MONDAY 5TH SEPTEMBER 2022

Nigeria’s Average Daily Petrol Supply is 68 Million Litres, NNPC Clarifies Replies Customs DG, says company ready for forensic audit Analysts hail 20-year crude supply deal with Dangote Refinery Northern groups call for petroleum subsidy removal Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja, Peter Uzoho in Lagos and John Shiklam in Kaduna In response to the alleged inflation

of petrol imports and consumption in Nigeria, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has insisted that average petrol supply in the country stands

at 68 million litres per day.

The company also disclosed that the total volume of petrol imported into the country between January and August 2022, was 16.46 billion

litres, which translated to the 68 million litres daily supply.

NNPC made the assertions in a statement issued yesterday and signed by its Group General

Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Garba Muhammad.

In another development, some energy experts and economic policy analysts have hailed NNPC for

locking up a 20- year 300,000 barrels per day crude supply deal with Dangote Refinery as part of its 20 Continued on page 6

FG: 14 Years Old Ajaokuta Steel Dispute Finally Resolved...

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Monday 5 September, 2022 Vol 27. No 10009. Price: N250

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Obi’s Crowdfunding Portals to Open Next Week, Utomi Reveals...

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Atiku: September Heralds Dawn of Nigeria’s Freedom from APC Stranglehold

Says decentralising campaign structure is only way to win in 2023 Reaffirms 40 per cent commitment to women, youth in his cabinet Stakeholders weigh options on PDP crisis Chuks Okocha in Abuja and Fidelis David in Akure Ahead of the official commencement

of the 2023 general election campaign by political parties this month, the presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),

Atiku Abubakar, has said September brings Nigerians good tidings of the beginning of the march to freedom from the throttlehold

of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Atiku declared this in a statement yesterday.

The former vice president also

announced the decentralisation of his campaign structure, saying it is the only way to win the presidential election.

In Abuja, at the inauguration of the Atiku-Okowa Vanguard Nigeria, Continued on page 6

Tinubu: We Need Not Worry About PDP, We’re Not Equals Says opposition party shouldn’t exist any longer Our presidency’ll industrialise Nigeria, Shettima boasts PDP fires back, asks APC candidate to address name, age, education Uzodinma declares Igbo’ll produce president when they find peace with nation Chuks Okocha in Abuja Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, at the weekend, told members of his party that they needed not to worry about the posturing of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), because they were not equals in the first place and by all standards.

Tinubu, who spoke at the unveiling of the Tinubu/Shettima door-to-door campaign group in Abuja, however, wondered how and why the PDP was still in existence, despite its alleged failure as a government that was in power for sixteen years.

Also, speaking at the event, the APC vice-presidential candidate, Senator Kashim Shettima, Continued on page 6

10TH YEAR REMEMBRANCE SERVICE IN HONOUR OF IGHODALO...

L-R: Chairman, Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote; Pastor Itua Ighodalo; Mrs. Ifejinwa Ighodalo; Chairman, Alaghodaro Economic Summit LTD/GTE and Chairman, Sterling Bank Plc, Dr. Asue Ighodalo; Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, and his wife, Betsy, during 10th year remembrance service in honour of late Chief Jeremiah Aghedo Ighodalo in Ewohimi, Esan South East Local Government Area of Edo State at the weekend

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ICPC: Technology Key to Curbing Corruption, Illicit Financial Flows Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja The Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Prof.

Bolaji Owasanoye has identified the deployment of technology as crucial to the fight against corruption and Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs).

Owasanoye, made this known at the presentation of demo- hacking solutions by seven innovators at Abuja.

The IFFs Hackathon is an initiative of the ICPC and the National Information Technology

Development Agency (NITDA) with support of the Ford Foundation, West Africa.

The demo hacking solutions are aimed at curbing corruption and IFFs in government budget and Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) procurement processes in Nigeria.

In his welcome remarks, the ICPC Chairman stated that the role of technology would not be underrated in the fulfillment of the commission’s mandate of investigation and prosecution of breaches of the law.

“Technology is crucial to eliciting, analysing and preserving evidence for prosecution. In the past three years, the commission has invested in technology to enhance its forensic capability and trained staff in digital documents analysis, handwriting analysis, polygraphic technology, and sundry skills.

“In the past fifteen years, the government has generally invested in technology to fight corruption, especially by prevention.

“The role of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), Government Integrated

Financial Management System (GIFMIS), Treasury Single Account (TSA), Open Treasury Portal (OTP), establishment of Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) and the private sector initiated Bank Verification Number (BVN) has contributed in no small way to reducing corruption," he said.

He emphasised the need for collaboration by law enforcement agencies in the deployment of more technology to help in reducing the opportunity for money laundering.

“Appropriate technology deployment would have given law

enforcement agencies, administrators and regulators of the process adequate leverage to know what school-feeding funds were being used for.

"Technology penetration in Nigeria today makes this very possible. Such platforms would help nip anomalies in the bud and save the government huge sums of money as well as prevent abuse, corruption and money laundering,” he added.

At the IFF Hackathon, Owasanoye explained that it provided an opportunity for the young people to use their creativity and

entrepreneurial skills in leveraging on emerging technologies to combat corruption and other unethical practices that impact negatively on the socio- economic fortunes of the nation.

He assured that the anticorruption agency, the NITDA and the Ford Foundation would further work on the demo hacking solutions presented by the young innovators.

“The demo hacking solutions will be interrogated further, fine-tuned and a demo will be developed and followed by a test run,” he noted.

He said, “This group is, therefore, a welcoming effort in our quest to rescue and rebuild Nigeria from the maladministration of the APC. The country is in a paralytic condition awaiting immediate rescue, because every facet of the economy has become dysfunctional and putting the country under imminent collapse.”

Welcoming guests earlier, National President of the group, Hon. Oby Nwaogu, described Atiku and Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa as detribalised Nigerians and experienced leaders needed to rescue the country from the hardship and underdevelopment brought on the people by APC.

secretary to Secondus, Chuma Chinye, had dragged PDP before a Federal High Court in Abuja, praying the court to sack the Ayu-led leadership. Chinye, a lawyer, alleged that his principal was illegally and forcefully removed from office. In the suit, he sought a declaration that the removal and replacement of Secondus by Deputy National Chairman, Elder Yemi Akinwumi, without regard to the provisions of constitution of PDP, the first defendant, was unlawful, unconstitutional, and of no effect whatsoever.

Part of the contemplation was to declare a parallel NWC, and also ensure that the southern members of the party did not attend any of the Board of Trustees (BoT), national caucus, and NEC meetings, if it became clear that Ayu was unwilling to step aside.

THISDAY learnt last night that Atiku was planning to hold what could be considered the final talks with Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike and his team.

Sources hinted that because of the interest of Wike's team in the 2023 general election, where they had candidates for governorship, National Assembly and state Assembly elections, they ruled out defection as an option.

ATIKU: SEPTEMBER HERALDS DAWN OF NIGERIA’S FREEDOM FROM APC STRANGLEHOLD Atiku reaffirmed his commitment to 40 per cent women and youth involvement in his cabinet, if elected president next year.

The PDP presidential candidate’s statement came as stakeholders in the party began to mull over the options open to them in the effort to resolve current disagreements. This followed the suggestion to remove the PDP National Chairman, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, or sack the entire National Working Committee (NWC) to give room for a north/ south balance in the party.

In a statement, yesterday, Atiku said, "For many Nigerians, this year’s September is a month that comes with a great deal of joy and great expectations. After enduring many years of the ruling APC practically kneeling on our neck, September heralds the commencement of our freedom from the APC’s stranglehold.

"The time has finally come for Nigerians to take part in the process of salvaging this great country and making it a beautiful land of opportunities and prosperity – once again."

According to the timetable and schedule of activities for the 2023 general election published by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), public campaign by political parties for presidential and National Assembly elections begins September 28, while that of governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections

starts October 12.

Atiku welcomed the youth of Nigeria to September, calling it the month long expected for the kick-starting of his presidential campaign.

Urging all concerned to register online to participate fully in the restructured campaign process, the PDP candidate said decentralising his campaign structure was necessary, "Because we know that every election is won and lost at the polling unit, we have agreed to decentralise our campaign.

“What that means is that folks like you are the potential managers of my campaign. It is a system that takes power away from the centre and returns it to where it belongs: to the people."

Reiterating his promise to give 40 per cent of his cabinet positions to women and youths, if elected president in 2023, at the inauguration of the Atiku-Okowa Vanguard Nigeria in Abuja, Atiku said the importance of women and youths to the development of any nation could not be overemphasised.

Represented by his campaign spokesman, Senator Dino Melaye, the former vice president said, “Without women and youths there is no nation and part of my policy direction is to populate my appointments and empowerments by youths and women, minimum 40 per cent.

“While women are asking for 35 per cent, Atiku is offering 40 per

TINUBU: WE NEED NOT WORRY ABOUT PDP, WE’RE NOT EQUALS boasted that if elected in 2023, their presidency would turn the country into an industrial nation in order to turn the tide of the current economic downturn.

But replying Tinubu, the PDP has told the APC presidential candidate to stop grandstanding and first address allegations bordering on his multiple name changes, alleged disparity in his age and educational qualifications.

In another development, the Imo State Governor and member of the APC, Senator Hope Uzodinma, has told the Igbo to forget the presidency in 2023, and that they could only produce a president of their extraction whenever they found peace with Nigeria.

Tinubu, who exuded so much confidence, described the PDP as a party that lacked direction, urged members of his party not to be bothered about the opposition.

“We are not just the ones to hurl abuses and insults at our rivals’ party. We don’t need it. We are smarter; we are brilliant; we are courageous; we are not like them.

“They spent 16 years and forgot that there is a railway infrastructure that can do haulage, human carriage, animal husbandry and food carriage across the length and breadth of the country.

“They (PDP) got there and turned it to an incubator. I wonder why they still exist as a party. These are people still fighting for leadership of their party, looking for the direction of the compass. We are not equal at all; we are smarter. We know the road; let them follow.

“We don’t need to worry about PDP — poverty development party.

Today, let’s lower the temperature.

It’s not the time to campaign yet.

They will hear a lot from us.

“We are the party of progressive ideas. We want good education for our children, good development for Nigeria, prosperity for this country, agricultural and agro-allied projects to be embarked upon,” he said.

Addressing the APC plans for Nigeria, Tinubu said the party, had the solution to the country’s problems, and that it was strategising to tackle the challenges.

According to him, “We have the confidence that, we have what it takes. We have the courage, determination, perseverance and foresight to identify the problems of Nigeria and tackle them headlong and make a solution out of them for the prosperity of your children.

We will guarantee tomorrow, jobs for your grandchildren, and the progress of tomorrow.

“All we are doing is strategising, calculating and organising ourselves to confront the challenge before us.”

On his part, while noting that Tinubu’s presidency would turn Nigeria into an industrialised nation, Shettima said, “We are on the threshold of making history. The global economy is tilting towards recession because the world has moved from the agricultural age to the industrial age.

“We have moved from the industrial age to the knowledgedriven age. People are now talking of big data of artificial intelligence, nanotechnology and open biotechnology. Who among the presidential candidates we have here in this country has the skill set, the intellect, the capacity to move this nation greater than Asiwaju Bola Tinubu?”

Continued on page 50

cent and let me assure you that this will be implemented to the letter, when we come on board.”

He bemoaned the astronomically high cost of living in the country and blamed it on the failure of the APC-led federal government to effectively manage the economy.

Atiku said, “I used to fly Economy from Abuja to Lagos for N18, 000, but now it is over N100, 000; we used to buy loaf of bread for N120 and now it is N1, 200; we used to buy diesel at N150 per litre but now it is N800 per litre; dollar used to be exchanged for N210 and now N700 and rising.

“We cannot continue like this as a nation. So, let us save Nigeria by electing Atiku Abubakar. You know no Nigerian can accuse Atiku of being a tribalist or a religious bigot. Nigeria is looking for a healer not a patient, so let us go house-to-house, door-to-door and campaign for Atiku and Okowa to rescue this country.”

Wife of the presidential candidate, Titi Abubakar, appealed to the women and youths for support, saying her husband is well prepared to rescue the country and bring it back to working ways.

She said, “If my husband is elected, I will do more for Nigerian children and women. Atiku has

promised women and youths 40 per cent in the cabinet; he is a man of his word and he will do it, but it is you alone that can make it happen.

“I am appealing to you, our women and youths, don’t sell your conscience and your tomorrow, but rather stand for the right thing and your tomorrow will be better, because Atiku will bring back Nigeria’s lost glory.”

Chairman of the occasion and former Senate President, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, said political awareness had increased with the advent of the social media. Anyim commended the Atiku-Okowa Vanguard Nigeria for their efforts at marketing the party.

Represented by Ebonyi State PDP governorship candidate, Senator Obinna Ogba, Anyim said PDP had the best presidential candidate in the country and urged the group to intensify the effort to sell Atiku to Nigerians.

Keynote speaker at the event and National Secretary of PDP, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, said, “Nigerians are looking up to PDP for immediate rescue from the lacklustre leadership of the APC.” Anyanwu appealed for collective action by Nigerians to liberate the suffering masses.

Stakeholders Weigh Options On PDP Crisis Meanwhile, THISDAY gathered that as part of the options being considered for the resolution of the PDP crisis, there were plans to revive the legal battle by the former national chairman, Uche Secondus.

The Supreme Court had in April adjourned, indefinitely, the Secondus legal challenge to the October 2021 national convention that sacked him. A former principal

NIGERIA’S AVERAGE DAILY PETROL SUPPLY IS 68 MILLION LITRES, NNPC CLARIFIES per cent equity investment in the Lagos-based 650,000 barrels per day facility.

NNPC's latest clarification followed last week's claims by the Controller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Col. Hameed Ali, (retd) that the company allowed the release of 98 million litres of petrol per day for local consumption instead of 60 million litres admitted by its own computation.

Speaking during a meeting with National Assembly members last Thursday, Ali had also faulted the petrol subsidy regime, describing it as fraud and not existent.

But reacting to the claims, NNPC in the statement, clarified that between January and August 2022, the total volume of petrol imported into the country was 16.46 billion litres.

The company maintained that import in 2021 was 22.35 billion litres, which translated to an average supply of 61 million litres per day.

The NNPCL stated that it was prepared for any forensic audit if the need arose, adding that if petrol subsidy was removed, a litre of petrol would be selling for N462.

It noted that the average daily evacuation (Depot truck out) from January to August 2022 stood at 67 million litres per day as reported by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).

It explained that Daily Evacuation (Depot load outs) records of the NMDPRA do carry daily oscillation, ranging from as low as four million litres to as high as 100 million litres per day.

The state oil company also pointed out that the impact of maritime and cross border smuggling of petrol might be affecting the overall supply framework, acknowledging the possibilities of other criminal activities in the supply and distribution value chain.

NNPC further stated that rising

crude oil prices and petrol supply costs above NMDPRA cap had forced oil marketing companies’ withdrawal from petrol import since the fourth quarter of 2017.

In the light of these challenges, the state oil firm explained that it had remained the supplier of last resort and continued to transparently report the monthly petrol cost under recoveries to the relevant authorities.

The statement read: “The NNPC Ltd. wishes to inform members of the general public that between January and August 2022, the total volume of Premium Motor Spirit imported into the country was 16.46 billion litres, which translates to an average supply of 68 million litres per day.

“Similarly, import in the year 2021 was 22.35 billion litres, which translated to an average supply of 61 million litres per day. The NNPC Ltd notes the average daily evacuation (Depot truck out) from January to August 2022 stands at 67million litres per day as reported by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).

“Daily Evacuation (Depot load outs) records of the NMDPRA do carry daily oscillation ranging from as low as 4 million litres to as high as 100 million litres per day.

“The NNPC also wishes to point out that rising crude oil prices and PMS supply costs above PPPRA (now NMDPRA) cap had forced oil marketing companies’ (OMCs) withdrawal from PMS import since the fourth quarter of 2017.

“In the light of these challenges, NNPC has remained the supplier of last resort and continue to transparently report the monthly PMS cost under recoveries to the relevant authorities."

It also noted that the average first quarter (Q1) 2022 international market determined landing cost was $1,283 per metric tonnes and the approved marketing and distribution cost of N46/litres.

NNPC stated that the combination of these cost elements translated to retail pump price of N462 per litre, an average subsidy of N297 per litre and an annual estimate N6.5 trillion on the assumption of 60 million litres daily petrol supply.

Noting that the figures would continuously be adjusted by market and demand realities, NNPC said it shall continue to ensure compliance with existing governance framework that requires participation of relevant government agencies in all petrol discharge operations, including Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), (NMDPRA), Nigerian Navy (NA), (NCS), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and all others.

“NNPC Ltd. recognises the impact of maritime and cross border smuggling of PMS on the overall supply framework. NNPC also acknowledges the possibilities of other criminal activities in the PMS supply and distribution value chain.

“NNPC will continue to engage and work with relevant agencies of the government to curtail smuggling of PMS and contain any other criminal activities.

“We will continue to deliver on our mandate to ensure energy security for our country with integrity and transparency. We invite any forensic audit of the PMS supply and subsidy," the statement added.

In another development, some energy experts and economic policy analysts have hailed NNPC for locking up a 20-year crude supply deal with Dangote Refinery as part of the benefits of its 20 per cent equity investment in the Lagos-based 650,000 barrels per day facility, describing it as a noble business decision.

They spoke to THISDAY on the back of last week's remarks by the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari, who for the umpteenth time,

justified the company's 20 per cent equity investment in the refinery.

Kyari had disclosed last week in Abuja that NNPC would have the first right of refusal to supply the Dangote refinery with about 300,000 barrels of crude oil per day for the next 20 years having acquired 20 per cent equity interest and minority shareholder in the facility.

He said the company had succeeded in locking up the huge supply as part of the federal government’s means of guaranteeing sufficient petroleum products supply for Nigeria as well as a guaranteed market for the nation's crude oil.

“We have secured the right to sell up to 300,000 barrels of crude oil to the Dangote refinery for the next 20 years. Not only that, by right, we also have access to 20 per cent production from that plant,” Kyari had said.

Commenting on the development, petroleum economist, Prof. Wumi Iledare, told THISDAY that NNPC made a noble business decision by investing in the Dangote Refinery.

Iledare, however, stated that a few questions needed to be addressed as both companies begin to actualise the terms of the agreement, adding that there is need for more action to expand the nation's oil reserve and production capacity to 40 billion barrels and four million barrels respectively.

Iledare said, "I think it is a noble business decision. There are, however, a time value of money cost in addition to a significant foregone value in terms of the limit of the quantity of crude oil available to NNPCL for export and domestic obligations.

"Legitimate questions include the implications on NNPC Limited refineries with 445,000 barrels throughput capacity at stake. Is the 300,000 barrels for the Dangote an additional to the 445,000? If export is reduced what Continued on page 52

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T H I S D AY • MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2022

NEWS

Group News Editor: Goddy Egene Email: Goddy.egene@thisdaylive.com, 0803 350 6821, 08074010580

CELEBRATING WITH DAME NSONMA IHEDIOHA AT 90...

L-R: Former Cross River Governor, Liyel Imoke; Delta Governor and Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) 2023 Vice Presidential candidate, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa; Wife of Presidential candidate of the PDP, Mrs. Titi Atiku Abubakar; Former Speaker of House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara; former Kwara Governor, Dr. AbdulFatah Ahmed; Son of celebrant, former Governor of Imo State, Emeka Ihedioha; his wife, Mrs. of Emeka Ihedioha; the celebrant, Dame Dorothy Nsonma Ihedioha; former Governor of Anambra, Chief Emeka Ezeife, and former Senate President, Senator David Mark, at the 90th Birthday Thanksgiving of Dame Ihedioha in Abuja,...recently

FG: 14 Years Old Ajaokuta Steel Dispute Finally Resolved Malami reveals how FG secured 91% reduction, Nigeria to pay $496m instead of $5.28bn Alex Enumah in Abuja and Peter Uzoho in Lagos The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami, yesterday disclosed that the federal government has finally resolved the long-standing contractual dispute over the Ajaokuta Steel in Kogi.

The dispute which had been at the International Court of Arbitration, Paris, since 2008, was finally resolved last month, according to the AGF. The Senior Advocate of Nigeria

(SAN), further disclosed that the federal government was also able to secure a 91 per cent reduction in the claim originally slammed by the foreign firm, Global Steel Group, adding that Nigeria instead of paying the sum of $5.258 billion would now pay $496 million.

The minister, in a statement by his Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations, Dr. Umar Gwandu, explained that the mediation proceedings was supervised by the International Chamber of Commerce’s (ICC) Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) framework led by Mr.

BEDC: Vigeo Warns NERC against Illegal Takeover Wale Igbintade The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has been warned to refrain from alleged illegal means of altering the composition of the board of directors of the Benin Electrical Distribution Company Plc (BEDC).

A letter written by the legal advisers of Vigeo Power Limited, Kunle Adegoke stated that such illegal composition would amount to a direct affront to the court as there was a pending suit on the matter.

In a letter written to NERC and addressed to Sanusi Garba, and Mr. Dafe Akpeneye titled, “Re: Notice to the general public on the legitimate and statutorily recognised board of directors/ management of BEDC Electricity Plc," Adegoke stated that the letter was written in connection to an unsigned publication purportedly issued by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission and dated September 1, 2022.

Adegoke said the letter was BEDC's response to an unsigned publication which was purportedly issued by the NERC dated September 1, 2022 (the Contemptuous Publication).

He contended that, "Whilst we have assumed that the contemptuous publication did not emanate from NERC, not least because it is unsigned, and will amount to a direct affront to the court (for the reasons stated below), we are, out of abundance of caution, and for the avoidance of doubt, constrained to state as

follows: "We are aware that the Commission is conscious of the fact that NERC is the 2nd Defendant in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/ CS/1113/2022 "As previously mentioned, we feel certain that no law-abiding public officer or public institution could have authorised the issuance of unsigned contemptuous publication. If the contemptuous publication is being wrongly attributed to the Commission, we urge the Commission to publicly disassociate itself from the publication.

"However, in the unlikely event that the Contemptuous Publication was authorised by NERC, the Commission should be reminded of the grave consequences that follow disobedience of court orders."

The letter reminded the Commission of the contempt proceedings pending against it for alleged gross violation of the orders of court.

"Your counsel was in court when the court directed all defendants in the suit to first comply with the orders of court on the 22nd day of July, 2022," Adegoke stated.

The lawyer said his clients were aware of the Commission's alleged plan to, "collaborate with some elements to invade the premises of BEDC and forcefully impose the illegal directors on the company notwithstanding the absence of authority to impose directors on a company regulated by law. We will urge the Commission to refrain from such action."

Phillip Howell-Richardson.

He explained: "The settlement agreement came into effect on August 19, 2022. Nigeria succeeded in reducing the claim in mediation brought by the international firm of King and Spalding, legal representatives of the Global group, by 91 per cent.

“A claim for over $10 billion was threatened in arbitration before the International Chamber of Commerce, International Court of Arbitration, Paris, in respect of five major contracts of 2004-2007 – covering steel, iron ore, and rail."

He traced the seeds of the disputes to five contracts entered into by the 1999 -2007 administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo, that gave complete dominance over the Nigerian steel space to the Global Steel Group.

Malami added that in 2008 a new administration proceeded to

terminate these contracts contrary to legal advice supplied by the Federal Ministry of Justice, which cited the termination cost in the form of damages.

The statement noted that had the government of that day not terminated the Ajaokuta Share Purchase Agreement on April 1, 2008, and waited for just 55 days to terminate, it would have terminated lawfully and the government would have collected more than $26 million from Global Steel.

"This was because the firm appeared unable to pay the first tranche for the Ajaokuta shares before the first anniversary of the agreement (May 25, 2008). This failure would have given Nigeria a right to over $26 million as liquidated damages under cl.12 of the Ajaokuta Share Purchase Agreement.

"Global steel, in consequence,

took the FGN to the International Chamber of Commerce, International Court of Arbitration, Paris, commencing arbitration in 2008. Although the Federal Government negotiated a settlement in May 2013, the previous administration failed to implement its settlement agreement," the statement read in part.

It added that, "In May 2020, Global threatened a resumption of the arbitration and announced an anticipated claim in damages of over $10-14 billion against the Nigerian State in respect of the affected 5 contracts.

"The administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, however, took decisive steps to resist this claim, rather than pass it on to a future administration with ballooning interest."

According to him, the FGN engaged PwCNigeria to do a

comprehensive review to ensure taxpayers are protected, and that Dr Tunde Ogowewo, a barrister and senior academic at King’s College London), represented the FGN and advised the government throughout the process.

Malami further said, “FGN Counsel’s Report on Case Reference 15539/VRO/AGF/ ZF/TO/AZR/SPN)_ – of over 1,000 pages provided a guide on how to avoid such contractual disputes and, where they occur, how to reach cost-effective savings for the benefit of the Nigerian taxpayer.”

He therefore, reiterated the commitment of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government of standing firm to continue to make assiduous efforts in protecting the public interest and ensuring that Nigeria is not denuded of its resources through whatever means.

Again, Falana Faults Lagos Parking Fee, Insists Agency Lacks Legal Power to Collect Levy Wale Igbintade Human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana has cautioned the Lagos State government not to usurp the powers conferred on local governments to fix and collect parking fees in the state, stressing that it remains the constitutional responsibility of the local governments to collect such levies.

In a letter written to the Attorney-General & Commissioner for Justice, Lagos State, which was signed by E. Olawanle, Falana reminded the state government of the pronouncement of the Supreme Court on the illegality of usurping the powers conferred on local governments.

The letter titled Re: ‘Lagos Parking Levy is constitutional,’ stated that in view of the authoritative pronouncement of the Supreme Court on the illegality of usurping the powers conferred on local governments by state governments, it was indisputably clear that the local governments cannot be legitimately divested of the powers conferred on them

by Section 7 of the Constitution to fix and collect parking fees in Lagos State The letter read: "Our attention

has been drawn to the press statement entitled “Lagos Parking Levy is Constitutional” dated August 29, 2022 wherein Mr. Adebayo Haroun Esq, the SSA to the Honourable AttorneyGeneral and Commissioner for Justice, Lagos State attempted to justify the power of the Lagos State Parking Authority to collect parking levy in respect of parking spaces in Lagos State.

"In the said press statement, Mr. Haroun stated that the Lagos State Parking Authority 2018 “empowers the Local Governments and Local Council Development Areas in Lagos State to assign their power in respect of collection of fees relating to the State Government.

"In support of his argument, Mr. Haroun referred to the case of Ola Animashaun Harimot Oluwabukola v. Attorney-General of Lagos State & 5 Ors in Appeal No. CA/L/1046 delivered on 19th November, 2018 where it was held by the Court of Appeal that the intendment of Section 1(3) of the Land Use Charge Law of Lagos State is “to give powers to the Local Government to permit a contractual relationship between it and State on the collection of taxes.”

He further noted that it was, “curious to note that Mr. Haroun did not refer to the more relevant case of Airtel Nigeria Limited v Attorney-General of Lagos State & 3 Ors (2019) 1 NCLR 1, where the Court of Appeal held that it was unable to agree with the appellant that the 3rd Respondent (Eti-Osa Local Government) does not have power to make law that relates private parking since there was nothing in the bye law that is inconsistent with Section 7 and Paragraph 1 of the Fourth Schedule to the Constitution.”

However, with respect to the case of Ola Animashaun Harimot Oluwabukola v. Attorney-General of Lagos State & 5 Ors (supra), the Court of Appeal did not pay attention to the case of Knight Frank & Rutley Nigeria Limited V. Attorney General of Kano State (1998) 7 NWLR (PT 556) 1 at 24 where Kutigi JSC (as he then was) stated as follows: “The Court of Appeal must therefore in my view be right, when it opined thus: Could the powers of the state and local government councils to order for valuation of rateable hereditaments co-exist and be complimentary?

“I believe that once the State

passes a legislation assigning the functions of valuation of tenement rates to the local government as the constitution has directed, only the local government council will have the power to deal with that subject.

“The state has no power to deal with the matter and the local government council cannot, even if it wants to, divest itself of those powers.

"In view of the authoritative pronouncement of the supreme court on the illegality of usurping the powers conferred on local governments by state governments it is indisputably clear that the local governments cannot be legitimately divested of the powers conferred on them by Section 7 of the constitution to fix and collect parking fees in Lagos State.

"Accordingly, we are compelled to urge the Honourable AttorneyGeneral to prevail on the Lagos State Parking Authority to desist from fixing and collecting parking fees in Lagos State.

"While we hope that the salient issues raised herein would be given the required attention, please Honourable Attorney-General, accept our warmest regards."

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NEWS

NBET AND D-8 ORGANISATION ON IMPROVING NIGERIA'S ELECTRICITY MARKET… L-R: General Manager, Corporate Services, Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET), Abba Aliyu; Board Member, Adeyeye Adepegba; Managing Director, Nnaemeka Ewelukwa ; Ex-Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Power, Nebolisa Anako; Secretary General D-8 Organisation for Economic Cooperation, Isiaka Imam; Director General , Budget Office, Ben Akabueze; DG Debt Management Office, Patience Oniha and Board Member, NBET, Suleyman Ndanusa, when NBET held talks with the D-8 Organisation on improving Nigeria's electricity market at the group's headquarters in Istanbul, Turkey...recently

Kachikwu: Why PIA Implementation Will Reduce Revenues to States, Local Govts by 15% Says all growth indices in Nigeria’s oil industry declining Laments fall in investment from $30bn to $12bn Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja A former Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, has urged Nigerians to prepare for the immediate impact of the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), disclosing that it will decrease revenue to states and local governments by 15 per cent in the short term.

Speaking on the topic “Energy Transitions, Revenue Challenges for the Nigerian Federation,” at the recently concluded NBA 2022 conference in Lagos, Kachikwu argued that many people are of the wrong notion that with the new law, there will be more revenue to the federation, noting that the contrary was the case.

“Their (states, local government) take will be reduced by 15 per cent. Many people think that once we have the PIA, you are going to increase income. No, it’s not going to happen. One, because the terms we negotiated for Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) are slightly less than what it was.

“That was deliberate, because the essence was to encourage investment, but the net effect

is that for a governor or local government chairman, looking at what monies are going to come to you, it’s actually going to get worse before it gets better,” he posited The former Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), decried the increasing fall in almost all the growth indices in the oil industry in the country, stressing that slot still needed to be done.

“High volume onshore production is going down. When I left in 2016, we were at about 2.1 million barrels per day. Today, I think we are about 1.3 million barrels, that’s almost 50 per cent to 100 per cent decline. The costs which ought to be going down are massively going up, that's not good.

“And then you look at the volume of revenues. Obviously, if your volumes are down and your costs are going up, them it is obvious that your revenues will go down.

“Investments are declining and this affects your survivability as an industry. But more importantly, it’s saying that investors are not happy with you. I would

Buhari Felicitates NBC Ex-DG, Danladi Bako at 65 Deji Elumoye in Abuja

President Muhammadu Buhari has felicitated with veteran broadcaster and former Director General of National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Malam Danladi Bako, as he marks his 65th birthday, rejoicing with the journalist who contributed to the dynamism of media in Nigeria, especially on development.

The President, in a release issued yesterday by his Media Adviser, Femi Adesina, rejoiced with Bako for a rewarding and memorable time as broadcaster, scholar, administrator and public servant, deploying his talent to create programmes that inspire and integrate, like the Morning Ride on NTA, which gave opportunity for many to advocate, counsel and ventilate.

President Buhari noted

the discipline, diligence and focus of the broadcaster, and his penchant for research and rigorous study, guiding many to see journalism as a career for continuous mind renewal, an adventure into unravelling the unknown, and telling the truth that encourages peace and harmony.

As the veteran journalist, who is also an expert in development communication, turns 65, the President commended his largeheartedness and ability to discover many talents as a scriptwriter, director and producer, with many of his prodigies playing leading roles in the movie industry, Nollywood.

President Buhari prayed for good health, strength and more wisdom for Bako and his family to keep serving the country.

go further to say maybe they were not happy because of the previous law. Will the new law solve this? That’s the big question mark,” the oil industry expert stated.

He stated that out of the $75 billion worth of investment that was available for the sector in Africa, Nigeria got only about $10 billion of it, explaining that it shows that clearly investors are not finding the Nigerian environment good for business.

According to him, since all the indices are declining, the job numbers will also reduce drastically, noting that even in the midstream nothing much is happening, except the Dangote refinery gives Nigeria a reason to celebrate when it comes on stream next year.

In terms of pipeline vandalism, he noted that it had risen sharply, with over a 50 per cent upsurge in the menace over the last two to three years , including an increase in illegal refining.

As a minister, Kachikwu stated that he tried to convert

the modular refineries owners into a cooperative, but noted that just about six of the facilities have so far succeeded.

Even the critical gas processing infrastructure, he said, has been declining rather than expanding, even as depot and gas accidents continue to rise.

“So everything that is negative is on the rise, everything that is positive is on the low,” he maintained.

In the downstream, he explained that there had been a growing incidences of truck accidents and massive smuggling of products while import based product market is in the increase amid a lot of contamination.

“Investment is not enough to grow your spend. We have gone from a basically $30 billion worth of investment environment to less than $12 billion. So that's a picture of the investment that you've seen.

“Our crude oil production is zigzag , but at the end of the day, we are probably doing about 1.2 million barrels and

that's coming from 1.8 million barrels and an all time high of 2.2 million barrels,” he added.

He disclosed that more gas is rejected rather than being domestically consumed, which means that investors rather than producing gas, simply just use them as pressure points.

Kachikwu stated that while the associated gas was rising, non-associated gas was declining, stressing that the only good news now is the Nigerian LNG which has been doing well.

“We are a nation that is overspending our income to start with. So if you see the numbers, you see those deficits. If you are an individual that you have a business and you spend more than your business generates, that is a recipe for bankruptcy,” he argued.

He lamented that there has not been any remittances to the federation account this year, stressing that the headwinds being faced by the industry impacted by geopolitics, crude theft, energy transition

and regulatory issues remain daunting.

On governance, he stated that a lot of progress has been made, explaining that the separation of policy power from commercial power remains remarkable.

But he stated that the minister ought to remain chairman the boards of the upstream and midstream agencies, so that he can influence policies rather than waiting for them to be made for him.

He also said that while the host community fund must be commended, the oil-producing areas must be engaged in oil exploration through the governors so they can protect the facilities.

He added that the governors won’t put their resources and other stakes in protecting the assets if they don’t feel a part of the process.

Furthermore, he called for full deregulation, including the removal of subsidies which he said is wiping off all the revenues in the sector.

Again, Manufacturers Decry Multiple Taxation By Govt Agencies Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt The Manufacturers Association of Nigerian (MAN) has decried the multiple taxes and levies by government agencies on its members as one of the major challenges facing operators in the sector.

The outgoing Chairman of MAN, in charge of Rivers/Bayelsa branch, Senator Adawari Michael Pepple stated this in his remarks, at the organisation's 38th Annual general meeting/5th Made-inNigeria Products Exhibition held in Port Harcourt recently.

He stressed that the challenges bedeviling the manufacturing sector were numerous.

Pepple said government in partnership with the manufacturers should create an adequately protected and friendly environment required for sustained economic growth of the country.

"Manufacturers are still overburdened with numerous demands from various tiers of government in form of

taxes, levies, fees, permits etc.

In addition, companies in the sector are confronted daily with multiple regulations and excessive drive for revenue generation by government agencies.

“Manufacturers are increasingly finding it difficult to source foreign exchange for the importation of raw materials, machines and spare parts that are not available locally.

"Inadequate electricity supply and incessant increases in tariff without commensurate improvement in generation, transmission and distribution still remain key challenges of the sector.

"Although the challenges bedeviling the manufacturing sector are numerous, we are confident that with careful and concerted efforts and through effective public-private sector partnership, we would create a friendly operating environment for the sector required for sustained economic growth of the country," he added.

Pepple while commending the Rivers State Governor, Mr.

Nyesom Wike, for his efforts to transform the business landscape of the state, further "urged His Excellency to do more to ensure that the manufacturing sector is adequately protected, so as to guarantee the sustainable development of the state."

Also in his speech, National President of Man, Mansur Ahmed, represented by the Vice President, Eastern Zone, Chukwuemeka Nzewi, Ahmed urged the government of the two states to institute a more effective and efficient consultative mechanism with the Association.

He said MAN was the only sector with the highest contributors to job creation in the country.

Ahmed appealed to Wike, to focus specially on the Eleme Road leading to the Onne port where a lot of companies are situated, even as he called on the Bayelsa state Governor, Douye Diri, to give more consideration to road infrastructure and drainage in the state, in order to reduce the incidence of flooding which was identified as a major challenge

faced by manufacturers.

"I would like to state upfront that: the manufacturing sector has been acknowledged as the highest contributor to job and wealth creation, skill development and technology transfer.

"It is therefore imperative for the Rivers and Bayelsa States Government to institute a more effective and efficient consultative mechanism with MAN. "Also, the lackluster performance of the national economy has made it imperative for us to rethink the country's development strategy so that we can avoid the unpleasant consequences of economic recession and reversal of the modest progress we have recorded since the recent setback occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic.

"To this end, it is again necessary that the federal and state governments, together with their agencies, work in synergy, carrying along relevant stakeholders, in fashioning appropriate strategies to improve and stabilise the economy."

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NEWS

FOOD SECURITY ON THEIR MINDS…

L-R: Senior Programme Officer, Agriculture, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), Dr. Audu Grema; Assistant Director, Federal Department of Agriculture, Sugra Mahmood; Project Director, HighLevel Forum (HLF) on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) /Chief Operating Officer, Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), Dr. Tayo Aduloju; Thematic Lead, Agriculture and Food Security Policy Commission, NESG, Gloria Ekpo; representative of the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), Mr. Ibrahim Taminu, and Chief Operating Officer, Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc, Mr.Sadiq Usman, at the Agriculture and Food Security Nexus Validation Workshop in Abuja…recently

Alleged Money Laundering: EFCC Files 11-Count Charges against Ogun The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has filed an 11-counts charge of conspiracy, forgery and stealing against the Speaker of the Ogun State House of Assembly, Olakunle Oluomo and three others.

Channels TV reported that the

charge was filed by the EFFC’s Lagos Head of Legal Monitoring Unit, Rotimi Oyedepo at the Federal High Court, Abeokuta, Ogun State.

Count 1 of the charge reads: “That you Oluomo Olakunle Taiwo, Oladayo Samuel, Adeyemo Adedeji Taiwo and

Adeyanju Nimota Amoke (now at large) sometimes in 2019 in Abeokuta within the jurisdiction of this honorable Court conspired amongst yourselves to use the total sum of N2,475,000,000,000, which sum you reasonably ought to have known forms part of the proceeds of your unlawful activity to wit: stealing from the treasury of Ogun State House

of Assembly and you thereby committed an offence contrary to sections 18 (a), 15 (2) (d) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act, 2011 as amended and punishable under section 15 (3) of the same Act. The Commission said it intends to call at least 10 witnesses to testify and tender documents and exhibits.

The list of witnesses includes: Adamu Usman Yusuf, Otitoju Moses Kolawale, Yazid Ahmad Bawa, Anyanwu Bright, Adekunbi Mojibola, Munkaila Huzaifa and Idowu Oluseyi Olarenwaju.

Others are representatives of Ashkash Nigeria limited, representatives of Obasanjo Holdings limited(managers

of NNPC Mega Station) and representatives of Gateway Bank limited.

A source at the EFCC who did not want his name in print also confirmed the commission will follow up on Monday(today) with an application in Abeokuta for the case to be heard this week at the Federal High Court Lagos by the vacation judge.

Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti

gunned down along Oke AkoIrele Ekiti road while traveling to his town in Ogbe, Kogi State , while three other occupants of the car conveying him were abducted .

An uncle to the deceased told journalists in Ado Ekiti, yesterday that: "The abductors contacted the family this evening(yesterday) and demanded N30million to secure

release of the victims.

"The three abductees were younger brother of the late NSCDC officer, five-year-old child of the deceased and 11-year-old child of the slain officer’s elder brother while two others in the car escaped. "They called demanding N30million. We heard the voices of the abductees with them. The younger brother of the slain

NSCDC officer appealed to us from the kidnappers' den that we should do something urgently for their release that the way they were being tortured was unbearable.

"On our side, the demand is on the high side, there is no way the family and even communities can raise it, so we are still negotiating that it should be brought down," he said.

Labour Party Alleges Attacks on its Agents in Abia Killers of Ekiti NSCDC Officer Demands N30m Ransom for Captives Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Umuahia The Abia State Chapter of Labour Party (LP), has cried out over "unprovoked acts of political violence being unleashed" on its members and supporters by "agents of PDP controlled state government thereby impeding its political activities.

Abia LP raised the alarm in a statement jointly signed by its State Publicity Secretary, Mr. Njoku Jerry Ajike, and the Spokesperson of Alex Otti Campaign Organisation, Ferdinand Ekeoma, saying that the party was being suffocated.

The opposition party said that it was "shocking and unbelievable"

that such level of political intolerance would crop up in Abia ahead of the 2023 general election, adding that properties of LP members were also targets of the "rising wave" of attacks.

"In some cases, our members and supporters have been threatened, attacked in their houses, ejected from venues of meetings or prevented from holding peaceful gatherings.

"We clearly understand that the intention of the government is to instill fear and panic in the minds of our supporters and other opposition members ahead of campaigns for the 2023 general election," the Abia LP said.

Ex-Buhari Aide Declares for Governorship in Kano IbrahimShuaibuinKano Former Personal Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Broadcast Media and Incumbent National Assembly Member Representing Kano Municipal, Honorable Shaaban Ibrahim Sharada, over the weekend declared his intention to run for the office of Kano State Governor on the platform of the Action Democratic Party (ADP).

Sharada, a 40-year-old graduate of Bayero University, Kano, and a former journalist, declared his bid at the Sani Abacha Youth Centre

in Kano, thereby joining the long list of candidates aiming to succeed GovernorAbdullahi Umar Ganduje, come 2023 general elections.

He is the chairman, House Committee on National Security and Intelligence.

The lawmaker held a rally around major roads in the metropolis grounded all the commercial activities in the state capital.

The motorcades of his convoy moved from his campaign office at Ruqayya House along Maiduguri Road through major roads in the city to Sani Abacha Youth Center for the declaration.

Olulani Chairs First Call Health Foundation Board Pastor Ayodeji Olulani has been appointed Chairman, Board of Trustees of FirstCall Health & Wellness Foundation, an international non-governmental organisation dedicated to providing credible educational, advisory, and advocacy services in matters relating to health and wellness across the globe.

A statement by Board Secretary/Membership Coordinator of FirstCall Health & Wellness Foundation, Mrs. Adewunmi Siwoku, quoted Olulani as saying the organisation comprised students, scientists,

scholars, and professionals in medical, nutritional, sports and agricultural disciplines. He said the members were determined to deliver credible services that would ensure healthy habits and lifestyles that guarantee wellness and longevity for the generality of the people.

Olulani stated that the foundation’s first major thrust was a membership and human capacity development drive through training, seminars, and collaboration with research institutes and government agencies.

Suspected gunmen, who killed an operative of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) , Segun Ayebulu, and kidnapped three other persons on Saturday, have demanded a sum of N30 million ransom on those being held hostage.

The NSCDC officer was

Missing Director Found Dead after Four Days in Ondo Gunmen abduct 32 travellers

Fidelis David in Akure

Four days after being declared missing, the mutilated body of a director in the Ondo State Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM), Mr. Gbenga Olofingboyegun, was discovered yesterday in Akure, the state capital.

This is just as gunmen suspected to be kidnappers abducted 32 travellers around Ifon in Ose Local Government Area of Ondo State.

THISDAY gathered that Olofingboyegun, who was the Director of the Department of Research and Statistics in TESCOM, was declared missing

on Thursday after he left the office without telling anyone where he was going.

THISDAY also gathered that family and friends had suspected that he was a kidnapped victim and were waiting for the call from his supposed abductors for a ransom payment.

Efforts to trace him were fruitless until his decomposing body was found in Saint Theresa Primary School beside Saint Peter’s Unity School in Akure.

A family source, who preferred anonymity, said he was still in the office dress of suit and tie that he wore to the office when his decomposing body was found.

FCTA Moves to Purge BDCs of Financial Crimes, Drug Peddling Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has set in motion moves that will instill sanity and standards in the operations of Bureau De Changes (BDCs) in the nation's capital.

Senior Special Assistant to

FCT Minister on Monitoring, Inspection and Enforcement, Ikharo Attah, made this disclosure over the weekend at a meeting with the BDC operators to address public concerns linking them with money laundering, economic sabotage and terrorism financing, among others.

He said FCTA’s action followed a letter from Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), requesting it to bring sanity and global best practices to BDCs' activities and tackle criminal activities linked to their operations.

Aside from restoring sanity to the conduct of currency

business in the FCT, Attah said EFCC also requested adequate arrangements be made for BDCs to operate with registered office address in line with provisions of law and international best practices to curtail economic sabotage, money laundering and possibly terrorist financing.

Don’t Provoke Electorate, PDP Chieftain Warns Parties' Leaders

SylvesterIdowuinWarri

A Chieftain of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) and former Delta State Gubernatorial Aspirant, Mr. Sunny Onuesoke, has advised warring executive members or leaders of political parties to sheet their swords and to avoid provoking Nigerian electorate that

would decide their political fates.

Onuesoke gave the advice yesterday while addressing newsmen in Asaba, Delta State’ According to him, the present crisis rocking the executives and leadership of some of the political parties in Nigeria might provoke the electorates to shift their loyalties to other parties where peace and

decorum reign.

He said: “With their ballot papers, the ordinary citizens of this country have effected personnel changes in Aso Rock, the State Government Houses as well as the national and state legislatures. It is evidence that despite the bossy nature of the politicians, the people are the repositories of political power. They

give power to some and deny it to others democratically.”

The PDP’s chieftain observed that since the parties concluded their primaries, nearly three months ago and probably because of bitterness arising from them, the leaders and the members of the political parties are indulged in internal self-sabotage as an act of vengeance.

Tinubu's Campaign Money Cause of Enugu APC Crisis, Says Party Gideon Arinze in Enugu Leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Enugu State, has identified the campaign money of its presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, was at the heart of its crisis, saying the plots to remove its chairman, Ugochukwu Agballah and his

executives from office would fail.

Stakeholders in the state had last Tuesday in Abuja, asked the National Working Committee and leadership of the APC to remove Agballah, whom they accused of ‘appropriating the state party as a personal possession alongside his executives.

Led by former President of the

Senate, Senator Ken Nnamani; Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama; immediate past governor of Enugu State, Sullivan Chime, and Director General of Voice of Nigeria, Osita Okechukwu, the team declared, after meeting with the National Chairman of the party, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, at the APC

Secretariat in Abuja that the move was the only means to rescue the ailing party in the state.

A chieftain of Enugu APC, Nweke Gbazuagu, who was part of the delegation said the agitation for his removal also became necessary following Agballa's suspension at the state level.

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NEWS XTRA

'Saraki Never Considered to Lead Atiku’s Campaign' Contrary to some reports that a former President of the Senate, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, was one of those being considered to lead the presidential campaign of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Atiku Abubakar, truth is that he has never been in consideration for the job and also not interested in it either.

A top member of Atiku’s camp, who spoke exclusively to THISDAY, yesterday, said those pushing the narrative had an intention and also determined to achieve a purpose with it, because there was no iota of truth in the assertion.

According to the competent party source, who pleaded anonymity, immediately Atiku emerged candidate of the PDP, it was agreed that the Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal, should lead the campaign as its director-general (DG) and there was no opposition to it.

However, the thinking began to change after the camp of the

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, started reacting badly to the outcome of the presidential primary, especially, the narrative that the party leadership weighs too much on the northern side.

It was against this backdrop, that a section of the PDP leadership thought that the DG should go to the south for some balancing, a thinking the Atiku camp was also not opposed to, and which is the position at the moment while the ratification of the campaign council is being awaited.

The source explained that Saraki had long resolved to work at the strategy level for the party and Atiku as far as 2023 is concerned, a role he was said to have since undertaken, because according to him, he wanted to concentrate on Kwara and not repeat the mistake of 2019.

“That narrative is faulty because there was no such thing.

Those pushing for Saraki as the campaign DG are basically from the Wike group but not the party

or Atiku’s camp, because those ones understood that Saraki was not interested in the DG. “He is very much into the Kwara election at the moment and from all indications, his efforts in Kwara is fast paying off because the Kwara people have seen that the O’toge movement was a scam and not sustainable by those who sold the lies to them.

“He therefore, needs all the attention and concentration to make Kwara work and return to the PDP. He has never been penciled in for DG, neither has he shown interest in the job in whatever guise.

“But the Wike people genuinely want him, because they can trust him, and in addition to that, the party is now thinking of taking it to the south now and which is where it might go from all indication.

But it was a position reserved for Tambuwal from the get go. Ask anybody and they will confirm this,” the source said.

Edo Trains 1,446 Teachers under EdoBEST 2.0 Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City As the 2022/2023 session commences, all 306 state-owned junior secondary schools (JSS) in Edo State have now been incorporated into the EdoBEST Programme as Edo State Universal Basic Education Board (Edo SUBEB) has commenced a landmark training for 1,446 teachers, head teachers and principals under the Edo Basic Education Sector Transformation (EdoBEST) programme to sustain the gains recorded in the education sector.

The 10-day intensive training programme is being carried out by the Edo SUBEB to equip the teachers with new teaching methods.

The Executive Chairman of Edo SUBEB, Mrs. Ozavize E. Salami, who spoke to journalists while declaring the training

programme open in Benin City, said that all 306 state-owned junior secondary schools (JSS) in Edo State have been incorporated into the EdoBEST programme.

Salami said that the training would effectively address the gap among the teaching corps in the state’s junior secondary school system by at least 95 percent, adding that over 32,000 additional Edo children are now covered under the state’s structured learning methodology through its EdoBEST programme.

She said: “This is a landmark achievement for us at Edo SUBEB. It is a major step as we extend the education reforms of the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led administration to fully incorporate the junior secondary schools into the EdoBEST programme, in line with the ongoing JSS

disarticulation process.

“Government is the largest provider of basic education service in the state and we are optimistic that our deliberate investment in teachers through professional development programmes will lead to measurable improvement in the learning outcomes of all our students located in urban, rural and even hard-to-reach areas of our state.

“For these set of participants, it is finally their turn to join their colleagues to be called ‘digital teachers.

“The mandate is to sustain the gains made so far as the reforms in the basic education sector progresses and is domesticated.

It is critical now, more than ever, that EdoBEST remains as a legacy for the people of Edo State even after this administration is long gone.”

Zamfara Govt Pays Outstanding N25m NBC Fee Francis Sardauna inKatsina The Zamfara State government has settled the N25 million outstanding licence renewal debt owed by the State Broadcasting Corporation (Zamfara Radio) to the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC).

The State Commissioner for Information, Ibrahim Magaji Dosara, who made disclosure in a statement issued to journalists in Gusau, the state capital yesterday, explained that the debts had accumulated since 2017.

The Zamfara State Radio was among the 52 broadcasting stations whose operating licences were revoked by the National Broadcasting Commission over accumulated debts.

Dosara said the state Governor, Bello Mohammed Matawalle, gave the approval for the immediate payment of the N25 million to the commission last week in order to avert shutting down of the state media organisation.

The commissioner explained that the state government had already paid N5 million out of the initial N37 million debt into the account of the commission last year. He said the remaining N25 million which was paid into the commission's account on Friday last week, was part of the government's commitments to sustain cordial working relationships with the NBC and media outfits.

Dosara reiterated that Matawalle

was committed to ensuring that the people of the state were fully informed of government programmes and policies for the development of the state.

The commissioner said, "Our governor is committed to meeting people’s expectations and exceeding such, and this can also be likened to the way he promptly paid off the UBEC counterpart fund, which led to several achievements in the sector.

"Governor Matawalle who just won National honour award from the government of Niger Republic and other honours from Togo University and the Kaigaman Ghana traditional title is a clear demonstration of him being an ‘Exceptional Governor.'

2023: Support Group Synergises for PDP’s Victory in Enugu Persons from different political parties and groups across the six local government areas of Enugu North Senatorial District in Enugu State, joined the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), under the auspices of “Synergy Group for Gburugburu”, have pledged to work in synergy with other groups to galvanise the electorate and deliver Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi to represent the district in the Senate in 2023.

Speaking when he led representatives of the Synergy Group for Gburuguru to pay a solidarity visit to Ugwuanyi yesterday, the convener, Hon.

Chuka Eze, disclosed that the members have agreed to work for the governor’s victory at the poll and that of other PDP candidates including the governorship flagbearer, Barr. Peter Ndubuisi Mbah.

Eze explained that the group’s formation is from local governments to polling units, adding that its mandate is to engage and galvanize other groups towards a landslide victory for Ugwuanyi and the PDP in the 2023 general election.

He commended Ugwuanyi for his worthy antecedents in public and private sectors as well as the remarkable achievements

of his administration in spite of the nation’s economic and security challenges, stressing that “the Synergy Group will overwhelmingly support you (Ugwuanyi) to go the Senate.”

He said: “Those who have not understood, we will explain to them in collaboration with other groups so that they will understand.

“It will not be only for the LGAs, but down to the wards where we have massive people.

It will be a door to door exercise and we assure you that we will achieve our major objective in 2023 elections.”

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Acting Group Politics Editor DEJI ELUMOYE

POLITICS

Email: deji.elumoye@thisdaylive.com 08033025611 SMS ONLY

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

Ayu, Wike’s Fight Gets Messier

There seems not to be end in sight to the fight between National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, and Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, writes Emameh Gabriel

P

DP’s National Chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, will have his real baptism of fire in conflict resolution as he faces one of Nigeria’s fiery politicians, Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, the same time he prepares his party for another survival contest scheduled for early next year.

The stakes are high for Ayu and his chances to restore cohesion in the PDP looks slim; the time is short and the situation has been worsened by the war of wits and attrition between him and Wike as both actors try to wear down each other by series of attacks in the media.

Efforts aimed at calming the raging storm consuming the party in the last few months have met the bricks, a development that has left the PDP more vulnerable under its current leadership, and sadly in the face of a Third Force movement led by a former member of the party, Peter Obi, and a fraction of a breakaway of others, from different political parties and groups.

Many had thought that it was Uhuru for the main opposition party after the ousting of its former national chairman, Uche Secondus, last year and his subsequent replacement with Ayu and other new officials through consensus, a move that underlined the strong desire of the PDP to portray a veneer of unity and stability, and give order to an otherwise very difficult situation.

Just few months after its presidential primary, the party is again enmeshed in a serious internal wrangling among factions loyal to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Governor Wike, underlined by the conflict between Atiku Abubakar and Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, who is bent on removing the National Chairman of the party, Ayu, as one of the conditions to keep him and his supporters in the party.

As an experienced politician, who has learnt the ropes, there is no doubt Ayu is conscious of

Ayu

Wike

what is at stake- that apart from his responsibility to save the PDP from imminent implosion, it would take more than verbal war to pull down someone of Wike’s status, a man who has established himself as a sole financier of the party when all others, including Atiku, faltered and now with a good number of allies within the party’s ranks who are ready to pull the plug, should the party refuse to meet their demands.

It is obviously a tall order for Ayu and his National Working Committee (NWC) team of the PDP. His competence is on the scale and Ayu knows this. His quality in political brinkmanship has been put to test.

Ayu must be concious of the fact that all eyes are on him and that he can’t afford to cause more damage to an already polarized party barely a year in office or worsen the situation he inherited.

Some analysts believe that Ayu has not in the real sense shown nor inspired leadership, especially through his utterances. They said drawing a battleline with Wike in an election year over issues of inclusion is a deservice to the PDP. The composition of the Presidential Campaign Council has been stalled by the current crisis in the party leaving many in doubt as to if the PDP will recover any time soon to confront the ruling party at the presidential polls in few months from now.

The argument against Ayu’s actions is anchored on the fact that it is against the central and founding ideology of the party, which is consensus, same ideology that brought Ayu to office last year with the help of Wike, who fought to ensure that Secondus was sent packing.

Wike and his camp had since after the party’s presidential primary election insisted that as part of the conditions to remain in the PDP or work with Atiku, Ayu must resign as the national chairman of the party to balance the shelaring formula in the party.

On the other hand, Ayu has stated repeatedly that he would not resign, insisting that he was elected for a four-year tenure, hence leaving him and Wike in the centre of the crisis.

His action has confirmed insinuations in some quarters that the PDP might not be able to redeem itself due to conflicting interests among the actors in the middle of the current crisis rocking the party.

After the recent meeting between Atiku and Wike’s camp in London, the United Kingdom, spokesperson of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Festus Keyamo, in an interview with THISDAY had said, “some of those who met have interests that are so diametrically opposed that it would be difficult to find common grounds”.

This has been confirmed by the recent outbursts between both camps, with Ayu insisting that he would not give up his office to appease Wike and other governors of the party opposed to it and threatening to tear the party apart.

In a recent interview with BBC, Ayu described Governor Wike and members of the Governor’s camp calling for his resignation as mere noisemakers and children, who were not available when he and other party chieftains laboured to form the party.

Speaking in an interview on the Hausa service of BBC last Wednesday, Ayu argued that the presidential candidacy of Atiku Abubakar does not in any way affect his position as the PDP National Chairman.

He said even if Atiku had come from Benue State, it would not have justified the call for his resignation.

In his reaction, Governor Wike described Ayu as one exhibiting arrogance. Wike did not end there; he also vowed to work against the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

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

Debating FG’s 2023-2025 Medium Term Expenditure Framework Udora Orizu writes that the House of Representatives has commenced interaction with ministers, heads of revenue generating agencies of government to defend the revenue estimates outlined by President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2023-2025 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP)

T

o achieve early passage of the budget and open up more revenue sources to finance the country’s budget for 2023 fiscal year, members of the House of Representatives last week commenced an interactive session on the 2023-2025 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP), in Abuja with ministers and various heads of revenue generating agencies of government.

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) had on July 27, 2022, approved the 2023-2025 MTEF/ FSP. Minister of finance, budget and national planning, Zainab Ahmed, said the ministry got inputs from the Council and will make the necessary adjustments for onward presentation to the national assembly.

Before the federal lawmakers embarked on their two months annual vacation, the principal officers in both chambers of the National Assembly, had referred the document to the Committees on Finance to consider while they are on break, to enable the Executive commence work on the 2023 Appropriations Bill. Its timely passage would facilitate the early preparation of the budget based on approved parameters by both chambers.

While the Senate is yet to begin debate on the document, the House on August 29, started theirs by engaging the finance minister, Ahmed.

At the interactive session, the Committee Chairman, Hon. James Faleke, said the current financial situation in the country requires that all revenue sources explored as the government

Gbajabiamila

was short of revenue.

According to him, it was obvious that when there is no revenue, every aspect of the country suffers and asked all agencies appearing before the committee to provide the committee the correct position of their revenue.

He warned that no agency of government will be allowed to play with revenue of the country.

Making her presentation, Ahmed said the federal government was proposing an aggregate expenditure of N19.76 trillion for the 2023 fiscal

Ahmed

year. She, however, said she may not be able to make provision for treasury funded capital projects next year.

According to her, budget deficit for the 2023 fiscal year may run between N11.30 trillion to N12.41 trillion depending on the choice that will be made by the federal government on the issue of fuel subsidy payment.

She stated that the government is projecting a total revenue of N8.46 trillion, out of which N1.9 trillion is expected to come from oil-related sources while the remaining balance is to come from non-oil sources.

Ahmed explained that crude oil price is pegged

at $70 per barrel at the exchange rate of N435.57 per dollar, oil production is put at 1.69 million barrel per day, real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth is projected at 3.7% while inflation is put at 17.16% in 2023.

She said that petrol subsidy will remain up to mid-2023 based on the 18-month extension announced early 2021, in which case only N3.36 trillion will be provided for it in next financial year.

The Minister further said Nigeria has been able to consistently without fail, service her debt and the country do not have any projections even in the near future, to fail in that obligation.

“The budget deficit is projected to be N11.30 trillion in 2023, up from N7.35 trillion in 2022. This represents 5.01% of the estimated GDP above the 3% threshold stipulated in the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA), 2007. This deficit level assumes that petrol subsidy reform will be implemented from mid-2023 in line with the timeline for suspension thereof. The draft 2023-2025 MTEF/FSP has been prepared against the backdrop of continuing global challenges occasioned by lingering Covid-19 pandemic effects, as well as higher food and fuel prices due to the war in Ukraine. Overall, fiscal risks are somewhat elevated, following weakerthan-expected domestic economic performance and structural issues in the domestic economy,” the minister added NOTE: Interested readers should continue in the online edition on www.thisdaylive.com

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 5, 2022 • T H I S D AY

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T H I S D AY • MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2022

20

This Week In Tech 08097710984

nosakhare.alekhuogie@thisdaylive.com

Nosa

Alekhuogie

Tech Top 5 News CBN GRANTS FLUTTERWAVE SWITCHING AND PROCESSING LICENCE

A

mid its ongoing crisis with the Kenyan authorities, Fluuterwave has received a switching and processing licence from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The company can now directly process financial transactions, which invariably means they can facilitate transactions between financial service providers, merchants, customers and other stakeholders.

The licence is also said to allow Flutterwave to connect every store of value in Nigeria to global commerce and increase control over its payment processes.

Commenting on the new license obtained, Flutterwave CEO Olugbenga Agboola said the move was a milestone in the company’s growth story.

“This is big news for our customers, partners, investors, and other stakeholders. Building a thriving payments ecosystem in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, is in line with our goal of developing a world-class and secure payment infrastructure for global merchants and payment service providers across the continent,” he said.

Flutterwave further added that the licence allows the firm to introduce new products and services.

In a statement by the company, the new license gives them greater control while reducing constraints.

It said, “With more oversight of the payment value chain, we can deliver an improved experience to our customers. The switching license gives us more room to operate and serve our customers while removing various constraints. This license is a game changer for us, our customers and we can’t wait for you to enjoy all that it offers.”

MCKINSEY: AFRICAN FINTECH REVENUES TO REACH 8X CURRENT VALUE BY 2025 A McKinsey report has said that African fintech revenues could reach eight times their current value by 2025.

The analysis also estimated that Africa’s financial-services market could grow at about 10 per cent per annum, reaching about $230 billion in revenues by 2025.

In the report, the success of fintech companies is fuelled by several trends, including increasing smartphone ownership, declining internet costs, expanded network coverage, and a young, fast-growing, and rapidly urbanising population.

McKinsey analysts, however, noted that the growth in financial services across Africa’s 54 countries would not be uniform.

“While the lion’s share of value in the market (approximately 40 per cent of revenues) is currently concentrated in South Africa, which has the most mature banking system in the continent, Ghana and francophone West Africa are expected to show the fastest growth, at 15 per cent and 13 per cent per annum respectively, until 2025,” said the analysts.

The report added that Nigeria and Egypt “follow each with an expected growth rate of 12 per cent per annum over the same period.”

“Overall, we anticipate that the growth opportunity in fintech is likely to be concentrated in 11 key markets: Nigeria, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda, which together account for 70 per cent of Africa’s GDP and half of its population,” the report stated.

The analysis further showed that fintech players are delivering significant value to their customers. Their transactional solutions can be up to 80 per cent cheaper and interest on savings up to three times higher than those provided by traditional players, while the cost of remittances may be up to six times cheaper.

Tech Personality of The Week IKPEME NETO

T

his week’s tech personality is Ikpeme Neto, the CEO and founder of Wella Health.

Neto is an internal medicine physician, and digital health entrepreneur focused on providing cost-effective technology solutions to improve the quality and affordability of healthcare across Africa.

He founded Wella Health in 2017 to provide healthcare financing options for the next billion via affordable micro-insurance health products and tech-enabled health services.

He was awarded a PandemicTech Innovation Fellowship for 2020 to support his company’s work creating epidemiological data collection and visualisation tools that supported Nigeria’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The PandemicTech Innovation Fellowship 2020 is a $100,000 initiative to identify and support the most promising global health security innovators leading the fight against pandemic infectious disease threats.

Wella Health was selected for the 2019 Techstars Impact accelerator in Austin and is part of the Catalyst Fund’s Inclusive FinTech portfolio.

Neto is also the founder of Digital Health Nigeria, a community focused on promoting, developing and using digital health and telemedicine technologies in Nigeria.

GROWTH4HER LAUNCHES PROGRAMME FOR WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS As part of its commitment to bridging the Gender Financing Gap in Africa, Growth4Her is providing adequate skills, knowledge, market access, and finance, advocating for better policies and an adequate representation for women-owned small and medium-sized enterprises.

The organisation has launched and is accepting applications for its Growth4Her Accelerator, which provides women entrepreneurs with the capacity and tools to transition from small to high potential fundable growth stage businesses.

Growth4Her is a six-month Investor Readiness Accelerator Programme open to women in West and Central Africa and is currently running cohorts in Cameroon and Nigeria.

The application portal is currently open, and selected candidates will only be contacted when they have been selected for a new cohort. Each cohort is open to at least fifteen and at most twenty-five women.

It will open for six weeks for every new cohort starting from September 1 to October 7.

According to the organisation, beneficiaries are expected to answer basic, personal, and psychometric questions, which enables the expert team to tailor the program curriculum and content to the selected cohorts’ needs.

The programme is open to women SMEs looking to transition their businesses to growth-powered businesses as the program offers investor readiness training, psychosocial support, mentorship, access to financing opportunities and access

to markets.

It is available in both English and French languages.

To be eligible to participate, the organisation should be at least 51 per cent owned by a woman or, at minimum 20 per cent owned by a woman and have at least a woman as CEO/COO (president/vice president); and have at minimum 30 per cent of its board of directors composed of women, provided there is a board.

MOOVE PARTNERS UBER TO TAKE EVS TO UK Nigerian Mobility Company, Moove, has partnered with Uber UK to take thousands of electric vehicles (EV) to London.

As a part of its expansion plans, it is expected to bring an additional 10,000 electric vehicles to London by the end of 2025, which will be available with no upfront costs or deposits, offering an improved driver experience while accelerating the electrification of mobility across the capital.

Moove’s approach to vehicle financing is designed to empower its customers with access to new, zero-emission vehicles with an easy sign-up process and no credit checks.

Its customers driving with Uber can reduce their weekly payments by using funds raised through Uber’s Clean Air Plan to help them meet the cost of switching to an EV. Uber’s Clean Air Plan has raised over £145M, equating to approximately £3,000 per driver.

Ladi Delano, the co-founder and co-CEO of Moove, said, “We are proud to have built a business in Africa to now be able to scale our model here in Europe, which is something that no other African fintech

company has done before.”

Delano added that the move also “marks a milestone of firsts for us, as we are excited to be launching with our first 100 per cent EV fleet.”

We are thrilled to expand our partnership with Uber to drive our commitments towards the electrification of mobility,” he stated.

TWITTER TO LAUNCH EDIT BUTTON FOR PAID SUBSCRIBERS Twitter has announced it will launch a new ‘Edit Tweet’ feature in the coming weeks.

According to the company, it is still being tested by a team internally. Edit Tweet is a feature that lets people change their tweets once posted.

As part of their subscription, they receive early access to features and help to test them before they come to Twitter.

The test will first be localised to a single country and expand as they learn and observe how people use Edit Tweet.

Although the edit function will only be available for a select group of paid users, “everyone will still be able to see if a Tweet has been edited,” the company said in a statement.

It added, ‘’During the test, you will be able to edit a tweet a ‘few times’ within 30 minutes after the post is initially published.

This means you will not be able to edit old tweets that may have already gone viral and have been liked or retweeted by numerous users. Think of it as a short period of time to do things like fix typos, add missed tags, and more.”

Twitter said they hoped that, with the new button, tweeting would feel more approachable and less stressful.

The platform’s premium subscription service, known as Twitter Blue, is accessible in a few countries, including the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2022

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BUSINESSWORLD R A T E S MONEY MARKET

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REPO

Group Business Editor Eromosele Abiodun Email oriarehu.eromosele@thisdaylive.com

08056356325

S E P T E M B E R

S & P INDEX

2 , 2 0 2 2

S & P INDEX

EXCHANGE RATE

OPR

11.25%

CALL

10.25%

INDEX LEVEL

613.31%

1/4 TO DATE

-0.85%

N416.86/ 1 US DOLLAR*

OVERNIGHT

11.50%

1-MONTH

9.56%

1-DAY

0.16%

YEAR TO DATE

7.64%

*AS AT LAST FRIDAY

3-MONTH

10.52%

MONTH-TO-DATE

0.44%

As Nigeria’s Economic Woes Persist, Stock Market Depreciates by N1.69trn in 3 Months

Kayode Tokede As Nigeria continue to grapple with economic challenges, the equities market has maintained a downward slide with investors’ wealth dwinddling by a whopping N1.69 trillion in just three months.

THISDAY analysis of market activity from June to August 2022 revealed that for the month of August, the stock market depreciated by N283billion in market capitalisation, while in July, the market capitalisation went down by N772 billion as investors move to fixed income market that comes with low-risk investment and modest yield, yet above the inflation rate.

The stock market had depreciated by N632.23billion in June to N27.94trillion in market capitalisation.

In terms of tracking the general market movement of all listed equities on NGX, including those listed on the Growth Board, regardless of capitalization, the stock market in August dropped by 1.06 per cent to close at 49,836.51 basis points amid investors’ sentiments.

According to THISDAY findings, the stock market indicator, the NGX All-Share Index depreciated by 2.79 per cent in June 2022 to close at 50,370.25 basis points and in July, dropped by 2.79 per cent to close at 51,817.59 basis points.

Coming into the year, the major

concern for global economic growth was the emergence of new strains of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the war between Russia and Ukraine which posed new supply constraints further restrained growth.

The stock market between June and August 2022 battled hike in the inflation rate (19.64 per cent as of July 2022).

Also, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) increase in its Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) to 14 per cent and a scarcity of foreign exchange led to the outflow of foreign investors.

To buttress this point, foreign investors’ outflow on the floor of the NGX grew by 11.4 per cent Year-on-Year (YoY) to N138.97

billion in seven months of 2022 from N124.75 billion reported in seven months of 2021.

The domestic/foreign investors’ profit-taking in Dangote Cement Plc, BUA Cement Plc, Nestle Nigeria Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, among others stocks impacted negatively on indices on the NGX. For instance, Dangote Cement dropped by 11.6 per cent to N245 per share as of August 2022 from N277.00 it opened for trading in June to dragged the NGX Industrial index down to 1,777.14 basis points from 2,194.24 basis points it opened for trading in June.

BUA Cement also depreciated to N52.00 per share as of the closing of

the market in August from N74.25 it opened for trading in June.

The Banking Index dropped by nearly nine per cent to 387.41 basis points as of August from 425.71 basis points the stock market opened for trading in June.

Profit-taking in Zenith bank dragged its stock price to N21.90 as of August from N23.45 it opened trading in June, while the Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) Plc dropped to N19.85 per share as of August from N22.55 it traded three months ago.

Nestle Nigeria depreciated to N1,350 per share as of August from N1,400 per share to down NGX Consumer Goods Index by

7.85 per cent to 600.56 as of August 31, 2022 from 651.73 basis points it closed for trading in May 2022.

In addition, profit-taking depreciated the NGX Oil & gas sector by 532.15 basis points as of August from 547.57 basis points it opened for trading in June 2022.

The stock market, thus, maintained positive performance in its Year-tillDate performance, gaining 16.67 per cent in eight months of 2022, driven by some fundamental stocks with impressive corporate earnings.

Capital market analysts expressed that the hike in interest rate and Nigeria’s inflation rate, which has Continued on page 23

NAMBLAG: MFBs Disbursed N1.7trn Loans in H1 2022 Ugo Aliogo The Chairman, National Association of Microfinance Banks, Lagos State Chapter, (NAMBLAG), Mr. Adenrele Oni, has stated that Micro Finance Banks in Nigeria disbursed N1.7 trillion in loans as at June 2022.

He said the deposit base in the sector toped N700 billion during the period describing the development as a significant milestone for MFBs.

Oni disclosed while speaking at the 11th Annual General Meeting, (AGM) and Inauguration of New Executive Management Committee of NAMBLAG in Lagos.

He said the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has addressed the issue of MFBs recapitalization adding that the CBN has released a new capitalization requirement, which the MFBs are complying with.

“Our members are up and

running in meeting with the capitalisation requirement. A number of our members have met and surpassed the capital requirements, which is a plus to the sector, ”he said.

Oni said there have been a number of developments in the sector adding that in the last few years, the sector witnessed the emergence of a number of digital banks who have invested in the microfinance space.

This, he stated, has brought a lot of competition, flexibility and a variety of products to the market.

Oni revealed that due to recapitalization, some players in the sector have not been able to invest heavily IT infrastructure revealing that MFBs are working with a number of Fintechs to come up with affordable apps.

Earlier in his remarks, the outgoing chairman, Mr. Taiwo

Joda said NAMBLAG members have done very well in the area of digitalisation, especially those in Lagos who have digitalised their banking processes.

He harped on the need for increased collaboration among members urging them to work with fintechs and digital technology providers to provide better service for their customers.

According to him, “Technology is not cheap that maybe is one

of the reasons why we have not seen a significant number of Microfinance Banks having their banking processes fully digitalised.

“You can collaborate with the fintechs, and technology providers.

You can also collaborate with different digital platforms, especially payment platforms, and that helps you because you don’t need to invest any significant amount on IT infrastructure.”

M A R K E T D ATA A S AT F R I D AY, S E P T E M B E R 2 , 2 0 2 2 BILLS

BONDS DESCRIPTION Price ^14.20 14MAR-2024 13.53 23MAR-2025 ^12.50 22JAN-2026 ^16.2884 17MAR-2027 ^13.98 23FEB-2028

Yield

103.50

11.63

101.05

13.03

98.76

12.95

110.83

13.05

104.50

12.81

Change Updated Time (%) September -0.01 2, 2022 September 0.08 2, 2022 September 0.00 2, 2022 September 0.00 2, 2022 September 0.00 2, 2022

MATURITY NTB 13-Oct22 NTB 10Nov-22 NTB 26-Jan23 NTB 9-Feb23 NTB 9-Mar23

Discount

CPS

9.00

9.09

3.90

3.93

9.80

10.20

10.00

10.46

Change Updated Time (%) September 2, 0.00 2022 September 2, 0.00 2022 September 2, 0.00 2022 September 2, 0.00 2022

10.60

September 2, 0.00 2022

10.05

Yield

MATURITY NENL CP I 24-OCT-22 FSDH CP VII 27-OCT-22 SIBP CP III 27-OCT-22 DLMG CP IV 11-NOV-22 FDHP CP III 17-MAR-23

Discount Yield 21.18 21.83 15.28 15.64 14.46 14.78 17.87 18.50 12.10 12.94

Change Updated Time (%) 2, -0.03 September 2022 2, -0.03 September 2022 2, -0.03 September 2022 2, -0.06 September 2022 2, -0.01 September 2022

OTC F X F U T U R E S CONTRACT Current TENOR Contract Rate Updated Time ($/₦) (MONTH) NGUS SEP 28 439.60 September 2, 1 2022 2022 September 2, NGUS OCT 26 2 441.81 2022 2022 NGUS OCT 26 444.01 September 2, 3 2022 2022 NGUS DEC 28 446.22 September 2, 4 2022 2022 NGUS JAN 25 440.94 September 2, 5 2023 2022

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MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2022 ˾ T H I S D AY

BUSINESSWORLD

NEWS

NOTAP Debunks Alleged Purchase of N46bnVehicles, Says Nigerians Free to Interrogate its Activities The National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), has said Nigerians are free and at will to deploy the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act to interrogate its activities and financial expenses even as it vehemently debunked the allegation that it spent N46 billion to purchase vehicles and N23 million for stationaries.

The Deputy Director, Public Relations and Communications of NOTAP, Mr. Solomon Danjuma Nshem, in a reaction to a report in a section of the media (not in THISDAY), condemned the publication in its entirety, adding that it is falsehood and malicious for an online paper worth its salt to publication such without proper investigation.

According to him, the attention of NOTAP been drawn to the

publication alleging that the House of Representatives was investigating the Director General of NOTAP Dr. DanAzumi Mohammed Ibrahim over the fraudulent purchase of vehicles worth N46 billion and stationeries to the tune of N23 million.

He said: “Ordinarily, NOTAP would not have responded to this allegation but in order to put the records straight, we wish to unequivocally state that the said vehicles were not purchased at N46 billion naira but N46 million naira in 2021 for the smooth operation of the Office.

“The vehicles purchased were a 2021 model Toyota Prado Landcruiser and a 2021 model Toyota Yaris which were captured under the 2021 project vehicle budget line and directly purchased by the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) accredited

vendors after receiving certificate of no objection from BPP.” He said NOTAP is one of the most prudently managed government organizations if not the most prudent in the country and it beats one’s imagination to hear that an organization with an exceptional reputation like NOTAP is spending N46 billion naira to purchase vehicles, he added.

Nshem, said was appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari on 22nd of October 2015 for a 4-year tenure and reappointed for another 4-year term in October, 2019 because of his dedication to duty, commitment, hard work, loyalty, prudent management of resources, passion and outstanding contribution towards the development of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) not only in Nigeria but Africa.

PenCom Revises Regulation on Retirement, Terminal Benefits (II)

N C C : O v e r 5 0 , 0 0 0 Te l e c o m Infrastructure Destroyed in Five Years Emma Okonji

Over 50,000 cases of major destruction to telecom infrastructure and facilities have been reported across the country in the past five years, raising alarm over the implication of these incidents to the quality of telecommunication services in Nigeria, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said.

Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, who disclosed this at the 2022 edition of Youth Civil Society and Stakeholders Summit (YCSSS), which took place recently at the Army Resource Centre, Abuja, expressed worry over how these incidents have continued to affect the Quality of Experience (QoE) of consumers, and called for concerted efforts by the members

of the public, and security agencies, to stem the tide.

Danbatta, who spoke through the Head, Corporate Communications Unit of the Commission, Mrs. Nnena Ukoha, said the negative impacts of incessant vandalism of telecom equipment, evidenced in fibre cuts, theft of telecom facilities like generators at sites, vandalism of base stations, among other vices, have become a major burden on the service providers, while telecom consumers have continued to suffer unwarranted disruptions of their hard-earned services.

“The impact of vandalism of infrastructure is felt by all in the quality of services rendered as it results in increasing drop calls, data and Internet connectivity disruptions, aborted and undelivered short

messaging services (SMS), as well as countless failed calls,” he said.

Danbatta said, considering the well-known fact that the ability to connect and communicate is fundamental to human existence, improvement in businesses processes, government services, education, as well as social and family networking through seamless connections, every community should get involved in protecting the critical infrastructure that makes these services possible.

“Therefore, as a community, you are expected to report cases of vandalism of telecoms infrastructure to the nearest law enforcement agencies such as the Police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, and also share adequate information received from NCC with your family, friends, and neighbours.

Nigerian Startups Win $7,500 in Climate Change Hackathon Nosa Alekhuogie Three Nigerian technology startups have emerged winners from the EkoClimathon 1.0 challenge hosted

by Eko Innovation Center.

The challenge, which was aimed at using technology to address the challenges of climate change in line with Nigeria’s long term vision to reduce Green House Gases to net zero by 2050, presented a pool of young tech startups across four continents to compete in a climate hackathon challenge working to create lasting solutions towards actualising this goal.

Speaking at the grand finale of

Group Business Editor Eromosele Abiodun Deputy Business Editor Chinedu Eze Comms/e-Business Editor Emma Okonji Asst. Editor, Money Market Nume Ekeghe Senior Correspondent Raheem Akingbolu (Advertising) Correspondents Emmanuel Addeh (Energy) KayodeTokede(CapitalMarkets) James Emejo (Finance) Ebere Nwoji (Insurance) Reporters Nosa Alekhuogie (ICT) Peter Uzoho (Energy) Ugo Aliogo (Development)

the hybrid event which held in Lagos, the convener of the hackathon tagged EkoClimathon 1.0 and Chief Executive Officer, Eko Innovation Center, Mr. Victor Afolabi opined that the vision of the hackathon was beyond supporting startups with seed capital but largely focused on creating real-time solutions to the problems of human society and making the ecosystem more liveable for the future.

“Out of 1034 entries we were able to get 300 teams who went through three weeks of workathon where they worked and created stuffs after which they pictched to the selection jurors. After that, the jurors selected the best 10 teams from the initial 300 who went through the mentors nest where they were mentored and their ideas were improved with a

number of collaborations globally to make their products fit for purpose.

“Today, they came to pitch and we only wanted three of them. We thank all our collaborators for their support and we hope that through this initiative, we can help fix this country, move our economy from an extractive economy to a more knowledge driven economy and a service oriented economy such that we can make our people live better lives,” he said.

Expressing his optimism about the sustainability of the initiative, Special Adviser to the Governor of Lagos state on Technology, Mr. Olatunbosun Alake noted that among other things, the state government is passionate about supporting initiatives, which encourages better human societies.

Tanko Urges Agencies to Tighten Noose Around Port Security Esther Oluku The National Chairman, 100 per cent Compliance Team of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Mr. Ibrahim Tanko has urged agencies in the Port complex to tighten the noose around security within the ports and it’s environs.

He made the call in Lagos while intimating journalists on the porous nature of the Apapa and Tincan Island Port complex with particular reference to the lack of coordination, which characterises the port environs.

Tanko stated that as part of the benefits of a well-coordinated port security structure, all stakeholders and their belongings are kept safe and business activities attains heightened level of progress.

“Security is something that concerns everybody. If you look at APM terminal like all of us know, the crowd there is like a market. You do not even know who is who. You see people sleeping and smoking in the terminal. A port is supposed to be a sensitive place. Can you try it in the airport?

“Some men traced and killed an agent outside the port. When the suspects were traced by the police, he said he traced the agent from a terminal. This means all of us are not safe. So, there is need for Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigeria Customs Service and the Nigerian police to tighten up security in the port whether we like it or not. If you don’t have any business to do in the port, why are you there?

PENCOM DG, Aisha Dahir-Umar As reported on this page last week, the National Pension Commission (PenCom) recently issued a revised Regulation on Retirement and Terminal Benefits for immediate implementation. In the first part of this series, we discussed key highlights of the Revised Regulation, which addressed some requirements in the old regulation, that were improved upon for clarity or expanded to address new issues in the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).

The Revised Regulation contains several new provisions on Pension Enhancement, Voluntary Contributions, payment under the Micro Pension Plan (MPP), payment of benefits of missing persons and payment of Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) benefits. Highlights of the new provisions in the Revised Regulation are presented below.

PENSION ENHANCEMENT

A new provision on pension enhancement was introduced in the Revised Regulation to take care of the issues surrounding the implementation of pension enhancement.

Prior to this revision, pension enhancement under the CPS was a policy issue. However, it has now been provided that there shall be periodic pension enhancement for retirees on Programmed Withdrawal based on the Return on Investment of funds in the RSA and the Commission’s directive. Retirees with a minimum of 5 per cent growth in their RSAs, from the date of initial programming or their last enhancement date, shall be entitled to receive enhanced pensions. PFAs have been mandated to review the retirees’ data/ information and determine the RSA balances as at the cut-off date. The growth in the RSA balance shall be used exclusively for pension enhancement and not for additional lump sum. Upon obtaining a “no objection” response from PenCom, a PFA shall adjust the pension of the affected retirees to reflect the enhanced pension.

Payment under Micro Pension Plan The Revised Regulation made new provisions to address issues surrounding the payment of benefits to Micro Pension contributors. Contributions made under the MPP are segregated into contingent and fixed portions available for withdrawal and fixed for retirement, respectively. PFAs have been mandated to process requests for retirement benefits (Programmed Withdrawal or Retiree Life Annuity) and forward same to the Commission for a no objection within 2 working days of receipt of complete documentation.

Note that the MPP contributor must be at least 50 years of age in order to access the fixed portion of the MPP contribution. The Revised Regulation provides that MPP retirees whose fixed portion of RSA balance cannot procure a monthly pension/annuity up to one-third of the prevailing minimum wage shall receive their benefits en bloc. En bloc payment is a one-off retirement benefit paid

to a retiree whose consolidated RSA balance is below a threshold specified by PenCom from time to time.

PAYMENT OF BENEFITS OF MISSING PERSONS

There is now clarity on how the benefits of missing persons should be paid.. The revised regulation provides that where an employee is missing, the employer or next of kin/legal beneficiary of the missing person shall notify the PFA of the disappearance after a minimum period of 12 months. The next of kin has to present a valid means of identification. Where the PFA is satisfied with the identity of the next of kin/legal beneficiary, documentation and verification shall commence. Upon receipt of the Missing Person Notification Report and copies of the supporting documents, PenCom shall, within ten working days, constitute a Board of Inquiry (BOI) with members drawn from the Commission, Police Criminal Investigation Department and other key stakeholders. If the BOI decides that the pension contributor is actually missing, then the process of benefits payment to the person’s next of kin/legal beneficiary shall commence.

PAYMENT OF NSITF BENEFITS

To address the challenges faced by employees who wish to access their Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) contributions, the Revised Regulation established conditions applicable to retirees from the private sector with NSITF benefits, which were transferred

by NSITF at the implementation of the CPS. The Revised Regulation provides that any employee who retires and has NSITF contributions shall notify their PFA of their intention to withdraw the NSITF contributions.

The PFA shall request the retiree to provide the necessary documents and application to access the NSITF part of their RSA balance.

The PFA shall forward all requests to access the Pre-Act portion of the RSA balance to the Commission for a no objection.

VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTIONS

Significantly, the revised edition also addressed issues bordering on the payment of benefits to the different categories of voluntary contributors. In line with the regulation, any RSA holder that has voluntary contributions and is eligible to access their RSA balance shall notify the PFA of their intention to withdraw the voluntary contribution with necessary documents. The PFA shall forward all requests to access the voluntary contribution portion of the RSA balance to the Commission for a no objection.

In Part III, we will continue our presentation on the key highlights of the Revised Regulation on Retirement and Terminal Benefits by discussing the administrative sanctions contained in the Regulation.

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STATUS REPORT

Fidelity Bank: H1 Millstone Drives First-time Interim Dividend Kayode Tokede

F

idelity Bank Plc recorded an impressive performance in its audited half year (H1) ended June 30, 2022 financial statement that translated into first-time interim dividend payout to shareholders.

The declared 10 kobo per 50 kobo ordinary share in the period under review delights shareholders and it is reflected in its stock price appreciation on the trading floor of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX).

Since August 30, 2022 when the H1 2022 results was announced, the stock price of Fidelity Bank has moved from N3.04 per share to close trading on Friday, September 2, 2022 at N3.40 per share.

However, the declared interim dividend of Fidelity bank is on the back of N25.08 billion reported profit before tax in H1 2022, representing an increase of 21.6 per cent from N20.63 billion in H1 2021.

The bank’s income tax rose by 34 per cent to N1.77 billion in H1 2022 from N1.32 billion in H1 2021 to declare profit after tax of N23.31 billion in H1 2022 from N19.31 billion reported in H1 2021.

The growth in profits was driven by significant improvement in gross earnings and net interest income.

In the period under review, Fidelity bank reported N75.64 billion gross earnings as against N50.3billion reported in corresponding half year results. Increase in Fidelity bank gross earnings was on the account of 52.9per cent growth in interest income to N136.2billion from N89.1billion in H1 2021.

The increase in Interest Income was driven by the improved yield on earnings assets and 14.9 per cent year-t0-date (YTD) expansion in earnings base to N2,546.5 billion.

NET FEE INCOME DECLINE

However, net fee income declined by N1.4billion (9.6 per cent) due to N10.0billion (117.9 per cent) drop in foreign exchange gains.

Net Interest Margin improved to 6.4 per cent from 4.7 per cent in 2021FY, due to a combination of improved yields on average earning assets and a decline in average funding cost.

Average yields on earning assets increased by 211basis points YoY to 11.5 per cent while average funding cost declined by 84basis points to 4.0 per cent YoY, which resulted in 50.4 per cent growth in net interest income to N75.6billion.

Though funding cost has trended downward since Q1, interest rate on deposits is gradually ticking up with the recent upward review of the monetary policy rate and market yields.

The bank’s operating expenses increased by 46.8 per cent to N62.0 billion with 62.7 per cent of the cost growth coming from regulatory charges, (AMCON, NDIC) and staff cost.

The bank absorbed the 2021 FY AMCON charges of N18.3billion while expecting a moderation in operating expenses in H2 2022.

Extract from the bank’s balance sheet performance showed an increase in customers’ deposits and

net loans & advances as Fidelity bank maintains the leading Tier-2 bank in Nigeria.

According to its half year ended June 30, 2022 result and accounts, the lender’s significant increase in customers’ deposits and net loans & loans lifted total assets in the period under review.

As customer deposits grew by 13.1 per cent to N2.02 trillion as of June 30, 2022 from N2.29 trillion reported in 2021, Net Loans & Advances rose by 15.3 per cent to N1.66 trillion as of June 30, 2022 from N1.91 trillion reported in 2021 FY. The growth in Fidelity Bank’s total deposits was driven by double-digit growth in low-cost deposits (Demand, Savings, Domiciliary).

Low-cost deposits increased by 26.1 per cent Year-till-Date to N1.9 trillion and now represents 83.1per cent of total deposits from 74.5per cent in 2021FY, which explains the drop in funding cost.

Foreign currency (FCY) deposits increased by $497 million or 52.8 per cent YTD and now accounts for 26.5 per cent of total deposits from 19.5 per cent in 2021 FY, as the bank continue to harness the benefits of renewed drive in the export business and the diaspora banking space.

Also, net Loans and advances growth of about 15.3 per cent due to intervention funding responsible for over 32 per cent of the absolute growth in risk assets book.

The interplay between customer deposits and net loans & advances drive total assets to N3.29 trillion as of June 30, 2022 from N3.69 trillion reported in 2021 FY.

RATIOS ABOVE REQUIREMENT

Fidelity bank recorded Non-performing loans (NPL) ratio that dropped to 2.7 per cent from 2.9 per cent in 2021 FY, which led to a decline in cost of risk to 0.2 per cent from 0.5 per cent in 2021 FY as asset quality continue to improve.

AS NIGERIA’S ECONOMIC WOES PERSIST, STOCK MARKET DEPRECIATES BY N1.69TRN IN 3 MONTHS surged to its highest level in more than 16 years, is putting a damper on stock returns as interest rate hikes brightens prospects of the fixed income market.

Nigeria’s high-interest rate environment aimed at reducing inflation continues to make fixed income securities more attractive at the expense of stocks.

In an interview with THISDAY, the Vice president, Highcap Securities Limited, Mr, David Adonri said the stock market commenced declining performance when the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of CBN increase the interest rate to 14 per cent.

He noted that other macro economy indicators such as inflation rate, and scarcity of foreign exchange have also diminished demand for stocks as investors moved to fixed income markets.

According to him, “The fundamentals of foreign and domestic macro economy indicators in three months have impacted negatively on the stock market.”

On the stock market performance in September, he explained that, “Situation maybe the same with current happening in global and domestic economy. The Russia/ Ukraine war is one of them and the current happening in China as regarding power blackout is causing global anxiety among investors.

“People are afraid that it can cause recession in China and it can increase global inflation and Nigeria is vulnerable to such. Mind you, we have 2023 general election that politicians are commencing campaign from September and we are already experiencing foreign currency scarcity.

We are for a serious challenge in the stock market going forward in 2022.”

Reacting, the CEO, Wyoming Capital & Partners, Mr. Tajudeen Olayinka explained that, “In August 2022, equity market reacted strongly negative to the decision of MPC to hike MPR in quick succession, currently at 14per cent, in response to rising domestic inflation, which printed a 17-year high of 19.64per cent in July, 2022.

“This development made securities market to be so unsettled, as it put equity market in a prolonged repricing mode, which saw some investors harvesting early profit and some other staying away from the market completely, a terrible situation that forced liquidity to dry up so quickly.

“This was the reason for poor performance in August, in spite of impressive performance by some listed companies. Market might witness a moderate repeat performance of what we saw in August, in the month of September 2022, except inflation number moderates in August, 2022.

“Given that prices are low generally, some traditional investors might begin to stage a comeback to the market on a more cautionary basis, to take advantage of short-term price movement. All the same, I see a bullish long-term equity market.”

According to analyst at PAC Holdings, Mr. Wole Adeyeye, “Some investors migrated from stock market to fixed-income market in a move to take advantage of high yields, triggered by the recent hike in policy rate. Also, foreign investors stayed away Nigerian stock market due to the upcoming general elections, weak local currency and insecurity in the country.”

He noted that the trend may likely continue in September as yield in the fixed-income market is expected to remain attractive.

According to him, “This trend may likely continue in September because rates in fixed-income market is expected to remain relatively high. In addition, foreign investors may not patronise the Nigerian equities market at the moment due to the uncertainty surrounding the economy.

“Nevertheless, our mediumlong term outlook for Nigerian equities market remains positive.

This provides an opportunity for investors that want to take advantage of cheap stocks in the market at the moment.”

Other Regulatory Ratios were above the required thresholds with liquidity ratio at 47.0per cent and capital adequacy ratio (CAR) at 19.8 per cent compared to the minimum requirement of 15 per cent.

The audited half-year results and dividend recommendation as Fidelity Bank explained the rationale behind its bid to acquire 100 per cent equity stake in Union Bank UK Plc; a spin-off and former subsidiary of Union Bank of Nigeria (UBN) Plc. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had given preliminary approval to Fidelity Bank in its bid to acquire 100 per cent equity stake in Union Bank UK. Fidelity Bank had entered into a binding agreement to acquire 100 per cent in Union Bank UK Plc, a transaction that will make the London-based retail and wholesale banker a subsidiary of a subsidiary of Fidelity Bank.

The transaction is however still subject to the approval of the UK’s Prudential Regulatory Authority (PRA).

Last December, Union Bank’s core investors – Union Global Partners Limited and Atlas Mara – had reached a Share Sale and Purchase Agreement (SSPA) with Titan Trust Bank (TTB) for the sale of 89.39 per

cent of Union Bank’s issued share capital.

The agreement came a decade after the initial investment by the core investors in 2012.

Consequently, the transaction also triggered the hive-out of Union Bank UK (UBUK), which was approved by shareholders in an extraordinary general meeting on March 29, 2022.

This allowed Union Bank of Nigeria’s transition from an international to a national focus.

Managing Director, Fidelity Bank Plc, Mrs. Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe said the acquisition aligned with the bank’s strategic plan of expanding its service touchpoints beyond the Nigerian market as well as providing straight-through services that meet and exceed the needs of its growing clients.

“The diverse service bouquet and business model of Union Bank UK offered a compelling strategy and we hope to build on the existing capacity to create a scalable and more sustaining service franchise that will support the wider ecosystem of our trade businesses and diaspora banking services,” Onyeali-Ikpe said.

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

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NEWS

FG to Fix Port Infrastructure as Bello-Koko Assures of Bonny Deep Seaport Approval Eromosele Abiodun The Minister Transportation, Muazu Sambo has promised that the federal government will address issues of infrastructural decay affecting trade facilitation at Onne Seaport.

Sambo who stated this during

a tour of the Eastern ports with Onne as the first port of call, said the reason for the facility tour was to find out the challenges for the federal government action.

This is just as the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Mohammed Bello Koko, has expressed

optimism that the approval for the development of a deep seaport in Bonny will be achieved before the end of the life of the present administration.

Bello Koko who disclosed that there is a proposal for the construction of the deep seaport said some preliminary processes

have started for the establishment of the port.

He added that the initial location of the deep seaport had to be changed as a result of existing pipelines.

Bello Koko who accompanied Sambo on the tour said the new location has been identified with

a natural draught of 17 meters.

He described the development of deep seaport in Eastern port as very key to the country.

He said, “we hope the Minister will get approval for Bonny Deep seaport. It means the country has deep seaports in different locations of the country. I am sure that in the life of administration, the Minister will get the approval of the Bonny Deep seaport.”

Meanwhile, Sambo added that he visited Onne first to assess the true situation on the ground and know where to take action that can ease trade facilitation.

He said, “Part of the reasons

why I am here is to see why the ports here are not being patronized.

It is an issue that has been on the table for a long time. Whatever the challenges here, we are going to address them squarely. Part of the visit is to hold a meeting with stakeholders to find out from them directly what the burning issues are, then we can draw up short term medium term goals.”

At Intels terminals, the Minister was informed of three berths, which have collapsed for long now.

He ordered that the NPA should address the issue as the authority has already planned rehabilitation of dilapidated infrastructures.

Mamador Empowers Women with N1m Grant at August Women Meeting Femi Solaja

L-R: The Minister of Transportation, MuaZu Sambo putting heads together with Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Mohammed Bello-Koko at a stakeholders’ meeting during tour of Eastern Ports… recently

IoD: Significant Part of Nigeria’s Economic Woes Self-induced Gilbert Ekugbe The Institute of Directors (IoD) Nigeria has stated that most of the economic challenges faced in the country are not globallydriven, but self-induced.

Indeed, the Institute stated that world is characterised by its volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity which has been worsened by the Russia-Ukraine war, adding that the Institute is

committed to finding lasting solutions to take Nigeria out of doldrums.

The president, IoD, Nigeria, Mrs. Ije Jidenma, at its August 2022 new members’ induction ceremony in Lagos, however stated that the Institute is raising the bar and attracting Directors of like minds to build solid accountability and probity templates. She said IoD Nigeria prides itself as the National Champion and advocate

for good corporate governance in the public and private sectors of the economy and even in the non-governmental not-for profit sector.

“I, therefore, heartily welcome the new members waiting to be inducted into an Institute of Directors that is a great place of honour, prestige and reputation in the Nigerian business environment. I also commend their individual guests and our

special guests who are here to support them,” she said.

The IoD Nigeria boss said IoD Nigeria over the years has made tremendous impact in corporate space in the public and private sectors of the Nigerian economy, stressing that the institute has groomed Directors into becoming highly responsible ambassadors of Corporate Governance and sound ethical practices as is obtainable globally.

Mamador, hosted yet another inspiring edition of Mamador August Women Meeting, geared towards empowering Nigerian Women. The third edition of the Mamador August Women Meeting themed, “Explore your flavour: Harnessing the potentials of the Nigerian Woman,” aimed at fostering the innate capabilities of the Nigerian Woman as an individual and collectively for growth was held on Wednesday, 31st August, 2022.

Business marketing expert, Tricia Olufemi-Olumide, set the ball rolling with education to women on Leveraging online platforms to improve businesses. The gathering, which had a live audience and was also live streamed online via the brand’s social media platforms, had in attendance, women from various walks of life and ethnic

backgrounds.

Head of Marketing, PZ Wilmar, Chioma Mbanugo, explaining the motive behind the initiative, said “Our goal with the Mamador August Women Meeting is to create a platform that will enable women from different professions and diverse backgrounds, to discuss, share experiences, encourage, support and push each other to overcome barriers and limitations, discover our potential, see the endless and limitless possibilities of life and inspire one another to achieve fulfilment in their chosen endeavours.”

In her closing remarks, Fatimat Lawal-Ademo, Assistant Category and Brand Manager, Mamador, thanked women for the contributions they make in the society and hopes that they are motivated to explore their flavour and find fulfillment in their chosen endeavors.

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See page 31 MAHMOOD’S INITIATIVES TOWARDS CREDIBLE ELECTION UMAR SULEIMAN reckons that INEC is doing remarkably well, but still needs the buy-in of other stakeholders for a successful election

See page 31

EDITORIAL DWINDLING ACCESS TO CLEAN WATER

See page 32

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opinion@thisdaylive.com

www.thisdaylive.com

WHO’S THE STOCKBROKERS’ PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE? Stockbrokers prefer a president who has the will and capacity to reposition the economy, writes SOLA ONI

Monday September 5, 2022 Vol 27. No 10009

Leaders must unite the people, writes LINUS OKORIE

LEADING IN TIMES OF UNCERTAINTY AND FEAR We share a common desire to live meaningful lives and for our families, businesses, and communities to be healthy and to prosper.

Yet, in times of uncertainty, it’s easy to slip into fear and react instead of considering a calm response of wisdom. The whole FRXQWU\ LV ÀOOHG ZLWK IHDU DQG LQVHFXULW\ ,Q times of uncertainty, followers seek security, assurance and leaders who will give them hope. ,I WKHUH LV HYHU D WLPH LQ RXU KLVWRU\ WKDW our families, businesses, communities, states and country need solid and strong leadership, it is now. Regardless of our present situation, the best course of action for moving our life and work forward is to see through any fears that would obscure our goals. Leaders who are unable to steer their organisations through times of change have faced ruin or challenging situations.

Leaders set the tone and the climate for the organization, its teams, and constituents.

Leaders in the real sense of the word are dealers in hope. During the 2004 Democratic convention in United States of America, an unknown gentleman called Barack Obama was asked to deliver the key note speech on that night. He mounted the stage and VSRNH VR SRZHUIXOO\ RͿHULQJ WKH $PHULFDQ people hope and said, “Hope in the face of GL΀FXOW\ +RSH LQ WKH IDFH RI XQFHUWDLQW\ The audacity of hope!” At this time in our national life, we need leaders who are not divisive but leaders who exude hope by their verbal and non-verbal communication.

How are leaders expected to lead in uncertain times?

Leaders must show maturity. Selfawareness and self-management is very key for leaders who want to lead in uncertain WLPHV ,W LV LPSHUDWLYH IRU OHDGHUV WR NQRZ their strengths, weaknesses, blind spots, fears, delights, stressors, energizers and to manage themselves accordingly. They must identify, face, accept, and deal with their own fears and anxieties in order to help others do the same.

When leaders lead from a place of future orientation – toward the achievement of PXWXDOO\ EHQHÀFLDO JRDOV ² WKH\ JURZ healthy, dynamic, and capable of inspiring others to do the same.

Leaders must show versatility.

Acknowledging biases, preferred styles DQG \HW EHLQJ ÁH[LEOH HQRXJK WR DGDSW WR FKDQJLQJ FRQGLWLRQV ,W LV LPSHUDWLYH for leaders to develop a wide range of complementary skills. What has worked in the past for leaders may not work right QRZ ,I OHDGHUV DUH QDWXUDOO\ KDQGV RQ DQG tactical with a preference for getting things GRQH WKH\ PD\ ÀQG WKDW RWKHUV DUH QRW UHVSRQGLQJ DV HͿHFWLYHO\ DV WKH\ RQFH GLG to their analytical, black-and-white, taskRULHQWHG DSSURDFK WR WKH ZRUOG ,Q WLPHV RI uncertainty and fear, leaders must develop

the ability to listen and relate to others, to FRQVLGHU DOWHUQDWLYH DSSURDFKHV GLͿHUHQW points of view, entertain new possibilities, and spend time attending to the emotional needs of others.

2Q WKH ÁLS VLGH LI OHDGHUV DUH PRUH relational in their orientation, tending towards people and values rather than facts DQG WDVNV WKH\ PD\ ÀQG WKHPVHOYHV LQ DQ unrealistic place, failing to confront reality in favor of handling the people side of things. ,Q WKLV LQVWDQFH OHDGHUV PXVW GHYHORS WKH ability to take an objective look at the short and long term reality of their situation and deal with the business implications of a set of choices and actions.

Leaders must connect with people.

Bringing out the best in people, in any climate of uncertainty, takes the kind RI OHDGHUVKLS WKDW FDQ HͿHFWLYHO\ EOHQG intuition, self-control, responsibility and respect for others. Enhancing and leveraging strong interpersonal skills, developing RWKHUV EXLOGLQJ DQG OHDGLQJ HͿHFWLYH WHDPV ,Q WLPHV RI IHDU DQG XQFHUWDLQW\ IRU OHDGHUV being accessible to others is absolutely critical. They must have open doors and open minds.

Leaders must unite the people. Whether it is within organizations, families, businesses or nations. Turbulent times remind us of the importance of human community. People value it and need to rally behind those things that bind them together. Leaders can pull their employees closer to the company by reinforcing what makes them a unique group. Chief Executives can help crystallize these feelings to energize a group WRZDUGV MRLQW DFWLRQ <RX PD\ ÀQG WKDW DFWLYHO\ GHDOLQJ ZLWK D GL΀FXOW VLWXDWLRQ will actually enhance a sense of togetherness and resilience as a community. This actually

Leaders must provide security.

Every time that people are uncertain and emotionally distraught, what they need more than anything else is the sense of security. The feeling that comes from the presence of a leader, walking slowly through the crowds, listening to them, reaching out, hugging them, caring for them. In other words, just saying, ‘I’m here.

I’m here for you. I’m here to serve you, I’m here to help you’

is the reason why when people come out of very well managed challenging situations, they build common bonds and are likely to work together going forward.

Leaders must provide security. Every time that people are uncertain and emotionally distraught, what they need more than anything else is the sense of security. The feeling that comes from the presence of a leader, walking slowly through the crowds, listening to them, reaching out, hugging WKHP FDULQJ IRU WKHP ,Q RWKHU ZRUGV MXVW VD\LQJ ´,·P KHUH ,·P KHUH IRU \RX ,·P KHUH WR VHUYH \RX ,·P KHUH WR KHOS \RX µ , DP ORRNLQJ forward to a time in this country when Nigerians would have a sense of security.

When Nigerians would have a feeling that leaders truly care and are interested in their SHUVRQDO DQG RUJDQLVDWLRQDO QHHGV , DP looking forward to a time in this country when our communities will feel safe and secured simply because of leaders who are busy securing boarders, lives and properties +LVWRU\ LV ÀOOHG ZLWK OHDGHUV ZKR DW GLͿHUHQW WLPHV VWHSSHG XS WR WKH GHPDQGV of leadership during times of uncertainties.

President Franklin Roosevelt stepped up to provide leadership during the Great Depression in the thirties in America.

Winston Church Hill stepped up and provided leadership during the second world war when Adolf Hitler was ready to take down Britain. Martin Luther King Jr stepped up to push for equality when the African Americans were treated like slaves. President Nelson Mandela stepped up to provide leadership for the realization of majority rule when South Africa was at her lowest ebb of minority rule. Even in the Bible days, Nehemiah stepped up to provide the leadership needed to rebuild the broken walls of Jerusalem. , FKDOOHQJH \RX WRGD\ DV D 1LJHULDQ WR SURYLGH OHDGHUVKLS ZKHUHYHU \RX ÀQG yourself especially in times of uncertainty.

We must step up and show leadership as we prepare to go to the polls in 2023. Our consideration for voting should go beyond HWKQLFLW\ UHOLJLRQ QHSRWLVP JUHHG VHOÀVK considerations and stomach infrastructure.

Albert Camus said, “A bend in the road is not the end of the road... unless you fail WR PDNH WKH WXUQ ,Q WKH PLGVW RI ZLQWHU , ÀQDOO\ OHDUQHG WKDW WKHUH ZDV LQ PH DQ LQYLQFLEOH VXPPHU µ ,I \RX FDQ ÀQG D SDWK with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere.

One more thing great people of Nigeria, you must remember, if a person does not have a purpose for walking up, sleeping becomes interesting.

Okorie is a leadership development expert spanning 27 years in the research, teaching and coaching of leadership in Africa and across the world. He is the CEO of the GOTNI Leadership Centre

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UMAR SULEIMAN reckons that INEC is doing remarkably well, but still needs the buy-in of other stakeholders for a successful election Stockbrokers prefer a president who has the will and capacity to reposition the economy, writes SOLA ONI

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32 4

T H I S D AY

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 5, 2022

EDITORIAL

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

DWINDLING ACCESS TO CLEAN WATER Water is essential to life. The authorities should provide water for the people

A

recent World Bank report on Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector paints a scary picture on how lack of access to this vital resource impacts negatively on the livelihoods of many Nigerians, in both urban and rural areas. It is a report that should be taken seriously by the relevant authorities with both short and longterm solutions. While the minimum acceptable range an individual needs is between 12 and 16 litres per day, the average amount of water each Nigerian receives is put at nine litres and the quality is not guaranteed.

Meanwhile, even though an estimated 1,239 number of waterworks are connected to urban water utilities across the 36 states and the FCT, less than 50 per cent of them are functional, according to a report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Yet water, sanitation and hygiene are essential for sustainable development.

In many rural communities in our country today, the challenge is critical as women and children trek long distances to fetch water from streams and ponds that are contaminated. Even in the so-called modern cities like Lagos, and Abuja, the federal capital, a large proportion of people have no access to drinking water and, as a joint World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) recently observed, many often resort to using any available space for their convenience. For those who FDQ DͿRUG LW ERUHKROHV DUH LQGLVFULPLQDWHO\ GXJ %XW that too constitutes its own problems as it undermines the water table and threatens future supply of the commodity. In the absence of water from piped supplies and protected wells, millions of Nigerians living in both rural and urban areas consume what is available.

In its report, ‘High and Dry: Climate Change, Water and the Economy’ a few years ago, the World Bank

said: “Water scarcity, exacerbated by climate change, could cost some regions up to six per cent of their GDP, VSXU PLJUDWLRQ DQG VSDUN FRQÁLFW µ 7KH UHSRUW FODLPHG that climate-driven water scarcity could hit economic growth by up to six per cent in some regions and that WKH FRPELQHG HͿHFWV RI JURZLQJ SRSXODWLRQV ULVLQJ incomes and expanding cities would see demand for water rising exponentially, “while supply becomes PRUH HUUDWLF DQG XQFHUWDLQ µ 7KH UHSRUW SDUWLFXODUO\ contains a serious warning for Nigeria that is yet to be heeded. “Food price spikes caused by droughts can LQÁDPH ODWHQW FRQÁLFWV DQG GULYH PLJUDWLRQ :KHUH economic growth is impacted by rainfall, episodes RI GURXJKWV DQG ÁRRGV have generated waves of migration and spikes in YLROHQFH ZLWKLQ FRXQWULHV µ it said.

While the United Nations General Assembly has recognised drinking water and sanitation as human rights, meaning that everyone must have access to them, the former still remains a serious problem for majority of Nigerians.

Incidentally, when former President Goodluck Jonathan launched the water road map in January 2011, the administration announced some “quick PHDVXUHV WR DFFHOHUDWH ZDWHU FRYHUDJHµ DIWHU UHOHDVLQJ some intervention funds for some projects: drilling of motorised borehole in each of the 109 senatorial districts of the country, rehabilitation of 1000 hand pump boreholes in 18 states and installation of some special treatment plants, and completing all abandoned water projects. Unfortunately, none of these short-term measures have been met.

Since access to clean water remains a serious problem that must be tackled in Nigeria, we call on authorities in the 36 states to invest more in providing this precious liquid to all Nigerians. In its absence, Nigerians will continue to be susceptible to seasonal outbreaks of cholera and other water-borne diseases to our collective shame.

While the United Nations General Assembly has recognised drinking water and sanitation as human rights, meaning that everyone must have access to them, the former still remains a serious problem for majority of Nigerians T H I S D AY EDITOR SHAKA MOMODU DEPUTY EDITORS WALE OLALEYE, OBINNA CHIMA MANAGING DIRECTOR ENIOLA BELLO DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR ISRAEL IWEGBU CHAIRMAN EDITORIAL BOARD OLUSEGUN ADENIYI EDITOR NATION’S CAPITAL IYOBOSA UWUGIAREN MANAGING EDITOR BOLAJI ADEBIYI THE OMBUDSMAN KAYODE KOMOLAFE

T H I S D AY 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 SHAKA MOMODU, PETER IWEGBU, ANTHONY OGEDENGBE DEPUTY DIVISIONAL DIRECTOR OJOGUN VICTOR DANBOYI SNR. ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR ERIC OJEH ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR PATRICK EIMIUHI CONTROLLERS ABIMBOLA TAIWO, UCHENNA DIBIAGWU, NDUKA MOSERI DIRECTOR, PRINTING PRODUCTION CHUKS ONWUDINJO TO SEND EMAIL: first name.surname@thisdaylive.com

Letters to the Editor Letters in response to specific publications in THISDAY should be brief (150-300 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 (750- 1000 words). They should be sent to opinion@thisdaylive. com along with photograph, email address and phone numbers of the writer.

LETTERS HOW WILL THE NORTHWEST VOTE IN 2023?

Elections in Nigeria have always been based on the trajectory of voting regions. This has always been the case since the 1959 elections where the North had more seats and a better bargaining power. Since the return to democracy, the North west region has always played a prominent role in elections.

It must be stated that getting a good outcome in the Northwest does make a dent on the election numbers but it doesn’t generally win the elections.

President Buhari always maintained the strength of winning the Northwest, and most of his opponents since 2003 always worked on reducing the margin of loss. The Northwest includes the KKK states, Kano, Kaduna and Katsina, which will give any candidate over three million votes depending on the turnout. Most candidates win elections with a 15-17 million number, expect Jonathan that crossed the 20million threshold over 10 years ago.

The Northwest is going to be a battleground region, but tribe does play a prominent role and religion does too. We can’t deny the fact that Nigerians are tribal and religious in their outlook. Ideally, we want a country where irrespective

of your region, you get general acceptance but we still have those sentiments. Some will argue MKO Abiola changed that but I dare ask, is Abiola on this ballot? And this is not 1993 where the goal was to remove the military.

The big question is where will the Northwest go? Some say Tinubu has got assurances, but the question is, how bankable are they? When a Fulani man is also on the ballot? It remains to be seen the interplay that would come out in the Northwest. They is also a big argument that the region is changing DQG WKH YRWLQJ LQÁXHQFH KLWKHUWR ODUJHO\ KLQJHG RQ UHOLJLRXV leadership is waning but I will argue that religious leaders will still play a prominent role in the scheme of things and radio stations will also help sway votes. I dare say we don’t understand the role of the BBC Hausa service in our elections, which happens to be the biggest media outlet in Nigeria with about 20-26 million listeners weekly. Even if the BBC maintains its neutrality the question is who gets most of the exposure? The interesting dynamic is that the platform is on shortwave, it can reach any part of the country.

Also on speaking to more politicians in the North, they

also make a strong case of power coming back to the North through Atiku, some of them argue that since Jonathan broke WKH ÁRZ WKH\ KDYHQ·W EHHQ FRPSHQVDWHG DSSURSULDWHO\ VR D Northwest vote is most likely to go to Atiku. I have also heard mentions of Peter Obi and Kwankwaso in the Northwest but not at the intensity of the latter two. There are strong indications that Kwankwaso might either do a deal with Tinubu or Atiku.

Apart from the religious and tribal outplays, another concern is the role money will play in delivery the Northwest.

I must confess President Buhari had a cult following in the UHJLRQ EXW KH LV QR ORQJHU RQ WKH EDOORW VR WKH ÀQDQFLDO LPplications will be intense. I hazard a guess that this might be one of the most expensive elections in recent times.

As we hit the 172 days mark, one thing is certain, whoever wins the Northwest will make a dent on the elections numbers, but time will tell Rufai Oseni, rufaioseni@gmail.com

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T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2022

HOMES&DESIGN

Zenith Height: Nigeria’s Foremost Green, Glassy Sky Scraper Zenith Height is the skyscraper that hosts the headquarters of Zenith Bank. It is the first high-performance glass building in Nigeria. Bennett Oghifo writes

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esigners of modern architecture understand the imperative of incorporating energy-saving materials and systems to qualify the structure as green.

The promoters of Zenith Heights laid it down on about 2,200sqm of prime land on Ligali Ayorinde road in Victoria Island, Lagos.

It is arguably Nigeria’s first all-glasswrapped skyscraper. They saw low energy and carbon-neutral future and decided to build green. The building stands elegantly tall at 73m, from ground zero to the tip of a 21m mast and a seven-metre flag pole.

The tradition of building employing mainly glass and steel is vested in Viracon, a high-profile company in the United States, which brags that its area of expertise spans “from imaginative aesthetics to strict environmental and energy issues to critical budget requirements...we know how to help you figure out a way to make it all work when it comes to innovative architectural glass and glazing solutions.”

The Viracon material used by Zenith Bank is an insulating, laminated, tempered, heat-strengthened, silkscreened, spandrel, wind/hurricaneresistant, acoustical, blast-mitigating, and high-performance coated glass.

The sky is the limit when using this Viracon technology, as demonstrated in both the Wilkie D. Ferguson, Jr. United States Courthouse in Miami, Florida, and the Zenith Bank building, which were designed with consideration for strict environmental and meteorological conditions, particularly wind movement from the Atlantic Ocean, in the case of Zenith Heights.

This technology was tested in 2005 when hurricane Wilma hit southern Florida, where the Courthouse building “was put to the true test, and it performed exactly as designed...without a single glass failure! The laminated glass protected the building envelope by staying intact and within the framing system.”

Zenith Heights, only about a hundred

meters from the sea, has a dual view of the Atlantic Ocean and Victoria Island. Its construction was supervised and managed by the bank’s Property Department from its ground-breaking stage between April and August 2002 to its main construction, which started in October 2002 and was completed in September 2005.

It is a building that will be around at all times, even in an environment laden with salt water and wind from the sea, which corrodes the exterior of buildings around Victoria Island. To reinforce the durability of the glass material used, Viracon gave Zenith Heights developer 10 years to 15 years warranty with a provision that the glass is cleaned with the right agent every three to six months to ensure that the glass lasts.

To hold the frame, the developer used galvanised steel to enable it to stand corrosion, taking it to almost half the resistance of aluminium. This is used for the mast and the stainless steel

handrails, which require light maintenance.

The building is awash with cream and grey colours that exude a calm feeling for staff and visitors. The interiors also have this effect on account of the soft-bright lights and the sound-proof system.

An electronically controlled revolving door admits staff and visitors. After clearing the reception area, visitors are either admitted to a huge waiting room on the right or move on to the lift area through an airport-type baggage/personal scan system.

Four Otis lifts power the high-rise alongside wide spiral stairways. The lifts have the capacity for 16 persons each, with (three of the lifts) having a panoramic view (transparent) and voice alert system, while the fourth is a service lift.

Granite finishing is used on all floors.

The upper floors are raised to accommodate plumbing and electrical/electronic fittings.

The ceiling is made of fire retarding material, and it is fitted with smoke detectors and sprinklers, which are concealed within it, making the area visually appealing.

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MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2022 ˾ T H I S D AY

BUSINESSSPECIAL

Editor: Obinna Chima obinna.chima@thisdaylive.com 08024557078

Assessing Uzoka’s Performance as UBA GMD Combining the precision of a good engineer, proficiency and acumen of good human resources manager, the immediate past Group Managing Director of United Bank for Africa Plc, Kenney Uzoka, ran it efficiently for five years and left the bank on higher pedestal, writes Goddy Egene

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month ago, the Board of United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) effected a management change, announcing the retirement of the Group Managing Director, Mr. Kenny Uzoka and the appointment of Mr. Oliver Alawuba as his successor.

Uzoka’s retirement came after a five-year sterling performance. However, one person, who must very proud and felt fulfilled at the retirement of Uzoka is the Chairman of UBA Plc, Mr. Tony Elumelu. His decision to make Uzoka the GMD when Phillips Oduoza retired in 2016 has come out as perfect one because the confidence reposed in Uzoka was not betrayed given the growth trajectory of UBA. “Kennedy brings an extremely strong skill set and is ideally positioned to lead UBA in its next phase of growth,” Elumelu had said in 2016. Five years after, Uzoka really led the next phase of UBA and took the bank to higher pedestal.

IMPROVED PERFORMANCE Despite the challenging economic terrain, which witnessed two recessions and COVID-19, UBA posted highly impressive performance in the years of Uzoka as GMD. During the period, many financial institutions and other companies suffered hemorrhage but UBA rode on the back of Uzoka’s led management to make sure that the bank came out stronger.

A look at the performance indicators showed that gross earnings rose fromN383 billion before Uzoka assumed duty as the GMD to N660 billion at the end of 2021. Profit after tax grew from N72 billion to N119 billion.

The bank made significant contribution to the economy through loans and advances to customers during Uzoka’s tenure. The bank supported its customers with loans of N2.8 trillion at the end of 2021, up from N1.5 trillion in 2016.

Also, the bank became very attractive in the Uzoka’s years as reflected by the level of customers’ deposits which rose to N6.4 trillion, from N2.5 trillion. Specifically, number of customers rose by 178 per cent from nine million in 2016 to 25million as at March 31, 2022. Total assets improved from N3.5 trillion to N8.5 trillion as at March 2022.

Apart from the improved financial performance, UBA also recorded some achievements and led the industry in innovations in the period under review.

“In UBA, innovation is the sum of consistent process improvement leading to positive customer experience,”Uzoka had said.

Apparently to testify as a really innovative bank, Uzoka won the “Finovator of the Year” award at the Finnovex West Africa Awards in 2021.

In all, UBA pioneered some innovations in the banking industry. For instance, UBA was the first bank in Africa to roll out Artificial Intelligence (Leo) in 2018. Leo disrupted the digital landscape in Africa. Before leaving office, Uzoka ensured that Leo was extended to 20 African countries, currently speaks four languages including English, French, Portuguese, and Swahili.

Leo remains the undisputed market leader and it is available on Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Apple Business Chat in multiple countries.

Leo was the only chatbot showcased by Mark Zuckerberg at the F8 in 2018.

UBA also launched an in-house developed Mobile Banking App in March 2021. Similarly, in-house processing of VISA card was deployed in 2021.

Apart from personal laurels, under Uzoka’s leadership, UBA won the “Best Automated Chatbot initiative, application or programme Award” and “Best Digital Transformation initiative, application or Programme.”

Others are: The West Africa Excellence in Retail Financial Services Awards, West Africa (The Asian Banker) in 2019; “Best Digital Bank in Nigeria”; Best Digital Bank in Africa

Uzoka Sponsored Company Award” “The Asian Banker Technology Innovation Award”; The Excellence in Retail Financial Services Awards, West Africa (The Asian Banker) in 2019, Euromoney Awards in 2018, and Asian Banker Awards In 2017, respectively; Winner, Africa Bank of the Year 2021 and Winner, Bank of the Year 2021 (Nigeria) from The Banker Magazine, a Financial Times publication in 2021 International Bank of the Year and Bank of the Year.

In fact, UBA broke the Banker Magazine record by winning Best Bank in Africa, Nigeria, and 12 other Subsidiaries in one year (2021). Before then, in 2018, UBA met Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) stringent corporate governance conditions to be listed on NGX Premium Board.

This is an attestation to the bank’s strong adherence to international best practices on corporate governance.

In 2017, UBA launched the $500million 5-year Eurobond notes, which was over subscriber and redeemed in 2021 despite foreign exchange challenges.

UBA grew its footprint from 22 in 2016 to 24 countries in Q1-2022, extending operations to – Mali (2019), and the United Arab Emirates (2022).

UBA equally commenced Click Credit in 2020, an instant online consumer loan application/availment platform.

class. He later obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and became a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Accountants of Nigeria.

The former UBA GMD has an MBA from the University of Lagos attended the Harvard Business School in Boston United States, the International Institute of Management Development (IMD) in Lausanne, Switzerland and the London Business School, United Kingdom.

In terms of his career milestones, Uzoka worked with the Standard Trust Bank (STB) as the Regional Director-South East; Vice President-Northern Nigeria, Chief Marketing Officer – Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Chief Marketing Officer, Lagos and later, the Managing Executive Officer at STB. When STB merged with UBA in 2005, he then joined the new UBA. He served as the General Manager and Head of UBA Group South Bank covering the Eastern, Southern, Mid-Western and Western States of Nigeria.

He later held various positions including Group Director, Resources, Group Human Resources Director, Executive Director, Resources, Deputy Managing Director UBA Bank for Africa, and Deputy Managing Director/CEO UBA Africa managing the subsidiaries across 18 countries on the continent. He became GMD in 2016.

EQUIPPED FOR THE JOB

SHAREHOLDERS’ COMMENDATIONS

The achievements recorded by Uzoka may come to many as a surprise. However, to some other analysts and stakeholders, the former GMD laid a strong foundation and prepared well to achieve those feats.

Uzoka obtained his first degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Benin. He was the best Mechanical Engineering student in the 1987 graduating

Shareholders who have reaped handsomely from their investment in UBA in form dividends, have commended the performance of the financial institution under Uzoka.

For instance, the President, Association for the Advancement of Nigeria Shareholders, Dr. Faruk Umar, said Uzoka

did very well as GMD of UBA. He said:” Under Uzoka ‘s leadership , UBA had consistently improved on its performance. It had expanded the business of the bank to 22 African locations which no Nigerian bank had done . The corporate governance of the bank under his purview, including compliance and risk management, was excellent. With the guidance of Tony Elumelu, who chairs the board, we were confident that Uzoka’s tenure would be successful. Also, he had related very well with the leadership of shareholders’ associations, and we wish him God’s guidance in his future endeavours.”

In his assessment, the Chairman, Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria(PSAN), Mr. Boniface Okezie, said UBA’s balance sheet grew into trillions, while its services became second to none.

“In the area of service delivery, you hardly see customers queuing in the banking hall any more unlike in the past when people used to crowd the bank. He decongested the banking hall through the deployment of robust information technology (IT). I have witnessed this improvement because I am one of the customers apart from being a shareholder as well,” Okezie said.

He explained that in the area of dividend payout, it was also remarkable in the history because the bank began to pay higher amount to its shareholders.

“I will give kudos to Uzoka and the team that worked with him to deliver good returns to stakeholders as well as keeping the bank’s strong both in Nigeria and Africa.

We must commend the Board of Directors, especially the chairman, who gave him free hand to run the bank,” he said.

Okezie noted that the good staff members of UBA, who gave in their best, should also be commended, saying that without the dedicated staff, Uzoka would not have succeeded.

“Because only him would not have done the job. In all, I rate Uzoka very high.

The way he ran the bank successfully in the midst of the stiff competition, poor economic environment and over-regulated industry must be commended. Despite those headwinds, the bank continued to pay handsome dividend to shareholders.

My hope and prayer is that the new GMD should continue well from Uzoka stopped and improve on the performance,” Okezie said.

In the assessment of the Chairman, Ibadan Zone Shareholders Association, Mr. Eric Akinduro, Uzoka tried his best to have kept the bank’s flag flying in the face of critical economic downturn.

“Uzoka, to us as shareholders, really tried his best to keep the flag of our bank flying even in the face of critical economic downturn. I have come to realise in his leadership style that our value is not determined by what we have but what we do with what we have. He sustained the legacy of the bank in terms of return on investment and during his time he was able to create goodwill with shareholders which is the major part of any business legacy. His extra-ordinary ability to keep the team together and on task in a perfect harmonious way is a good example of his professionalism. He had been a great asset to our bank and we would miss him,” Akinduro said.

Also speaking, the National Coordinator, Pragmatic Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Mrs, Bisi Bakare said Uzoka performed excellently well.

“For me, Uzoka has performed excellently well during his tenure as the GMD of UBA. He improved on the growth started by his predecessor, Oduoza and Elumelu.

Uzoka consistently grew gross earnings, PBT and PAT and shareholders regularly received good dividend. He has retired on a very positive note and he should be commended,” Bakare said.

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BUSINESS SPECIAL

ANALYSIS

Monetary Policy and Economic Growth Iniefiok Akpan

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lobally, Central Banks, as apex financial institutions, play pivotal roles in the growth and development of the economies where they operate. This is notable because as lenders of last resort, formulators of monetary policies and also as the government agency in charge of ensuring financial systems stability, they guide their specific economies in the appropriate direction that is desirable for positive socio-economic changes.

In Nigeria, the emergence of Godwin Emefiele as the apex bank’s helmsman, brought increased vigour into these already established functions especially in the real sector bringing about an enhanced transmission mechanism of monetary policy actions, as well as facilitating the development of financial markets through the creation of easy access to credit for investment and production.

This intervention by Emefiele, influenced largely a significant drop in government revenue, made the infusion of development finance tools and some monetary policy innovations designed to aid recovery without jeopardising price stability, inexorably imperative.

It needs to be pointed out that this intervention of central bank in development financing is not new as it dates back to the 1920s. Actually, central banks in both advanced and emerging markets embraced quantitative easing in order to support their economies toward recovering from the global financial crisis of 2008/2009, and the associated economic downturn triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic. Without gainsaying it, development finance interventions are frequently an integral part of the recovery strategy in most countries.

On its part, the present administration has granted over N3 trillion in intervention funds which has helped generate employment and improve productivity.

Since 2015, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been rolling out multiple intervention programmes to keep Nigeria’s economy afloat.

In the real sector, the CBN introduced the 100 for 100 Policy on Production and Productivity (PPP); an intervention programme targeted at financially solidifying the local private companies with bankable projects to fund. The programme was also designed to wean Nigeria off massive importation and foreign exchange depletion by bolstering local capacity to meet local demands; create massive jobs, galvanise sustainable economic growth via exports, accelerate structural economic transformation and ultimately promote diversification and productivity.

On January 31, 28 selected local firms were unveiled at the CBN headquarters and presented with cheques totaling N23.2 billion. The money was pooled by seven commercial banks that have keyed

Emefiele into the programme, which among others, seek to ultimately address the nation’s unemployment nightmare by providing diverse jobs and boosting export in agriculture, healthcare, manufacturing, extractive industries, logistics services, traderelated infrastructure, and renewable energy.

Already, and going by the latest statistics from the apex bank, the intervention of the CBN in the manufacturing sector has risen to N803 billion.

“Under the N1trillion manufacturing intervention stimulus, the total of N803.36 billion has been disbursed to 228 projects across various sectors in agro-allied, mining, steel production and packaging industries, among others,” it stated.

In May 2020, the CBN introduced guidelines for the implementation of the COVID-19 intervention facility for the manufacturing sector.

Part of the objectives was to improve access to affordable credit by domestic manufacturing enterprises across critical sectors of the economy; and close the financing gap necessary for the replacement of machinery and equipment to enhance local production. The manufacturing

sector has received a huge boost as a result of this intervention by the apex bank.

Prior to this, the country’s manufacturing sector contributed less than 15 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Even more disturbing was the continuous importation of many commodities that Nigeria had the capacity to produce and export.

What is significant and encouraging is that this Emefiele policy has ignited a renewed working relationship with Deposit Money Banks and other participating financial institutions all focused on critical areas such as the agricultural and manufacturing sectors. Under the N1 trillion Real Sector Facility, the Bank has released a total of N1.40 trillion to 331 real sector projects in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, and services sectors. Under its Real Sector Support Facility (RSSF), the CBN has disbursed N166.21 billion to 25 projects.

The apex bank is assertive that its “mission through this initiative is to ensure that priority is accorded to companies that display verifiable progress in our imports’ substitution and job creation drive”. The Governor is not just putting

the financial enablement in place, commendable as it is, he, also, has stridently embarked on an advocacy thrust by appealing to all prospective investors to take advantage of the huge opportunities provided for investment in the real sector under the PPP and approach their banks to submit their applications for participation under the initiative.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in response to COVID-19 pandemic, had in April 2020 taken measures to extend credit facilities of up to N100 billion to support intervention efforts geared towards the healthcare sector. The aim of the intervention was and still remains a policy direction with the measured target of stimulating economic activities locally within the healthcare sector, while making products and services readily available to Nigerians, thereby building, diversifying and expanding the capacity of the Nigerian healthcare sector.

The apex bank is resolute that the intervention facility will not only support the Federal Government’s palliative measures but also provide the much-needed enhancement to beleaguered manufacturing enterprises in priority economic activities. The policy that is already well received within the target sector also focuses on boosting local manufacturing capacity and supporting mass employment, wealth creation and foreign reserve accretion.

Statistics show that CBN, in the process of practicalising its commitment to the success of this policy, had disbursed N93 billion of the fund to beneficiaries and serious positive impact has also been felt in the private sector as was deliberately envisioned. The intervention was with a view to strengthening the sector’s capacity to meet potential increase in demand for healthcare products and services.

Specifically, the scheme was to provide credit to indigenous pharmaceutical companies and other healthcare value chain players to build and or expand capacity. The scheme, as expected, is beginning to increase private and public investment in the healthcare sector, facilitate improvements in healthcare delivery and reduce medical tourism to enhance foreign exchange conservation.

A typical positive outcome of the CBN intervention in the health sector is that, recently, the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, accessed a local health facility assisted by a deposit money bank that is considered good enough to compete with its kind any where in the world. That decision by the Vice President saved resources that would have, otherwise, been spent on medical tourism.

It proved the Emefiele policy that encourages banks to collaborate with investors in all the sectors spot on. What it also revealed is that the Emefiele gospel is sinking in even at the topmost level of government. t "LQBO JT BO FDPOPNJTU CBTFE JO $BMBCBS

Chevron Restates Partnership with Nigeria to Boost Oil Sector Peter Uzoho American oil and gas major, Chevron Nigeria Limited, has reiterated its partnership with the Nigerian government, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and other stakeholders in the nation’s oil and gas industry to enable the success of the sector.

The company also stated that a good regulatory framework was imperative in expanding the fortunes of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry while enabling the

transition to energy solutions of the future.

The Chairman and Managing Director of Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL), Mr. Rick Kennedy, stated these while delivering a goodwill message at the justconcluded Association of Energy Correspondents of Nigeria’s (NAEC) Strategic International Conference in Lagos, with the theme: “Energy Transition, An Appraisal of the PIA, Evolving Benefits and Challenges.”

Represented by the Manager, Communications, Chevron Nigeria, Mr. Victor Anyaegbudike, Kennedy, who is also the Chairman

of Oil Producers Trade Section (OPTS), said for Nigeria to sustain economic growth which has raised the quality of life of millions of people around the world, there must be a competitive environment to produce energy that is affordable, reliable and ever cleaner to enable human progress.

He noted that the global energy landscape has experienced substantial changes over the years, with expectations of more changes in the future, adding nonetheless, that Nigeria is endowed with the necessary requirements for a growing and sustainable energy industry that includes large

hydrocarbon reserves (including abundant gas resources), a growing demand for energy, and a large population of young, talented human resources.

He said, ‘’The passage and signing into law of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) is a major milestone in the reform of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry geared towards attracting investment and growth.

“Chevron recognises the opportunity which the PIA represents, and we fully support the necessary collaboration between the regulators, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and stakeholders in

the industry that will enable the success of the Nigerian oil and gas industry.”

As the stakeholders and players advance in the PIA implementation, Kennedy believed that natural gas was an important fuel that would play a critical role as the world seeks to lower its overall carbon footprint.

He observed that Nigeria recently launched its Decade of Gas initiative, under the theme: “Towards a Gaspowered Economy by 2030,” that will work with the National Gas Expansion Programme in increasing gas production.

Kennedy said that his company

supports this key step towards helping to utilize Nigeria’s vast natural gas resources for the benefit of the nation.

He informed that the company has reduced routine gas flaring by 95 per cent in the past 10 years and remained the highest supplier of high-quality gas to the domestic market among the international oil companies (IOCs).

He assured that CNL would continue to enhance gas utilization in Nigeria with focus on critical areas such as power generation, to stimulate the growth of the manufacturing sector of the economy.

Ikeja Electric Strengthens Capacity of Meter Installers Peter Uzoho In preparation to receive and begin the roll out of its allocation from the awaiting four million prepaid meters under the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP), Ikeja Electric Plc (IE) has trained 140 employees with Cutting-edge skills to boost metering density and meter management across its network.

The staff were trained under the Ikeja Electric Metering Academy, which was launched in 2020 as a result of the identified shortage in

human capacity in the installation of meters, resulting in slow pace of metering across its network.

According to the power distribution firm, the training was carried out in partnership with the Energy Training Centre (ETC) and the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN), which certified the trained staff.

Speaking during the presentation of certificates to the graduands in Lagos, recently, the Chief Executive Officer, Ikeja Electric, Folake Soetan, said the essence of the training was to bridge the metering gap in the

industry which aligns with the vision of the company and the NMMP. Soetan, who was represented at the event by the Chief Financial Officer, Ikeja Electric, Mrs. Sequinat Akinwunmi, said the young graduands were selected across Ikeja Electric’s six Business Units namely, Akowonjo, Shomolu, Abule-Egba, Ikeja, Oshodi and Ikorodu.

“The programme will also equip staff to carry out the functions including meter installation, identifying faults and also rectifying the faults. This will in turn improve service delivery, ensure customer

satisfaction, and also grow revenue.

“This programme is very important to us. That is why we have put in a lot of resources and time, and also partnered with NAPTIN and ETC to close up this skill gap in the industry,” she said.

While congratulating the graduating students, she tasked them to be worthy ambassadors of Ikeja Electric and adhere to safety standards which is one of the Disco’s core values.

The Managing Director, Energy Training Centre, Mrs. Ibiene Okeleke, said: “Ikeja Electric had invested

heavily in the Metering Academy.

They partnered with Energy Training Centre (ETC) to ensure the 140 candidates were trained by the Metering Academy, across three batches.

According to her, “The Energy Training Centre had signed a partnership with NAPTIN, which is the sector’s regulated training centre that works with Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC)”.

The Director-General, NAPTIN, Mr. Ahmed Nagode, said the training would also help to shore

up the Disco’s revenue collection and improve customer satisfaction, apart from increasing the level of efficiency of the graduands.

Speaking on behalf of the graduating students, Mr. Akingbade Adeniyi, Mr Tomilayo Oluborode and Ms. Gloria Gomina, thanked Ikeja Electric for facilitating the training.

According to them, they have been equipped on how to install meters, identify meter bypass and meter management among other things which would improve their job performances going forward.

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MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2022 ˾ T H I S D AY

FOREIGN DESK

COMPILED BY BAYO AKINLOYE

Canada Mass Stabbings: 10 Dead, 15 Injured Canadian police said Sunday 10 people are dead from stabbings in 13 locations in two communities in the province of Saskatchewan, and police are looking for two suspects.

Fifteen people have been sent to hospitals after stabbings in multiple locations on the James Smith Cree Nation and in the village of Weldon, northeast of Saskatoon, police said.

Early indications suggested the victims may have been attacked at random, but police have not provided a possible motive.

The search for suspects was waged as fans descended in Regina for a sold-out, annual Labour Day game between the Canadian Football League’s Saskatchewan Roughriders and Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

The Regina Police Service said in a news release that with the help of Mounties, it was working on several fronts to locate and arrest the suspects and had “deployed additional resources for public safety throughout the city, including the football game at Mosaic Stadium.” The alert first issued

by Melfort, Saskatchewan RCMP, about 7 a.m. was extended hours later to cover Manitoba and Alberta, as the two suspects remained at large..

Barack Obama Wins Emmy for Narrating National Parks Series tBarack Obama is halfway to an EGOT

The former US president won an Emmy Award on Saturday to go with his two Grammys.

Obama won the best narrator Emmy for his work on the Netflix documentary series, Our Great National Parks.

The five-part show, which features national parks from around the globe, is produced by Barack and Michelle Obama’s production company, Higher Ground.

He was the biggest name in a category full of famous nominees for the award handed out at Saturday night’s Creative Arts Emmys, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, David Attenborough and Lupita Nyong’o.

Barack Obama is the second president to have an Emmy. Dwight D. Eisenhower was given a special Emmy Award in 1956.

Barack Obama previously won Grammy Awards for his audiobook reading of two of his memoirs, The Audacity of Hope and A Promised Land. Michelle Obama won her own Grammy for reading her audiobook in 2020.

EGOT refers to a special category of entertainers who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony. To date, 17 people have done it.

The late Chadwick Boseman also won an Emmy for his voice work on Saturday.

Xinjiang Red Dates, Linked to Forced Labour, Sold in US A trip to an Asian grocery store in the US is like a tour of the Orient. Pickled mustard greens from Thailand, instant noodles from Korea, Japan, Taiwan and China, and packets of dried fungus and fruits — pack the shelves of any given Asian supermarket.

Some of these stores have come to the attention of human rights researchers.

A report released this week by the Washington-based Uyghur Human Rights Project found markets in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area, and some online retailers in the US continue to sell more than 70 brands of red dates grown and processed in Xinjiang, a region in China that’s been the focus of a US law on forced labour.

In December, President Joe Biden signed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) into law. Enforcement of the law began in June.

US products wholly or partially produced in China’s northwest region of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) are prohibited from entering the US unless the importer can prove with evidence that they weren’t made by forced labour.

“This includes goods produced in other parts of the PRC [People’s Republic of China] or in other countries that incorporate goods that were mined, produced, or manufactured in the XUAR or by entities on the UFLPA Entity List,” a US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) representative told VOA..

Truss Vows Fast Action on UK Cost of Living Liz Truss, who is widely expected to become Britain’s new prime minister this week, has pledged to act within a week to tackle a cost-of-living crisis fueled by soaring energy bills linked to the war in Ukraine.

But Truss, speaking to the BBC Sunday, refused to provide any details on the actions she would take, suggesting it would be wrong to discuss specific policies until she takes the top post. She stressed, however, that she understands the magnitude of Britain’s problems.

The government has been unable to address soaring inflation, labour strife and strains on the nation’s creaking health care system since early July when Johnson announced his intention to resign and triggered a contest to choose his successor. The ruling Conservative Party will announce the winner Monday.

“I want to reassure people that I am absolutely determined to sort out this issue as well as, within a month, present a full plan for how we are going to reduce taxes, how we’re going to get the British economy going, and how we are going to find our way out of these difficult times,’’ said Truss, who has been foreign secretary for the past year.

Truss is facing Rishi Sunak, the government’s former Treasury chief, in the contest to become Conservative Party leader and so prime minister.

Only dues-paying party members were allowed to vote in the election, putting the choice of Britain’s next leader in the hands of about 180,000 party activists.

Zelensky Warns Europe of Difficult Winter over Russian Fuel Cuts Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is warning European countries to expect a difficult winter as Russia cuts its oil and natural gas exports to retaliate for their support of the Kyiv government in its fight against Russia’s invasion.

“Russia is preparing a decisive energy blow on all Europeans for this winter,” he said in his Saturday night video address after Moscow earlier in the day shut down a main gas pipeline to the continent.

Moscow has blamed technical issues, along with economic sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies against Russia, for the energy disruptions. European countries that have sent munitions to the Kyiv government and helped train its fighters have accused Russia of weaponising energy supplies they have purchased from Moscow.

Some war analysts say the fuel shortages and rising living costs could stress Western resolve in supporting Ukraine. Moscow says it plans to keep the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, its main gas conduit to Germany closed, and the Group of Seven or G-7 leading democratic economies said they would cap the price on

Russian oil exports to limit its profits that help fund the war.

The Kremlin, in turn, said it would not sell oil to any countries that implemented the cap..

US Ambassador to Russia Leaves Post Amid Ukraine War The US ambassador to Russia, John Sullivan, ended his tenure as America’s top diplomat in Moscow on Sunday after nearly three years, spanning the Trump and Biden administrations, and will retire from a lengthy career in government service. His departure, which comes in the midst of an increasingly serious crisis over Russia’s war in Ukraine as well as disputes over detained Americans in Russia, had been expected this fall as he reached the usual length of time for US ambassadors. But it was sped up due to family medical issues, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the private nature of the situation.

“Ambassador Sullivan’s departure is planned and part of a normal diplomatic rotation,” the State Department said. “He has served a full tenure as US ambassador to Russia, managing one of the most critical bilateral relationships in the world during unprecedented times.”

The department added, “The US will continue to condemn unequivocally the Kremlin’s aggressive war against Ukraine and remain steadfast in our commitment to supporting Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”.

Mali Releases Ivorian Soldiers, 46 Others Still Detained Three female Ivorian soldiers arrived home late Saturday after being detained for nearly two months in Mali, while 46 others remain jailed in a case that has heightened tensions between the West African neighbours.

Togolese Foreign Affairs Minister Robert Dusse, whose country has been mediating talks, said the three women were “released as a humanitarian gesture” by Mali’s leader, Col. Assimi Goita.

“We are sad because our friends are still there, and we hope to be able to retrieve them very soon,” said one of the soldiers, Sita Bamba, who was released along with Awa Bakayoko and Kangah Badou Adele Bledou.

The Ivorian soldiers were sent to Mali in July to work for Sahelian Aviation Services, a private company contracted by the United Nations.

However, Mali’s government said it considered the Ivorians to be mercenaries because they were not directly employed by the UN mission and charged them with undermining state security.

Malian authorities said the aviation company should “henceforth entrust its security to the Malian defence and security forces.”

In a statement, Malian Prosecutor Samba Sissoko gave no update about the 46 Ivorians who are still detained, other than to say that “investigations are ongoing.” The Togolese

foreign affairs minister indicated discussions about the remaining detainees continue.

Hamas Authorities Execute 5 Palestinians in Gaza Gaza’s ruling Hamas Islamists executed five Palestinians on Sunday, two of them on charges of espionage for Israel that dated back to 2015 and 2009, the Interior Ministry said.

The dawn executions, by hanging or firing squad, were the first in the Palestinian territories since 2017. Past cases of capital punishment being carried out in Gaza have drawn criticism from human rights groups.

The ministry statement did not provide the full names of any of the condemned men.

It said three had been convicted of murder.

The two convicted spies, aged 44 and 54, had given Israel information that led to the killing of Palestinians, it said.

The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, which oversees the country’s intelligence services, declined comment.

“The execution was carried out after the conclusion of all legal procedures. The rulings had been final, with implementation mandatory, after all of the convicted were accorded full rights to defend themselves,” the statement said.

Reuters could not immediately corroborate this..

China, Japan Cancel Ferries, Flights over Typhoon Cities in eastern China suspended ferry services and classes, and flights were cancelled in Japan on Sunday as Typhoon Hinnamnor, the strongest global storm this year, blew its way past Taiwan and the Koreas with fierce winds and heavy rains.

Shanghai grounded ferry services and deployed more than 50,000 police officers to aid with rescues and guide traffic away from danger areas. The eastern business hub of Wenzhou ordered all classes suspended on Monday.

Hinnamnor is forecasted to move gradually northward into the East China Sea with maximum sustained winds of 175 kilometres per hour, according to the Hong Kong Observatory.

Evacuations and flight cancellations have been ordered in Japan’s southern Okinawa Island.

The typhoon is also expected to bring intense rainfall to the Korean Peninsula, bringing the possibility of flooding.

China’s National Meteorological Center issued a yellow typhoon warning at 10 a.m. Sunday, and warned of heavy rains in northeastern Zhejiang, Shanghai and self-governing Taiwan.

Ships were told to return to port to take shelter from the wind, and the centre also urged people against large gatherings both indoors and outdoors.

In Japan, the typhoon lashed Okinawa and nearby islands with heavy rain and fierce winds, threatening flooding and grounding more than 100 flights connecting the islands and parts of the main southern island of Kyushu.

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 5, 2022 • T H I S D AY

41

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T H I S D AY ˾ DAY ͳ˜ 2022

FEATURES

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

Sustainable Campaign for Clean Air in Lagos Communities Under the slogan of Eko Clean Air, Breathe Clean Air Now, the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency, LASEPA, and some private organisations are running a campaign to address air pollution, promote a circular economy while also empowering the vulnerable members of the society for sustainable development. Recently, the team took the movement to Itedo Community, a Lagos suburb in Eti-Osa Local Government Area to enlighten them on the need to protect their environment, Chiemelie Ezeobi reports

Women and children of Itedo community at the official launch of Eko Clean Air project

L-R: Permanent Secretary, Office of Environmental Services, Dr. Tajudeen Gaji; Managing Director of Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), Mr. Ibrahim Odumboni, and GM LASEPA, Dr. Dolapo Fasawe

Some of the 500 beneficiaries of the clean energy gas

Residents bringing their trash for cash exchange

I

tedo Community, located off Freedom Way, along Lekki Phase 1, Eti-Osa Local Government Area, is a developing community inhabited by petty traders, artisans, fishermen, farmers and school children.

Recently, on a certain Saturday, the community was unusually busy. The Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA), under the Lagos State Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources came around to kick off Eko Clean Air, Breathe Clean Air Now campaign in the community.

While the campaign by LASEPA was targeted at clean air and even proper plastic waste disposal, for the Itedo Community it meant more than that. Even though they promised to key into the campaign, for them, the choice of their community was a sign that the government had not forgotten them.

Many who spoke to THISDAY said it brought a sigh of relief for them that out of all the communities in Lagos, the government chose theirs to kickstart such a laudable initiative. So they trooped out in their numbers, including children, so much so that the provided space was not enough.

High Burden of Air Pollution in Nigeria Why was such a campaign for the environment championed with such zeal one might ask? The reason is not far-fetched! Nigeria has the highest burden of fatalities from air pollution in Africa and ranks fourth globally with 150 deaths per 100,000 people attributable to pollution.

According to 2012 released annual State of the Global Air Report published by the Health Effects Institute (HEI), air quality in Nigeria is

among the deadliest anywhere on earth with higher than ambient air pollution death rates as a result of the environmental hazards.

The Lagos Dilemma In Lagos alone, which is the commercial nerve centre of Nigeria, air pollution is not left out as the WHO recommended threshold might even be higher given that it's one of the fastest growing mega-cities.

According to experts, given the urban nature of the state and its rapid urbanisation and industrialisation, it has contributed to the exposure of people to ecological problems and changing climate conditions, with its attendant negative effect on human health.

In Lagos for instance, an estimated seven million people died from diseases related to indoor and outdoor air pollution in 2012 according to the WHO. Fast forward to 2020, a study done

by World Bank showed that 65 per cent of deaths were premature and it was caused by air pollution. From

that 65 percent almost 70 were children below the age of five. Just last year, 22,500 children died from air pollution in the state and that was 75 per cent of the 30,000 people that died due to the bad environment.

But General Manager of Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA), Dr. Dolapo Fasawe, is bent on changing this narrative and turning Lagos into a clean city in line with best global standards.

How does she intend to do this? The environmental and public health advocate hopes to put policies and action plans in place to improve air quality in the state.

Beyond rhetorics, she has moved on to put plans in motion to accelerate interventions targeted at reducing mortality associated with air pollution, one of which is this recent Cleaner Air campaign.

Causative Factors Environmental hazards alongside extreme pollution sources like generator fumes, vehicle emissions and crop burning among others are some of the many causes of air pollution.

Other common causes of air pollution included burning of fossil fuels, industrial emission, indoor air pollution, wildfires, microbial decaying process, transportation, open burning of garbage waste, as well as construction and demolition.

The Eko Clean Air project is an intervention by the government and some private organisations to address air pollution, promote a circular economy while also empowering the vulnerable members of the society for sustainable development

Effects Long-term health effects from air pollution include heart disease, lung cancer, and respiratory diseases such as emphysema. Air pollution can also cause long-term damage to people's nerves, brain, kidneys, liver, and other organs.

Short term effects on the other hand include global warming, climate change, acid rain, smog effects, deterioration of fields (contaminated water and gases seep into the earth, changing the composition of soils. That directly affects agriculture, changing crop cycles and the composition of the food we all eat), chemical sensitivity, deterioration in building materials and skin damage.

Eko for Clean Air Campaign by LASEPA It was to ameliorate this danger that the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA), under the Lagos State Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, recently kicked off Eko Clean Air, Breathe Clean Air Now campaign.

While the campaign by LASEPA was targeted at clean air, its key derivatives were hinged on "Poor air quality harms your health, stop the pollution", "Reduce air pollution, make earth sustainable", amongst others.

The message of Eko Clean Air was further re-echoed with a short drama presentation by a popular Nigeria actor, Prince Jide Kosoko who is also the ambassador for "Eko Clean Air project' and his group.

The drama emphasised the need to embrace cooking gases as against other methods of cooking like firewood, kerosene stove and Continued on page 43

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T H I S D AY ˾ DAY ͳ˜ 2022

FEATURES

Weighing some of the electronic waste charcoal, considering their negative effects on the environment.

At the official kick-off ceremony for the ‘EKO Clean Air’ project, Dr. Fasawe said it was an intervention by the government and some private organisations to address air pollution, promote a circular economy while also empowering the vulnerable members of the society for sustainable development.

She said: “Eko for Clean Air is preaching prosperity, good health, increased GDP and increased productivity for the people of Lagos State. We are currently in Itedo community, and the response has been mind-blowing."

In his speech, the Commissioner, Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, Mr. Tunji Bello, while unveiling the Eko Clean Air project, stated that it will be replicated across all the local government areas of the state in other to improve the quality of air in Lagos State.

He added that: “This campaign is part of the THEMES Agenda of this administration, under the Health and Environment Pillar with the objective of reducing health inequality, promoting proper handling and management of waste so as to encourage healthy lifestyle, creates source of income for a lot of people and also maintain a better and sustainable environment."

Represented by the Permanent Secretary, Office of Environmental services, Dr. Tajudeen Gaji, the Commissioner commended the agency for its proactive approach towards environmental protection and further described the partners as eco-friendly organisations who are conscious of the environment and the health of Lagosians.

Also speaking, Managing Director of Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), Mr. Ibrahim Odumboni, commended the improved waste management practice noticed within the area and pleaded with the residents to continue to maintain good environmental attitude He said that Itedo, being a community on water should pay more attention to their environment by imbibing friendly environmental attitude, just as he encouraged each household within the community to have a waste bin and embrace sorting of their wastes.

Stakeholders that partnered LASEPA to pull this off were Lagos State Waste Management Agency, IHS Towers, Nigeria Bottling Company (NBC), Waste Exchange for Plastics, Eco Circle for oil Waste and MRI for electronic waste.

Pre and Post Assessment for Itedo Community?

On the reason why they chose Itedo community out of all others, the GM said they did air quality study before the intervention and out of the randomly sampled, only 40 per cent understood recycle reuse, only few understood that plastic was not bio-degradable and only 60 per cent understood clean energy.

"We also did something called the K-A-P: knowledge, attitude and practices, and we realised that a lot of persons did not know the effects of air pollution on health.

"As you can see, the government is teaching the people the practice of waste to wealth by buying the plastic waste, e-waste and used oils from them, thus putting money in their pocket".

On plans for post assessment, she said LASEPA would return to the community in four weeks to measure the air quality and ascertain their compliance with the practice already established, adding that “If they listen to us, and are practising what we have taught them, the air will be cleaner".

Essentially, the assessment of the air quality of the community would be conducted in the next four weeks to ascertain the impact of the eco friendly materials distributed to the residents so as to re-measure and compare with the initial result in other to determine the compliance of

Trash for cash for Cash' aspect of the 'Eko Clean Air' project, Mrs. Monisola Ajayi-Badru, walker away with N100,000 from LASEPA in exchange for some bags of pet bottles.

Disclosing that she picked the pet bottles from the community, she encouraged others to embrace the initiative, especially as it will further improve their standard of living by making money from trash.

The PS, office of environmental services; LAWMA GM, and LASEPA GM and Oro ale of itedo community, Chief. Gbogunhan Topia inaugurating the donated borehole and treated water the residents to the friendly measures introduced.

Plastic and Dangers Posed But beyond the clean air campaign, LASEPA also took the plastic awareness campaign to the community. The reason is not far-fetched. Everyday, around 8 million plastics make their way into the ocean and water bodies. With it comes attendant widespread problems affecting the marine environment, threats to ocean health, marine species, food quality and safety, human health, coastal tourism- all which contribute to global climate change.

Globally, plastic waste management is a critical issue that is needs proper management. According to records, over 300 million metric tons of plastics are produced in the world annually and for Nigeria, about 32 million tonnes of waste are generated per year, of which 2.5 million tonnes are plastic waste.

Bringing it down to Lagos alone, 9,000 tonnes of waste are generated daily with about 86 per cent of it plastic, consisting bottles and bags, more than half of which end up in landfills, sewers, beaches and water bodies.

The menace of poor management of plastic waste that enters the environment is caused by open dumping, open burning, and disposal in waterways and even on the road.

Inevitably, these waste pose great dangers to the environment. The environmental challenges they pose include ocean and lagoon debris, Ecosystems degradation, drainage clogging and even flooding.

At Itedo Community, Dr. Fasawe harped on the dangers while noting that she hopes to see lesser plastic bottles on the road because they left behind a permanent plastic recycler for them.

Kicking off her talk, GM Lasepa used a plastic bottle to show the dangers of plastic. Holding one up,

she said the plastic represents money and danger.

On the danger part, she lamented that it's not bio degradable so even when buried, it doesn't decompose.

For those who burn plastic, she said they only contribute to global warming as the smoke goes to the air and destroys the climate and for those who dispose theirs in drainages or on the roads, she said when rain falls, it's carried to the sea and destroys the aqua system.

Expatiating, she said such plastics are swallowed by marine animals like fishes and humans end up buying it, resulting to cancer, high blood pressure and other diseases.

Push for Circular Economy as Way Out of Environmental Waste But what is the way out? Beyond talking, LASEPA is pushing for a circular economy, especially when it comes to proper disposal of all forms of waste using the "Waste for Trash" method.

According to LASEPA GM, the process of exchanging trash for cash is seamless as it starts from the collection of wastes such as pet bottles, used electronics, back oil and other accredited ones.

Then it's taken to the recyclers, who are positioned in a place (already, Lagos has 700 accredited recyclers). They weigh the waste to determine the worth and then pay accordingly in exchange for the waste. After that, off-takers will recycle and use for chairs, shoes, tyres and other things, hence resulting to 'Circular Economy'.

With this process, Dr. Fasawe said they hope to curb capital flight as the money will be in the hands of Nigerians and not foreigners who will buy off the plastics, recycle and sell back to Nigerians.

While enlightening the community on the dangers of non-degradable plastics and uncoordinated waste oil disposal, she said such wastes, if properly handled can be exchanged for cash and also recycled into other usable items, adding that "We considered it necessary at LASEPA to bring this message of Eko Clean Air to this community, following a research carried out within this area. We want the people of Lagos to know that there is nothing called waste, because what is considered as waste is someones else's treasured raw materials," she added.

In fact, one of the beneficiaries of the 'Trash

We want the people of Lagos to know that there is nothing called waste, because what is considered as waste is someones else's treasured raw materials

Walking the Talk with Eco Friendly Materials To put bite in its campaign, LASEPA also walked its talk by first empowering the community with eco-friendly materials that will boost the campaign for a cleaner air.

The eco friendly materials distributed to the community members include: 500 cooking gas stoves with content, 400 water bottles, 400 rechargeable lights and 400 reusable use bags respectively.

At the kick off, a community borehole was unveiled with treated water.

While the gas was meant to phase out cooking with charcoal, the water bottles were given to encourage less dependence on plastic bottles and sachet water.

Mindset Change for Itedo Community For the Itedo community, this campaign was an eye opener for them. At the end of the exercise, the community members thronged the recycling centres to drop off their waste- from adult to children, they scrambled to drop off their old TV sets, fridge, and even plastics.

In return, they got paid for their efforts. On seeing the truth behind the scheme, they all vowed to keep their community free of plastics. And it was not an empty promise. Right before the guests even left the venue, the community members were seen scrambling to pick up the plastics on the ground to add to their pile for sale.

With their mindsets changed for the better, it is hoped that the post assessment billed to hold a month later would signify tremendous change in their air quality, which in turn will translate to better life for the entire community.

LASEPA at a Glance According to its website, LASEPA was established on November 1, 1996 by virtue of the LASEPA Edict No. 9 of 1996 (now Environment Management Protection Law 2017 Part VI)).

The main thrust of the agency is to protect and improve the environment, assist public and private organisations, industries, businesses and non-governmental organisations to achieve compliance by providing environment-friendly solutions to varied environmental challenges.

The functions of LASEPA impact on the activities of industries, commercial services, public and private sectors, communities and the environment at large and as an implementing organ of the state’s policies on the environment, the agency gives preference to and works hand-in-hand with other relevant stakeholders, as well as national and international agencies on the environment.

Consequently, LASEPA works under the ambit of national, state and local government laws (on the environment), multilateral treaties, agreements, conventions and protocols entered into by the national government with respect to the environment.

With a vision to build a portfolio of sound environmental management programmes and projects in the development of a sustainable environment in conjunction with other arms of government, regulatory organisations and international agencies, it's mission is geared towards safeguarding the environmental quality that is consistent with the social and economic needs of the state, so as to protect health, welfare, property and quality of life.

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T H I S D AY ˾ ˜ SEPTEMBER 5, 2022

BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

CBN Hails Access Bank, Others on Sustainable Banking Principles James Emejo ÓØ ÌßÔË

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) lauded Access Bank Plc’s commitment to sustainable banking principles.

Special Adviser to the CBN Governor on Sustainable Banking, Dr. Aisha Mahmood, gave the commendation at roundtable jointly hosted with the European Organisation for Sustainable Development in Abuja.

The discussion which also featured the CBN Director, Banking Supervision Department, Mr. Mustafa Haruna, and Access Bank Deputy Managing Director, Chizoba Okoli, among others, seeks to stimulate a world class sustainable banking and financing through embracing holistic sustainability standards for senior executives of commercial banks.

Mahmood said three Nigeria financial institutions namely Access Bank, Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) and Bank of Industry (BoI) had shown tremendous commitment in the implementation of sustainable principles in the financial sector.

According to her, Access Bank remained the first African commercial bank to be sustainability certified by the EOSD in 2020 while DBN became the first development financial institution and the second in Africa to be sustainability certified.

She said, ‘I am positive that this workshop will motivate other financial institutions to adopt the SSCI to build resilient economies that work for environment, businesses and the society.

“Since the adoption of the Nigerian sustainability banking principles, the Nigerian financial institutions have been integrating economic and social framework to manage risks and opportunities in their business processes and activities. So, the adoption of these iconic certification standards will go a long way in helping us in shaping that process.”

She pointed out that the apex bank is currently reviewing the Nigerian Sustainable Banking Principle, which has been implemented for over a decade to align the framework with global best practices.

On her part, Okoli said the

programme was extremely timely and offered an opportunity to discuss sustainability in line with global best practices.

She said the event provided a platform to further reflect on how the Nigeria financial sector has embedded sustainability and the subsequent actions required for a good performance.

According to her, “There has been conscious efforts to embrace partnership, develop initiatives, policies, and regulations to address issues such as climate change, inequality, human rights to mention a few.

“In achieving the overall development agenda, getting financing right and sustainable banking is very critical. In fact, without this, the global community will not be able to meet the development goals by 2030.

“For us at Access Bank, our commitment to sustainability has yielded great benefits, we have made significant progress in embedding sustainability and a core of our business decisions, operations and practices thereby impacting lives positively now and in the future.”

Korea-Nigeria Trade Records 20% Growth in H1 2022 Olawale Ajimotokan ÓØ ÌßÔË South Korea has said that its trade with Nigeria in the first half of the year grew by 20 per cent in comparison to that of 2021.

The Ambassador of Republic of Korea to Nigeria, Kim Youngchae, disclosed this in Abuja when the embassy hosted the visiting President of Korea-Africa Foundation (KAF), Lyeo Woon-Ki. Kim said official data for the period put the volume of trade between both countries at $1.1 billion.

He projected that from the current figures the volume of trade between Korea and Nigeria, which peaked at $2 billion last year following the COVID-19 pandemic will be have a positive outlook.

The economic transaction between both countries in 2019 was $3 billion.

The envoy, however, regretted that Nigeria has since last year lost its status to South Africa as Korea’s largest trade partner among African countries.

Lyeo was making his first visit to Nigeria since his appointment in March 2021 as President of KAF to promote economic ties with African countries.

He had a meeting with the National President of Nigeria Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) John Chinyelu Udeagbala and other members of the Chamber on deepening of economic ties between with Nigeria.

“The function of the foundation is to promote relationship

with African continent. The KAF was an initiative of the Korean Parliament in 2018 and the Korean Parliament and the Foreign Ministry are very much in support of our activities. We don’t have such foundation for other region expect the African continent and African countries,” he said.

He expressed hope that the business relationship with Nigeria will be interesting as Nigeria would be the economic engine in the future.

“But still the public perception about Nigeria is not positive. So the Korean business and Korean people are very much hesitant to come to Nigeria and to open some business in Nigeria. So we are trying to let them know the right way about Nigeria,” he said.

Advans MFB Flags-off English Essay Competition for Students Advans La Fayette Microfinance Bank Limited has announced its inaugural English Essay Competition for primary and junior secondary school students in select states in Nigeria.

The ban in a statement said the competition with the topic: “My Favourite Teacher,” is a nonfictional writing contest designed to stimulate imaginative thinking, harness the creativity and energy of school children, and inspire society.

The Contest, it added, is designed

for students between ages 8 and 13 in Lagos, Ondo, Kwara and Oyo States. Participating students, it added, are required to submit a 500-word essay using the Times New Roman typeface in size 12.

The Managing Director, Advans La Fayette Microfinance Bank Limited, Gaëtan Debuchy, stated that the Advans English Essay Competition offers children the springboard to unpack their thoughts and be limitlessly creative in their writing.

He said: “For us at Advans La

Fayette MFB, we are excited by the opportunity to inspire creativity in children leading to academic brilliance and excellence. We strongly believe that education is still the key to success.

“The prizes to be won are 1st prize is N100,000, 2nd prize is N50,000; and 3rd prize is N30,000.

We call on parents, guardians, and school administrators to encourage their children, wards, and students to participate in the essay competition,” he added.

Sterling Bank Introduces Virtual Cards for Customers Nume Ekeghe Sterling Bank Plc has introduced virtual cards for existing and prospective OneBank customers free of charge to enable them to make easy and fast local or international payments on sites like Netflix and Apple as well as shop on sites like Amazon, among others.

Chief Digital Officer with Sterling Bank, Mr. Olayinka Oni, who disclosed this in a statement issued by the bank, said the service is open to all registered and new customers

of OneBank and available on the OneBank app.

He advised new customers to open an account by downloading the app on the iOS store or Andriod play store to create their virtual cards.

According to Oni, Sterling Bank launched OneBank in 2019 as a fully digital banking solution. He explained that the solution offers the customer the ability to register and bank instantly, adding that the solution also allows the customer to make payments, invest and borrow money.

He said that with OneBank, customers could carry out all banking services without entering a branch. He can self-onboard, enter his BVN, upload his documents, and start transacting without entering any Sterling bank branch.

“Customers using OneBank can experience the ease of starting an investment plan, applying for a loan, and transferring forex, as well as enjoy a dynamic news feed, scroll through forex updates, and many other features, he added.

L-R: Managing Director, Remita Payment Services Limited,Mr. Deremi Atanda; Director, Banking Services Department (CBN), Mr. Samuel Okojere; Director, Risk Management Department (CBN), Dr. Blaise Ijebor; and General Manager, Ecobank, Dr. David Isiavwe, at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) 3rd Banking Services Department Retreat in Abuja recently

MARKET INDICATORS MONEY AND CREDIT STATISTICS

(MILLION NAIRA)

JUNE 2022 Money Supply (M3)

48,865,823.53

-- CBN Bills Held by Money Holding Sectors

167,956.2

Money Supply (M2)

48,797,867.32

-- Quasi Money

28,405,330.1

-- Narrow Money (M1)

20,392,537.22

---- Currency Outside Banks

2,722,785.91

---- Demand Deposits

17,669,751.32

Net Foreign Assets (NFA)

6,242,394.29

Net Domestic Assets(NDA)

42,623,429.24

-- Net Domestic Credit (NDC)

57,267,178.05

---- Credit to Government (Net)

17,996,690.06

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

0.00

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

0.00

---- Credit to Private Sector (CPS)

39,270,488

--Other Assets Net

5,566,430

Reserve Money (Base Money

11,320,304

--Currency in Circulation

3,259,269.15

--Banks Reserves --Special Intervention Reserves

11,320,303.72 384,377.56

˾ ÙßÜÍÏ ̋

Money Market Indicators (in Percentage) Month

June 2022

Inter-Bank Call Rate

11.10

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

13.00

Treasury Bill Rate

2.45

Savings Deposit Rate

1.38

1 Month Deposit Rate

3.48

3 Months Deposit Rate

4.55

6 Months Deposit Rate

4.97

12 Months Deposit Rate

5.30

Prime Lending rate

12.29

Maximum Lending Rate

27.61

˾ ÙØÏÞËÜã ÙÖÓÍã ËÞÏ ̋ ͯͱϱ

OPEC DAILY BASKET PRICE AS AT THURSDAY, MAY 7

The OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Djeno (Congo), Zafiro (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).

45

T H I S D AY ˾ ˜ ͳ˜ ͰͮͰͰ

UAC Nigeria Lists 44.83m Additional Shares on NGX Kayode Tokede UAC Nigeria Plc has listed additional 44,835,076 units stocks on the trading platform of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX).

The regulatory notice confirmed that the shares were from the scrip dividend election scheme issued to shareholders of the company.

It was gathered that the equities were listed on the bourse on Friday, increasing the total issued

and fully paid up shares of UAC Nigeria to 2,926,131,656 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each from the previous 2,881,296,580 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each.

The listing of 44,835,076 units brings UAC Nigeria’s market capitalisation to N32.19billion as of September 2, 2022.

“Trading licence holders are hereby notified that additional 44,835,076 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each of UAC of Nigeria Plc were on Friday, September

P R I C E S MAIN BOARD

F O R DEALS

2, 2022, listed on the daily official list of the NGX. “The additional shares listed on NGX arose from UAC of Nigeria’s scrip dividend election scheme.

“With this listing of the additional 44,835,076 ordinary shares, the total issued and fully paid up shares of UAC of Nigeria has now increased from 2,881,296,580 to 2,926,131,656 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each,” the disclosure stated.

At the closing of the stock

S E C U R I T I E S MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

market on Friday, the share price of UACN closed flat at N11.00 per unit.

The company inn its unaudited half year ended June 30, 2022 announced operating profit that is 9.4per cent lower Year-onYear (YoY) at N1.6 billion from N1.8billion reported in H1 2021 and margin contraction to 3.1per cent impacted by losses in the Animal Feeds and Other Edibles segment.

Profit before tax of N12 million

T R A D E D

VALUE TRADED ( N )

MAIN BOARD

A S

impacted by lower operating profit as well as higher finance costs YoY. And report a loss per share of 18 kobo (H1 2021: positive earnings per share of 5 kobo).

Revenue in H1 2022 increased 11.9per cent YoY to N52 billion supported by sales growth across all operating segments. Animal Feeds and Other Edibles segment (+7.6 per cent YoY) driven by price increases to offset rising raw material costs. Paints segment (+28.8per cent YoY) on

O F

0 2

account of price increases and retail footprint expansion.

Packaged Food and Beverages segment (+6.3per cent YoY) driven by price increase in the snack category, improvement in production efficiency in the water category and improved distribution in the dairies category; and the Quick Service Restaurants segment (+28.2per cent YoY) driven by additions to company-owned restaurants (corporate stores) and growth in logistics sales.

/ 0 9 / 2 0 2 2 DEALS

MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N)

46

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2022 • T H I S D AY

MARKET NEWS 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

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 01Sept-2022, unless otherwise stated.

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 Afrinvest Dollar Fund N/A N/A N/A 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 8.49% AIICO Balanced Fund 3.72 3.78 9.04% ANCHORIA ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED info@anchoriaam.com Web:www.anchoriaam.com, Tel: 08166830267; 08036814510; 08028419180 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Anchoria Money Market 100.00 100.00 6.30% Anchoria Equity Fund 138.47 140.04 -0.56% Anchoria Fixed Income Fund 1.18 1.18 3.00% info@anchoriaam.com 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 21.09 21.73 3.99% ARM Discovery Balanced Fund 509.27 524.62 12.88% ARM Ethical Fund 42.38 43.65 8.78% ARM Eurobond Fund ($) 1.08 1.08 0.11% ARM Fixed Income Fund 1.06 1.06 4.26% ARM Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 9.66% AVA GLOBAL ASSET MANAGERS LIMITED info@avacapitalgroup.com Web: www.avacapitalgroup.com; Tel 08069294653 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AVA GAM Fixed Income Dollar Fund 89.41 89.41 -7.45% AVA GAM Fixed Income Dollar Naira 1,093.81 1,093.81 9.38% AXA MANSARD INVESTMENTS LIMITED investmentcare@axamansard.com Web: www.axamansard.com; Tel: +2341-4488482 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AXA Mansard Equity Income Fund N/A N/A N/A AXA Mansard Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A CAPITAL EXPRESS ASSET AND TRUST LIMITED info@capitalexpressassetandtrust.com Web: www.capitalexpressassetandtrust.com; Tel: +234 803 307 5048 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn CEAT Fixed Income Fund 2.09 2.09 2.74% Capital Express Balanced Fund(Formerly: Union Trustees Mixed Fund) 2.33 2.38 10.06% CAPITALTRUST INVESTMENTS AND ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED halalfif@capitaltrustnigeria.com Web: www.capitaltrustnigeria.com; Tel: 08061458806 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Capitaltrust Halal Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A CARDINALSTONE ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED mutualfunds@cardinalstone.com Web: www.cardinalstoneassetmanagement.com; Tel: +234 (1) 710 0433 4 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn CardinalStone Fixed Income Alpha Fund N/A N/A N/A CHAPELHILL DENHAM MANAGEMENT LTD investmentmanagement@chapelhilldenham.com Web: www.chapelhilldenham.com, Tel: +234 461 0691 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Chapelhill Denham Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 10.55% Paramount Equity Fund 19.25 19.61 10.50% Women's Investment Fund 146.44 148.23 3.18% CORDROS ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmgtteam@cordros.com Web: www.cordros.com, Tel: 019036947 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Cordros Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 8.47% Cordros Milestone Fund 131.15 132.08 5.41% Cordros Dollar Fund ($) 111.03 111.03 5.09% CORONATION ASSETS 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 9.20% EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class B 1,000,000.00 1,000,000.00 9.56% EDC Nigeria Fixed Income Fund 1,115.31 1,134.40 0.34% EMERGING AFRICA ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmanagement@emergingafricafroup.com Web:www.emergingafricagroup.com/emerging-africa-asset-management-limited/, Tel: 08039492594 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Emerging Africa Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 8.86% Emerging Africa Bond Fund 1.04 1.04 8.71% Emerging Africa Balanced Diversity Fund 1.04 1.04 4.10% Emerging Africa Eurobond Fund 103.28 103.28 2.14% FBNQUEST ASSETS MANAGEMENT LIMITED invest@fbnquest.com Web: www.fbnquest.com/asset-management; Tel: +234-81 0082 0082 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn FBN Bond Fund 1496.66 1496.66 11.45% FBN Balanced Fund 193.46 194.70 10.39% FBN Halal Fund 123.00 123.00 10.81% FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 9.69% FBN Dollar Fund (Retail) 125.60 125.60 5.97% FBN Nigeria Smart Beta Equity Fund 158.69 160.83 5.71% 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 8.28% Legacy Debt Fund 3.71 3.71 -7.28% Legacy Equity Fund 1.88 1.91 7.99% Legacy USD Bond Fund 1.24 1.24 2.78% 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 Balanced Fund Coral Income Fund Coral Money Market Fund

4,050.82 3,611.77 100.00

4,104.58 3,611.77 100.00

5.88% 6.18% 10.25%

FSDH Dollar Fund 1.11 1.11 4.03% GUARANTY TRUST FUND MANAGERS LIMITED 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 8.87% Vantage Balanced Fund 2.94 2.98 2.88% Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 6.00% Kedari Investment Fund (KIF) 142.54 142.54 4.01% Vantage Equity Income Fund (VEIF) - June Year End 1.24 1.28 2.20% Vantage Dollar Fund (VDF) - June Year End 1.06 1.06 0.78% 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 1.60 1.63 13.03% Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund 1,166.96 1,166.96 6.29% MERISTEM WEALTH MANAGEMENT LTD info@meristemwealth.com Web: www.meristemwealth.com/funds/; Tel: +2348028496012 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Meristem Equity Market Fund 12.08 12.15 10.84% Meristem Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 10.95% NORRENBERGER INVESTMENT AND CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LIMITED enquiries@norrenberger.com Web: www.norrenberger.com, Tel: +234 (0) 908 781 2026 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Norrenberger Islamic Fund (NIF) 102.25 102.25 9.66% Norrenberger Money Market Fund (NMMF) 100.00 100.00 10.45% 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 N/A N/A N/A PACAM Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A PACAM Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A PACAM Equity Fund N/A N/A N/A PACAM EuroBond Fund N/A N/A N/A 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 130.04 132.63 4.74% 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 1.06 1.06 9.24% 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 3,540.15 3,574.25 4.52% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 241.35 241.35 2.45% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 1.40 1.42 11.90% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 325.41 325.41 3.92% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 258.90 263.26 11.11% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 8.96% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 11,648.93 11,809.59 6.78% Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund (USD) 1.34 1.34 3.43% Stanbic IBTC Shariah Fixed Income Fund 119.57 119.57 2.28% Stanbic IBTC Enhanced Short-Term Fixed Income Fund 111.86 111.86 5.15% UNITED CAPITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD unitedcapitalplcgroup.com Web: www.unitedcapitalplcgroup.com; Tel: +234 01-6317876 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn United Capital Equity Fund 0.95 0.98 7.72% United Capital Balanced Fund 1.34 1.36 2.74% United Capital Wealth for Women Fund 1.12 1.14 8.63% United Capital Sukuk Fund 1.08 1.08 4.79% United Capital Fixed Income Fund 1.91 1.91 4.21% United Capital Eurobond Fund 123.00 123.00 3.81% United Capital Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 11.27% 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 Balanced Strategy Fund 13.63 13.74 3.29% Zenith ESG Impact Fund 15.59 15.74 6.63% Zenith Income Fund 23.07 23.07 5.08% Zenith Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 9.44% VETIVA FUND MANAGERS LTD funds@vetiva.com Web: www.vetiva.com; Tel: +234 1 453 0697 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Vetiva Banking Exchange Traded Fund 3.81 3.91 -5.01% Vetiva Consumer Goods Exchange Traded Fund 5.96 6.06 2.01% Vetiva Griffin 30 Exchange Traded Fund 18.01 18.21 1.85% Vetiva Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 9.52% Vetiva Industrial Goods Exchange Traded Fund 17.85 18.05 -10.64% Vetiva S&P Nigeria Sovereign Bond Exchange Traded Fund 141.45 143.45 -10.28%

REITS NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

118.56 51.93

4.66% 2.11%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

14.22 127.06 99.30 16.40 17.10

14.32 130.28 101.47 16.50 17.20

1.67% -0.04% -0.46% -10.45% 13.75%

NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

107.59

0.00%

Fund Name SFS REIT Union Homes REIT

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

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.

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 5, 2022 ˾ T H I S D AY

47

NEWS XTRA

SITE OF THE COLLAPSED BUILDING

Two Dead as Seven-Storey Building Collapses in Lagos Developer, others to be arrested Rebecca Ejifoma

Two people were confirmed dead and six others were trapped after an eight-storey building collapsed on Oba Idowu Oniru Street, Oniru Estate in the Lekki area of Lagos.

The building was said to have crumbled at 3.30 am, leaving two males dead and six workers trapped on the third floor.

Although reports have it that the building was sealed on February 18 last year, it was

still under construction before the tragic incident.

Confirming the report, the Lagos Territorial Office Coordinator, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Ibrahim Farinloye, noted that emergency responders mobilised to the scene immediately after they were

alerted.

While the bodies recovered have been deposited at a morgue for autopsy, search and rescue operation had been intensified.

Emergency responders on ground included the police, NEMA, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA)

and others.

LASEMA said it responded to a distress call at the location at midnight and activated its response plan where six people were reported to have been trapped at the time.

The emergency management agency said it needed to deploy a

heavy-duty equipment excavator for the rescue of the trapped victims.

Meanwhile, the Lagos State Government has ordered the arrest of the developer and other building professionals working on the collapsed seven-storey building.

2023: Group Alleges Plans to Rig Kogi Elections Italy-bound PhysicallyChallenged Man A group known as Action Peace Plan in Igala Land (APPI) has raised the alarm over plans to rig 2023 general elections via manipulation and violence in Kogi State.

The group said they are aware of a purported meeting in Lokoja, the state capital, summoned by government appointees spearheaded by a top aide to the governor to visit violence on the state ahead of 2023 general elections. The spokesperson of the group, Hon Arome Atuluku Benjamin, disclose this in a statement yesterday.

According to him, the alleged meeting was attended by 21 Local governments chairmen in government house.

He said the chairmen were directed to go after opposition members especially in Kogi East.

Benjamin said the chairmen were told categorically the New Nigeria People's Party (NNPP) is gradually taking over Ankpa, Omala, Dekina Idah and Ofu, noting that the chairmen of these affected LGAs should take immediate actions and arrest the trends or face suspension.

He said: Since the purported meetings, several killings have been taking place in many of the local government areas in Igala land said to be masterminded by some government officials called coordinators under the chairmen,” he said.

THISDAY Editorial Board Member Bags another Professorship Member of THISDAY Editorial Board, Prof Okey Ikechukwu, has been appointed visiting professor in the Social and Management Sciences Faculty of Gregory University, Okigwe, Imo State. Ikechukwu, a Polymath, is on the faculty of several institutions of higher learning and training platforms in the country.

He has over 30 years crossfunctional experience and exposure in the university system, the media, specialised training institutions, government, public policy, community mobilisation, leadership training/ recruitment, youth development

and public communications at the highest levels.

Ikechukwu, who is a Member of the National Institute (mni) was, at various times, lecturer at the University of Lagos, Member and later Ag. Chairman and Editorial Page Editor, of The Guardian Newspapers Editorial Board; Chairman and Editorial Page Editor of The Comet (Now The Nation) Newspapers Editorial Board; General Manager of Clout Communication Limited; Special Assistant to the Ministers of Transport and Information and National Orientation, respectively.

Osun PDP Justifies Expulsion of Babayemi

YinkaKolawoleinOsogbo

The Osun State Chapter of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday broke its silence on the expulsion of Mr. Dotun Babayemi, from the party, noting that the ward leadership complied with the party constitution and that the ward decision was further justified by defence of Babayemi by the All Progressive Congress (APC).

In a statement issued by the office of the Chairman of the State Caretaker Committee, Dr. Adekunle Akindele, the party expressed shock and indignation at the spirited defence of Babayemi by the APC

as it strongly confirmed all the reports of nocturnal romance between the former governorship aspirant and the APC before, during and after the state governorship elections.

Part of the statement reads: "The detailed response from the APC querying the PDP for effecting disciplinary action against an erring member was so caustic that it indicated that the expulsion has disrupted APC’s evil plan which was to use the expelled member to destabilise the PDP and truncate the people's mandate conferred on Senator Ademola Adeleke at the July 16th polls.

Arrested with Drugs at Lagos Airport Michael Olugbode in Abuja A 53-year-old physically challenged man, Ehiarimwiam Emmanuel, has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the departure hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos for alleged drug trafficking.

Ehiarimwiam was arrested on August 28 on his way to Italy via Doha on a Qatar Airways flight with 5,000 tablets of tramadol 225mg concealed in his luggage.

According to the spokesman of NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect is a frequent traveller who often

traveled with lots of bags containing mainly food items, body cream, hair attachment and drinks.

He said the suspect had presented his usual large consignment to NDLEA operatives for search but held on to some packages, which were retrieved from him and properly searched during which

the drugs were discovered.

Babafemi also said as part of ongoing efforts to demobilise and dismantle all organised criminal groups behind the production and distribution of crystal methamphetamine across the country, “NDLEA operatives on August 29 raided a suspected clandestine laboratory at OPIC Estate, Agbara.”

Armed Attack on Lawyer Linked to Unexecuted Amnesty Contract Suit Olusegun Samuel inYenagoa

Ex-militant leaders under the aegis of the Reintegrated Ex-Militants Forum (REF) have attributed the last Wednesday armed attack on a home located in Kubwa Extension II Area of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to an attempt to assassinate one of the lawyers involved in the

ongoing suit at the Federal High Court over alleged unexecuted contracts with links to the vandalised N60 billion Presidential Amnesty Programme Training Complex in Boro-Town, Kaiama, Bayelsa State.

The target is representing 124 beneficiaries of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) that went to court to ask to be joined

in stopping the illegal payment of over N3.8 billion to 15 companies over alleged unexecuted contracts.

The armed attack on the residence of the lawyer in Kubwa extension II area of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) left one security guard dead and three others injured. The exmilitant leaders in a petition to President Muhammadu Buhari, the

National Security Adviser, Major General Babagana Monguno (rtd.), the Department of State Security (DSS), and the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr. Usman Baba, alleged that despite the fact that the targeted lawyer survived due to his attendance at the last Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) conference in Lagos.

Obey Court Judgement or Face Contempt Proceedings, Surveyors Tell Lagos Wale Igbintade The Surveyor-General of Lagos State may soon face contempt proceedings over failure of the state government to implement judgement of the Federal High Court, which nullified Section 5 of the state Survey Practice Law, and granted surveyors to practice

the profession in any part of the state without any hindrance.

The surveyors in a letter written by their lawyer, Osaretin Ogbebor, stated that a subsisting order of the court must be obeyed by all, no matter how lowly or highly placed in the society.

The letter cited alleged refusal by the officials of the Surveyor-

General to accept for lodgment the record copy with Plan No: TOC/0699/06/2022/LA, dated August 10, 2022, prepared by Surveyor Olatunde M. Olarinre, which was rejected, and marked as: ‘Old Yaba Acquisition’.

Justice Daniel Osiagor had on August 2, 2022, while delivering judgment in

the suit marked: FHC/L/ CS/1789/2020, nullified Section 5 of the Survey Law of Lagos State, which requires surveyors to obtain written consent of the Surveyor-General of Lagos State before carrying out survey on any state land or land acquired by the Lagos State Government.

Oyo to Criminalise Land Grabbing, Offenders Risk 15 Years Jail

KemiOlaitaninIbadan

The Acting Governor of Oyo State, Barrister Bayo Lawal, has declared that land grabbing will no longer be tolerated in the state as offenders now face up to 15 years jail term.

He gave the warning while inaugurating the Task Force Unit of the real properties law of Oyo

State at the Executive Council Chambers of the Governor's Office, Agodi, Ibadan.

He added that those who aid and abet land grabbers will also not go scot-free, declaring that the state is set to stamp out the menace of land grabbing.

According to him, the present administration in the state places

high priority on the peace, order and security of lives and properties in the state, adding that it will leave no stone unturned in its determination to sustain peace and security.

Lawal explained that the law would protect the rights of property owners, while putting a stop to the nefarious activities of land merchants, who he said, willfully and violently

seize people’s land.

He admonished those bent on encroaching other people’s property, most times by using violence, threats or imaginary connection with the powers that be or the use of force to demand fees from real property owners to desist from such acts, as according to him, the law is here to catch up with them.

Another Suspected Stowaway Arrested at Lagos Airport Chinedu Eze

Further investigation has revealed that the stowaway found on a United Nigeria Airline aircraft, parked at MMA2 Ikeja, during pre-flight inspection in the early hours of yesterday has given his name as Rasheed Mukar from Badagry

in Lagos State.

THISDAY learnt that he also told security operatives that he is 14 years old, of which security personnel investigating him expressed doubt, They further revealed that the suspect said he lives at Aradagun Street in Orile Iganmu area of Lagos state.

Informed source told THISDAY that the suspect informed security personnel during interrogation that he breached airport security from the Ile Zik end of the perimeter fence on the night on Saturday September 3, 2022, to access the airport’s apron where the aircraft was parked.

He also confessed to have gained access to the aircraft through the emergency exit after climbing through the aircraft wings.

Mukar also said he had earlier attempted to gain access to Boeing aircraft types, also parked at the airport, and failed.

48

IMAGES

T H I S D AY ˾ DAY ͳ˜ 2022

Photo Editor Abiodun Ajala Email abiodun.ajala@thisdaylive.com

L-R: Director, Advocacy Policy and Marketing Africa, Aids HealthCare Foundation (AHF), Mrs. Kemi Gbadamosi; Executive Secretary, Country Coordinating Mechanism, Global Fund Nigeria, Mr. Dozie Ezechuckwu; and Head, Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria, Mr. Hussein Mohammed, during the Civil Society Forum on the seventh Global Fund Replenishment Conference in Abuja...recently

L-R: Head of Delegation, International Committee of Red Cross, Mr. Yann Bonzon; Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Dr. Nasir Sani-Gwarzo; Executive Secretary, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Chief. Anthony Ojukwu; and Director, International Disappeared, Mrs. Orji Gerturde, during the International Disappeared Day press conference by NHRC in Abuja…recently PHOTO: KINGSLEY ADEBOYE

L-R: Secretary, National Judicial Institute (NJI), Abubakar Maidama; Administrator of NJI, Justice Salisu Garba Abdullahi; and acting Chief Judge of Kogi State, Justice Joe Majebi, during the opening ceremony of the National Workshop on Management of Judicial Financial Resources (Directors of Finance, Deputy Directors, Chief Accounts, Auditors and other staff handling the finances and resources of their respective judiciaries), in Abuja...recently PHOTO: KINGSLEY ADEBOYE

L-R: Adviser, Love of Christ Generation Church, Rev. Ademuyiwa Ajayi; Founder, Love of Christ Generation Church, Rev. Mother Esther Ajayi; and Editor, Ovation Magazine, Mr. Mike Effiong, at a press conference on the upcoming 15th anniversary and one year thanksgiving of the Cathedral opening in Lagos...recently PHOTO: DAN UKANA

L-R: The Olugbon of Orile-Igbon, Oba Francis Olushola Alao; guest, Mr. Emeka Ugwu-Oju; and Olori Sola Adedoyin, during the wedding reception of Mrs. Mmesoma Olubunmi, the daughter of Sir and Lady Chika Okafor, and her husband, Oluyemi, the son of Chief and Mrs. Olubunmi, in Lagos…recently

L-R: The Managing Editor/Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET) Plc, Dr. Nnaemeka Ewelukwa; Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed; and Chief Executive Officer of EPIAS, Genel Müdüru Ahmet, during a meeting on EXIST’s campus in Maslak, Turkey...recently

The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Director-General, Brigadier-General Muhammad Kaku Fadah (middle), with corps members and NYSC officials who represented the Corps and Nigeria during the 75th Independence anniversary of the Republic of India during their visit and presentation to the NYSC DG at the Corps National Directorate Headquarters in Abuja...recently

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2022 • T H I S D AY

49

NEWS

IDAHOSA JOINS GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY FORUM...

L-R: Adjunct Professor of Real Estate Investment at GWU, Jefferey Stoddard; Director of the Institute for Corporate Responsibility (ICR), John Forrer, and CEO of the Del-York International Group, Linus Idahosa, at George Washington University, Washington DC…recently

Osinbajo: Nigeria to Reap Billions of Dollars from Creditors in Debt-for-Climate Swap Proposal Deji Elumoye in Abuja The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo has disclosed that Nigeria would reap a huge debt relief from some creditors running into billions of United States dollars when the nation's idea for a debt-for-climate (DFC) swap deal becomes widely accepted.

The proposal described as fresh thinking in Washington D.C by senior American government officials was already receiving positive reviews even as Osinbajo explained the potential for significant debt cancellation for African countries.

Experts said under the DFC, sovereign debtors and international creditors would forgive all or a portion of external debt often running into billions in a country like Nigeria, in exchange for a commitment by the country to invest, in domestic currency, in specific climate or energy transition

projects during a commonly agreed period.

The expectation is that DFC swaps would reduce the level of indebtedness and free up fiscal resources to be invested in clean energy projects in Nigeria and other countries signed up for the programme once accepted by creditor-nations.

The Vice President’s media assistant, Laolu Akande, in a statement yesterday, stated that the vice president in his meetings with the top officials of the US government right after his speech at the Centre for Global Development (CGD) further pushed the DFC idea which he had previously proposed, publicly first, at the CGD. According to Osinbajo, "the proposed Debt-for-Climate swaps would be a very useful intervention and helpful as it will reduce debt burdens, while advancing the Climate Change objectives of the international community.”

Ogun: Gateway Cargo Airport’ll be Viable Donates 300KVA transformers to Isara, Oba communities Signs contract for road construction in Abeokuta North LG James Sowole in Abeokuta Ogun State government has reiterated that its ongoing Gateway Cargo Airport under construction would be viable when completed.

The new cargo airport is scheduled to launch its first flight

by December this year, but fears have been expressed in the aviation sector about the viability of new airports springing up in many states across the country.

This is more so when many older airports belonging to both the federal and state governments are lying idle with little flights.

But the state government said the new cargo airport, apart from being a project with great future prospect, was also going to be viable because of its location and the many facilities planned around it as an aerotropolis.

The Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Mr. Ade Akinsanya, who spoke on the project at the weekend, said its viability was not in doubt as the entire surroundings would be a hub for activities in all spheres.

The airport is almost 80 per cent completed. A deal has been reached with African Development Bank (AfDB) to site an agro testing firm at Sagamu to service the airport.

Akinsanya noted that the testing facility would ensure exportation of more agricultural products from Nigeria, adding that for now, because of lack of certification, some of these products cannot be exported to other countries.

Meanwhile, determined to make life more abundant for the people in Ogun State, the Governor Dapo Abiodun-led administration has donated 300KVA (33) to Isara and Oba towns in Remo North and Obafemi-Owode Local Government Areas of the state.

Speaking at the handing over of the power transformer in Isara, the chairman of Remo North LG, Adedapo Odunsi, thanked the state governor for taking the community out of darkness which it had experienced for three years.

According to him, businesses in the area had suffered, adding that the residents of the town had to go extra mile to purchase fuel on a daily basis to sustain their businesses.

In his remarks, the Government Liaison Officer, Remo North LG, Abiola Ogundeko, noted that the lives, health, businesses and security of lives and properties of the community at large had been affected negatively due to the incessant power failure in the area.

He also described the idea as a Climate Change related financing instrument deserving of global consideration as it is a win-win proposal.

The vice president also pushed the idea of opening up the Carbon Market in Africa so that the Climate Change actions of African countries can be adequately verified by the international community through the assessments of the appropriate verification institutions.

He further noted, "we are hoping to get support and international buy-ins for these ideas," specifically the DFC and the participation of African countries in the international carbon market. He reiterated that the DFC will help solve many of the debt burden challenges in Nigeria and other countries.

Osinbajo in his CGD speech explained that the, "debt for

climate swaps is a type of debt swap where bilateral or multilateral debt is forgiven by creditors in exchange for a commitment by the debtor to use the outstanding debt service payments for national climate action programs.

“Typically, the creditor country or institution agrees to forgive part of a debt, if the debtor country would pay the avoided debt service payment in a local currency into an escrow or any other transparent fund and the funds must then be used for agreed climate projects in the debtor country.”

Justifying the rationale behind such a debt swap deal, the Vice President submitted that the commitment to it would “increase the fiscal space for climate-related investments and reduce the debt burden for participating developing countries.”

Responding to the DFC proposal, the Administrator of USAID, Samantha Power, told the Vice President that the idea is, "fresh thinking that is very exciting," adding that the US was open to such new thinking even though it would require the full policy review of the American Government.

Similarly, the Vice President at the CGD speech also proposed a significant addition to conventional capital flows both from public and private sources to Africa through greater participation in the global carbon finance market.

His words: “currently, direct carbon pricing systems through carbon taxes have largely been concentrated in high and middleincome countries. However, carbon markets can play a significant role in catalyzing sustainable energy deployment by directing

private capital into climate action, improving global energy security, providing diversified incentive structures, especially in developing countries, and providing an impetus for clean energy markets when the price economics looks less compelling – as is the case today.”

He encouraged developed countries to support “Africa to develop into a global supplier of carbon credits, ranging from bio-diversity to energy-based credits,” which would be a leap forward in aligning carbon pricing and related policy around achieving a just transition.

While in Washington D.C., Osinbajo met since last Thursday with his American counterpart, Kamala Harris at the White House; the US Secretary of the Treasury, Ms. Janet Yellen, and the USAID Administrator, Samantha Power.

It's Shameful Nigeria Still Imports Petrol, Says Obaseki Promises to extend Ossiomo power to other senatorial districts of Edo Dangote assures refinery to be ready next year Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has decried Nigeria’s continued importation of petroleum products despite being one of the largest producers of crude oil in the world.

The governor made the submission while speaking with journalists at Ewohimi, Esan South East Local Government Area of Edo State, at the 10-year remembrance service of Chief Jeremiah Ighodalo, father of the Chairman of Sterling Bank Plc, Dr. Asue Ighodaro.

The governor described the continuous importation of fuel into the nation as a patriotic shame to Nigeria.

Obaseki said Nigeria was one of the largest producers of crude oil in the continent and as such has no business importing fuel into the country.

“It's a shame that Nigeria is still importing fuel when we are one of the largest producers of crude oil in the continent. As a nation, we should not be importing fuel at this point in our life. It's a patriotic shame borrowing from the words of Nigerian writer, Chimamanda Adiche,” he said.

Also speaking to journalists on the possibility of his refinery commencing operation and

providing petroleum products to Nigerians, President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote said the plant would hopefully begin supply of products in 2023.

“The refinery can provide petroleum products for the whole of Nigeria and some parts of West and Central Africa hopefully by 2023,” he noted.

Besides, Edo State government said it has concluded plan to extend the Ossiomo Power to other senatorial districts in the state, in a renewed effort by the Obaseki-led administration to tackle the challenges of power supply and spur industrialisation.

The Managing Director, Ossiomo Power, Dr. Uwa Igiehon, who disclosed this in a chat with journalists, said the project which has ensured stable electricity to power government establishments and public infrastructure in the Benin metropolis, will now be extended to ensure steady power supply across all Edo communities.

The Ossiomo Power project is a brainchild of the Obaseki-led state government to make the state selfsustaining in power supply. The 95MW facility was birth through a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Ossiomo Power Company and powers government offices and hospitals, as well as streetlights in Benin metropolis.

Emotan Gardens Estate, Edo Tech Park, Edo Creative Hub, among others, all enjoy between 22 and 24 hours of stable electricity supply daily from the facility. The power is also being extended to the Edo Enterprise and Industrial Park, among others.

The state has also passed the bill repealing the Rural Electricity Board Law of 1972 to re-enact a new law that makes provision for the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity for residents of the state, paving the way for the establishment of an electricity market in the state.

Meanwhile, Obaseki, has described the father of the Chairman of Alaghodaro Economic Summit LTD/GTE and Chairman, Sterling Bank Plc, Dr. Asue Ighodalo, late Jeremiah Aghedo Ighodalo as a patriotic Edo man who stood for unity and togetherness.

Obaseki said, “He pulled his whole clan along with him and valued education. He became the beacon of hope for all MidWesterners and Edo people who had the privilege of being in Ibadan when he was there.

“We are here to celebrate the achievement of our late father in the old Mid-West Region, Bendel and Edo State. I commend the children for keeping the legacy of

education and discipline of their father and his memory still alive.

We thank God for his life. We will continue to celebrate his life and time.”

The governor commended the Ighodalo family for adopting Ewohimi Primary School, noting that the government alone cannot fund education but would require partners to develop the state’s education system.

“We are not surprised that the family has taken this position as their father stood for education. We need to work with them and show them our design for disarticulation of schools and ensure it's followed all the way,” he added.

Speaking on behalf of the family, Dr. Asue Ighodalo expressed appreciation to the governor and his entourage for gracing the 10-year remembrance service of his late father.

He said the family had resolved to adopt the Ewohimi Primary School and make it one of the best in the state, adding that a microfinance scheme has been funded with N25 million to empower women of Ewohimi.

“We are also going to set up a foundation in the memory of our father to award scholarships to four brilliant Ewohimi students who are good in English, Medicine, Economics and Accounting.”

T H I S D AY • MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2022

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NEWS

THANK YOU VISIT TO UGWUANYI...

L-R: Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State; PDP Governorship Candidate for the State, Dr. Peter Mbah and Deputy Governorship Candidate, Ifeanyi Ossai, during a ‘thank-you visit’ by the people of Enugu East Senatorial District to the governor at Enugu… recently

SERAP Urges Buhari to Withdraw Nomination of Alleged APC Members as INEC RECs Udora Orizu in Abuja The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to withdraw the names of nominees recently submitted to the Senate for confirmation as Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) who are allegedly members of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Buhari had on 26 July, sent

to the Senate the names of 19 RECs for confirmation. At least four of the 19 nominees allegedly either belong to a political party or have been previously indicted for corruption.

Owing to this, in a letter dated September 3, 2022, and signed by SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation stated that withdrawing the names of those nominees who were allegedly members of the APC and replacing them with people

of unquestionable integrity and competence would improve the independence of INEC. The letter copied to the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan and Speaker of House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, read in part: “As its name suggests, INEC is expected to maintain independence or absolute neutrality. INEC must not only be independent and impartial, but must also be seen to be independent and impartial.

Promoting the independence of INEC, including by appointing people of unquestionable integrity and competence, and who are not members of any political party as RECs would be entirely consistent with your constitutional oath of office, and your oft-stated promise to ensure free and fair elections in 2023.

“We hope that the aspects highlighted will help guide your actions in acting to withdraw the names of those nominated for

Otedola Appointed Chancellor of Augustine University Femi Otedola, Chairman and CEO of Geregu Power Plc, has been appointed as the chancellor of Augustine University (The Catholic University of Lagos Archdiocese).

According to a statement issued by the university's spokesman, Nicholas Obayi, the appointment took effect on April 7 this year, following the expiration of the tenure of the pioneer chancellor, John Aniagwu.

"Augustine University IlaraEpe is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr Femi Otedola as the second chancellor of the institution. The appointment took effect on April 7, 2022," the statement said.

It noted that Otedola's appointment "is well deserved, having been an untiring benefactor" to Augustine University's structural development project, which has aided the institution's rapid growth.

The university added, "Until his appointment, Mr Otedola has been a notable business mogul in the energy sector both in Nigeria and abroad. He is the Chairman and Chief Executive of Geregu Power Plc; his philanthropic efforts geared towards improving lives are also widely known and recognised."

As part of his contributions to the university, the billionaire businessman donated a N2 billion complex to Augustine University’s

engineering faculty.

“My father was very passionate about a university being built in Epe because he was very passionate about education. Rather than spend my money on building more houses or buying a jet for myself, I decided to spend the money to support this laudable cause by the Lagos Catholic archdiocese through the Augustine University,” the oil magnate told journalists," Otedola had stated.

The Geregu Power boss had added, "I decided to build an engineering faculty for the university – which would be my home – for the glory of God. I can assure you that this project will be completed in good time."

The university began operation in 2015 and is already running at least eight courses subscribed to by 200 students up to 400-level.

"The university community is glad to have him on board and wishes the new chancellor a successful tenure," the university's statement added.

Last December, following the accreditation visit of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Augustine University was awarded a certificate of accreditation and is now a recognised centre for ICAN certification programmes.

The university had an overall score of 85.64 per cent from the accreditation team.

TINUBU: WE NEED NOT WORRY ABOUT PDP, WE’RE NOT EQUALS PDP Challenges Tinubu to Speak Out on Name, Age, Education But the opposition PDP, has challenged Tinubu, to address concerns about his real name, age and educational qualification, because it remained a moral burden on him, his party and aspiration.

PDP was reacting to a comment

by Tinubu that the opposition party was dead.

According to the PDP, "From Bola Tinubu’s incoherent discourse, he appears to be battling with issues of ethical challenges and ineligibility to contest election on account of inconsistencies in his educational qualifications, name, ancestry, age, corruption allegations among myriads of issues."

Spokesman of the party, Debo Ologunagba, further said, "Asiwaju is a huge baggage to the APC. He should know that because of him there is a daily exodus of millions of APC members across the country into the PDP. “In the last one month, over 5 million APC members have

defected to the PDP. In the Lagos State axis, his supposed stronghold, close to one million APC members have decamped to the PDP since his emergence as APC Presidential Candidate.

"It is distressing that Asiwaju Tinubu speaks like someone under the influence with incoherent discourse and absence of mind that further expose a lack of capacity for leadership especially at the Presidential level.”

The PDP said, Nigerians were appalled by yet another attempt

by Tinubu, to divert attention from the main issues of the failures of the APC government by making derogatory remarks on the PDP. The opposition party said such fixation on the PDP only exposed Tinubu as a paper candidate, who was confused, nervy and intimidated by the PDP’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and the achievements of the PDP, which stared him in the face in mortal fear of failure ahead of the 2023 general election.

PDP said unlike the APC that was dead, the PDP was not only

alive and existing as acknowledged

by Tinubu in his statement, but also strong, united and focused on its mission to rescue, rebuild and redirect the nation from the misrule of the APC. "It is rather shameful that the APC Presidential Candidate alluded to the nation’s railway system, which was revitalised by the PDP administration but painfully surrendered to terrorists and bandits by the APC government.

"Nigerians gave Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu the benefit of the doubt but he failed them by engineering a deceitful government leading to the ugly indices of insecurity and bloodletting, economic hardship, unemployment, disunity and low life expectancy imposed on our nation in the last seven years.

“He should know that Nigerians are aware that he is in the Presidential race not to serve but to gain control of the nation’s treasury so as to expand his exploitative enterprise and economic empire beyond Lagos State.

"The APC presidential Candidate has not responded to allegations

that he is the promoter of the increase in VAT, electricity tariff, import duties, Stamp Duty, fuel price hike as well as other exploitative tolls by the APC federal government, from which he allegedly benefits through many stooges in the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and other revenue generating agencies of government.

"This is because Nigerians have recognised the PDP and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar as the solution our nation needs at this moment while Asiwaju has been identified as ‘Another Problem Coming (APC).”

Uzodinma: Igbo Should Forget 2023, Will Produce President When They Find Peace With Nigeria Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodinma, has has advised the South East to forget the presidency in 2023, saying it would produce a president of Nigeria the day they find peace with the country or became the economic and technological giant of the country that would make it an irresistible option.

confirmation as RECs, and who are allegedly members of the APC. “We would be grateful if the requested action is taken within 7 days of the receipt and/or publication of this letter. If we have not heard from you by then, SERAP shall take all appropriate legal actions to compel your government to comply with our request in the public interest.”

Those nominated as RECs were: Ibrahim Abdullahi (Adamawa – Renewal); Obo Effanga (Cross River – Renewal); Umar Ibrahim (Taraba – Renewal); Agboke Olaleke (Ogun – Renewal); and

Samuel Egwu, a professor, (Kogi – Renewal).

Others were Onyeka Ugochi (Imo); Muhammad Bashir (Sokoto); Ayobami Salami, a professor, (Oyo); Zango Abdu (Katsina); Queen Agwu (Ebonyi); and Agundu Tersoo (Benue).

Also to be confirmed are: Yomere Oritsemlebi (Delta); Yahaya Ibrahim, a professor, (Kaduna); Nura Ali (Kano); Agu Uchenna (Enugu); Ahmed Garki (FCT); Hudu Yunusa (Bauchi); Uzochukwu Chijioke, a professor, (Anambra); and Mohammed Nura (Yobe).

Obi Will Remove Nigeria’s ‘Stone of Corruption’ Off Our Necks, Says Okonkwo Nigeria's evil barriers to her development, corruption and woeful leadership would cease to torment her citizens if Peter Obi emerges as the President of the country next year.

This was the declaration of Senator Annie Okonkwo who chaired a reception for Obi in Los Angeles, California USA, to round off his recent cross continental dialogue with ecstatic Nigerians in diaspora.

According to a statement, making his remarks at the epic Beverly Hilton venue, attended by the creme of eminent global diasporans recently, Okonkwo said the message was clear and straight.

"To take back Nigeria to work for Nigerians is a task which time has come, and the reason every guest is here to hear Peter, whom God and man has found fit and ready to do the tough job.

“We are pleased to affirm our agreement to what Nigerians across religions and tribes, professions and trades, local and international have proclaimed loudly, that in Peter Obi, there hopes are alive again, and with Sen Datti Ahmed, the best is found, so the others should really step aside to rest,” he added.

Speaking amidst eruptive ovations, he emphasised, "I state with responsibility and civic experience, that given the fever of excitement to this unique team, never seen in our recent campaign history, our energetic youths have 'anointed' Peter to break the yoke of corruption and senile leadership in Nigeria, and that shall be done deservedly. “Leadership afflictions and corruption insanity, are pulling people together around the "mantle of fidelity in governance" that Obi

has raised and preserved. That is a great cause to proudly support.

“But I must caution, that there are works to be done and keep doing, to assure the guaranteed outcome is accomplished. An inspiration from the holy book is therefore apt.

“Before our saviour Jesus, raised Lazarus from the dead, he first needed the mourners to do something significant, to roll the stone covering the tomb away, despite having all powers command his wishes. They did that duty obediently, and Jesus rewarded them with the miracle of giving back Lazarus to them alive.

“The lesson is obvious, that when we collaborate in labour, we gain higher value. Let's be ready to remove every single stone standing between Peter Obi and the Nigerian Presidency.

“That is the seal of our common resolve here, to make Obi revive our decay and deliver prosperity to a raped nation. I have no doubt about that, but those in doubt should wait to verify after the February elections.”

Warning that the forthcoming elections must not be rigged by unpopular candidates or entitled contenders, he advised that all must come clean to the table based on the rule of the game and laws of the land.

"In fact, I cannot wait for the campaign to start proper, so we can see all the people and examine their products, the same way Obi is being intensely scrutinised and verified. “For now, all I hear are arrogant misspeaks and worn out cliches of yesterday's deceits and betrayals. Where has shame and honour gone to really,” he queried.

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ODUA INVESTMENT VISITS CANADA FOR INVESTORS… L-R: Executive Director, Odua investment group, Olugbolahan Mark-George ; Group Chairman Mr. Bimbo Ashiru; Nigeria High Commissioner to Canada, Mr. Adeyinka Asekun; his wife, Olawunmi; Director, Odua Investment Limited, Dr. Segun Aina, and Minister Trade, Nigeria High Commission to Canada, Obioha Nzewuji, during the Odua Board visit to Canada to woo Canadian investors at Nigeria House, Ottawa, Canada...recently

Fallout of Tinubu-Shettima, Adeyemi Submits Bill to Ban Same Faith Presidential Ticket Deji Elumoye in Abuja

Determined not to gloss over the controversy generated by the choice of a Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), the Senate may consider an amendment to Section 84 of the 2022 Electoral Act to prevent nomination of same faith presidential and vice-presidential candidates by political parties in the future.

The APC Muslim-Muslim

ticket generated massive negative reaction from the Christian faithful across the country, and even threatened to sink the aspiration of the party’s presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, in the next general election on the grounds it failed to balance the religious diversity of the country.

Chairman, Senate Committee on Aviation, Senator Smart Adeyemi, who presented the draft copy of the amendment bill, however, threw his weight behind the APC presidential candidate, despite a

Muslim-Muslim ticket with his running mate, Senator Kashim Shettima.

Briefing newsmen in Abuja, yesterday, Adeyemi, who presented the bill before the Red Chamber, said the controversy the Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket of APC generated in the polity informed the bill to ban same faith presidential ticket after the 2023 general election.

According to him, to prevent a reoccurrence, a new sub-section is being proposed to Section 84

of the 2022 Electoral Act. Adeyemi stated, "Section 84 of the Principal Act will be amended by inserting a new sub-section 3, which will state thus: ‘No political party shall nominate candidates of the same religion as presidential candidate and vice-presidential candidate after the 2023 election’.

"When this is accommodated, it will serve as a guide against any oversight, such as this, in the future as further occurrences will be deemed as silent policy, which is capable of bringing down the

Linus Idahosa Appointed to George Washington University’s GEIF Board Linus Idahosa, the CEO of Del York International Group, has been appointed as a founding board member of the Global ESG Impact Investment Forum (GEIF) of George Washington University.

The GEIF is an initiative of George Washington University’s School of Business (GWSB) championed by the school’s Institute for Corporate Responsibility.

George Washington University (GWU) is a private, federally chartered research university established in 1821 by the United States Congress. It is the largest

institution of higher education in the Washington District of Columbia and one of the most highly ranked globally.

The concept of impact investing is a novel means of financing projects and investment opportunities that places sustainability and responsible governance at its core.

The ESG board is comprised of top industry leaders, present and past government officials, and scholars, with a membership cap of only 30 members.

“The appointment, a confirmation of Mr Linus Idahosa’s global entrepreneurial

credentials, is itself an opportunity to bring the important benefits and deep untapped potential of impact investing to Nigeria and Africa as a whole," Jefferey Stoddard, adjunct professor of Real Estate Investment at GWU. Dean Mehrotra, a member of the Economic Club of Washington, DC and the dean of the George Washington University School of Business, in the company of the director of the Institute for Corporate Responsibility (ICR), John Forrer, both congratulated Idahosa and welcomed him to the board.

“I am deeply honoured to have been appointed to the board of George Washington University’s Global ESG Impact Investment Forum, especially coming from a country and Continent where the potential opportunities for impact investing are immeasurable," said Idahosa.

He added, "I hope to bring to bear my unique sectoral and regional experience in making the most of the opportunity for all the stakeholders of the GWU community, my Continent and the world at large."

The board will be inaugurated in Washington, DC, this fall.

Colleges of Education Teachers Laud Kwara Governor for Prioritising Welfare Hammed Shittu in Ilorin Teachers across Kwara State Colleges of Education under the aegis of Joint Academic Staff Union in Tertiary Institutions (JASUTI), Kwara State chapter at the weekend lauded the state governor, Alhaji AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq for taking the provision of better welfare package as a major priority since assumption of office.

The union also commended the present administration in the state for implementing the Consolidated Polytechnics and Colleges of Education Academic Staff Salary Structure (CONPCASS), which had been pending for several years.

The affected institutions include the Colleges of Education Ilorin, Oro Lafiagi and College of Arabic and Islamic Legal Studies (CAILS).

The chairman of the union in the state, Mrs. Bilikis Olasehinde stated this in Ilorin, during a thank-you visit to the governor

at Ilorin.

She stated that they were proud of their decision to support him during the 2019 general elections in the state.

The chairman who spoke on the behalf of other members of the union saying, "We are indeed very happy for (your) approving the CONPCASS that is due for Academic Staff of the Colleges of Education Ilorin, Oro Lafiagi and College of Arabic and Islamic Legal Studies (CAILS).

"On behalf of the academic staff of tertiary institutions in Kwara State under my leadership, we say thank you sir.

"We are here to show our appreciation for everything you have done for us. Sir, let me go back memory lane. When you came in as governor of Kwara, there were issues in the state's tertiary institutions.

“We had issues of salary arrears and we were on strike.

Immediately you came in, we said we should suspend the strike on our own and give the new government the benefit of doubt.

"We thank God that we did that because within 24 hours we met His Excellency you did what you promised. We appreciate you for that."

Olasehinde also praised the administration for restoring monthly subventions to the institutions, saying members of JASUTI now receive full salaries every month with the development.

"On the issue of our subvention, His Excellency said going forward, we would be getting our full salaries and that era of percentages is over. This is a reality today. The subvention is released to all our tertiary institutions as and when due," she said.

"Also, we had issue of accreditations across our tertiary institutions and we met His

Excellency. He promised us again and did what he promised. We really appreciate that."

AbdulRazaq, for his part, explained how his administration saved the state's tertiary institutions from collapse for lack of support, saying the previous government totally neglected the schools.

"The previous government totally neglected the schools; they were not paying salaries, let alone fixing the infrastructure. They did not care about that.

"The first institution I visited was Kwara State College of Education (Technical) Lafiagi and I was totally disappointed....The state government abandoned its responsibilities over the years," AbdulRazaq said.

He added, "We are glad to have met your demands. While we will be glad to do more, it is glaring to everyone that we are coming from a terrible era that no one should ever wish for again.

fabrics of the nation."

The ranking senator added that wide range consultation had been done with the leadership of the Senate and senators on the need for the amendment.

Adeyemi, however, said though apprehensions raised by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) over the same faith ticket were genuine, the broadmindedness and pedigree of Tinubu and Shettima would allay the fears. He added that the duo should be assessed based on their pedigrees and not their religious faith or even political party.

The senator further stated, "Nigerians should look at the individual candidates contesting for the presidency in 2023 and not the political parties they belong to or religion they practise. Based on my conviction, despite the same faith ticket, Tinubu and Shettima are the best for the country come 2023.

"They have demonstrated required capacities, competence,

and commitment while in office as executive governors of Lagos and Borno states, respectively. Asiwaju Tinubu, in particular, demonstrated his pan-Nigerian disposition with his cabinet composition devoid of tribal or religious sentiments.

"He and Shettima are, in actual fact, Nigerian candidates that should be voted for."

Adeyemi also criticised the emergence of the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, for violating the zoning policy of his political party, saying it is the turn of the south to produce the next president.

Adeyemi did not spare the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, saying he believes in street show does not translate into votes.

According to him, "Peter Obi ought not to have left PDP that has the required structure for presidential election. Street show or one million man march being displayed by Obi supporters cannot win presidential election."

Tinubu Hails Mustapha at 66, Iwuanyawu at 80

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asíwájú Bola Tinubu, has congratulated the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha,who turned 66 years old yesterday.

In another breath, Tinubu also congratulated a prominent newspaper publisher and politician, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyawu on his 80th birthday.

In a statement, yesterday, Tinubu described Mustapha as a democrat and patriot, who was irrevocably committed not only to the growth and development of Nigeria, but also to the good of the country.

He said Mustapha had impressive work ethics, and leadership qualities, adding that his capacity to work relentlessly for worthy causes was very high.

Tinubu said it was not surprising that he has performed the huge responsibility entrusted to him as SGF and not long ago as Chairman Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 with excellence, noting that he remained an asset to the country and APC.

"Boss Mustapha and I have come a long way as friends and close associates on the progressive front.

We were both founding leaders of our defunct Action Congress and he was of those, who did tremendous work that led to the merger of progressive forces across the country, which produced the All Progressives Congress.

"As he turns 66, I wish him a most memorable birthday, I pray that Almighty Allah grant him many more years, good health and more wisdom to continue to render meaningful services to his fatherland."

On Iwuanyawu, Tinubu described him as an elder statesman, who has made indelible marks in Nigeria as a frontline politician, an astute businessman, newspaper publisher and sport administrator.

Tinubu said, "Over the decades, Chief Iwuanyawu has demonstrated his love for Nigeria and unity of our country with wide network of friends across ethnic, religious and geopolitical divides, stressing that to reach the respectable age of 80 in good health was a special privilege, which only God could make possible.

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INAUGURATION OF COUNCIL OF MDGIF… L-R: Member, Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund (MDGIF), Engr. Abdullahi Bukar; Executive Director, Mansur Kulya; Members, Dr. Nnaji Ozoemena and Engr. Farouk Ahmed; Minister of State Petroleum Resources/Chairman MDGIF, Chief Timipre Sylva; Ogan NMDPRA Board Chairman, Mr. Idaere Effiong Abia; members, Ahmed Bobboi and Victor Omata member, during the inauguration of Council of MDGIF by Sylva, in Abuja… recently

Obi’s Crowdfunding Portals to Open Next Week, Utomi Reveals Senior lawyers express divergent views on legality of raising campaign fund from abroad Gboyega Akinsanmi in Lagos and Alex Enumah in Abuja Founder of Centre for Values in Leadership, and one of the leaders of Labour Party (LP), Professor Pat Utomi, yesterday, revealed that the crowdfunding portals Nigerians in the Diaspora planned to launch for the presidential candidate of LP, Mr. Peter Obi, would be unveiled next week. Utomi revealed this last night during an interview on Channels Television.

But some senior lawyers have expressed differing views on the legality of the election funding process.

THISDAY had exclusively reported that in a bid to bolster his chances in the 2023 presidential election, Nigerians in the diaspora had formed groups to launch crowdfunding initiatives for Obi. They planned to unveil crowdfunding portals with a target to raise $150 million from Obi’s supporters in the diaspora and N100 billion from those in Nigeria, THISDAY reliably gathered.

A dependable source close to one of Obi’s supporters leading the process had said they were targeting small amounts in contributions from supporters largely at the grassroots to help the LP set up more structures across the country and make the former Anambra State governor a formidable contender in the

presidential race.

Crowdfunding is an online financing method that raises money by soliciting small individual investments or contributions from a large number of people. Political crowdfunding is widely considered an acceptable medium for raising funding from grassroots supporters.

However, as with political party funding, generally, political parties that engage in crowdfunding have to take the legal framework into account. Most countries, including Nigeria, have regulations for donations and related privacy and transparency issues.

However, Utomi, a former presidential candidate, said he also got support from the diaspora when he contested for the presidency.

Utomi, who is currently in the US with Obi, explained, “When the time is right, the diaspora will give money; they have always given money to campaigns. I ran for president before and I got support from the diaspora in 2006 and 2007 and also in 2011.

“When the time is right, we are going to obviously solicit from Nigerians across the board. We are setting up portals where people can give money.

“The portals would be up next week or so and eventually we would solicit for funds from the diaspora. But right now, we are on a sensitisation tour about what

makes democracy work. Right now, Nigeria’s democracy is not working because of the transaction cost that is involved and the trade-off that has to be made.”

Reminded that Section 225 of the Nigerian constitution as well as Section 85 of the amended Electoral Act forbad the sourcing of fund for campaign from abroad, Utomi said, “I am completely aware of what the law says. If we open a portal and say Nigerians who want to support can pay into it, are you saying Nigerians abroad can’t go to the portal and contribute a dollar, after you have prevented them from voting?

“Most African countries allow their diaspora to vote – Ghana, Kenya, and others. In Nigeria, they can’t vote and a lot of Nigerians are excluded from their democracy and now you say they can’t even give N100 to a candidate.

“If there is a law that opposes opening a portal to raise campaign fund, that law is fundamentally flawed and does not deserve the name of law. What we are doing is that we are building a movement that would change Nigeria.”

The former presidential candidate denied the story making the rounds that Obi was charging fees for his engagements with Nigerians in the diaspora, saying, “We are not involved in the fees, if at all there is any.”

Utomi also denied any rift between him and Obi or any LP official over campaign funds, describing the story as “fake news and that is absolutely nonsense.”

He said, “No such thing ever happened. We have never had a conversation around money in any shape or form.”

Meanwhile, some leading lawyers expressed concerns about the legality of the decision of the presidential candidate of LP to inaugurate the Diaspora Committee to raise $150 million from Nigerians in the diaspora and N100 billion from his supporters in Nigeria.

In separate interviews with THISDAY, some Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) argued that the law prohibited LP from retaining any contributions made for its election expenses from the diaspora.

Sections 224-225 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, and Sections 85-88 of the Electoral Act, 2022, stipulate how much a political party can spend on presidential campaigns and where it can source funds.

While Section 225(4) of the constitution requires that funds or other assets be remitted or sent to a political party from outside Nigeria shall be paid over or transferred to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) within 21 days, Section 88(2) of the Electoral Act

limits spending by a presidential candidate to N5 billion.

Ahead of the 2023 general election, National Chairman of LP, Mr. Julius Abure, had constituted an 11-man Diaspora Committee at the national headquarters of the party in Abuja to organise fund-raising activities, among others, for the party’s presidential campaign.

Section 225 of the 1999 Constitution prohibits all political parties and their candidates from holding or possessing funds or other assets outside Nigeria or being entitled to retain funds or assets remitted or sent to it from outside Nigeria.

Section 225(2) stipulates that every political party “shall submit to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) a detailed annual statement and analysis of its sources of funds and other assets together with a similar statement of its expenditure in such form as the commission may require.”

Section 85(1) of the Electoral Act states that any political party that holds or possesses, “Any fund outside Nigeria in contravention of Section 225 (3) (a) of the constitution, commits an offence and shall on conviction forfeit the funds or assets purchased with such funds to the commission and in addition may be liable to a fine of at least N5,000,000.”

The section further stipulates

that any political party that retains any fund or other asset “remitted to it from outside Nigeria in contravention of section 225 (3) (a) of the constitution commits an offence and shall on conviction forfeit the funds or assets to the commission and in addition, may be liable to a fine of at least N5, 000,000.”

Reacting to LP’s plan to raise campaign funds from Nigerians living abroad, a human rights lawyer, Dr. Mike Ozekhome, argued that no political party shall be entitled to retain or keep funds sent to it from abroad, but shall, instead, transfer such funds to the INEC within 21 days of receiving such money.

He explained that the political party “is also obligated under this section to afford the INEC such information on the sources of the funds, their legitimacy, the individual or group donors, and how much was contributed by each individual or entity.

“This therefore will permit the commission to pierce the veil of the diasporans' crowdfunding to determine those actually behind the funds, and determine their legitimacy, or if they contravene the Money Laundering Act and other anti-corruption laws. Be very sure that the EFCC and ICPC will come snooping around.”

yesterday in Kaduna, Chairman of CNF, Ibrahim Bature, said petroleum subsidy, “is the greatest crime being perpetrated against Nigerians.”

The group said, “the subsidy regime which has regularly stopped the NNPC from contributing revenue to the federal government, has stunted infrastructural development.”

Bature called on the federal government to consider the removal of the subsidy so as, “to take the feeding bottle away from the mouths of cartels stealing our common wealth.”

The group also faulted claims by the NNPC and the Ministry of Petroleum Resources that an estimated 200,000-400,000 barrels of crude are stolen per day, arguing that recent statements by the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Gambo and Ali, showed that such claim was outrageous and unrealistic.

“We wish to call on Mr. President to look critically into the position of both the Nigeria Custom and Nigerian Navy over the outrageous claims of theft in the oil and gas sector by the NNPC. “Our group deduced that

the subsidy regime which has regularly stopped the NNPC from contributing revenue into the Federation Account is the greatest crime being perpetrated against Nigerians.” Bature said.

The group further declared that it is, “vehemently opposed,” to the pipeline Surveillance Contract the NNPC awarded to Tompolo, insisting that, “it should be terminated with immediate effect.”

The CNF urged the federal government to channel the N48 billion contract to addressing the developmental and environmental challenges in the Niger Delta region.

Bature also called on the president to immediately sack the Head of the Nigeria Communication Satellite (NIGCOMSAT), “for failing to effectively cover the territory and expose crime to the relevant authorities.”

The group asked Buhari to declare a state of emergency in the NNPC, “by appointing a military administrator to watch over the affairs of the company pending when investigations will be concluded into the subsidy regime that cost the country trillions of naira annually.”

Read full story in the online edition on www.thisdaylive.com

NIGERIA’S AVERAGE DAILY PETROL SUPPLY IS 68 MILLION LITRES, NNPC CLARIFIES would be the implication of FOREX and the exchange rate?

"I want to believe these questions have been addressed and efforts would be in place to expand oil reserves and production capacity, in the near term, to 40 billion and four million per day, respectively, to deliver the promise."

Also, the Managing Director, KSBC Knowledge Resources Limited, Mr. Chika Mbonu, told THISDAY that the move by NNPC was long over-due as many of its peers like Saudi Arabia's Aramco, Brazil's Petrobras, the Russian national oil company among others were investing massively in refineries around the world because of the benefits in such investment.

Mbonu said with the investment in the Dangote Refinery, NNPC would have a guaranteed market for its crude oil whether there is oil glut or not, insisting that the company was even a late comer to the table in this kind of investment initiative.

He explained, "It's a deliberate investment objective by national oil companies like NNPC to always invest in refineries so that when

there is a glut in the crude oil market, they would have captive buyers for their product.

"So, the investment by NNPC in Dangote refinery is even very late. Other national oil companies like I told you before have been making those investments for long.

Aramco even has investment in refineries in Mexico, in very far countries.

"So that's why NNPC saw that investment opportunity to invest in Dangote refinery, because when the refinery starts, it's free to buy crude from anywhere, including Saudi Arabia. So, now, with NNPC as an investor in Dangote Refinery, part of the investments agreement is that they must captively be buying crude from NNPC. “So, NNPC has a guaranteed market for their crude oil whether there is a glut or no glut. So, that's the issue. NNPC is a late comer to the table in this kind of investment initiative."

On whether NNPC would sell crude to the refinery in naira or dollar, he explained that whichever currency both companies agreed, the price must be at the prevalent market rate.

Mbonu added that Dangote has the privilege to buy crude from anywhere they want, saying if they are buying from NNPC, it has to be on terms very favourable to them and nobody would sell crude to any refinery at any price below the market rate of crude whether in naira or in dollar.

He further explained that there would be more value added as Nigeria moves from exporting crude and using the money to import petrol to refining locally.

"You know, from crude oil, you get about four or five derivatives.

So, there is more value added in selling those derivatives than selling crude oil. It now means that with Dangote Refinery producing and NNPC refineries also producing and we have surplus, we can export petrol, diesel, kerosene, aviation fuel and other things to earn more foreign exchange which comes to support our reserve too," he added.

On his part, Managing Partner at ENR Advisory, an energy investments advisory firm, Mr. Gbite Adeniji, said NNPC's investment in the private refinery would be a means to ending the domestic products supply

shortages which Nigeria is currently grappling with.

"I suppose that should mean that we shouldn’t expect any further problems with domestic products supply. When the NNPC - owned refineries eventually come on stream, one would expect that they would back out those volumes from the Dangote refinery which can then be exported.

So, the first objective has to be domestic security of supply and ultimately, FX revenues," Adeniji said.

Northern Groups Call for Removal of Petroleum Subsidy Meanwhile, the Concerned Northern Forum (CNF) in Conjunction with some civil society groups have called on President Muhammadu Buhari to remove petroleum subsidy.

The group also kicked against the N48 billion pipeline security contract awarded by the federal government to a former Niger Delta militant, Government Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo.

Addressing a press conference

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NEWSXTRA

'DEALING WITH LIFE'S EMOTIONAL STRUGGLES' CONFAB...

L-R; President, Arogi Foundation, Otis Ojeikhoa; First Speaker/Broadcaster, Mrs Andrea Oduobi-Teke; Second Speaker/Associate Professor of Psychology,, Prof. Andrew Zamani; Vice President, Arogi Foundation, Mrs Joy Amaka TimAyoola and Speaker/Lecturer, University of Lagos, Dr. Charles Umeh during the Arogi Conference themed: 'Dealing With Life's Emotional Struggles' at the launch of the Foundation in Lagos...weekend ABIODUN AJALA

IG at UN, Says No Threat to 2023 Polls Military neutralises 200 insurgents in Lake Chad Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Usman Baba, at the weekend, assured Nigerians and the world in general that there would be no threat to the 2023 general election.

This is as the military authorities, also at the weekend, claimed that sustained fire-fight through air strikes and ground troops of Operation Hadin Kai, killed 200 insurgents in Lake Chad.

However, the IG anchored his position on what he described as the robust security threat analysis carried out using global best standards to ascertain the trend of expectations for the electioneering processes.

Baba spoke at the meeting of the United Nations Chiefs of Police Summit (UNCOPS) in the United States and during a meeting with Assistant Secretary, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, U.S. Department of State, Mr.

Todd D. Robinson, as part of events rounding up his attendance at the UN summit.

At the meeting, discussions centered around enhancing support for the Nigeria Police training and capacity building programmes particularly, the training of tactical units deployed in the North-east and other conflict theatres across the country.

A statement by Force Headquarters, said, the meeting also discussed the ongoing election security management training across the six geopolitical zones of the country in preparation for the 2023 general election and support for police recruit training in modern policing themes such as forensic investigations, human relations and cyber security.

In his remarks, the Assistant Secretary, praised efforts of the force under the leadership of the IGP even as both leaders discussed other ways of increasing support to the force.

FG Rolls Out National GEEP 2.0

Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja

The federal government has rolled out its Government Enterprise Empowerment Programme (GEEP) 2.0.

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development Sadiya Umar Farouq launched the national phase of the programme at the Daura Kasuwar Kofar ‘Yan Kudu market along Daura road, Katsina State at the weekend.

She said during the presentation of cheques to peasant farmers and petty business women, that the interest-free loans to beneficiaries was in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s avowed commitment to fight poverty and its devastating impact from all angles Of the 59,161potential beneficiaries were registered across the 34 LGAs of Katsina State only 13,000 beneficiaries were verified and cleared to benefit from the interest free loans for the first phase of the programme, while new registration is yet to commence.

The ministry would publicly announce the second phase of registration for the year 2022, of which more vulnerable individuals and groups are

expected to openly register at the National Orientation Agency offices by GEEP trained desk officers across the 774 LGA 's nationwide.

The minister stated that the beneficiaries are verifiable while the selection process was transparently conducted.

“These selected beneficiaries are now all banked, they have been given ATM cards and are currently being enumerated all of which are our deliberate efforts to enhance financial inclusivity of our poor in a sustainable manner,” she said.

GEEP 2.0 has three unique products: Tradermoni loan of N50,000 is targeted at uplifting the under-privileged and marginalised youths between the ages of 18 – 40 years; MarketMoni loan also of N50,000 which is for the under-privileged and marginalised women like widows, divorcees, and other vulnerable groups, as well as FarmerMoni loan of between N50,000 to N300,000 designed for small scale farmers in the communities to improve their agricultural productivity and inclusion into commercial farming.

The National Roll-Out heralds a launch and disbursement of loans simultaneously in all states.

"The Inspector-General of Police, in his quest to achieve improved policing services and bequeath an enviable policing system to the nation, has continuously interfaced with individuals and groups with requisite ideas and supportbase for the achievement of his agenda of a modern Nigeria Police Force.

"The IGP, similarly emphasised his administration's focus on improved training and retraining of police officers and men, as well as the sustenance and improvement of cuttingedge technology for better crime prevention, deterrence

and apprehension of suspects with concrete, credible and corroborated evidence," the statement stated.

Meanwhile, a war update issued in Abuja by the Nigerian Air Force, has disclosed that a well-planned and coordinated attack by the joint operation, hit terrorist locations at Gabchari near Bama, forcing them to flee.

It said fighter jets were immediately scrambled to provide close air support and engage the terrorists in successive passes.

"The strikes were deemed successful as lifeless bodies of terrorists were observed around the points of impact. This has

also been corroborated by local sources, who have expressed delight with the increased rate on attacks on terrorists and their enclaves, a situation that has allowed some of them to return to their homes and tend to their farms," it said.

The update cited intelligence reports from various sources, which also indicated that over 200 terrorists were neutralised by the joint efforts of both air and ground troops including five ISWAP commanders, adding that, after the air strikes, the aircraft maintained close air support on the withdrawing troops until they returned back

to base.

"The number of terrorists eliminated in this operation clearly goes to prove the lethality of jointness, synergy and cooperation in any military operation."

The update further reaffirmed the commitment of the Armed Forces of Nigeria and other security agencies and the renewed vigour and resolve to contain threats posed by terrorists.

"Should the momentum be sustained in all operating theatres, surely Nigerians will begin to feel safe in their environment as normalcy returns," it said.

Yobe North: Machina Disowns Withdrawal Letter, Vows to Fight On Sunday Aborisade in Abuja Winner of the June 28 All Progressives Congress (APC) Primary election in the Yobe North Senatorial District, Bashir Machina, has disowned a fake letter in circulation, indicating that he had withdrawn from the race for the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan.

Machina, in a statement personally signed declared that the letter was actually forged.

Part of the statement read: "It has been brought to my notice

that some unscrupulous elements, have forged my withdrawal letter out of mischief and blackmail.

"I want to state unequivocally that the purported letter was forged. I did not at anytime withdraw nor resign from my party.

"I was shocked when I discovered that some persons concocted plans to mislead the public particularly, my supporters into believing that I have withdrawn.

"The discrepancies between the two dates especially, between the

date of writing the purported letter and the date it was receipt exposed the authors inadequacies and lack of sufficient administrative knowledge.

"Although we suspect that this letter may be another fake news and the hand work of enemies of peace, yet, the APC National secretariat must speak up on it since it is carrying the official stamp of the secretariat.

"For the avoidance of doubt, I have not resigned or withdrawn my candidature; I am in APC and have no intention to move to any

party. I will (insha Allah) pursue my senatorial ambition on the platform of the All Progressives Congress.

"I have already instructed my lawyers to review the fake letter and take necessary legal actions against the culprit(s)."

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has yet to publish Machina's name as the candidate of the APC for Yobe North, because the party substituted him for Lawan, who did not take part in the primary election.

Expert Urges FG to Reject Calls for Dollar Payment by Foreign Telecom Operators Emma Okonji Telecommunication expert, Mr. Ayoola Oke has urged the federal government and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to reject the demands by foreign- owned telecom operators who are calling for dollar denominated payment system from smaller and local operators in the country.

Oke, in a statement he issued yesterday, said the ongoing discussion between NCC and the foreign telecom operators should comply with Section 15 of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Act that makes naira the exclusive means of payment in

and within Nigeria and between any two Nigerians companies.

Oke, who is a lawyer, explained that recently the Governor of Central Bank in his efforts to shore up the value of the naira, had issued a statement reminding Nigerians that it was a criminal offence to refuse naira payment for goods and services transacted in the country.

According to him, the challenge for the Nigerian economy was that the naira would continue to bleed if dollarisation was not resisted.

Oke cited an instance were foreign-owned entities who were able to collect revenue in dollars would evade central bank’s control of repatriation of dollars

out of the country, adding that the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) may also find it more challenging to monitor revenue of such companies and tax them appropriately.

“I am aware of a confusion on a matter whereby the MTN and some major foreign owned operators are demanding payment in dollars but I believe the NCC is looking into it with a view to resolving it.

“The consultation between NCC and some smaller operators is ongoing and my position is that any resolution should comply with Section 15 of the CBN Act that makes naira the exclusive means of payment in and within Nigeria

and between any two Nigerian companies.

“I believe recently that the central bank Governor, in his effort to shore up the value of the naira, issued a statement reminding Nigerians of what I believe is a reference to Section 20 that makes it a criminal offence to refuse Naira payment for goods and services transacted in Nigeria," Oke said, adding that Nigerians were witnesses to the tax remittance controversy between MTN and FIRS currently making rounds in the news media.

The legal practitioner therefore urged Nigerians to join hands to save the naira by not subrogating it with any foreign currency.

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MONDAYSPORTS

Group Sports Editor: Duro Ikhazuagbe Email: duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com

0811 181 3083 SMS ONLY

Iheanacho Scores, Ndidi Fumbles as Brighton Pummel Leicester S E V E N - G OA L T H R I L L E R

Femi Solaja with agency report Super Eagles duo of Wilfred Ndidi and Kelechi Iheanacho gave contracting performances in starting line-up for visiting Leicester City as Brighton bounced back from defeat at Fulham in midweek to comprehensively beat the former champions 5-2 at the AMEX. Leicester went ahead just 51 Seconds into the game as Kelechi Iheanacho made a perfect start to tuck in Daka's cutback but Luke Thomas' own goal and Moises Caicedo's thumping finish had the Seagulls ahead soon after.

Patson Daka restored parity against the run of play just after the

half-hour mark before Alexis Mac Allister had a goal of the season contender ruled out for offside at the start of the second half.

However, the Foxes remained disorganised at the back and Leandro Trossard's strike coupled with Mac Allister's penalty saw Albion comfortably over the line.

Mac Allister put a fifth past Danny Ward with a magical free kick in stoppage time.

Brighton are now up to fourth in the Premier League as they continue their excellent start to the season, while pressure remains on Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers, whose side are rooted to the bottom of the table.

Brighton, who continued to enjoy the best chances before fine interplay between Leandro Trossard and Pascal Gross saw the Belgian tuck into the far corner to finally make it 3-2.

Leicester continued to look hapless at the back in the face of Brighton's attack and Wilfred Ndidi was the next Foxes player to have a shocker. Trossard took the ball to the byline and escaped Ndidi, who clumsily brought him down in the area.

Mac Allister took the penalty and scored the goal his excellent performance deserved, having so cruelly seen a stunner ruled out earlier. He got a second in stoppage time, curling a perfect free kick into the top corner to earn Brighton a 5-2 win.

Debut Goal for Antony as Rashford Double End Arsenal’s Unbeaten Run Manchester United earned a thrilling 3-1 victory against Arsenal yesterday with Brazilian Antony scoring on his debut while Marcus Rashford fired a double as Gunners five-match unbeaten run ended at Old Trafford.

Arsenal had won all five of their games so far and United have now won their last four on the spin.

The Gunners were on top for long periods, pegging United back in their own half with Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli a persistent threat.

But United's £82m signing from Brazil was clinical when his opportunity came, curling his shot around goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale against the run of play.

Arsenal got back on level terms when Jesus lost control of the ball in the box and it fell to Bukayo

Saka, who comfortably turned it home before Bruno Fernandes picked out Marcus Rashford with a sublime pass six minutes later and the 24-year-old calmly finished his shot.

Mikel Arteta's side seemed to still be in control until Rashford got his second of the game - a clinical finish from a speedy counter-attack.

Arsenal however remain top of the log on 15 points. However, after their excellent start to the season, manager Mikel Arteta will be concerned at how easily his side were opened up, although the Gunners did have a first-half Gabriel Martinelli goal ruled out

by VAR. Antony lasted less than an hour before being replaced by Cristiano Ronaldo, Antony was afforded a standing ovation as he left the field.

Aisha Falode Joins Race for NFF Exco Seat The Chairperson of the Nigeria Women Football League (NWFL), Aisha Falode, at the weekend joined the race for a seat in the Executive Committee of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

Falode, a veteran broadcast journalist, who is the only female member of the outgoing board is challenging for a seat at the Elective Congress of the federation scheduled to hold in Benin City, Edo State on September 30.

Speaking at a media parley at the Radisson Hotel, Ikeja at the weekend, the NWFL chairperson said she decided to throw her hat in the ring because of the desire to effectively build up women's football both at the league and national team levels.

"I want to be a real stakeholder in Nigeria Football Federation, with real stake and not limited by the status of an appointee.

“For me I want to be fully involved in the decision making and implementation of developmental programmes in Nigerian football.

"I want to be part of that authority who take initiatives and run those ideas of taking the country's football to another level.

I want to have the opportunity as a member of the NFF Executive Committee that will be enabled to push for a professionally-run NFF. It's better to contest and win a seat on the Executive Committee, and get on board so as to ensure the

Aisha Falode...gunning for a seat on the new NFF board gains made in women's football are not watered down.

"I want to join hands to help build a Secretariat that is modern, and will enable us to keep the Nigeria Women Football League making consistent progress and have a sense of belonging to women's football,” observed the football passionate Falode.

With the backing of her Edo State Football Association, she believed her ambition is doable.

“I want to ensure the voices of the women folks are projected very positively as the lofty ideas we have put in place are built upon,” she concluded.

DREAM DEBUT....

Brazilian Antony crowned his debut at Old Trafford yesterday with his first goal for Manchester United. The Red Devils ended Arsenal’s five-match unbeaten run with 3-1 victory at Old Trafford

Seyi Akinwunmi Counting on Experience, Exposure to Win NFF Top Job The First Vice-president of the Nigeria Football Federation, Barrister Seyi Akinwunmi, yesterday promised to give his all in an attempt to take football to greater heights in the country.

Akinwunmi who was speaking at the Bagauda Kaltho Media Centre in Alausa, Lagos, during his declaration for the NFF Presidency stressed that he was well-equipped for the job based on his experiences and various positions held in the running of football in the country.

Akinwunmi said: “I have high respect for all others contesting for the same position but no one can boost of the kind of experience I have over the years in the game.

“I am well equipped because from the bottom, I climbed up the

ladder with wealth of experiences in various areas of the game. I am ready to bring my all to make the game get better.”

The Lagos Football Association Chairman also added he would use his four cardinal pillar programme to run the game.

“The four pillars are Grassroots Development, Business of football, Infrastructure and Technology. I will now use these to actualise my 11 strategic actions for the development of the game.

“It is important to think about the schools and the grassroots for us to move forward. We will have National Finals which will see football competitions at the state and zonal levels. The FAs will be empowered in concrete terms to stage events and create

competition among the youth,” he observed.

League Reforms, youth development, entrepreneurship, Inclusion, Life after retirement, Girls and women football, transparency and national team administration are some of the strategic plans Akinwunmi have listed out to be thoroughly addressed.

Earlier, President of Nigeria Referees Association (NRA), Tade Azeez, noted that Akinwunmi had all it takes to take the game to another level in Nigeria.

Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotosho, who was one of the dignitaries at the event, said the state was proud of the candidature of Akinwunmi and what he stands for in football.

Seyi Akinwunmi ...banking on experience, exposure to swing the NFF presidency to him

WHSWillEliminateCheatinginGolf,SaysRunsewe Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja President of Nigeria Golf Federation (NGF), Otunba Olusegun Runsewe, has declared that the World Handicap System (WHS) will eliminate cheating from Nigerian golf.

Runsewe disclosed this during the 1st Nigeria Golf Federation Summit in Abuja, attended by 75 golf captains from across the country.

He said the WHS registration process for all amateur golfers, which the NGF was carrying out in conjunction with the R&A would change the narratives in the history of golf in Nigeria.

“The WHS is going to work

because there would be no more cheating in golf. You can no more have different Handicaps for different courses. It is now one Handicap. In WHS, the beauty is once you put your name in any golf course in the world your name will come out with your Handicap. Nobody will even ask you. The machine will automatically catch you and if you try to play pranks the machine will show your Handicap in the last 15 games.

So it is a gentleman’s game and the WHS Index will change the narratives in the history of golf in Nigeria,” Runsewe said.

He said the NGF has no time limit to complete the registration

process for the entire country.

So far, only 10 golf clubs out of the over Nigerian 70 golf clubs have been integrated into the WHS. The rated clubs include; IBB Golf Club Abuja, Port Harcourt Club 1928, Kaduna Golf Club, Rayfield Golf Club, Jos, Abeokuta Golf Club, Ikeja Golf Club, Ibadan Golf Club, Ikoyi Golf Club 1938 and James Ibori Golf Club, Asaba.

He said the NGF would not rush the exercise as it is only prepared to migrate to the next phase after getting the first phase right.

Runsewe who is the Director General of the National Council of Arts and Culture (NCAC)

expressed delight at the success of the two-day golf summit, which was graced by the Governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong, Minister of Youth and Sports, Sunday Dare and two monarchs, Amanayabo Twon- Brass, King Alfred Diete-Spiff; and the Emir of Dutse, Alhaji Muhammadu Nuhu Sanusi. The Chairman IBB Club Board of Trustees, Gen IBM Haruna (Rtd) was the chairman of the occasion.

“We had a great summit. The contributions by over 75 captains from clubs from across the country have shown us that golf is a big business and we need to tap into the business side of the game,” he said.

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Nwokocha Fails Dope Test, Provisionally Suspended Nigeria to be stripped of 4x100m Commonwealth Games relay gold Duro Ikhazuagbe The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) of World Athletics at the weekend provisionally suspended Nigerian sprinter, Grace Nwokocha, for dope failure.

Nwokocha who ran the anchor leg of Nigeria’s women’s 4x100m relay quartet to win gold medal and a new African record at the last Commonwealth Games in Birmingham was found to have failed dope test.

The ‘A’ Samples of Nwokocha’s urine collected at the Games on August 3, 2022 tested positive to banned substances like Ostarine and Lingadrol.

Although she has provisionally been suspended from the sport until perhaps she calls for the testing of her ‘B’ samples, Nigeria is going to lose that gold medal she won with other members of the team like Tobi Amusan, Favour Ofili, and Rosemary Chukwuma.

The news of Nwokocha’s failed dope test was listed on AIU website at the weekend and is going to cast a blight on Nigeria’s fight to clean up her image following the high profile dope case of Blessing Okagbare who has been suspended from the sport for 11 years due to the growth hormone found in her system prior to the Tokyo 2021

Games.

10 other Nigerian athletes were excluded from the Tokyo Games for not meeting up with the mandatory three Out of Competition tests.

Nwokocha will now be excluded from any other competition until a final decision is taken at a hearing conducted as per World AntiDoping Agency (WADA) rules.

AFN President, Tonobok Okowa expressed shock at the news of Nwokocha’s positive dope case, stressing that he was not yet briefed in details.

“I’m not yet aware of any positive test, but that would be shocking.”

Nigeria, Benin Republic Joint Bid for AFCON 2025 Comes Alive CAF strips Guinea of initial rights to host due to unstable situations Femi Solaja with agency report

Grace Nwokocha...provisionally suspended from athletics due to failed dope test

Bayelsa Queens Clinch WAFU-B Title in Abidjan Bags ticket to CAF’s Women’s Champions League Bayelsa Queens of Nigeria at the weekend qualified for the CAF Women’s Champions League 2022 in Morocco.

They defeated Ghana's Ampem Darkoa Ladies 3-0 in the final match to win WAFU B Qualifiers' tournament at the Yamoussoukro Stadium in Côte d'Ivoire.

The feat marked the first time a Nigerian side will go over Ghana in recent international football competition. The Ghana Black Stars triumphed against Super Eagles for a World Cup final ticket to Qatar and last weekend, Ghana’s Galaxies were better in the penalty shootout as they edged Super Eagles B after 2-2 score line over two legs to reach the CHAN 2023 finals.

Miracle Joseph, Flourish Sebastine Chioma and Chinyere Igbomalu each found the net to seal the 3-0 win over the Ghanaians.

Bayelsa Queens succeed to Ghana’s Hasaacas Ladies who won the title last year by defeating Rivers Angels of Nigeria 3 -1, before ending Runners up of the inaugural edition of the tournament.

CAF Women’s Champions League 2022 will be played from 31 October to 13 November 2022 in Morocco.

Eight teams will take part in the final tournament. In addition to Bayelsa Queens (Nigeria, WAFU B), six other teams have already qualified for the finals. They

include: AS FAR (Morocco) as host others are Wadi Degla FC (Egypt): UNAF Champions, Green Buffaloes (Zambia): COSAFA Champions, Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies (South Africa), CAF Women’s Champions League title holders and COSAFA runners up, Determine Girls FC (Liberia): WAFU A Champions and Simba Queens FC (Tanzania): CECAFA Champions While the final slot would be known tomorrow after the conclusion of the zonal tournament set to take place from 10 to 16 September 2022 in Malabo.

The draw for the Central Zone qualifiers will be held on Tuesday 06 September 2022 in Cairo, Egypt.

Bayelsa Queens ...winners of the WAFU B tournament in Abidjan at the weekend

The Confederation of African Football (CAF), yesterday stripped Guinea as the host of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations finals in what it termed the country not ready to stage the premier continental football tournament.

The development thus revived Nigeria’s quest to stage the tournament alongside neighbor, Benin Republic.

Outgoing President of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Amaju Pinnick, had disclosed late in July that Nigeria had put in a bid to jointly host with Benin Republic but a section of the sporting press dismissed the report that no formal decision by CAF on Guinea yet.

But last night, Insidethegames quoted a top CAF official saying that the continental football body has removed Guinea as host of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations due to slow pace of work.

The latest development marked the list of long line of editions of the competition to have had a disrupted build-up, with the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations the last not to have been moved either geographically or on the calendar.

A military junta has been running Guinea since September 2021, when colonel Mamady Doumbouya appointed himself Interim President.

“The Executive Committee was

unanimous that Guinea will not be ready to host the competition,” CAF said in a statement last night.

“The Executive Committee took a unanimous decision based on the report as submitted that the tournament be withdrawn from Guinea.

“The President suggested that a delegation be sent to Guinea to inform them of the decision taken by the Executive Committee.

“The Executive Committee resolved to send a delegation to Guinea to inform them of CAF’s decision to withdraw the Africa Cup of Nations, Guinea 2025 from Guinea.”

The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations was held in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, as planned.

The 2013 version was held in South Africa, after it swapped 2017 hosting rights with Libya which was the scene of a civil war.

Due to the threat of Ebola, Morocco withdrew as host in 2015 and was replaced by Equatorial

Guinea.

With conflict continuing in Libya, the CAF moved the 2017 tournament to Gabon.

Egypt then took over in 2019 from Cameroon over concerns that Cameroon could not deal with the move to a 24-team tournament.

The COVID-19 crisis and weather delayed a 2021 tournament supposed to be in Cameroon, which was scheduled for June and July in 2021 but moved to the start of the year due to heat concerns.

It was ultimately pushed back to 2022 because of the global health crisis.

As part of the domino effect caused by Cameroon’s withdrawal as 2019 host and later reinstatement for 2021, an Ivorian Africa Cup of Nations was delayed from 2021 to 2023 and Guinea’s right to hold the tournament moved to 2025.

Because of weather concerns, the next Africa Cup of Nations has already been moved to January 2024.

WhyHaalandReject Real Madrid Erling Haaland decided against joining Real Madrid in the summer because it wasn’t as good a fit for him as Manchester City, primarily due to the presence of Karim Benzema at the Bernabeu and the possible future arrival of Kylian Mbappe.

City spent the summer of 2021 unsuccessfully trying to persuade Tottenham to sell Harry Kane and ended up navigating the 2021/22 season without a recognised central striker.

The Premier League champions then moved early in the 2022 summer window to bring in Haaland and fill that void. The Norwegian was also a target for Barcelona, who pulled out over finances and eventually landed Robert Lewandowski, and for Real Madrid.

But he chose Manchester City.

Not only is are City the club he grew up supporting – his father Alf-Inge Haaland played for the club between 2000 and 2003 – it was also the best option at the time.

“You can't really [say no to Real Madrid],” Alf-Inge admitted

on Viaplay’s new documentary Haaland: The Choice.

But the father and agent went on to explain why Real wasn’t right for his son.

“We have a criterion in mind, who needs a '9'? Manchester City is a 10, it is the perfect option, while Real Madrid is a 5 or a 6 because of how Benzema is playing now.

Will they manage to sign Mbappe?” the retired defender said.

Real president Florentino Perez offered similar reasoning why Haaland didn’t wind up in Madrid when speaking about it back in June: "We have the best nine in the world and we weren't going to bring in Haaland to have him on the bench, right?”

Real eventually didn’t land Mbappe, who signed a new contract with Paris Saint-Germain instead.

But Benzema is still going strong after scoring more than 40 goals for the first time in his career in 2021/22 – he already has another four in five games so far in 2022/23.

Haaland, meanwhile has started his Manchester City career with 10 goals in seven appearances.

TR

Monday, September 5, 2022

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Price: N250

MISSILE Bishop Kukah to Politicians

“Those who used ethnicity have now paid the price. Beyond the thousands of people who have lost their lives, one positive thing from what we have experienced in the last eight years is … the fact that voting for any candidate because he tells you he’s going to establish an Islamic state or a Christian state…is the worst fraud any politician can sell to you” – Sokoto Catholic Bishop, Matthew Hassan Kukah, urging people not to be swayed by ethnic and religious sentiments in 2023 polls.

MAHMUDJEGA VIEW FROM THE GALLERY

I am No Fan of Gorbachev

W

hen I heard last week of the death of Mikhail Gorbachev, the last President of the Soviet Union, I remembered an early evening debate that ensued in my bachelor’s house at Kwatarkwashi Road in Sokoto, sometime in 1988. We held those debates almost every night as young, idealistic, left-wing university lecturers.

Present at the debate that evening was, to use their present titles, Professor Tijjani Bande, Dr. Bello Aliyu, Prof Mohammed Kuna, Prof Abdullahi Sule-Kano and Dr. Abdurrahman Umar, the later now deceased.

We debated whether Apartheid will end in South Africa before establishment of an independent Palestinian state. After a robust argument, the consensus was that Palestine will become a state before Apartheid falls. We thought, wrongly as it turned out, that liberals and left-wingers in Israel’s Labour Party would overcome Likud and religious parties’ conservatives and broker a deal with the Palestine Liberation Organization [PLO] earlier than English-speaking liberal White South Africans will overcome National Party’s Afrikaner hardliners and end apartheid.

Within a year of that debate, Apartheid began to crumble in South Africa but 33 years after our prediction, the end of Israeli Occupation of Palestine is not in sight.

Another interesting debate ensued that night. We discussed and laughed heartily about a certain passage in Frederick Forsyth’s novel, The Devil’s Alternative. It was about [fictional] Ukrainian militants who hijacked a Soviet plane over East Germany and flew it to West Germany.

After their arrest, the incredulous West German investigator asked them why they did so. They said their goal was “to establish a free, independent and democratic Ukraine.” The West German cop muttered to himself, “That will never happen!”

In 1988, to advocate for an “independent” Ukraine, in other words to secede from USSR, was the height of fantasy and, as far as we could see that night, the nearest thing to impossible. Over the years since the collapse of the Soviet Union, my friends and I have rued our 1988 consensus and have said the impossible happened. Maybe we spoke too soon, as events in Ukraine since February this year have shown.

Impossible things happened due to the severely unpredictable quantity called Mikhail Gorbachev.

During my early school and teen years, Communist rulers around the world seemed to be there for eternity. They included General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party Leonid Brezhnev, Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party Mao Zedong, Cuban President Fidel Castro, Albanian Party of Labour leader Enver Hoxha, Polish United Workers Party leader Edward Gierek, leader of the Yugoslav

Mikhail

League of Communists Josif Broz Tito, East German Socialist Unity Party leader Erich Honecker, Czechoslovak Communist Party leader Gustav Husak, Hungarian Socialist Workers Party leader Janos Kadar, Bulgarian Communist Party leader Todor Zhivkov, Romanian Communist Party leader Nicolae Ceausescu, Vietnamese Communist Party leader Ho Chi Minh and North Korean Workers’ Party leader Kim Il-Sung. Communist party leaders in the Western world were also long-lasting, including Italy’s Enrico Berlinguer and French Communist Party leader Georges Machais.

Tumult however arrived in the 1980s, beginning with the emergence of Solidarity trade union in Poland led by the dock electrician Lech Walesa. An independent trade union challenging the party was unheard of in the Communist bloc up to that time. The tumult led to the declaration of martial law in Poland and the rise of the unsmiling General Wojciech Jaruzelski as Chief Martial Law Administrator.

In November 1982, I heard on the radio the death of Leonid Brezhnev. TIME magazine’s cover story for that week was, “Half a world lies open!” Brezhnev stood on top of the Communist heap. Knowing as I did all the members of the Politburo [Political Bureau] of the CPSU Central Committee, I did a personal shortlist of Brezhnev’s likely successor. On my shortlist were Premier Nikolai Tikhonov, First Deputy Premier Heydar Aliyev, Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko, Defence Minister Marshal Dmitri Ustinov, Moscow party chief Boris Yeltsin and CPSU chief ideologue Mikhail Suslov. CPSU Central Committee however disregarded my list and chose KGB Chief Yuri Andropov as General Secretary.

The stern Andropov, once described in

a Time magazine story as “having a dry sense of humour,” died 15 months later in 1984. CPSU then chose Brezhnev’s former chief of staff Konstantin Chernenko to lead.

He also had an uneventful tenure and died after 13 months. Probably learning this lesson, CPSU then chose the youngest Politburo member, Mikhail Gorbachev, to succeed Chernenko.

He turned out to be a different kettle of Communist fish, to put it mildly. Young and energetic, unlike the aged Brezhnev who once had to be helped to his feet during a visit to Bonn, Gorbachev soon dazzled the world as he travelled to Western capitals.

In a message that greatly pleased Western ears, he espoused a new policy of “glasnost”, i.e. openness, a complete departure from the Soviet tradition of secrecy. In line with it, USSR was forthcoming with information during the Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident of 1986.

Soon afterwards, Gorbachev rolled out his policy of Perestroika, i.e. restructuring.

He met several times with the fiercely anti-Communist US President Ronald Reagan to discuss nuclear arms reduction.

They became quite close despite Reagan provocations. During a 1987 visit to West Berlin, Reagan pointed at the Berlin Wall and shouted, “Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” On another occasion, while auditioning for a radio interview in the US, Reagan said, “I am signing a law to outlaw the Soviet Union. We will begin bombing in ten minutes.” Yet Gorbachev cozied up to him!

One thing led to another. East Europeans began fleeing to the West, the Berlin Wall fell, some Soviet soldiers mounted a very incompetent coup in Moscow, which failed when President of the Russian Republic Boris Yeltsin mobilized massive crowds to resist it. Not long afterwards, Yeltsin met with presidents of the 14 other Soviet Republics and they dissolved the USSR, creating 15 independent countries, including Ukraine. Gorbachev tried to stop them, but he was soon a president without a country.

Yeltsin got a good deal for Russia. The 14 smaller countries agreed that Russian Federation should retain all USSR’s mighty nuclear arsenal, all USSR’s embassies around the world and also USSR’s permanent seat on the UN Security Council.

One Nigerian writer said last week that Soviet Union’s collapse was inevitable “due to internal contradictions.” Is that so? If it is internal contradictions, I would have expected the capitalist system to collapse much earlier. What was inevitable about CPSU’s collapse when Communist parties are still ruling in China, North Korea, Vietnam, Laos and Cuba?

Western propagandists wrote much about USSR’s allegedly inefficient agricultural system and shortage of consumer goods.

Maybe, but in 70 years in power, CPSU transformed the country from an essentially

agrarian society to a heavily industrial one that produced everything from trains to aircraft to weapons to rockets to satellites. USSR was the world’s number one in many areas of heavy industry from steel to chemicals to cement to aluminum. Westerners later rubbished these as “smokestack” industry. USSR had a very efficient health care system and an educational system so efficient that it identified every child’s potential from basic school, according to a 1978 Time magazine cover story. CPSU built millions of houses, built some of the world’s most powerful weapons, including a blue ocean navy, sent the first man into space, had the world’s largest nuclear arsenal and one of its most active space programs, and it regularly topped the Olympics medals table, followed by East Germany. To boot, USSR under CPSU made the biggest human and material contribution to the defeat of Fascism in World War Two. We Africans are mighty grateful to USSR and CPSU for their invaluable political, diplomatic and military support to our national liberation movements in Angola, Mozambique, South Africa, Namibia, Guinea Bissau and Zimbabwe, at a time when the Western world backed colonial, UDI and Apartheid powers and resolutely stood against imposing sanctions.

As I saw it, three things overreached the USSR. One was excessive central planning.

Second was its heavy defence spending due to the superpower arms race. The Brezhnev Doctrine, which promised to “defend the gains of socialism worldwide,” was also costly. The Afghan intervention enabled the CIA to heavily arm the Mujahedeen. The claim that Afghan Mujahedeen defeated USSR and forced its withdrawal in 1989 was recently countered by a Western writer, who pointed out that USSR’s best forces were deployed in Eastern Europe to face NATO and in Asia against China, while only secondary forces were sent to Afghanistan.

Among the wars that would never have happened since 1991, had USSR still been around, include the Balkan wars of the 1990s, Chechnya war, Abkhazian separatist war in Georgia, Kosovo, Armenia/ Azerbaijan war, the second Gulf War of 2003, NATO bombing of Libya, Syrian civil war, eastward expansion of NATO, not to mention annexation of Crimea and the current Russia-Ukraine war.

Anyone who was a victim of any of these wars would not be fond of Mikhail Gorbachev, who dislodged CPSU, dismantled the USSR, ended COMECON and Warsaw Pact, ended super power balance, handed USA a blank cheque to rule the world, unleashed previously caged nationalist and religious extremist forces, and severely retarded progressive politics around the world. I don’t celebrate anyone’s death, but I am not a fan of Mikhail Gorbachev.

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