appellant. Dissatisfied, the Respondent appealed to the Court of Appeal and raised the issue of the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court to entertain the suit, for the first time. The Court of Appeal found that the trial court had no jurisdiction to determine the suit, on the ground that the Appellant’s claims were based on a simple contract. The Respondent’s appeal was allowed and by virtue of Section 22(2) of the Federal High Court Act and under the authority of Section 15 of the Court of Appeal Act, the Court of Appeal transferred the case to the High Court of Lagos State.

Aggrieved, the Appellant appealed to the Supreme Court in SC.333/2010. Dissatisfied with the part of the judgement on the order of transfer of the case to the High Court of Lagos State, the Respondent filed a separate appeal in SC.333A/2010. In its appeal, the Appellant formulated two issues for determination while the Respondent formulated one issue for determination, which the Apex Court adopted in its determination of the appeal.

In respect of the Respondent’s appeal in SC.333A/ 2010, the Respondent formulated three issues for determination which were adopted by the Court, in its determination of the Appeal.

SC.333/2010 Issue Having regard to the nature of the Plaintiff’s claims set out in the Plaintiff’s writ of summons and statement of claim, was the Court of Appeal right in holding that the Plaintiff’s suit is an action for damages for alleged breach of contract, for which the Federal High Court lacks jurisdiction to entertain.

Arguments Counsel for the Appellant argued that, in view of the provisions of Sections 251(1)(n) of the 1999 Constitution and Sections 7(1) (n) and 7(3) of the Federal High Court Act, 2004, once the cause of action arose from or is related to mines and minerals including oil fields, oil mining, geological surveys and natural gas as the Appellant's case, it is the Federal High Court that has the exclusive jurisdiction to determine it.

Counsel for the Respondent argued that, the Court of Appeal was right in holding that the Appellant’s action at the trial court was predicated on simple contract, and the Federal High Court lacked the jurisdiction to determine it.

SC.333A/2010 Issues 1. Whether the Court of Appeal was right in invoking Section 22(2) of the Federal High Court Act, and transferring the matter to the Lagos State High Court pursuant to Section 15 of the Court of Appeal Act, instead of striking out the Plaintiff’s claims.

2. Did the finding by the Court of Appeal on issue one of the Defendant/ Appellant’s brief of argument that the Federal High Court wrongly assumed jurisdiction in the matter, relieve the Court of Appeal of the duty to consider and determine the other 8 issues for determination canvassed by the parties in the circumstances of this case?

3. Was the Court of Appeal right to have raised, considered and ordered suo motu, that the matter be transferred to the High Court of Lagos State for determination, without affording the parties an opportunity of being heard on that point, before the decision was made.

Arguments On the 1st issue, the Appellant (Respondent in SC.333/2010) argued that in view of the fact that the Federal High Court had heard the case to finality, the Court of Appeal wrongly invoked Section 22 (2) of the Federal High Court Act and Section 15 of the Court of Appeal to transfer the case to the High Court of Lagos State, instead of striking it out.

In reaction, counsel for the Respondent (Appellant in SC.333/2019) argued that the Appellant’s cross-appeal against the order of transfer of the suit from the Federal High Court to the State High Court under Section 15 of the Court of Appeal Act was incompetent, by virtue of Section 22(4) of the Federal High Court Act which makes the order unappealable. He

Hon. Paul Adamu Galinje, JSC

In the Supreme Court of Nigeria Holden at Abuja On Friday, the 12th day of July, 2019 Before Their Lordships Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad (Acting CJN) Olukayode Ariwoola John Inyang Okoro Paul Adamu Galinje Uwani Musa Abba-Aji Justices, Supreme Court SC.333/2010 Between Dec Oil & Gas Limited.......Appellant And Shell Nigeria Gas Limited........Respondent (Lead Judgement delivered by Hon. Paul Adamu Galinje, JSC)

argued further that, the Court of Appeal properly invoked the said sections to transfer the case, without hearing the parties.

On the 2nd issue, counsel for the Appellant argued that, the Court of Appeal as an intermediate appellate court, was wrong in failing to consider the other eight issues for determination before it which were fully argued by the parties, after it decided that the Federal High Court did not have jurisdiction to hear the suit.

On the 3rd issue, counsel for the Appellant submitted that, the Court of Appeal was wrong when it raised suo motu the issue of transfer of the case, and decided it without affording

“...... SECTION 15 OF THE COURT OF APPEAL ACT......RELYING ON THIS PROVISION AND SECTION 22(2) OF THE FEDERAL HIGH COURT ACT, WHICH PROVIDES THAT NO MATTER SHALL BE STRUCK OUT MERELY ON THE GROUND OF LACK OF JURISDICTION...... THE APEX COURT HELD THAT, THE COURT OF APPEAL WAS RIGHT TO TRANSFER THE SUIT TO THE HIGH COURT OF LAGOS STATE INSTEAD OF STRIKING IT OUT......”

Court’s Judgement and Rationale SC.333/2010 The Court held that, the question of whether a court can entertain or exercise jurisdiction in a particular matter will, to a large extent, depend on the reliefs claimed, as endorsed in the writ of summons and the statement of claim. The Court further held that Section 251 of the 1999 Constitution concerns ownership and general administration of mines, including mineral prospecting and incidental occurrences like damages from exposure to mineral resources. Therefore, even though the contract was for construction of gas distribution pipelines, it does not translate into mines and minerals (including oil fields, geological surveys and natural gas) as envisaged under 251(1)(n) of the Constitution. The Court found that, the Appellant’s claims had demonstrated that what it sought was a remedy for a breach of contract of service and nothing else, and this was buttressed by the letter of termination. Therefore, the Appellant’s claim which was based on simple contract, was outside the matters specified under Section 251 of the 1999 Constitution which the Federal High Court could exercise jurisdiction upon.

The Apex Court relied on its decision in ADELEKAN v ECU-LINE NV (2006) 12 NWLR (PT. 993) 33 AT 54, PARAS F-H. SC 333A/2010 On the point raised by counsel for the Respondent on the competence of the appeal, the Court held that a right to appeal as provided under Section 233 of the 1999 Constitution is a very important constitutional right, that cannot be curtailed by any legislation. Relying on Section 1(3) of the 1999 Constitution which provides that if any other law is inconsistent with the Constitution, the Constitution shall prevail and that other law shall to the extent of the inconsistency be void, the Court held that Section 22(4) of the Federal High Court Act which makes an order of transfer of a matter unappealable is inconsistent with the provisions of Section 233 of the 1999 Constitution, and thus, void.

On the first issue, the Court held that, Section 15 of the Court of Appeal Act confers the power on the Court of Appeal to exercise full jurisdiction over the whole proceedings in an appeal before it, as if the proceedings had been instituted in the Court of Appeal as a court of first instance. Relying on this provision and Section 22(2) of the Federal High Court Act, which provides that no matter shall be struck out merely on the ground of lack of jurisdiction, and the Federal High Court had the competence to transfer a case to Lagos State High Court where it wrongly assumed jurisdiction, the Apex Court held that, the Court of Appeal was right to transfer the suit to the High Court of Lagos State instead of striking it out, and it made no difference that the case had been heard to finality by the Federal High Court, since it was a nullity ab initio, having been conducted without jurisdiction.

The Court held that, the argument that the court assumed jurisdiction wrongly, cannot be factored into the case as to deprive an appellate court from giving appropriate directive or order that the argument relied on Gafar v Government of Kwara State (2007) 4 NWLR (Part 1024) 375.

On the 2nd issue, the Court held that, where an intermediate appellate court correctly decides a matter upon consideration of one issue out of many, the Supreme Court will have no reason to interfere with such decision. The Court held that, having correctly determined the issue of jurisdiction of the trial court, the Court of Appeal had no obligation to consider the remaining eight issues.

On the 3rd issue, the Court held that, a consequential order merely gives effect to a judgement or order to which it is consequential. The Court held further that, the Respondent's complaint before the Court of Appeal was that the Federal High Court did not have the jurisdiction to entertain the suit, which the court answered in its judgement. What followed thereafter, was a consequential order transferring the suit to the proper court, which is the prerogative of the Court. The Court held that, parties were heard before the judgement of the Court of Appeal, from which the order of transfer was made, and there was no breach of fair hearing.

Both Appeals Dismissed.

Representation J. T. O. Ugboduma and others for the Appellant.

Mrs. Abimbola Williams-Akinjide, SAN and Another for the Respondent.

29.10.2019

NEWS/5

NBA Lagos Celebrates New Silks Akinwale Akintunde

FIDA AFRICA REGIONAL CONFERENCE L-R: Amina Agbaje, Hon Justice Clara Bata Ogunbiyi, JSC (Rtd), Regional Vice President for West and North Africa, FIDA, Victoria Awomolo, SAN, Asiwaju Awomolo,SAN, and Saratu Shafi at the 2019 FIDA Africa Regional Conference which held in Abuja from October 11-15

Osinbajo, Ogunbanjo, Okoro, Akintomide, Others, to be Honoured at 2019 Nigerian Legal Awards Akinwale Akintunde The 2019 Nigerian Legal Awards will recognise a host of legal luminaries at the biggest legal event of the year, which will be held at the Landmark Event Centre, Oniru, Victoria Island, Lagos. This year’s event will recognise the important contributions of eminent legal icons, Lawyers and firms, who have contributed to the development of business law in Nigeria, and who are leaving behind lasting imprints on the fabrics of Nigerian law.

Below is the Roll call of Awardees for the Special Award category for the 2019 Nigerian Legal Awards: > Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, (SAN, GCON), Vice-President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria will be recognised for his invaluable contribution to the development of business law in Nigeria, especially through his landmark contribution towards the attainment of the milestone of Ease of Doing Business, the promotion of transparency, ethics and good governance in Africa’s biggest economy.

According to the organisers, Prof Osinbajo has contributed immensely to the development of

law in Nigeria, both at the international level as an academic, democrat, legal practitioner, and the Vice President of Nigeria. His contribution towards reshaping the lives of young Nigerian Lawyers, will be recognised at this year’s Nigerian Legal Awards.

Similarly, Dr Sandie Okoro, Senior Vice-President and General Counsel of World Bank Group will be recognised at this year’s awards, for her tremendous contribution to the development of diversity and inclusion in the global legal community. An amazon with Nigerian descent, Sandie has made her indelible footprint in the global legal space, and today, sits on the Board of the World Bank as Senior Vice-President and General Counsel.

Other awardees at this year’s awards include Abimbola Ogunbanjo, President of the National Council of the Nigerian Stock Exchange and Managing Partner of Chris Ogunbanjo LLP, Cecilia Akintomide, OON, Independent Non-Executive Director of FBN Holdings and Fmr. Vice

President/ Secretary-General of the African Development Bank, Sola Adepetun, founding Partner of Adepetun CaxtonMartins & Segun (ACAS-LAW) and Chairman, Board of Directors, Standard Chartered Bank, Prof. Yinka Omorogbe, Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Edo State and Fmr. National Secretary to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, and Adedoyin Rhodes-Vivour, SAN, Managing Partner of Doyin Rhodes-Vivour & Co, will be recognised at the 2019 Nigerian Legal Awards.

The ESQ Nigerian Legal Awards, will also recognise the important contributions of law firms who have moved the African continent with their legal arsenal.

To celebrate the ingenuity of the various law firms, the recognition has been split in various categories including Law Firm of the Year, Managing Partner of the Year, Banking and Finance, Oil and Gas, Dispute Resolution, Private Equity, Real Estate and Construction, Capital

Market, Intellectual Property, among others. Of note also, is the honouring of 40 under 40 Rising Star Lawyers, who have been making giant strides within the Nigerian legal space.

The Nigerian Legal Awards which is convened by ESQ Legal Blitz, is the only platform projecting the achievements of legal players within Nigeria’s thriving business law community. The awards represent the beacon of honour and prestige, on the achievements recorded in the Nigerian legal industry.

Among the guests expected at this year’s event are; a team from the World Bank, the African Development Bank, Senior Advocates of Nigeria, CEOs of multinationals, supranational and intranational corporations, captains of Nigeria’s most prestigious institutions, and other eminent personalities.

The Awards ceremony will be held at the Landmark Event Centre, Oniru, Victoria Island, Lagos, on the 1st of November, 2019. Red carpet opens at 4pm, while the ceremony proper kicks off at 5pm prompt.

Resolution of Disputes: Institute of Chartered Mediators, Conciliators Inaugurated in Benin Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City The Institute of Chartered Mediators and Conciliators (ICMC) has been inaugurated in Benin City, capital of Edo Stat, with a charge to promote quick resolution of disputes among litigants.

First Deputy President of the Institute, Mrs. Margaret Nwagbo, stated this during the inauguration of Edo State Executive, as the 19th member State of the body.

She explained that, the role of ICMC is basically to promote the practice of arbitration and reconciliation, and professionals involved in the resolution of disputes.

"It therefore, means that, in Benin, we are to have a world class of professionals who will serve as Alternative Dispute

Resolution (ADR) experts," she said, adding that with the inauguration, Benin people can now have quick access to justice", she stated.

Also speaking, the newly elected Chairman and ViceChairman of ICMC, Benin, Mrs. Mary Itsueli, and Hon. Pascal Ugbomhe respectively, noted that, the body as presently constituted, hopes to have a Centre where disputes are resolved on a pro bono basis.

They noted that, since the body is a new one, it would do its utmost best to spread the message for people to know about its existence, so that they can afford themselves the services.

Besides, the duo pointed out that, the Institution is

involved in the training and management of professionals involved in the alternative dispute resolution of matters.

According to them, "The institute is an aspect of judicial process. It evolved through the years, to assist the regular technical legal jargons of the normal court administration, by getting parties to shift positions for quick resolution of disputes.

In a nut shell, it is about peace making".

Highlight of the event, was the swearing in of the newly elected executive members of ICMC. Those sworn in are: Mrs. Mary Itsueli, Chairman; Hon. Pascal Ugbomhe, Vice Chairman; Ehioghiren Uyi Osa, Secretary; and Sylvester Eremosele, Publicity Secretary.

Others are Financial Secretary, Celestine Omenota; Financial Secretary, Mrs. Josephine Imuekheme; Public Relations Specialist, Uyi Osa; Training Coordinator, Louis Ezomo; Assistant Secretary, Pastor David Ologhe; and Mrs. Mary E., Treasurer.

In her acceptance speech, the newly elected Chairman, Mrs Mary Itsueli, thanked members of the Institution, for the confidence reposed in the executive, and promised that she and her executive will honour the trust bestowed on them.

She said: "It is providence that brought us in today. We will honour the trust bestowed on us. I promise that we will take ICMC to a greater height, to promote the body”.

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Lagos Branch, last week celebrated 11 of its members who were recently conferred with the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria.

The New Silks were honoured at the Association’s monthly meeting which held on Monday, October 14, 2019, at City Hall on Lagos Island.

The meeting featured a Knowledge Sharing Session, during which highly acclaimed Entertainment Lawyer and founding Partner, Technolawgical - Oyinkansola Fawehinmi (popularly known as Foza), gave an insightful lecture on "Opportunities in the Media & Entertainment Space for the Nigerian Lawyer."

In her Lecture, Foza while highlighting the opportunities, also dwelt extensively on the challenges inherent in this relatively nascent area of legal

practice, and provided very useful tips on how to surmount these challenges in an effective and ultimately profitable manner.

Immediately after the Lecture, the Branch Chairman, Mr. Yemi Akangbe, formally introduced members of the Branch who were recently elevated to the prestigious rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN). These are: Ebun OluAdegboruwa, Godwin Omoaka, Doyin Rhodes-Vivour, Olumide Aju, Adedokun Makinde, Olaniyi Olopade, Segun Fowowe, Leslie Arthur Nylander, Emmanuel Adeyeye Oyebanji, Chimezie Victor Chikwem and Olatunji Abiodun.

While congratulating the Learned Silks on their admission into the Inner Bar, Akangbe noted that, their elevation is a well-deserved reward for their professional excellence and commitment to the finest ideals of the noble profession.

The new Silks were later hosted, to a lavish Cocktail Party.

Alleged Fraud: Court Adjourns Suit against Bianca Ojukwu's Estate Agent to Jan. 23 Akinwale Akintunde Justice Hakeem Oshodi of a Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja, has fixed January 23, 2020 to continue with the ongoing trial of Mr. Emmanuel Omuojine, an estate agent, who is facing trial for allegedly defrauding Ojukwu Transport Ltd (OTL) of various sums of money, totalling N180 million.

The Police had arraigned Omuojine, who was alleged to be Mrs. Bianca Ojukwu’s agent, on a 10-count charge bordering on stealing by fraudulent conversion, obtaining money by false pretences, and forgery, before Justice Oshodi.

According to the Police, Omuojine and others at large, while operating under the name of Omuojine & Associates between 2007 and 2010, conspired to steal money collected as rents from tenants, on behalf of Ojukwu Transport Ltd. The Police also accused Omuojine of forgery Re: a document titled “Re: Ojukwu Transport Ltd Properties Under Your Management”, purporting same to have been made by one Stephen Edeh, “Secretary” to Ojukwu Transport Ltd. The Defendant was accused of collecting the sum of N44 million as rent from West African Offshore Ltd on January 22, 2007, on behalf of Ojukwu

Transport Ltd, and fraudulently converting the money for his own use and benefit.

This particular property, 30 Gerard Road, Ikoyi, has been occupied by one Mr. Uche Obilor, who Dr. Ojukwu says has not paid the N12 million per annum rent since 2012.

The Defendant had pleaded not guilty, to the charges.

When the matter came up last week, a prosecution witness, Massey Udegbe, Estate Agent for Ojukwu Transport Limited (OTL), told the court how and when he was appointed as the agent of OTL. Udegbe who was led in evidence by the Prosecutor, Emmanuel Jackson, also explained how OTL took out advertisements in 2008 and 2012, asking the public not to deal with Omuojine.

The Defendant, in an affidavit in a related case, stated that he gave Bianca Ojukwu the rent collecte, for and on behalf of OTL. OTL Director, Dr. Ike Ojukwu, who was present in court, also alleged that in four years, Bianca Ojukwu has refused to make a statement, despite numerous invitations by the Police.

Dr. Ojukwu had, earlier in his testimony, reiterated that Bianca Ojukwu was neither a shareholder, Director, employee nor an official of OTL. Nor, was she authorised by the company, to receive money on its behalf.

Lawyer Appointed Receiver Manager in Keystone Bank Suit against Engineering Firm Akinwale Akintunde

been appointed by Keystone Bank Ltd as the Receiver Following the order of a Manager of H.F.P EngineerFederal High Court, sitting ing (Nig) Ltd, over its fixed in Lagos, a Solicitor and and floating assets charged Insolvency Practitioner, Mr. Gani-Gidado Abubakar has CONTINUED ON PAGE 12

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White & Case’s 35th Anniversary of being in Nigeria Jude Igbanoi One of the biggest law firms in the world, White & Case, marked 35 years of its presence and cooperation with Nigerian law firms last Thursday, at the Capital Bar, Victoria Island, Lagos. To mark this, the firm organised a series of events, including lectures, which culminated in a cocktail and an evening with clients and partners.

Some of the partners of the firm gave lectures on different areas that it has been rendering services to its Nigerian clients.

One of partners, Richard Wheat, spoke on arbitration, and why Nigerian Lawyers need to take the huge advantages which arbitration currently offers, especially in the areas of Oil & Gas, Mergers and Acquisition, Construction, etc. Fielding questions from the media, Mr. Wheat said the P & ID case should be a reason why Nigerian Lawyers should take the practice seriously, and get many more Lawyers to engage the practice.

Another Partner in the firm, Mr. Jason Kerr, told THISDAY LAWYER in an exclusive chat: “Obviously White & Case believes so much in Nigeria, which probably explains why you have kept faith with your Nigerian clients for 35 years. What gives you so much confidence in our country?”

“We first came into the Nigerian market about 35 years ago, but our interest in Nigeria, at least since 1953, has changed one or two things about the LNG. You know liquefied natural gas, which I am sure you know the country has abundance of.

If you look at Nigeria over the last 22 years, it has had its orders and its blocks put in place, but there has been significant international transactions which have been great for this market. This has given Nigeria a serious profile, globally. We, at White & Case, recognise that this has its challenges, but at the end of the day, its got some great fundamentals. Its got some serious business people, and its got very sophisticated legal people, and that for us, justifies our clients coming into Nigeria.

On Arbitration and the P&ID Case My colleague Robert, is our Partner on Arbitration, and he has been speaking on that. Arbitration is internationally recognised, and whatever seeming setbacks the P & ID case may have occasioned, it doesn’t detract from the great advantages in arbitration.

Significance of Celebrating 35 Years in Nigeria For us at White & Case, our 35 years of servicing our clients in Nigeria has been of tremendous importance, and we want to celebrate that fact. We have built many friendships over here in Nigeria, and we wanted to bring them together to celebrate those 35 years, and this has culminated in the series of lectures we have today and the dinner.”

At the party we had Ade Adeola, the Managing Director, Standard Chartered Bank, giving his views about the oil and gas market.

L-R: James Hardy, Partner, White & Case; Dr. Gabriel Adeoluwa Onagorowa, Senior Associate; Elizabeth Oger-Gross, Partner; Tolu Obamwoh, Senior Associate; Chris Czarnocki, Partner; Jason Kerr, Partner, and Judith Buchi Olloh, Associate, at the celebration of White & Case’s 35th Anniversary in Nigeria

We just want to say ‘thank you’ to our numerous clients in Nigeria for sticking with us, and the love they have shown us over the years.

The Future of hydrocarbons Mr. Jason said that, while the apprehension over hydrocarbons is understood, there is every reason to be positive about the future.

This is said because, Nigeria has the highest natural gas reserves in the world, and this is something to be cheerful about, as so

many countries still depend on gas for power.

White & Case LLP is an international law firm, based in New York City. It was launched on May 1, 1901 by two Wall Street Lawyers, Justin DuPratt White and George B. Case.

The firm has expanded beyond New York, opening offices in leading cities in the US and around the world, and it has practice groups in emerging markets including Latin America, Central & Eastern Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. It now has 44 offices in 30 countries, around the world.

AMCON Act Cannot Overide the Power of the Court to Grant Injunction, Court tells Receiver Manager, Others Akinwale Akintunde Justice Kudirat Jose of a Lagos High Court sitting in Igbosere, has held that, the provisions of Section 34(6) of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) (Amendment No. 2) Act, which was signed into law in August, 2019, cannot override the constitutional powers of the court to grant an injunction, in deserving cases.

The Judge, while ruling on an application for Injunction filed by Mr. Adedayo Mumuni

Shittu, seeking a restraining order against Mr. Lanre Olaoluwa, a Receiver Manager, AMCON and Knight Rook Ltd, held that the powers of the court cannot be curtailed by an Act of the National Assembly.

Shittu and his firm, More & S.A More Ltd, are 1st and 2nd Clsimants, while Knight Rook Ltd, Lanre Olaoluwa and AMCON are 1st to 3rd Defendants, respectively.

Olaoluwa is also the Receiver Manager, for Knight Rook Ltd. Mr. Shittu had through his counsel, Mayowa

Owolabi of Pistis Partners LLP, approached the court seeking for an order restraining Mr Lanre Olaoluwa, from preventing him from gaining access to his home in Victory Park Estate, Lekki, Lagos.

He had bought and developed the property where he lived with his family, before Mr. Lanre Olaoluwa forcefully ejected him and his family from their home, based on a judgement against persons who sold the property to Mr. Shittu.

AMCON filed an application to join the suit, and raised an objection that, by virtue of the

provisions of Section 34(6) of the AMCON Act, no court in Nigeria can grant an Injunction against the Corporation, in the exercise of its powers under the Act. However, Justice Jose, in granting Mr. Shittu the injunction last Thursday, held that, the provisions of the Act were unconstitutional, and nothing in an Act can curtail the powers and sanctions of the court, which extends power to all persons, government, authority and entities, such as AMCON. Further hearing of the matter, has been adjourned to November 6, 2019.

Legal Personality of the Week Folahan Adebayo

‘A career in Law comes with Responsibilities’ Africa. Serving on a platform created for young Lawyers and students to learn about international dispute resolution, was truly exciting. My experience, reaching out to law students and young Lawyers, and sharing my knowledge and experience in dispute resolution, is a priceless memory. I also had the opportunity of interacting closely with prominent international dispute resolution practitioners, in Nigeria and abroad.

Please, give a brief introduction of yourself My name is Folahan Adebayo, an international commercial dispute resolution specialist at Adepetun Caxton-Martins Agbor & Segun, a full-service, commercial law firm in the heart of Lagos, Nigeria, and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, United Kingdom. I am a graduate of the Faculty of Law, University of Lagos, and I have a Masters degree from Queen Mary, University of London, United Kingdom. The core areas of my practice include: international commercial arbitration and litigation; international construction arbitration, and investor-State dispute settlement.

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

Yes, I have had challenges, but nothing unique to the legal profession. The best opportunities, local and international, are highly competitive. I have had to be persistent and consistent with my professional and career goals, and I have learnt in my journey that, as long as you don’t give up, a door opens up eventually, even if that door was built as a wall.

What was your worst day as a Lawyer?

No horrors yet, getting tongue-lashed by a Judge happens from time to time. I guess my worst day hasn’t come yet. Looking forward to it though!

Who has been most influential in your life?

My parents have been the most influential in my life. They have taught me, in many ways, why unwavering integrity isn’t just a way of life, but the only way.

Folahan Adebayo

What is your most memorable experience as a Lawyer?

Most memorable experience as a Lawyer, is serving as a Regional Representative of the International Chamber of Commerce Young Arbitrators Forum (Africa, MiddleEast & Turkey) from June 2017 to June 2019.

I was one of two Nigerians appointed by the ICC in Paris, to take this position. It was an extremely remarkable experience, for me. We had dispute resolution seminars and conferences, in different cities across

Why did you become a Lawyer?

I observed quite early in life that there was injustice around me, on my way to school, in the market, everywhere. The military was in power back then, and I still have vivid memories of soldiers beating up civilians on the road, in Lagos. Sometimes, after the beatings, the ‘offenders’ were taken away in the trunk of their cars, to a place where I am sure, they received further punishment.

I found these scenes disturbing, still do, and I felt helpless then, I was helpless, and I thought, I could help all these people, if only I became a Lawyer. These thoughts sank in, and here I am today. That was about 17 years ago. However, I always endeavour to remind myself from time to time, that

I studied law not just to make money, but to make a difference. Its tough remembering that in Lagos today; you have bills to pay, but, I think it is profound, I became a Lawyer to make a positive difference in my society.

What would be your advice to anyone wanting a career in Law? Think about it again, it is always important to know why you are doing anything anyway.

A career in law is a major investment that has the potential to change your life, no matter how young or old you are. I think it is a career that comes with some responsibility, not only to your colleagues or your profession, but also to the society. You have knowledge, and knowledge is power. Ask yourself, what you want to do with this power. Is your goal a fat pay check, or do you really want to make a difference? If it is the former, don’t bother; there are easier ways of making money.

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

I would have become an Automobile Engineer. I love cars, still do. Sometimes, I think I chose law over engineering, because Math and the like, did not exactly work out well for me.

Where do you see yourself in ten years?

Chances are that, I will be assisting international construction companies and national governments, to resolve large intercontinental commercial disputes.

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TALKING CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY DR. MIKE OZEKHOME, SAN

SMS only to 08098898888

The Place of the President and Vice President under the Nigerian and American Constitutions (Part 3)

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Introduction n Parts 1 and 2 of this write-up, I discussed the importance of the place of the President and Vice President under the Nigerian and American Constitutions, and why the Vice President must never be seen as a mere dispensable spare tyre.

This is because, the Constitution has specifically assigned definite functions to that office. Today, we shall continue with the specific duties of the Vice President, in Nigeria.

Specific Duties of the Vice President in Nigeria (Continues) A review of the constitutions of some other countries such as United States of America and India, shows that they contain provisions relating to the Vice President acting as President, during the temporary absence of the President.

Actually, Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria is nearly in pari materia with Article 3 of the 25th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America. This is not surprising, as it is an acknowledged fact that, our democracy (including our Constitution) is modelled after the American version.

The main differences between the provisions of Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution and Article 3 of the 25th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America are that, there is no reference to the President’s vacation in the provision in the Constitution of the United States of America unlike the 1999 Constitution, and the fact that the officer of the Senate to whom the President’s letter is addressed, is the President pro tempore of the Senate unlike in the 1999 Constitution, where the letter is addressed to the President simpliciter of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

There is a similar provision in the Constitution of India. Accordingly, Section 65(2) of the Constitution of India clearly states as follows: “When the President is unable to discharge his functions owing to absence, illness or any other cause, the Vice-President shall discharge his functions until the date on which the President resumes his duties.”

Section 146(1) of the CFRN is silent on the tenure of the presidency of the Vice-President. It may be reasonable to assume that the tenure of the Vice-President’s presidency under Section 146(1), should be for the unexpired period of the tenure of the President who vacated the office. This conclusion, can be justified. In the first place, the President and Vice-President are elected on a joint ticket.

Secondly, provisions of Part I of Chapter VI of the 1999 Constitution relating to qualification for election, tenure of office, disqualification, declaration of assets and liabilities and oaths of President applies to the Vice-President, as if references to the President in those provisions were references to the Vice-President.

Thirdly, and more technically, the use of the expression “shall hold the office of President” in the subsection, is definitive. In other words, it connotes a reference to the unexpired tenure of the President being succeeded.

Indubitably, the 1999 Constitution is predicated on the principle of single executive. This is evident from the vesting of all the executive powers of the Federation on the President, by

President Muhammadu Buhari

Vice-President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, SAN

Section 5(1)(a). The Vice President, therefore, has no executive role except as may be assigned to him by the President, and as assigned by the Constitution. Nevertheless, it is indefensible to assert that the Vice President is an outsider in the government. The 1999 Constitution, unlike the American Constitution, has numerous provisions as we have seen above, which ensure that the Vice President is carried along, in the administration.

them. These Vice-Presidential candidates are not always liability, at times, they are assets who bring strength to the ticket.

Will this bond of friendship prevent him from assuming office in the event of impeachment of the President? Certainly not." Per Abdullahi , PCA. The Court went further to state quite unequivocally: ''Having regard to the Oath of Allegiance and oath of office stipulated in the Seventh Schedule to the 1999 Constitution and requires to be sworn by the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, he does not owe a duty of allegiance and loyalty to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria or the political party on whose platform he was elected to the office of Vice President. The allegiance of the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and he has an unreserved or unalloyed duty to defend the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as required both in his Oath of Office and Oath of Allegiance under the Constitution.

"Next to be considered, is the question of the Vice President breaching 'his obligation of one mindedness, loyalty, material trust, confidence and good faith.' This passage or its variant, runs through most of the questions framed for determination of the first defendant's counter- originating summons. This point was strenuously pressed or pursued by the first defendant supported by the second and sixth defendants, the Inspector General of Police and the Independent National Electoral Commission. None of them directed the attention of the court to any authority, statutory or decided case. I, too, do not know of any authority which creates a supine, single-minded Vice President, indeed, a robot. It is respectfully, to my mind, not the intention of the Constitution to create a Vice President with no mind of his own. I shudder to imagine what would be the fate of the Country, in the unlikely event of a President dying in office or impeached, and the Vice President had to assume office of the President. The only source from which one can glean the person to whom the Vice President, indeed, all those who hold their offices under the Constitution owe allegiance and loyalty, is the Oaths of Allegiance and the various Oaths of Office contained in Seventh Schedule of the Constitution. ' I have painstakingly reproduced both the Oath of Allegiance and Oath of Office of the Vice-President etc, and can find nowhere in both Oaths where loyalty and faithfulness and true allegiance is owed to the President of the Federal Republic of

The Vice President is neither a Servant nor Slave of the President The Courts in Nigeria, especially the Court of Appeal, have also done a great job in elevating the office of the Vice President beyond that of a mere servant or loyalist of the President, who can be removed at the pleasure of the President.

In the case of Atiku Abubakar v AttorneyGeneral, Fed. (2007) 3NWLR (Pt 1022) 601 at 637 Paras. D - F(CA) the Court reasoned: "At the stage of nomination for election, the presidential candidate who nominates his associate or colleague or companion can drop his running mate at any stage before the election subject to the relevant provisions of the Electoral Act, for any reason. After the election and they are jointly declared elected upon one becoming President and the other Vice-President, the former loses his discretion to remove the latter at will. The removal of the Vice-President, will then become subject to other provisions of the Constitution, such as Section 143 or 144.

"The bond of companionship which compelled them to remain together during election loosen, and they would swim to certain extent, separately. The interest, tangible or intangible of the Vice-President, vests and could no longer be so easily wished away, by either the President or the political party which sponsored them for the election. On his election, he ceases to be Vice Presidential candidate of the sponsoring party and becomes the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by the grace of the electorate, and no longer of the President who nominated him as his running mate and the party which sponsored both of

“I, TOO, DO NOT KNOW OF ANY AUTHORITY WHICH CREATES A SUPINE, SINGLE-MINDED VICE PRESIDENT, INDEED, A ROBOT. IT IS RESPECTFULLY, TO MY MIND, NOT THE INTENTION OF THE CONSTITUTION TO CREATE A VICE PRESIDENT WITH NO MIND OF HIS OWN”

Nigeria, who, in his own right, subscribes to the same Oath of Allegiance with the Vice-President and an Oath of office that is essentially identical to that sworn to by the Vice President. I agree that the Vice- President should have an undivided loyalty, but that loyalty is due to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and not, I repeat, not to Mr. President, not Peoples Democratic Party, who, in any case, is a stranger to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. If the Vice-President were to have undivided loyalty to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as postulated by the defendants, how does he defend the Constitution which he has sworn to defend in event the President's interest or desire is in conflict with the Constitution?. It is respectfully my view that, the Vice-President's allegiance is to the Federal Republic of Nigeria and has an unreserved or unalloyed duty to defend the Constitution as adumbrated in his Oath of office and the Oath of Allegiance." Per. Abdullahi P.C.A. The Nigeria Constitution, like the American presidential system, envisages single executive for which the President is the head and in whom the executive powers are vested. Article 11 of the Constitution of the United States, just like Section 5(1) of our Constitution, provides that "the executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States." The principle implies, the preclusion of a current vesting of the executive powers in two or more persons of equal authority. The Principle also has the effect that the legislative organ cannot take away from the President or confer on others, functions of a strictly executive nature: See Myers v United States 272.

US 52; Nowak & Rotunde, Constitutional Law, 6th edition paragraph 7.14, page 298; and Nwabueze, Constitutional Democracy in Africa, (Vol. 4) Forms of Government, page 76.

One of the implications of the principle of a single executive, as relates to the Vice President, is that although the office of Vice President is, unlike that of a Minister under the system, an elective one, he is not voted in a separate election, but, by the very same votes by which the President is elected. This is because, as already shown above, a Presidential candidate is required to nominate another candidate to run with him on the same ticket as mate or associate" for the office of Vice President.

I believe that, the unity contemplated by the arrangement transcends the election. I also believe and hold that, their relationship should be throughout their joint term. The position is as aptly described by Prof. Nwabueze at pages 78 to 79 of his book, cited supra, where he stated as follows: "It is not intended to suggest that the union (between the President and Vice Present) demands of the Vice that he should be a slave to the President, with no will or opinion of his own. It does not submerge his personality or individuality in that of the President, or make them two- in-one....As the President's chief adviser, it is his prerogative and duty, to discuss freely with him the policies and actions of the government, to point out any defects or errors in them, and the dangers to which they may expose the government. Nevertheless, having done this, the principle of collective responsibility binds him to all government decisions or actions, whether they emanated from the President alone or from the Executive Council...” (To be continued).

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK “We are a constitutional democracy. We must deal with things properly within the framework of the law, and then the Constitution.” (Jacob Zuma).

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Kogi: One Governor, One Deputy, One Pretender Kogi State has recently been in the news, for the wrong reasons. The purported impeachment and removal of the Deputy Governor of the State, Elder Simeon Achuba, has been described by some as, ‘constitutional rape and vandalism’. In what many see as executive tyranny, Elder Achuba was illegally impeached and removed. This is in defiance of the report of the seven-man Committee set up by the Kogi State Chief Judge, Honourable Justice Nasiru Ajanah, to investigate the allegations against Elder Achuba. The Committee found that the allegations of misconduct against Mr Achuba, were not proven, and pointedly stated this in their report. Yet, the Kogi State House of Assembly, ignored the findings of the Committee, and purportedly impeached and removed the Deputy Governor, allegedly at the instance of the Governor,Yahaya Bello. A.Y. Mohammed and Rilwan Balogun delve into the complex issues surrounding Achuba’s impeachment, including whether the Chief Judge was constitutionally correct to have sworn in Edward Onoja as ‘Deputy Governor’, knowing that failure to prove the allegations of gross misconduct against Elder Achuba, was fatal to the impeachment/removal proceedings

Illegality of the Impeachment of Kogi Deputy Governor: Ex Nehilo Nehil Fit Rilwan Balogun

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Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello

President Muhammadu Buhari

Kogi State Chief Judge, Hon. Justice Nasiru Ajanah

The Impeachment Imbroglio in Kogi State: Did the Chief Judge Act Correctly?

A. Y. Mohammed

T Introduction

he word “impeachment” has an intriguing etymology, when viewed in the context of Nigeria’s political experience so far, with that constitutional devise of controlling the excesses of the executive branch of government through the legislature in conjunction with the judicature, even though the latter has somewhat limited role to play therein. According to one source, the word “impeachment” derives “from Latin root impedicare expressing the idea of becoming caught or entrapped, and has analogues in the modern French verb empêcher (to prevent) and the modern English impede....”.

The intriguing aspect of its etymology consists in the darkly malevolent notion of “entrapment,” “prevention” or “impediment” (hindrance or obstacle), which seems to have become a dominant motif in the topsy-turvy career of impeachment proceedings in the annals of Nigeria’s political history, especially from the era of the Second Republic onward.

The idea of “entrapment,” “prevention” or “impedi-

ment” is amply illustrated and re-enforced by the recent purported impeachment and removal of the Deputy Governor of Kogi State, Mr. Simon Achuba, by the State’s House of Assembly. His purported impeachment and removal from office was effected by the House, notwithstanding that an investigating Panel, in a Report submitted by the Panel to the House upon the conclusion of its investigation, had stated categorically that the allegations of gross misconduct levelled against Mr. Simon Achuba, were NOT PROVED. Thus, a procedure which is basically designed to serve the public interest was, ironically, converted by the Kogi State House of Assembly into an instrument of vendetta, witch-hunt and victimisation. And, it was not the first time the country would witness such a brazen desecration of constitutionalism, by a State legislature. The political landscape since the beginning of the present dispensation, is replete with instances of such gross abuse of the impeachment power. The general effect of this, is to cast a dark pall of confusion, futility and retrogression in the path of the nation’s nascent democracy, to the chagrin of all who truly desire its success and are not merely after what they can benefit personally.

However, as if the brazen and audacious rape on the Constitution and the rule of law by the Kogi State House of Assembly was not enough, it was quickly followed by what those were “horrified” by it have construed (or

misconstrued?) as an even more devastating blow on the parapets of constitutionalism and the rule of law from a seemingly unlikely quarters, namely: the Chief Judge of Kogi State, Hon. Justice Nasir Ajanah, who, on Monday, 21 October, 2019, at Government House, Lokoja, administered the Oath of Allegiance and Oath of Office to a “new” Deputy Governor in the person of Mr. Edward Onoja, who thereby stepped (at least in the de facto sense) into the shoes of the “impeached” Deputy Governor.

The legal flashpoints to consider in the impeachment

“HENCE, NO MATTER HIS PERSONAL OPINION ABOUT THE WHOLE IMPEACHMENT SAGA AND THE DRAMATIS PERSONAE INVOLVED THEREIN, THE CHIEF JUDGE HAD NO POWER TO ACT MERELY ON BASIS OF A FACT WHICH, IN THE EYE OF THE LAW, STILL REMAINS IN THE REALM OF AN ALLEGATION”

imbroglio appear to be centred on the provisions of Sections 185(1) and (2) and 187(2) and 188 subsections (5) – (9) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as altered) [hereinafter referred to as “the 1999 Constitution” or “the Constitution”respectively].

The relevance of these constitutional provisions will be unravelled at their appropriate places, in this discourse.

As stated above, the investigating Panel in its Report had exonerated the now “impeached” Deputy Governor of all the allegations levelled against him. Nonetheless, the House still went ahead willy-nilly, to pass a resolution to effect his impeachment and removal from office.

Thus, the legislative hooliganism involved in the Kogi Deputy Governor’s impeachment saga, was too glaring to be denied or wished away. But, all the same, the House and its apologists, have continued to insist that its action was not in breach of the Constitution. No one agrees with them, except, of course, those with vested interests in the insane drama of legislative lawlessness.

But, should the same salvos of contempt, indignation and charges of lawlessness which have deservedly been hauled at the Kogi State House for its execrable conduct, be justifiably extended to the swearing-in of a “new” Deputy Governor for the State by the Chief Judge,

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Where Laws do not Rule, there is no Constitution Aristotle n Friday, October 18, Nigeria woke up to another theatrical “theatre” premiered in its political space, as the news of the impeachment of the Deputy Governor of Kogi state, Simon Achuba filtered the air.

Impeachment proceeding, is not alien to our nascent democracy.

However, the flagrant defiance of crystal-clear provisions of the Constitution and the political abracadabra perpetrated by the Kogi State House of Assembly members, made this issue attract more attention than ever. This was reported to have been justified, rather contemptuously, by the State House of Assembly after the submission of the Report of the Panel of Investigation, comprising seven members, headed by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. John Bayeshea.

In its findings submitted to the House of Assembly, it was confirmed by the Chairman of the Investigation Panel himself, that in line with Section 188(8) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) “ ....we hereby report to the Kogi State House of Assembly that the allegation contained in the Notice of Allegation admitted in evidence by this panel as Exhibit 7 have not been proved....”.

One would then wonder in utter dismay, the ulterior evil that befell the law breakers masquerading as law makers, when they still defiantly went ahead, to place something on nothing. This, I must say, that the illegality is horrendously contradictory and asinine as sentencing an accused to a term of imprisonment after he has been exonerated and acquitted by the same Judge on the same matter, at same court sitting. This, perhaps is the most audacious abuse of the power of impeachment ever recorded in the history of our troubled democratic peregrination!

The Straw that broke the Camel’s back The travail of the embattled Deputy Governor of Kogi State, Mr. Simon Achuba, started where in July, 2019, in a widely broadcast program on Channels TV’s Politics Today, he alleged that his salary and imprests had been maliciously withheld since 2017, in addition to other malfeasance allegedly committed by Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State. It is on this damning allegation, that the Governor threw caution to the wind, set the law in motion against his erstwhile deputy, thus, forcefully seeing to his eviction as a co-holder of the baton of leadership in the State.

Consequently, the State House of Assembly hastily galloped into assuming its constitutional role under

“THE QUESTION LURKING ON THE LIPS OF ALL CONCERNED CITIZENS IS THAT, WHEN DOES CRITICISING A GOVERNMENT FOR WITHHOLDING SALARY AND INDULGENCE IN OTHER MALFEASANCE, AMOUNT TO GROSS MISCONDUCT, GOING BY THE ABOVE INTERPRETATION OF GROSS MISCONDUCT?” Section 188 of the 1999 Constitution, and caused the Chief Judge of the State, Justice Nasir Ajanah, to constitute an investigation panel which adjudicated over the allegation; hence, John Baiyeshea’s Investigation Panel, which would later find the allegation levelled against the Deputy Governor, not proved.

The Tragedy of the Assembled Assembly Without mincing words, I will at the inception of this well thought-out opinion state that, the bizarre act of illegality and the sense of déjà vu of the gale of illegitimate impeachment of States’ Chief Executives during the reign of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, have been severely condemned several times, where impeachment was seen as a malicious axe targeted at edging out State Governors and others with different political ideologies.

Impeachment of Executive Office holders to wit: President, Vice President, Governor and Deputy Governor, is not a tea- party exercise or a weapon of vendetta. It is a strong, but positive political weapon, gratuitously bequeathed to the legislature in order to checkmate the excesses of executive office holders’ highhandedness.

Barely after the perpetration of the sheer political rascality and brazen abuse of political power, the House Majority Leader, Hon. Hassan Abdullahi further displayed, in a braggadocios manner, the premeditated loathe and malice behind the broadday-light robbery termed “impeachment”. In his statement, he accused the members of the panel that investigated the allegation levelled against the former Deputy Governor, of compromising the assignment given to them. In a bid to satisfy and complete the innocuous “assignment” given, the House of Assembly members attempted to assume for themselves power they were never given by the Constitution, to brazenly enter into miasma of the political cauldron and have themselves bloodied, thereby adorning themCONTINUED ON PAGE 11

10/COVER

29.10.2019

THE IMPEACHMENT IMBROGLIO IN KOGI STATE: DID THE CHIEF JUDGE ACT CORRECTLY?

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9

Justice Nasir Ajanah? In other words, did the Chief Judge do the right thing, in the circumstance? In the writer’s opinion, this question, which constitutes the main thrust of this article, can only be answered with reference, first and foremost, to the aforementioned provisions of the 1999 Constitution.

The Swearing-in of a “New” Deputy Governor by the Chief Judge of Kogi State: Was it Right?

The wording and meaning of Section 188, with particular reference to subsections (5) – (9) thereof, are simple and plain enough. As such, they do not to require any lengthy exposition, to unravel. It suffices to say that, the function or duty assigned to the Chief Judge of a State in relation to an impeachment proceeding begins and ends with Section 188 subsection (5). Thereunder, the Chief Judge is not charged with any other function or duty by the Constitution. Thus, as soon as he appoints the requisite Panel, he automatically becomes functus officio in respect of the impeachment trial. He exits the stage and thereafter, it is the turn of the investigating Panel to occupy the podium. By the same token, once the Panel has duly carried out its investigative assignment and reported its findings to the House of Assembly concerned, it too quits the stage and from that moment onward, it also becomes functus officio in line with Section 188 (7)(a) & (b). What happens thereafter – i.e. whether the impeachment trial will abate or continue to a logical conclusion – will depend entirely on the content of the Report of the investigating Panel. This is what provision of section 188(8) envisages by providing, in clear and unambiguous language, that “[w]here the Panel reports to the House of Assembly that the allegation has not been proved, no further proceedings shall be taken in respect of the matter.” But, unfortunately, the Kogi State House of Assembly deliberately ignored this constitutional commandment for the abatement of the impeachment proceedings, and went ahead to impeach and remove the Deputy Governor from office. This brazen disobedience and violation of the Constitution, cannot, and should not stand.

Not expectedly, the Chief Judge’s action in swearing-in the “new” Deputy Governor, has attracted a lot of flak from various quarters across the country. The general feeling is like: “Who should know what the laws are, better than him? Why should he, as the highest judicial officer in the State, associate himself with, and even participate in the perfidious subversion of the Constitution by the legislature and the executive in Kogi State?”

It is not too difficult to understand or even empathise with the moral indignation of those who have criticised the action of Chief Judge, as stated above. However, when the matter is removed from the arena of public morality or sentiments and brought into the furnace of the LAW and JUDICIAL ETHICS (where, in the writer’s opinion, the matter rightly belongs), whatever blemish or impurity which may have been attributed to the action of the Chief Judge, must vanish instantly. For by then, it would become clear that the Chief Judge, instead of being pilloried in the court of public opinion based solely on moral yardsticks and sentiments, should rather be commended for standing up to his bounden duty as a Chief Judge, and as an astute and committed agent of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria – all as he is always required to do, by his Oath of Allegiance and Judicial Oath as prescribed by Section 291, and specifically, in the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution.

Firstly, it is the bounden constitutional duty of the Chief Judge of a State to swear into office a Governor or Deputy (as the case may be) of the State, before the latter can assume the functions of office: see Sections 185(1) and (2) and 87(2) of the 1999 Constitution. I submit that, upon being called upon to administer the Oaths to the “new” Deputy Governor, the Chief Judge was duty bound to comply with the foregoing constitutional provisions. To refuse to do so, would have placed him

Speaker, Kogi State House of Assembly, Hon. Kolawole-Mathew

in the same category of violator of the Constitution as the Kogi State House of Assembly.

Secondly, by virtue of the provisions of Section 6 subsections (2) and (6)(b) of the Constitution, the Chief Judge had no option than to swear-in the “new” Deputy Governor. This is because, Section 6(2) specifically confers on the “courts” established by the Constitution for a State of the Federation the “judicial powers” of the State, while Section 6(2) (b) states that the exercise of judicial powers by the courts “shall extend to all matters between persons, or between government or authority and to any persons in Nigeria, and to all actions and proceedings relating thereto, for the determination of any question as to the civil rights and obligations of that person.” As has been noted above, the function or duty of a Chief Judge as an agent of the Constitution in relation to an impeachment proceeding, begins and ends within Section 188 (5) of the Constitution. But, that the duty is “administrative” and not “judicial” in nature. Hence, when the House of Assembly purportedly carried out the nefarious and unconstitutional impeachment and removal of Mr. Simon Achuba, the Chief Judge could only take note and digest this fact of legislative rascality in his personal capacity, for the constitutional provisions on impeachment confers on him (in his capacity as “Chief Judge”) no power to undertake “administrative judgement” vis-à-vis any action taken or not taken by the House of Assembly, which is but a coordinate branch of government.

The Chief Judge is thus, as powerless as any other person (except of course the aggrieved party) to do anything within the confines of the law, and his office as Chief Judge to repel the atrocious act of legislative lawlessness, notwithstanding his personal knowledge of same. For, at that point, what comes into play or should come into play, is Section 6(2) and (6)(b) of the Constitution, which empowers an aggrieved person to approach an appropriate court with a lawsuit seeking, in the language of subsection (6)(b), “the determination of any question as to [his] civil rights and obligations...” .

The Chief Judge, even though he may have had “personal knowledge” of the constitutional infractions by the House of Assembly in the impeachment brouhaha, cannot descend into the arena, so to speak, and make any value judgement concerning the constitutionality or otherwise of the purported impeachment.

Until the adjudicatory jurisdiction of the court is invoked via the provisions of Section 6(2) and (6)(b) of the Constitution by filing a lawsuit (presumably at the High

Court of the State), and a judex of that court has heard the case and pronounced on the “civil rights and obligations” of the parties, the Chief Judge’s personal knowledge of the unconstitutional acts of the House, cannot be transposed into the sphere of his official duty as a “Chief Judge”, which includes the swearing-in of a Deputy Governor (vide Section 187(2) of the Constitution), nor be used as a reason for declining to perform his “administrative” function of administrating the requisite Oaths to the “new” Deputy Governor.

For the determination of the question whether or not the House had violated or acted contrary to the Constitution falls squarely within the province of a competent court of law, where and when its jurisdiction has been properly invoked by an aggrieved party pursuant to Section 6(2) and (6)(b) of the Constitution, and it is not for the Chief Judge to determine, administratively, the constitutionality or otherwise of the impugned act.

Undoubtedly, it was this type of moralcum-legal dilemma that once confronted and led Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States of America, to opine as follows: “As President, I have no eyes, but constitutional eyes; I cannot see you.” In this statement, Abraham Lincoln was not referring to himself as a human being as such, but rather as President of the United States. I believe the same thing goes for a Chief Judge: he has no eyes or ears, but constitutional eyes or ears. Therefore, in his capacity as “Chief Judge”, he cannot see, hear or act upon any “disputed” fact which has not been judicially determined and pronounced upon between the disputants. It would have been grossly unethical for the Chief Judge, to start taking a definite official position on a matter that may eventually end up in his court for adjudication. And even when the matter does come to the High Court, he is not expected to assign the case to himself, but to another judge of that court, having been a partaker in the impeachment procedure. That is what adherence to judicial ethics, dictates.

Thirdly, there are also the principles of judicial notice and presumption of regularity of official acts. The relevant aspect of the principle of judicial notice is as prescribed in Section 122(1)(c) of the Evidence Act, 2011 (which enjoins courts to take judicial notice of “the course of proceedings of the National Assembly and of the Houses of Assembly of States of Nigeria), while the relevant aspects of the principle of presumption of regularity of official acts, are to be found in Sections 145 – 148 of the same Act. The presumption is to the effect that, all official acts are to be presumed as having

been done in accordance with the existing law, until and unless the contrary is proved. Meanwhile, the required proof is not to be had, by the mere reputation or notoriety of the facts that are being asserted to dislodge the presumption, but by legal evidence properly adduced and admitted in evidence before a competent court of law. The fact of legislative rascality as perpetrated by the Kogi State House of Assembly, has become notorious through the various news media available to the citizenry throughout the length and breadth of the country. Unfortunately, as at the time the Chief Judge was called upon to swear-in the “new” Deputy Governor, that fact had not yet entered into the realm of a judicially determined fact under the authority of Section 6(2) and (6)(b) of the Constitution. And even up till now, it hasn’t. Hence, no matter his personal opinion about the whole impeachment saga and the dramatis personae involved therein, the Chief Judge had no power to act merely on basis of a fact which, in the eye of the law, still remains in the realm of an allegation.

Fourthly, there is also the principle of separation of powers and non-interference by one arm of government in the affairs another or other arms. See on the case of Ume-Ezeoke v Makarfi (1982) 2 F.N.R. 113. Closely related to the separation of powers doctrine, is the “political question doctrine”. It is suggested that, these doctrines must also have informed the decision of the Chief Judge, to administer the Oaths of office to the “new” Deputy Governor. What the political question doctrine entails was explained by the U.S. Supreme Court in Nixon v United States 506 U.S. 224 (1993) in the following words: ‘A controversy is nonjusticiable - i.e., involves a political question - where there is “a textually demonstrable constitutional commitment of the issue to a coordinate political department; or a lack of judicially discoverable and manageable standards for resolving it ....” Ibid., at pp.229 – 230.

There is, in the 1999 Constitution, a “textually demonstrable... commitment of” the actual function of impeachment and removal of a Governor or his Deputy from office to the legislature, which is a coordinate arm of government to the Judiciary. Therefore, the best thing the Chief Judge could have done in the circumstance, was to maintain his position of neutrality vis-à-vis the impeachment process, once his own task of appointing the investigating Panel was done.

It was the political question doctrine that made the Court of Appeal in Chief Enyi Abaribe v Speaker Abia State House of Assembly Anor (2000) FWLR Part 9 at 1558 to sound a note of warning to Judges as follows: ‘The Court should not however, attempt to assume for itself power it is never given by the Constitution to brazenly enter into the miasma of the political cauldron and have itself badly bloodied, and thereby, losing respect in its quest to play the legendary Don Quixote de la Imanche. In its bid to embark on Impeachment Procedure, it is expected that the House of Assembly should not ride a rough shod of the prescription of the Law. Beyond exercising its judicial powers as conferred on it by the Constitution to ensure the equilibrium in the distribution of functions of the organs of the government, the Court should exercise utmost caution in invading the area that is prohibited by the Constitution.’ Ibid. at pp.1571 - 1572.

See also the case of Alhaji Balarabe Musa v Auta Hamza & Ors (1983) N.C.L.R. 229 (SC).

Admittedly, the Chief Judge of Kogi State was not performing the adjudicatory function of a Judge, at the time he administered the Oaths of office to the “new” Deputy Governor. Nonetheless, it cannot be denied that the above jurisprudential factors must have operated one way or another on his mind and swayed him into obeying the constitutional duty of administering the said Oaths.

A. Y. Mohammed, Legal Practitioner, Kogi State

29.10.2019

COVER/11

ILLEGALITY OF THE IMPEACHMENT KOGI DEPUTY GOVERNOR: EX NEHILO NEHIL FIT selves with the toga of potpourri of law- breakers, thus, losing respect in their quest to play the legendary Don Quixote de la Manche.

Without much ado, I would like to confine the coverage of this piece to three major determinants of impeachment proceedings with regard to Section 188 (1)-(11) dealing with removal of Governor and Deputy Governor, which is in pari pasu with Section 143 (1)-(11) dealing with the removal of the President and Vice President accordingly.

In impeachment proceedings, there are basically certain procedural ingredients that need be embarked on, and be seen to have been complied with.

This to wit are: the allegation must be based on gross misconduct, right to fair hearing throughout the proceeding and the decision or finding of the investigation panel. Suffice to say that, where there is a specified procedure stipulated by the law on certain matter, such procedure must be followed stricto senso- see Dominic Onuorah v Livinus Mbadugha (1984) LPELRSC. 68; General Sanni Abacha & Ors v Chief Gani Fawehinmi (2000) 6 NWLR Part 660 Page 228.

Whether the Erstwhile Deputy Governor’s Act Amounts to Gross Misconduct?

The bedrock of the ground(s) upon which an executive office holder can be impeached, is on grounds of gross misconduct. Section 188 (11) gives a lucid interpretation of the phrase “Gross Misconduct” to mean a grave violation or breach of the provisions of this Constitution or a misconduct of such a nature as amounts in the opinion of the National Assembly or the House of Assembly to gross misconduct- see also Section 143(11) of the 1999 constitution. In the unreported case of Anya v A.G of Borno State (suit No FHC/141/82), the Federal Court of Appeal defined gross misconduct to mean an unlawful behaviour by a public officer in relation to the duties of his office, wilful in character or acts which the office holder had no right to perform, act performed improperly and failure to act in the face of affirmative duty or act.

According to Professor Ben Nwabueze in his book titled “Nigeria’s Presidential Constitution” gross misconduct suggests a misconduct that is so revolting or outrageous to the moral sense of the community, as to undermine the integrity or credibility of the office and public faith in it, example of which is a criminal act which outrages or profanes some important moral or social values of the community.

In Inakoju & Ors v Adeleke & Ors the learned Justice of the Supreme Court, Niki Tobi (rtd) not only defined the phrase “gross misconduct”, but also went ahead to enumerate acts that could not translate to gross misconduct. The erudite law lord in the above case espoused that, it is not every violation or breach of the Constitution that can lead to the removal of a Governor, only a grave violation or breach of the Constitution can lead to the removal of a Governor or Deputy Governor, and that grave in this context, does not mean an excavation in earth in which a dead body is buried, rather it means in my view serious, substantial and weighty allegation- see the dictum of Niki Tobi (rtd) JSC in Inakoju v Adeleke (2006) LPELR-SC 112.

Kogi State Deputy Governor, Simeon Achuba

In the above case, it is explicitly espoused that, what amounts to misconduct are: interference with the constitutional functions of the legislature and the judiciary by the exhibition of overt unconstitutional executive power, abuse of the fiscal provision of the Constitution, abuse of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers, disregard and breach of Chapter IV of the Constitution on fundamental rights, interference with local government funds, instigating of military rule and military government and any other subversive conduct, which is directly or indirectly inimical to the implementation of some other sections of the Constitution. From the legal perspective therefore, it can be stretched to the length that, where the allegation levelled against the Governor or Deputy Governor is directly connected, related or traceable to the procurement of the office of the Governor or Deputy Governor, it will not matter whether the conduct was before the person was sworn in.

The Kogi State House of Assembly’s rascality was foreseen when his Lordship, Dahiru Musdapha (rtd) JSC admonished that “...the meaning of gross misconduct as contained in the Constitution in relation to impeachment proceedings, whatever the legislature deems “gross misconduct”.

This clearly is very nebulous, fluid and subject to potential gross abuse, and is also potential dangerous at this point in our natural or political life.

That is why the legislature should strictly comply with all the provisions as contained under Section 188 of the Constitution”. That is, the position of the law as regard what amounts to gross misconduct. The question lurking on the lips of all concerned citizens is that, when does criticising a government for withholding salary and indulgence in other malfeasance, amount to gross misconduct, going by the above interpretation of gross misconduct? Perhaps, the malice-driven Governor and his cohorts, could have adopted another tricky approach to vent his loathe for criticism, and at best, disdainfully instigate the party at the State level to suspend the Deputy Governor as a member of the political party. It can therefore, be concluded that the Governor and his disciples in

“THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE INITIATED THE OPAQUE MALICE, THE LEGISLATIVE ARM FORMULATED THE KANGAROO PROCESS AND SET THE LAW IN MOTION, WHILE THE JUDICIAL HEAD STAMPED THE ILLEGALITY, BY SWEARING IN THE UNRECOGNISED DEPUTY GOVERNOR IN THE EYE OF THE LAW”

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9

Edward Onoja

crime have grossly violated the code of conduct for public officers, thus, the actual gross violators.

Hasty Adoption of Purported Report of the Panel: Where thou is the Fair Hearing?

The timely adoption of the skewed interpretation of the Report submitted by the Investigation panel, leaves much to be desired. I dare say that, the right to fair hearing, constitutionally inured to every accused person, was completely obviated by the circumstances surrounding the premeditated adoption of the panel’s report. Professor Nwabueze rightly captured the theatrical show of shame that transpired in Kogi State and admonished that: “... once it was embarked upon, removal was predetermined whether the Governor was guilty of gross misconduct or not. Legality or constitutionalism had to be subordinated to political interest, in impeachment process”.

Despite the fact that the Panel’s report investigating the allegation completely exonerated the Deputy Governor, the House still went ahead to pass its prejudicial verdict. Then the question is “on what basis or rationale is the verdict based on”?

This is madness, pure madness, government gone mad!

The maxim is that ex nehilo nehil fit meaning out of nothing comes nothing. The malicious allegation and “trial” were sheer acts of vendetta which had to be put up and acted by the jaundiced power mongers, just like the Nollywood video, in order to shed themselves from the constitutional requirements. The interpretation of its roles by the House Members in determining what amounts to gross misconduct was predetermined, prejudicial and sheer malice aforethought, regardless of the investigation panel’s judgement, thus, the whole exercise is best qualified as a sham.

Decision of the Investigation Panel: Taking the Wind out of the Sail of the Compromised Assembly The third and perhaps, the most important determinant or lifeline of impeachment process, is the requirement stipulated under Section 188(8) of the Constitution. This section states to the effect that, the Panel can make one of two recommendations, not two. The Panel can either report that the allegation(s) made against the Governor or Deputy Governor is/ are proved or is/are not proved. The section further makes it clear that, if report is that, the allegation is not proved, the matter ends there. Nothing more, as no further proceeding or verdict shall be taken, period! The House has no constitutional right to set up another Panel to receive a more

“IT IS A SHOW OF SHAME AND BLATANT VIOLATION OF THE EXTANT PROVISIONS OF THE GRUND NORM, THE CONSTITUTION, BY THE LAW BREAKERS CAMOUFLAGING AS LAW MAKERS” “favourable” Report. The Supreme Court interpreted that, setting up another panel will be tantamount to persecution of the Governor or Deputy Governor, and the Constitution has no place for a second bite at the cherry, hence, the House becomes functus officio.

What is the essence of the constitutional requirement of setting up an investigation panel, if the House still reserves the right to go ahead with the impeachment process even after the Panel’s Report has exonerated the accused? The law does not approbate and reprobate, at same time. It’s high time we stopped making the law a pawn, in the chess game of political gladiators.

Conclusion Conclusively, what transpired in the confluence State, Kogi, is the absence of point of confluence between the duo concepts of governance and constitutionalism. It is a show of shame and blatant violation of the extant provisions of the grund norm, the Constitution, by the law breakers camouflaging as law makers. What is most bizarre as a political aberration, is that the all the arms of government in the State seem to have compromised on illegality. The Chief Executive initiated the opaque malice, the Legislative arm formulated the kangaroo process and set the law in motion, while the judicial head stamped the illegality, by swearing in the unrecognised Deputy Governor in the eye of the law.

I dare conclude, by calling on the law to take its course, by ensuring that there is justice in this aberration called “impeachment”. The Judicial system is, once again, called to rise against this anomaly called “impeachment” in Kogi State. As a nation, we are thumbing our nose to international obligations and the concept of constitutionalism.

These, indeed, are sad days for our bastardised democracy!

Rilwan Balogun Esq, Associate and Legal Researcher, Elix Legal Practitioners

12/THE LIGHTER SIDE

29.10.2019

LEGAL HUMOUR

We Hold Your Brief JUDE IGBANOI jude.igbanoi@thisdaylive.com Dear Counsel, I should have written to you earlier on this issue, but I did not know that my problem would take this long to be solved.

I worked for a foreigner and his wife, as a cook and steward for six and half years. I did not have any problems with the couple or their children, for the period that I worked and lived with them. My only worry, was the poor salary that I was being paid. I got a better job in a fast-food restaurant, and told them I wanted to leave. They refused and offered to increase my salary, but I decided that I had to leave, because I saw the new job as an opportunity to build my career.

To my shock and surprise, my former boss came with some Police men to arrest me three weeks later, at my new work place. They accused me of stealing their money, clothes and other household items. I spent four days, in the Police Station cell. The Police have now taken the matter to court, and charged me.

I am completely innocent, of these accusations. They are only doing this to me out of malice, knowing that I do not have the money to fight them back. The Police searched my house, and nothing was found.

What should I do? I have spent all the little savings that I had, on this matter. Some people have advised me, to go and plead with my former boss and his wife, but, I cannot bring myself to go and beg for forgiveness, for a crime which I did not commit.

Mr L. Etuk, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Dear Mr. Etuk, I have heard and seen the needless pain and injustice that some people go through, due, basically, to ignorance.

Nobody has the right to force another person to remain in employment, against his/her will. When the terms of agreement are not breached or violated, an employee can lawfully and willfully leave his employment. The law only requires that adequate notice is given by such employee to his employer, as provided in the terms of his/her contract of employment.

You certainly did not need to spend four days in detention, without bail.

But, now that the Police have arraigned you in court, I advice that you get a Lawyer to represent you in the case, and prepare a robust defence. If, as you hinted, you don’t have the funds to get a Lawyer, there are numerous agencies and NGOs, that offer pro bono legal services to indigent persons that find themselves in situations like yours.

I hereby attach with this mail, a list of human rights NGOs and agencies that offer free legal services, including the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria, and the Office of the Public Defender (OPD) of the Lagos State Ministry of Justice.

In the USA, everything that is not prohibited by law is permitted. In Germany, everything that is not permitted by law is prohibited.

In Russia, everything is prohibited, even if permitted by law. In France, everything is permitted, even if prohibited by law. In Switzerland, everything that is not prohibited by law is obligatory. ˾˾˾ An Engineer dies and reports to hell. Pretty soon, the Engineer gets dissatisfied with the level of comfort in hell, and starts designing and building improvements. After a while, they've got air conditioning and flush toilets and escalators, and the Engineer is a pretty popular guy.

One day, God calls Satan up on the telephone and says with a sneer, "So, how's it going down there in hell?"

Satan replies, "Hey things are going great.

We've got air conditioning and flush toilets and escalators, and there's no telling what this Engineer is going to come up with next."

God replies, “What??? You've got an Engineer?

That's a mistake -- he should never have got down there; send him up here”.

Satan says, "No way. I like having an Engineer on the staff, and I'm keeping him".

God says, "Send him back up here, or I'll sue".

Satan laughs uproariously and answers, "Yeah, right. And, just where are you going to get a Lawyer?" ˾˾˾ A man died and was taken to his place of eternal torment by the devil. As he passed sulphurous pits and shrieking sinners, he saw a man he recognised as a Lawyer, snuggling up to a beautiful woman.

"That's unfair !" he cried. "I have to roast for all eternity, and that Lawyer gets to spend it with a beautiful woman."

"Shut up!" barked the devil, jabbing him with his pitchfork. "Who are you, to question that woman's punishment?"

SAN Advocates Human Rights Education to End Abuse Peter Taiwo A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Louis Alozie, has recommended that civic rights education should be included compulsorily, in the basic school curriculum to tertiary institution level.

Alozie said, doing this, would go a long way in ending human rights violations and abuses of power in the country.

The SeniorLawyer expressed this concern last Friday, at the first Human Rights Awareness Week organised by Crime Victims Foundation of Nigeria (CRIVIFON) and Human Rights Education Centre (HUREAC), held at the Nigeria Customs Christian Fellowship (Chapel Hall) Training College in Ikeja.

He argued that, creating rights awareness should be a regular process, not a periodic system.

While urging the Government that this should be done, Alozie said such action would also enable citizens to know what is due them, and that, in turn, they will positively give

back to the society, by following the decision making process.

He regretted that it is only when elections are forth coming, that political parties reach out to citizens reminding them of their Human Rights by soliciting their votes for their party’s candidate.

“Public participation means that citizens should be able to interact with Government, on decisions that affect them.

Democracy does not end with elections. Government makes thousands of decisions on a daily basis, and needs the input of citizens for proper direction.

“Human Rights education will make the citizens know that they have a right (and a duty), to have a say on how the Government does its work. Human Rights education will also make citizens aware that, they have a right to know how their tax is being spent.

“The advantage of committed public participation, cannot be over emphasised. It makes the Government open and accountable for its actions, act on its promises (usually made

LAWYER APPOINTED RECEIVER MANAGER IN KEYSTONE BANK SUIT CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 as security under registered Fixed Assets Debenture Deed dated March 17, 2013.

In a Notice of Appointment dated October 20, 2019, Abubakar stated that his receivership would also cover a duly registered Fixed and Floating Assets Debenture dated January 30, 2014 and a duly registered Deed of Legal Mortgage dated March 4, 2014, and corresponding Deeds of Appointment of the Receiver/Manager over respective charged assets all dated March 20, 2019.

Abubakar in the Notice informed the general public to take note that, all properties comprising of, but not limited to buildings, lands, plants and machineries belonging to H.F.P Engineering (Nig) Ltd and falling within the ambit of receivership, have been taken over and now in his firm‘s

possession.

The Receiver Manager urged all debtors of the Engineering firm to pay directly to him as the Receiver Manager, adding that, all creditors, if any, should also send their proof of claims to him within 14 days of the Notice.

“All deposits, cash and other assets of the company currently held by banks, financial institutions, should be held until issuance of further instructions by the Receiver/ Manager, in accordance with the pre-emptive orders of court in Suit No: FHC/L/CS/605/19 pending within the bosom of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi Division. All holders of such deposits should contact the Receiver/Manager, stating the balances and where secured facilities were granted, the type of security attached, should be disclosed”, the Lawyer stated.

in elections), such as political party manifestos, policy and budget speeches”, he said.

He canvassed “for continuous rights education and awareness through television, radio, and social media, among others.

Government should ensure that the rights of citizens as enshrined in Chapter 4 of our Constitution, are made known and continuously advocated, to enable the citizens to be conscious and aware of their rights”.

The Senior Advocate described Human Rights as an important national and global phenomenon, adding that, knowledge of these rights, will enable citizens participate fully in the governing process of the country.

Earlier in her opening remark, the Executive Director of CRIVIFON, Mrs. Gloria Egbuji, noted that most Nigerians would not have become victims of some crimes, especially those committed against them by law enforcement officials, if they have knowledge about their rights and how to defend violations.

According to her, it was against this background that the foundation and HUREAC commenced the training of men and officers of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) in 2006, after it was discovered through research that, most of them lack knowledge of human rights.

Egbuji said a total of 19,000 Officers have been trained to date, across different Police formations in the country.

“An important outcome of human rights education, is empowerment, a process through which people and communities increase their control of their own lives and decisions that affects them. The ultimate aim of human rights education, is people working together to bring about human rights, justice and dignity for all”, she added.

She said, in addition, that education would assist the full development of human personality, and strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedom.

While calling for support for the Police, she urged the people to raise their voices for improved conditions of service for the Police, to be able to serve the public better.

29.10.2019

IMAGES/13

The FIDA Africa Regional Congress/ Conference, hosted by its Regional Vice President for West and North Africa, Chief Mrs Victoria Awomolo, SAN and themed, “The Growth of Women and Children in Africa: Beyond Rhetoric”, held in Abuja from October 11th - 15th, 2019. Here are some of the personalities, who attended the various events......

L-R: FIDA Country Vice President Rhoda Tyoden, HE Fatima Buhari, Asiwaju Awomolo, SAN, RVP, Victoria Awomolo,SAN, President Nigeria Association of Women Judges, Hon Justice Mary Peter-Odili, JSC

L-R: Asiwaju Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN, Regional Vice President for West and North Africa, FIDA (RVP) Victoria Awomolo, SAN, International Treasurer, FIDA, Charisse Brown and National President, FIDA Nigeria, Rhoda Tyoden

The RVP at the Press Conference

L-R: Hon Justice Akintan-Osadebey, Hon Justice O. O. Goodluck, HE Fatima Buhari, HE Anna Darius, HE Paullen Tallen, and RVP at the Opening Ceremony

L-R: The RVP, Hon Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs. Pauline Tallen, with delegates from Uganda and Nigeria

The RVP (centre front row), J.S. Okutekpa, SAN, DG NAPTIP, Dame Julie Okah-Donli with Secondary School students

The RVP presenting gifts to Secondary School students

RVP, Victoria Awomolo, SAN (centre in stripped skirt), HE, Mrs. Titi Atiku Abubakar (in blue) Mrs. Inime Aguma (1st left) and other Awardees

The RVP (left) and Charisse Brown

The Solicitor General of the Federation, Dayo Apata, SAN representing the Hon Attorney-General of the Federation

Former RVPs and Delegates at the Opening ceremony

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Expert Opinion on Nigerian Law by Past Judicial Officers: President Trump’s “Ukrainegate” and Some Lessons for Nigeria This piece by Orji Uka, makes a case for the impropriety of the practice of retired public officers, providing expert evidence against Nigeria in foreign proceedings, by drawing parallels with the recently launched impeachment inquiry against US President Donald Trump

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s Nigeria grapples with the arduous task of overturning the adverse arbitration Award rendered by a London-seated arbitral tribunal in favour of a British-Virgin Island company, Process and Industrial Development Limited (P&ID), a number of constitutional, legal, political and national security questions have continued to arise.

One of them, is the question of the legality or otherwise of retired public officers, providing expert evidence against Nigeria, in foreign proceedings. In what follows, this piece makes a case for the impropriety of the practice, by drawing parallels with the recently launched impeachment inquiry against US President Donald Trump. In the final analysis, the National Assembly will be called upon to remove any lingering doubts surrounding the illegality of the practice.

Background It is no longer news that, an arbitral tribunal was constituted to determine the dispute arising from a 20-year Gas Supply & Processing Agreement (GSPA) signed by P&ID and the Nigerian Ministry of Petroleum Resources, in 2010. And, that, at the end of the proceedings, the Tribunal on 17th July, 2015, found Nigeria liable for the repudiation of the GSPA, and in January 2017 awarded $6.6 billion in damages against Nigeria, with interest at 7%! until the Award sum is fully liquidated. The interest amounts to approximately $1.2 million a day, and brings the current total liability of Nigeria to P&ID to a little under $10 billion, over 25% of Nigeria’s disclosed foreign reserves.

Countless reactions have continued to trail both the Award and the entire saga including my intervention here in May 2019, where I expressed incredulity after first becoming aware of the fuller facts and circumstances of the dispute and the proceedings. Incredibly, the case did not elicit adequate public reaction until 16th August, 2019, when a Commercial Court in London presided over by Mr Justice Butcher, discountenanced Nigeria’s objections and granted permission to P&ID to enforce the Award in the same manner as a judgement of the

the named retired public officers from service or employment in foreign companies, and the latest crisis brewing across the Atlantic.

This phone call prompted a reconsideration of my views, and this intervention.

US President, Donald Trump

English High Court.

With Nigeria suddenly facing the imminent and realistic prospects of the seizure of its commercial assets in the United Kingdom and indeed, the rest of the European Union (at least until Brexit) by reason of the Regulation (EC) 1215/2012 (recast Judgement Regulations), the Nigerian authorities roared into life. First, they commenced investigations into the circumstances surrounding the award of the GSPA to P&ID and then secured the conviction, in record time, of two directors of P&ID, to demonstrate that the contract and the Award were tainted with fraud.

P&ID would later contend that the actions of the Nigerian authorities, amounted to the harassment and coercion of its officials.

Role of former CJN, Justice Alfa Belgore

“PARAGRAPH 5 SPECIFICALLY PROVIDES THAT, RETIRED PUBLIC OFFICERS WHO HAVE HELD THE OFFICES OF PRESIDENT, VICE-PRESIDENT, CJN, GOVERNOR AND DEPUTY GOVERNOR OF A STATE, ARE PROHIBITED FROM SERVICE OR EMPLOYMENT IN FOREIGN COMPANIES OR ENTERPRISES”

The Nigerian authorities also interrogated and allegedly detained a former Chief Justice Nigeria (CJN), Salihu Modibbo Alfa Belgore, GCON, on the allegation of providing services to a foreign entity. In this piece, Nicholas Ibekwe lays out what is ostensibly the argument of the Nigerian authorities, to the effect that Justice Belgore acted as a consultant for P&ID and provided a key legal argument that resulted in the humongous Award against Nigeria, by painstakingly analysing Nigeria’s laws, exploiting its shortcomings, and citing case laws for the benefit of P&ID, and thereby contravened paragraph 5 of the Fifth Schedule to the 1999 Constitution which prohibits certain past officials, from service or employment in foreign enterprises.

Admittedly, I joined those who expressed outrage at the development, because I was, and remain, unconvinced that the actions of Justice Belgore in providing expert evidence on Nigerian law to assist the Tribunal, as is customary in international arbitration, amounts to a breach of the Code of Conduct or a criminal offence, for that matter. However, in the course of an illuminating telephone conversation with a senior member of Nigerian Bar, in which we appraised Nigeria’s prospects in the P&ID case, we drew parallels between the rationale behind the prohibition of

Crisis in the US: “Ukrainegate” The ongoing crisis in the US, stems from a July 25 phone call between US President Donald Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, where the former allegedly pressured his Ukrainian counterpart to investigate former US Vice President and leading Democratic candidate, Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, for certain alleged corrupt practices.

The crisis, which resulted in the launch of a formal impeachment inquiry against President Trump by the Nancy Pelosi led House of Representatives, escalated after the subsequent release of a rough transcript of the call by the White House in the wake of the controversy and the whistle-blower report. The crisis has already claimed its first scalp with the resignation of the US Special Envoy to Ukraine, Kurt Volker. While it is beyond the remit of this piece to express an opinion on the credibility or otherwise of the allegation, and indeed, the outcome of the impeachment proceedings, it is pertinent for our present purposes to consider the basis of the allegation against President Trump.

In the now infamous phone call, President Trump repeatedly reminded President Zelensky of how much the US has done, and can do, for Ukraine; asked for a favour from Zelensky to investigate the allegations of corruption against the Bidens in Ukraine; and promised to put his personal Lawyer, Rudi Giuliani and the US Attorney-General, William Barr, in touch with Zelensky and his Federal Prosecutor, to discuss and take action on the Biden probe. Additionally, it has been alleged that, the Trump administration carried out a series of actions orchestrated at pressuring the Ukrainian government to dig up dirt on President Trump’s political rivals, including delaying congressionally approved foreign aid to Ukraine, for no ostensible reason; and that the Ukrainian President was only accorded access to President Trump, after eliciting the former’s commitment to “play ball”. The contention therefore, is that President Trump used the power of his office to further his own personal, political interest, and thereby, abused his office for personal gain.

In the words of the first whistleblower, “[i]n the course of my official duties, I have received information from multiple U.S. Government officials, that the President of the United States is usCONTINUED ON PAGE 15

29.10.2019

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EXPERT OPINION ON NIGERIAN LAW BY PAST JUDICIAL OFFICERS: LESSONS FOR NIGERIA ing the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election... This interference includes, among other things, pressuring a foreign country to investigate one of the President's main domestic political rivals...

I am also concerned that these actions pose risks to U.S. national security and undermine the U.S. Government's efforts to deter and counter foreign interference in U.S. elections.” Echoing those sentiments, the House Intelligence Committee Chairman, Adam Schiff, concluded that the US President betrayed his oath of office, betrayed his oath to defend our national security, and betrayed his oath to defend the Constitution.

While some might be unable in certain climes, to appreciate the allegation against President Trump on the basis that the conversation was typical, or as his supporters have argued, there was no quid pro quo, it is however, easy to understand the basis of the outcry by neutrals, the Democratic party and the liberal media. As Michael Fuchs writes, the possibilities for President Trump to undermine US interests for his personal gain are endless, with far-reaching repercussions for US counterintelligence and foreign policy, and this is deeply troubling.

To address such situations, Article 1 Section 9 of the US Constitution provides that holders of public office cannot, “without the consent of Congress, accept any present, emolument, office, or title of any kind whatsoever from any king, prince or foreign State.” Similarly, the US electoral campaign finance laws provide that, it is illegal for any person to solicit, accept or receive anything of value from a foreign national in connection with a US election. There is also the 1799 Logan Act which provides that, any US citizen, wherever he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, with intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government or of any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States, shall be fined or imprisoned for not more than three years, or both.

The legislative intent behind these provisions, is to prevent a situation where a public officer is in a position to take benefit from a foreign national or government, by virtue of certain information which he acquired by virtue of the office he occupies or occupied; and ultimately to avoid a situation where the United States may afford leverage to a foreign country or national, and thereby, become susceptible to blackmail or manipulation by such foreign country or national. And, therein, lies the lesson for Nigeria.

The Nigerian Constitution It therefore, becomes pertinent to interrogate whether there are similar provisions in our laws that prevent public officers from benefitting from their offices in a manner that results in the appropriation of such offices, to the detriment of the country’s national security and other interests.

Specifically, it is worth asking whether the provisions of Fifth Schedule to the Constitution, particularly paragraph 5 thereof, are sufficient for purpose.

Paragraph 1 of the Fifth Schedule provides that a public officer shall not put himself in a position where his personal interest conflicts with his duties and responsibilities. Successive paragraphs of the Schedule, then list certain conducts which

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14

public officers are prohibited from.

These however, refer to serving public officers.

Paragraph 5 specifically provides that, retired public officers who have held the offices of President, Vice-President, CJN, Governor and Deputy Governor of a State, are prohibited from service or employment in foreign companies or enterprises.

It is very easy to understand the intendment behind the above provision, to wit, to safeguard the national security of Nigeria and prevent persons who have held such offices from giving away State secrets. As noted above, it is on the strength of the above provision, that it has been contended that the former CJN has contravened the Code of Conduct. But, has he?

Did the former CJN contravene the Code of Conduct for Public Officers?

It is a cardinal rule of interpretation that words should be construed in their usual grammatical sense and be given their ordinary and natural meaning, omitting no words and adding none. Although this has not yet been the subject of any judicial interpretation as far as I can tell, it is submitted that, there is a difference between being of “service or employment in foreign enterprises” and being of “service to foreign enterprises”, in the same way that there is a fundamental difference in law, between a contract of service and a contract for service. The former contemplates the existence of an employee-employer relationship (and therefore, what the Code of Conduct seeks to prohibit), while the latter merely contemplates an independent contractor relationship. Thus, applying the literal rule of interpretation, the mere provision of expert evidence by a former CJN in favour of a foreign enterprise, does not amount to service or employment IN a foreign company or foreign enterprise.

The same conclusion will be reached, if the courts employ the fortissime contra preferentes rule which stipulates that, provisions of the law which seek to take away the rights of citizens should be interpreted strictly against the State and sympathetically in favour of the citizens whose rights are threatened to be taken away.

However, Nigerian courts are also known to adopt other canons of interpretation, especially where the words employed are ambiguous. An example is the 'ut res magis valeat quam pereat' rule, which dictates that where there are two choices of interpretation, the courts must avoid the choice which would reduce the legislation to futility, and should rather accept the choice that would bring about the purpose behind the legislation, and an effective result. Put differently, words should be given a purposive, as opposed to an expressive interpretation.

It therefore, follows that, the question of whether the former CJN breached the code of conduct by giving expert evidence in favour of a foreign enterprise before an international arbitration tribunal, and was thereby, of service or employment in a foreign company or foreign enterprise, is open for argument. And, the prophesies of what the court will do in the event that the question is put to them, is also up for conjecture. For such a vital question touching on the country’s national security, this is not good enough.

For the avoidance of doubt, it is not in dispute that, it is morally reprehensible for former CJNs, and indeed, other retired judicial

Former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon. Justice Alfa Belgore GCON

officers, especially Supreme Court Justices, to offer their expertise to foreign entities, in cases which are clearly against the interest of the country which afforded them the platform to acquire such expertise and skills. And indeed, this appears to have become common place. Another relevant question is, whether assuming it is not a breach of the code of conduct for the named retired public officers in paragraph 5 of the Fifth Schedule to the Constitution to give evidence against Nigeria in foreign proceedings, are there other provisions of the law which can offer protection to the country? The answer appears to be, in the negative.

It is against this background that this writer contends that, the present case has raised the need for the National Assembly to remove any lingering doubts surrounding the illegality of the practice. The National Assembly is constitutionally empowered to make laws for the peace, order and good government of the Federation. And, while law is generally couched in general terms to encompass future occurrences, there are certainly occasions where, even the greatest foresight, is not sufficient to cover all possible scenarios. In such a case, the legislature must immediately step in and reform the law. That is how the law develops.

In the example of the Logan Act 1799, the Act was passed in response to the actions of a Philadelphia Quaker, Dr George Logan, who took it upon himself to negotiate directly with the French government in 1798, as a private citizen, during the Quasi- war between the U.S. and France, and after President Adams had sent three envoys to France to negotiate without success. His actions, which ultimately undermined his country’s negotiating position, led to a big scandal in foreign affairs and the ultimate enactment of the Logan Act in 1799. Nothings stops the Nigerian National Assembly from doing the same, in this instance.

Conclusion In the meantime, and without

“......IT IS MORALLY REPREHENSIBLE FOR FORMER CJNS, AND INDEED, OTHER RETIRED JUDICIAL OFFICERS, ESPECIALLY SUPREME COURT JUSTICES, TO OFFER THEIR EXPERTISE TO FOREIGN ENTITIES, IN CASES WHICH ARE CLEARLY AGAINST THE INTEREST OF THE COUNTRY WHICH AFFORDED THEM THE PLATFORM TO ACQUIRE SUCH EXPERTISE AND SKILLS”

prejudice to the outcome of the ongoing investigations, it is hoped that the others can learn and be circumspect, before accepting another instruction that pits them against their national interest.

Conclusively, as Nigeria launches its appeal to overturn not just the decision of the English Commercial Court, but also the P&ID arbitral award in its entirety, it is clear that, the outcome is out of our hands, and we are at the mercy of the English and the US courts. For now, we can only do that which is within our reach, which is to forestall a repeat of a situation where a former CJN can painstakingly analyse Nigeria’s laws, exploit its shortcomings, and cite case laws for the benefit of a foreign enterprise, to the detriment of Nigerian tax payers. This is imperative, not just for the purposes of the ongoing dispute, but for the peace, order and good government of the Federation.

Orji A. Uka, Legal Practitioner

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HUMOUR

(Culled from the Internet)

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FEATURES

Group Features Editor: Chiemelie Ezeobi Email chiemelie.ezeobi@thisdaylive.com, 08038901925

Boosting the Rail Transport System Chiemelie Ezeobi writes that in boosting the rail system, the government is determined to ensure provision of an efficient and affordable transportation that would serve as backbone to the economic and industrial development of the various sectors given the viable alternative it offers to road transport

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ithout gainsaying, the rails provide a viable alternative to road transportation as it connects one city to another.

Acknowledging the import of this hitherto neglected sector, President Muhammadu Buhari on assumption of office in 2015 had given premium to the rail transport system, especially to reduce the burden on the roads .

Running with the vision, the Minister of Transport, Chibuike Amaechi, has kept the flames burning right from his first tenure as minister and his recent return for a second term heading the ministry. The doggedness and passion of the minister has seen rail development taken to a higher level.

Undoubtedly, this present administration has consistently pursued the realisation of efficient and effective rail transportation for Nigeria in line with the strategic vision for railway transport revival and development approved in year 2002 and this, Amaechi is pursuing vigorously by completing, building and even rehabilitating new railway lines aimed at ensuring provision of an efficient and affordable transportation that would serve as backbone to industrial development.

Recently, during the 2020 Budget presentation to the Joint Committee of the Senate on Maritime Transport and House of Representatives on Ports and Harbour, Inland Waterways and Maritime Safety, Education and Administration; and at the Budget defence to the Joint Committee of the Senate and House of Representatives on Land Transport on Monday, October 21, 2019, the minister gave account of his stewardship- what has been done so far and what still needs to done to get all the rails up and running.

Update on State of Rail Project Succinctly put, the minister while giving an update on the state of the rail project said: “We would need billions of dollars to be able to address the rail infrastructure, not all of them, but at least the one that can hold the economy and those ones are Lagos to Kano, Lagos to Calabar and Port Harcourt to Maiduguri.

Lagos to Kano is Lagos-Abeokuta-Ibadan, that we expect to finish before the end of April next year. We are actually close to the end, it is just the challenges we are having around Lagos and its cosmopolitan nature.

We have finished from Iju to Ibadan. All we are doing now is to complete the stations.

We hope that before April we would have finished everything about Iju to the Seaport in Lagos. Now Lagos to Kano is between 8.3 to 8.7 billion dollars. For that we are getting a loan from the China Exim Bank.”

Viable Routes and Funds Sourcing On the viable routes for the rail project and its inherent economic potentials, the minister said: “Another thing I like to tell the Nigerian public, I come from the South, so I'll be very interested in Port Harcourt to Maiduguri and at the same time I'll be interested in Lagos to Calabar because they all in the South. But it is not done based on ethnic interests, it is not done by what I want, it is done by economic needs. The most viable route if we forget about ethnic needs is Lagos-Kano. It has capacity to generate 30million tons of cargo, so when we want to pay back, it’s a lot easier to pay back using money from the revenue. Port Harcourt-Maiduguri is 11million tons of cargo. We are yet to get a study of the Lagos to Calabar.

“Lagos to Kano is Lagos-Abeokuta-IbadanOgbomosho-Ilorin-Minna-Abuja-Kaduna-Kano.

At Osogbo it links up to a stop in Ekiti. Lagos to Calabar is Lagos through Ore, we are trying to get it to Akure the capital of Ondo. So from Ore-Benin- Benin that is spur that takes to Agbor, Asaba and Onitsha; and it continues from Benin to Ughelli, Warri, Yenagoa, Port Harcourt, instead of going straight to Uyo, you tee back to Aba, Aba to Uyo, Uyo to

Minister of Transport, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi with CRRC official at the presentation ceremony of the newly built trains

Minister of Transport, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi alighting from one of the new trains

Minister of Transport, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi in handshake with some Nigerian rail engineers being trained in China Calabar. That is Lagos to Calabar.

“Port Harcourt to Maiduguri, there are two alignments there, Port Harcourt-Owerri-NnewiAwka-Enugu-Abakaliki. The second alignment

is Port Harcourt-Aba-Umuahia-Enugu-MakurdiLafia-Jos-Akwanga, we tee off and connect to Abuja so that there could be a connection between west and east. It continues to Jos-

Bauchi-Gombe-Yola-Damaturu-Maiduguri.

“Now let’s look at the funds. Lagos to Kano that we already have funds because it was the first project by Obasanjo, is about

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FEATURES 8.7 billion dollars, Lagos to Calabar is 11.1 billion dollars, Port Harcourt to Maiduguri is 14.2 billion dollars, put them all together. So if you ask me, as the minister of transport, I want this thing to pass through my village, but the money is just not there. However, one of the reasons why we are going to Sochi, Russia is to negotiate for loan for either Port Harcourt to Maiduguri or Lagos to Calabar. “ So we are not forgetting South-east. I just told you that we have sent it to Russia now, since the Chinese government is saying they don't have enough money for other projects.

They're trying to finish the ones they started.

So we're looking for money to fund the rest of the projects. If we do get them, believe me the president is desirous of completing infrastructure projects because he believes that that is the first step to economic growth.

“But like you know, there's a difference between want and need. So we are fighting for resources. I come from the South I can’t be denying myself and facing North. But I give you two reasons, the first reason is economic viability, there's 30 million tons of cargo from Lagos to Kano, don't forget that project was started before we came. It was handed over to China Exim Bank though they didn't fund it until we came. When we came, that's what they chose to fund. They also chose to fund Lagos to Calabar, but I've been pursuing them everyday, but money is not forthcoming. We plead with Nigerians to be patient with us and allow us to look for the money, whatever money we get, we'll do it.”

Considerations for Rehabilitation Since one must make use of available resources, the minister revealed that they might have to consider rehabilitating some of the rails instead of constructing new ones because of funds.

He said: There's another proposal coming up, the difference between standard gauge and narrow gauge is speed. So the speed for standard gauge in Nigeria is 120km/hr, the speed for narrow gauge is 100km/hr. So if we don't have 14 billion dollars to build Port Harcourt to Maiduguri, we could as well rehabilitate the old one. Rehabilitation for us this time is not like the one they did in the past government.

“Rehabilitation is actually removing the tracks and replacing them with new ones.

What makes narrow gauge slow is that when it gets to a hill, it avoids the hill and when it avoids the hill, it slows down. For standard gauge, it will break through the hill. So what we are doing with this proposal is to possibly rehabilitate the narrow gauge pending when we get money to do the standard gauge in Port Harcourt-Maiduguri axis is to say anywhere we meet those hills, let’s not avoid it but break through the length of the track to increase the speed.

“So we have two proposals. The first one is we're pursuing the loan for standard gauge, if we don't get the loan, we should look for a shorter and cheaper loan to rehabilitate the old ones and this rehabilitation requires total removal of the narrow gauge track, replace it with new ones, building of new stations, new communication equipment and others.

And I want to remind Nigerians that in South Africa, they have about 35,500kms of tracks, only 500km is standard gauge, the rest is narrow gauge.”

Concerns for Speedy Completion One of the concerns for the rail system is the issue of speedy completion. Allaying fears, the minister said: “With the money available to us, they are done in what they call ‘gangs’.

A gang will take Ibadan to Osogbo, another gang will take Osogbo to Illorin, another gang will take Illorin to Minna, another gang will take from Minna to Abuja, another gang will take from Abuja to Kaduna, another one from Kaduna to Kano. I've gone to the field, all of them are working at the same time, the problem will be, more machines, more human beings working at the same time, leaving at the same time.

“We are yet to get the money, we just went to China, allow them, when they sign the agreement we'll come to the National Assembly to give us what they call borrowing plan, when they approve the borrowing plan they'll give the money to us. If you look at Lagos-Ibadan they've been completed. We are removing water pipes, gas pipes, sewers and community problems. The only problem I have with Lagos-Ibadan is Lagos, we are

told them, let’s not manage only, also teach us how you build these trains, we want to know, so that when it breaks down, we don’t have to make a telephone call for you to come down and fix it. So they have agreed to redesign the curriculum and train all those people out there. “ Secondly, we have sent over 150 persons, children, to two universities in China, funded by the Chinese government to go and study railway engineering. They've gone, we hope that in four years they will graduate. Those who will do masters and PhD will do that and come back and teach in the university we are establishing here. We are establishing a transportation University in Daura. The project is also not funded by us. It will be managed by the company building it for years before we have lecturers to take over. We are making sure that we have manpower to take over from the Chinese.

“The Kajoula project, we got them to sign an agreement with us that they will produce subsequently in Nigeria, so we are building a factory at Kajoula in Ogun state. The Vice President will lay the foundation stone very soon. We are waiting for the President to give us a date he will lay the foundation stone of the University of Transportation in Daura. I’ll just say that we are doing a lot to localise the railway technology.”

Some of the new trains

Some Nigerian rail engineers undergoing training in China

Minister of Transport, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi test-running one of the new trains removing flyovers and place to build flyovers, there's sewers... another problem we might have is Kaduna to Kano, but if you check the design, its behind the city.

“We don't go inside the city, we try to work outside the city so that we don't demolish too many houses. Just like you're worried, I am also worried; we must make sure that we must finish and the prey will commission before he goes. We've not said we want to maintain narrow gauge. If we want to maintain narrow gauge, the one that we may likely have to rebuild would be Port Harcourt to Maiduguri, because we don't have 14 billion dollars to begin to impress standard gauge now. We hope that the next or any other government can come and raise $14 billion to impress the standard gauge.”

Safety On the issue of safety, Amaechi said the first thing they address on the railways is safety because once it happens, the number of persons that will die will not be like road accidents. “If it happens in railway it will

be about 500 persons. In fact each coach for now is 87 persons; we have 10 coaches for now, multiply 87 by 10 coaches, imagine the amount of persons that will die or be affected.

The instruction is that no driver should move if there's a safety problem.

“The same for our tracks, we watch our tracks. Somebody told me that it's circulating on social media that they shot at our train, I didn't reply because I know its not true. There are air force planes following the train as it is going. There is a police vehicle on the side. There are policemen in the vehicle and when anything happens, they report to the minister even when there is a stop.”

Maintenance and Sustainability On this he said: “If you saw the pictures of my trip to China, you will see some black men with the Chinese. I told them(the Chinese) ‘you learnt from America and you copied the Americans, today, you're producing your own trains, coaches and others; because when I went there, they were teaching them leadership and management of rail resources and I

New Coaches from China Upon his arrival from China this October, Amaechi said 20 new coaches will be arriving within six weeks. The new coaches have been billed for the Abuja-Kaduna and the Lagos-Ibadan rail lines.

Explaining the thrust of his official visit to China, where he took delivery of some new trains, Amaechi said, “We went for two items- basically to get more locomotives and coaches. They're all ready. It will take six weeks to get to Nigeria and maybe one week to clear them. For the Lagos trains it will be easy, it will take a day or two to get it to the track, but for the trains coming to Abuja, it will take one week or two to get it here.

“To my surprise, the coaches we released two or three weeks ago to go to Kaduna arrived just within two days. So, we hope that when these trains arrive Lagos seaport, we should be able to get them fast.

We are expecting twenty coaches, ten for Abuja-Kaduna and ten for Lagos-Ibadan as a temporary measure, more will then arrive in the second batch as we complete LagosIbadan,” Amaechi said.

The minister while taking delivery of the newly built trains in China, did a test run of the locomotives and motored cars. He confirmed that these trains were better improved and of higher technology than what obtained previously. He added that more trains are still being built for Nigeria and the next batch would be delivered as soon as they are ready.

On maintenance, he said he's making sure that every contract comes with a maintenance contract, while rail engineers from Nigeria are being trained in China to take over the maintenance from the Chinese. The reason for these maintenance contracts he said is that, “as Governor of Rivers State, I made sure that everything I did in Rivers State was maintained, I kept a maintenance contract going, what is happening there now, I won't know.

“So when people ask me, what do you do about maintenance? The answer is, in all our contracts, you have a maintenance contract.

Like now, the one for Abuja has expired and I've just directed them to renew the contract.

Though I'm going to seek approval from both the president and the cabinet, but the Chinese should not leave the site for now.

“Also, what is critical to the sustenance of our railway system is what we are doing in China. We are training our people, the Chinese won't live here forever, they have to go, so our own engineers will take over; and I met with some of those Nigerian engineers during my China trip. We hope that in the coming years, they will come back and then we can stop the Chinese maintenance contract in both Kaduna-Abuja and Lagos-Ibadan.”

For Warri-Itakpe, the minister assured that it would be completed early next year.

“That one is nearing completion. It should be completed by January/February, March latest, but that's not the problem, the problem is Abuja to Itakpe with the Seaport in Warri.

We've signed all the documents, we are waiting for the Chinese”, he added.

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INVESTITURE CEREMONY

L-R: Former Commonwealth Secretary General, Chief Emeka Anyaoku; President, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Dr. Uche Olowu; Managing Director/CEO, Nigerian Export Import-Bank (NEXIM), Mr. Abba Bello, and Registrar/CEO, CIBN, Mr. Seye Awojobi, at the CIBN 2019 investiture ceremony held in Lagos‌recently ETOP UKUTT

Barkindo: OPEC’s Export to China Reaches $104bn Over 18-year Period Chineme Okafor in Abuja The Secretary General of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Dr. Mohammad Barkindo, has disclosed that trade relations between member countries and China have continued to blossom over the last 18 years.

Barkindo, in his remarks at the recent OPEC-China Energy Dialogue, explained that whilst OPEC’s export to China in 2000 was merely valued at $5.5 billion, it however rose to $104 billion in 2018, just the same way OPEC’s imports from China rose from $8.3 billion to $176 billion within the same period.

OPEC member countries include Nigeria, which also has a stable trade with China even in oil and gas. “China is a very important trade partner for OPEC and our member states, one whose

ENERGY significance has grown over time.

Additionally, China’s leadership and critical role in the global economy and the energy industry cannot be understated. “The trade numbers, for example, tell the story. OPEC exports to China have risen from over $5.5 billion in 2000 to over $104 billion in 2018. Meanwhile, OPEC imports from China have also drastically jumped from $8.3 billion in 2000 to nearly $176 billion in 2018. “This represents massive growth in overall trade between China and our member countries,� said Barkindo.

According to him, the global economy was expected to more than double from 2017 to 2040, with China maintaining a significant role in this.

He said while China accounted for 18 per cent of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2017,

this was however projected to rise by a whopping six percentage points to reach 24 per cent by 2040.

Barkindo also said the world oil demand was expected to rise from 97.2 million barrels per day (mbd) in 2017 to 111.7mbd in 2040, with China accounting for nearly 30 per cent of that growth.

China’s demand for oil, he noted is equally expected to rise from 12.3mbd in 2017 to 17.4mbd in 2040, or by 5.1mbd. “This great country became the world’s biggest importer of crude oil in 2017, overtaking the US. In 2018, over 62 per cent of OPEC crude exports went to the Asia Pacific region, with the majority headed for China. So, as you can see, there are crucial ties between OPEC member countries and China which are critical for both of us. “The percentage of oil in China’s fuel share is also expected to rise, going from 18

per cent in 2015 to 19.5 per cent in 2040, according to our WOO 2018. This means that although China has been making great leaps and bounds in the field of renewables, the need for oil will continue to grow significantly,� said Barkindo.

He stated that the share of renewables and nuclear energy in China’s energy pie will also rise dramatically in that time, with nuclear energy going from 1.5 per cent in 2015 to 7.4 per cent in 2040, and other renewables, including solar and wind, up from 1.6 to 6.4 per cent. Natural gas use, he added will also more than double to 11.3 per cent. “What is clear is that all sources of energy are going to be required to meet China’s growing future needs, as you clearly elaborated during our joint meeting. “This is confirmed by figures on China’s expected increase in Continued on page 24

Afreximbank Calls for Increased Lending to Private Sector Peter Uzoho The President of the African Export-Import Bank (AFREXIM Bank), Prof. Benedict Okey Oramah, has emphasised the need for Nigeria to increase access to credit to the private sector to boost economic activities.

Oramah, made the call in Lagos, at the 2019 Investiture of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), where he was awarded the Honorary Fellowship of the institute alongside other prominent banking professionals.

He also urged the CIBN and Nigerian banks to work towards having a strong banking system in

BANKING the country, stressing that banking was critical to development.

Oramah said: “I want to add my voice in reminding all members of the institute, fellows and everybody, the executive management of the institute, that the work of the institute is very critical to development in Nigeria and by extension Africa.

I think because banking is critical for development, unless we have a strong banking sector, we cannot expect to rise above the levels of development that we see today. “And for Nigeria, there is an urgency. Today, credit to

the private sector is less than 20 per cent. In most countries that are developed, credit to the private sector exceeds 100 per cent of their GDP. So why are we not giving credit? The bankers have a role to play in making sure that we grow the number, because unless we improve the numbers, nothing will happen.�

He also charged the institute to extend their outreach to all corners of Nigeria, including to non-bankers, to the entire ecosystem –those who use the services of banks.

The Afreximbank boss equally said the culture of lending and borrowing in Nigeria has to be

improved if the country wants to grow the credit and service sector.

However, the Chairman of the occasion and former Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, in his remark, canvassed for support to the closure of Nigeria’s land borders to neighboring countries by the federal government.

Anyaoku said: “Perhaps, I should say a very quick one about how to revive our economy from the worrying state in which it is now. I believe that in our present circumstances in this Continued on page 24

Pacegate Limited, a manufacturer of steel drums, has celebrated its one year of operation as an automated steel drum factory.The ďŹ rm’s automated factory is enabled to produce 5,000 steel drums per day with each steel drum having a capacity of 210 litres. It is the ďŹ rst United Nations (UN) CertiďŹ ed steel drum factory in Nigeria.

The Managing Director, Pacegate Limited, Umesh Amarnani, during hisremarksataneventtocelebratethecompany’sone-yearanniversary, pointed out that steel drums are more superior to plastic drums.This, he said was because they perform better under extreme temperature, humidity, and pressure variations.

Accordingtohim,“whenpairedwithaproperďŹ resuppressionsystem, retrieving style steel drums provide top notch protection even in a high temperature ďŹ re. “As we celebrate one year of producing the highestqualitydrums,ourfundamentalgoalistoconvertusersofplastic drums to steel drum by educating them on the beneďŹ ts of steel drums.

Amarnani said: “Globally, there is an increasing demand for costeective, yet eďŹƒcient packaging solutions to overcome the bulk packaging challenges. “We are determined to make steel drums a sustainable and aordable packaging solution in Nigeria. So, our steel drums are custom made according to the customers’ needs, and we are dedicated to investing in improving our standards to reect global best practices and ensure that we are well positioned to meet the challenges of increasing demand for steel drums.â€?

IDL Rewards Distributors

In a bid to appreciate its distributors and sustain loyalty, Intercontinental Distillers Limited (IDL) recently held its annual distributors awards in Lagos. The event was also used to relaunch the company’s alcopop Brand Teezers.

The Head of Sales, Mr. Hope Gbagi, in an interview disclosed that a total N325 million was given out as rewards to the distributors. He also added that Intercontinental Distillers Limited would y 13 of its top distributors and their spouses to Dubai as a way showing further gratitude for the hard work, they put in the business in year 2018.

Managing Director of the company, Patrick Anegbe, had earlier appealedtothefederalgovernmenttoreviewdownward,excisedutiesfor wines and spirits. He also lamented the bad infrastructure, especially roads linking major cities. He said the current state of the roads have becomeahindranceinthedistributionofproductsandgoodsacrossthe nation. Mrs.YemisiAdewusi,MDofYTTTDistributionsfromtheLagos region emerged the overall winner with Divine Chinoz Limited, from Aba the runner up. Both Distributors went home with N8 million each in cash reward and a brand a new 14-seater bus. Many other Distributors went home with various cash gifts and prizes which included LED TV, refrigerators, etc. The highlight of the ceremony was the unveiling of thenewTeezerssparklingcocktail. HeadofMarketing,Intercontinental Distillers Limited, Mr. Mobolaji Alalade, said after rigorous research and careful consideration the dynamics of this generation, Teezers SparklingCocktailwasrelaunchedintwovariantslime/lemonandapple.

MTN Sponsors 38th NUTAF

Representatives from 20 Nigerian universities gathered in Lagos recentlyforthe38thNigerianUniversitiesTheatreArtsFestival(NUTAF).

Thesix-dayfestival,whichbeganwithanopeningceremonyonMonday, October 21, witnessed a vibrant display of costumes and traditional attire, as well as a mixture of colorful song and dance performances that reect the rich diversity of Nigeria’s many ethnic groups.

Thefestivalthemed‘GovernanceandGlobalisation’wassponsoredby theMTNFoundation.Itwasoneofthepioneerforumswhereyoungand brighttalentsfromtheatreartsfacultiesaroundthecountry,performed and were seen by some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry. Speaking on the Foundation’s support for the festival, Director, MTN Foundation, Dennis Okoro said, “Our rich and vibrant culture, bequeathed to us by our parents will only thrive on the strength of the support that we provide to our next generation.The MTN Foundation is passionate about empowering young people to develop.�

The organizer was the Nigerian UniversitiesTheatre Art Students Association (NUTASA), which is also the umbrella body for all students in the department of performing arts in Nigerian universities.

“So, the fact that you read that seven banks failed stress test does not mean that those banks are weak, what we are saying is that there are areas that they are weak, we try to make sure they address them. So, it is nothing that would lead to any panic or systemic crisis in the industry�

CBN Governor

Godwin EmeďŹ ele

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BUSINESSWORLD BARKINDO: OPEC’S EXPORT TO CHINA REACHES $104BN OVER 18-YEAR PERIOD per capita energy consumption over this time frame, which is expected to rise significantly from 16 barrels of oil equivalent to over 21 barrels of oil equivalent.

“In the medium term, structural changes in the Chinese economy will affect oil demand, specifically slowing it in some sectors, such as industry and energy. However, strong oil demand is set to continue in the road transportation and aviation sectors, as the country’s expanding middle class gives rise to mobility needs, despite growth in the sale of alternative vehicles. “China’s vehicle stock levels are expected to rise more than twice as fast as the rest of the world from 2017 to 2040 at 4.3 per cent per annum. Although the share of electrical vehicles in overall vehicle stocks will rise significantly, it comes from a low base, and internal combustion engines will by far continue to dominate,” he added.

AFREXIMBANK CALLS FOR INCREASED LENDING TO PRIVATE SECTOR country, the key word in our economic philosophy should simply be inward-looking.

“As we were reminded three days ago (October 23) by Sam Amadi in his back page title in THISDAY Newspaper, the core advocates or practitioners of economic neoliberalism, perhaps better known as the Washington Consensus and the countries of South Asia including China have been able to lift very substantial part of their population from aching poverty to which the majority of our citizens are currently being subjected, by looking inward. And I call the overall policy that helped them achieve this as looking inward.

“That is why we should support our country’s current border closure by President Muhammadu Buhari and his position on home-grown economic policy if it will mean concentration, in a demonstrable manner, on measures for enhancing the country’s development of agriculture and agro industry, and also, for enhancing the country’s manufacturing capacity to be able to serve our internal consumption and export”.

NEWS

FG Urged to Unlock Nigeria’s Tourism Potential Hammed Shittu in Ilorin

economic development and thereby reducing social vices among the teeming youths.”

The lawmaker added that, “the development of Kwara South tourist sites is not a unilateral task of any of the organ of government but it is an assignment that will need synergy from all the three tiers of governance.

“Today, a tourist minded organisation is empowered by my office to lead specially constituted group of private interest of about 200 people to Owu Fall. “The idea is simple; now that the state and the federal government is on the same page on how to develop tourist points in Kwara State, the critical beneficiary of this

efforts would be the private sector and this is what informed the assemblage of today.”

Also speaking, Jato said that, “I traveled places as tourist experts across Africa countries and Dubai and discovered that Nigeria is exceptional blessed with fantastic natural tourism sites that could make the country a darling place by tourists across

the world when given needed attention and as well serve as a good source of foreign earnings for the country.”

She, however, appealed to the government to give serious consideration to the development of outstanding available tourism centers in the state as it can be of serious source of revenue generation.

The Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Housing and Procurement, Senator Oyelola Ashiru, has advised the federal government to take steps towards unlocking the country’s tourism potential so as to boost revenue generation and address the unemployment challenges facing the country.

Ashiru, who represents Kwara South senatorial district of Kwara State at the upper house, disclosed this in Offa while speaking with journalists shortly after tours of Esie national museum and Owu waterfalls located at the senatorial district, with over 200 selected tourism experts and groups of youths in the state.

The tourism experts were coordinated by a tourist entrepreneur, Mrs. Yetunde Jato, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of Ankara Tours.

The lawmaker said: “It is disheartening that, despite the availability of tourism potential in Nigeria, there are no concerted efforts to tap the opportunities for the common benefit of the populace.”

Ashiru opined that, “by the time these tourism potential are tapped, the era of unemployment among the young graduates would be a thing of the past and it would boost the revenue generation of the government.

“And, this would assist the L-R: Chairman, lnternational Monetary and Financial Committee, Mr. Lesetja Kganyago and Managing Director, IMF, Kristalina Georgieva, during the nation to witness the socio lMFC press conference at the 2019 lMF/World Bank Meetings held inWashington DC, USA…recently AbiodunAjala

DISCUSSING GLOBAL ECONOMY

NNPC Pledges to Deepen Reforms in Downstream Sector Peter Uzoho The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has reiterated its commitment to entrench downstream competitiveness using innovation and information technology.

The Chief Operating Officer Downstream, NNPC, Mr Adeyemi Adetunji, made this assertion while declaring open the 13th Oil Trading and Logistics Expo taking place in Lagos yesterday.

Adetunji, who was represented by the Managing Director Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC), Mr Bala Wunti, stated that emerging market trends towards a digitized and automated world necessitate

a rapid shift in focus for all Downstream players.

According to the COO, “Old approaches of driving Cost efficiency and Safety are pretty much exhausted, hence in line with the Corporation’s TAPE Agenda, NNPC is aggressively working on digitising its downstream operations.

Adetunji further stated that the emerging value models revolves around the confluence of a hydrocarbon economy and a data economy, hence all hands must be put on deck to fully digitalise the downstream sector.

The conference with the theme “Growth, Innovation and Technology” is an annual Pan African platform dedicated to the promotion of business,

policy and stakeholder relationships in downstream petroleum markets across the continent.

In his presentation, the Minister of State for Petroleum, Mr Timipre Sylva, said the federal government would not relent on the sustenance of “Operation White” developed to eradicate the smuggling of Premium Motoring Spirit (PMS) across Nigerian borders.

Sylva, who was represented by his Senior Technical Adviser, Moses Olamide, said the operation white was a presidential mandate and collaborative strategy between the NNPC, regulatory agencies, security agencies and all stakeholders.

He explained: “The government will not relent on the sustenance of the programme.

A team of 89 persons drawn from five key agencies has been mandated to ensure transparency and accountability in the distribution of petroleum products across the country.

“In addition, they will authenticate actual volumes of products imported and consumed; ensure the nation attains energy security; reduce diversion of PMS and stop financial haemorrhage; improve downstream operations and create commercial opportunities.”

According to him, tracking of products and clean-up of illegal stations will continue and adequately supported with modern technology.

He said the government was also committed to refurbishing

the existing refineries to achieve full capacity operation, adding that work had already begun at the Port Harcourt Refinery.

Sylva said the government would also aggressively promote the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) which would have a positive impact on the downstream sector by ensuring regulatory enforcement and better relation among all stakeholders.

“We will actively collaborate with the private sector to create a large number of well-paying jobs for Nigerian youths.

“These and various others are the policy direction aimed at repositioning the downstream sector of the petroleum industry in Nigeria,” he added.

FG Welcomes Russia’s Intervention to Boost Agribusiness James Emejo in Abuja 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 Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Richard Adebayo, has expressed the federal government’s preparedness to partner Russia towards a long-term collaboration to boost agribusiness activities in the country.

The minister stated this at Sochi, Russia, recently.

The session, according to a statement made available by the minister’s Special Assistant on Media, Mr. Julius Toba-Jegede, was tagged: “Sustainable Partnership in Agriculture: Institution, Tools and Guarantees.”

Adebayo said Nigerian government would support Russian investment propositions aimed at boosting local capacity of primary production of food crops, crop processing, agricultural input supplies and machinery for on-farm and secondary processing of other agricultural produce.

He further assured the gathering that the Nigerian government through the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment was implementing policies to enhance investor confidence in the nation’s agroallied industry and economy.

He identified such policies to include Nigeria Sugar Plan,

Cotton, Textile and Garment (CTG) Policy, Nigeria tomato policy, and leather and leather product policy.

He also revealed that the government is presently focused on creating frameworks for investment and growth in diary, oil palm and cassava industries.

He said Nigeria would foster partnership with Russia to jointly improve and expand risk mitigation structures, like: agric insurance, infrastructure investment risk guarantees and FX hedging instruments.

According to him: “Nigeria has launched key initiatives directed towards the achievement of sustained economic

growth and diversification, especially the Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP) and the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP).

“Nigeria is indeed blessed with large arable land, which makes agriculture an important sector of the economy.

“The sector contributes 25 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), growing at an average rate of 4 per cent per annum and currently employs 50 per cent of the labour force.

The potential remains vast as only 40 per cent of arable land is currently cultivated.

“To maximise this potential, the Nigerian Government has

accelerated the implementation of critical agriculture related initiatives to drive development in the sector.”

The minister also listed the agriculture related programmes embarked upon by government to include the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme (CACs), the Anchor Borrower’s Programme, the Zero Reject Initiative and the ‘Made in Nigeria,’ for exports programme.

He said: “I am most pleased the President Vladimir Putin declared 2019 as the year of Africa-Russia Relations, which aligns with the long-term aspirations of Nigeria.

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BUSINESSWORLD

ENERGY

Creating an Inclusive Environment for Women in Oil Sector Esther Oluku writes on the need to encourage more women participation in the oil and gas sector The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day, ‘Balance for Better’, which was in line with the United Nation’s vision to reach a more gender balanced society by 2030, identifies the current position of the women folk which stands at a ratio of less than 30 per cent in comparison to the male counterparts in various professions across the world.

According to current analysis, the ratio of women to men in the maritime industry is at 2:98 per cent globally and 15:85 per cent in the oil and gas industry nationally. The above statistics exemplifies the disproportionate deployment of the female members of the society and as such become of thematic focus across the globe.

The aim of the workshop was to provide a platform for women in the oil and gas industry to deliberate on issues affecting their entry into the sector as employees or entrepreneurs, their career advancement to top positions, their peculiar challenges, as well as showcase role models and share their success stories.

The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Mr. Simbi Wabote, while speaking in Lagos recently, said women empowerment in the oil and gas industry was of great importance.

The event which was organised by NCDMB to bridge the gender gap in the oil and gas sector was themed; Mainstreaming Women in the Oil and Gas Industry’.

Wabote stated that the level of gender diversity in the oil and gas sector is currently low, stressing that more women should be encouraged to aspire to higher positions of leadership and authority in the industry.

“It is very important that we empower women in the oil and gas industry. If the men in the industry and operators support the female leaders who are now in the sector, these females will in turn encourage other younger women who will encourage the girl child down the line.

“Our markets today are run by women but unfortunately, when we talk about we talk about technical and engineering skills, they get scared. We need to encourage them and let them know that there are opportunities in the oil and gas sector and part of our efforts is to give women the opportunity to make an input.

“This is an effort to reach out to the stakeholders to see how the women who are already in the sector can reach out and make for more inclusiveness for other women to come in,” he said.

Wabote, who said capacity would be built across genders in the sector, advocated the training of the girl-child in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects which would help in growing female participation in the sector.

The workshop attracted the participation of stakeholders in the oil and gas sector as well as the Head of Service of the Federation, Mrs. Folasade Yemi-Esan, and the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Mrs. Hadiza Bala-Usman.

The Executive Vice Chairman, H. Pierson Associates, Mrs. Eileen Shaiyen, outlined key success factors for female corporate executives and entrepreneurs in the oil and gas sector.

She stated during a panel session that the reasons why most women crashed out along the way was their inability to effectively balance their desires for a career, with the demands of motherhood, building a family and responding to adverse societal stereotypes about the role of women.

To get to the top, she encouraged women to set clear career targets for themselves, build a strong support system and stay very focused.

She also emphasized the need for them to abhor mediocrity and strive for excellence always.

A representative of the Women in Energy Board of Trustees, Mrs. Joana Maduka, expressed optimism at the initiative and offered possible solutions to encouraging better working conditions for females in the industry.

“There should be some sort of bridging course to bring childbearing women up to speed when they return to the workplace and also the establishment of creches where women

CREATE SOLID WEALTH Grace Omenyo Agada Why Wealth Creators Are Rare in Second Generation Grace Agada

Wabote can leave their young ones while they work.

This she said would create a better work environment for nursing mothers saddled with the task of optimal performance at work and in the home front. Maduka maintained that women should find a way to combine family work and their responsibilities as professionals in the workplace.

Usman who described the gender imbalance in the oil and gas sector as “a man with two hands who chooses to lift a heavy luggage before him with one hand,” maintained that the sector would save more resources if the industry employs all human resources available to it optimally.

Usman, who further emphasised the responsibility of motherhood, advocated for incentives to help boost female performance in their workplaces.

“Most of these policies do not allow the young woman to remain in employment because no matter how we want to help someone to become a CEO or a managing director, if the woman does not have those core competences, she will never become one. We have to make special considerations to accommodate our family’s needs.

“I inherited a policy that required one to be married before they can go on maternity leave and I find it laughable because childbearing has nothing to do with one’s marital status.

Every mother should be given the privilege to look after her baby. Her marital status is not your business as an organisation,” she said.

While speaking on competence as a factor to female participation in key areas of the oil and gas sector, Director, Corporate and Regulatory Affairs AOS Orwell, Mrs. Charlotte Essiet, reitterated that women must strive to be professionals at work in other to climb up the ladder.

“You must educate and develop yourself.

I paid to go to school to the level where it didn’t matter what it looked like and I am still learning,” she said.

On her part, the Head of Service of the Federation, Mrs. Folasade Yemi-Esan, lauded the efforts of the NCDMB, saying it is a step in the right direction.

She proposed that a quota should be created for women in all levels of decision making in the oil and gas sector and the country at large.

“We should create a quota for women in decision making in strategic positions and in so doing ensure that the country maximises the economic potential of its whole labour force.

We should promote equal rights, access and opportunity for women at all level.

“I would like to laud the goodwill that women in Nigeria have enjoyed from his Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, who has led by example by demonstrating the political will to actualize balance particularly in the area of appointing women to key positions in his administration”.

áÏËÖÞÒ ÍÜÏËÞÙÜ ÓÝ ÝÙ×ÏÙØÏ áÒÙ ÒËÝ ÞÒÏ ËÌÓÖÓÞã ÞÙ ÍÜÏËÞÏ áÏËÖÞÒ ËØÎ ×ËØËÑÏ ÏâÓÝÞÓØÑ áÏËÖÞÒ áÏÖÖ˛ ÙÝÞ áÏËÖÞÒ ÍÜÏËÞÙÜÝ ËÜÏ ×Ï×ÌÏÜÝ ÙÐ ÞÒÏ ÓÜÝÞ ÑÏØÏÜËÞÓÙØ˛ ÒÓÝ ×ÏËØÝ ÞÒËÞ ÞÒÏã ËÜÏ ÞÒÏ ʨÜÝÞ ÚÏÙÚÖÏ ÞÙ ÍÜÏËÞÏ áÏËÖÞÒ ÓØ ÞÒÏÓÜ ÐË×ÓÖÓÏݲ ÒÏã ÍÜÏËÞÏÎ ÞÒÏÓÜ áÏËÖÞÒ Ìã ÝÙÖàÓØÑ ÜÏËÖ ÚÜÙÌÖÏ×ݲ ÍÍÙÜÎÓØÑ ÞÙ ÞÒÏ ÙÜÌÏÝ Ͳͮ​ͮ ÓÍÒ ÓÝÞ˜ ËÌÙßÞ Ͷͮϱ ÙÐ áÏËÖÞÒ ÍÜÏËÞÙÜÝ ÍÜÏËÞÏÎ ÞÒÏÓÜ áÏËÖÞÒ ÐÜÙ× ÝÍÜËÞÍÒ˛ ÒÓÝ Ó×ÚÖÓÏÝ ÞÒËÞ ÞÒÏã ÑÜÏá ßÚ ÓØ ÚÙàÏÜÞã ËØÎ ÐÜÙ× ÐË×ÓÖÓÏÝ áÓÞÒ äÏÜÙ áÏËÖÞÒ ËÎàËØÞËÑÏ˛ Ý ÞÒÏÝÏ áÏËÖÞÒ ÍÜÏËÞÙÜÝ ÐÙÜ× ÞÒÏÓÜ ÙáØ ÐË×ÓÖÓÏݘ ÞÒÏã ÌÓÜÞÒ ÞÒÏÓÜ ÙáØ ÍÒÓÖÎÜÏØ áÒÙ ÞÒÏØ ÐÙÜ× ÞÒÏ ÝÏÍÙØÎ ÑÏØÏÜËÞÓÙØ˛ ßÞ ßØÖÓÕÏ ÞÒÏ ʨÜÝÞ ÑÏØÏÜËÞÓÙØ ÞÒËÞ ÍÜÏËÞÏÎ áÏËÖÞÒ˛ ÒÏ ÝÏÍÙØÎ ÑÏØÏÜËÞÓÙØ ÞÒÜÓàÏÝ ÙØ ÏâÓÝÞÓØÑ áÏËÖÞÒ˛ Þ ÓÝ ËÝ ÓÐ ÝÙ×ÏÞÒÓØÑ ÒËÚÚÏØÝ ÞÒËÞ ×ËÕÏÝ ÓÞ ÒËÜÎ ÐÙÜ ÞÒÏ ÝÏÍÙØÎ ÑÏØÏÜËÞÓÙØ ÞÙ ÍÜÏËÞÏ ÞÒÏÓÜ ÙáØ áÏËÖÞÒ˛ ÒÏã ÐËÓÖ ÞÙ ÍÜÏËÞÏ áÏËÖÞÒ ËØÎ ÞÒÏã ËÖÝÙ ÐËÓÖ ÞÙ ×ËØËÑÏ ÏâÓÝÞÓØÑ áÏËÖÞÒ áÏÖÖ˛ ßÞ áÒã ÓÝ ÞÒÓÝ ÝÙˣ ÒÏ ËØÝáÏÜ ÓÝ ÝÓ×ÚÖÏ˛ ÒÏ ÝÏÍÙØÎ ÑÏØÏÜËÞÓÙØ ÑÜÏá ßÚ ÓØ ÞÒÏ ×ÓÎÝÞ ÙÐ áÏËÖÞÒ˛ ØÖÓÕÏ ÞÒÏÓÜ ÐËÞÒÏÜÝ áÒÙ ÑÜÏá ßÚ ÓØ ÚÙàÏÜÞã˛ ÒÏ ÝÏÍÙØÎ ÑÏØÏÜËÞÓÙØ ÑÜÏá ßÚ ÓØ ËØ ÏØàÓÜÙØ×ÏØÞ ÎÏÍÙÜËÞÏÎ áÓÞÒ ÞÒÏ ÚÜÓàÓÖÏÑÏÝ ÙÐ áÏËÖÞÒ˛ ÒÏã ÏØÔÙã ÞÒÏÝÏ ÚÜÓàÓÖÏÑÏÝ ØÙÞ ÌÏÍËßÝÏ ÞÒÏã ÏËÜØ ÞÒÏ× ÌßÞ ÌÏÍËßÝÏ ÙÐ ÞÒÏÓÜ ÑÙÖÎÏØ ÌÖÙÙÎÖÓØÏ˛ ÒÓÝ ÓÝ ÞÒÏ ÜÏËÖ ÜÏËÝÙØ áÒã ÞÒÏ ÝÏÍÙØÎ ÑÏØÏÜËÞÓÙØ ÐËÓÖÝ ÞÙ ÚÜÙÎßÍÏ áÏËÖÞÒ˛ ÒÏØ áÏËÖÞÒ ÓÝ ÖËÍÕÓØÑ ÓØ ËØ ÏØàÓÜÙØ×ÏØÞ ËÝ áËÝ ÏàÓÎÏØÞ ÓØ ÞÒÏ ÍËÝÏ ÙÐ ÞÒÏ áÏËÖÞÒ ÍÜÏËÞÙÜݲ Þ ×ËÕÏÝ ÚÏÜÐÏÍÞ ÝÏØÝÏ ÞÙ ÝÞÜÓàÏ ÞÙáËÜÎÝ áÏËÖÞÒ˛ ßÞ áÒÏØ áÏËÖÞÒ ÓÝ ÓØ ËÌßØÎËØÞ ÝßÚÚÖã ËÝ ÓÝ ÏàÓÎÏØÞ ÓØ ÞÒÏ ÍËÝÏ ÙÐ ÞÒÏ ÝÏÍÙØÎ ÑÏØÏÜËÞÓÙØ ÓÞ ×ËÕÏÝ ØÙ ÝÏØÝÏ ÞÙ ÝÞÜÓàÏ ÐÙÜ ×ÙÜÏ áÏËÖÞÒ˛ àÏØ ÞÒÏ ×ÙÝÞ ÝÏÖÐ̋ ×ÙÞÓàËÞÏÎ ÚÏÜÝÙØ ÍËØ ÌÏÍÙ×Ï ÖËäã ÓØ ÞÒÏ ×ÓÎÝÞ ÙÐ ËÌßØÎËØÞ áÏËÖÞÒ˛ ßÞ áÒÙ ×ËÎÏ áÏËÖÞÒ ËàËÓÖËÌÖÏ ÞÙ ÞÒÏ ÝÏÍÙØÎ ÑÏØÏÜËÞÓÙØ ÓØ ÞÒÏ ʨÜÝÞ ÚÖËÍÏˣ ÒÏ áÏËÖÞÒ ÍÜÏËÞÙÜÝ ÎÓβ ÏËÖÞÒ ÍÜÏËÞÙÜÝ ÓØ ÞÒÏ ÌÓÎ ÞÙ ÍÜÏËÞÏ Ë ÚÏÜÐÏÍÞ ÏØàÓÜÙØ×ÏØÞ ÐÙÜ ÞÒÏÓÜ ÍÒÓÖÎÜÏØ ÒËàÏ ÍÜÏËÞÏÎ ÞÒÏÓÜ ÙáØ áÙÜÝÏ ØÓÑÒÞ×ËÜÏݲ ã ÝßÜÜÙßØÎÓØÑ ÞÒÏÓÜ ÍÒÓÖÎÜÏØ áÓÞÒ ÞÒÏ ÚÏÜÐÏÍÞ ÖÓÐÏ ÞÒÏã ÎÓÎ ØÙÞ ÒËàϘ ÞÒÏã ÕÓÖÖ ÞÒÏ ×ÙÞÓàËÞÓÙØ ÞÙ ÝÞÜÓàÏ ÐÙÜ áÏËÖÞÒ˛ ÏÜÐÏÍÞ ÓÝ ÝÏÖÎÙ× áÒËÞ Ë ÍÒÓÖÎ ØÏÏÎÝ ÞÙ ÎÏàÏÖÙÚ ÓØÞÙ Ë áÏËÖÞÒ ÍÜÏËÞÙܲ ÏãÙØÎ ÍÏÜÞËÓØ ÖÓ×ÓÞݘ áÏËÖÞÒ ÌÏÍÙ×ÏÝ ÎÏÞÜÓ×ÏØÞËÖ˜ ØÙÞ ÌÏØÏʨÍÓËÖ˛ ÒÏ ×ÙÜÏ áÏËÖÞÒ ÓÝ ×ËÎÏ ËàËÓÖËÌÖÏ ÞÙ Ë ÍÒÓÖÎ ÞÒÏ ÐËÝÞÏÜ ÞÒÏ ÍÒÓÖÎ ÎÓÝÓØÞÏÑÜËÞÏÝ ÐÜÙ× Ë áÏËÖÞÒ ÍÜÏËÞÙÜ ÓØÞÙ Ë ÎÏÚÏØÎÏØÞ ÌÏØÏʨÍÓËÜã˛

Ð ãÙß ÞËÕÏ ËØã ÍÒÓÖÎ ÐÜÙ× ËÑÏ ˜ áÒÙ ÍËØ ÞËÖÕ˜ áËÖÕ ËØÎ ÏâÚÜÏÝÝ ÞÒÏ×ÝÏÖàÏݘ ãÙß áÓÖÖ ÝÏÏ áÏËÖÞÒ ÍÜÏËÞÙÜ ÖÓÕÏ ËʵÜÓÌßÞÏÝ ÎÓÝÚÖËãÏÎ ÓØ ØÙ ÞÓ×Ï˛ Ùß áÓÖÖ ʨØÎ ÞÒËÞ ÞÒÏã ËÜÏ ÍßÜÓÙßݘ ÎËÜÓØј ÍÙ×ÚÏÞÓÞÓàϘ ÐÏËÜÖÏÝݘ ÑÙÙÎ ØÏÑÙÞÓËÞÙÜÝ ËØÎ ÖÙàÏ ÞÙ ÞËÕÏ ÜÓÝÕݲ Ùß áÓÖÖ ËÖÝÙ ʨØÎ ÞÒËÞ ÞÒÏã ËÜÏ ÍÜÏËÞÓàϘ ÖÓÕËÌÖϘ ËØÎ ÖÙàÏÜÝ ÙÐ ×ÙØÏã˛ ÒÏã ÎÓÎ ØÙÞ ÑÏÞ ÞÒÏÝÏ ÞÜËÓÞÝ ÐÜÙ× ËØã ÝÍÒÙÙÖ˛ ÒÏã ÍË×Ï ÓØÞÙ ÞÒÏ áÙÜÖÎ áÓÞÒ ÓÞ˛ ØÐÙÜÞßØËÞÏÖ㘠ÚËÜÏØÞÝ ÎÏËÎÏØ ÞÒÏÝÏ ÞÜËÓÞÝ ÙØ ËÜÜÓàËÖ˛ Ý ÝÙÙØ Ë ÍÒÓÖÎ ÌÏÑÓØÝ ÞÙ ÑÜÙᘠÒÏ ÓÝ ÞÙÖÎ ÞÙ ÍÙØÐÙÜ× ÜËÞÒÏÜ ÞÒËØ ÝÞËØÎ ÙßÞ ËØÎ ÌÏ ÎÓʥÏÜÏØÞ˛ ÒÓÖÎÜÏØ ËÜÏ ÚÜËÓÝÏÎ áÒÏØ ÞÒÏã ÙÌÏã ÌÖÓØÎÖã ÞÒËØ áÒÏØ ÞÒÏã ÛßÏÝÞÓÙØ ËßÞÒÙÜÓÞã˛ ÒÏã ËÜÏ ÝÓÖÏØÍÏÎ áÒÏØ ÞÒÏã ËÝÕ ÞÒÙßÑÒÞ ÚÜÙàÙÕÓØÑ ÛßÏÝÞÓÙØÝ ËØÎ ÞÒÏã ËÜÏ ÝÒÓÏÖÎÏÎ ÐÜÙ× ÖÓÐÏ ×ËØã àËÖßËÌÖÏ ÖÏÝÝÙØݲ ÜÙ× ÞÒÏ ×Ù×ÏØÞ Ë ÍÒÓÖÎ ÓÝ ÌÙÜØ ÓÞ ÓÝ ËÝ ÓÐ áÏËÖÞÒ ÍÜÏËÞÙÜÝ ËÜÏ ÜÏÍÜÏËÞÓØÑ ÞÒÏ ÍÒÓÖβ ÒÏã ËÜÏ ÜÏÍÜÏËÞÓØÑ ÞÒÏ ÍÒÓÖÎ ÐÜÙ× áÒÙ ÞÒÏã ËÜÏ ÞÙ áÒÙ× ÞÒÏã áËØÞ ÞÒÏ× ÞÙ ÌÏ˛ ÒÏã ÏØÍÙßÜËÑÏ ÞÒÏÓÜ ÍÒÓÖÎÜÏØ ÞÙ ÚßÜÝßÏ ÍËÜÏÏÜÝ ÞÒÏã áÓÝÒÏÎ ÞÒÏã ÒËÎ ÚßÜÝßÏβ ÒÏã ËÝÕ ÞÒÏ× ÞÙ ÞËÕÏ ÔÙÌÝ ÞÒËÞ ÑÓàÏ ÞÒÏ× ÌÜËÑÑÓØÑ ÜÓÑÒÞÝ Ë×ÙØÑ ÞÒÏÓÜ ÐÜÓÏØÎݲ ÒÏã ÐÙÜÍÏ ÍÒÓÖÎÜÏØ ÞÙ ÔÙÓØ ÐË×ÓÖã ÌßÝÓØÏÝÝÏÝ

ÔßÝÞ ÞÙ ×ËÕÏ ÞÒÏ× ÖÙÙÕ ÑÙÙβ ÒÏ ÜÏÝßÖÞ ÓÝ Ë ÍÒÓÖÎ ÞÒËÞ ÓÝ ÞÜËØÝÐÙÜ×ÏÎ ÐÜÙ× Ë ÐÏËÜÖÏÝÝ áÏËÖÞÒ ÍÜÏËÞÙÜ ÞÙ Ë ÎÏÚÏØÎÏØÞ˜ ÖÙãËÖ ËØÎ ÍÙØÐÙÜ×ÓØÑ ÌÏØÏʨÍÓËÜã˛ ÒÓÝ ÍÒÓÖÎ ÍËØØÙÞ ÍÜÏËÞÏ áÏËÖÞÒ ËÞ ÌÏÝÞ ÒÏ ÎÏÝÞÜÙãÝ ÞÒÏ áÏËÖÞÒ ÞÒËÞ ÒËÝ ÌÏÏØ ÍÜÏËÞÏβ Ð áÏËÖÞÒ ÍÜÏËÞÙÜÝ ×ßÝÞ ÜÏÚÜÙÎßÍÏ ÞÒÏÓÜ ÕÓØÎ ÓØ ÞÒÏ ØÏâÞ ÑÏØÏÜËÞÓÙؘ ÞÒÏã ×ßÝÞ ÍÒËØÑÏ ÞÒÏÓÜ áËãݲ

So what can wealth creators do to turn things around?

Wealth creators can do three things. ÓÜÝÞ áÏËÖÞÒ ÍÜÏËÞÙÜÝ ×ßÝÞ ÜÏÍÙÑØÓäÏ ÞÒËÞ ÚËÓØ ËØÎ ÞÒÏ ÎÓÝÑßÝÞ ÐÙÜ ÚÙàÏÜÞã áÏÜÏ ÞÒÏ ÕÏã ÐËÍÞÙÜÝ ÞÒËÞ ÖÏÎ ÞÙ ÞÒÏÓÜ ÎÏàÏÖÙÚ×ÏØÞ ËÝ áÏËÖÞÒ ÍÜÏËÞÙÜݲ ÒÓÝ ÚËÓØ ÐËÍÞÙÜ ÓÝ ×ÓÝÝÓØÑ ÓØ ÞÒÏ ÝÏÍÙØÎ ÑÏØÏÜËÞÓÙØ˛ ÒÏ ÝÏÍÙØÎ ÑÏØÏÜËÞÓÙØ ÒËÝ ÌÏÏØ ÍÙØÎÓÞÓÙØÏÎ ÞÙ Ë ÖÓÐÏ ÙÐ ÏËÝÏ˛ ÒÏã ÒËàÏ ËÍÍÏÝÝ ÞÙ ×ÙØÏã ÞÒËÞ ÓÝ ÌÏãÙØÎ ÞÒÏÓÜ ×ÏËØݲ ÙØÏã ÓÝ ÑÓàÏØ ÞÙ ÞÒÏ× áÓÞÒÙßÞ ËÍÍÙßØÞËÌÓÖÓÞã˛ àÏØ áÒÏØ ÞÒÏã áÙÜÕ˜ ÞÒÏÓÜ ÖÓÐÏÝÞãÖÏ ÝßÜÚËÝÝÏÝ ÞÒÏÓÜ ÝËÖËÜã ËØÎ áÒÏØ ÞÒÏã ÓØÍßÜ ÎÏÌÞ ÓÞ ÓÝ áËÓàÏÎ ÐÙÜ ÐÜÏÏ˛ ÒÓÝ ÕÓØÎ ÙÐ ËʵÓÞßÎÏ ÌÜÏÏÎÝ Ë ×ÏØÞËÖÓÞã ÙÐ ÎÏÚÏØÎÏØÍÏ ÜËÞÒÏÜ ÞÒËØ ÓØÎÏÚÏØÎÏØÍÏ˛ ÏËÖÞÒ ÍÜÏËÞÙÜÝ ×ßÝÞ ÍÒËØÑÏ ÞÒÏÓÜ áËãݲ ÏÍÙØΘ áÏËÖÞÒ ÍÜÏËÞÙÜÝ ×ßÝÞ ÜÏÎÏÝÓÑØ ÞÒÏ ÐË×ÓÖã ÏØàÓÜÙØ×ÏØÞ ÞÙ ÜÏʮÏÍÞ ÝÙ×Ï ÙÐ ÞÒÏ ÏâÚÏÜÓÏØÍÏÝ ÞÒËÞ ÝßÚÚÙÜÞÏÎ ÞÒÏÓÜ ÙáØ ÎÏàÏÖÙÚ×ÏØÞ˛ ÒÏã ×ßÝÞ ʨØÎ áËãÝ ÞÙ ÓØÞÏÑÜËÞÏ ÎÏÖËãÏÎ ÑÜËÞÓʨÍËÞÓÙؘ ÝÙßØÎ áÙÜÕ ÏÞÒÓÍÝ ËØÎ ÞÒÏ ÏʥÏÍÞÓàÏ ×ËØËÑÏ×ÏØÞ ÙÐ ÜÏÝÙßÜÍÏÝ ÓØ ÞÒÏÓÜ ÐË×ÓÖã ÏØàÓÜÙØ×ÏØÞ˛ ÒÓÜΘ áÏËÖÞÒ ÍÜÏËÞÙÜÝ ×ßÝÞ ÖÏàÏÜËÑÏ ÙØ ÞÒÏ ÐË×ÓÖã ÌËØÕ ÝãÝÞÏ× ÞÙ ÞÏËÍÒ ÞÒÏÓÜ ÍÒÓÖÎÜÏØ ËÌÙßÞ ×ÙØÏã ËØÎ ÍÙØÞÜÙÖ ËÍÍÏÝÝ ÞÙ ×ÙØÏã˛ Ð ÍÒÓÖÎÜÏØ ×ßÝÞ ÌÏÍÙ×Ï ÜÏÝÚÙØÝÓÌÖÏ áÏËÖÞÒ ÍÜÏËÞÙÜݘ ÞÒÏã ×ßÝÞ ÏËÜØ ËØÎ ×ËØËÑÏ ÞÒÏÓÜ ÙáØ ×ÙØÏã˛ ËÜØÓØÑ ÞÒÏÓÜ ÙáØ ×ÙØÏã ×ËÕÏÝ ÞÒÏ× ÎÏÜÓàÏ ÐßÖʨÖÖ×ÏØÞ ÐÜÙ× ÞÒÏÓÜ ÙáØ ÒËÜÎ áÙÜÕ˛ Þ ÞËÕÏÝ ËáËã ÞÒÏ ÑßÓÖÞ ÙÐ ÐÜÏÏ ×ÙØÏã ËØÎ ÒÏÖÚÝ ÞÒÏ× ÚßÞ ×ÙØÏã ÞÙ ×ÙÜÏ ÚÜÙÎßÍÞÓàÏ ßÝÏ˛ ÙØÏã ÞÒËÞ ÓÝ ÌÏØÏʨÍÓËÖ ÓÝ ØÏàÏÜ ÌÏÝÞÙáÏβ ÓÞÒ ÞÒÏ ÜÓÑÒÞ ÐË×ÓÖã ÌËØÕ ÝãÝÞÏט áÏËÖÞÒ ÍÜÏËÞÙÜÝ ÍËØ ÒÏÖÚ ÞÒÏÓÜ ÍÒÓÖÎÜÏØ ÖÏËÜØ ÒÙá ÞÙ ÍÜÏËÞÏ ØÏá áÏËÖÞÒ˜ ×ËØËÑÏ ÏâÓÝÞÓØÑ áÏËÖÞÒ ËØÎ ×ËÕÏ áÏËÖÞÒ ÖËÝÞ ÐÙÜ ×ËØã ÑÏØÏÜËÞÓÙØݲ Ù ÚÏÜÚÏÞßËÞÏ áÏËÖÞÒ ËÍÜÙÝÝ ×ËØã ÑÏØÏÜËÞÓÙØݘ ÞÒÏ ÍÒÓÖÎÜÏØ ÓØ ãÙßÜ ÐË×ÓÖã ×ßÝÞ ÕØÙá ÞáÙ ÞÒÓØÑݲ ÒÏã ×ßÝÞ ÕØÙá ÒÙá ÞÙ ÍÜÏËÞÏ ØÏá áÏËÖÞÒ ËØÎ ÞÒÏã ×ßÝÞ ÕØÙá ÒÙá ÞÙ ×ËØËÑÏ ÏâÓÝÞÓØÑ áÏËÖÞÒ áÏÖÖ˛ Ð ÞÒÏ ØÏâÞ ÑÏØÏÜËÞÓÙØÝ ËÜÏ ÎÏÚÏØÎÏØÞ ÌÏØÏʨÍÓËÜÓÏݘ ÞÒÏã áÓÖÖ ÏËÞ áÏËÖÞÒ áÓÞÒÙßÞ ÐËÓÖ˛ ßÞ ÓÐ ÞÒÏã ËÜÏ áÏËÖÞÒ ÍÜÏËÞÙÜݘ áÏËÖÞÒ áÓÖÖ ÖËÝÞ ÐÙÜ ×ËØã ÑÏØÏÜËÞÓÙØݲ ÒÏ ÑÙËÖ ÐÙÜ áÏËÖÞÒ ÍÜÏËÞÙÜÝ ÓÝ ÞÙ ËØÝáÏÜ ÍÏÜÞËÓØ ÕÏã ÛßÏÝÞÓÙØÝ ÞÒËÞ áÓÖÖ ÚßÞ ÞÒÏ× ÓØ ÞÒÏ ÜÓÑÒÞ ×ÓØÎÝÏÞ ÐÙÜ ÍÒËØÑÏ˛ ÓÖÖ ÑÓàÓØÑ ×ã ÍÒÓÖÎÜÏØ ÞÒÏ ÖÓÐÏ

ÎÓÎ ØÙÞ ÒËàÏ ×ËÕÏ ÓÞ ÏËÝÓÏÜ ÙÜ ÒËÜÎÏÜ ÐÙÜ ÞÒÏ× ÞÙ ÝßÍÍÏÏÎˣ Ùá ÎÙ ×ËÕÏ ÝßÜÏ ÞÒËÞ áÏËÖÞÒ ÒËÝ Ë ÚÙÝÓÞÓàÏ Ó×ÚËÍÞ ËØÎ ØÙÞ Ë ØÏÑËÞÓàÏ Ó×ÚËÍÞ ÙØ ×ã ÍÒÓÖÎÜÏØˣ Ùá ÍËØ ÒÏÖÚ ×ã ÍÒÓÖÎÜÏØ ÖÏËÜØ ÞÒÏ àËÖßËÌÖÏ ÖÏÝÝÙØÝ ÖÓÐÏ ÒËÝ ÞÒÙßÑÒÞ ×Ïˣ˛ ÒËÞ ÕÓØÎ ÙÐ ÏØàÓÜÙØ×ÏØÞ ÎÙ ØÏÏÎ ÞÙ ÍÜÏËÞÏ ÞÙ ÒÏÖÚ ÞÒÏ× ÎÏàÏÖÙÚ ÓØÞÙ áÏËÖÞÒ ÍÜÏËÞÙÜÝˣ ØÎ ÝÙ ÙØ˛ ËÜÏØÞÝ ×ßÝÞ ÜÏÎÏʨØÏ áÒËÞ ÓÞ ×ÏËØÝ ÞÙ ÒÏÖÚ ÞÒÏÓÜ ÍÒÓÖÎÜÏØ áÓÞÒÙßÞ ÜßÓØÓØÑ ÞÒÏײ ÒÏ ×ÙÜÏ ßØÏËÜØÏÎ áÏËÖÞÒ ãÙß ÏâÚÙÝÏ ãÙßÜ ÍÒÓÖÎ ÞÙ ÞÒÏ ×ÙÜÏ ÎÏÚÏØÎÏØÞ ãÙßÜ ÍÒÓÖÎ áÓÖÖ ÌÏÍÙ×Ï˛ ˾ ÑËÎË ÓÝ Ë ÚÜÙàÙÍËÞÓàÏ ÞÜßÞÒ̋ÞÏÖÖÓØÑ áÏËÖÞÒ ËÎàÓÝÙܘ ËßÞÒÙÜ ÙÐ ÞÒÏ ÚÙÚßÖËÜ ÙÖÓÎ ÏËÖÞÒ ÙÙÕ˜ Ë ×ßÖÞÓ̋×ÓÖÖÓÙØËÓÜÏ ÏØÞÜÏÚÜÏØÏßܘ ÙØÝßÖÞËØÞ˜ ËØÎ ÙËÍÒ ÞÙ ËØ ÏâÍÖßÝÓàÏ ÖÓÝÞ ÙÐ ÞÙÚ âÏÍßÞÓàÏݘ

ØàÏÝÞÙÜݘ ËØÎ ÏØÞÜÏÚÜÏØÏßÜÓËÖ ÍÖÓÏØÞÝ ÜßØØÓØÑ ßÝÓØÏÝÝÏÝ ÐÜÙ× ͯ̋͜×ÓÖÖÓÙØ ÞÙ ͯ͜ ÌÓÖÖÓÙØ ÓØ ÝÓäÏ˛ ÜËÍÏ ÒÏÖÚÝ ÞáÙ ÕÓØÎÝ ÙÐ ÚÏÙÚÖÏ˛ ÒÏ ʨÜÝÞ ËÜÏ ÞÒÏ ÚÏÙÚÖÏ áÒÙ want to grow existing wealth and the ÝÏÍÙØÎ ËÜÏ ÞÒÏ ÚÏÙÚÖÏ áÒÙ áËØÞ ÞÒÏÓÜ áÏËÖÞÒ ÞÙ ÖËÝÞ ËØÎ ÌÏÍÙ×Ï ÓÜÜÏàÏÜÝÓÌÖÏ ËÍÜÙÝÝ ×ËØã ÑÏØÏÜËÞÓÙØݲ ×ËÓÖ˝ ÓØÐÙ̶ÍÜÏËÞÏÝÙÖÓÎáÏËÖÞÒ˛ÍÙ×

26

T H I S D AY Ëž Í°ÍˇËœ Ͱ͎ͯ͡

PSC Amendment Bill and Nigeria’s Future Chika Amanze-Nwachuku takes a look at the recently passed Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contract (amendment) Bill, 2019, and its likely adverse consequences on the oil industry and Nigerian economy

Buhari About a fortnight ago, precisely on October 15, 2019, the Senate passed the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contracts (amendment) Bill, 2019 (PSC Amendment Bill).

The Bill sponsored by Senator Albert Bassey Akpan, who also is Chairman of the Senate Joint Committees on Petroleum (Upstream), Gas and Finance, was passed by the upper legislative chamber, after adopting the committees’ report on the bill and conclusion of public hearing on it.

President Muhammadu Buhari, during the presentation of the 2020 budget to the National Assembly, had stated the need to amend the PSC Bill “to secure increased revenue for the federal government to fund projected expenditure in the 2020 and subsequent budgets.�

To this end, Buhari in an executive communication to the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, dated October 10, 2019, specifically sought an expeditious consideration and passage of the PSC Amendment Bill into law by the Senate.

The letter partly read: “Pursuant to Section 58 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), I hereby present the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contracts (Amendment) Bill, 2019 for consideration and passage into law by the Senate. “This Bill seeks to reflect the current realities in the oil and gas sector, as well as to secure increased revenue for the federal government to fund projected expenditure in the 2020 and subsequent budgets.�

The upper legislative chamber during the clause-by-clause consideration of its committees’ report on the bill, also amended clause 17 of the PSC Act, and amended the timeline for review of future contracts from five years to eight years. The Senate also increased the penalty for failure to comply with the obligations of the Act to not less than N500 million or a prison term of not less than 5 years, or both.

The bill highlighted the approval of various royalty rates based on price range of crude oil & gas, and water depth of fields (deep offshore or frontier/inland basin).

But of particular interest in the amendment Bill was a proposed amendment to Section 5 of the Act, which highlights Royalty by Water Depth; Royalty by Price. The recommendation was that “Royalties shall be calculated on a field basis and shall be at rate per centum of the chargeable volume of crude oil and condensates produced from the relevant period

Senate President, Ahmad Lawan as follows: In deep offshore: greater than 200m water depth – 10 per cent, and in frontier/ inland basin - 7.5 per cent.�

In addition to the water depth-based royalty rate, the Bill further recommends that the Act also reflect a Royalty by Price where: “The royalty rates shall be based on increase that exceeds $20 per barrel, and shall be determined separately for crude oil and condensate as follows: From $ 0 and up to $20 per barrel - 0 per cent; Above $20 and up to $60 per barrel - 2.5 per cent; Above $60 and up to $ 100 per barrel – 4per cent; Above $100 and up to $150 per barrel - 8 per cent and Above $150 – 10per cent.�

Procedurally, the Bill would be sent to the House of Representatives for concurrence and onward transmission to President Buhari for his assent.

During the clause-by-clause consideration of the bill, the Senate President had expressed optimism that amendment of the PSC Bill will generate more revenue for Nigeria.

He declared: “With the passage of this bill, Nigeria will gain at least $1.5 billion in 2020 as a result of this amendment.

Lawan, emphasised that the amendment of the PSC Act will also create a level playing ground for the government and the international oil companies (IOCs) doing business in Nigeria. “For the IOCs doing business in Nigeria, the amendment will not in any way discourage investment; we expect that they will continue to do business in Nigeria. “When we legislate at the National Assembly, we will always be mindful of the need to have a competitive environment. “When we work on the Petroleum Industry Bill, maybe in January, we will ensure that it

This Bill seeks to reect the current realities in the oil and gas sector, as well as to secure increased revenue for the federal government to fund projected expenditure in the 2020 and subsequent budgets

is a win-win situation for Nigerians and those doing business in the oil and gas industry�, Lawan added.

It is indubitable that Nigeria, with the largest oil and gas reserves in Africa, has significant untapped hydrocarbon potential available to advance her economic development goals. The development of Deepwater PSC has been a major contributor to the Nigerian petroleum industry, the economy and to government revenue. Currently, Deepwater PSCs account for 40per cent of Nigeria’s oil production.

Findings from oil and gas industry indicate that the Deepwater PSC 1993 terms have attracted $86billion of investments since the commencement of Deepwater developments in 2001. Between 2001 and this year, Nigeria has received about $180billion from Deepwater oil production. The structure of PSCs is such that with increasing cumulative production, the share of profit oil to the Federal Government of Nigeria, through the Nigerian National Petroleum Company increases.

However, in the last decade, the Nigerian oil industry has sanctioned only three new Deepwater projects whereas other African countries with less hydrocarbon potential have attracted significantly more investments than Nigeria, because they offer more attractive Deepwater fiscal terms that encourage investments.

Impact on Investments, Economy Oil and gas industry experts have expressed concern that introduction of additional pricebased royalty and as well as the increase in water depth-based royalties on revenues already burdened with a plethora of other taxes, fees, levies and other tariffs would worsen Nigeria’s competitiveness. Analysts believe that US$48 billion of currently planned oil and gas investments would no longer be economically viable, and could result in significant decline in production and government revenues by 2023.

Besides, analysts opine that there are another $43billion of future Deepwater investments that will also not likely occur due to the lack of competitiveness in Nigeria’s fiscal policies. This will mean that the Nigerian contractors will not have work and the thousands of jobs that would have been created from the projects will not materialise for Nigeria.

Industry operators and other stakeholders reason that the Bill, which seeks to extract more revenue for the Federal Government of

Nigeria through additional royalties in a high oil price regime, did not factor the corresponding increase in capital expenses, operating expenses and associated service costs. Furthermore, the bill does not consider its potential negative impact on long-term Deepwater investment and development.

Currently, Nigeria has one of the least competitive Deepwater fiscal terms in Africa and is fast losing substantial amount of potential investments in the oil and gas sector to other countries, particularly Mozambique, Angola and Ghana.

In the last decade, for instance, the Nigerian oil industry has been able to start up production of only three new Deepwater projects – Usan, Aje and Egina. Nigeria, with significant reserves of 55 billion barrels of oil equivalent, has attracted only a paltry $27billion of investments, whereas Egypt, Angola and Ghana with about half of Nigeria’s reserves combined, have attracted massive US$130 Billion for new projects, because they offer more attractive Deepwater fiscal terms to encourage investments.

Oil and gas industry experts therefore recommend that one of the most sustainable ways for the Nigeria to increase her revenue is by enabling new production from Deep Offshore and other locations. They reasoned that investments can be attracted through timely conclusion of ongoing industry reform to guarantee legislative certainty and clarity; ensuring fiscal terms remain globally competitive to maintain investment commitments, and enabling a conducive business environment.

With a competitive fiscal framework in place, further income for the federal government can be quickly garnered by conducting a new and transparent oil licensing bid round.

Experts who are very conversant with operations of oil and gas industries in Nigeria and across the globe, have therefore advised Nigerian Legislative and Executive arms of government to take a holistic approach in addressing issues around the fiscal terms, taking into consideration all fiscal elements (taxes, royalties, incentives etc.) of the industry, and the passage of a petroleum industry bill that is sustainable and encourages investments.

Until competitive fiscal terms (with all fiscal elements) are achieved, Nigeria’s objective to attract investments in her oil and gas sector, which currently is the mainstay of her economy, may remain a mere wish that cannot be achieved.

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T H I S D AY Ëž Í°ÍˇËœ Ͱ͎ͯ͡

Access Bank, Others Launch UN Global Compact Compendium Ugo Aliogo Access Bank Plc has joined other organisations to launch the first-ever United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) sustainability compendium in Nigeria.

The compendium, which was launched recently at the UNGC Breakfast Dialogue, documented some of the efforts of the bank, its sustainability journey and its strategic collaborations

to facilitate socio-economic development.

Launching the compendium, the former Group Managing Director, Access Bank Plc., Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, urged corporate organisations and SMEs to invest in and practice sustainability. Highlighting this as the primary solution to achieving the SDGs in view of the critical issues around health and poverty that have plagued Africa. “The collective will and desire for ac-

tion amongst organisations has taken a giant leap from where it was few years ago. However, compared to other nations, the statistics of malaria, poverty and deaths in Nigeria paints a very gory picture. Hence, it is the responsibility of every corporate organisation, SME and individual to get involved in activities that will aid the achievement of the SDGs come 2030,� he said.

Over the years, Access Bank

has facilitated a growing number of sustainability activities, including the Malaria-to-Zero initiative, issued the first ever CBI-certified Green Bond, and also funded various notfor-profit organisations and programs across all 36 states in the country’s six geo-political zones, among others.

The Head, Sustainability, Access Bank Plc, Omobolanle Victor-Laniyan, assured Nigerians that Access Bank would

not relent in its contributions to the achievement of the SDGs saying, “We have entrenched sustainability into every part of our business operations and activities, in addition to aligning the implementation of our sustainability strategy with the achievement of the SDGs.� “To this end, we have made good progress in driving social, environmental and economic development locally and globally. Despite these, we will not

relent, rather, we will continue to invest our time, resources and work with relevant stakeholders to provide innovative solutions to local and global challenges,� she added. The bank’s sustainability efforts have been recognised by several prestigious local and international bodies, becoming a four-time consecutive winner of the Outstanding Business Sustainability Award by Karlsruhe Sustainable Finance Awards, among others.

Energia, Oando JV Partner Gives Back to Delta Community Peter Uzoho In fulfilment of its corporate social responsibility (CSR), Energia Limited, Oando Petroleum’s Joint Venture partner, has carried out a medical outreach in Kwale, its host community in Ndokwa West Local Government Area of Delta State.

The programme held recently was an aspect of the Oando Joint Venture (JV) social impact initiatives in the community and was also in pursuit of the World Health Organisation Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs 3).

The three-day community medical outreach themed, ‘Health is Wealth’ was the Oando JV partner’s first ever medical outreach in Kwale, where it operates the Ebendo/Obodeti marginal field, OML 56.

The event commenced at the Ebendo Health Centre and proceeded to Obodougwa, Isumpe, Umusadege, Umusam and Ugbani communities in Kwale.

Speaking at the event, the Chief Operating Officer, Oando Petroleum Development Company, Ainojie Irune, represented by the General Manager, SubSurface, Mr. Babafemi Onasanya, said: “As a JV, we believe that it is important to impact these communities positively. We want to show, through leading by example, that you can be proudly indigenous, profitable and at the same time make the world a better place. We must deliberately always give back to our own. “Like the popular saying goes,

health is wealth. Without people of fit mind and body and an effective health system, our economic growth as a nation would be jeopardized. Good health cannot and should not be taken for granted, it is like a well-run savings account; it will work for you in your time of need. “Good health is the desire of every man, woman and child.

The Energia and Oando JV understand the value of good health and as good corporate citizens, we have prioritised the health of our host and impacted community members.�

He added that the medical outreach served as the Joint Venture’s way of supporting the community, the state and the country in reaching the SDG3 which centres on ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages. “We are confident that this medical outreach will significantly help contribute to improving access to quality health care for the people of Kwale and surrounding communities, “ Irune noted.

Also speaking at the event, the Managing Director of Energia Limited, Leste Aihevba, said: “In furtherance of our support and commitment to our hosts and impacted communities, we will seek collaboration with the Delta State Government, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and other NGOs for upgrading the Kwale Central Hospital into a fully functional referral hospital.

Fidelity Bank, Gazelle EmpowerYouths Fidelity Bank Plc in partnership with Gazelle Academy and the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka at the weekend concluded an entrepreneurship training programme for over 200 students in Anambra State.

The programme which commenced last Wednesday, ended with a call to Nigerian youths to embrace entrepreneurship and create wealth for themselves instead of searching endlessly for non-existing paid jobs.

Organised under the Fidelity Youth Empowerment Academy (YEA 6), the programme sought to empower Nigerian undergraduates with vocational skills and enterprise training relevant for self-reliance. YEA had previously held at University of Nigeria, Nsukka; Waziri Umar Federal Polytechnic, Birnin-Kebbi; Federal Polytechnic Oko; Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt, and Bayero

University, Kano.

Participants received training in various skill areas including, fashion, makeup, clothe embellishment, coding and confectionery.

Making the call at the official opening ceremony of the programme, the wife of the Anambra State governor and Founder, Caring Family Enhancement Initiative (CAFE), Mrs. Ebelechukwu Obiano, urged participants to take the training seriously, stressing that they were being empowered to impact their lives now and in the future.

Obiano, urged participants not to sell or mismanage the starter-packs to be given to them but to put them to good use and change their lives. “You can make money from what learnt here even while still in school and when you graduate, we expect you to be employers of labour rather than searching for paid jobs,� she said.

PRODUCTEXHIBITION

L-R: Head of Marketing, Dufil Prima Foods Plc, MrVaibhav Mathur; Head of Indomie Fan Club, Mrs Karishma Rustagi; General Manager, Indomie, Mr Gaurav Dwivedi; Indomie Fan Club Co-ordinator, Mrs Faith Joshua, and Group Public Relations and Event Manager, Dufil Prima Foods Plc, Mr Tope Ashiwaju, during the IndomieTeam Exhibition, held in Lagos‌recently

Firm Launches Online Food Delivery App Oluchi Chibuzor The Edmark Group of Companies has launched EDFOOD, an online food delivery service application that connects its users to a wide range of restaurants anywhere and anytime.

The Chairman and Founder, EDMARK Group, Sam Low, who disclosed this during the launch of the app, explained that with the solution, the company would be creating another opportunity to both restaurant owners and

Nigerians who are looking for a job.

He said Edmark has grown from one branch in Lagos, into 10 more branches across the country, while its network of distributors stands currently at over 250,000 independent distributors across Nigeria. He also said that the initiative reaffirmed the company’s commitment to addressing critical health challenges such as obesity, malnutrition and other health related problems.

According to him, with its

Teacher Wins Maltina Award Raheem Akingbolu A teacher at the Royal Family Academy, Abuja, Ezem Collins, has emerged the 2019 Maltina Teacher of the Year.

Collins, a Civic Education and Christian Religious Studies teacher was declared winner of the award at the grand finale held recently in Lagos.

For emerging the winner of the 5th edition of the award, Collins was awarded a total cash prize of N6.5 million (N1.5million immediately and N1million annually for the next five years) by the Nigerian Breweries – Felix OhiwereiTrust Fund.

The organisers also stated that he would also get an all-expense paid capacity development training abroad while a furnished block of six classrooms, a library and sanitary facilities worth about N20 million will be built for his school in his honour by the Fund.

Megbowon Soji, a teacher from Jakande Estate Comprehensive Senior College, Lagos State emerged the first runner-up winning a total of N1.5 Million while Atondo Fidelis, a teacher

from Government Secondary School, Ingawa, Katsina emerged as second runner-up with a prize of N1, 250.000.00. Other 20 teachers who emerged as state champions were also rewarded with a sum of N500, 000.00 each. Speaking at the event, the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo who was represented by the Minister of State, Education, Hon. Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, applauded Nigerian Breweries Plc for being at the forefront of improving the education sector by continually investing not only in educational infrastructure but also motivating and inspiring teachers. Osinbajo noted that the investment in a unique initiative such as the Maltina Teacher of the Year will obviously contribute to the improvement of education in Nigeria by recognizing and rewarding outstanding teachers in Nigeria. “I am honoured to join this oneof-a-kind initiative to celebrate the Nigerian teacher. Whatever we have become is a direct outcome of what you, our teachers, have passed on to us,� he said.

physical and digital enhancement, the company would be able to better cater for the flourishing market of Nigeria.

According to him, “EDFOOD will help restaurant owners to grow their business by listing their menu on ED2E App, which would help them process orders, pick them up and deliver them fresh and hot to the customers. “EDFOOD accepts a variety of payment methods including debit/credit cards, EDPAY and cash payments. This would afford

restaurants owners opportunity to reach new customers by having access to Edmark’s growing community. “On top of the company’s continuous physical expansion, Edmark introduced its online portal, EDClick and its online shopping portal, EDShop in 2017; its first event centre, D’Podium International Event Centre in 2018 and its own cryptocurrency in January 2019, making it possible to provide jobs to all Nigerians,� he said.

MTN Celebrates ‘Community Heroes’ Raheem Akingbolu MTN Nigeria Communications Plc, through its social investment vehicle, MTN Foundation, has celebrated 110 Nigerians at events in Abuja, Port-Harcourt and Lagos.

The celebration was the peak of the third edition of the “What Can We Do Together (WCWDT)� initiative. The celebrated heroes were individuals who nominated various communities that received interventions. Dedicated to developing grassroots communities through collaborative efforts, WCWDT provides Nigerians with the opportunity to nominate a community for developmental projects.

Commending the nominators, Senior Manager, Program Implementation, MTN Nigeria, Abasi-Ekong Udobang, said, “The What Can We Do Together initiative reflects our sustained drive to collaborate with Nigerians in executing impactful projects in communities across the country. “We believe the nominators are the heroes of this initiative as their noble efforts

will go a long way in improving the quality of life for millions of Nigerians. “The altruistic gesture from the nominators led to various interventions by MTN Foundation in nominated communities, including supply of medical equipment to 40 primary health centres with training for the medical staff on the use of the newly supplied equipment. “Ten communities received solar-powered boreholes and learning materials (school bags, exercise books, raincoats and pencil cases) were distributed to over 15,000 pupils in 60 public primary schools across 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory,� he added. Speaking at the appreciation event in Lagos organised for nominators from the western region, the Deputy Governor, Lagos State, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat represented by the Permanent Secretary, Education District III, Lagos State, Dr. Mrs. Yinka Ayandele in her speech, applauded MTN for the kind gesture.

28

IMAGES

T H I S D AY ˾ Ͱͷ˜ Ͱͮͯͷ

Photo Editor ÌÓÙÎßØ ÔËÖË Email ËÌÓÙÎßØ˛ËÔËÖË̶ÞÒÓÝÎËãÖÓàÏ˛ÍÙ×

L-R: Abia State Governor, Dr. Okezie Ipeazu; his Counterpart from Bayelsa State, Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson; Convener, Osasu Show Symposium, Ms. Osasu Igbinedion; Ekiti State First Lady, Erelu Bisi Fayemi and Former Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, at the launch of OSASU Show Foundation’s 21st Century Women and Girls’ Project 2020-2030, in Abuja...recently

Father of the Bride, Mr Ighobioye Ogbebor; newlywed, former miss. Osarumwense Mitchelle Ogbebor and her husband, Uyi Uwoghiren, during their wedding reception in GRA Benin City, Edo State on Saturday.

PHOTO: KUNLE OGUNFUYI

L-R: Managing Director, LG Electronics West Africa Operations, Mr. Taieck Son; Regional President, LG Electronics, Middle East & Africa Region, Mr. James Lee; On-Air Personality , Ms. Toke Makinwa, and Managing Director, Fouani Nigeria Ltd , Mr. Mohammed Fouani, at the launch of the LG DUALCOOL Premium Air Conditioner at Sheraton Hotel Ikeja Lagos...recently

L – R: Industrial Icon, Sir Olu Okeowo (KJW); his wife, Lady Ibijoke receiving an award from the Chairperson, Lagos Chapter, National Council of Knights, Methodist Church, Nigeria, Dame Professor Ajesola Majekodunmi (KJW), during a reception to mark the successful Completion of the 19 th Annual National Council of Knights conference sponsored by its Lagos Chapter at Ikoyi, Lagos...recently

L-R: President, Guild of Medical Directors, Prof. Femi Babalola; Executive Director, Centre for Impact Advocacy, Mr. Peter Nkanga and Minister, First Baptist Church, Garki, Abuja, Rev. Israel Akanji, at a memorial thanksgiving and candlelight service to mark the 63rd posthumous birthday of late Ebola heroine, Dr. Stella Adadevoh, in Abuja…yesterday

L-R: Head, Engineering Regulation and Monitory Department, Council Of Registered Builders of Nigeria , Engr.

Agabi Joseph; National Program officer, United Nations Women, Mrs. Patience Ekeoba; Executive Director, Platinum Interventions Care Initiative (convener), Mrs. Blessing Mary; Assistant Director, Special Need Education, Universal Basic Education Board(UBEB), Mrs. Kwasau Hannah and Representative, women and Girls Advancement and Resources Centre (WAGRC), Miss. Blessing Owundiwe, during the stakeholders’ dialogue on building an inclusive society for persons with disabilities in Nigeria held in Abuja...recently

Wife of Ondo State Governor, Chief (Mrs). Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu; with Archbishop the Ecclesiastical Province of Ondo, Most Revd, Prof. George Latunji Lasebikan, during the Adult Harvest Thanksgiving of Archbishop Vining Memorial Church Cathedral, Ikeja GRA, Lagos…recently

TUESDAY OCTOBER 29, 2019 • T H I S D AY

29

30

T H I S D AY ˾ TUESDAY OCTOBER 29, 2019

PROPERTY & ENVIRONMENT UNODC: Climate Change Could Mean More Terrorism in Future Bennett Oghifo

A

s the world warms and the climate changes, researchers are increasingly concerned that, in addition the many environmental, meteorological, and economic challenges this will bring, it will also mean an increase in political violence and instability around the world, and perhaps even an increase in terrorism.

The impact of climate change and environmental collapse can already be seen in a number of conflict zones around the globe, according to a statement by the Outreach and Communications Officer, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Mr. Sylvester Atere.

A 2010 report prepared by the US Joint Forces Command warned of the dangers that can result when natural disasters “collide” with existing structural challenges like urban sprawl and civil unrest.

The relationship between resource competition and civil conflict is well-established, and, in regions like the Lake Chad

Basin, climate change has clearly exacerbated competition over increasingly scarce resources. In the language of security studies, climate change is a potential “threat multiplier”.

As the waters of Lake Chad recede, fish stocks are reduced, cultivatable land disappears, and other economic opportunities are also diminished. The African Union has noted that the loss of traditional livelihoods has encouraged some individuals to turn to explore membership of armed groups as a potential alternate source of income.

Increased insurgent activity can also feed into a negative spiral of increasing environmental collapse as agricultural infrastructure is destroyed, environmental management expertise is lost, and the natural environment is further degraded. Northern Nigeria is currently losing an estimated 1,350 square miles – roughly the equivalent of Lagos State - to desertification every year.

As early as 2007, the United Nations Security Council started debating the potential impact that climate change could have on global security, and in September

2009 the Secretary General presented the first major UN report on Climate Change and its Possible Security Implications (A/64/350) to the General Assembly.

The Secretary General’s report highlighted five main threats arising from climate change: the vulnerability of food supplies and public health; the reversal of development gains; migration and internal unrest; statelessness and the loss of habitable territory; and, finally, international conflict over scarce resources.

The report’s predictions have proved prophetic. In recent years, environmental factors have been mentioned more and more frequently in the Security Council deliberations, especially in relation to Africa, where approximately 250 million people in Africa are projected to suffer from water and food insecurity during the 21st century as a consequence of climate change.

In March 2017 Security Council Resolution 2349, which addressed the predations of Boko Haram in the Lake Chad Basin, specifically recognized “the adverse effects of climate change and ecological

changes among other factors on the stability of the Region, including through water scarcity, drought, desertification, land degradation, and food insecurity.”

Regional concerns have only continued to grow since. In February 2018 the Governments of the Lake Chad Basin Countries issued

the Abuja Declaration to raise global awareness of the dramatic shrinkage of Lake Chad and the expected impact that this will have on sustainable livelihoods, security, and development efforts in the region.

Addressing the conference, President Buhari soberly noted:

“The ‘oasis in the desert’ is just a desert now… Farmers and herdsmen struggle over the little water left; Herdsmen migrate in search of greener pastures resulting in conflicts; Our youths are joining terrorist groups because of lack of jobs and difficult economic conditions.”

L-R: Associate Partner, DETAIL, Chukwudi Ofili; CEO Nike Anani Practice, Nike Anani; Founder and Executive Director, Falcon Corporation, Mrs. Audrey Joe-Ezigbo; and Senior Associate, DETAIL, Temidayo Ajayi, all speakers at the 9Th DETAIL Business Series… recently

Hinckley Recycling, E-Waste Collectors Association Collaborate on Safety Bennett Oghifo The importance of protecting humans from the harmful, but beneficial, components and chemicals in electronic wastes, ewaste, was stressed at a training, organised by Hinckley Recycling Nig. Ltd in conjunction with the E-waste Collectors Association of Nigeria (ECAN).

The training, which was held on the inaugural International Ewaste day celebrated on Monday last week, at Ikeja, Lagos, was one of the many sessions the association embarks on to ensure its members are safely handling the electronic waste collected as they go about their livelihood every day. Hinckley Recycling offered their expertise via best

practices in the management of electronic waste, particularly informing the Collectors of the health hazards the crude methods of recovery employed posed to not only themselves and their immediate environment but also to the world at large.

Hinckley Recycling, therefore, equipped the Collectors with Personal Protective Equipment

ADRON, Celebrities Unveil Lemon Friday Promo Fadekemi Ajakaiye ADRON Homes & Properties Limited, Real Estate Company, alongside Nigerian celebrities unveiled their Lemon Friday Promo in Lagos recently.

The Group Executive Secretary, ADRON Homes, Mr. Ayo Ojo, who represented the Group MD Oba-Adetola Emmanuelking, stated that the aim of the company remained to secure suitable, affordable housing for everyone irrespective of their income level or social class.

In a bid to continually fulfill this promise, ADRON Homes hosted Lemon Friday Promo, this time with a whole lot of varieties; for infants, adolescents, youths, adults, young landlords, and a lot more, he said.

This Lemon Friday Promo

is tied to the last quarter and end of the year sales. We are going everywhere, our vision for 2020 is ADRON everywhere, as we are going beyond the borders of Nigeria to West Africa,, he said.

What we are looking forward to at this Lemon Friday Promo, is that we at ADRON Homes alongside our Brand Ambassadors to drive, campaign, and make it known to everyone within the country and outside that there is a promotion going on in the country, which will enable them acquire property, land or houses at much ease as possible while also benefitting some amazing gift items during this season, he said.

We are giving discounts on all our estates, trips to Dubai, as well as give-away items

like seasoning packs, bags of rice, chicken, turkey, goats and cows as well on all property purchased from now till the 7th of January when it will end.

Payment period is 24 months, he said.

Lemon Friday is an annual seasonal promo from ADRON Homes, where clients are given massive discounts for land and gifts. The aim is to spread the message to all corners of the country that you can have the best of Christmas and the New Year, during this, he said.

Some of the stars present include, Patience Ozukwor, Bro Shaggy, Sunny Danger, Tony Akposere, Foluke Daramola, Kola Olaiya, Princess, Funky Mallam. Others include; Afeez Aiyetoro (Saka), Officer Gaji, and Ankara Gucci.

L-R: Sani Danja; Madam Patience Ozokwor (aka Mama-G); Adron Homes Group Executive Secretary, Mr Ayodeji Omoniyi; Group Chief Responsibility Officer, Mrs. Folashade Oloruntoba; and Samuel A. Perry (aka Brother Shaggy), at the unveiling of Adron Homes & Properties’ Lemon Friday Promo in Lagos... recently

(PPE) to guide their activities.

The Managing Director of Hinckley Recycling, Adrian Clews stated that, “Hinckley is happy to work with ECAN in formalising the activities of its members.” He weighs in his support mostly because ECAN’s mission is not to stop the collection of E-waste in Nigeria but protect the Collectors health whilst providing them with a fair and sustainable income for them and their families. He added, “By formalising the informal we

can protect the vulnerable, save lives, create jobs, and protect the environment.”

The event had members of Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA) in attendance. They also lent their voice in enlightening the collectors on the environmental standards in E-waste management as well as the State’s enforcement activities. They encouraged the Collectors to undergo regular medical check-ups as their health is

paramount to their existence.

Hinckley Recycling is committed to engender a standard of excellence by providing a highquality service for the disposal of electronic waste. We ensure that this service is always conducted in an environmentally friendly manner and the processes involved during the disposal would at all times conform to and comply with all relevant legislation as enforced by the recognized authorities - local and international.

DETAIL’s 9th Business Series Highlights Strategies to Build Resilient Multigenerational Enterprises The 9th DETAIL Business Series on the Future of Family Business: Building Resilient Multigenerational Enterprises, has emphasised effective collaboration between the founders and their successors.

Detail is distinct as Nigeria’s first commercial solicitor firm to specialise exclusively in non-court room practice. Based in Lagos, DETAIL provides legal services in the areas of Real Estate and Technology, Infrastructure, PPP, Power, Oil & Gas, Finance, Corporate & Commercial Private Equity, Capital Markets, , IP, Media & Entertainment.

“Effective collaboration between founders, the next generation and non-family staff by utilising an effective corporate governance structure is essential for fool-proofing the future of a family enterprise,” Chukwudi Ofili, Associate Partner, Detail Commercial Solicitors, remarked as he concluded the 9th DETAIL Business Series on the Future of Family Business: Building Resilient Multigenerational Enterprises.

Executives, members of the

next generation and advisors attended this interactive Business Series and were taken on a journey of how best to build enterprises that would withstand the test of time.

This business series was hosted in collaboration with Nike Anani, a Nextgen coach, assisting NextGens (second generation family members in family businesses) in collaborating with the first generation business founders in building sustainable family enterprises. Nike emphasised the importance of diversification. “To build resilience in our family businesses, we must diversify by building up a performing investment portfolio that has a low correlation with the existing family business, in terms of asset type, geography, industry and currency.

Mrs. Audrey Joe-Ezigbo, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Falcon Corporation Limited, was an electric addition to the Business Series, sharing her expert insights from being in the driver’s seat of a resilient enterprise. She emphasised the importance of intentionally managing your workplace and family

relationship. She went on to stress the importance of placing the right structures and frameworks in place to ensure that your business outlives you. “You should have an institutionalisation framework. Your systems, structures, policies and procedures must be in place and you must be disciplined to follow them consistently.”

The panel discussion with Mrs. Audrey Joe-Ezigbo and Nike Anani was engaging as both of their perspectives reflected the realities that exist between founders and the next generation.

To this point, Mrs. Audrey Joe-Ezigbo emphasised the importance of respect.

“Founders should respect the next generation that is coming into the business.

Likewise, the next generation should ensure they are respectful when they bring their ideas to the table and should create a budget to deliver end to end. Both generations are bringing value and we must find a midpoint. The underlying necessity is respect for each other. It makes a huge difference.”

35

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2019 ˾ T H I S D AY

MARKET NEWS

Lafarge Africa Records N21bn Profit after Tax in Nine Months Goddy Egene

Lafarge Africa Plc has recorded a profit after tax (PAT) of N20.6 billion for the nine months ended September 30, 2019, compared with a loss of N10.37 billion posted in the corresponding of 2018.

The return to profitability was,

however, helped by lower cost of financing and profit realised from the sale of its South African subsidiary, Lafarge South Africa Holding Limited (LSAH).

Lafarge Africa Plc posted a revenue of N163 billion in nine months of 2019, down from N234 billion in 2018. The cement manufacturing firm significantly

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

reduced its administrative cost from N32.6 billion in 20128 to N13.1 billion in 2019. Financing cost also reduced by 52 per cent from N35 billion to N16.6 billion in 2019. As a result, PAT stood at N20.6 billion, compared with loss of N10.373 billion in 2018. Lafarge Africa realised about N99.6 billion from the sale of its South Africa

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 25Oct-2019, unless otherwise stated.

subsidiary, Lafarge South Africa Holding Limited (LSAH).

The chairman of the company, Mr. Bolaji Balogun had told shareholders that the sale of LSAH would benefit them.

“Following conclusion of the proposed sale, Lafarge Africa’s shareholders loan of $293 million as at July 31, the only existing

foreign currency loan in the books of the company, will be completely paid off. Over and above that, because the entity in South Africa also have some substantial debt, when that sale is completed on July 31, it will also lead to the deconsolidation of around $115 million debt related to Lafarge South Africa. So, the

total impact of the transaction on our debt is a reduction of something in the region of $ 470 million,” he said.

He noted that with the sale of LSAH, the only debt that will remain on the books of the company will be the second tranche of the corporate bond due for redemption in June 2021.

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 N/A N/A N/A Afrinvest Plutus Fund N/A N/A N/A Nigeria International Debt Fund N/A N/A N/A ALTERNATIVE CAPITAL PARTNERS LTD info@acapng.com Web: www.acapng.com, Tel: +234 1 291 2406, +234 1 291 2868 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn ACAP Canary Growth Fund 0.88 0.88 4.28% ACAP Income Funds 0.76 0.76 33.45% AIICO CAPITAL LTD ammf@aiicocapital.com Web: www.aiicocapital.com, Tel: +234-1-2792974 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AIICO Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 12.40% AIICO Balanced Fund 2.39 2.43 8.02% 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 14.09 14.51 -15.09% ARM Discovery Fund 327.99 337.87 -8.03% ARM Ethical Fund 28.08 28.92 -0.58% ARM Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 11.84% 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 91.17 91.81 -9.91% AXA Mansard Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 11.83% 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 1.88 1.88 11.51% 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 0.13 0.11 12.59% Paramount Equity Fund 12.01 12.11 1.69% Women's Investment Fund 107.31 108.03 3.65% CORDROS ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmgtteam@cordros.com Web: www.cordros.com, Tel: 019036947 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Cordros Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 11.92% Cordros Milestone Fund 2023 94.11 94.76 Cordros Milestone Fund 2028 94.43 95.28 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 11.99% EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class B 1,000,000.00 1,000,000.00 12.07% EDC Nigeria Fixed Income Fund 1,125.48 1,133.34 13.24% 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 1,196.35 1,197.10 12.62% FBN BALANCED FUND 137.85 138.72 -3.45% FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 12.46% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Institutional 118.13 118.43 8.59% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Retail 118.67 118.97 9.33% FBN Nigeria Smart Beta Equity Fund 120.24 121.78 -19.84% FCMB ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED fcmbamhelpdesk@fcmb.com Web: www.fcmbassetmanagement.com; Tel: +234 1 462 2596 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Legacy Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 10.81% Legacy Debt Fund 3.58 3.58 10.23% Legacy Equity Fund 1.03 1.04 -15.97% Legacy USD Bond Fund 1.07 1.07 4.17% 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 2,973.94 3,003.68 -0.35% Coral Income Fund 3,040.35 3,040.35 10.94% FSDH Treasury Bills Fund 100.00 100.00 12.69% 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 10.50% Nigeria Entertainment Fund 111.83 112.18 3.74% 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 11.86%

INVESTMENT ONE FUNDS MANAGEMENT LTD enquiries@investment-one.com Web: www.investment-one.com; Tel: +234 812 992 1045,+234 1 448 8888 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Abacus Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 12.06% Vantage Balanced Fund 2.15 2.17 -0.60% Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 15.49% Kedari Investment Fund (KIF) 139.27 139.40 11.45% LOTUS CAPITAL LTD fincon@lotuscapitallimited.com Web: www.lotuscapitallimited.com; Tel: +234 1-291 4626 / +234 1-291 4624 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Lotus Halal Investment Fund 1.16 1.18 5.25% Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund 1,102.03 1,102.03 10.71% 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 N/A N/A N/A Meristem Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A 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 1.31 4.58% PACAM Fixed Income Fund 12.12 12.16 8.30% PACAM Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 12.16% PACAM Equity Fund 1.00 1.01 PACAM EuroBond Fund 101.40 103.34 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 123.25 123.90 2.12% 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 1.01 1.01 11.51% 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 2,361.86 2,372.79 2.00% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 207.22 207.22 11.35% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 0.82 0.83 -13.16% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 269.46 269.57 11.06% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 143.75 145.29 -11.90% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 12.01% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 7,366.79 7,445.77 -13.27% Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund (USD) 1.15 1.15 6.05% Stanbic IBTC Shariah Fixed Income Fund 101.13 101.13 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 1.15 1.16 -0.94% United Capital Bond Fund 1.69 1.69 15.25% United Capital Equity Fund 0.66 0.67 -7.51% United Capital Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 12.78% United Capital Eurobond Fund 110.61 110.61 8.43% United Capital Wealth for Women Fund 1.05 1.06 4.98% 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 9.70 9.84 -14.04% Zenith Ethical Fund 11.20 11.37 -10.52% Zenith Income Fund 22.51 22.51 11.38% Zenith Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 11.23%

REITS NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

5.40 117.80 53.38

-44.85% 6.01% 3.17%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

7.95 82.73 67.22

8.05 84.53 68.50

-19.86% -26.69% -21.53%

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

3.16 5.05 11.37 10.27 151.04

3.20 5.13 11.47 10.47 153.04

-20.89% -33.52% -22.10% -16.78% 14.18%

NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

108.40

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.

32

T H I S D AY Ëž Í°ÍˇËœ 2019

BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

CBN Lists Conditions for Banks’Offering of Currency Processing Services Obinna Chima Banks desirous of providing currency processing and distribution services are expected to jointly collaborate with two or more of their peers to float a subsidiary company, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has stated.

But the subsidiary company would be expected to meet all the registration requirements for cash-in-transit (CIT) and currency processing companies (CPC).

The banking sector regulator disclosed this in its, “Revised Guidelines for the Registration of Cash-in-Transit and Currency Processing Companies in Nigeria,� posted on its website.

The central bank stressed that any private company or individual(s) operating without a valid registration would have the facility closed, and in addition the promoters shall be handed over to appropriate law enforcement

agencies for prosecution.

The bank regulator said the latest circular was to enhance efficiency and cost-effectiveness of currency management, facilitate the generation of fit naira banknotes for payment, promote the use of shared facilities to drive down currency management cost and engender healthy competition among service providers, among others.

For CIT companies, the banking sector regulatory stipulated that the company should be duly incorporated in Nigeria and should be registered either for national or regional operations.

A national CIT means a company registered to operate in all states of the federation, while a regional CIT shall operate within the states of one geo-political zone.

According to the central bank, a company registered to operate as a national CIT should have a minimum capital of N1 billion

or such other amount as may be prescribed by the regulator from time to time.

In addition, a national CIT would be entitled to establish offices in any state of the federation subject to approval by the CBN, for the purpose of carrying out its operations and be authorised to move cash in naira and foreign currencies to any part of Nigeria.

On the other hand, a company registered to operate as a Regional CIT shall have a minimum capital of N500 million or such other amount as may be prescribed by the CBN from time to time; be entitled to establish offices in states within one geo-political zone subject to the approval by the CBN, for the purpose of carrying out its operations and be authorised to move cash in naira and foreign currencies within one geo-political zone.

L-R: Manager, Idimu Branch, First City Monument Bank (FCMB), Mr. Wale Abioye; Assistant Chief Principal OďŹƒcer, National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC), Mr. Calix Ita; one of the winners in the grand ďŹ nale draw of the ‘FCMB SME Race to China Promo Season 2’ and Accountant of CrownCrystal Technologies, Mr. Adebayo Ayannubi; Head, Procurement Unit, NLRC, Mr. Olutayo Akinrinde and Head, SME Digital Banking, FCMB, Mr. Dennis Ezaga, during the promo draw held in Lagos‌recently

MARKET INDICATORS

Oando Posts N13bn Q3 Profit Peter Uzoho Oando Plc has announced its unaudited results for the third quarter ended September 2019, which showed that its profit after tax increased by 26 per cent to N13.1 billion, up from the N10.4 billion recorded in same period of 2018.

However, the oil and gas company’s turnover decreased by 18 per cent to N413.8 billion, compared with the N505.1 billion realised in same period of 2018.

But its total borrowing decreased by eight per cent to N193.1 billion, from N210.9 billion in the comparable period of 2018, while its production grew by eight per cent to 43,045 boe/day from 40,039 boe/day in year-to-date

(YTD) September 2018.

The increase in production, according to a statement from the oil and gas company, was driven by an 11 per cent increase in natural gas production and an eight per cent increase in crude oil production. “Without a doubt 2019 has been another challenging year for the company, not just in terms of external factors beyond its control but an ongoing conundrum with the regulator. “Despite this the company’s results show that a management team that has worked aggressively to maintain a trend of positive results reflected in higher production and profit after tax,� the statement added.

Oando recently announced that

the NNPC/NAOC/OANDO Joint Venture (of which Oando Energy Resources, the upstream subsidiary of Oando Plc, holds a 20 per cent working interest), had made a significant gas and condensate find in the deeper sequences of the Obiafu-Obrikom fields in OML 61, onshore Niger Delta.

Preliminary evaluation had indicated that the discovery amounted to about one trillion cubic feet of gas and 60 million barrels of associated condensate in the deep drilled sequences.

The statement added: “the full impact of this discovery will be determined and communicated to the market on conclusion of the next annual independent reserves and resources evaluation.�

Firstmonie Records 500, 000 DailyTransactions Ugo Aliogo First Bank of Nigeria Limited has disclosed that its Firstmonie network currently processes over 500, 000 transactions across the country daily.

Speaking during the agent banking national award ceremony organised by the bank in Lagos at the weekend, its Managing Director, Dr. Adeshola Adeduntan, described Firstmonie agent network as a bespoke channel through which the bank offers financial services to every Nigerian especially within the low income segment.

Through the network, the bank has been able to facilitate the entry of the unbanked, and the under banked population into the financial system, while

utilising an enrolment process that is simple, safe and devoid of any cumbersome documentation requirements, he said.

Adeduntan, explained that the gap between the technology savvy and the low literacy clients had been breached, saying Firstmonie agent network represents the convenient and comfortable alternative for customers, “who are uneasy with sophisticated digital channels.�

According to him, “Through Firstmonie, First Bank has remained at the forefront of driving nationwide inclusion, given our belief that access to financial services, is part of lifting people out of poverty and fostering collectivity national economic development. “We have through this network

created job opportunities and improved lives, provided convenient access to financial services and driven equality. Firstmonie has become a tool for driving federal government financial inclusion and sustainable development goals in Nigeria, as well as increase our bank’s footprint and reach. “We have effectively positioned financial inclusion as the core of our business strategy and through first money; we are successfully solving social challenges. “My special appreciation goes to all Firstmonie agents.

As a result of Firstmonie agency network, First Bank has become the foremost financial inclusion provider, with over 37,000 agents in all states of the federation.

GTBank Removes Charges on GTCRea8 Account Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (GTBank) has announced that it will cover all charges on transfers, USSD transactions and bank alerts for holders of its GTCrea8 Account, a bespoke banking product for young undergraduates between the ages of 16 and 25.

The bank disclosed this in a statement yesterday.

GTBank described the GTCRea8 as a core part of its value proposition to deliver value adding banking services to young people whilst empowering them to pursue excellence in their academics and respective interests.

“Some of the bank charges that GTCrea8 account holders will no longer have to pay include charges on bank transfers, even when the transfer is to other banks.

Undergraduates will also not be charged for using 737, the bank’s industry-leading USSD service, nor will students be charged for transaction alerts received whether via SMS or email. GTCrea8 account holders will also enjoy special offers and discounts when they make use of GTBank’s trendsetting digital platforms, such as Habari, which offers access to music and video streaming, shopping, messaging,

and bills payment all in one place,� the statement explained.

Chief Executive Officer of Guaranty Trust Bank, Segun Agbaje, was quoted to have said: “Empowering young people in every way we can is the most valuable investment that we can make for the future. That is why we have taken this bold step to cover the cost of all their banking charges, not just to allow them to bank for free, but also to inspire them to imagine a world free of all limits to their ambitions, and in which they can achieve their greatest dreams.�

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°Íł Ͱ͎ͯ͡

The price of OPEC basket of fourteen crudes stood at $62.16 a barrel on Friday, compared with $61.63 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

34

˾ TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2019

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

THISDAY AFRINVEST 40 INDEX

Thisday Afrinvest 40 Index Gained 30bps Yesterday, the Thisday Afrinvest 40 Index rose 0.3% to ƐĞƩůĞ Ăƚ ϭ͕ϭϰϯ͘ϴϲ ĨŽůůŽǁŝŶŐ ŐĂŝŶƐ ŝŶ CCNN ;нϲ͘ϬйͿ͕ WAP-

Fundamental Performance Metrics for THISDAY AFRINVEST 40 Index

CO ;нϭ͘ϳйͿ ĂŶĚ FLOURMILL ;нϯ͘ϬйͿ͘ dŚĞƐĞ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ĐƵŵƵůĂͲ ƟǀĞůLJ ĂĐĐŽƵŶƚ ĨŽƌ ϴ͘ϰй ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ŝŶĚĞdž͘

Local Bourse Opens the Week Bullish͙ ASI Up 0.1%

-22.1%

14.4%

18.0%

5.8%

4.9x

0.6x

7.3%

-23.9%

-24.1%

32.9%

5.4%

4.0x

1.2x

10.5%

25.3%

2 Zenith Bank PLC

17.00

0.0%

11.8%

-26.2%

-26.2%

24.3%

3.4%

2.7x

0.6x

16.5%

37.5%

146.00

0.0%

9.0%

-23.0%

-21.5%

51.6%

23.4%

6.3x

3.0x

11.0%

15.9%

0.0%

8.6%

-17.8%

-17.3%

105.8%

29.7%

20.2x

21.1x

4.8%

4.9%

46.05

0.0%

4.2%

-46.1%

-41.2%

10.2%

4.6%

21.5x

2.2x

5.0%

4.7%

5.30

0.0%

4.5%

-33.3%

-33.8%

10.2%

1.2%

3.3x

0.3x

4.9%

30.2%

15.90

6.0%

4.8%

-18.0%

-18.0%

5.8%

5.4%

10.5x

0.6x

2.5%

9.5%

5.85

0.0%

4.3%

-24.0%

-25.0%

0.4x

14.4%

9 International Brew eries PLC

ǀĂůƵĞ ƚƌĂĚĞĚ ĨĞůů ϱϳ͘Ϯй ƚŽ Eϭ͘ϭďŶ͘ dŚĞ ŵŽƐƚ ĂĐƟǀĞ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ďLJ ǀŽůƵŵĞ ǁĞƌĞ VERITASKAP ;ϯϰϲ͘ϳŵ ƵŶŝƚƐͿ͕ ZENITH

12.60

0.0%

1.9%

-58.7%

-60.0%

-23.2%

-2.3%

517.00

0.0%

3.7%

-19.2%

-19.2%

13.7%

8.7%

3.5% 6.8%

7.30

0.0%

4.7%

7.4%

12.3%

22.8%

2.2%

1.8x

0.4x

7.10

0.0%

1.9%

-49.3%

-50.3%

15.9%

1.1%

2.0x

0.3x

27.0% 54.5% 49.6%

13 Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC

37.00

0.0%

2.7%

-22.8%

-22.8%

28.0%

4.4%

5.8x

1.5x

5.4%

17.2%

14 Unilever Nigeria PLC

26.70

0.0%

2.3%

-27.8%

-27.8%

12.2%

7.5%

16.2x

2.0x

5.9%

6.2%

15 Lafarge Africa PLC

14.95

1.7%

2.6%

20.1%

24.6%

2.1%

0.7%

11.9x

1.1x

16 Guinness Nigeria PLC

23.85

0.0%

0.6%

-66.9%

-66.9%

4.8%

2.6%

12.2x

0.6x

6.4%

8.2% 10.3%

8.4%

54.95

0.0%

1.2%

-27.9%

-27.9%

18.3%

13.2%

9.7x

1.8x

3.9%

18 Total Nigeria PLC

123.20

0.0%

1.0%

-39.3%

-39.3%

1.0%

0.2%

154.1x

1.6x

15.3%

0.6%

19 11 PLC

147.90

0.0%

1.3%

-20.3%

-20.3%

24.8%

10.9%

6.6x

1.5x

5.8%

15.1%

7.7%

21 Oando PLC

TY ;Eϵϵ͘ϵŵͿ ůĞĚ ďLJ ǀĂůƵĞ͘

-7.2%

0.5x

11 Access Bank PLC

20 Flour Mills of Nigeria PLC

;Eϭϱϱ͘ϬŵͿ ĂŶĚ GUARAN-

3.8x 3.7x

12 Ecobank Transnational Inc

17 Okomu Oil Palm PLC

;ϮϮ͘Ϭŵ ƵŶŝƚƐͿ ĂŶĚ COURTVILLE ;Ϯϭ͘ϱŵ ƵŶŝƚƐͿ ǁŚŝůĞ ZEN-

17.5%

1,220.00

10 SEPLAT Petroleum Development C

ĂƐ ǀŽůƵŵĞ ƚƌĂĚĞĚ ĂĚǀĂŶĐĞĚ ϯϭ͘Ϭй ƚŽ ϰϴϱ͘ϵŵ ƵŶŝƚƐ ǁŚŝůĞ

Divindend Earnings Yield Yield

18.8%

7 Cement Co Northern Nigeria PLC

ďLJ Eϭϳ͘ϰďŶ ƚŽ EϭϮ͘ϴƚŶ͘ ,ŽǁĞǀĞƌ͕ ĂĐƟǀŝƚLJ ůĞǀĞů ǁĂƐ ŵŝdžĞĚ

P/BV

-0.4%

8 United Bank for Africa PLC

ůŽƐƐ ŵŽĚĞƌĂƚĞĚ ƚŽ -ϭϲ͘ϭй ǁŚŝůĞ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ĐĂƉŝƚĂůŝƐĂƟŽŶ ƌŽƐĞ

P/E

0.30%

6 FBN Holdings Plc

WAPCO ;нϭ͘ϳйͿ ĂŶĚ FLOURMILL ;нϯ͘ϬйͿ͘ Ɛ Ă ƌĞƐƵůƚ͕ zd

ROA

26.20

5 Nigerian Brew eries PLC

Ϯϲ͕ϯϴϰ͘ϰϱ ƉŽŝŶƚƐ ĚƵĞ ƚŽ ďƵLJŝŶŐ ŝŶƚĞƌĞƐƚ ŝŶ CCNN ;нϲ͘ϬйͿ͕

ROE

1,143.86

3 Dangote Cement PLC

ƟǀĞ ŶŽƚĞ ĂƐ ƚŚĞ ^/ ŝŶĐŚĞĚ ŚŝŐŚĞƌ ďLJ ϭϰďƉƐ ƚŽ ƐĞƩůĞ Ăƚ

;Eϯϳϰ͘ϭŵͿ͕ ACCESS

THISDAY AFRINVEST 40

Price Price Previous Current Change Change Price Weightin YTD Index to Change g Date

1 Guaranty Trust Bank PLC

4 Nestle Nigeria PLC

zĞƐƚĞƌĚĂLJ͕ ƚŚĞ ĚŽŵĞƐƟĐ ĞƋƵŝƟĞƐ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ĐůŽƐĞĚ ŽŶ Ă ƉŽƐŝͲ

ITH

Ticker

Current Price

15.50

3.0%

1.0%

-32.9%

-30.2%

3.1%

1.1%

13.6x

0.4x

3.40

0.0%

1.0%

-32.0%

-29.2%

14.3%

2.5%

1.5x

0.2x

7.3% 68.3%

22 Fidelity Bank PLC

1.70

0.0%

1.2%

-16.3%

-16.3%

12.4%

1.4%

2.0x

0.2x

6.5%

50.3%

23 Transnational Corp of Nigeria

1.02

3.0%

1.0%

-22.7%

-20.9%

14.2%

3.2%

4.4x

0.6x

2.9%

22.9%

24 Dangote Sugar Refinery PLC

10.35

0.0%

0.8%

-32.1%

-30.1%

20.7%

11.4%

6.1x

1.3x

10.6%

16.5%

1.9x

0.2x

8.7%

52.7%

0.3x

10.6%

-30.8%

25 Diamond Bank PLC

Mixed Sector Performance WĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ĂĐƌŽƐƐ ƐĞĐƚŽƌƐ ǁĂƐ ŵŝdžĞĚ ĂƐ ϯ ŽĨ ϲ ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ

26 FCMB Group Plc

1.60

1.3%

0.7%

-15.3%

-11.1%

9.2%

1.2%

27 UAC of Nigeria PLC

6.00

-7.7%

0.4%

-38.5%

-37.2%

-6.9%

-3.3%

28 Sterling Bank PLC

ƵŶĚĞƌ ŽƵƌ ĐŽǀĞƌĂŐĞ ĐůŽƐĞĚ ŶĞŐĂƟǀĞ͘ dŚĞ /ŶƐƵƌĂŶĐĞ ŝŶĚĞdž ůĞĚ ůĂŐŐĂƌĚƐ͕ ĚŽǁŶ Ϭ͘ϱй ĨŽůůŽǁŝŶŐ ƐĞůů-ŽīƐ ŝŶ MANSARD (Ϯ͘ϵйͿ͘ dŚĞ ĂŶŬŝŶŐ ĂŶĚ Kŝů Θ 'ĂƐ ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ƚƌĂŝůĞĚ͕ ƐŚĞĚĚŝŶŐ ϮďƉƐ ĂƉŝĞĐĞ ŽŶ ĂĐĐŽƵŶƚ ŽĨ ƉƌŝĐĞ ĚĞƉƌĞĐŝĂƟŽŶ ŝŶ FORTE (-

2.00

3.1%

0.7%

5.3%

5.3%

8.1%

0.8%

6.6x

0.5x

29 Presco PLC

38.40

0.0%

0.3%

-40.0%

-40.0%

7.3%

4.6%

11.4x

1.5x

5.4%

8.7%

30 NASCON Allied Industries PLC

14.85

0.0%

0.4%

-17.5%

-17.5%

35.9%

12.1%

10.7x

3.7x

7.0%

9.3%

31 Forte Oil PLC

16.00

-0.3%

0.2%

-41.8%

-42.9%

49.7%

8.1%

3.6x

1.2x

32 Union Bank of Nigeria PLC

7.00

0.0%

0.5%

25.0%

25.0%

7.0%

1.1%

11.3x

0.9x

33 Julius Berger Nigeria PLC

18.55

0.0%

0.3%

-7.7%

-16.1%

21.8%

2.5%

3.4x

0.7x

100.6%

37.1%

34 PZ Cussons Nigeria PLC

ƚƌŝĂů 'ŽŽĚƐ ŝŶĚĞdž ůĞĚ ŐĂŝŶĞƌƐ͕ ƵƉ ϭ͘ϲй ĂƐ ŝŶǀĞƐƚŽƌƐ ƚŽŽŬ ƉŽƐŝƟŽŶ ŝŶ CCNN ;нϲ͘ϬйͿ ĂŶĚ WAPCO ;нϭ͘ϳйͿ ǁŚŝůĞ ƚŚĞ ŽŶƐƵŵĞƌ 'ŽŽĚƐ ŝŶĚĞdž ƌŽƐĞ Ϭ͘ϭй ĚƵĞ ƚŽ ŐĂŝŶƐ ŝŶ FLOUR-

;ĂĚǀĂŶĐĞͬĚĞĐůŝŶĞ ƌĂƟŽͿ ƌŽƐĞ ƚŽ ϭ͘ϳdž ĨƌŽŵ Ϭ͘ϵdž ƌĞĐŽƌĚĞĚ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ƉƌĞǀŝŽƵƐ ƐĞƐƐŝŽŶ ĂƐ ϭϮ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ŐĂŝŶĞĚ ƌĞůĂƟǀĞ ƚŽ ϳ ůŽƐĞƌƐ͘ dŚĞ ƚŽƉ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵŝŶŐ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ COURTVILLE ;нϵ͘ϱйͿ͕ TRIPPLEG ;нϴ͘ϱйͿ ĂŶĚ CORNERSTONE ;нϳ͘ϵйͿ ǁŚŝůĞ LIVE-

0.1%

-54.5%

-55.3%

0.0%

0.2%

-26.7%

-26.7%

36 Wema Bank PLC

0.59

3.5%

0.2%

-6.3%

-6.3%

9.0%

0.9%

4.8x

0.4x

5.1%

21.0%

37 Beta Glass PLC

53.80

0.0%

0.2%

-21.2%

-21.2%

16.8%

11.3%

5.4x

0.8x

2.7%

18.6%

ŝƐ Ă ƐůŝŐŚƚ ƉƌŽƐƉĞĐƚ ĨŽƌ ŝŵƉƌŽǀĞĚ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ͘ ,ŽǁĞǀĞƌ͕ ǁĞ ĞdžƉĞĐƚ ƐƵƐƚĂŝŶĞĚ ďĞĂƌŝƐŚ ƐĞŶƟŵĞŶƚ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ŶĞĂƌ ƚĞƌŵ ŐŝǀĞŶ ƉŽŽƌ ŵĂĐƌŽĞĐŽŶŽŵŝĐ ŝŶĚŝĐĂƚŽƌƐ ĂŶĚ ƚŚĞ ůĂĐŬ ŽĨ ƌĞͲ ĨŽƌŵƐ ƚŽ ĞŶƟĐĞ ŝŶǀĞƐƚŽƌƐ͘

Afrinvest West Africa Limited

95.9x

0.5x

2.7%

1.0%

8.8x

8.9x

11.8%

11.4%

38 Dangote Flour Mills Plc

22.25

0.0%

0.6%

224.8%

237.1%

-30.8%

-9.1%

39 Transcorp Hotels Plc

5.40

0.0%

0.1%

-11.5%

-11.5%

5.1%

2.6%

14.3x

0.7x

40 AXA Mansard Insurance PLC

1.65

-2.9%

0.1%

-9.8%

-9.8%

9.4%

2.6%

8.4x

0.8x

T o p 10 G a i n e r s

3.9x

-9.5% 3.1%

P ric e C hg %

C OUR T VILLE

0.23

9.5%

T R IP P LEG

0.64

8.5%

C OR N ER ST

0.41

CCNN UN ION D A C

Vo lum e

P ric e C hg %

VER IT A SKA P

346.7

0.0%

Z EN IT H B A N K

22.0

0.0%

7.9%

C OUR T VILLE

21.5

9.5%

15.90

6.0%

A C C ESS

21.2

0.0%

0.24

4.3%

T R A N SC OR P

11.1

3.0%

WEM A B A N K

0.59

3.5%

ST ER LN B A N K

9.8

3.1%

WA P IC

0.33

3.1%

UB A

9.7

0.0%

ST ER LN B A N K

2.00

3.1%

UA C N

9.1

-7.7%

T R A N SC OR P

1.02

3.0%

F ID ELIT YB K

4.9

0.0%

15.50

3.0%

GUA R A N T Y

3.8

-0.4%

F LOUR M ILL

T ic k er

T o p 10 L o s e r s T ic k er

T o p 10 T r a d e s b y V a l u e T ic k er

Value

7.0% 12.0%

T o p 10 T r a d e s b y V o l u m e

P ric e

STOCK (-ϴ͘ϬйͿ͕ UACN (-ϳ͘ϳйͿ ĂŶĚ UPL (-ϰ͘ϯйͿ ůĞĚ ůŽƐĞƌƐ͘ Ɛ Yϯ͗ϮϬϭϵ ĐŽƌƉŽƌĂƚĞ ĞĂƌŶŝŶŐƐ ƌĞƐƵůƚƐ ĂƌĞ ƌĞůĞĂƐĞĚ͕ ƚŚĞƌĞ

29.5%

0.0%

T ic k er

/ŶǀĞƐƚŽƌ ƐĞŶƟŵĞŶƚ ĂƐ ŵĞĂƐƵƌĞĚ ďLJ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ďƌĞĂĚƚŚ

8.9% 10.8%

5.50

MILL ;нϯ͘ϬйͿ͘ &ŝŶĂůůLJ͕ ƚŚĞ &Z-/ d ŝŶĚĞdž ĐůŽƐĞĚ ŇĂƚ͘

/ŶǀĞƐƚŽƌ ^ĞŶƟŵĞŶƚ ^ƚƌĞŶŐƚŚĞŶƐ

27.4%

25.55

35 Chemical and Allied Products P

Ϭ͘ϯйͿ ĂŶĚ GUARANTY (-Ϭ͘ϰйͿ͘ KŶ ƚŚĞ ŇŝƉ ƐŝĚĞ͕ ƚŚĞ /ŶĚƵƐͲ

15.2%

P ric e

P ric e C hg %

LIVEST OC K

0.46

-8.0%

Z EN IT H B A N K

374.1

P ric e C hg % 0.0%

UA C N

6.00

-7.7%

A C C ESS

155.0

0.0% -0.4%

UP L

1.10

-4.3%

GUA R A N T Y

99.9

M A N SA R D

1.65

-2.9%

VER IT A SKA P

69.3

0.0%

N EIM ET H

0.39

-2.5%

UB A

56.6

0.0%

GUA R A N T Y

26.20

-0.4%

UA C N

55.1

-7.7%

FO

16.00

-0.3%

N EST LE

31.3

0.0%

M OB IL

30.2

0.0%

M TNN

26.5

0.0%

D A N GC EM

19.9

0.0%

Brokerage

Asset Management

Investment Research

Ayodeji Ebo | aebo@afrinvest.com

Ola Belgore | obelgore@afrinvest.com

Robert Omotunde | romotunde@afrinvest.com

Adedoyin Allen |

Oluwarotimi Ashimi | oashimi@afrinvest.com Adedayo Bakare | abakare@afrinvest.com

33

T H I S D AY ˾ Ͱͷ˜ Ͱͮͯͷ

MARKET NEWS

High Excise Duty, Financing Cost Depress Nigerian Breweries Plc’s Profit Goddy Egene High excise duty and financing cost impacted negatively on the profit of Nigerian Breweries Plc for the nine months ended September 30, 2019. Details of the unaudited results showed a revenue of N236 billion, as against N238 billion in the corresponding period of 2018.

Excise duty paid jumped by 43 per cent from N16.93 billion in 2018 to N24.25 billion

in 2019, bringing gross profit to N96.2 billion compared with N94.7 billion in 2018.

Marketing distribution expenses rose by 12 per cent to N57.5 billion, from N51.5 billion, the company was able to reduce administrative expenses by 11 per cent to N14.3 billion, from N16.2 billion in 2018.

However, financing cost soared by 49 per cent from N5.5 billion to N8.2 billion.

As a result, profit before

P R I C E S MAIN BOARD

F O R DEALS

tax fell by 23 per cent from N22.5 billion to N17.2 billion in 2019. A reduction in tax by 36 per cent from N7.6 billion in 2018 to N4.9 billion led moderation in the decline in profit after tax (PAT), which fell by 17 per cent to N12.28 billion, compared with N14.7 billion in 2018.

Another brewing firm, Guinness Nigeria Plc recently reported a loss in its first quarter results ended September 30, 2019, due to

S E C U R I T I E S

MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N )

high excise duty and financing costs. Assessing the results of Nigerian Breweries Plc analysts at Cordros Capital said while gross revenue grew 2.7 per cent in third quarter (Q3), gains were eroded by the higher excise duty expense compared to last year, leading to flat net revenue growth (+0.1 per cent) in the period.

According to them, a net finance cost of N2.90 billion was recorded –141.5 per cent higher as a 140.2 per cent

T R A D E D MAIN BOARD

A S

increase in finance costs outweighed a 59.7 per cent rise in finance income.

“On finance costs, we note that the balance of bank overdrafts and commercial papers is higher compared to Q3-18 (+148.2 per cent) and Q4-18 (+1,914.6 per cent), following Nigerian Breweries’ N30 billion commercial paper issuance in April (N15.00 billion) and June (N15.00 billion),” they said.

The analysts expressed

O F

optimism that the company would record a stronger performance in Q4 due to year end festivities and impeding impending price increases across key brands in November, both of which will offer a boost to top-line.

Meanwhile, the stock market opened for the week on positive note as the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index rose by 0.14 per cent to close at 26,384.45

2 5 / 1 0 / 2 0 1 9 DEALS

MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N)

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Petroleum Bill Won’t Frustrate IOCs Operating in Nigeria, Says Lawan The President of the Senate, Dr. Ahmad Lawan, yesterday said that the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB) to be introduced by the National Assembly for consideration next year is not aimed at frustrating the operations of International Oil Companies (IOCs) in Nigeria.

Lawan made this known while playing host to the French

Ambassador to Nigeria, Jerome Pasquier, at the National Assembly, Abuja.

According to the Senate President, the PIB to be introduced by the 9th Assembly seeks to regulate the industry to create a win-win situation for the federal government and IOCs operating in the country.

He added that the bill if

77,651 Workers Enrolled on IPPIS, Says Acting HoS Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja The acting Head of Civil Service of the Federation (HoS), Dr. Folasade Yemi, revealed that all 77,651 core civil servants in the country have been enrolled on the Integrated Payroll and Personal Information System (IPPIS) platform.

She also presented a proposed sum of N4.8 billion for next fiscal year, while defending the 2020 budget of the service before the House of Representatives Committee on Public Service Matters in Abuja.

Yemi said out of N4.8 billion, the sum of N2.2 billion was earmarked for personnel cost; N1.7 billion for overhead cost while N893 million is for capital.

The acting HoS said the provisions had also been made in the 2020 budget to renovate the federal secretariat and the civil service clubs across the country.

Yemi stressed that about a month ago, a newspaper publication brought out the state of the federal secretariat with pictures, stressing that she didn’t think it was fair to expect civil servants to be very productive

in that condition.

She emphasised that the state of facilities in the secretariat was not encouraging, and that the clubs across the country were dilapidated, noting that the renovation would be done in conjunction with the Ministry of Works.

According to Yemi, “In the core civil service, we have 77,651 civil servants; we were able to get this number because every core civil servant is now on IPPIS, so we can get the exact number.

“In the public service, we have 368,351 that have enrolled on IPPIS, and we are working towards enrolling all public servants on the IPPIS platform.”

On the implementation of the 2017 to 2020 Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation plan, she said a total of 1,500 civil servants had been trained across cadres, while about 80,000 civil servants have not been trained.

It could be recalled that the Federal Executive Council in 2017 had approved this plan to improve the Federal Civil Service for efficient service delivery.

passed will shore the revenue earnings of government and bring about the needed infrastructural development in the country.

“Recently we had to pass the Production Sharing Contracts amendment bill and that will give our country some more resources.

“We did that consciously so that Nigeria gets more funds but that our International Oil Companies (IOCs) get more profits from their businesses. We want them to stay here but it should be a win-win situation.

“Much as we want IOCs to make profits from their businesses, we also want to get revenues from our resources.

“Going forward from next year, we will be working on the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB). That bill is for the petroleum industry in Nigeria to be properly regulated.

“It will not be a bill or an eventual Act that will put any business in Nigeria in jeopardy or disadvantage.

“It is going to be a bill that will give Nigeria a lot more revenue from the oil and gas sector to

develop our country.

“We are going to be engaging the IOCs at the appropriate time to ensure that we have an oil industry that will be regulated properly in a way that makes both sides winners in that respect.

In his remarks, the French Ambassador said the reason behind his visit was to congratulate the Senate President on his emergence during the June 11 elections, as well as develop relations between France and the Nigerian government.

He added that France was

willing to give its support to Nigeria in the fight against terrorism.

“I mentioned the fight against terrorism because ISIS is a common enemy of France and Nigeria.”

“We are ready to contribute to help Nigeria as much as possible in the area of terrorism.

“Many companies are willing to come to Nigeria to invest; but Nigeria must fix the problem of insecurity if Nigeria wants to have more direct investment,” Jerome said.

WAR AGAINST CANCER...

R-L: Wife of Ondo State Governor, Betty Anyanwu - Akeredolu; wife of Ekiti State Governor, Bisi Fayemi; and wife of Lagos State Governor, Dr. Ibironke Sanwo-Olu, during the officially unveiling of ‘First Ladies Against Cancer’ (FLAC) logo and official premiering of the movie “DIAMONDS IN THE SKY,” in Lagos... recently

NAMA Installs Radio Communication System at Enugu Airport Senate Committee Summons Fashola Chinedu Eze

The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) has said it would commence the installation of the Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) station and Very High Frequency (VHF) radio systems at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu this week.

This follows the successful installation of similar systems at the Jos airport in the network of the North-east corridor.

The Managing Director of NAMA, Capt. Fola Akinkuotu, who made this known in Lagos yesterday, explained that the installation of this equipment would enhance upper airways communication along the Southeast corridor using 127.3MHz radio frequency.

He said the agency was determination to totally eliminate blind spots from the upper airspace, hence the installation of the equipment.

According to him, “We have seen improvement along the North-east corridor that we tackled lately in Jos, and we are determined to see that communication is effective in the entire airspace. If you can communicate just once instead of five times, the person at the receiving end understands you and is happy just as you are happy. If we can get better

radios with good clarity, it will lessen the burden and make the job easier for both the air traffic controller and the pilot.”

He implored controllers to imbibe good work ethics and strive for professionalism even as he urged them to support initiatives of the agency such as the implementation of ‘sectorisation’, which he said was a continuous process.

Akinkuotu also promised to address concerns raised by controllers bordering on work tools, staff training and welfare among others during the recently held AGM in Kano.

In a live telephone conversation during the AGM, the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, who called in from Abuja, promised that the President Muhammadu Buhari administration would continue to partner air traffic controllers and other relevant stakeholders to ensure safe skies for the country.

Also in his remarks, the Director of Operations, Mathew Lawrence Pwajok, itemised some of the achievements of the agency under his directorate to include sectorisation of Lagos Area Control operations into East and West sectors, reactivation of search and rescue operations, training of different categories of critical staff as well as licencing and rating of qualified air traffic controllers.

Deji Elumoye inAbuja The Senate Committee on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) yesterday faulted the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, for not appearing before it to defend his budget but rather chose to travel.

The Chairman of the Committee, Senator Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed Binani, said that the panel has no choice but to reject any submissions from the Minister of State for Works and Housing, Abubakar Aliyu, who was before the committee to represent

Fashola. He insisted that the minister must appear before the committee.

Senator Aishatu insisted that most of the replies to correspondences the committee exchanged with the ministry were personally signed

by Fashola.

She added that the issues for which the committee is seeking clarification took place when Fashola was Minister of Power, Works and Housing, adding that he is the only one competent to shed light on them.

He frowned at a situation where

the minister decided to travel after agreeing on the session with the committee only to send the Minister of State to represent him.

The committee unanimously resolved to turn down the Minister of State and adjourned to await Fashola by 2p.m. yesterday.

But Fashola did not show up at the end of the day.

Earlier, the Minister of State for Works and Housing, Mr. Aliyu, extended the apologies of Fashola to the committee who he said had travelled for an urgent national

assignment.

He, however, said he was sent by Fashola to stand in for him, saying he was ready to address the concerns of the committee.

A member of the committee, Senator Teslim Folarin said it was wrong for Fashola to have traveled without appearing before the committee in spite of the president’s directive barring ministers from traveling or absenting themselves from the budget defence sessions of the National Assembly.

Saraki, UNFPA, Others Call for Action in Accelerating Progress of SDGs Chiemelie Ezeobi The Founder of The Wellbeing Foundation Africa, Mrs. Toyin Saraki in partnership with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and other stakeholders drawn from the private sector, civil society organisations and child advocacy groups, yesterday made an urgent call for action in accelerating the progress of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

They made this disclosure at a high-level roundtable on ‘Mobilising and harnessing high-level private

sector, philanthropic and multistakeholder engagement for the Nairobi Summit on the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) 25- accelerating the promise’.

The call to action is to accelerate sustainable economic and social development by contributing to ending preventable maternal deaths, unmet need of family planning and Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and other harmful practices.

According to Saraki, the call to action is germane in the wake the forthcoming Nairobi Summit billed for November 12 to 14, 2019 on the

ICPD25, a high-level conference to mobilise the political will and financial commitments needed urgently.

She said: “This year marks the 25th anniversary of the landmark ICPD held in Cairo in 1994. The ICPD Programme of Action was remarkable in its recognition that reproductive health and rights, as well as women’s empowerment and gender equality, are cornerstones of population and development programmes.

“We have made incredible gains since then, but too many people are still being left behind. To help

achieve the 2030 Agenda for SDGs and the UN Secretary-General’s Global Strategy for Women’s Children’s and Adolescents’ Health by 2030, we must attain the goals laid out in the ICPD Programme of Action.

“Consequently, UNFPA and The Wellbeing Foundation Africa is launching a call to action to the private and philanthropic sector in Nigeria to submit commitments and showcase their tangible yet ambitious contribution in accelerating progress against the ICPD Programme of Action.

TUESDAY OCTOBER 29, 2019 • T H I S D AY

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TUESDAY OCTOBER 29, 2019 ˾ T H I S D AY

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Technology will Boost Future Revenue Drive, Says Fowler

Only stationery affected in fire incident, says FIRS Youths commend tax reforms

James Emejo in Abuja The Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr. Babatunde Fowler yesterday described technology as the future of tax administration in the country.

He noted that due to the critical role ICT plays in tax administration as well as enhancing the work of FIRS, it recently launched the IT solution which had simplified tax payment.

This is coming as the agency has stated that nothing critical to its operations was affected by the fire incident, which occurred at its headquarters on Saturday.

Speaking when he received a delegation of the Arewa Youth Forum (AYF) led by its President Gambo Ibrahim Gujungu, which paid him a courtesy, he said the solutions will ensure Nigerians carry out registration, pay all their

taxes without visiting any of its physical offices.

He added that the solution could also be accessed from any part of the world.

Fowler also said prompt paying of taxes. could help government address the huge infrastructural gaps in the country, adding that due to overdependence on oil, many Nigerians had failed to pay taxes correctly.

The FIRS boss said it had decided to take tax education to schools to inculcate its importance in future generations.

“The generation that is coming behind us who are still in primary and secondary schools are being taught through our comic books on taxation the benefit of paying tax. That it is not something they should be afraid of when they grow up.

Meanwhile, FRS has stated that nothing critical to its operations

was affected by the fire incident, which occurred at its headquarters on Saturday.

FIRS made this known in a statement issued in Abuja yesterday.

Head of Communications and Servicom Department, Wahab Gbadamosi said in the statement that the incident affected the canteen located at Annex 1 of the headquarters where old and disused computers awaiting disposal are kept.

Aside from the disused computers, the fire affected stationery items such as envelopes

and printing paper.

“The FIRS, hereby, assures the general public that nothing critical to FIRS operations was affected,” the Service said.

FIRS commended the Fire Service Department for its timely response as well as members of the public and the media for their interest in the health of FIRS operations.

Meanwhile, a Northern group, Arewa Youth Forum (AYF), has commended Fowler for the sterling performance of the service, which it described as “unprecedented record in the history of tax

administration in Nigeria”.

The group gave the commendation yesterday when members of its National Executive Council paid a courtesy visit to FIRS headquarters in Abuja. The group listed the indices of the record performance as including the expansion of the country’s taxpayer base, inauguration of the new Taxpayer Identification Number Registration System and deployment of online solutions to ease tax payment.

AYF National President, Gambo Ibrahim Gujungu, promised that

the group will continue to support initiatives being implemented by the Service.

“It is on record that from your appointment till date, and with the support of your hardworking Management team and staff, Mr. Fowler has, among other things, achieved the expansion of our national tax base from 10 million to 20 million with a potential increase to 45 million; increase States’ Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) by over 46.11 percent from N800 billion in 2016 to N1.16 trillion in 2018”, Gunjugu said.

Court Upholds INEC’s Rejection of AA’s Candidates in Kogi, Bayelsa Governorship Polls Alex Enumah in Abuja Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Abuja division of the Federal High Court, yesterday upheld the decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which rejected the participation of candidates of the Action Alliance (AA) in the forthcoming governorship elections in Bayelsa and Kogi states.

The party and its governorship candidates in the two states are challenging their exclusion from the November 16 gubernatorial election.

INEC had refused to accept the candidacy of Dr. Samuel Alfa and Ebi Peretiemo as flag bearers of the AA in the forthcoming governorship election in Kogi and Bayelsa States, respectively on the grounds that their nomination forms were submitted outside the time required by law.

However, delivering judgment in the suit jointly filed by Alfa and Peretiemo, Justice Ekwo held that the plaintiffs failed

to provide evidence that they were on the premises of INEC or attempted to submit their forms before 6p.m. on September 9, 2019, in line with INEC’s guidelines for the elections.

“The first plaintiff (AA) having not complied with the guidelines and regulations of INEC that it must submit its candidates’ nomination forms on or before 6pm on September 9, 2019 is ineligible to field candidates in the November 2019 governorship election in Kogi and Bayelsa states”, Justice Ekwo held.

He subsequently dismissed the suit for lacking in merit.

The suit dated September 19 was filed same day by counsel to the plaintiffs, Malachy Nwaekpe.

In the joint suit marked, FHC/ ABJ/CS/1100/19, AA, Alfa and Peretiemo had contended that having complied with the provisions of 85(1) to (2) and section 31(1) of the Electoral Act, INEC could not have validly rejected the nomination of their candidates for the forthcoming elections in the two states.

No UTME Candidate will Score Zero, Says JAMB The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has disclosed that it has introduced a policy of score standardisation under which Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) candidates cannot score zero, even if they are absent from the examination.

JAMB added that under this new policy, candidates who did not attempt any question or who did not get any answer correctly would be awarded a “common scale with uniform metric.”

In a paper presented by its Registrar, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, on score standardisation

at the 45th International Association for Education Conference held in Azerbaijan, which was contained JAMB weekly bulletin, the JAMB boss said the policy means that all candidates, who are registered for a paper, will be awarded a score for that paper, and there would be no zero score.

“The adoption of the score standardisation is a technical procedure for transforming candidates’ raw scores in the different subjects taken by each candidate to a common scale with uniform metric or units, which is the globally accepted procedure.

REMEMBERING THE DISABLED...

L-R: Head, Engineering Regulation and Monitory Department, Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria, Mr. Agabi Joseph; National Programme Officer, United Nations Women, Mrs. Patience Ekeoba; Executive Director, Platinum Interventions Care Initiative, Mrs. Blessing Mary; Assistant Director, Special Need Education, Universal Basic Education Board(UBEB), Mrs. Kwasau Hannah; and representative, Women and Girls Advancement and Resources Centre (WAGRC), Miss. Blessing Owundiwe, during the stakeholders’ dialogue on building an inclusive society for persons with disabilities in Abuja...yesterday ENOCK REUBEN

AfDB Tasks Nigeria, Others on Job Creation for Growing Population The African Development Bank (AfDB) has urged Nigeria and other African countries to make conscious efforts at job creation to absorb the increasingly growing labour market on the continent.

Senior Director, Nigeria Country Department, AfDB, Mr. Ebrima Faal, said this yesterday in Abuja at the launch of the bank’s report on “Creating Decent Jobs: Strategies, Policies, and Instruments’’.

Faal said that the current job crisis confronting the country and the continent as a whole had the potential to exacerbate its current economic, political,

and social problems.

According to him, Africa’s megatrends are compelling in many ways; but particularly in terms of our rapidly growing population, projected to reach 2.5 billion by 2050.

“This can be a major asset constituting the source of workforce for economic and social development by creating decent jobs and empowering economic activities.

“It also has the potential to exacerbate the current economic, political, and social problems,” he said.

The AfDB official emphasised that the unemployment crisis could render the population vulnerable to illegal activities and fuel migration within and from Africa.

Faal said: “The growth in the African labour force is the fastest globally, but successive years of robust macro-economic policies have not created the jobs required to absorb the increasingly growing labour market entrants or led to sufficient poverty reduction.

“The observed structural changes do not seem to be

growth enhancing and lack an employment generation capability.”

He said that quality jobs were low as more people were drawn into the informal, predominantly family operated businesses.

“We see that about 82 per cent of African workers are in working poverty, compared to the world average of 39 per cent. What is worse, the youths who constitute majority of the population in all countries are carrying most of the burden of the labour market crisis,’’ Faal said.

EU Agrees to Grant UK Request for Brexit Delay Until January 31 The European Union (EU) has agreed to grant the UK’s request for a Brexit extension until Jan. 31 instead of the deadline of October 31, European Council President Donald Tusk, said Monday.

“The EU27 has agreed that it will accept the UK’s request for a #Brexit flextension until January 31, 2020.

“The decision is expected to be formalised through a written procedure,” Tusk said on Twitter.

The decision was made at a Monday meeting of the Committee of Permanent Representatives in the EU.

Tusk is expected to start a 24-hour written procedure, an EU source told Sputnik.

Flextension means that the UK can leave earlier if the withdrawal deal is ratified.

The EU does not want the extension to be used to renegotiate the deal.

After the extension has been granted, the UK has to nominate an EU commissioner.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson asked for a delay last week after the UK parliament refused to approve the withdrawal deal immediately. Johnson has

insisted, however, that Brexit can still be secured within the agreed deadline of October 31.

Meanwhile, Brexit Party Chairman and Co-founder, Richard Tice, has said the EU’s decision to satisfy the request of Britain on a Brexit extension could give the UK parliament confidence to support a snap general election.

Tice, who told the Sky News broadcaster on Monday that the Labor Party was “petrified” by such a prospect.

Tice said the EU does not want the extension to be used

to renegotiate the deal.

“I think the extension was expected. It is the neutral decision and that, hopefully, gives the House of Commons the confidence to agree to have an election.

“We have been calling for an election for months.

“The Labor Party clearly do not want it and are petrified,” Tice told He added that it was obvious that the Conservatives could not deliver Brexit “on their own” in this parliament and needed help.

39

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2019 ˾ T H I S D AY

TUESDAYSPORTS

Group Sports Editor Duro Ikhazuagbe Email duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com 0811 181 3083 SMS ONLY

F I FA U - 1 7 W O R L D C U P

Eaglets Eye Early Ticket to Round of 16 with Ecuador Femi Solaja With the euphoria of the 4-2 win against Hungary last Saturday night behind them, the players are looking to qualify for the competition’s Round of 16 when they play Ecuador this evening in Goiania.

Indeed, perseverance, persistence and determination characterized the Eaglets’ 4-2 win over Hungary, as they pushed and pushed until they got three goals in six minutes in the second half to turn the game on its head.

However, tonight’s top-of-thetable clash with Ecuador at the same Estadio Olimpico, starting at 9pm Nigeria time, promises to be explosive, with both teams aware that victory would mean an early slot in the championship’s Round of 16.

“We are very happy to have seen the congratulatory messages

by President Muhammadu Buhari and our morale has been lifted even higher, and we will go into the match against Ecuador with greater determination to win,” team captain, Samson Tijani

said last night while reflecting on Saturday’s opening match and what is expected of the team this evening.

Just like Nigeria did on opening match day, other African representative also secured win in their respective matches following a resounding 4-1 defeat of USA on Sunday night by Senegal ensured perfect start from all the continental representatives.

Debutant, Angola beat New Zealand 2-1 before fellow debutants, Senegal added colour

to Africa’s performance so far.

When Nigerian team step out again this evening, reports from Brazil indicate that the camp has been much energized by the words of love and encouragement

by President Buhari who has been following the activities of the team so far.

The President on Sunday congratulated the boys for the 4-2 lashing of Hungary in their opening match on Saturday, which put them at the top of Group B on goals difference

ahead of Ecuador, 2-1 winners over Australia.

In a statement released by presidential aide, Garba Shehu, President Buhari, under whose watch as Nigeria’s leader the Golden Eaglets won the first of their five world titles (as military Head of State in 1985) and their most recent one (as civilian President in 2015), expressed confidence in the ability of the Eaglets to win a sixth title in Brazil.

“It was a wonderful display

that I am very proud of. You showed that there is nothing that cannot be achieved with determination and perseverance. I have followed your journey leading to your arrival in Brazil for the competition. I have equally noted your determination and confidence throughout your preparations.

“I have no doubt in my mind that you are determined to win the competition for an unparalleled sixth time.”

ASQ (UK) Launches Football Agents Development Training in Nigeria A UK-based company, ASQ Training and Development, has launched a mobile application App for a “Level Three Certificate in Football Intermediary” qualification, to train and support budding football agents and players.

The ASQ Group Managing Director, Samson Adeosun, in the company of renowned football intermediaries and players’ representatives, John Viola and Philip McTaggart, made this known at a news conference in Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria at the weekend. Adeosun said that there were lots of football agents in Nigeria and Africa, but that unfortunately, majority had no proper experience coupled with bad reputation due to unscrupulous activities of a few.

“The idea for a developmental program for football intermediaries was born out of my personal experience. It was after I get my intermediary licence from the English FA that I realized that I virtually did not know what next to doand this is the experience of most agents in Africa” Adeosun noted. He added that though there are no stringent qualifications before someone is allowed to represent players but it is important that individual agents acquire knowledgeand skills that will make them effective and productive in the player management value chain.

“There are lots of agents in Nigeria, but the fact remains that they do not know what to do when it comes to international

business player management.The Level Three Certificate in Football Intermediary program is to empower the intermediaries in the areas of identification, marketing, protection and management of players thereby helping them to get out the best out of the playing careers”, Adeosun, who also is an English FA licenced Intermediary added.

In his own contribution, an internationally renowned football intermediary and player manager, Viola said that ASQ had identified the need for such a training and certification to support and encourage budding football agents to get their acts right. Viola who was part of the success careers of players like Luis Figo and Roberto Carlos noted that the training would help those looking to succeed in the complex but lucratively rewarding profession of player management.

On his own part, Philip McTaggart, another established player manager advised that intermediaries should embrace the ASQ training for the general interest of football. ”Aside getting the ability to sell quality players, participating in the ASQ development training will avail the agents the many advantages including a rich global network. The participants will learn the rudiments and dynamics of the global football market thereby reduce the incidences of Nigerian players being rejects abroad”, McTaggart concluded

Record Entries for GCU Relays 2019 A record number of entries have been recorded for this years edition of the Government College Ughelli (GCU) Relays 2019.

At the last count a total number of 55 schools have confirmed their participation for the event scheduled for November 16th at the GCU modern Tartan Tracks.

New participants include St. Gregory’s College Lagos, Government College Sagbama and Yewa College Ilaro amongst others.

Indeed, the GCU Relays Digital page on Facebook has witnessed increased activities in recent days with the total reach now at over 7,000 followers given the awareness potentials for the games. Also, about 1,371 persons are actively interacting/chatting on the page daily.

The GCU relays is an initiative of the GCUOBA Worldwide led by its President Arc. Ovo Charles Majoroh, and

one of the cardinal objectives of the GCU relays is the revival and enhancement of healthy sports rivalry among secondary schools in Nigeria.

Also, to progressively build and cement healthy interaction between secondary schools and students from different states of the federation, for the unity and progress of Nigeria.

Last year’s edition received about six schools from outside Delta state, including Igbobi College, Lagos, Edo college, Benin, Government Secondary School, Afikpoamongst others.

Tartan Tracks builders and donors, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SDPC) have kept faith with the maintenance of the facility on an annualbasis.

Notable track and Field greats who are Ex-Olympians, such as Brown Ebewele and Henry Amike have confirmed their presence and endorsement of the GCU relays, on November 16th 2019.

Jubilant Golden Eaglets in one of the goals in the 4-2 win over Hungary last Saturday

South-west, South-south Zones Dominate Chevron Junior Tennis Masters Players from the South-west and South-south Zones of the country completely dominated the eight events of the Chevron Junior Tennis Masters which ended at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club on Sunday.

The tournament which featured two age categories - boys and girls 12s and 16s - was the culmination of a three-month long training programme which impacted over 1500 school and out-ofschool children in seven target locations.

The masters tournament featured the best players from the training programmes and the best players from the six

zones of the country.

The grand finale started with the girl’s 12 between Nene Yakubu of the South-west, runner up in the last edition, and Favour Amaechi from the South-south.

Yakubu who was favoured to win and got majority support from about 1000 students and children who attended the finals, overcame a late surge from Amaechi which saw the Port Harcourt-based girl take the second set to win 10-7, 8-10, 10-3.

The boy’s 12 final took an almost similar pattern with the No.1 seed, Seun Ogunsakin (aka Nadal) from the South-west, also

a runner-up in the last edition, rallying back from a set down to clinch the title 7-10, 10-5, 10-8.

Rebecca Ekpeyong of the South-south retained her title with a tough 12-10, 10-12, 10-3 victory over Jesutoyosi Adeusi of the South west.

With top 16s like Omolade Aderemi, Favour Moses, and Omolayo Bamidele promoted to the seniors, it was assumed that 15 year-old Ekpeyong was going to have an easy tournament but that proved not to be the case as she also had a testy semifinal match against Mary Udofa from the North-central.

Daniel Adeleye from the South-west prevented a

family sweep of the 16s by the Ekpeyongs by defeating David Ekpeyong, younger brother of Rebecca, 10-7, 11-13, 10-4.

“We are happy with the outcome” said Peter Ekpeyong father of Rebecca and David.

“We have a lot of sports talent in the South - south and it is obvious that the Chevron Tennis Programme is yielding dividends by bringing up the sporting talent in the zone.”

The Chairman/Managing Director of Chevron Nigeria, Mr Jeffrey Ewing, in a brief speech commended the impressive standard of the young players and in his words “a well run tournament.”

ENL Consortium Lift 2019 Maritime Cup ENL Consortium, operators of Terminals C and D at the Lagos Port Complex Apapa, on Friday defeated a terminal operator at the Tin Can Island Port, Josephdam Ports Services (JPS), to lift the 2019 Maritime Cup. In addition to winning the trophy, ENL also went home with a cheque of N1million courtesy of the organisers.

The tension-soaked match, which was watched by the chief executives and top managements

of both organisations, stretched beyond 90 minutes into penalty shootout.

Josephdam opened score in the 17th minute of play through its top striker Akinbirin Peter while ENL’s equalizer did not come until the second half precisely in the 54th minute through Uche Sunday, bringing the score to 1-1 at full time.

During the penalty shootout, ENL converted all its seven kicks to goals while Josephdam was

only able to convert six out of seven.

ENL won the trophy for the first time in the 11 years of the annual competition.

ENL did not particularly have a smooth ride to victory as it had to battle top-rated teams to advance to the final match. It defeated two of its Group A rivals, Dangote Ports Operation 5-0 and Higher Pacific International (HPI) 2-1, and played a 1-1 draw with Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to qualify for the semi-final.

In the semi-final match played on Thursday, it defeated fellow Apapa port operator, Apapa Bulk Terminal Limited (ABTL) 2-0.

In the third place match, ABTL defeated former champions, NPA 2-0 to clinch the tournament’s bronze medals.

Josephdam’s Chibueze Hardy and Tosin Omoruwa won the Most Valuable Player and Best Goalkeeper respectively of the tournament while the Fair Play award was won by ABTL.

Confluence Queens Coach Ogbonda Targets Title, as NWPL Super 4 Begins The Chief Coach of Confluence Queens of Lokoja, Whyte Ogbonda, whose team will be making an historic appearance in the Nigeria Women’s Premier League Super 4, has said the main objective of his team is to emerge the champion of the 2018/2019 NWPL season, despite being their first time of participating in the Super 4.

The 2018/2019 edition of the Nigeria Women Premier League

(NWPL) Super 4 competition will officially flag off in Lagos at the Soccer Temple, Agege Stadium, on Tuesday, October 29, 2019 with the official arrival of all the participating teams: Rivers Angels, Bayelsa Queens, Adamawa Queens and Confluence Queens.

The Super 4 will be a battle among the top teams in the regular season of the Nigeria Women Premier League to determine the winner for the

season.

Ogbonda, said his players are determined to cause further upsets in the NWFL top competition by lifting the coveted trophy in their first attempt.

“We are not afraid of any team, rather we are the most feared among the quartet and pressure is not on us but on the reigning champions, Bayelsa Queens and former champions, Rivers Angels,

who would work round the clock to sustain their high reputations.

It’s an advantage for us as we shall freely exhibit our talents while the giants exercise extra caution in their games.

“We are more than ever calm and relaxed coming to Lagos to enjoy ourselves with our known traditional style of football aimed at winning the trophy in our first attempt at the NWPL Super 4 competition.

Tuesday October 29, 2019

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Price: N250

MISSILE CUPP to Supreme Court

“The Supreme Court has in the last 16 days ago fully received all the filings on our appeal and by the provisions of the constitution, the Supreme Court has on or before November 11, 2019, which is 15 days from today, to deliver judgment on the appeal of Atiku challenging Buhari’s victory. This development is very worrisome” – CUPP threatening to declare a total lack of confidence in any panel constituted by the Supreme Court in violation of the age-long order of seniority to hear Atiku Abubakar’s appeal.

TUESDAY WITH REUBENABATI abati1990@gmail.com

The Constitutional Crisis in Kogi S

ince Nigeria’s return to civilian rule in 1999, Deputy Governors have always tended to have issues with their bosses, that is the Governors, and the Governors in turn have often had problems with their Godfathers. Whatever shape the conflict takes, it has been more of a blight on our democratic process and the health of the polity. Mini-dictators converting a democratic dispensation into an opportunity for self-aggrandizement and childish power games end up hurting us all.

As Governor of Anambra state in 2003, Chris Ngige, now Minister of Labour and Productivity, had problems with a certain Godfather known as Chris Uba. In those days, Uba had the ears and eyes of the Nigerian Presidency. Ngige’s offence was his refusal to do the bidding of the Godfather and the Godfather of the mini-Godfather in his state. In July 2003, a letter of resignation from office was circulated on Ngige’s behalf. He was also abducted by a faction of the Nigeria Police (the then Inspector General of police would later disown that “faction”). Ngige insisted that he had not resigned. Subsequently, he was shown half-naked purportedly swearing to an oath of allegiance at what was then known as the notorious Okija shrine. He was named. He was shamed.

The spectacle of a sitting Governor in shamanic garb looked really ugly. Ngige’s detractors finally got him out of office in 2006. They made him.

They unmade him.

In Oyo State in 2006, Rashidi Ladoja, now the Osi of Olubadan, meaning a potential Olubadan of Ibadanland was pushed out of office because he refused to share the state’s security vote with Chief Lamidi Adedibu, the famous originator and promoter of alimentary politics in the politics of Ibadan and the South-West. Alimentary politics is known locally as “amala politics.” It was re-defined in Ekiti State by Governor Ayo Fayose as “stomach infrastructure.” Real meaning: “you-chop -I-chop” politics.

Fayose himself fell foul of the powers that be when in his first term as Governor of Ekiti State, he made the fatal mistake of saying openly that he would not support a Third Term agenda for the Obasanjo administration. The witches and wizards of Aso Rock went after him. Fayose, who is ordinarily very boisterous, had to escape from the Ekiti State Government House in the trunk of a car. He was chased out of office in an overnight raid by a specially assigned police squad. He took the famous NADECO route and gave Nigeria a wide berth for a while. Again in 2006, Joshua Dariye, serving a second term as Governor of Plateau State, was impeached by eight members of the state’s 24-member House of Assembly. He protested about the fact that 8 out of 24 members did not amount to a quorum. Nobody listened. His supporters protested. Two of them were gunned down by the police. Dariye was impeached. His offence was his refusal to respect the powers that be. The Supreme Court later returned him and Ladoja of Oyo State to office, but I doubt very much if they have both recovered fully from taking on those secret manipulators of the Nigerian political process.

But while state Governors often get into trouble with their Godfathers, what we have seen is that the Governors themselves are just as power drunk as their own Godfathers. The target of their fascism is usually the persons they choose or who are appointed to serve as their Deputies. Since 1999, no Governor has made any conscious effort to hand over to his Deputy. In Plateau, and Oyo states, Deputies became Governors by sheer default: Michael Botmang in Plateau (2006 -2007), and Adebayo

Bello Alao-Akala in Oyo State (January – December 2006) not because their bosses wanted them as successors. In an exception to the rule in Kano State where Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso was succeeded by his two-time Deputy (1999 -2003; 2011-2015), the Deputy as Governor has shown great contempt and animosity towards his former boss, clearly indicating that there was never any love lost between them while they worked together. The kind of passion that Abdullahi Ganduje has devoted to rubbishing and undoing his former boss is astonishing.

But the battle between Governors and their Deputies is not just at the state level; at the level of the Presidency, the story is not much different.

During President Olusegun Obasanjo’s second term, Nigeria was saddled with a divided Presidency.

I covered the politics of that crisis in a series of columns tilted “The Bolekaja Presidency”. Going further, the story is often told of how under President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, his then Vice President - Goodluck Jonathan was completely sidelined by a cabal that hijacked Presidential power and authority. The only job President Yar’Adua’s people wanted Dr. Jonathan to do was to just read newspapers. They made sure his office got a good supply of newspapers and a short supply of state news. They showed their hands when they made it clear that they didn’t want him to succeed his boss who fell ill and had become incapacitated. President Yar’Adua died in office. It was a great ordeal to get Dr. Jonathan to succeed him. Concerned Nigerians had to stand up physically and emotionally, for the letter and spirit of the Constitution to be respected. Even when Jonathan became President, the cabal did not leave him alone. They made every day difficult for him.

I have gone on this long, retrospective, voyage to draw attention to a few points: One, that Nigerian politics, even with the exit from military rule in 1999 is still based on a principle of clientelism and godfatherism. Some people just assume that Nigeria belongs to them and they must dictate what happens within its borders. Two, people get into offices not because they are the best persons for the job but because they are the right clients. How many got elected because they swore to an oath in Okija or elsewhere?

How many paid fees to get a nomination form?

How many of these guys have become big men and women today because they had to trade off? When such persons try to stand up and assert themselves, they are shot down. Three, Nigerian politicians have little regard for the Constitution.

It is also important to note that in real terms, Deputies in Nigerian politics are at best spare

tyres. The Constitution gives them no real roles.

This is why it is possible for Governors and Presidents to treat their Deputies shabbily. In Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu trashed two Deputy Governors between 1999 and 2007.

When Mrs Kofo Bucknor Akerele tried to stand up to him; she was shut down. Otunba Femi Pedro, her replacement also thought he could act like a man. He was shown the exit door. He would return later to beg and genuflect. His own assistant, someone he brought to the party is now the Governor of Lagos State, obviously in an attempt to complete his humiliation. I don’t see the current Governor of Lagos State fighting the powers that be. He only needs to look at Bucknor-Akerele, Femi Pedro and Akinwunmi Ambode, the immediate past Governor in the mirror.

What am I trying to say? I am saying that Nigerian politics is dirty, crazy and incomprehensible. In the last 20 years, it has been overtaken by Godfathers, cabalists and fascists. They do what they like. If you stand in their way, they crush you. In effect, fear rules the land. In an environment dominated by power-mongers who parade themselves as good men and women, you can no longer trust anybody. Nigerian politics has never been so terrible.. In politics as in society, the picture of a mentally ill community looms large.

But of all the things that I have heard and seen in the last 20 years, permit me to say that the most shocking, the most objectionable, the most fearful happened in Kogi State the other day with the purported removal from office of the Deputy Governor, Simon Achuba. Simon Achuba’s offence is that he is no longer in good terms with his Governor, Yahaya Bello. When a State Governor no longer likes his Deputy, he tells him to jump, if the guy refuses to jump, he pushes him. If the guy refuses to be pushed, the Governor gets the House of Assembly, obviously the largest collection of nitwits since 2019, to help push the Deputy Governor through the vehicle of impeachment. We have seen one or the other strategy adopted in Lagos State with Kofo Bucknor-Akerele and Femi Pedro by Bola Tinubu in Lagos, Rochas Okorochas against his deputies- Jude Agbaso and Eze Madumere in Imo, and Ibikunle Amosun against Segun Adesegun in Ogun State. In the case of Achuba in Kogi State they just threw the Constitution completely out of the window. The 1999 Constitution of Nigeria spells out the procedure for the removal of a Governor or Deputy Governor from office.

In Kogi State, the State House of Assembly just decided to do whatever suited it. State Houses of Assembly are appendages of Government House. The Governors in the process become so powerful that once they don’t like anybody’s face they can get rid of him politically or buy him or her. Nigerian politicians can be bought and converted like commodities. Nigerian politics is a market.

In Kogi State, Deputy Governor Simon Achuba chose to differ with his Governor. He got accused of all kinds of things which a House of Assembly in recess interpreted as “gross misconduct’ and then decided to put him up for impeachment and removal. A cash and carry House of Assembly set to work. The state Chief Judge was asked to set up a panel to impeach the Deputy Governor.

A seven-man panel was indeed set up led by Mr. John Baiyeshea, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN). The panel returned a verdict of not guilty on all the charges. What the Constitution says in Section 188, is that once the panel thus returns a verdict of not guilty on all counts, there shall be no further proceedings or process. The word

“shall” in law is mandatory. It is a command. Still, in their wisdom, the House of Assembly in Kogi State, which is not even sitting, proceeded to sack the Deputy Governor. If anyone is looking for a classical rubber stamp Assembly and the most conscienceless legislature in Nigeria’s democracy since 1999, Kogi State House of Assembly fits the bill. It has been more than a week since then and Kogi State is just hoping that this comedy of absurdity will disappear. It is a shame on all the people of Kogi State who have chosen to keep silent, and the most worrisome is that the Federal Government and indeed the National Assembly and the Attorney General of the Federation who is the chief law officer of the Federation by virtue of Section150 of the Constitution have all chosen to be quiet in the face of this brazen abuse of the letter and spirit of the Constitution thus setting a dangerous precedent for the continuous abuse of the Constitution, the very fabric that holds the nation together.

It is a rape of the Constitution, a slap on the rule of law. Members of the Kogi State House of Assembly should cover their heads in shame for projecting themselves as law breakers and persons who do not have the interest of the nation at heart. But the biggest scandal is that of the Chief Judge of Kogi State, Nasir Ajanah.

The biggest problem with the Nigerian Bar and Bench is the cancerous proliferation of a body of lawyers and judges who believes that justice is a mere slogan, who thinks equity is sheer nonsense and who behaves as if conscience is for the religious and not the legally minded.

This is precisely what happened in Kogi State the other day. The panel set up by the Chief Judge in accordance with the 1999 Constitution reported back to the House of Assembly a verdict of not guilty on all counts. There is no way the Chief Judge could have claimed ignorance of this finding. Having been aware of this, the Chief Judge should not have gone ahead to commit an act of illegality by standing the Constitution on its head. It is not enough for him to claim that he is not a Father Christmas to act, suo moto, on a matter that had not been properly placed before him.

Simon Achuba should go to court. Whether the eventual determination would be academic or not, let him fight for his rights and put the matter on record. His seat is not vacant in the eyes of the law. Edward Onoja has merely usurped the seat of the Deputy Governor of Kogi State, illegally and without conscience. Political vendetta cannot replace the tenets of the law. The fact that other Governors also behave badly does not justify the reign of idiocy in Kogi State.

When the Kogi Governor, Yahaya Bello was elected in 2015, he was advertised as a poster boy for the No-Too- Young-To-Run Campaign.

He was seen as the young man who would make a difference. He was the youngest Governor in Nigeria. But he has dropped the ball in the same manner in which one Elisha Abbo, youngest Senator in the 9th National Assembly (Adamawa North, PDP), has also dropped the ball. What’s the latest on Elisha Abbo? Young Nigerians want to be part of the governance process, but unfortunately, the ones who show up in the arena are the strange, unprepared types who gamble with the opportunities that they have been given. Our belief that young Nigerians in politics will turn out to be change agents is defeated daily. Yahaya Bello, playing dirty games with the removal of his Deputy, does not deserve a second term in office. The people of Kogi State would be stupid to vote for him on November 16. The absurdity in Kogi State should not be allowed to stand.

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