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Operating Surpluses: RMAFC Recovers N120bn from Defaulting Revenue Generating Agencies Mulls amendment of laws to cap spending, criminalise failure, delayed remittance to federation account James Emejo in Abuja The Chairman, Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and

Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Mr. Mohammed Bello Shehu has disclosed that the commission recently recovered the sum of

N120 billion from revenuegenerating agencies which had failed to remit their operating surpluses into the federation

account as stipulated by law.

Shehu said the money would have been lost forever if the commission had not acted in

good faith to enforce the recovery.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with THISDAY over the weekend, the RMAFC boss,

explained that the commission got the permission of President Continued on page 5

In US, Pantami Meets Space X, World Bank, Google to Strengthen Nigeria’s Digital Economy...

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Messi Achieves Life’s Ambition, Wins World Cup for Argentina Duro Ikhazuagbe in Doha, Qatar Lionel Messi secured the missing title in his football career when

he led Argentina to their third World Cup title in Qatar yesterday.

The South American nation won a classic World Cup final

clash with France 4-2 in penalty shootouts after regulation and extra time of 120 minutes deadlocked 3-3 inside the magnificent Lusail

Stadium.

Kylian Mbappe’s hat trick goals in the final to take his total tally in the tournament to eight were

not enough to earn the French men a back-to-back victory in the Mundial, having won the Russia 2018 edition.

It was Gonzalo Montiel who converted the winning spot-kick to Continued on page 5

Atiku: I’ll Make Appointments on Merit, Federal Character, If Elected Pledges to ensure equal representation of all geopolitical zones Challenges Tinubu to reveal real name, background You’re engaging in mudslinging, APC-PCC fires back Arewa youths drum support for former VP

Chuks Okocha, Emmanuel Addeh, Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja and Daji Sani in Yola Presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, yesterday, reassured Nigerians that if elected president next year, he would ensure that the men and women who would form his cabinet were appointed strictly based on merit and the federal character. Atiku said this in a brief telephone chat with THISDAY. The former vice president said, unlike the current All Progressives Congress (APC) administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, which had been widely accused of open nepotism in the filling of key positions, his government would ensure that all geographical zones were equally represented in appointments into his cabinet.

He challenged his APC counterpart, Bola Tinubu, to reveal his name and background.

But the Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) of APC said PDP was merely engaging in another round of mudslinging by asking Tinubu to reveal his identity.

Continued on page 5

CHAMPIONS OF THE WORLD… Lionel Messi lifts the World Cup after Argentina beat France on penalties following a thrilling final at Lusail Stadium...yesterday

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Missing N113m SWF: Senate Summons IPPIS Officials Sunday Aborisade in Abuja The Senate Public Accounts Committee has mandated its Clerk to summon officials of the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) over the missing N113 million disbursed from Service Wide Votes (SWV) from the Office of Accountant General of the Federation (AGF).

The Committee also said it had uncovered gross violation of procedures in the disbursement of Service Wide Votes to Ministries, Departments and Agencies.

SPAC is currently probing disbursement of N4.9 trillion SWVs between 2017 and 2021.

The panel, chaired by Senator Mathew Urhoghide had established that the N113 million disbursed from the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF) to the Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB) for the recurrent expenditure in May 2017.

The fund was not neither requested nor received by the Examination body.

However, the record from the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation did not show

that the N113 million was reversed to the Federation Account.

The Director of Cash Management from the Ministry of Finance who represented the Permanent Secretary, Aliyu Ahmed, told the lawmakers that JAMB did not apply for the N113 million.

He said the request was made on behalf of the examination body from the Ministry of Finance in 2017 and that the money was raised from Service Wide Votes.

He explained, "JAMB did not request for the N113m for recurrent, the Ministry of Finance made the request for them when we

observed the gap, and the money was not released to JAMB, but returned to IPPIS and at the end of the year was mopped up automatically.”

But, the Committee chaired

by Senator Urhoghide observed that there was no record from Accountant General of the Federation that the money was reversed back to the Federation Account.

The Committee also observed that many agencies received disbursement of SWVs without any request which is an outright violation of procedures in releasing

of Service Wide Votes because there must be a request and approval must be given by the President before it can be released.

The representative of the Auditor General of Federation, Bamigbaye Oludotun also said that Authority to Incur Expenditure (AIE) was raised from Office of Accountant General of Federation in favour of JAMB and the Examination body did not receive the money and it was never reversed.

He however submitted that the money was with IPPIS adding that most agencies used to complain that they did not receive the

money and the money will not be reversed, it means authority of approval was never obtained.

"I think the Committee has to call IPPIS to testify," he said.

The Chairman of the panel said the money was never reversed with the narration on the AIE. He added that JAMB did not request for the money and the Ministry just made the projection on behalf of JAMB and this elicited the committee suspicion.

He said, “I agree that the Secretariat should invite officials of the IPPIS to shed more light on the issue.

include his primary and secondary school information on his INEC Form CF001.

"Earlier, in 1999, while contesting for the governorship of Lagos State, he lied on oath that he attended St. Paul’s School, Aroloya, and Government College, Ibadan, but his credentials were soon challenged by the late legendary lawyer, Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN), even as it had been established that Tinubu had no classmates in primary or secondary school.

“Eager to avoid another embarrassing scrutiny, he has now decided to be silent about his primary and secondary education.

Rather than tell the truth, his campaign spokesman, Festus Keyamo, shamelessly stated on Arise Television that Tinubu did not attend primary or secondary school and should, thus, be commended for beating the odds.”

Quoting Keyamo, he wrote, “They are asking what primary school one must have attended to go to secondary school. We want the younger ones to know that this is a virtue and not a vice. In those days, great men wrote exams from home,” adding, “This is complete balderdash given the fact that Keyamo, had in 2000 sued the Lagos State House of Assembly for clearing Tinubu of school certificate forgery."

Shaibu further stressed, "Since the APC continues to insist that they will not present their presidential candidate for media scrutiny, may we therefore call on the media handlers of this particular ‘Bola’ Tinubu to avail the country and its people the full outlay of Bola Tinubu’s name.

"The country and its people need to know if the man seeking to become their president is known as Adebola, Ajibola or, perhaps, it’s just simply: Bola (lokan)? The nation shall be most grateful if the APC can remove this tiny veil out of the many shades about their presidential candidate that they don’t want the Nigeria people to know about.

"It is often said that you can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some

of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.

Nigerians must not allow a stranger, an anonymous man with no record, to control the destiny of over 200 million people."

However, Director of Media and Publicity of the APC campaign, Bayo Onanuga, said PDP should wait for its day of judgement rather than engage in this obscurantist, diversionary game, describing the latest allegation as another attempt at shadow boxing and desperate resort to character assassination and innuendoes.

Onanuga said, "In another puerile move, Shuaibu challenged our candidate to give his full name and went on a journey of fantasy about his early education and parentage, matters already thrown into the dustbin decades ago.

"We were not surprised that the desperate Atiku camp, faced with mounting setbacks in its campaign, will engage in another round of mudslinging, after it failed to make any capital over its amplified allegation of drug dealing against our candidate."

Onanuga noted that if only the PDP would go back to its records, it would have realised that the same campaign of reckless calumny was its stock in trade in the governorship campaigns in Lagos State in 2003.

Meanwhile, the Arewa youths, weekend, said Atiku was the only leader among the presidential candidates that could bring the country out of its current economic, political, security and education quagmire.

Shortly after a solidarity walk across the state capital, the state Co-ordinator, Comrade, Bala Aliyu, said the reason for the solidarity walk was to drum support for Atiku, a man of multiple capacities with sufficient experience to pilot the affairs of the country.

Aliyu said Arewa Decides was well-established in tbe 19 northern states and had declared support for Atiku in the 2023 general election.

They said he remained the best alternative among the presidential candidates.

ATIKU: I’LL MAKE APPOINTMENTS ON MERIT, FEDERAL CHARACTER, IF ELECTED Relatedly, about 10, 000 members of a political pressure group, Arewa Decides (AD), made up of youths from the 21 local government areas of Adamawa State, drummed up support for the Atiku ahead of the 2023 general election.

Speaking exclusively with THISDAY, Atiku explained, “In making all appointments, and not just in appointing security chiefs, I mean all appointments across the board, only merit, balanced with federal character, will be my government’s criteria. I make a bold promise, which every Nigerian citizen at home and abroad can hold me to: we will carry every geopolitical zone along.”

Atiku assured Nigerians, irrespective of ethnicity, region, and religion, that the entire nation would be his constituency.

“At the barest minimum, they can expect their security of life and property, as well as their economic situation to improve under the administration that we will form in 2023, God willing,” he added.

Responding to a question on his assessment of the campaigns so far, the presidential hopeful expressed delight with the process, adding that no presidential candidate in the 2023 election has gone round the country the way he has done.

The former vice president stated, “My team and I feel very confident with the campaigns. If

you go granular, you will see that no other presidential campaign has traversed Nigeria like we have done, and are still doing.

“We project our vision and patriotism to citizens of our great nation, and then feed off the love from Nigerians on the campaign trail and rallies.

“Our people have been through a lot. And when they listen to us, they can see that God, in His Infinite Wisdom and Mercy, is sending them relief.”

Atiku, who was in Anambra State last week, had told the people of the state that those, who craved the emergence of a Nigerian president of Igbo extraction should support his presidential bid, saying voting him into power next year would mark a definite progress towards that goal.

“I am going to be a stepping stone to an Igbo president in this country,” Atiku, whose running mate, Delta State Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, from the Igbo speaking part of the state, had said. He added, “I have shown it in my action, because this is the third time I am running with an Igbo man. If you really want to produce a president, then, vote Atiku-Okowa ticket.”

The presidential hopeful had also pledged to address youth unemployment, telling his supporters, “I promised to set

aside $10 billion to promote small scale and medium enterprise for our young men and women so that they can be independent.

“I want to thank you, the people of Anambra State, for this warm reception. I never thought I will see such a crowd in Anambra State and, believe me, we are not going to forget you, we are going to reward you handsomely.”

In another statement by Atiku’s Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, he cited a bible verse, saying, "The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.”

According to Shaibu, “This, perhaps, explains why the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has refused to open himself up for scrutiny but continues to evade debates, non-partisan town hall meetings and live interviews.

"Tinubu’s entire life and persona are based on falsehood and, thus, he cannot address these questions, hence, his decision to continue to run all over the place. But these controversies did not begin today.

"In 2007, a former head of the civil service of Lagos State, Abdulrafiu Babatunde Tinubu, one of the eldest members of the Tinubu family, published a book titled: ‘Onijumu Wura: The Tinubu Dynasty of Kakawa, Lagos (The

OPERATING SURPLUSES: RMAFC RECOVERS N120BN FROM DEFAULTING REVENUE GENERATING AGENCIES Muhammadu Buhari and the National Economic Council to send consultants to the agencies leading to the recoveries.

He further disclosed that the forensic audit of the agencies was still an ongoing exercise.

Shehu also hinted that the commission would request the National Assembly to make the constitution superior to the laws establishing government agencies.

He said such amendments should also limit the amount the agencies are allowed to spend from the revenues they generate.

Shehu further said defaulting agencies must be criminalised if they failed to remit their surpluses to the federation within 12 months.

Specifically, he said the current practice where some agencies generate between N200 billion to N250 billion and spends about 95 per cent of that money thus remitting only about five per cent into the federation account should be discouraged by the National Assembly going forward- even if it means amending their laws.

Shehu said for instance, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), and the Shippers’ Council must be mandated to, “remit whatever they get directly to the federation account, and not to allow them a free for all space whereby they can be spending that money.”

The RMAFC chairman added, “We do sometimes send in forensic experts to go and look into some of the books of some of these agencies and you’ll find that sometimes after FIRS and the accountant general’s office had

finished their work, we recover monies.

“And we’ve just recovered over N120 billion from agencies and that money would have been lost forever – it was the commission that got the permission of the president and the economic council and sent consultants and some of this money was recovered.

“And it is still an ongoing exercise. You can imagine if we had that level of independence, training our workers to become like forensic accountants or auditors – that would be huge.”

Continuing, Shehu said, “I think we have to find a system whereby either those Acts are amended and make the Constitution supreme above their local laws; because the constitution says remit revenues to the federation account – they now counter and say our laws allow us to spend this money and whatever remains is what we remit to the federation.

“And you can see from every indication that the agencies just try to create a way to spend money not for the good of the system but for the good of that organisation.”

He noted: “I think we would request for the National Assembly to either amend the Acts of those agencies where they make huge amounts of money like N200 billion, N250 billion, and then some of them would spend like 95 per cent of that money and then they remit just about five per cent.

“So, I would want the National Assembly to really find a way to checkmate this by making the Constitution superior to the laws establishing government agencies – even if it means amending the

laws of these organisations – and then make it mandatory for those big sharks like NCC, NIMASA, NPA, Shippers’ Council, as an example to be remitting whatever they get directly to the federation account, and not to allow them a free for all space whereby they can be spending that money.

“And I am not averse to even encouraging them by giving them collection fees and I have spoken about that in the Senate just as you give FIRS. When you collect, we encourage you, we give you a collection cost – a fee you can deduct. I am not averse to that, if that is workable, the commission would love to do that.”

Shehu however, noted that, “Traditionally, we never had any enforcement powers but thank God that now the National Assembly in the new proposed Amendment to the Constitution, there is a provision for some enforcement powers that will come to RMAFC. “My vision is that just like you see EFCC, everybody starts to shiver, that’s eventually what I want to see; when agencies see RMAFC in a new jacket that we have come to either get information from you or to shut you down because you have not done this or that.

“This is my vision on how we can do this to encourage agencies to comply or even find a way whereby if you fail to remit any amount, we must criminalise it if within 12 months you do not remit that to the federation which is really wrong and I think we have to talk to stakeholders and come to an agreement and the commission is always open to that.”

Tree)’.

"Abdulrafiu included the names of all members of the Tinubu dynasty from the 19th century till date. Conspicuously missing from the book was the name of Bola Tinubu. The author claimed anyone whose name was not listed in the book was not an authentic member of the Tinubu family."

The statement noted, "Atiku Abubakar’s history has never been in doubt. His father was Garba Abubakar, a Fulani trader and farmer, while Atiku’s mother was Aisha Kande. Atiku was named after his paternal grandfather, Atiku Abdulqadir, who hails from Wurno, Sokoto State and migrated to Kojoli village at Jada, Adamawa State.

“His maternal grandfather was Inuwa Dutse, who migrated to Jada, Adamawa State from Dutse, Jigawa State. Where is Tinubu from? Who are his parents? Who was Tinubu’s father? What was his name? What is Tinubu’s full name? Is it Bolatito, Omobolanle, Abolaji, Bolarinwa?

"While it is not uncommon for leaders to use a short version of their names, most times, for the purpose of stylistic rendition, the full outlay of their names is nonetheless public knowledge."

He explained that in the Second Republic, names, such as Bisi Onabanjo, Bola Ige, Bisi Akande and many more from the Southwest region, were brand names of great political icons. He also said everyone knew that the name of the governor of Ogun State in the Second Republic was known in full as Olabisi Onabanjo, ditto for Ajibola Ige and the rest of such examples.

“However, it is confounding that in the case of the APC presidential candidate, he is simply known as Bola Tinubu,” Shaibu said in the statement, alleging, “No one knows the prefix or suffix to his ‘Bola’.”

The statement said further, "Tinubu also seems to have moved from infancy directly to university in the United States of America, hence, his record as the only presidential candidate in the history of Nigeria not to

MESSI ACHIEVES LIFE’S AMBITION, WINS WORLD CUP FOR ARGENTINA clinch the 4-2 shoot-out success for Argentina at the end of a thriller encounter.

Expectedly, Argentina’s goalkeeper, Emiliano Martinez, who saved Kingsley Coman's attempt and saw Aurelien Tchouameni fire wide in the shootouts, truly deserved his Best Goalkeeper of the Tournament award. It was a second time penalty jinx for France, who had similarly lost the 2006 World Cup final shootouts to Italy at the edition hosted by Germany. The loss also denied them the chance to emulate Uruguay and Brazil as the only three countries to have ever won the World Cup back-to-back.

On a day that almost the entire 88,966 fans crammed into the Lusail Stadium were rooting for Argentina, partly because of the Messi sentiments, it was the Albiceleste that raced to a two-goal advantage to set the tone for an expected easy evening.

Messi had opened the scoring, before Angel Di Maria rounded off a stunning counter-attacking move for the Albiceleste’s second

goal. Messi calmly beat Hugo Lloris from the penalty spot in the 21st minute after Ousmane Dembele made contact with Di Maria in the box.

The second goal from Di Maria was sublime, as Messi was also involved. He played a fine flicked pass into the path of Julian Alvarez, who in turn played in Alexis Mac Allister to find Di Maria on the far side.

But Mbappe pulled the Les Blues from the brink after 80 minutes of action in the tension-soaked game.

He added a second goal less than two minutes later to tie the game 2-2 and poured ice-cold water on the Argentine fans, who had turned the match to a sort of carnival.

France, aiming to become only the third side to ever retain the trophy, battled back from two goals down in normal time after Mbappe converted an 81st-minute penalty. He converted when Nicolas Otamendi dragged down Kolo Muani.

The two players, Marcus Thuram and Randal Kolo Muani,

brought in by France Coach, Didier Deschamps, in a double change before half-time, made a telling impact.

But in the tale end of the match, Messi again looked to have won it for Argentina in extra time when reacting quickest to a saved Lautaro Martinez attempt, only for Paris Saint-Germain club-mate Mbappe to equalise once more through a penalty after his shot hit Montiel on the arm.

In the ensuing shootouts, Argentina’s goalkeeper, Martínez blocked Kingsley Coman’s strike while Aurelien Tchouameni missed the target. All the four South American players – Messi, Paulo Dybala, L. Parades, and Gonzalo Montiel – converted to give the Albiceleste their third World Cup title.

On realising that he had finally achieved his life-long ambition of a World Cup winning medal, Messi collapsed to the turf and was joined in celebration by other Argentina players and officials.

The other two times they had won the title were in 1978 and 1986.

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

FELICITATING PRESIDENT BUHARI AT 80…

Nigeria's Ambassador to United States of America (USA), Dr. Uzoma Emenike (4th left) with other members of Team Nigeria in the US celebrating President Muhammadu Buhari’s 80th birthday in Washington D.C…recently.

In US, Pantami Meets Space X, World Bank, Google to Strengthen Nigeria’s Digital Economy The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy of Nigeria, Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami had meetings at Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (Space X) headquarters in Hawthorne, California, as well as the World Bank Headquarters and another meeting with Google Corporation in a bid to strengthen partnerships for the development of Nigeria’s digital economy.

The meetings with the World Bank and Google were held on the sidelines of the US-Africa Leaders’ Forum (USALF), which took place in Washington DC, United States of America, while the visit to Space

X was a follow up to the events at the USALF. According to a statement yesterday, Pantami was received at Space X by Samuel (Chad) Gibbs IV, the Vice President of Business Operations, on behalf of Elon Musk, Founder and CEO of Space X. It revealed that at the visit, both parties discussed how Space X would expand its presence in Nigeria, following their entry into the Nigerian market through the Starlink broadband service.

"The Minister also asked the Space X team to consider sourcing some of its engineers from Nigeria’s

Abdulrazaq’s Achievements Will Guarantee His Re-election, Says Campaign Council Oluchi Chibuzor The All Progressives Congress (APC) campaign council for the re-election of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State has expressed confidence over the re-election of the governor.

According to them, their confidence was based on his outstanding performance, total revamp of the government's processes and prioritisation of people’s needs.

In a statement issued by the campaign spokesperson and Commissioner for Finance, Kwara State, Olasumbo Florence Oyeyemi, the council said AbdulRazaq’s administration has delivered on its promise to make the people and their needs the, “heart and centrepiece of government’s plans and operations,” contrary to what previously obtained.

"There is no doubt, God willing, that Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq will be returned by the people of Kwara State for another term in office. He has delivered on his central promise to make the masses the focus of government’s plans and actions, contrary to what was witnessed in the dark years of the PDP when only a few people sat on our common patrimony and awarded exclusive privileges to themselves and their cronies," the statement explained.

It added:“The Otoge revolution

in 2019 was a total rejection and complete break from an era where the destiny of the people was in the hands of the privileged few who gave out patronage only to their cronies and friends.

"Although they are gathering again because of their unhealthy addiction to the public treasury, their efforts will end in a resounding failure because the people can see through their lies and pretensions. The memories of their arrogance and iron-fist rule are still there.

“This administration has shown what is possible when the government is sincere and forthright about its duty to the people, particularly the prioritisation of people's welfare alongside the right socioeconomic conditions for self-sustenance and dignified life.

"We have given a new life to infrastructure in every part of the state so that our people can do business and receive crucial support from investors who now consider our state a safe and conducive place for their investments.

“We have invested in education, rebuilt schools, improved teachers’ welfare, provision of water, and provided educational materials for our kids to learn effectively in friendly environments and become drivers of future growth.

Continued online

digital talent pool. During the visit, the Minister and his team were given a personalised tour of the SpaceX Rocket Manufacturing Facility, Starlink Assembly Line, and Product Development Facility. He also witnessed the live Space X rocket launch of 2 telecom satellites into orbit.

"On the invitation of the World Bank Group, the Minister had a meeting with top officials of the Bank, including Vyjayanti Desai, the Practice Manager for the World Bank's Identification for Development (ID4D) and Digitizing Government to Person Payments (G2Px) Programs.

"Also at the meeting were Franz Drees-Gross, Director of Infrastructure, World Bank West African Region and Michel Rogy, World Bank's Digital Development Practice Manager for Africa and the Middle East.

"The World Bank team commended the Minister for his great leadership, which has led to significant development in Nigeria’s digital economy sector.

"The meeting also discussed how the Bank can further partner with Nigeria to strengthen the digital economy ecosystem in areas such as infrastructure, skilling, cybersecurity,

and digital identity," the statement added.

It also disclosed that Pantami also had a meeting with Karan Bhatia, Vice-President, Government Affairs, and Public Policy at Google.

"Mr. Bhatia was full of praise for the Minister for the significant progress that has been made in the digital transformation of the Nigerian economy.

"He also commended the Minister for Nigeria Startup Act, noting the potential of the legislation to serve as a catalyst for rapid development of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Nigeria and other parts of Africa.

"The Google Vice-President discussed the company’s growing focus on Africa and looks forward to expanding partnerships with Nigeria in areas such as skilling, cybersecurity, and cloud computing, among others," the statement added.

It noted that the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, under Pantami’s leadership, remains committed to implementing the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) in order to ensure that Nigeria’s digital economy remains a leading light, both in Africa and across the globe.

NDLEA Intercepts 1.7 Million Opioid Pills in Noodles, Others at Lagos Airport, Gombe Seizes 5,460.34kgs of skunk in raids in six states At least 1,760,460 pills of Tramadol and other opioids hidden in indomie noodles packs and others have been intercepted at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja, Lagos as well as in Gombe state.

This was disclosed in a statement by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) yesterday.

It noted that while over 600,000 pills of Tramadol 225mg that came from Karachi, Pakistan in two separate shipments on Ethiopian Airlines flights were intercepted by operatives of the drug law enforcement agency at the SAHCO import shed of the Lagos airport on Monday, 12th and Tuesday 13th December; 5,960 pills of Rohypnol concealed in 60 packs of indomie noodles going to Johannesburg, South Africa were also seized at the SAHCO export shed of the airport on Wednesday 14th December.

It also disclosed that a female freight agent, Olaleye Adeola was arrested in connection with the noodles consignment.

"In a related development, a trader at Balogun market in Lagos Island, Akunne Chibuzor Tochukwu

was on Tuesday 13th Dec arrested in collaboration with the Zone 2 Police Headquarters, Lagos over his attempt to export a Tramadol consignment to Dubai, UAE. "The consignment was seized at the Lagos airport by NDLEA operatives on 25th November while a market labourer, Oke Abosede Ronke whose services were requested to convey the drug for export had earlier been arrested.

"Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives in Lagos on Sunday 11th December intercepted a truck and a bus conveying 113 jumbo bags of cannabis sativa weighing 4,802.84 kilograms around the VGC estate area of Ajah while three suspects: Taofeek Yusuf; Ifeanyi Okorie and Israel Nwachukwu were arrested in connection with the seizures," it added.

According to the NDLEA, in Gombe state, a total of 1,154,500 pills of Tramadol, Rohypnol and Exol being transported from Onitsha, Anambra state to the state by a truck driver, Umar Hassan, 28, were seized on Thursday 15th December at Bye pass area of Gombe by its officers following credible intelligence.

"Also acting on intelligence, operatives in Edo state on Friday 16th December intercepted a Honda Ridgeline pick-up vehicle with Reg No BWR 699 CV loaded with 29 bags of Cannabis Sativa weighing 319kgs. " The driver of the vehicle, Alfred Vratombo, 32, was arrested with fake police uniforms, which he was using to deceive security men on the road.

Attempt by a drug dealer, Chucks Kalu, 29, to smuggle into Kano 26kgs of cannabis concealed inside packs of blenders was thwarted by operatives who intercepted the consignment along Abuja-Kaduna express road and later arrested him in a follow up operation in Kano, just as another suspect, Rabilu Sa'ad Abubakar,42, was also arrested in a follow up operation in Kano, following the seizure of his consignment 1,980 bottles of Cough syrup with codeine, concealed inside cartons, were seized along Abuja-Kaduna express road.

In Bauchi state, operatives on Saturday 17th December arrested Muhammed Ahmed, 40, with 288 blocks of cannabis sativa weighing 244.5Kg in Darazo area of the

state, while in Delta state, NDLEA officers stormed the home of a drug kingpin, Okrika Kingsley Ozioma, at Usiefurum town, Ughelli South LGA, where an underground drug bunk was uncovered in a threebedroom bungalow building owned by the suspect who is now on the run. 17.6kgs of C/S were recovered from the bunk in addition to a 2003 Silver Golf car with registration number Lagos KJA 572 AZ used for the distribution of drugs within and outside Warri.

"In Oyo state, a suspect, Yusuf Ayinde, 40, was arrested with 50.4kgs Cannabis in his residence at Idi-Ose via Amuloko, Ona-Ara LGA, on Saturday 17th December," it added.

It stated that while commending the officers and men of the MMIA, Lagos, Gombe, Edo, Delta, Kaduna and Oyo state commands for their commitment and vigilance leading to the arrests and seizures of the past week, Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) CON, urged them and their compatriots across other formations to continue to surpass their past records of achievements.

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NEWS

66 HEARTY CHEERS TO LEEMON… L-R: Senator Osita Izunasu; Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development Monitoring Board (NCDMB) Engr. Simbi Wabote, and Executive Chairman Lee Engineering Group of Companies, Chief Leemon Ikpea, at a reception to mark his 66 birthday, in Lagos…yesterday

NSC: Over N1bn Saved from Prompt Resolution of Complaints in Ports Operations Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja The Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) has said that it saved the maritime industry in the country about N1 billion from the improvement in the turnaround time the organisation takes to resolve complaints from operators.

Speaking at the 2nd roundtable discussion on: “Institutionalising Operational Efficiency through Stronger Compliance Function within the Agencies”, the NSC's Executive Secretary, Emmanuel Jime, said the critical position of the maritime sector remained undebatable.

The event was organised by the Convention on Business Integrity (CBi), and Maritime Anti-Corruption Network (MACN) in collaboration with the Ministry of Transportation.

Jime, who was represented by the Coordinator, Port Standing Task Team (PSTT), Mr. Moses Fadipe, explained that the NSC would continue to ensure compliance to the rules by all stakeholders in the ports.

Unarguably, he stated that the sector was the major determinant in the conduct of international trade, which impacts mostly on the economy, explaining that it is important to provide a framework

that fosters effectiveness, efficiency and ethics.

Noting that the NSC provides a regulatory system that advances the rights and interests of stakeholders, who often have conflicting interest, Jime pointed out that the ability of the organisation to effectively handle disputes was critical to the smooth operation of the sector.

“We all know the maritime sector.

You have a lot of actors, agencies and private stakeholders with different interests and everybody tries to foster their interest. So the shippers council will have to be in a position to resolve disputes from a neutral and independent

viewpoint.

“So this makes NSC to be concerned with maximizing collective benefits to the stakeholders through collaborations, and hence, we have advanced certain actions that multiple individuals and groups benefit from which would be impossible individually.

“This has made us the ombudsman through that collective action embedded in compliance. So as we carry out this ombudsman mechanism, we have seen that over N1 billion has been recovered from resolution of complaints to by these stakeholders," he stated.

Jime added that the council will

Onuesoke: Proliferation of Means of Identification is Misplaced Priorities Sylvester Idowu in Warri

Former Delta State gubernatorial aspirant under the People's Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Sunny Onuesoke yesterday lamented that the proliferation of means of identification in Nigeria was a waste of funds, time, human resources and misplacement of priorities.

Onuesoke, at a press conference in Asaba, Delta State wondered why governments duplicate, in a most inefficient manner, different forms of identifications for different events when all that was required was just a credible form of identification.

The PDP Chieftain noted that the information on individuals sought

by government for registration of National Identification Number (NIN) already existed in several platforms, including through multiple citizen’s collection data platforms such as the Bank Verification Numbers (BVN), international passport, driver’s license, SIM card registration and voters’ card.

He argued that the statutory duty to harmonise and integrate existing data for the purposes of NIN and SIM card registration should not be difficult to carry out since the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) were already

members of the Board of the NIMC by virtue of section 2(1) (b) of the NIMC Act. Onuesoke recalled that in US for example, all that one required to cast his or her vote was identity like a drivers licence and argued that after capturing all the needed information on one’s driver’s licence, passport, NIN, SIM registration and BVN registration, one does not need to do it all over again for something like Permanent Voters Card (PVC).

“In a country with almost nothing to offer, we have too many IDs that serve no beneficial purpose to the people. What is the essence of multiple identification for the same purpose in Nigeria.

This is wasteful.

“You don't even need an ID in the United Kingdom. Your name is already there. Just tell them your name and address.

Why am I using the US and UK as examples? People will think it is a big thing. African countries like Togo, South Africa and even Ivory Coast use their ID to vote.

For Nigeria to work we need a single working ID card.

“I have been saying this. With the records from NIN and BVN, issues like underage voting could be easily tackled. But the identity mess has created another problem.

With the BVN, we can ensure each vote is cast just once. Why do we need other biometric data banks when NIBBS has the most trustworthy,” he queried.

Okonjo-Iweala, Others Hail Mercy Corps for Humanitarian Milestones in Nigeria

James Emejo in Abuja

The Director-General, World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has commended the Mercy Corps Nigeria (MCN) for its milestones in humanitarian interventions in the country.

Okonjo-Iweala, specifically commended the Country Director of the organisation, Mr. Ndubisi Nyanwu, for his leadership and enthusiasm in reaching the most vulnerable in Nigeria with lifesaving assistance.

In her virtual address at the 10thanniversary celebration of MCN in Abuja over the weekend, the WTO

DG, pointed out that the corps had, “reached out to the North-east, Northwest and North-central states, and more recently, to the South-south and South-east.”

She, therefore, urged the organisation to keep the good work going into the next fruitful decade of serving humanity.

Okonjo-Iweala said, “As a former member of the Mercy Corps family, I am so happy to congratulate you on this 10th anniversary.

“I am proud of the work Mercy Corps is doing globally but more importantly in Nigeria.”

“Thank you so much for the good work you do. I want to

congratulate the Country Director, Ndubisi Nyanwu in particular for his leadership and enthusiasm.”

Also, addressing the gathering virtually, Mercy Corps Africa Regional Director, Sean GranvilleRoss, alongside other dignitaries, congratulated the Nigerian team and tasked them to do more within the next decade.

Granville-Ross said, “I am taking a moment to congratulate you on your 10th anniversary. I am looking forward to what you do in the next 10 years to contribute to the development of Nigeria.

“Mercy Corps Nigeria has a special team with huge potential, massive

opportunities and so I look forward to the future and all the best.”

Anyanwu, however, noted that its 10 years of operation in the country entailed “working in difficult contexts to improve the lives of the most vulnerable” and “solving tough and complex challenges”.

He said the organisation was registered in 2012, starting with a small team and office in Wuse II, under the leadership of the Country Director, Rafael Garcia who worked tirelessly to ensure it received more funding and got recognised in the International NGO space.

Continued online

continue to guard against unfair competition, abuse of monopoly through strict regulation, promote efficiency in the sector and minimise the cost of doing business.

“To achieve its mandate, the NSC instituted a compliant service mechanism to handle disputes, robust enforcement mechanism, provide guidelines on tariff setting to avoid arbitrariness and others,” he added.

In his remarks, the Minister of Transportation, Mr. Mu’azu Sambo, urged government agencies to strengthen compliance functions to sustain and maintain standards in the ports.

Represented by the Director of Maritime Services, Ministry of Transportation, Mr. Babatunde Sule, Sambo urged maritime operators to amplify their Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) to support the PSTT. He stated that the MACN had been instrumental to dealing with infractions experienced across Nigerian ports over the years, leading to massive losses to the economy.

The minister added that the meeting would allow stakeholders review the level of compliance on the existing laws and also to plan the way forward for the sector’s optimal performance.

“It is important to examine this level of compliance among port

users. it also is good to take proper look at risk assessment and also to know if what we do are the standard procedure and to review way forward,” he stated.

Also speaking, the Chief Executive, CBI, a partnering agency in the sector, Mr Soji Apampa, explained that the collaboration between the two transparency organisations, CBI and MACN, had markedly reduced infractions.

According to him reports of infractions had reduced to 88 from a high of 266 incidents.

He expressed joy that the efforts of anti-corruption agencies, both government and private agencies, had placed Nigerian ports operation at enviable heights, stressing that the implementation of the Port Process Manual, helped in no small measure to achieve the feat.

“For port call, in terms of levies paid, it has reduced from $150,000 to $20,000. As regards complaints, from 645 vessels that arrived at the ports, 88 cases of complaints were recorded and 83 out of the 88 cases was fully resolved, with five still ongoing.

“Twenty eight large shipping companies have started using the help desk and pre-arrival notification system and this is a testament of the growing confidence reposed in the manual,” he disclosed.

Buhari Back in Abuja After Eight-day US Trip Deji Elumoye in Abuja President Muhammadu Buhari has returned to the nation's capital, Abuja, after an eight-day official visit to Washington DC, the United States of America (USA), where he participated in the US-Africa Leaders' Summit.

The President was received at the presidential wing of Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, yesterday morning by governors of Kwara and Bauchi states - AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq and Bala Mohammed, respectively; and the Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Ramatu Tijani Aliyu.

Also on hand at the airport to receive the president were the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba; the Director-General of the Department of State Service (DSS), Yusuf Magaji Bichi; and

other senior security officials.

Buhari who departed for the US event from his country home in Daura, Katsina State, last Sunday, was invited to join other African leaders for the Summit by his American counterpart, President Joe Biden.

While in Washington DC, he participated in a number of high-level meetings and conversations around the US-Africa relations and spoke on critical issues affecting the continent, including security, climate change, transnational organised crimes and more.

He also took time off the main events of the visit to engage in sideline meetings, during which some high-level agreements were reached with America-based businesses, and wrapped up the visit with a town hall meeting with the Nigerian community in the US.

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T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY DECEMBER 19, 2022

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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 Opposition Mounts against Buhari’s NDDC Board Nominees Protests by Senators from oil producing communities and a court injunction against the nominees of President Muhammadu Buhari for the position of chairman, managing director and executive director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, is currently threatening their confirmation by the Senate. Sunday Aborisade reports

Buhari

Lawan

A

fter series of crises which delayed the composition of a substantive board for the Niger Delta Development Commission, President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday, November 23, asked the Senate to confirm the appointment of his Special Assistant on New Media, Lauretta Ifeanyi-Onochie, as the Chairman of the reconstituted Board of the Commission.

Buhari’s letter was read at plenary by the Senate President, Dr Ahmad Lawan.

The list also included 14 others as Managing Director, Executive Directors and members of the Board.

Lawan said the President appointed IfeanyiOnochie from Delta State as the Chairman, representing the South- South geopolitical zone on the board. He also appointed Chief Samuel Ogbokwu, from Bayelsa State, as the Managing

Director, who would serve for two years, in order to complete the term of his predecessor.

Other members are, Dimgba Erugba, representing Abia State, Dr. Emem Willcox Wills ( Akwa Ibom), Elder Denyanbofa Dimaro (Bayelsa State), Hon. Orok Duke (Cross River) and Dr. Pius Odudu ( Edo State).

They also included Engineer Anthony Ekenne, (Imo State), Hon. Gbenga Edema (Ondo State), Elekwachi Dimkpa (Rivers State), Alhaji Mohammed Kabir Abubakar, (Nasarawa State, representing NorthCenral zone), Alhaji Sadiq Sami Sule - Ikoh ( Kebbi State, North-West) and Prof. Tahir Mamman SAN, (Adamawa State, North-East)

Omo-Agege

Onochie

The President also nominated Major-General Charles Airhiavbere (rtd) from Edo State as the (Executive Director, Finance) and Charles Ogunmola, from Ondo State, as the Executive Director, Projects.

The first protest against the list was from the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege who pointed that Delta State was not fully represented on the board of the NDDC as read at plenary. He explained that the NDDC Act stipulates that there should be another nominee from any state that produces the Chairman.

Omo-Agege maintained that since Onochie is from the state, there must be another nominee to serve on the board from Delta.

Also, Senator Thompson Sekibo from Rivers State, wondered why President Buhari should send a fresh list to the Senate since the red chamber

had earlier screened and confirmed in 2020 the president’s nominees who were not inaugurated.

In his response, the Senate President assured Omo-Agege, that the attention of the executive would be drawn to the issue before the parliament would start the screening exercise.

Lawan also said the concerns raised by Sekibo had been overtaken by events because President Buhari had written to the Senate to explain reasons the earlier screened and confirmed nominees in 2020 were rejected by him.

It took Lawan, two weeks to refer the screening of the nominees to the Committee on the Niger Delta Affairs, based on the points raised by his colleagues.

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

Saraki, a Political Juggernaut, Joins the Diamond Club Hammed Shittu pays tribute to a former President of the Senate, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, who clocks 60 today

T

he ancient town of Ilorin, Kwara State capital, will be agog today as political associates of a former governor of the state and immediate past Senate President of the 8th National Assembly, Senator Bukola Saraki, would converge on the town to celebrate their leader and friend, who just joined the diamond club.

From all indications, all appears set to make Saraki’s 60th birthday worth the while. Political associates, religious leaders as well as family and friends of the strongman of Kwara politics, have set out various programmes to make the celebrations epochal.

Among the plans for the day, the organisers hinted, is a special prayer that will hold at his Ilorin, GRA residence, to be coordinated by renowned Muslim clerics in the town.

Born December 19, 1962 into the family of the late Dr. Olusola Saraki, who was Senate Leader between 1979 and 1983, the celebrant, just like his father, has continued to acquaint himself well in the annals of the nation’s body polity, thus sustaining the legacy of his father, who created their dynasty.

Saraki was educated in both Nigeria and the United Kingdom. He had his primary school education at Corona School, Lagos, from 1966 to 1972. He later moved to the prestigious Kings College, Lagos Island between 1973 and 1978, obtaining the West African School Certificate (WAEC) and moved on to round off his high school studies at Cheltenham College, Cheltenham, London, between 1979 and 1981.

He enrolled at the London Hospital College (University of London) between 1982 and1987, graduating with M.B.BS. He later returned to Nigeria in 1989, to work in the financial sector for nearly a decade until he rose to the posi-

Saraki

tion of Executive Director, where he oversaw corporate development and expansion programmes within the financial industry.

In recognition of his experience and professionalism, President Olusegun Obasanjo appointed him a Special Assistant on Budget in 2000, where he was responsible for preparing the 2000/2001 National Budget.

Saraki equally initiated the Fiscal Responsibility Bill and served on the Economic Policy Co-ordination Committee, where he was responsible for the formulation and implementation of key economic policies for Nigeria.

In 2003, Saraki formally took after his father, when he joined politics

and contested for the governor of Kwara State, challenging then incumbent, Lawal and won with a landslide.

Riding on the strength of his performance, the people of Kwara, in demonstration of their support, re-elected him in 2007. His time in office witnessed a great impact as he remains the architect of modern Kwara, following the provision of infrastructure, especially to the rural populace.

His achievements and development initiatives cut across various sectors like education, health, roads, human capital development, and women empowerment, among others. His success in office was the reason he was rated the most successful governor in the state, till date.

After serving two terms in office, Saraki contested the Kwara Central senate seat in 2011 on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and won, not unexpectedly through another landslide.

His election into the Senate witnessed staggering achievements, typified by effective representation, to the extent that there was no part of the senatorial district that did not feel the impact of his representation.

Saraki also garnered national and international acclaims for his innovative approaches to agriculture, health, education, fiscal policy and environmental reforms during his first term in the Senate.

However, in 2015, he sought re-election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress and went on to emerge the Senate President of the 8th National Assembly, against all odds.

As a politician of note with pragmatic leadership, Saraki’s outing as the Senate President remains of national and international recognition due to the way and manner he coordinated the

affairs of the upper arm of the federal legislature.

Curiously, since he left the Senate in June 2019, both as its president and member, Saraki, has remained relevant and typically, on top of his game. He has been in the fore front of ensuring justice and equity in all facets of the nation’s political and economic strata, which hitherto transcends personal interest.

Saraki’s love for the youth and the less privileged in the society, has remained a major point in focus and this has been his disposition long before he ventured into politics.

Aformer governor of the state, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, who paid tribute to his predecessor, described Saraki as a leader of leaders.

“As a former governor of the state, you inadvertently made your mark as the architect of modern Kwara. Your extraordinary achievements as the 8th President of the Senate, remain a benchmark in the history of the Senate.

“I pray that as you step into your diamond age, today, I pray that you step into more greatness and success,” he said.

Senate Committee Chairman on Banking and Other Financial Institutions and Senator, who represented Kwara South, in the 8th National Assembly, Senator Rafiu Adebayo Ibrahim, also spoke glowingly of Saraki.

He said: “Leader, you made your mark and your contributions to the development of our dear state, Kwara, are legendary while you are at the helms of affairs of the state and even to the people of the country, when you served as Senate President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

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

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T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2022

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BUSINESSWORLD R A T E S MONEY MARKET

A S

A T

REPO

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

08056356325

D E C E M B E R

S & P INDEX

1 6 , 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

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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%

FG Raised N3.06trn from Bond Market in 2022, Records 53.2% Oversubscription

Kayode Tokede Following the need to finance the 2022 budget deficit, the federal government through the Debt Management Office (DMO), in 2022, raised a whopping sum of N3.06 trillion from the bond market, the debt office monthly auction results has revealed.

Analysis of the auction results showed that total FGN bond borrowing in 2022 is 13 per cent higher than N2.71 trillion borrowed in 2021.

The federal government’s 2022 budget stood at N17.32t trillion with a deficit of N7.35 trillion, which gives room for a new borrowing

of N6.1trillion.

The monthly auction results revealed that DMO had offered to raise N2.48 trillion in the bond market but eventually raised N4.65 trillion, which is over 53.22 per cent oversubscription.

THISDAY gathered that the FGN bonds in the first half of 2022 recorded 37 per cent oversubscription to N3.02 trillion when N1.13 trillion was amount offered by DMO. The debt office eventually allocated N1.84trillion to investors despite mixed interest rates.

However, in the second half of 2022, the DMO allocated N1.23trillion to investors when it seeks to raise N1.35trillion. The

total amount of subscriptions was N1.63trillion in the second half of 2022.

According to investigation by THISDAY, the interest rate on 10-year FGN Bonds witnessed a significant increase in 2022 over hike in the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in its moves to tackle the inflation rate.

Notably, the interest rate on 12.50% FGN APR 2032 at 12.45 per cent in May 2022, closed at 14.750 per cent during the December 2022 auction.

The FGN bond market in 2022 witnessed increased participation

by Pension Funds Administrators

(PFAs) as hike in the inflation rate eroded investment in the stock market.

The pension funds industry portfolio in the FGN Bonds (HTM) increased to N8.84trillion as of October 2022, representing an increase of N489.9billion or 5.86 per cent from N8.35trillion reported by the National Pension Commission (NAICOM).

At the December Primary Market Auction (PMA), the DMO offered instruments worth N225 billion to investors through re-openings of the 14.55% APR 2029 bond (Bid-to-offer: 0.7x; Stop rate: 14.60%), 12.50% APR 2032 (Bid-to-offer: 1.5x; Stop rate: 14.75%) and 16.25% FGN APR

2037 (Bid-to-offer: 5.0x; Stop rate: 15.80%) bonds.

Demand was higher across the three tenors as the total subscription level settled higher at N532.20 billion as against N344.01 billion reported

by DMO in November with more demand on the long-dated bond.

The DMO eventually allotted instruments worth N264.52 billion, translating to a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.0x.

“We maintain our view of an uptick in bond yields in the medium term, as the FGN’s borrowing plan for 2023FY and expected fiscal deficit point towards an elevated supply,” according to analysts at Cordros Research.

Reacting on the December bond oversubscription, the Vice President, Highcap Securities Limited, Mr. David Adnori explained that the interest rates on FGN bonds are more lucrative than investing in the stocks and Treasury Bill (T-Bill) markets.

According to him, “the FGN bonds have no default risk, meaning that it is certain your interest and principal will be paid as and when due. The interest income earned from the securities are tax exempt compared to the treasury bills that expired in January 2022.”

On his part, finance expert, Continued on page 24

Analysts: Nigeria’s Debt Service-to-Revenue Ratio at 83.0% Worrisome Nume Ekeghe Following the recent disclosure by the Debt Management Office (DMO) on Nigeria’s Debt stance, analysts have stressed that Nigeria’s debt is at the highest level and is worrisome at 83 per cent debt service-to-revenue ratio.

Analysts at Afrinvest in their latest report titled, “Q3: 2022 Public Debt Statistics… Sustainability

Strategy Hanging by a Thin Line,” released over the weekend, stated that Nigeria’s public debt stock excluding Ways and Means (W&M) liability to the CBN rose by N1.3 trillion (tn) q/q to N44.1trillion, the highest level on record with domestic debt pegged at N26.9 trillion and external debt at N17.2 trillion.

The analysts stated that between January and the end of September

2022, the public debt profile increased by N4.5tn, with domestic borrowing accounting for 71.3 per cent of the new increase.

The analysts stated, “Annualising the 9M: 2022 nominal GDP of N144.6tillion, Nigeria’s debt as a percentage of GDP is estimated to reach 35.2 per cent by end of 2022 in a blue-sky scenario a close shot from DMO’s sustainable mark of 40.0 per cent. Also, we estimate

that in a base case scenario, the deficit to GDP rate would settle around 3.7 per cent by year-end implying a sustained breach of the 3.0 per cent cap stipulated in the 2007 Fiscal Responsibility Act. “Equally worrisome, the debt-service-to-revenue ratio, a measure of liquidity remains disproportionately high at 83.0 per cent as of Q3:2022. Sadly, economic sabotage has robbed Nigeria of the

windfall gains from the oil price rally in 2022. Based on our estimate, the debt service-to-revenue ratio could touch 91.8% by year-end.”

They reiterated that the outgoing administration is less likely to implement any fiscal reform that could remedy the deteriorating debt sustainability situation in its remaining few months.

“Hence, we posit that budgetary reform, fiscal prudence, and revenue

innovation would be key if the next administration would rescue the weakening debt sustainability trend. Over the same period, FG’s borrowings via the W&M window also increased by N6.3 trillion to a cumulative sum of N23.8 trillion, bringing the total public debt stock as of Q3:2022-end to N67.8 trillion.

“This is not surprising given FG’s Continued on page 24

M A R K E T D ATA A S AT F R I D AY, D E C E M B E R 1 6 , 2 0 2 2 BONDS DESCRIPTION Price ^14.20 14MAR-2024 13.53 23MAR-2025 ^12.50 22JAN-2026 ^16.2884 17MAR-2027 ^13.98 23FEB-2028

Yield

102.66

11.79

102.41

12.25

98.72

13.00

107.27

13.94

103.86

12.92

Change Updated Time (%) December -0.01 16, 2022 December -0.01 16, 2022 December 0.00 16, 2022 December 0.00 16, 2022 December 0.00 16, 2022

BILLS MATURITY

Discount

Yield

NTB 26-Jan23 NTB 9-Feb23 NTB 9-Mar23 NTB 27-Apr23

5.40

5.43

5.68

5.73

5.42

5.49

7.22

7.41

NTB 11May-23

7.50

7.73

Change Updated Time (%) December 0.00 16, 2022 December 0.00 16, 2022 December 0.00 16, 2022 December -0.01 16, 2022 December -0.01 16, 2022

OTC F X F U T U R E S

CPS MATURITY FDHP CP III 17-MAR-23 VHPL CP III 1-APR-23 MREP CP VI 11-APR-23

Change Updated Time (%) December 0.00 16, 12.44 12.84 2022 December 17.39 18.32 0.00 16, 2022 December 14.02 14.68 0.00 16, 2022

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CONTRACT TENOR Contract (MONTH) NGUS DEC 28 1 2022 NGUS JAN 25 2 2023 NGUS FEB 22 3 2023 NGUS MAR 29 4 2023 NGUS APR 26 5 2023

Current Rate Updated Time ($/₦) December 454.73 16, 2022 December 456.93 16, 2022 December 459.12 16, 2022 December 461.32 16, 2022 December 463.51 16, 2022

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T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2022

BUSINESSWORLD

STATUS REPORT

PZ Nigeria Sustains Growth Despite Hike In OPEX

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n the heels of growth in operating expenses, PZ Cusson Nigeria Plc audited year result and accounts for the period ended May 31, 2022 showed sustained growth in profit driven by double-digit growth in revenue.

The interplay between hike in foreign exchange loss and a significant increase in cost of sales had threatened the multinational company’s profit & loss figures recovery in the year under review.

The company declared a dividend of N4billion representing a payment of N 1.01 per ordinary share.

The company’s revenue hits another milestone in 2022, driven by growth recorded in its home and personal care products and durable electrical appliances amid low purchasing power due to double-digit inflation, among other factors.

The breakdown of revenue in the last 5-year revealed that PZ Cusson Nigeria reported N99.5billion revenue, an increase of 20.4 per cent from N82.58billion revenue reported in 2021.

The firm had reported N66.99billion revenue in 2020, a N74.34billion revenue in 2019 from N80.55billion reported in 2018 and closed 2017 with revenue of N78.22billion.

Cost of sales for the period grew significantly 26.4 per cent to N75.2billion in 2022 from N59.48billion in 2021.

So, Cost of sales/revenue increased to 75.6per cent in 2022 from 72.03 per cent in 2021.

The growth in revenue contributed to 5.2per cent increase in gross profit to N24.3billion in 2022 from N23.09billion reported in 2021.

This dragged gross profit margin to 24.4 per cent in 2022 from 27.9 per cent in 2021. PZ Cusson Nigeria is exposed to commodity price risk arises from specific needs to buy quality and quality to meets its manufacturing standards.

These raw materials include crude palm oil, tallow, sodium silicate and linear alkly benzene.

The company has been effective with its method of purchasing these materials in advances and this is based on management’s past experience with price movement in Nigeria.

Meanwhile, total operating cost of PZ Cusson Nigeria rose by nearly 16.11 per cent to N20.22billion in 2022 from N16.11billion reported in 2021.

Due to the operating environment, the company recorded a growth in impairment of trade receivables to N149.05million in 2022 from N85.06million in 2021.

The impairment loss as at May 31, 2022 related to several customers that are not expected to be able to pay their outstanding balances, mainly due to economic circumstances.

Interestingly, in the year under review, the company report Exchange loss of N4.2billion from N5.95billionreported in the prior

year.

On this, operating loss closed 2022 at N231.5million as against N946.56million operating profit recorded in 2021. PZ Cusson Nigeria reported N9.4billion income from non-core business income in 2022 from N2.07billion in 2021.

The increase in non-core income was driven by N8.87billion profit on disposal of fixed assets in 2022 from N1.9billion reported in 2021.

The profit on disposal relates mainly to sales of non-core residential properties in Ikoyi, Lagos state. N9.84 billion was received as consideration from the sales of the properties resulting in profit on disposal of N8.86 billion.

From the profit & loss figures, PZ Cusson Nigeria reported 251.96 per cent increase in interest income to N839.64million in 2022 from N238.56million in 2021 as interest cost dropped significantly by 84.6 per cent to N11million in 2022 from N71.48million in 2021.

Meanwhile, the group closed the year with N10.01billion profit before tax from N3.19 billion profit before tax reported in 2021 financial year.

With tax expenses of N3.31billion, PZ Cusson Nigeria reported profit of N6.7 billion profit in 2022 from N1.78billion reported in 2021.

INCREASING TRADE AND OTHER PAYABLES PZ Cusson Nigeria in 2022 financial statement reported significant increase in trade and

other payables to increase total liabilities.

As trade and other payables rose by 32.4 per cent to N57.89billion in 2022 from N43.74billion in 2021, the Group current liabilities rose by 35.4 per cent to N62.3billion in 2022 from N46billion in 2021.

Total non-current liabilities grew by 14.9per cent to N5.77billion in 2022 from N6.72billion reported in 2021.

Meanwhile, PZ Cusson Nigeria reported a 12 per cent increase in total assets to N108.05billion in 2022 from N87.34billion in 2021, while total equity gained 16 per cent to N39.96billion in 2022 from N34.55billion in 2021.

CONCLUSION The group and company are controlled by PZ Cusson (Holdings) Limited, incorporated in the UK, which owns 73.27 per cent (2020: 73.27 per cent) of the group and company’s shares. The remaining 26.73 per cent (2020: 26.73 per cent) of the shares are widely held.

The recent performance by PZ Cusson Nigeria has not attracted local/ foreign investors to its stock. With outstanding shares of 3,970,477,045.00, and trading at N9.60 as at June 30, 2022, earnings and dividend to shareholders are two intrinsic factors driving the stock price on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX).

The company needed to sustain its revenue growth and source materials locally in a move to reduce cost of sales and drive bottom-line performance.

FG RAISED N3.06TRN FROM BOND MARKET IN 2022, RECORDS 53.2% OVERSUBSCRIPTION Mr. Rotimi Fakeyejo said, “Most investors do away with the stock

market and invest in FGN bond market because they have the

assurance that the market is the safest of all investments in domestic

debt market since it is backed by the Federal Government, and as

ANALYSTS: NIGERIA’S DEBT SERVICE-TO-REVENUE RATIO AT 83.0% WORRISOME dismal revenue performance over the period. For context, data from the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning (FMFBNP) revealed that the FG actual revenue grossed N4.2 trillion in 9M:2022 against the pro-rata target of N6.7 trillion.

“Although actual expenditure was lower by 17.2 per cent compared to the N11.6 trillion intended, the actual deficit, N5.3 trillion, was still 8.8 per cent higher than projected. Hence, the resultant higher borrowings grossed N10.8 trillion, “they said.

such it is classified as a risk-free debt instrument.”

He added that, “the deficit in the budget has given room for the government to borrow. The government needs money to finance key projects this year. The money spent on debt servicing is eating deep into the government’s revenue, which makes borrowing an unsustainable form of financing.”

With the added new debts to the debt stock, it is expected that the country’s total debt stock going to hits N45.86trillion by December 2022.

Speaking on the development, an economist and Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, Dr Muda Yusuf, said the FG had notified the general public of borrowing

more in 2022.

“Since we have a deficit of N6.3trillion and you also have an additional subsidiary budget of N4trillion, naturally it has soar up the deficit and it is easier to raise money locally than raising it at the international market. Domestic borrowing is a low- hanging fruit.

“With all the volatility and foreign exchange issues, it makes sense to borrow at the domestic market rather than borrowing from the international market. It is all a reflection of our macroeconomy environment challenges and weak fiscal policy of the government. All this borrowing also is a reflection of the weak financial position of the government and it will continue like that,” he added.

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Visa to Invest $1bn in Africa to Accelerate Digital Transformation Emma Okonji Visa has pledged to invest $1 billion in Africa over the next five years to scale operations, deploy new innovative technologies, deepen collaboration with partners and advance innovative and inclusive economies across the continent.

Visa’s Chairman and CEO, Alfred Kelly Jr. made the pledge during the US-Africa Business Forum, alongside the just concluded US-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington, DC. The pledge will further scale Visa’s operations in Africa, and deepen collaboration with strategic partners including governments, financial institutions, mobile network operators, fintechs and merchants.

According to Kelly, “Visa has been investing in Africa for several decades to grow a truly local business, and today our commitment

to the continent remains as firm and unwavering as ever. Every day, Visa supports digital commerce and money movement in every country across the continent, and Africa remains central to Visa’s long-term growth plans. We look forward to continuing to work closely with our partners to advance the financial ecosystem, accelerate digitisation and to build resilient, innovative, and inclusive economies that will create shared opportunity and further spur Africa’s digital economy.”

Senior Vice President, Visa sub-Saharan Africa, Aida Diarra, said: “Africa is experiencing an unprecedented digital acceleration, with a growing number of consumers, merchants and businesses realizing the benefits of secure and convenient digital payments to fuel commerce and money movement. Over the past

year Visa has continued growing our investment in Africa, through new offices, new innovations and solutions, and programs that are directly supporting financial inclusion. The investment pledge outlines our long-term commitment to Africa and the work we will do to help advance the financial ecosystem.”

Senior Vice President, Visa North Africa Levant and Pakistan, Leila Serhan, said: “Expanding financial inclusion is critical to long-term economic prosperity, and we are proud to have worked with financial and public sector partners to launch new initiatives such as She’s Next.

We look forward to continuing to support programs that advance inclusion and prosperity, while introducing new innovations designed for consumers and businesses across Africa.”

How Pension Funds are Invested under Multi Fund Structure (4)

Insurers Pay N538.96m to Relatives o f D e c e a s e d L a g o s Wo r k e r s Ebere Nwoji A consortium of insurance companies have paid N538.96m claims to 250 relatives of 102 deceased workers who died while in active service under the Lagos State Public service.

The claims were paid under the Group Life Insurance Policy (GLIP) put in place for civil servants by Lagos State Government.

The GLIP emanates from the Pension Reform Act, which states that, “Employers shall maintain life insurance policy in favour of the employee for a minimum of three times the annual total emolument of the employee.”

Presenting cheques to some

of the beneficiaries in Lagos, the state Head of Service, Mr Hakeem Muri-Okunola, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Public Service Office, Mrs Olasunkanmi Oyegbola, said Lagos placed high priority on its workers.

He said, “The purpose for the payment of this insurance death benefits to the beneficiaries is basically to serve as a succour for their immediate families in order to avoid dropping out of schools of the younger children or being thrown out of the place of abode by the landlords due to non-availability of sufficient funds for survival and to ensure a much better future for left behind beneficiaries.”

The Commissioner for Finance, Dr Rabiu Olowo, said, “The Lagos State Government is in the forefront in the provision of adequate welfare for staff and citizens at large, in fact, no other state is totally committed to the welfare of staff, either dead or alive, as Lagos State is. I commend Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for his total commitment to the welfare of its state workforce.”

Speaking, Managing Director of LASACO Assurance Plc, Mr Rasak Abiodun, who was represented by the General Manager, Mr Dimeji Olona, advised the families of the deceased to use the money judiciously for the benefit of the immediate beneficiaries whom the deceased left behind.

NEDC Empowers 150 Youths to Bridge Nigeria’s 8Million Metering Gap Gilbert Ekugbe The North East Development Commission (NEDC) and MOMAS Group have partnered to empower 150 Nigerian youths in the North Eastern part in its bid to bridge the nation’s metering gap currently put about 8 million.

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, NEDC, Mohammed Alkali, at the graduation ceremony of NEDC beneficiaries from MOMAS Electricity Meters Manufacturing Company (MEMMCOL), said NEDC engaged the services of Momas Metering School (MMS) to train the youths on the theory, practical skills and regulations of energy meters installations and electrical building installations as part of its youth empowerment programme.

Represented by the Deputy General Manager, Education, NEDC, Fatima Ciroma, he said the training specifically aims to produce certified installers and technicians for electricity meter installations to meet the demand of Meter Asset Provider (MAP) and

National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP) as approved by the Federal Government Besides, the World Bank estimates that Nigeria loses an average of $29 billion due to power shortage in the electricity sector representing six per cent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

As a result of this, each Disco lose an estimated N3 billion monthly to energy theft and with 11 Discos, an average of N33 billion is lost to theft on a monthly basis.

“Beyond the technical aspect of the training, the module also trained students on how to start a start-up and become entrepreneurs. The training, is beneficial to the North East and is in line with the Commission’s commitment to help reduce unemployment and increase skilled labour and workforce in the North East as well as the Commission’s mandate regarding human capacity development as a tool for eradicating poverty in the North East,” he added.

He pointed out that the Commission’s collaboration with the MOMAS

training school covered tuition, accommodation, feeding, upkeep, personal protective equipment (PPE), customised tools bag with tools, course materials as well as extra-curricular activities whilst the training school provided the technical component.

Earlier, the Chairman MOMAS Group, Engr. Kola Balogun, stated the need for Nigeria to boost local capacity to produce metres to meet the nation’s growing demand, saying that it is as a result of this his company established the MEMMCOL metering school to bridge the huge deficit.

According him, the nation’s power sector is being threatened due to the skill deficiency in the meter sector, warning that if not addressed urgently, Nigeria will not be able to sustain its future Speaking on behalf of the graduands, Flora Yuguda from Taraba State commended MOMAS and NEDC for the initiative, saying that it has upgraded her status, promising to do much more if given the financial assistance required to excel in her field.

Jumia Food, Domino’s Pizza Partners for Improved Customer Service Delivery Gilbert Ekugbe One of the leading online food delivery platforms in Nigeria, Jumia Food has partnered Domino’s Pizza to deepen its relationship with its esteemed customers across the country.

According to Jumia Food, the partnership would create a platform for Jumia Food to reach more consumers in Nigeria.

At a press conference to announce the partnership, the Chief Executive Officer, Jumia Nigeria, Massimiliano Spalazzi, said the

move is to bring meals closer to Nigerians, pointing out that Domino’s Pizza will reach more consumers through Jumia Food to grow their customer base.

The partnership is expected to offer consumers access to meals from the comfort of their homes while also providing a steady supply of Domino’s portfolio to consumers through the Jumia food platform and ensure they receive their orders in the shortest time possible.

“We are delighted to provide our online platform where consumers

in Nigeria can order their favourite pizza delight from Domino’s Pizza outlets available at the click of a button on Jumia Food. We have spent a decade in Nigeria, and since our inception, we have continuously strived to impact the lives of millions of consumers through innovation and technology,” he said.

Also speaking, the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Eat’N’Go Africa, Mr Patrick McMichael said Domino’s Pizza Nigeria is delighted to expand its offerings to its esteemed customers in Nigeria through listing on Jumia.

PENCOM DG, Aisha Dahir-Umar In this concluding part of our articles on “How

Pension Funds are invested under the Multi Fund Structure”, we will be focusing on the Non-Interest Fund (Fund VI). The article will also explore some of the elements that make the fund different from the previously discussed Funds.

The increase in demand by RSA holders for the opportunity to invest their retirement savings in Non-interest instruments led to a series of engagements with other financial regulators and stakeholders towards creating a Non-Interest Fund based on Islamic Sharia Principles.

Consequently, in 2021, the Commission approved the implementation of fund VI in line with Section 7.3 of the Regulation on Investment of Pension Fund Assets issued

by PenCom. The regulation aims to promote financial inclusion within the Nigerian Financial System, establish standards and procedures for managing the Fund VI by licensed PFAs. In addition, it sought to, increase the investment portfolio for better returns on pension funds and assist in expanding the coverage of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) by attracting employees with reservations about investments in Non-interest instruments.

THE NON-INTEREST FUND (FUND VI)

The Non-Interest Fund VI is a Fund type whose assets are invested in instruments that are both ethical and Non-interest as approved by the Financial Regulation Advisory Council of Experts (FRACE). The fund is designed for contributors and retirees who are interested in investments that comply with non-interest and ethical principles. The Fund is therefore divided into two, for Active for RSA Holders and Retirees respectively. The Active RSA fund VI comprises contributors that are 50 years and below while the Retiree Fund VI is strictly for retirees.

TRANSFER FROM OTHER FUND TYPES TO FUND VI

RSA holders in Funds I, II, III, and retirees in Fund IV are eligible to move their RSA contributions to Fund VI. Likewise, RSA holders in Fund VI seeking to move back to any of the Active RSA Funds i.e. Funds I, II and III, are allowed to do so. However, Retirees in Fund VI are only qualified to move back to Fund IV which is the default Retiree Fund.

To transfer from Fund VI to other Fund types, RSA holders are required to visit their respective PFAs to request the transfer of their pension savings from their existing fund to the Non-Interest Fund by completing and signing a consent form issued by the PFA. The transfer is allowed once in every 12 months and the

RSA holder is not required to pay any fee.

INVESTMENT OF PENSION ASSETS IN FUND VI

The investment portfolio for Fund VI is made up of Sharia-compliant instruments. The permissible instruments for the Investment of Fund VI assets include Corporate/ Supranational Sukuks; Government Sukuk (including Islamic Treasury Bills and Euro Sukuk) issued by the Federal Government of Nigeria, CBN or FGN Agencies, and Infrastructure Sukuk backed by FGN/CBN guarantee. Other instruments are Shari’a-compliant Money Market instruments, ordinary shares, private equity funds, and real Estate funds.

In line with Section 7.3 (a) of the investment regulation, the active RSA fund VI is invested in variable income instruments as the RSA holders are young and can bear the risk compared to Retirees. Therefore, Retiree Fund VI, are invested in fixed-income instruments to preserve the funds against market volatility considering their ages and risk appetite.

Consequently, investment of Fund VI assets is not in the production or trading of alcohol, pornography, weaponry, gambling/betting, speculation, interest-earning ventures, and other ventures of similar nature contrary to Non-interest finance principles.

BENEFITS TO RSA HOLDERS

The implementation of Fund VI contributed to boosting the confidence of the public in the CPS, as it offers the opportunity for RSA holders to invest their retirement savings in non-interest instruments. In addition, RSA holders are offered a viable alternative to the conventional interest-based pension investment system.

The creation of the Non-Interest Fund will complement the efforts of other regulators in the financial sector in promoting the issuance of structured products that comply with the applicable principles of Non-interest finance to further provide viable investment outlets for pension funds. Pension contributors and retirees that require more information on the Non-interest fund may enquire from their PFAs and study the Operational Framework for Non-Interest Funds on the Commission’s website www.pencom.gov.ng.

This is the concluding part of our articles on the Multi-Fund investment structure for RSA funds. As earlier explained, the Multi-Fund investment structure would address the varying risk appetite of contributors, as the different funds are tailored to fit the ages and risk profiles of contributors. The multi-fund structure would also benefit the economy as a whole, as pension assets would be channelled into key areas of the economy such as infrastructure and housing.

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IoD Reaffirms Commitment to Corporate Governance Despite Harsh Terrain Gilbert Ekugbe The Institute of Directors (IoD) Nigeria has restated its commitment to good

corporate governance despite the harsh business environment in the country, reaffirming that the Institute would remain resolute in its

Kilsah Consulting Awards N2m Grant to Small Business Owners Kilsah Consulting has awarded a business support grant of N2 million to six small business owners in Nigeria.

Founder, Kilsah Consulting, Elfreda Sheriff, while speaking at the 2022 Small Business Luncheon/Grant Award in Lagos, said her organisation identified that most small businesses lack access to finance in order to grow.

“The idea is to give small businesses access to finance because we know that access to finance is the top obstacle that affects small businesses growth and this is especially for women entrepreneurs who face more obstacles when trying to access finance whether it is through the traditional loan method or any other method. The whole idea is to be a full-fledged small business support firm where we provide them access to finance, training, mentoring and access to the market,” Mrs Sheriff said.

She said the basis for accessing the grant is for the business to be registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), which would make the business a legal entity.

Managing Director of Primera Microfinance Bank, Unwana Esang, who was Guest Speaker at the Kilsah Consulting 2022 Small Business Luncheon/Grant Award, advised small business owners not to throw in the towel in the face of challenges.

“My message to small business owners is never give up, never stop growing.

Always do everything possible to improve the quality of your craft, the quality of your product and service.

Continue to build structures around your business. Ensure strong corporate governance because that is what makes you attractive as a business owner to stakeholders whether they are customers, investors or regulators,” he said.

determination to creating value for its members.

The president and Chairman of Governing Council, Mrs. Ije Jidenma, at its 2022 annual Directors’ dinner and awards in Lagos, said so far, the Institute has contributed to the Nigerian business community by ensuring that its views are conveyed to the government for the entrenchment of good

Domestic carriers have called for the upgrade and expansion of airport infrastructure, attributing most of flight delays to inadequate facilities like limited spaces at the airport terminals, inadequate x-ray machines and attendant personnel that man passenger facilitation at the airports.

Speaking on behalf of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) on Thursday at the launch of the book, ‘Air Transportation In Nigeria: The Lingering Expectations’, the Chairman and CEO of Air Peace, Allen Onyema said that as the festive season approaches, influx of passengers would likely outstretch facilities at airports, especially Abuja where only a few check-in counters are available

in a small hall for processing hundreds of passengers.

He said such situation naturally causes delays, as passengers who interface with airlines do not know the root cause of the delays, which begins with capacity of check-in halls, the number of check-in counters, the delay in the screening of passengers and also the capacity of departure halls.

Speaking particularly on Abuja and Gombe airports, he said it is unimaginable for about 10 airlines’ passengers to occupy a small space with only four check-in counters, adding that rather than for authorities to rally round and support them, they prefer to de-market them. ”Nigerian airline operators are the most patriotic citizens of Nigeria because of the environ-

ment. People blame us for late departures but airlines are not responsible for delays, passengers need to know the truth but those are supposed to protect us are de-marketing us”.

“AON has written to the Ministry and FAAN on the issue of Abuja check-in counters. It is crazy, nine or 10 airlines in a very small space is not encouraging, but a few days ago, the Managing Director of FAAN spoke to me that they are going to do something about it, what we are asking for is expansion, the old international terminal is lying fallow, some airlines can be asked to move there to create more room for us, a situation where we are given few counters and we have thousands of people checking in will cause delay.

Sterling Bank Launches MBN, to showcase Best of Nigeria at Maiden Fair Nume Ekeghe As part of its commitment to the growth and development of Nigerian businesses and the economy, Sterling Bank Plc, has created the Made-ByNigerians platform, a platform community designed to showcase the best products and services made by Nigerians, at home and abroad.

The bank has also announced it will hold a fair from the 23rd to the 24th of December 2022 to exhibit the best Nigerian-made goods to the highest international standards.

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Bank, Abubakar Suleiman, disclosed at a press conference in Lagos

recently.

He said participants should expect a spectacle comprising physical and virtual exhibitions, workshops, discounts, freebies, huge deals, games, refreshments, and entertainment, among others.

Abubakar said the two-day event is the perfect avenue for Nigerian businesses to showcase and promote their products on a global scale by connecting buyers, sellers, and everyone in the supply chain in a fun and relaxed atmosphere.

He remarked that the bank is supporting the fair because it is on a mission to promote brands owned by Nigerians to help them build capacity, grow their businesses, and transform

was the last straw which completely threw all positive projections into the doldrum.

She said the food and energy crisis that trailed the war adversely affected the global economy, especially countries with fragile economic frameworks such as Nigeria’s In her words: “For Nigeria, the consequences were dire, especially as it brought about a serious

energy crisis as a result of the colossal rise in the cost of refined petroleum products, especially diesel, which fuels most of our industrial installations.

What should have been an advantage for us as an oil-producing nation, became a disadvantage because of our complete reliance on the importation of finished petroleum products.”

Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki (right), with the European Union (EU) Ambassador to Nigeria, Samuela Isopi, after a dinner at the Government House in Benin City… recently

Airlines Call for Upgrade of Airport Infrastructure to Curb Flight Delays Chinedu Eze

corporate governance in the country.

According to her, touted as a year of recovery, especially from the global recession occasioned by the pandemic, 2022 was approached with a lot of optimism as all indicators and projections were cautiously positive, but stated that for a world that was just recovering from two years of economic downturn, the Russian-Ukraine war

the Nigerian economic climate.

In his words: “We are passionate about growing the economy, and we believe this is one of the ways to do it.”

He disclosed that over 300 merchants have registered on the platform and are ready to serve buyers with products of the highest quality.

He said the bank will support the businesses on the platform with access to professional services such as accounting, legal, and marketing, among others, in a bid to transform them from family-owned businesses into bankable entities that can attract professional employees, lending from banks, and new investors.

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Aisha Dahir-Umar: PenCom is under Attack Because of Our Modest Achievements The Director-General of the National Pension Commission (PenCom), Mrs Aisha Dahir-Umar, speaks on the challenges she faces leading the commission in this interview, Oluchi Chibuzor present the excerpts Leading PenCom as the Director-General for over two years now surely has its challenges. What has been your experience? acing challenges is a natural consequence of leadership. I acted as DG for almost four years, so I would say it prepared me adequately for the substantive role. When you discharge your responsibilities properly, there will be winners and there will be losers as well.

Our first challenge came from the previous executive management which refused to accept that they had been disengaged by the Federal Government. It was embarrassing but it was eventually resolved. It is not unusual for a new management to want to do things differently. We reorganized and streamlined internal workings. Some felt a sense of loss, which is perfectly understandable. They kicked, as expected, but eventually those kicking from the inside and those goading them on from the outside accepted that it was not going to be business as usual. I am never afraid of new things, as long as they are progressive.

We faced fresh challenges as the agitations for the exemption of the personnel of the Nigeria Police and Paramilitary agencies became heightened, due to complaints of low pension pay-out under the Contributory Pension Scheme.

Another challenge was due to the decline in the Federal Government revenue during the period. The Commission was unable to process the payment of retirement benefits of so many retirees of the Federal Government under the Contributory Pension Scheme due to the inability of the Federal Government to pay their Accrued Pension Rights for about two years. This affected the Commission.

We felt unable to ensure compliance with the most significant objective of the pension reform, which is that retirees should be paid their benefits as and when due. Despite all these challenges, we have moved forward and we have plenty achievements that we can modestly celebrate.

F

What are these modest achievements, as you call them?

For one, there has been a big growth of the pension assets from N6.42 trillion in 2017 to N14.6 trillion as at October, 2022. That is more than double at a time of serious economic challenges. We also introduced the MultiFund Structure of investment of pension fund assets to address the investment appetite and preference of contributors as well as their age profile, approved a structured reduction of fees on Net Asset Value of pension fund assets and introduced the Micro Pension Plan for the participation of informal sector workers in the Contributory Pension Scheme. The Micro Pension Plan was formally launched

by President Buhari on 28 March, 2019.

We also developed the Enhanced Contributor Registration System (ECRS) to clean and enhance the integrity of the pension industry database; introduced the Retirement Savings Accounts (RSA) Transfer Window to enable contributors change their PFAs at least once in a year. We instituted a periodic Pension Enhancement programme every three years, where the retirees’ monthly pensions is enhanced based on the performance of their RSAs. In fact, we are about to commence the third edition of the pension enhancement for retirees in the First Quarter of 2023.

We automated the Annual Enrolment Exercise for FGN retirees to remove the inconvenience of the physical process of the exercise on retirees. We recently issued the Guidelines for Access to a Percentage of RSA balance towards payment of Equity Contribution for residential mortgage. The list of approved Primary Mortgage Institutions that will participate in the exercise was released by the Commission this month of December 2022.

We have strengthened the minimum capital base of PFAs from N1 billion to N5 billion for better service delivery to contributors and facilitated the payment of outstanding accrued pension rights of FGN retirees, which drastically shortened the waiting period for accessing their retirement benefits.

One of the controversies under your watch is that the least paid employee earns N3 million a month. We know you have

PENCOM DG, Aisha Dahir-Umar explained but why did this become an issue?

It arose following the Commission’s appearance on 15 September 2022 before the House of Representatives Committee on Finance’s 2023–2025 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) Interactive Session. There were questions raised by the Committee members on the Commission’s staff costs, to which we responded. The Commission’s staff cost was, however, mischievously interpreted to mean staff salary. This caused negative media reportage.

What do you mean by staff cost?

In finance and accounts parlance, staff costs cover many items, including salaries and allowances, training and capacity building, pension contributions, etcetera.

However, one of the committee members did a simple division of the total amount under that subhead against the total number of staff of the Commission to arrive at the so-called jumbo figure. This gave an opportunity for some people to do mischief. Staff remunerations differ according to grades but not even the General Managers (Directors), who are the highest paid, get such amount.

You faced threat of mass action by activists as a result. How did you handle this?

The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) launched the first attack.

We know they are young people who are not very experienced on matters of corporate administration. We decided to enlighten them. We drew attention to the fact that the National Assembly did not, at any time, suggest that the Commission had breached any law or regulation. We also explained that the accusation was completely inaccurate. They seemed to have understood as they cancelled their planned protests and apologized. I believe they were sincerely misled. We also engaged with the Civil Society Organizations to enlighten them. The mischievous ones continued to threaten us but we were no longer bothered.

There is yet another petition to the EFCC alleging fraud in the Commission.

Are you aware of this?

We were told a few days ago. We learnt from insiders that it is part of a coordinated plan to bring the Commission and its

management into disrepute, through mass action and frivolous and irritating petitions.

Unfortunately, they have chosen the wrong victim. We will never give in to blackmail.

There were similar attempts in the past through orchestrated petitions to other law enforcement agencies on frivolous allegations of wrongdoing against the Commission and its management, including myself.

All of these failed. Nothing untoward was established against us. We are confident that the same outcome will be arrived at in the event of any future similar inquiry on our affairs. What is constant, however, is that we shall not be distracted from our resolve to ensure due process and legal compliance in the way we administer the Commission’s affairs. We are single-minded about this.

Outsiders are working with insiders to undermine our work. This has been a recurrent decimal since 2017 when I became the Acting Director-General. Despite all the negativities and attempted distractions, we have, by the grace of Allah, been able to remain focused and able to record many significant feats in the discharge of the Commission’s statutory mandate of regulation and supervision of the industry.

We understand that one of the burdens of leadership in our operating environment is to accept the reality of adversity, especially when you insist on due process and truthfulness in your official conduct. We shall not derail.

The National Assembly wants to be excluded from the Contributory Pension Scheme. Are you opposed to it?

The National Pension Commission is categorically opposed to the passage of the Bill seeking to exclude the staff of the National Assembly from the Contributory Pension Scheme. The Commission would have expressed this position had there been a Public Hearing on the bill prior to its passage. Excluding the National Assembly staff from the CPS will defeat one of the objectives of the pension reform, which seeks to achieve an affordable and sustainable pension system for Nigeria.

It has also opened a floodgate for all civil servants. Already, the personnel of Nigerian Police as well as the Police retirees are clamouring for exemption from the CPS. There are compelling economic, fiscal, social and public policy arguments against the exemption of the public servants from the CPS. One, exemption from the CPS would imply additional financial burden on the

Federal Government by way of unsustainable pension obligations. The Federal Government is already overburdened with the payment of pensions under the Defined Benefits Scheme as illustrated by the 2022 Appropriation Act. Another immediate negative impact of the proposed exemption from the CPS is to unsettle the FGN’s fiscal policy and financial system stability. As at date, about 63.17% of the N14.6 trillion pension assets are invested in Federal Government securities. Exempting the public sector institutions would lead to material divestment from FGN securities before maturity, which would have ripple negative effects on not only the finances of Government, but on the entire financial system.

The argument has always been hinged on low pensions. But the PRA 2014 has adequate provisions that can resolve this concern without recourse to exemptions from the Scheme.

This includes the upward review of the rate of pension contributions for the public servants beyond the statutory minimum of 18% and the institution of additional benefits in form of lump-sum at the point of exit. I recommend that Nigeria institutes a Zero Pillar Pensions in the form of social security benefit, which is recognised and provided for under Section 16(2)(d) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended). If implemented, it will go a long way to alleviate the sufferings of all Nigerians irrespective of whether or not they had a formal employment. It will also augment earnings from occupational pensions.

Would you say the political authorities have been helpful or otherwise?

By virtue of Section 17(5) of the Pension Reform Act 2014, the National Pension Commission reports directly to the President.

We do that through the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. Since my assumption of office as Director-General, the Commission has never had any political interference that hamstrung it from discharging its duties and functions. The President has been very supportive in tackling some of the challenges of the Commission in the discharge of its statutory mandate. An example was what happened towards the end of 2021. The retirement benefits of Federal Government retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme remained unpaid for about 24 months. The President approved about N159 billion for the payment of outstanding accrued rights and other pension liabilities of Federal Government retirees. We were able to pay their long overdue retirement benefits. This was a big relief.

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Monday December 19, 2022 Vol 27. No 10114

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SARAKI: THE VISIONARY ON THE SIXTH FLOOR YUSUPH OLANIYONU pays tribute to Bukola Saraki, former Senate President, at age 60

See page 49

FROM DEEP BLUE SEA TO CLARITY

PAUL OBI writes that Nigerian voters face a clear choice in 2023 based on credibility, social justice and nation-building precepts

See page 49 EDITORIAL

TACKLING THE MALARIA MENACE

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Proven leadership prowess is critical for political governance, writes LINUS OKORIE

COMPETENCIES FOR POLITICAL LEADERSHIP I love the word ‘competence’. When someone does a job or task for you, and does it so well, it makes you happy, doesn’t it?

Competence is the ability to do something well to the satisfaction of everyone involved.

The power of competence has the capacity to help institutions grow.

In organizations, people are placed in positions that match their competencies, so that they are able to deliver excellently to WKH EHQHÀW RI DOO +RZHYHU LI \RX EUHHG D system that does not celebrate competence, WKH UHVXOWDQW HͿHFW ZLOO EH PXOWLSO\LQJ incompetence within that system. Therefore, it is my conviction that the greatest success story of organizations, institutions and QDWLRQV DUH SUHGLFDWHG XSRQ WKH HͿHFWLYH placement of competent people within their V\VWHPV +HUHLQ OLHV WKH DZHVRPHQHVV RI institutional competence.

The moment an individual steps away from his core competence, that individual GLPLQLVKHV LQ HͿHFWLYHQHVV 7KHUHIRUH \RX cannot build a system until you understand the power of celebrating competence. When people are good at what they do, what to do is encourage them, inspire them, and reward them. At the end of the day, the end of education is the capacity to combine competence and conscience in order to produce something wholesome, outstanding and usable.

For an organization or nation to make progress and thrive, it must scale its appreciation for and celebration of competence. It must honor merit, and match jobs to proven capacities. An entity that achieves this will inevitably grow in leaps and bounds.

I understand the times we are in today. It is a political era and I would love to concentrate my thoughts on competence for political leadership. Let’s explore competencies that HYHU\ SROLWLFDO R΀FH DVSLUDQW LQ 1LJHULD should possess. You see, the electorate must EHJLQ WR ORRN RXW IRU VSHFLÀF FRPSHWHQFLHV that are critical and important for every SROLWLFDO R΀FH DVSLUDQW WR KDYH UHJDUGOHVV RI WKH R΀FH WKH\ DUH Y\LQJ IRU Proven leadership prowess is critical for political governance. Leadership determines the kind and quality of results any RUJDQL]DWLRQ RU VRFLHW\ JHWV 7KH ÀUVW TXDOLW\ all genuine leaders possess is vision—and that is what we will start our discourse with today. Simply put, vision is what gives energy, will and drive to any political leader.

The quality of a political leader’s vision is what determines and produces the quality of the policies, programs, projects and interventions that he will enact, commission and represent.

Therefore, if a political leader does not have a compelling vision, does not have an antecedence of accomplishing great things, has not been known for getting things

done, there is no need to give such a person WKH UHVSRQVLELOLW\ RI D SROLWLFDO R΀FH ,I WKH SXUSRVH RI D SHUVRQ VHHNLQJ SROLWLFDO R΀FH has not been understood by the community, the constituency, the state, or the country, that person has no business getting any thumbprints at the polls. So, if someone is UXQQLQJ IRU D SROLWLFDO R΀FH DURXQG \RXU space, here is a simple question to ask them: What is your vision for the constituent you will be leading if elected? If they are not able to articulate their vision in a way and manner that is compelling, simple, and transmittable to the general public for easy assimilation, that is your cue to not vote them in.

Vision is critical to pushing societies forward, and only visionary leaders can forge 1LJHULD LQWR KHU GHVWLQ\ 7KHUHIRUH OHW·V EH prudent henceforth to choose only visionary leaders.

1H[W RQ RXU GLVFRXUVH OHW·V IRFXV RQ integrity as a crucial ingredient or capital WKDW SROLWLFDO R΀FH VHHNHUV VKRXOG SRVVHVV and display before electing them. This is an essential discourse because integrity is the fulcrum of personal character and HͿHFWLYH OHDGHUVKLS +HQFH ZH PXVW ORRN at the people’s antecedence before electing them. In their previous endeavors and capacities, did they serve transparently and FRQWULEXWH VLJQLÀFDQWO\ WR WKH JURZWK RI WKH organizations or society at large? If no, give QR URRP WR VXFK SHRSOH LI ZH ZDQW 1LJHULD to thrive.

The truth of the matter is that we must bring up integrity as a criterium for political leadership. This is important because to represent a people, to become the voice of a people, you must be trustworthy and show proven character and conscience. If people can’t trust you, how would they elect you into a position? In fact, even the middlemen who canvass for political leaders must be checked for integrity. Let’s drum it into such people henceforth that integrity is essential before you can canvass for any leader, and the leader himself must have the necessary integrity;

The truth of the matter is that we must bring up integrity as a criterium for political leadership.

This is important because to represent a people, to become the voice of a people, you must be trustworthy and show proven character and conscience. If people can’t trust you, how would they elect you into a position?

they must display capacity and a heart that is honorable, can speak truth at every point in time, and is a transparent.

In other words, we must henceforth hold RXU SROLWLFDO R΀FH VHHNHUV DFFRXQWDEOH WR DQ oath to not touch public funds and resources, but protect and judiciously appropriate them IRU WKH EHQHÀW RI WKH SHRSOH , DP DGYLVLQJ that these be the qualities we look out for when we are considering electing people into SROLWLFDO R΀FHV 7KH WKLUG FRPSHWHQFH SROLWLFDO R΀FH seekers must possess before we consider them is courage. Courage is the bone of leadership. In truth, hardly can anybody DWWHPSW WR VHHN IRU D SROLWLFDO R΀FH ZLWKRXW having a lot of courage to even step out in WKLV YHU\ FKDOOHQJHG DQG GL΀FXOW FRXQWU\ 1LJHULD 1HYHUWKHOHVV WKHUH LV PRUH FRXUDJH to be expected, especially in confronting the challenges that await them in their respective R΀FHV LI DQG ZKHQ HOHFWHG DQG VZRUQ LQ 7R EH DQ HͿHFWLYH SROLWLFDO OHDGHU UHTXLUHV courage. This means your ability to say the truth at every point in time, your ability to WDNH RQ GL΀FXOW SURMHFWV DQG SXVK WKHP through to completion, as well as your ability to confront mediocrity and incompetence.

I can tell you for free that there are political stakeholders whose business, literally, is to see that a political leader fails, if he doesn’t yield WR WKHLU GHPDQGV +HQFH ZLWKRXW FRXUDJH you will be overpowered and trumped by these wicked souls. Therefore, we need political leaders with high levels of courage to speak with authority, tact, and clarity, and to commands compliance enforced by the SRZHU RI KLV R΀FH ,I WKHUH ZDV HYHU D WLPH WKDW 1LJHULD needed leaders that are courageous, it is now.

Leaders across the spectrum of our polity who will stand for what is true and represent only what will positively impact the people.

We need people who have the courage to toss out and reengineer negative or dysfunctional policies as a result of the quality of their minds. Therefore, I hereby submit to you that courage is a vital quality we should be looking for in the people who aspire to lead us.

It was Jaggi Vasudev who said “If you want to be successful, don’t seek success seek competence, empowerment; do nothing short of the best that you can do”. We must be deliberate to ensure only people who have a commitment to sustain competence are elected or appointed into public positions.

We must remember if a man does not have a purpose for waking 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. Email me linus.okorie@gotni.africa

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MONDAY DECEMBER 19, 2022

YUSUPH OLANIYONU pays tribute to Bukola Saraki, former Senate President, at age 60

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PAUL OBI writes that Nigerian voters face a clear choice in 2023 based on credibility, social justice and nation-building precepts

FROM DEEP BLUE SEA TO CLARITY “We all pray for a peaceful and prosperous country; but God allows us to show him by our voting whether we mean our prayers we pray or not. You cannot wish this country well and vote for someone you do not believe in. Know that your vote carries the answer to your prayer for our country.”

- Prof Yemi Osinbajo Nigeria’s Vice President 7KH SODXVLEOH LGHD WKDW YRWHUV DFURVV ERDUG ZKHQ DͿRUGHG WKH RSSRUWXQLW\ ZLOO PDNH the right choice and decision in electing WKHLU UHSUHVHQWDWLYHV KDV EHHQ D SX]]OH \HW WR EH XQUDYHOOHG IRU QHDUO\ D FHQWXU\ QRZ $PHULFDQ SROLWLFDO VFLHQWLVWV $QWKRQ\ 'RZQV :LOOLDP + 5LNHU DQG 5REHUW 'DKO KDYH EHHQ OHDGLQJ VFKRODUV ZKR KDYH VWXGLHG WKDW LVVXH H[WHQVLYHO\ 'RZQV LQ

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Obi is a journalist, researcher and a media scholar based in Abuja

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T H I S D AY

MONDAY DECEMBER 19, 2022

EDITORIAL

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

TACKLING THE MALARIA MENACE Nigerian health authorities could do more to stem the scourge

F

or a preventable disease, the number of people who die annually from Malaria in our country is frightening. Nigeria, according to World Health Organisation’s (WHO) latest report, accounted for 31 per cent of Global Malaria deaths in 2021, with the ranking of the PRVW D΁LFWHG ´0DODULD LV WUDQVPLWWHG DOO RYHU 1LJHULD 76 per cent of the population live in high transmission areas, while 24 per cent live in low transmission areas,” the World Malaria report released last month revealed. ´7KH WUDQVPLVVLRQ VHDVRQ FDQ ODVW DOO \HDU URXQG LQ WKH south and about three months or less in the northern part of the country.”

Malaria is a mosquitoborne infectious disease.

Symptoms typically include fever, fatigue, vomiting and headaches.

In severe cases, it can cause yellow skin, seizures, coma, or death, as it is the case in Nigeria. Experts believe the number of Malaria death could be reduced drastically if Nigerians stopped embracing the disease as part of their lifestyle. Preventive measures include keeping clean environment, removing stagnant water, consistent use of insecticide treated nets and proper diagnosis before treatment.

7KHUH KDYH DOVR EHHQ VHYHUDO SURJUDPPHV DQG initiatives to combat the disease. In 2000, the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) slogan was launched with fanfare.

But the challenge persists. What makes the situation SDUWLFXODUO\ ZRUULVRPH LV WKDW WKHUH LV D VLJQLÀFDQW slowdown in global funding of anti-malaria campaigns which may roll back impressive gains made against WKH GLVHDVH RYHU WKH SDVW IHZ GHFDGHV 7R WKH H[WHQW that defeating malaria is critical to ending poverty and improving maternal and child health, Nigeria cannot DͿRUG WR ODJ LQ GHDOLQJ ZLWK WKH VFRXUJH It is imperative therefore that Nigeria optimises a mix of interventions to avert Malaria cases and deaths.

7KH )HGHUDO 0LQLVWU\ RI +HDOWK )0R+ VKRXOG VHW WDUJHWV IRU YHULÀDEOH LQGLFDWRUV DFURVV WKH WKUHH OHYHOV of government response towards reducing the malaria

EXUGHQ XVLQJ WKH ODWHVW :RUOG 0DODULD 5HSRUW 7KHUH is need for collaboration among relevant institutions for the seamless integration of traditional medicine SURYHQ WR EH VDIH DQG HͿHFWLYH LQWR WKH KHDOWK V\VWHP Measures should include development of regulation and guidelines for the control, training of technical personnel working in research, and the conservation of medicinal plants, especially those facing extinction due to overuse, bush burning, drought and urban development.

Herbalists should also be encouraged to register their FOLQLFDOO\ SURYHQ DQG H΀FDFLRXV VWDQGDUGLVHG KHUEDO preparations with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

Since it is estimated that about 75 per cent of the populace still prefer to solve their health problems through traditional healers, a home-grown solution for the prevention and cure of malaria is important.

Nigerian health authorities can do a lot more along this OLQH WR HUDGLFDWH PDODULD 7KH ministry should set targets for the traditional medicine GHSDUWPHQW LW FUHDWHG LQ WR ÀQG D FXUH IRU PDODULD Also, the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research DQG 'HYHORSPHQW 1,35' VKRXOG XQGHUWDNH VFLHQWLÀF UHVHDUFK WR JHQHUDWH HYLGHQFH IRU WKH VDIHW\ H΀FDF\ and quality of the traditional medicinal products and SUDFWLFHV SDUWLFXODUO\ WKRVH RQ PDODULD 7KH 1,35' FDQ also work with states that have established traditional medicine boards because what is needed now is stepping XS DFWLRQ LQ ´UHVHDUFK DQG GHYHORSPHQWµ WR PRGHUQLVH and standardise them.

On prevention, Nigeria should key into the models in Ethiopia and Western Kenya, where mosquito repellent plants around residential areas are being used to control Malaria. Against the background of the revelation by the World Bank that over the past decade, 11 African countries have reduced malaria cases by more than 50 per cent, the Nigerian authorities must understand that combating the disease requires multifaceted actions and partnerships involving public and private, international, and civil society sectors.

There is need for collaboration among relevant institutions for the seamless integration of traditional medicine proven to be safe and effective into the health system 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 THE PAIN ON THE PLATEAU

Where is one completely safe in Nigeria? Where in Nigeria can one live and be sure that death or grievous bodily harm does not lurk in the nearest corner looking for someone to devour?

Just what manner of life has insecurity and a scandalRXVO\ LQH΀FLHQW FULPLQDO MXVWLFH V\VWHP FRQVSLUHG WR IRLVW on Nigerians?

One of the starkest signs of the struggles of the Giant of $IULFD WR UHDOO\ WDNH RͿ LV WKDW LQVHFXULW\ KDV VXFFHVVIXOO\ UHGXFHG WKH FRXQWU\ WR D VWDWH RI FRQVWDQW IHDU 7KHVH days, those who manage to catch any sleep at all do so with one eye open.

A chief contributor to the painfully parlous state of insecurity in Nigeria is that many of those who kill or grievously harm others, or destroy their properties thereby FRPSURPLVLQJ WKHLU VDIHW\ XVXDOO\ HVFDSH MXVWLFH :KHQ they are caught, more often than not, they are merely slapped on the wrists before they are let loose to hide themselves and attack more people.

So, in Nigeria today, many people have lost their lives

or limbs and have watched as their agony was comSRXQGHG E\ D IDLOXUH WR JHW MXVWLFH 7KDW DSSHDUV WR EH the story unfolding for Ruth Yakadi, an English graduate of the University of Jos whose lifeless body was recently found at the Farin Gada area of Jos, Plateau State.

Her death which shocked many Nigerians and led to a bit of restiveness in the area also drew the attention of the police which immediately pledged it was going to investigate the heinous crime.

But given what little has come of such investigations in the past, there is little reason to be optimistic.

But what is truly disturbing is the nature of iniquitous crimes that go on from time to time in parts of Nigeria and end with very little being done by apprehending those ZKR SHUSHWUDWH WKHP DQG WKXV VXEMHFW RWKHUV WR JUHDW VXIIHULQJ +RZ H΀FLHQW LV 1LJHULD·V FULPLQDO MXVWLFH V\VWHP DQG MXVW KRZ GL΀FXOW LV LW WR DSSUHKHQG WKRVH ZKR FRPmit chilling crimes against others in the country?

6RPH UHSRUWV KDYH LW WKDW 0V <DNDGL·V OLIH ZDV VQXͿHG out by her cultist boyfriend after a disagreement. If that

LV WUXH WKHQ WKHUH LV QR WHOOLQJ MXVW KRZ PXFK XQVDIH 1Lgeria has become because those who parade themselves as cultists unaccountably come into the possession of the most dangerous of weapons and make life unbearable for others in Nigeria.

Ms. Yakadi was also said to have been raped. For how long would crimes be committed against women and girls in Nigeria for no other reason but because of their tender, and for how long would Nigeria continue to tolerate such abominable attacks against women and girls E\ LWV IDLOXUH WR WDNH GHÀQLWLYH DFWLRQ" 0V <DNDGL GHVHUYHV MXVWLFH DV KDYH DOO WKRVH ZKRVH lives have been claimed by the insecurity rippling through Nigeria. Until those who do these things are apprehended, prosecuted and incarcerated, Nigeria will remain distinctly unsafe especially for women, girls and children.

Kene Obiezu, keneobiezu@gmail.com

MONDAY DECEMBER 19, 2022 • T H I S D AY

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T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2022

HOMES&DESIGN

VMP VICTORIA ISLAND

Rotunda, Resplendent and Reinventing UPDC Plc is Nigeria’s biggest real estate development company, with deep roots and rich history and is reputed for high-end buildings. One of them is the Victoria Mall Plaza, a tower with a glassy facade. Bennett Oghifo writes

V

ictoria Mall Plaza (VMP) is a mixed-use 25-floor exquisite facility located at a choice part of Bishop Aboyade Cole Street in Victoria Island.

The tower is in a secure and fenced site, and it is a four-phase mixed-use development on a major ingenuous player in commercial real estate space in Nigeria. In 2009, UPDC began with Phase 1 of VMP, which was a residential development that was completed in 2010. Mobil occupied the tower for a few years. However, they relocated in 2015. Phase 2, an office development anchored by KPMG, was completed

the year after. Phase 3 of VMP is large, including retail and office elements, a car park, and an event centre.

The 519 bay car park and 1,587m2 event centre will be built first, and piling works for this started earlier this year, while the retail section and offices will follow afterwards.

The retail element of phase 3 will offer flexible retail shops and a food court, while the offices will be a modern 15-floor office block. Phase 4 is a prime parcel of bare land with building approvals in place for a mixed-use residential development.

The site is ideally positioned next to VMP3 and KPMG’s head office building and is close to several banks, hotels, retail and entertainment facilities.

UPDC Plc is an institutional property company founded in 1997 and listed on the NSE in 1998.

UPDC Plc has a solid track record in acquiring, developing, selling and managing a diverse mix of commercial, residential, hospitality and retail assets across Nigeria.

UPDC’s history is interwoven with the phenomenal growth of the Nigerian real estate sector, an

integral partner in the success of Nigeria, “as we have contributed, through our robust properties portfolio, to building world-class developments that have helped to shape the market whilst creating templates for other property development companies.”

The company has a track record spanning almost 25 years.

“We have developed and managed assets in all sectors, including residential, commercial, retail and hospitality sectors,” stated the firm. “Our brand is wellrecognised for providing distinctive lifestyle properties across Nigeria and offering exceptional quality.”

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2022 ˾ T H I S D AY

BUSINESSSPECIAL

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

Cash Withdrawal Limits and CBN’s Drive to Enforce Cashless Policy James Emejo writes that the Central Bank of Nigeria’s cap on cash withdrawal is a well-thoughtout initiative that would unlock numerous benefits for individuals and the economy in general.

T

here had been mixed reactions following the CBN’s introduction of the revised cash withdrawal limits on December 6, 2022, following its recent currency redesign project.

While some regard the initiative as a political witch-hunt, others have applauded it as a strategic move towards addressing the endemic issues of corruption in the system, and a step in the right direction in responding to the security challenges bedevilling the country as well as a commendable initiative towards helping the country to achieve its cashless policy targets and formalising the huge informal sector, among other benefits.

If anything, the CBN’s cashless policy is geared towards safeguarding the interest of Nigerians as represented in the bank’s Five-Year Policy Thrust (2019 – 2024) which was launched by the CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele at the inception of his second term in office.

Emefiele had assured Nigerians repeatedly that the central bank under his leadership will be people-oriented by ensuring that its policies are in their general interest.

NEW WITHDRAWAL REGIME

Under the new dispensation, the central bank restricted the maximum cash withdrawal over the counter (OTC) by individuals and corporate organisations per week to N100,000 and N500,000 respectively.

The apex bank had in a letter dated December 6, 2022, and addressed to all Deposit Money Banks, and Other Financial Institutions, Payment Service Bank (PSBs), Primary Mortgage Banks (PMBs), and Microfinance Banks (MFBs) and signed by CBN Director, Banking Supervision Department, Mr. Haruna Mustafa, stated that withdrawals above these thresholds will attract processing fees of 5 per cent and 10 respectively for individuals and corporate entities going forward.

In addition, third-party cheques above N50,000 shall not be eligible for OTC payment while extant limits of N10 million on clearing cheques still remain. The new withdrawal regime further pegged the maximum cash withdrawal per week via Automated teller Machine (ATM) at N100,000 subject to a maximum of N20,000 cash withdrawal per day.

Also, only denominations of N200 and below shall be loaded into ATMs while the maximum amount that can be withdrawn via Point of Sale (POS) terminal was limited to N20,000 daily.

The central bank, however, provided that in compelling circumstances not exceedingly once a month, where cash withdrawals above the prescribed limits is required for legitimate purposes, such withdrawals shall not exceed N5 million and N10 million for individuals and corporate organisations respectively, and shall be subject to the referenced processing fees.

This will be in addition to enhanced due diligence and further information requirements, the apex bank stressed.

The CBN further noted that monthly reruns on cash withdrawal transactions above the specified limits should be rendered to the Banking Supervision Department while compliance with extant Anti-Money Laundering/CFT regulations relating to KYC, ongoing customer due diligence, and suspicious transaction reporting among others is required in all circumstances.

The bank also encouraged bank customers to use alternative channels including internet banking, mobile banking apps, USSD, cards/POS, eNaira among others to conduct their banking transactions. The CBN also warned the banks and other financial institutions that aiding and abetting the circumvention of the new policy would attract severe sanctions.

CASH WITHDRAWAL LIMITS AS FALLOUT OF CURRENCY REDESIGN

On October 26, Emefiele, announced moves to redesign the Naira in the variation of N200, N500 and N1,000.

Emefiele, who pointed out that the change was a sequel to the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari, said circulation of the new banknotes would commence on December 15, 2022.

He said the development was also aimed at checking the increasing ease and risk of currency counterfeiting evidenced by several security reports, and the increased risk to financial stability as well as the worsening shortage of clean and fit currency, with the attendant negative perception of the central bank.

The CBN governor said there was significant hoarding of naira notes by members of the public, with statistics showing that over 80 per cent of the currency in circulation was outside the vaults of the commercial banks.

He said as of September 2022, a total of N3.2 trillion was in circulation, of which N2.73 trillion was outside the vaults of the banks, describing the development as unacceptable.

Emefiele

COHERENT, SYSTEMATIC DRIVE non-banks to provide limited financial services, we sought to encourage the use of technological TO A CASHLESS SOCIETY

It is essential to point out that the CBN’s cashless policy initiatives and its drive to reform the country’s payment system were not arrived overnight. In fact, it is an ambition that the apex bank had been nursing for years – and not just because of the 2023 general elections which some uninformed persons had alluded to as reasons why the bank was introducing measures to witch-hunt politicians.

Secondly, foster the development of a robust payments system infrastructure that will increase access to finance for all Nigerians thereby raising the financial inclusion rate in the country; Third, continue to work with the Deposit Money Banks to improve access to credit for not only smallholder farmers and MSMEs but also Consumer credit and mortgage facilities for bank customers.

Emefiele, in his famous five-year blueprint, had promised to build a robust payment system infrastructure that is efficient and vital to the effectiveness of monetary policy interventions.

Specifically, Emefiele said, “We will reinvigorate our efforts at driving the cashless initiative across the country, due to the immense efficiency gains that will be derived from it, and the impact it could have on our financial inclusion drive.

“Given Nigeria’s large size, and the cost involved in building bank branches across the country, the payment system department would support the spread and utilization of digital modes of transactions so that every Nigerian will have access to financial services.”

He said, “A strong emphasis will also be placed on improving the speed and efficiency of payments channels while working to ensure that digital channels are safe and secure. This will help to build confidence in our nation’s payment system.

“In order to improve utilization rate, we will continue to ensure that payment channels are interoperable, which will enable individuals with digital devices to transact across different banks or payment modes.

“Through measures such as the cashless initiative, USSD, Mobile Banking, agent networks and Payments Service Banks, Nigerians can expect to see significant improvements in the payment systems infrastructure over the next five years.”

Emefiele further said, “We will also work with NIBSS, Banks and Fintechs in developing a regulatory sandbox. This sandbox will enable us to test financial innovations by Fintechs and Banks in a controlled environment, in order to assess their impact on the growth and safety of our financial system.

“Through initiatives such as the Shared Agent Network Facility (SANEF) and the launch of our policy on Payment Service Banks, which enables

tools in improving access to finance for people who live in underserved parts of the country.”

POLICY IN GENERAL INTEREST OF NIGERIANS

The CBN has so far been able to assuage the concerns of Nigerians over the cashless policy drive by reassuring them that it is not politically motivated.

“At CBN, we are bankers and not politicians and don’t take decisions based on elections,” the apex bank noted.

As pointed out by various supporters of the policy, it will also impact monetary policy positively by enhancing its efficacy as well as making future interventions more Impactful on Nigerians.

It is also worthy of note that Nigeria is presently playing catch-up with countries like Kenya, which is years ahead in cashless innovation.

RURAL EMPOWERMENT

The apex bank had also developed the payment system infrastructure to extent that today electronic payments system is so robust and can facilitate any transaction in any part of the country especially in rural areas.

There had been concerns that the common Nigerian living in the remote parts of the country may be left behind by the CBN’s cashless policy.

But as attested to by President Muhammadu Buhari recently at the Financial Inclusion conference in Abuja, the digital innovation, spearheaded by the central bank had also facilitated access to credit and payment for rural dwellers and enabled them to conduct their businesses without the need to travel far in search of the nearest bank branch.

Financial inclusion stakeholders had been at the forefront of providing innovative solutions for addressing some of the pressing issues which Nigerians face as a people.

Buhari said, “For instance, to increase financial services access points in underserved locations in the country, the Central Bank of Nigeria issued the Payment Service Bank regulatory framework.

“Furthermore, through the Shared Agent Network Expansion Facility (SANEF), the number of agent banking locations in the country is now over 1.4 million from 86,000 in 2018.

The development is a further reassurance that the cashless policy will not leave anyone behind.

ANALYSTS WELCOME CASH WITHDRAWAL LIMITS

The cash withdrawal limit has continued to enjoy the support of well-meaning Nigerians including analysts who said the move by the

CBN was long-overdue, adding that the measure will boost monetary policy effectiveness, tax compliance, strengthen Naira Speaking in separate interviews with THISDAY, the analysts said the new CBN policy will aid in accelerating the monetary policy objectives and positively enhance the monetary and fiscal space as well as improve the profitability of the banking sector.

Wealth Management and Business Development Consultant, Mr. Ibrahim Shelleng, said the effectiveness of monetary policy hinged on being able to mop up excess liquidity and having the majority of the population included in the financial system.

He said, “Several initiatives by the CBN have tried to encourage both financial inclusion and a cashless society, however, these have been largely ineffective.

The new CBN policy will certainly aid in accelerating the monetary policy objectives, whilst also tackling the insecurity challenges and encouraging financial inclusion.

“Though there will undoubtedly be implementation challenges, it is a step in the right direction for sanitizing the economy. The excess liquidity floating around in the economy needs to be mopped as this will also help inflation.”

Also, Managing Director/Chief Executive, Dignity Finance and Investment Limited, Dr. Chijioke Ekechukwu, said the step taken by CBN in limiting cash withdrawal will not only curb vote buying, and terrorism and encourage digital payments, but also reduce the pressure on foreign currency.

“In other words, the measure will improve the value of the Naira against other currencies. It is always a play of demand size against supply size. If there is a scarcity of Naira, foreign currencies will become surplus in the market to exchange for scarce Naira.

“It will also help CBN to manage the supply of the redesigned currency which may not be very available to cover the demand for it in all states of the federation at the same time,” he said.

Also, a renowned economist, Mr. Tope Fasua, said the policy could address the current exchange rate gaps.

He said, “The policy will also be a good step in strengthening the value of the naira. At this rate, if this is played right and it is sustained, we may see a scenario where the naira/dollar rate comes down and the naira can strengthen a little bit against the dollar when there is not much money flowing after the dollar.”

On his part, Professor of Finance and Capital Markets, Nasarawa State University, Keffi, Prof. Uche Uwaleke, said the cash withdrawal limit is part of the currency redesign package, adding that the two are mutually dependent.

He said, “It goes without saying that cash withdrawal limit is an integral part of currency redesign meant to reduce the amount of currency circulating outside the banking system.

“If the experience of India’s demonetization exercise is anything to go by, then it’s evident that imposition of cash withdrawal limits by monetary authorities, following a demonetisation exercise, is a norm.

Uwaleke said, “If depositors of old currency notes are able to exchange them for new naira notes which get withdrawn from the banks, then the primary aim of currency redesign is defeated.

“That said, I expect it to give impetus to financial Inclusion as Nigerians become compelled to embrace alternative payment platforms.

“It now behooves the CBN to ensure that bank charges on money transfers and other related charges are reduced to the barest minimum.”

The Managing Director/Chief Executive, SD&D Capital Management Limited, Mr. Idakolo Gbolade, described the cash withdrawal limits as a step in the right direction by the CBN, adding that the measure will to a large extent reduce the cash in the economy to an acceptable minimum as stipulated by CBN guidelines.

He said, “The measure will also boost the value of the Naira when there are less of N500 and N1000 naira notes in circulation as it is being done with major currencies in the world like the US Dollar, British Pound Sterling, and the Euro.

“This policy implementation will go a long way to increase the use of other means of transactions like internet banking, USSD, ATMs, and POS to boost the cashless policy of the CBN.” He said, “We know that our economy has been a cash economy for a long time so these measures will initially cause disruptions in the economy but things will settle in the long run and the economy will be better for it.

“The policy will also deter cash hoarders and politicians carrying cash for vote buying, terrorists and kidnappers will also not be getting large sums as ransom with these new measures.”

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2022

63

BUSINESS SPECIAL

ANALYSIS/INTERVIEW

Tax Credit: NNPC’s N1.6trn Umar-Sadiq: How NSIA Prize for Quest to Fix Nigerian Roads Innovation Programme Will Work The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority recently launched the maiden edition for its Prize for Innovation Programme aimed at stimulating development in Nigeria’s digital eco-system as well as catalyse domestic capital for domestic ideas. In this interview, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Authority, Mr. Aminu Umar –Sadiq, spoke on the initiative and how the programme will support budding entrepreneurs. Obinna Chima brings the excerpts: What is the purpose of the NSIA Innovation Programme and what strategic objectives is it expected to deliver? he programme is expected to catalyse the growth and development of the Nigerian technology ecosystem by identifying budding techpreneurs, enhancing their capabilities, and providing a platform to showcase and scale Nigerian digital solutions on a global scale, whilst building a steady pipeline of potential investee companies over the years. The Programme will have a priority focus on the following sectors: Financial Services, Agriculture, Health, Education, Manufacturing, Logistics & E-mobility, E-commerce & Marketplaces, Renewables, and Power.

This Programme is supposed to catalyse domestic capital for domestic ideas, this is an initiative of the NSIA that does two things for the NSIA. First, it is to put us front and center in the tech ecosystem of Nigeria and number two importantly is to ensure that those great ideas that Nigerians have, find local capital in other to take them from success to significance. I think this is a very important Initiative not only for the NSIA, but also for the country in general.

T

Kyari Oluchi Chibuzor

W

hile Nigeria boasts of the largest road network in Africa, only about 60,000km out of its estimated 195,000km road network is paved.

Some of the roads are either in a state of disrepair, poorly maintained or altogether untarred.

As part of the federal government’s efforts to improve the condition of road infrastructure and transportation in the country, it introduced an Executive Order 007 which was signed by President Muhammadu Buhari on January 25, 2019. The instrument brought about the Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme with the objective to unlock funding from the private sector to critical road infrastructure in the country.

The Executive Order 007 was designed to empower private companies to finance construction or refurbishment of federal roads designated as “Eligible Roads” under the scheme and recoup their investments through deduction of the approved total costs expended on the project from their annual Companies Income Tax. The Road Infrastructure Scheme is a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) intervention that enables the federal government to leverage private sector capital and efficiency for the construction, refurbishment of critical road infrastructure in key economic areas in Nigeria.

Participants under the arrangement were entitled to utilise the total cost, referred to as “Project Cost”, incurred in the construction or refurbishment of an eligible road as a tax credit against their future Companies Income Tax (CIT) liability, until full cost recovery is achieved. Like any other responsible corporate citizen, the NNPC prioritises road infrastructure as part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects and became one of the companies that have keyed into the initiative.

The NNPC had expressed interest to invest in the reconstruction of selected federal roads in order to sustain a smooth supply and distribution of petroleum products across the country.

Few months after announcing the release of N621 billion to revamp selected Nigerian roads, the company is planning to invest over N1 trillion for a similar purpose. In the first phase, the NNPC was expected to construct a total of 1,804.6 kilometres of roads at a total cost of N621,237,143,897.35, with the North-central getting the highest chunk of N244.87 billion and the South-south emerging the second highest beneficiary of the NNPC roads project with the sum of N172.02 billion.

In addition, the South-west has a total allocation of N81.87 billion; it’s N56.12 billion for the North-east, while the South-east has N43.28 billion allocation.

The North-west was allocated N23.05 billion.

The Group Chief Executive, NNPC Limited, Mallam Mele Kyari, said during a tour of roads in the North-central and South-west, along with the Chief Executive of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Muhammad Nami and top officials of the Ministry of Works and Housing, that in the coming months, Nigerian road users will experience substantial comfort when commuting.

Also, among the roads visited by Kyari were the one in Niger State where he carried out an assessment of the reconstruction of Bida-Lambata road in the state, with a length 124.81km and the Lagos-Badagry

expressway along the Agbara junction and Nigeria/ Benin border.

Under the scheme, the road projects will be funded

by NNPC and the equivalent amount deducted by the Federal Inland Revenue Service from the National Oil Company’s tax obligations. Through the scheme, the NNPC will be serving as an enabler for building the Nigerian economy and it is collaborating with key stakeholders such as the Ministry of Works and the FIRS on the execution of the initiative.

The company said this was in response to the plight faced by petroleum products marketers in transportation which affects nationwide distribution.

Interestingly, the NNPC Ltd is involved in operations across the oil and gas value chain from exploration and production of hydrocarbon and processing of natural gas all the to nationwide distribution of petroleum products such as petrol, diesel, and kerosene.

The NNPC’s assets base and operations span across different regions of the country and the oil and gas industry has remained one of the biggest and most important economic drivers through foreign and domestic investments.

Kyari further stated that the NNPC was taking cognisance of the importance of road infrastructure to the development of the Nigerian economy, explaining that it is the reason it is investing massively in roads infrastructure.

He termed the programme a game changer in the federal government’s quest to scale up infrastructure projects in the country, noting that the NNPC will continue to support any effort of government aimed at growing the Nigerian economy.

The GCEO expressed satisfaction with the progress of work so far done in the project sites visited, adding that the NNPC had done its part in releasing all the funds needed for their execution.

He said, “We are very happy about the state of this road development. We are very happy with this intervention across the country not just in this place.

We are doing 1,800km across the country. We are taking another set of over N1 trillion of investments in road infrastructure in the country. We believe that this tax credit system which Mr President has put in place is the game changer for our country.

We believe that in the next 24 months, there will be massive change to the entire road network in this country and this is why NNPC is your company and working for all of us.

“We think that it is the best way to intervene and bring up our infrastructure. We are adding another set of cash, we have not reached the final numbers, but I know it is over N1 trillion.’’

Kyari stated that the quality of work was topnotch, revealing that the consultants deployed during Buhari’s stint at the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF), were handling the jobs. “We are using the same consultants in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Works and the FIRS to make sure that this works for all of us and we can see from the quality of work. This is the best framework for delivering infrastructure in the country. We are funding partners. We are development partners and enablers. So, whatsoever the FIRS and the ministry of works approve for us, we will consider from our cash flow and fund them,” he assured.

The Director, Roads, Ministry of Works, Folorunso Esan, said through the intervention, the NNPC has been able to improve the pace of the project from 10 per cent to about 40 per cent within a very short period.

Why are we not considering the ideas’ stage, what will be the benefit of the NSIA? This will also consider the ideas stage, but we have to balance that very carefully with the kind of capital that NSIA manages. NSIA is a conservative capital manager, we manage capital for future generations of Nigerians. So on the one hand, we will support the tech ecosystem at the pre-sit stage, and on the other hand, we have to ensure that there is real down capital in other to manage the capital for future generations of Nigerians. It is a very careful act, but this is an important sector for the country, particularly the youth Umar-Sadiq and NSIA must be at the center supporting it.

How will the NSIA select or shortlist winners, what process are we using in ensuring fairness in objectivity and transparency?

There are three different services provider that we have brought upon. The first is the technical services provider that is going to be in charge of the entire process ensuring there is a website that is going to sieve the ideas. They are going to be in charge of sieving the ideas and leaving the accelerator stage.

And more importantly, they are also going to ensure that the ideas are going to get to the Demo day and essentially have the requisite basis to present to what will be a fantastic panel of judges. We have the venture partners, the prize that these ideas will earn, will impact the cash, but will also be equity by NSIA in doing businesses. So, we have the venture partner that will help NSIA manage those businesses and offer value to the creation. Lastly, is an auditor to ensure all of the rules that are being in place in terms of application, in terms of the criteria set for review and the basis upon which these ideas will judge. Basically an auditor that would hold the entire competition to account, to make sure that the transparency and accountability that the NSIA is known for continue to abide.

How is NSIA going to be funding this Programme, what funding will be offered to startups, and how will NPI attract startups?

NSIA involvement in this prize is not one of those prices where we wake up one day, and somebody has won a certain amount. This price is going to be NSIA engaging actively and as broadly as possible with the tech ecosystem. As I mentioned, it is a portal where people apply, there is going to be a short listing process for thirty ideas, those thirty ideas are going to go through an acceleration stage, with our technical services provider where each of those ideas will engage.

The technical service provider will offer substantial value creation, then those thirty will be seeded to ten and then, participate in the Demo Day. The offering of NSIA is as much cash as it is value addition. It is as much cash as it is in kind. Secondly, the NSIA will also be taking an equity stake in the top three ideas, so it is as much an investment for us as it is a catalytic intervention.

When is the take-off time for this Programme?

I think in the next one month; we will allow the portal to be open. But this is just a lunch pre-Christmas to allow people know and prepare, so that when we launch the portal, people have an understanding as to what this initiative is.

How much is the amount for this competition?

Like I said, the value addition of NSIA is as much about the cash reward as it is the value creation that

we offer these startups.

Is the value initiative going to be in mentorship?

Indeed, mentorship, it is going to be an accelerator program, not only mentorship, but review of their business plan, enhance their business plan introduction, utilising the convening power of both the venture partners and as well as the technical service provider to essentially enhance these ideas. Introducing them to other capital providers and worth not. I think that value addition is as much if not greater than the cash prices that we will give.

How inclusive will this Programme be for participants?

That is fundamental. Inclusion is everything not only for women. The NSIA is a federation-owned entity. Therefore, every single state participating is the shareholding of NSIA. Therefore, in the application process, we are going to encourage everyone within everywhere in the country to apply. Our youths, elderly, every single person in the North, South, West, East, of course our women and men, and it is going to be as inclusive as possible. This is going to be an extremely inclusive prize in terms of access, but of course, in terms of wins is going to be at a strength of the impact of the idea.

The equity stake that you are talking about that NSIA will be having in the three top, is it in form of monitoring and evaluation or ensuring that the funds given to participants are the legitimate winners?

That is why we are having an auditor in place as well. If you recall, I said we have a technical service provider that will be in charge of the back-end to receive the application. There is going to be a ventures partner so that the winners that NSIA is investing equity in are going to add value and manage those investments on our behalf. Then we will have an auditor to hold not only NSIA to account but also ensure we have a fair and transparent process. But also those winners, they will be some sort of monitoring and evaluation to ensure all of that are in place.

How do we ensure that the ideas are fully home-grown?

That will be one of the criteria of the prize. It is going to be very clear, it is a Nigerian prize for Nigerians. But just to be very clear, home-grown does not mean domestic ideas, it means it started in Nigeria, but necessarily they have to be global. They can start from Nigeria, but the destination has to be global. I think this is what this prize will encourage, Nigeria ideas, Nigeria capital, and global destination.

T H I S D AY • MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2022

64

MILESTONE The Silent Technocrat at 60 nntribute A nn to Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, CON Bolaji Abdullahi

“W

hy should anybody come to Kwara?”

He asked me as I walked into his office sometimes in October or November of 2006.

“I don’t understand, sir,” I said.

Normally a workaholic, but he had been grinding it out really hard in the past couple of weeks; not just shuttling between Ilorin and Abuja, but to distant parts of the State. He would set out early and return late in the evening. He would still get back to the office and work for hours, clearing his desk.

The previous week, he had summoned me to his office around 11 o’clock in the night. He gestured for me to sit as he grabbed some tissues from a box and blew his nose into it. Before I could say anything, he reached for another wad of tissues and blew his nose again. He whispered a cough and sipped at his water. Ice cubes crackled gently and clinked at the glass that looked as frosty as his mien. I said it was not good for him, drinking such cold water in his condition.

“It doesn’t matter,” he said and sniffled lightly and coughed again.

“Well, you are the doctor…But sir, you need to give yourself a break. Is it because of the second term that you are killing yourself like this?”

He ignored the question. It wasn’t really a question though. For someone who appeared superhuman to so many people, these runny nose and intermittent coughs are the little reminders that even he could get tired and he could fall sick. He scribbled furiously on a file. The only light in the room came from the ceiling directly over his head. The rest of the room is wrapped in the delicate afterglow of that single light. Where I sat in the shadow across the table, I noticed that he had greyed distinctly at the temple. His hairline had also begun to recede. He now looked different from the dashing 41-year-old who became governor of our state three years earlier.

“I am sure we will win…we have done very well,” I said.

“And we still have Oloye,” I added, rather awkwardly.

He grunted. Then, he smiled. It was actually more of a smirk; the kind you give to someone who does not know what you know.

“You are smart, and all. But obviously, you still don’t understand politics,” he said. He then handed me some files that he wanted reviewed and returned in the morning. I wanted to ask him what he meant by his remark that I did not understand politics. But I did not. Instead, I picked up my files and sauntered out of his office, leaving him to his grumpy self.

Within a month of becoming governor, he had launched the Back-To-Farm, a programme meant to jumpstart his plan to make agriculture the mainstay of the State’s economy. It all ended in fiasco. Coming closely on the back of the elections, most of the people who postured as farmers simply took the cash and went home.

Deeply disappointed with the outcome of this initiative, he began to doubt the assumptions behind some of his plans.

Nevertheless, by the first hundred days, he had laid the foundation for a housing estate, started and completed a major township road, convened the state’s first ever education summit, among a few other achievements. But the politicians did not appear impressed. Even in those early days, they had started to grumble that he was not doling out the money. They urged him to “throw away the calculator,” in reference to his growing reputation as a thrifty spender.

“Do you think our people want development or they just want patronage?” He would ask me. My argument was always that leadership is about doing what is necessary rather than what the people want. But for him, there was no easy answer. He was a young man with an eye to the future, brought to power by a political system that has been constructed and sustained by patronage.

In the end, it appeared what he was looking for was a balance between performance that he knew would endear him to the people, and the patronage that the politicians that helped him to power wanted. It was unlikely that he would find a solution that satisfied everyone.

However, on this particular day, he appeared fully recovered and even looked excited.

“I mean, if you were not from Kwara State, why would you come here? What would bring you here?” He asked. I still wasn’t sure what he meant, or what answer he expected. But he answered the question himself.

Saraki “Maybe you wouldn’t come here, right?”

I nodded hesitantly, still not sure what he meant.

Now, this is what we need to do. We need to give people reasons to come to Kwara State,” he declared and went on to explain in broad details how he planned to make Kwara State the Central Hub for medical services, education and cargo.

“We are right in the middle of the country.

Why should cargoes that are meant for the north, first land in Lagos if they could land in Kwara? Then do you know that the major problem with healthcare services in Nigeria is diagnosis? Why should people travel to India if they can come to Kwara and get the same quality of service? Yes, we have University of Ilorin, but we need our own university. Zaria is still the only place where pilots are trained in Nigeria. Why can’t we train pilots in Ilorin? Why can’t we set up a world class vocations training college to train technicians?”

As I listened to him, I began to see why he was excited because I was beginning to get excited myself. I thought what he had just presented to me was the manifesto for his second term. But I was astonished to find that within days, he had started to set up different committees to work on these ideas: the cargo terminal, the aviation college, the diagnostic centre, the vocation college, and the state university.

This was not the first time he would be having this burst of inspiration. Around October of 2003, I was with him in Makkah to perform the Umra of that year’s Ramadan. One day he asked me to follow him to Jeddah, the Saudi Arabia’s beautiful port city with its wide roads lined by dwarf luxuriant palm trees.

“If they can make a desert city so green, why can’t we do the same in Ilorin?” He asked. Then I realised that this was why he brought me to Jeddah. He had seen this before and had imagined it for his own capital city.

We returned home and launched the Clean and Green and recruited an army of men and women to clean and sweep up the city. At the time, Ilorin metropolis was a filthy place.

Within weeks, the type of palm trees that we saw in Jeddah began to emerge on road medians in Ilorin. In no time, a new culture began to emerge. People who threw litters onto the streets were rebuked by onlookers and made to pick up their rubbish. We soon began to boast of having the cleanest capital

city in Nigeria.

However, what was not immediately clear to everyone at the time was that Clean and Green was not just an environmental sanitation programme. It was an initiative primarily targeted at subverting the established order of political patronage.

In numerical terms, the Saraki political system was built largely around women.

Oloye therefore did everything to keep the women happy. Every one of his lieutenants knew that you could not do worse than give the women reasons to complain about you. Yet, the growing restlessness about lack of patronage was coming mostly from this powerful constituency of women who moaned persistently that the new governor was not taking care of them.

Clean and Green hired the women in their thousands. But this was not what they wanted. As they saw it, supporting Oloye and ensuring that he won elections was enough occupation for which they deserved to be paid. Now, asking them to sweep the streets was beyond insolence. But the young governor was not going to back down. He also ensured that whoever got hired turned up for work by engaging a private company to manage the programme and paid them only through this company.

Perhaps, he could afford to stand his ground where other governors would have buckled because he was Oloye’s son.

Nevertheless, with this intransigence, he was able to create a new level of consciousness among the women who, having realised that he was not going to budge now began to fall over themselves to get recruited into the scheme. However, I doubt that even he would have envisaged that these women would even go a step further by organising themselves into cooperative societies. They contributed a part of their salaries as capital for small businesses that they ran alongside their cleaning jobs, which normally ended in the mornings.

This was also the time that President Olusegun Obasanjo was announcing different reforms in the nation’s governance systems.

The governor ensured we kept in steps with most of the Federal initiatives. When the Federal Government set up the Bureau of Public Procurement or the Due Process office, he followed suit by setting up the Price Intelligence Unit to make the State government procurement process more

efficient and cost-effective. He also set up the Budget Monitoring and Implementation Committee to ensure that government got value for its spending and got things done.

At the time that he was talking to me about making Kwara State the hubs for many things, the elections were only five or six months down the line. Rolling out these initiatives now, it was obvious he was not contemplating a defeat.

Yet when the campaigns started, I was rather surprised that none of these ideas even got a mention. Perhaps, even more crucially none of the achievements we had recorded in almost four years was made the subjects of the campaign.

We had launched the Clean & Green and the Malaria-Free Kwara. With the Zimbabwe farmers’ project, we had put our state on the world map and attracted national and global attentions to one of the boldest commercial agriculture initiatives in the country. We had opened up Ilorin airport and facilitated regular flights into the state capital, which also served travellers in neighbouring states. We had also fixed some important roads and completed a housing estate for middle-income earners. We were also the first state to submit ourselves to a Fitch rating and returned with an impressive AA-(minus) for National Long-term rating and B+ for public finance transparency.

Yet, when the campaign started, it was clear that the governor did not think that these achievements would be sufficient reasons for people to vote for him. Instead, the campaign was premised on the personal benefits that had gone to individuals and groups since we came into office and the promise of even greater benefits ahead if they supported us to win the election. The campaign slogan was, “Oun ti oba se looje.”

“You campaign in poetry and govern in prose,” was a quote attributed to former New York Governor, Mario Cuomo. Perhaps, this was what he was doing. But for me, as I watched my boss dance on stage and shout himself hoarse with promise of “eating”, I began to think that the contest between patronage and performance had been settled, and patronage was the clear winner.

He had worked really hard. He had recorded some very important achievements in his first term and he had great plans for the state in his second term. But these were absolutely at his discretion. The system did not demand it.

The people did not really demand it.

Shortly before the election, I commissioned a survey among students of tertiary institutions in the State. They were asked if they would vote for Bukola Saraki for second term. They were also asked to give only one reason for their answer. I was astonished to find that while an unsurprising number of them responded that they would vote for him again, only a few could give any reason for their choice. Majority, especially the female respondents said they would vote for him because he was good-looking, or because, “he looks like a governor”.

What this meant was that he could have won the election without doing any of those heavy lifting work that he did. He could easily have sat back, enjoyed himself and ride back to power on the charm of his father’s name and political influence. But he did not. I once asked him what the Saraki name means to him. He said he has carried the weight of expectations that goes with that name all his life, but it is also a check that he does not like to cash. “I forget my surname, and fight for everything.

That’s what I do,” he said.

As a politician and a political strategist, everyone knows that you can only underestimate Bukola Saraki at your own peril. But as a technocrat, not enough is known about him.

Yet, if technocrats are those who think through problems and find solutions that truly work, he would easily rank among the very best. What he does better than most politicians and most technocrats, is that he has mastered the art of creating a balance between hard-nosed politics, and result-oriented governance. He understands, more than most, that politics is at the heart of getting things done in government, and that brilliant ideas would remain just ideas, until you are able to play the politics of it. He repeatedly demonstrated that politics does not have to be an encumbrance to good governance, but can actually be its prime facilitator.

As he clocks 60 today, I celebrate this great technocrat called politician, President of the 8th Senate, Waziri of Ilorin and the Commander Order of the Niger, CON, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki.

T H I S D AY • MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2022

65

TRIBUTE Leemon Ikpea@66: Sensational, Shrewd and Selfless Bayo Akinloye

B

orn December 19, 1956. His name is unmistakable. At 14, he must have the fortitude to fight a formidable foe: becoming an orphan and having two younger siblings to support. From the ashes of hardship, Dr Leemon Ikpea, Chief Executive Officer of Lee Engineering & Construction Company Limited, has risen over the years to create indelible prints through uncharted courses. His extraordinary ordinariness is legendary —inexplicably indescribable but formidably enchanting. Loved by many, admired by even many more.

Trailblazing and trial-defying, Ikpea is a humble, proud Nigerian and a poster boy for business integrity and national development.

President Muhammadu Buhari testifies much to that.

The Nigerian leader was among the first to honour the billionaire oil mogul in a statement on Sunday, rejoicing with the oil and gas, engineering and local content promoter, Ikpea, as he turns 66 on Monday.

“The president rejoices with the Ewato, Esan South Local Government Area of Edo State native, his family, their friends and associates on the new age, joining them to glorify God for the gift of life, health, and business successes,” said the statement.

“President Buhari is delighted that Lee Engineering and Construction Company, of which Chief Ikpea is Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, is one of the home-grown investors in the oil and gas industry, with the company recently marking 31 years of existence and landmark records.”

It added that the president “prays that the Adolor of Ewato Kingdom, and Odonlagbon of Warri, will continue to touch lives through acts of philanthropy, for which he is noted,” describing the National Honours Award winner as a point of reference to Nigerian youths that “entrepreneurship pays, with attainments in areas of endeavour like oil, gas, engineering, construction, manufacturing, and many others” and “wishes Chief Ikpea longer life, and greater service to God and humanity, through his Agbonjagwe Foundation.”

Ikpea looms large on Africa’s most populous nation’s horizon for his devotion to humanity and unflinching commitment to national development.

In the last three decades, the organisation, Lee Engineering and Construction Company, has undergone phenomenal transformation anchored on its philosophy of honesty, integrity and transparency. Ikpea’s life—his exploits and the positive impact of Nigeria’s local content policy on the nation’s oil and gas industry—exemplifies the billionaire’s stardom and human essence, woven into the secret of his business longevity and success. As the Nigerian president mentioned, Ikpea’s life —a lesson in perseverance and perspicacity—should give young Nigerians a clearcut roadmap to turning hard work into wealth.

At 66, the billionaire CEO of Lee Engineering and Construction Company has the world at his feet: family, fortune, fame and future.

Yet, Ikpea’s existence is a sharp summary of a sunny path spattered by thunderstorms.

A past difficult to relive yet a canvas for a glorious present.

“I have journeyed a very rough road. I lost my parents when I was just about 14 years, and I am the most senior of their children. We are just three boys. The other two, anywhere I was, they were with me. I did all sorts of odd jobs because I didn’t (still don’t) know how to steal,” Ikpea told THISDAY. “I had carried cement on my head. I had pushed carts. I sold newspapers as a vendor, and I say it with pride.” I In the past, hardship and humiliation characterised Ikpea’s pulverising past.

“I always felt humiliated each time we went for lunch because I was the only one, as a secondary school student, that did not have a teller to show as required. I trekked long distances to school,” said the oil and gas mogul, “and that was the road to success.”

Industrious and inventive, the Lee Engineering and Construction Company honcho, at 66, has not stopped believing. Faith in hard work and God sways him, unswerving in his dedication,

Ikpea

dexterity and decisiveness.

“You know I am a man of faith,” said Ikpea unassumingly. “If you believe in what you’re doing and you put it in word and deed, it will come to pass. That is when the grace of God will come in.”

Futuristic and pragmatic, Ikpea sees Lee Engineering “at the top in the next five years,” along with its subsidiaries.

“From the aviation firm to Kizi oil which won one of the marginal fields recently, coupled with our production facility in Warri, which we will commission next year, by the time we start production, people from all parts of the world will come and patronise us,” said Ikpea.

“With that, I am optimistic that in the next five years, now that we have about 2,000 workers, it will double. This will increase capacity, foster technology transfer and earn foreign exchange for the country because our vision is for other countries to patronise us.”

Brimming with happiness, he is not without his struggles. One is a spot of sadness that leaves a hole in his tender heart. The feeling is palpable, and the emotion is piercing and pulsating.

“But the painful thing for me is that my parents didn’t get to enjoy anything from me,” noted Ikpea.

But life and work must go on. A hard worker, his life is filled with momentous moments—with milestones at every turn of a corner—that drive his life of history.

“This is the 44th year of my working life. For those of you who know about Warri refinery, we built Warri refinery. It was inaugurated by the current president, who was then a federal commissioner. I was there for years with three different companies during the construction phase,” stated Ikpea. “There was the one based in Darlington, UK, which specialised in building oil storage tanks. I had never been used to sitting down in the office.

I am an office man, but I don’t confine myself to the office. When I resumed in the office, I checked that everything was in order, and then I moved on to the field. Nigerians were the ones doing the welding, electrical, the erection, and putting everything together at the refinery, but the white people supervised. That was the role they played.”

Explaining further, Ikpea said, “They also

came with their own equipment. I took note of that. If I had stayed in the office, I wouldn’t know the roles Nigerians were playing all over the place. Nigerians are very hardworking and committed. After three years, the UK company left, and as they were leaving, I was the only Nigerian national remaining. So, they handed me over to the Italian company. In my heart, I know I am an honest and hardworking person, and my late father would tell me that integrity is important. I guess they took note of all these qualities. Because as an orphan, you must have sense, even if by force.”

Not living in the past, Ikpea’s focus remained on deepening the country’s success stories, facing the challenges and building bigger frontiers for national prosperity, stressing the matchless contributions of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) to strengthening the hands of local players in the oil and gas industry.

“The NCDMB are a group of Nigerians brimming with patriotism and selfless spirit,” Ikpea noted. “They’re highly skilled with international technical expertise.”

Established in 2010 by the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act, the NCDMB is to make procedures that will guide, monitor, coordinate, and implement the provisions of the NOGICD Act, signed into law on April 22, 2010, by then-President Goodluck Jonathan, giving birth to the NCDMB. “I have been in this industry for 44 years,” added Ikpea. “Out of these 44 years, the last decade or so, the board has continued to place a premium on local oil and gas players, increasing their technical know-how and capacity to increase Nigeria’s commonwealth.”

As a vibrant local player in a dynamic global industry, Lee Engineering has stepped up to the plate by acquiring marginal fields. By the time the company starts production, it will not need to import many resources into the country because it will use equipment manufactured in its fabrication plant, which is cost-effective. Ikpea will bring to bear his 14 years of experience in the construction industry. His leading indigenous EPCOM (engineering, procurement, construction, operation, and

maintenance) company, the Lee Engineering and Construction Company, has achieved several milestones and received numerous commendations, awards, and certificates from local and international organisations.

Delighted about the federal government’s unrelenting efforts to plug the leaks in the oil sector, Ikpea singled out NNPC Chief Executive Officer Melee Kyari’s unwavering determination to stem the tide of oil theft in Nigeria.

“The NNPC CEO is doing fantastically well in curtailing oil theft. Nigerians should praise him for what he is doing to put Nigeria’s oil industry in good shape to reinforce investors’ confidence in the country and increase national earnings,” Ikpea said. “It took his tremendous efforts in collaboration with local security to uncover the extensive stealing at the Forcados. I am convinced his latest effort has sent a message to economic saboteurs that it will no longer be business as usual.”

The oil magnate reiterated that “Nigerians earnestly need individuals like Kyari to sanitise the industry. With oil theft and other wastages blocked, leading to an increase in our oil exports, we can rest assured that there will be enough funds to execute capital projects, among other things,” noting the potential strides of Nigeria in the gas industry amid a challenging atmosphere that pervades Europe as Russia continues its violent aggression against Ukraine.

“Nigeria is exploring several opportunities in the gas sector. Nigeria and Morocco recently signed an agreement on a gas pipeline project linking Nigeria to Morocco, which will also supply West Africa and Europe. This 6,000-kilometer project will cross 13 African countries along the Atlantic coast,” added Ikpea. “From there, it will reach other parts of the world. That’s a huge step. In addition, other projects are going on in the country, including that of the NLNG.” Notwithstanding that, he understands the country requires a huge financial outlay to fully develop the oil and gas sector and disclosed that the federal government and the NNPC are committed to exploring the gas potential.

“For us, integrity is not a concept. It is who we are. With integrity, every business partner, client, supplier, or vendor looks for you because they trust you. Who will do business with you if you are not trusted? Integrity is our watchword. We run an honest business,” he explained. “We have honest and hardworking staff. We are not honest and hardworking some of the time. We are honest and hardworking all the time. The company is transparent.

For almost 30 years that we have been in business, there is no stain on our name. Our dedicated staff have ensured that. I have used my exemplary life of honesty, hard work, integrity, and transparency to demonstrate to them how invaluable those values are.

They share the dream of the company and run with it.”

Founded on November 11, 1991, Ikpea’s organisation has become a conglomerate. Today, the group deals in retail, tourism, aviation, and manufacturing, including exploration and production. It has a fabrication workshop measuring 2,515sqm, complete with blasting/ painting bays and state-of-the-art equipment.

The company, Lee Engineering Group and Allied Companies Limited (including Lee Engineering, Tribet Ltd [travels and tours], Tribet Aviation, Tribet Purified Waters, and Lee Oasis), has at least 2,000 employees.

Ikpea’s organisation does more than create wealth and value. As the group’s CEO, he sees to it personally that the less privileged are empowered. He considers philanthropy a “gift from God,” establishing a foundation, Agbonjagwe Leemon Ikpea Foundation (ALIF).

The foundation has trained students, the majority of whom are orphans. As of 2019, the foundation has cared for many young children and produced 119 graduates, including dozens of medical doctors, etc.

With an office at inception in Warri, Lee Engineering Group has acquired the technical capabilities to execute major projects in the industry. The company still has its operational base in Warri, Delta, then the Port Harcourt branch office, and headquarters in Lagos. Its overseas offices are in the United Kingdom, Italy and the United States of America (Houston).

T H I S D AY ˾ DAY, DECEMBER 19, 2022

66

BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

UBA Rewards 66 Customers With N22.7m, Promise Bigger Savings Promo Nume Ekeghe

In its continuous bid at encouraging a saving culture, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, has rewarded its loyal customers with cash prizes worth N22.7 million in cash prizes at its savings promo.

The bank also has assured its loyal customers that the Super Savers draws will be better and bigger in 2023.

The UBA Bumper Savings Promo is open to account holders of the bank from the six geographical zones in Nigeria, and customers only need to open a UBA Bumper account and save a minimum of N5,000 in a month to qualify and domiciliary account holders too with a $100 dollars in

multiples for qualification.

The draw which held at UBA’s head office over the weekend was witnessed by relevant regulatory bodies including the National Lottery Regulatory Commission and Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission who were present to ensure transparency and accountability.

Head of Retail, Digital and Transaction Banking, Sampson Aneke, while speaking said the bank is happy with the enthusiasm shown by teeming customers of the banks and promised that the 2023 edition of the Super Savers draws will see more wins by the customers and that there will be regular quarterly draws

where sumptuous prizes will be won by the customers.

He said, “What we have seen was that people appreciated the draws and that is the most important thing. When the promo was going on, people were actually responding positively. And when you see what your customers want, you can only do it better so that more people will enjoy it.

“Today we rewarded about 66 people and next year, we are going to have almost three or four times that budget of those who are going to be rewarded because we started the project midway in the year, but now next year, we will have full-blown 12 months to do various campaigns.”

Presco Honours 57 Staff, Lauds 2022 Performance Presco Plc has presented 57 employees with long service awards in recognition of their loyalty, commitment and exceptional service to the growth of the company over a period of ten to thirty-five years.

At a ceremony held on Saturday to mark the end of the year 2022, awards were also given to two retiring employees for their invaluable contributions to the growth of Presco Plc. At the event held at the company’s premises, Obaretin Estate, Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area, Edo State, celebrated members of staff were given a certificate of recognition, financial reward and colour televisions for some.

During the ceremony, 16 staff were awarded 10 – 35 years of service awards while 39 others were honoured based on Heads of Departments

(HoDs) recommendations.

High points of the ceremony were the Award Category for Best Overall (Davis Osasmwen), Second Best Overall (Benedicta Okolo), Third Best Overall (Godwin Titus) and Managing Director’s Special Recognition Award (Israel Adaramoye).

Presenting the Best Overall Award, Presco Plc explained that Davis Osasmwen “Showed exceptional leadership throughout the year not only within his department (R&D) but within the agricultural department, played leading role with the ABS-Agric Integration as well as financial year 2023 budget“.

Israel Adaramoye was commended for his dedication and high sense of duty, ’Since joining the social team of Presco Plc in 2018, Israel has shown a high sense of

duty and willingness to apply himself diligently to any assignment given to him“. ’In carrying out assigned duties, Israel has exhibited prudence and disciplined in handling funds, “ Presco Plc added.

In his key note address, Managing Director, Presco Plc, Felix Nwabuko commended staff of the company for their dedication to duties.

Nwabuko said: ’On behalf of the Board of Directors, I say thank you. You (staff) are Presco’s biggest, greatest and most valuable assets. ’’Our fundamentals are strong. 2022 has been a good year. We made progress.

Despite challenges, we stayed above waters. The challenges are external such as inflation, exchange rates and increase in running costs. Thank you for being able to be resilience.“

Onyeali-Ikpe, Others Listed Amongst 110 Outstanding African Women Kayode Tokede In recognition of her role in changing the narratives about the African continent, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Fidelity Bank Plc, Mrs. Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, has been listed amongst the 110 Outstanding Women in Africa for the year 2022.

Compiled by the New Africa Magazine, the ‘Outstanding Women in Africa’ report celebrates women who have demonstrated exceptional courage and leadership in their mission to protect the environment and defend human rights and advocate

to change the narratives about the continent through Politics, Arts and Culture, development and economic partnership, civil society and diplomacy.

In a statement, the Publisher of the New Africa Magazine, Gift Chidima Nnamoko Orairu said, “In Africa, one needs extra hard work, dedication and focus to succeed. In addition to the so many factors affecting women progress on the continent at the political and socioeconomic level; a great number of women have been silenced with violence, hate, discrimination, and isolation.

“However, these Pan African women have never been silent,

and have led important revolutions for democracy, freedom and social justice. They have gone on to write their names on the sands of time; breaking old records and setting new standards, smashing barriers and detecting the pace.”

Some others picked for the special recognition are Hon. Joyce Hilda Banda, ex-President of Malawi; Hon. Jewel Howard Taylor, Vice President of Liberia; Jamila Sedqi, First Moroccan Female Judge at the UN Administrative Tribunal; and Pastor Faith Oyedepo, Wife of the Founder, Living Faith Church Worldwide (Winners’ Chapel), Worldwide.

Wonderland Lagos Opens with Tingo Mobile as Headline Sponsor Yinka Olatunbosun Wonderland Lagos, the one-stop holiday experience created for family and friends has announced Tingo Mobile as its lead sponsor for the maiden edition of the project. This was revealed as a prelude to the grand opening of the holiday village which was held on Thursday December 17. Located on the Eko Atlantic Energy City in Victoria Island, Wonderland Lagos promises to transform the yuletide season. To enjoy

a well-rounded experiential moment, fun seekers need a seamless payment structure to make their holiday dream a reality.

To this end, Tingo Mobile has joined this holiday train by securing its spot as Wonderland Lagos’s lead sponsor for its first edition this December. Tingo Mobile is an all-in-one financial solution application created for Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) to make transactions easy and convenient for the users.

While reflecting on the initiative, the CEO Tingo Mobile, Dozy Mmobuosi expresses his delight at the partnership with Wonderland Lagos.

He says: “Wonderland Lagos is an exciting and unique project and we are more than delighted to provide a seamless payment platform for the project. The individual customer experience has a ripple effect on the whole holiday experience. We are focused on making this December a wonderful experience for all fun seekers.’’

Managing Director, Presco Plc, Felix Nwabuko (second from left); Best Overall Staff For 2022, Davis Osasumwen (second from right); Winner Of MD’s Special Recognition Award, Israel Adaramoye (first from left) and Naomi Iseghohi Who Was Honoured For Her Dedication To Duties Especially The Job of Managing The MD/COO’s Office, Among Others, At Presco’s End Of Year Ceremony in Benin City... recently

MARKET INDICATORS MONEY AND CREDIT STATISTICS

(MILLION NAIRA)

AUGUST 2022 Money Supply (M3)

49,356,443.6

-- CBN Bills Held by Money Holding Sectors

50,601.36

Money Supply (M2)

49,305,842.3

-- Quasi Money

27,869,678.3

-- Narrow Money (M1)

21,436,164

---- Currency Outside Banks

2,680,236.81

---- Demand Deposits

18,755,927.2

Net Foreign Assets (NFA)

5,074,909.92

Net Domestic Assets(NDA)

27,869,678.3

-- Net Domestic Credit (NDC)

61,195,142.4

---- Credit to Government (Net)

21,001,401.5

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

0.00

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

0.00

---- Credit to Private Sector (CPS)

40,193,740.9

--Other Assets Net

6,785,979.22

Reserve Money (Base Money

14,040,351.9

--Currency in Circulation

3,210,664.98

--Banks Reserves --Special Intervention Reserves

10,829,686.9 390,557.8

˾ ÙßÜÍÏ ̋

Money Market Indicators (in Percentage) Month

July 2022

Inter-Bank Call Rate

13.00

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

14.00

Treasury Bill Rate

2.76

Savings Deposit Rate

1.42

1 Month Deposit Rate

3.64

3 Months Deposit Rate

4.96

6 Months Deposit Rate

5.87

12 Months Deposit Rate

5.76

Prime Lending rate

12.10

Maximum Lending Rate

27.61

˾ ÙØÏÞËÜã ÙÖÓÍã ËÞÏ ̋ ͯͱϱ

OPEC DAILY BASKET PRICE AS AT 24 OCTOBER, 2022

The price of OPEC basket of thirteen crudes stood at $92.17 a barrel on Monday, compared with $92.09 the previous Friday, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations.

The OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Djeno (Congo), Zafiro (Equatorial Guinea), Rabi Light (Gabon), Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basrah Medium (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE) and Merey (Venezuela).

67

T H I S D AY ˾ DAY, ͯͷ˜ 2022

Investors’ Interest in BUA Cement, Others Lift Stock Market by N236bn KayodeTokede Transactions on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) remained positive for the fifth consecutive week as average investors’ investment in the stocks added N236 billion at the close of trading last week.

The positive performance was driven by gains recorded by BUA Cement, Zenith Bank, Wapco, Fidelity Bank, FBN Holdings, Stanbic and as such, the All Share

Index (ASI) notched a 0.98 per cent gain, closing the week at 49,316.29 basis points.

This caused the market’s Monthto-Date (MTD) and Year-to-Date (YTD) returns to increase to +3.5 per cent and +15.5 per cent, respectively.

Consequently, market capitalization closed at N26.861 trillion from an opening value of N26.625 trillion, representing an increase of N236 billion in five trading sessions on the bourse.

P R I C E S MAIN BOARD

DEALS

F O R MARKET PRICE

Across sectors, the Banking Index added per cent 2.8 per cent, Industrial Goods Index rose by 3.4 per cent, Insurance Index gained 0.5 per cent and Oil and Gas Index appreciated by 0.4 per cent, while the Consumer Goods Index dropped by 0.2 per cent, the sole loser for the week.

However, activity levels were lower this week as trading volume and value decreased by 34.1 per cent and 20.7 per cent week-on-week (w/w), respectively.

S E C U R I T I E S QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N )

A total turnover of 814.089 million shares worth N12.204 billion in 15,488 deals was traded by investors on the floor of the exchange, in contrast to a total of 1.225 billion shares valued at N15.243 billion that exchanged hands last week in 15,317 deals.

According to the NGX’s market data, the Financial Services Industry (measured by volume) led the activity chart with 663.799 million shares valued at N5.517 billion traded in 7,240 deals; thus contributing 81.54

T R A D E D MAIN BOARD

per cent and 45.21 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

The ICT industry followed with 44.358 million shares worth N4.493 billion in 1,136 deals while the Consumer Goods industry recorded a turnover of 27.372 million shares worth N1.187 billion in 3,051 deals.

Trading in the top three equities namely Sterling Bank Plc, Access Holdings Plc and Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc (measured by volume) accounted for 394.878

A S O F

million shares worth N2.847 billion in 2,274 deals, contributing 48.51 per cent and 23.33 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

Commenting on the performance of the market, market operators said that in the short term, they still see scope for expansion in valuation multiples, as positioning by early birds in dividend-paying stocks ahead of 2022 dividend declarations should outweigh profit-taking activities.

1 6 / 1 2 / 0 2 2 DEALS

MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N)

68

MONDAY DECEMBER 19, 2022 • T H I S D AY

69

MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 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 15Dec-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 12.54% AIICO Balanced Fund 3.65 3.71 7.57% 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 0.03% Anchoria Equity Fund 140.56 142.11 0.94% Anchoria Fixed Income Fund 1.21 1.21 6.12% 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 21.50 22.15 110.76% ARM Discovery Balanced Fund 499.50 514.56 121.21% ARM Ethical Fund 43.00 44.30 119.99% ARM Eurobond Fund ($) 1.09 1.09 102.30% ARM Fixed Income Fund 1.06 1.06 110.24% ARM Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 12.26% AVA GLOBAL ASSET MANAGERS LIMITED info@avacapitalgroup.com Web: www.avacapitalgroup.com; Tel 08069294653 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AVA GAM Fixed Income Dollar Fund 95.44 95.44 -7.21% AVA GAM Fixed Income Naira Fund 1,105.36 1,105.36 3.74% AXA MANSARD INVESTMENTS LIMITED investmentcare@axamansard.com Web: www.axamansard.com; Tel: +2341-4488482 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AXA Mansard Equity Income Fund 142.85 143.86 7.35% AXA Mansard Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 11.43% CAPITAL EXPRESS ASSET AND TRUST LIMITED info@capitalexpressassetandtrust.com Web: www.capitalexpressassetandtrust.com; Tel: +234 803 307 5048 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn CEAT Fixed Income Fund 2.08 2.08 1.30% Capital Express Balanced Fund(Formerly: Union Trustees Mixed Fund) 2.26 2.31 4.14% CAPITALTRUST INVESTMENTS AND ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED halalfif@capitaltrustnigeria.com Web: www.capitaltrustnigeria.com; Tel: 08061458806 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Capitaltrust Halal Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A CARDINALSTONE ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED mutualfunds@cardinalstone.com Web: www.cardinalstoneassetmanagement.com; Tel: +234 (1) 710 0433 4 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn CardinalStone Fixed Income Alpha Fund 1.04 1.04 8.15% CHAPELHILL DENHAM MANAGEMENT LTD investmentmanagement@chapelhilldenham.com Web: www.chapelhilldenham.com, Tel: +234 461 0691 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Chapelhill Denham Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 14.80% Paramount Equity Fund 18.01 18.34 8.04% Women's Investment Fund 145.71 147.44 2.93% CORDROS ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmgtteam@cordros.com Web: www.cordros.com, Tel: 019036947 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Cordros Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A Cordros Milestone Fund N/A N/A N/A Cordros Dollar Fund ($) N/A N/A N/A 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 N/A N/A N/A EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class B N/A N/A N/A EDC Nigeria Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A 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 12.17% Emerging Africa Bond Fund 1.06 1.06 8.82% Emerging Africa Balanced Diversity Fund 1.03 1.03 2.48% Emerging Africa Eurobond Fund 104.76 104.76 2.98% 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 N/A N/A N/A FBN Balanced Fund N/A N/A N/A FBN Halal Fund N/A N/A N/A FBN Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A FBN Dollar Fund N/A N/A N/A FBN Smart Beta Equity Fund N/A N/A N/A 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 12.50% Legacy Debt Fund 3.57 3.57 -10.83% Legacy Equity Fund 1.96 1.93 11.03% Legacy USD Bond Fund 1.26 1.26 4.44% 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

4,092.55 3,696.25 100.00

4,120.66 3,696.25 100.00

5.31% 6.88% 14.58%

FSDH Dollar Fund 1.13 1.13 0.00% 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 N/A N/A N/A Vantage Balanced Fund N/A N/A N/A Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A Kedari Investment Fund (KIF) N/A N/A N/A Vantage Equity Income Fund (VEIF) - June Year End N/A N/A N/A Vantage Dollar Fund (VDF) - June Year End N/A N/A N/A 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 1.70 1.73 19.31% Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund 1,178.53 1,178.53 9.16% 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 N/A N/A N/A Meristem Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A 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) 102.50 102.50 9.18% Norrenberger Money Market Fund (NMMF) 100.00 100.00 12.93% PAC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD info@pacassetmanagement.com Web: www.pacassetmanagement.com/mutualfunds; Tel: +234 1 271 8632 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn PACAM Balanced Fund 1.55 1.59 -1.24% PACAM Fixed Income Fund 11.60 11.77 4.42% PACAM Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 7.55% PACAM Equity Fund 1.40 1.43 -1.04% PACAM EuroBond Fund 118.61 121.99 4.36% 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 N/A N/A N/A 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 1.09 1.09 11.00% 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 3,558.83 3,586.59 4.97% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 244.60 244.60 3.83% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 1.38 1.39 9.92% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 331.66 331.67 5.92% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 253.57 256.65 8.57% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 12.33% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 11,731.73 11,865.15 7.41% Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund (USD) 1.36 1.36 5.31% Stanbic IBTC Shariah Fixed Income Fund 120.64 120.64 3.19% Stanbic IBTC Enhanced Short-Term Fixed Income Fund 114.51 114.51 7.64% 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 0.93 0.95 5.09% United Capital Balanced Fund 1.32 1.35 1.50% United Capital Wealth for Women Fund 1.15 1.16 11.22% United Capital Sukuk Fund 1.10 1.10 7.21% United Capital Fixed Income Fund 1.95 1.95 6.27% United Capital Eurobond Fund 125.07 125.07 5.76% United Capital Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 15.14% 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 13.65 13.77 3.51% Zenith ESG Impact Fund 15.52 15.67 6.16% Zenith Income Fund 23.49 23.49 7.01% Zenith Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 11.21% 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 4.05 4.15 1.01% Vetiva Consumer Goods Exchange Traded Fund 5.51 5.61 -5.69% Vetiva Griffin 30 Exchange Traded Fund 18.08 18.28 2.23% Vetiva Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 11.48% Vetiva Industrial Goods Exchange Traded Fund 23.89 24.09 19.46% Vetiva S&P Nigeria Sovereign Bond Exchange Traded Fund 140.27 142.27 -11.02%

REITS NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

121.62 52.62

7.20% 3.41%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

15.26 126.61 99.20 N/A N/A

15.36 128.84 100.93 N/A N/A

9.06% -0.77% -0.78% N/A N/A

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.

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NEWS

UNILAG INAUGURAL LECTURE: 'BLOOM WHERE YOU ARE PLANTED'...

L-R: Deputy Vice Chancellor, Management Services, Unilag, Prof Lucian Chukwu; Deputy Vice Chancellor, Development Services, Unilag, Prof. Ayodele Atsenuwa; Chief Medical Director, LUTH, Prof. Chris Bode; and Deputy Vice Chancellor, Academic and Research, Prof Bola Oboh at the University of Lagos Inaugural Lecture titled 'Bloom Where You Are Planted' delivered by Prof Bode at the University of Lagos Auditorium... recently ABIODUN AJALA

PTAD Pays N12.39bn Pension Arrears to Defunct Nitel/Mtel Pensioners James Emejo in Abuja

The Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) said it has paid a total of N12.39 billion, representing 15 months of settlement of inherited unfunded pension liabilities to 11,145 Nitel/ Mtel pensioners.

PTAD Executive Secretary, Dr. Chioma Ejikeme, who said this yesterday, noted that the payment was part of an outstanding 63 months of pension liabilities to the beneficiaries leaving a balance of 48 months yet to be settled.

In 2018 and after 12 years of uncertainty post-privatisation,

NEMSA: Concrete Electric Pole Manufacturers Grew from 21 to 143 in Six Years Agency says 10,692 power projects certified fit nationwide Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja The Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA) at the weekend revealed that in the six years spanning between 2016 and 2021, the number of concrete electric pole manufacturers in the country rose from 21 to 143.

Electric poles are major equipment needed for the distribution of electricity to Nigerian homes by the Distribution Companies (Discos) and could cause considerable loss of lives and property if substandard ones are deployed without vetting.

Managing Director/Chief Executive of the agency, Mr Aliyu Tahir, who also doubles as the Chief Electrical Inspector of the federation, who spoke during an interactive session with journalists in Abuja, also stated that out of the 15,931power projects presented for inspection, 10,692 had been certified fit for use by NEMSA. He added that although electricity had become a necessary part of everyday life, it was also associated with hazards from which injuries, fatalities, equipment damage, and unscheduled down time could arise.

For safe, reliable and sustainable electricity supply, Aliyu stated that it was paramount that the associated hazards were effectively mitigated, leading to the development of technical standards, regulations and codes enforced in Nigeria

by NEMSA. During the period under review, the NEMSA chief executive noted

that the organisation monitored 12,114 existing networks and power systems nationwide while over 3,255 electrical installations at factories and hazardous installations had been inspected by NEMSA. “There has been a significant increase in the total number of manufacturers of electric concrete poles certified in Nigeria. It has risen from 21 in 2016 to 143 in 2021,” Aliyu added.

According to him, other achievements during the period, included the establishment and inauguration of the first meter generation museum/gallery at the national meter test station, Oshodi, Lagos, while the inauguration of those in Kaduna and Port Harcourt are being awaited.

Furthermore, Aliyu stated that NEMSA embarked on the certification of meter manufacturers in Nigeria and increased the category of certification schemes of electrical installation personnel.

These new categories, he said, included personnel on renewable energy installation, electricity metering installation personnel, electrical technical personnel certification.

On its role in vetting the justimported transformers by the federal government in collaboration with Siemens, the NEMSA chief executive, explained that it has been involved in the entire process.

“From the inception of this programme, NEMSA has been involved. We are part of the team that reviewed the technical Continued on page 73

PTAD onboarded ex-workers of NITEL/Mtel to the monthly pension payroll in fulfilment of President Muhammadu Buhari’s commitment to ensuring that all eligible pensioners get their entitlements.

At the onset, the inherited unfunded pension liability for

NITEL/MTEL stood at 84 months, the directorate said in a statement.

So far, the Buhari- led administration through PTAD had cleared 36 months out of the inherited arrears.

A breakdown of the disbursement showed that PTAD paid one month arrear in 2019;

six months in 2020; 14 months in 2021 and 15 months in 2022.

Ejikeme, further assured that the backlog of NITEL/Mtel pension liabilities would continue to be cleared subject to available funds.

The PTAD boss had said the directorate was working tirelessly to ensure that pensioners from the

defunct and privatised agencies are paid their retirement and severance benefits as soon as possible.

“I am glad that these efforts are now yielding results, and I must commend our pensioners for their patience and support all these years,” she said.

Obaseki, EU Strengthen Ties, Explore Investment Opportunities in Culture, Others Oba of Benin receives FG's award on arts, culture Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has said his government was strengthening partnership with the European Union (EU) to sustain gains recorded by his administration in human capacity development, job creation, and tackling illegal migration, among others.

Obaseki said this when he received the Ambassador of the EU to Nigeria and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Ms. Samuela Isopi, who was on a courtesy visit, at the Government House, Benin City.

This was just as the Benin Monarch, His Royal Majesty, Oba Ewuare II, has formally received the Most Outstanding Traditional Ruler's Arts and Culture award, courtesy of the Nigerian government.

Obaseki said the state was consolidating ties with the EU and exploring new areas of investments in the culture and tourism, education, tech and other sectors of the state's economy.

He said, “We have had a very good and strong relationship with the EU since we got into office in 2016. They have been very supportive of our efforts at stemming the tide of irregular migration and human trafficking from Edo. “For the successes and achievements we have made in the area of human trafficking and irregular migration, the EU has been a strong ally. They have worked very closely with us and their partner,

the IOM, in ensuring they are able to roll out programmes to support victims of trafficking and returnees and help them with resettlement and job opportunities, making sure they are properly integrated into our society.”

Obaseki further noted, “We are now looking at windows for regular migration. How we can collaborate with the EU to create institutions to train our young people, certify and equip them so that they can be properly engaged and employed in Europe.”

On areas of collaboration, the governor stated, "Next year, December 3rd, marks 200 years an Italian archeologist, Giovanni Benzoni, came to and unfortunately died in Benin City and was buried in Ughoton, which we will be celebrating.

“We have gotten positive indication that the EU countries will support our bid to create and make Edo the culture hub of the subcontinent. This is just part of establishing Benin as the culture hub. It's not only about the return of artifacts but going back to our past and seeing what we have done, how great this place has been and the kind of relationships we have had with Europe through the last few centuries.”

On her part, the EU Ambassador who noted that Edo was one of the first states she was visiting since her arrival into Nigeria, hailed the governor's development strides across all sectors of the state's economy.

Highlighting areas of

cooperation, the Ambassador noted, “We know the potential that culture has to connect people but also to be a vector for development, especially for the young people.

Edo State is a cultural capital. We heard so much about that - the history - and we wanted to come and see with our own eyes. We will visit the cultural sites and we are looking forward to it.

“We also try to use the opportunity to engage with political actors to discuss issues related to elections. The EU has been supporting elections in Nigeria since the return to civilian rule.”

Meanwhile, the Benin Monarch has formally received the Most Outstanding Traditional Ruler's Arts and Culture award, courtesy of the Nigerian government.

Isopi was among guests when the award plaque was formally handed over to Oba Ewuare II at the weekend in his palace in Benin City.

The Nigerian Government, through the Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilisation (CBAAC), the federal government sole custodian of all the materials and other cultural collections used during the FESTAC hosted in Lagos, Nigeria in 1977.

The Oba Ewuare II eldest daughter, Princess Ikuoyemwen Aimiuwu Ewuare, accompanied by some Benin Palace Chiefs, had received the award on behalf of the Oba in Abuja.

During her earlier visit to the palace, the Director-General of CBAAC, Oluwabunmi Ayobami

Amao said she had carefully followed the track record of Oba Ewuare II whose impact is not only felt in Nigeria but internationally in upholding the values and traditions of the Benin Kingdom over the years.

Addressing the Benin throne at the weekend, the EU Ambassador Isopi said that the visit to Oba palace was, among others, to establish contact with the subnational government (Edo State) and the Oba of Benin in the area of cooperation.

She said, "I am very grateful to be in Edo State, which is very unique in Nigeria and beyond; also, for its very rich history and rich culture.

"We are very much impressed with what we have seen about the results that our joint actions have received.

"I thank you and reaffirm to you, our commitment and our thoughts to all Edo people," Isopi said.

Sharing his personal experience during his diplomatic sojourn to Europe and America, Oba Ewuare II rued the plights of undocumented African migrants in Europe and America.

He harped on the need for a follow up in the prevention of human trafficking and irregular migration, which he noted has scaled down judging by the available data, through sensitization.

Oba Ewuare highlighted the role the Benin throne and Edo State government played in addressing the menace, which he said operates like drugs cartels

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NEWS

EU DELEGATION TO NIGERIA AND ECOWAS VISIT OBASEKI… L-R (front row): European Union (EU) Ambassador to Nigeria, Samuela Isopi; Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki; his wife, Mrs. Betsy; Head of Unit/ Head of Cooperation, EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Cecile Tassin-Pelzer, and Secretary to Edo State Government, Osarodion Ogie, after a dinner at the Government House in Benin City.

SSANU: Workers' Salaries Have Lost Value Due to Inflation Demands reversal of fuel price hike

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja One of the university-based unions, the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities (SSANU) has bemoaned the impact of inflation in the country on its members’ salaries.

It also expressed concern over

the increase in the pump price of petrol as well as what it described as the deliberate hoarding of the products, urging government to ensure reversal of the price hike.

In a communiqué issued at the end of its National Executive Council (NEC) held at University

UBTH Trains 600 Edo Residents on Basic Life Support for First Responders Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City Over 600 residents of Benin City, Edo State were yesterday trained by the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) on Basic Life Support (BSL) for first responders.

The training Programme with the theme: "Advancing the legacy of quality healthcare," was part of activities marking the 50th anniversary of the Hospital, coming up on May 12, 2023.

Participants at the training which was held at the Oba Ovoranmwen Park, Mission Road, Benin City, Edo State, included military and paramilitary security operatives, journalists and other members of the public, including market women.

The training provided participants with the knowledge and skill required for CardioPulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and other relevant procedures needed in emergency situations.

Speaking at the event, UBTH, Chief Medical Director (CMD), Prof. Darlington Obaseki, said the essence of the programme was to train those not doctors on how to resuscitate people who are on medical emergencies.

"As a hospital, we decided that we want to use this opportunity of our 50th Anniversary to come and teach the whole society, especially the first responders, namely, the Road Safety, the Police operatives, the military and journalists. They are usually the first at events.

"If you're a journalist covering an event and somebody collapses, should you be waiting for a doctor to come, "No! That's why we are here to teach us what to do in such situations. You don't have to be a doctor, you don't have to go to medical school to do these things,"

Obaseki said.

He further disclosed that the management of the hospital had arranged series of events as a giveback to members of the public, as a build-up to the anniversary day.

The Deputy Coordinator of the Paramedic Training School of UBTH, Dr. Abebe John, disclosed that the training was to create awareness of life-saving skills, to safe members of the public that could be involved inn any kind of emergency, noting that many persons are not aware of these life-saving skills.

"Some persons might be aware, but have ignored them over the years, and so, many persons died as a result of these skills not been used on them. That is why we are bringing it to the awareness of the public so that they can safe humanity," he added.

He said further: "This training is very important because from day-to-day, we have emergencies.

Emergencies are not planned, they are not prepared for. " We need to know what to do first, we can give First Aid. If the first aid is not properly done, Tha outcome is not likely to be very good.

"The programme is to train all first responders to respond properly to emergencies. Anybody that is a public person, that goes around, should have a idea of what to do, to at least not to kill the person in the process of trying to assist the person.

"It is to teach them step by step of what to do in any emergency situation, especially when there is a loss of consciousness or when there is an accident and there is bleeding or multiple injuries, we want to know what to do to prevent having more complications in the wah we interact with the victims."

of Calabar, in Cross River state at the weekend, SSANU said that, "it observed with serious concern the inflationary trend in our nation where the purchasing power of the naira has been drastically reduced so much that every good in the market has been taken over by galloping inflation leaving many Nigerians groaning in abject poverty."

The communique signed by SSANU President, Mohammed Haruna Ibrahim, urged federal government to re-gig its economic policies with a view to checking this hyperinflation to allow the poor and low income earners survive this untold hardship.

SSANU said it felt seriously agitated by unwarranted increase in the pump price and deliberate hoarding of the petroleum products.

According to the association, the

avoidable situation has plunged innocent poor Nigerians into precarious economic situation, further increasing their hopelessness and frustration fuelled by economic hardship.

"NEC therefore demands the urgent reversal of the pump price to the old price of N180 at least to reduce the biting impact, especially during this yuletide season", " it said.

On the non-compliance with national minimum wage law, SSANU said it had discovered with shock that some of her members were yet to be paid arrears of the new national minimum wage by their universities.

The association expressed concern that her members in the nine universities have either not been paid or were yet to be fully paid the national minimum wage.

The affected institutions he listed included are Federal University Otuoke; Micheal Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike; Federal University, Dutsima, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, Federal University, Gashua, Yobe, Federal University Kashere, University of Maiduguri, Modibo Adama University, Yola and University of Benin, Benin.

It therefore, urged government to immediately conclude the payment of the arrears to her members in the affected universities.

SSANU further urged the federal to urgently pay the arrears of withheld four months salaries of its members in one installment without further delay.

"In the same vein, NEC earnestly urges government to release the three month withheld

third party deductions to affected Federal Universities. This becomes imperative as the delay is causing serious upsets and breaches to financial organizations in affected Universities," it said.

Regarding the 2023 general elections, SSANU said it has critically analyzed the political atmosphere and the attendant turbulent and violent-prone campaigns which was capable of truncating the democratic gains of the Nation.

"NEC therefore urges all stakeholders in the political space to observe the rules of by the game to engender free, fair and credible elections that will usher in smooth transition.

In conclusion, NEC calls on the federal government to ensure that all our demands are resolved within the shortest possible time," it added.

OPTS, Shell Upbeat about Development of Major Upstream Oil, Gas Projects Peter Uzoho The Oil Producers Trade Section (OPTS), an arm of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) have expressed confidence that big multi-billion-dollar upstream oil and gas development projects will take off soon in Nigeria.

The Deputy Chairman of OPTS and Chairman, Shell Companies in Nigeria, Mr. Osagie Okunbor, who stated this recently, also expressed the commitment of Shell, OPTS and the Independent Petroleum Producers Group (IPPG) towards development of major offshore upstream projects like the HA and HI offshore oil and gas fields in the Niger Delta.

Okunbor disclosed this during a panel session on "Defining the Requisite Roadmap for Increased Gas Production", at the recently held 11th Practical Nigerian Content Forum (PNC) in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, with the theme: "Deepening Nigerian Content Opportunities in the Decade of Gas" He spoke in response to the updates provided by fellow panelist

and Chief Investment Officer, NNPC Upstream Investments Management Services (NUIMS), Mr. Bala Wunti, who had revealed at the session that the NNPC and its partners were pushing to see new projects sanctioned in no distant time.

He had stated that they were bringing another American oil major to take part in the Bonga Southwest/Aparo Final Investment Decision (FID) billed to take place in 2024.

"I did mention that we're going for FID on Bonga North either last quarter of this year or first quarter next year. I did mention that Bonga South-west is going to sleep, we're going to focus on 2024. We're aligning with all our partners to focus on doing Bonga South-west/Aparo.

"We're bringing one American more to make it for Aparo. So we're targeting the FID in 2024.

For several other projects with Chevron, we hope to do the FID before the end of first quarter of 2023 - the Agbami Gas Project. All these are coming with significant gaseous hydrocarbon," Wunti had revealed.

But corroborating Wunti,

Okunbor said the big multi-billion dollars projects were on course, saying the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) had provided the right framework and stability for progress to be made in executing major projects.

“I think the key takeaways is that the stars are lining up for the big projects to take off, and Bala just spoke about most of the projects in deep water.

“What he has not talked about is that it is the tremendous efforts by himself and the partners to get that going. Don't forget we still have the NNPC 7 critical gas projects still there that we all need to find a way to make work. And as you can expect, a lot of work is going into that.

"We're glad that the PIA has provided the right framework and the right stability for us to be able to make some progress in this area. With that kind of backdrop, the OPTS' companies are the big spenders, they are the ones who can fund and shoulder multi-billion dollar projects", Okunbor said.

He said with the collaboration of stakeholders including the OPTS, IPPG and the international

oil companies (IOCs) he strongly believed that the future of the Nigerian gas sector was bright, adding that more needed to be done to achieve the set goals.

Citing the Shell's HA and HI offshore fields which hold large gas deposits, he said the NNPC and the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) were extremely important in driving through some of the multi-billion dollar projects.

Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) planned to develop the HA field, located in shallow offshore acreage on Oil Mining Lease (OML) 77 approximately 20-kilometer south of the Eastern Niger Delta.

The project was envisaged to produce 250 Million Standard Cubic Feet Per Day (MMSCFD), 40,000 Barrels Per Day (BPD) of gross liquids, and 30,000 BPD of peak oil/condensates.

On the other hand, the HI Field is a conventional gas development located in shallow water and operated by Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO). HI lies in block OML 144 (OPL 238).

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NEWS

MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING ON SUGAR PROJECT… L-R: Executive Secretary, National Sugar Development Council, Zacch Adedeji; Group Managing Director, SARO AFRICA Group, Rasheed Sarumi and Nasarawa state Governor, Engr. Abdullahi Sule, during the signing of Memorandum of understanding on Sugar project in Doma ,Nasarawa state, held in Abuja at weekend

2023: Stakeholders Move against Vote Buying CSO urges women to get their PVCs to perform civic responsibility SERAP urges Buhari to arrest politicians allegedly buying PVCs from voters Chuks Okocha, Udora Orizu, Emameh Gabriel in Abuja and Ibrahim Oyewale in Lokoja With the 2023 general election just 67 days away, some stakeholders have reacted with increasing alarm to news of possible vote buying by politicians, warning that there would be consequences.

The fresh reactions came as a civil society group focussed on development, Connected Development, called on women to get their permanent voter cards (PVCs) ready to enable them

exercise their civic responsibility in the election and beyond.

Former presidential candidate of Hope Democratic Party (HDP), Chief Albert Owuru, advocated stringent punishment for vote buying. Owuru spoke on Saturday in Abuja at the launch of his books titled, “A New Africa,” and, “The 18 Laws of Ballot Revolution.”

Describing vote buying as inhumane, Owuru said stringent penalty would serve as a deterrent to persons who might be tempted to engage in the act. He added that people needed more sensitisation

to understand the sanctity of the ballot.

Owuru stated, “That INEC material appears to be a mere paper but on the election day, that is the ballot that qualifies you as a citizen to speak, that is your voice and what you have to use in determining who rules over you.

“So, you don’t give out that power you have, you don’t sell it and the law must be made to provide stiff penalty, such as life imprisonment. If you buy or sell your vote, you have erased yourself as a citizen.”

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) urged President Muhammadu Buhari to direct the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, and appropriate anticorruption agencies to identify and arrest politicians allegedly buying PVCs from poor Nigerians and bring them to justice.

SERAP also urged the president to ensure that politicians involved in what it called the electoral and human rights crimes of PVC purchase and their sponsors were

N20bn Bail-out: Agbakoba Accuses EFCC of Media Trial of Kogi Govt Says anti-graft agency turning into one-man Robin Wood riot gang Wale Igbintade Former President of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Dr. Olisa Agbakoba, has accused the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of unwarranted media trial of the Kogi State government.

Agbakoba’s allegation was in connection with a fresh case filed against a nephew of the governor, Yahaya Bello, and the previous N20 billion bailout fund.

Agbakoba, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) spoke yesterday in Lagos at a press conference titled, "The Rule of Law in Nigeria Today." He stated that EFCC was turning itself into a one-man Robin Wood riot gang, which must not be allowed.

According to the senior lawyer, how a state spends its money should not be the business of the anti-graft agency.

Agbakoba called on all the 18 candidates contesting in next year's presidential election to clearly state their commitments to the rule of law and the war against corruption.

He stated, "The EFCC, for example, plays a very strong role in the anti-corruption strategy of Nigeria, but they are also one of the institutions most guilty of breaking the rule of law."

He stressed that candidates must make commitments to Nigerians to sack any government official who violated the rule of law, deliberately disobeyed court orders, or engaged in media trials.

The former NBA president stated that the Supreme Court recently

said in one of its judgements that EFCC could not be a jack-of-alltrades and they should concentrate on what the law empowered them to do under Section 46 of their Act. Agbakoba said, "Like the current trending case, where the EFCC arrested some people in Kogi State on allegations of money laundering, I believe that case should not be the business of the EFCC, at all.

“Is it their business how Kogi spends their money? Even if it is their business, is it their lawful business to make that enquiry?

"The Supreme Court has recently said in one of its judgements that the EFCC cannot be a jack of all trades and that they should concentrate on what the law empowers them to do under Section 46 of their Act. "It is not the duty of the EFCC to be chasing the Kogi State government and threatening to storm the State House to seize documents or harass the Accountant-General of the state.

"What the EFCC is currently doing is turning itself into a oneman Robin Wood riot gang. That must not be allowed and that is the impunity that I refer to.

"My advice to the EFCC is that whatever they want to do, they should remember that there is a law that created them and they must also remember that Section 46 of the EFCC Act had stated and narrowed down their functions and in a case where they want to expand their functions, they must go to the National Assembly to do so.

"If I were the lawyer to the Kogi State government, what I would do is to go to court and tell the court that as a result of the Supreme Court judgement, the EFCC does not have the power to demand that we should provide documents or give them our accounting books.”

Agbakoba further stated, "If we have lost money, we are the ones to complain and if we are not complaining or we are complicit in any fraud, then the appropriate agency to handle it is the ICPC or the state House of Assembly.

"So the candidate (2023 election candidates) must tell us what they are going to do with all these agencies because we need to know if they are going to allow the EFCC to continue to engage in media trials and carry on as the attack dog of the federal government against other arms and levels of governments."

On the 2023 election, Agbakoba noted that, although some of the candidates had released their manifestoes, their positions on how they would tackle corruption in relation to the various anticorruption agencies were not well spelt out.

He said the present state of the rule of law in Nigeria was very precarious and the country needed a revolution to make it the bedrock of governance.

Agbakoba said the reason the stance of the candidates must be known was that most of the investigating agencies had abandoned their duties to the EFCC.

He said, "It is a big problem because it appears as if it is nobody's job and the EFCC has somehow taken over the responsibility of all other agencies, thereby overreaching itself.

"I believe that the EFCC is overburdened with too much responsibility. I recently saw the EFCC chairman, Bawa, on television saying that the commission is auctioning forfeited properties seized from convicted criminals, which should not be his job.

"I challenge anybody to tell me anywhere in the world that an agency with the same functions as that of the EFCC does three distinct jobs of investigation, prosecution and disposal of seized or recovered assets.

"I believe what the EFCC should do is to face investigation, as is done by similar agencies around the world. The commission is not an agency that is capable of effectively prosecuting cases.

This is the reason they do not win most of their cases in court.

"I will strongly recommend that the prosecutorial power of the EFCC should be transferred to a new National Prosecution Agency. The Department of Public Prosecution in the Federal Ministry of Justice could be carved out and made independent to perform this role.

"We also need a new body that will deal with recovered assets and other proceeds of crime so that the EFCC can face its primary function of investigating financial and economic crimes."

named and shamed, regardless of their political affiliations.

In a letter dated December 17, 2022, and signed by SERAP's Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation said buying of PVCs from poor Nigerians was a threat to fair and representative elections. The group said it amounted to undue and improper electoral influence.

SERAP stated in the letter to Buhari, “We would be grateful if the recommended measures are taken within seven days of the receipt and/or publication of this letter. If we have not heard from you by then, SERAP shall consider appropriate legal actions to compel your government to comply with our request in the public interest.”

Similarly, a non-governmental organisation, Youth and Media Network Organisation (YOMEN), launched a campaign against vote buying and vote selling, saying the problem with Nigerian election is more with “vote selling than vote buying”. Chairman, Board of Trustees of YOMEN, Emenike Eme, said this on Friday in Abuja while speaking with journalists. Eme, who spoke through another arm of the organisation, Ready-To-Vote, aimed at addressing voter apathy and disabuse the minds of the youth and the electorate, generally, said it target audience was the youth.

Eme explained that the problem with the country's electoral process was not vote buying but the willingness of the electorate to sell their votes to intending buyers.

The YOMEN chairman stated,

"A number of things work against our elections in this country. One is voters’ apathy. The other one is what is commonly called vote buying.

“In YOMEN, we don't see vote buying as a problem. Let me shock you a bit. Why do we say it's not a problem? Vote buying is not the problem, the problem is vote selling, because if you go to the market now to buy a product and you don't find that product, I know you won't buy sand.”

Meanwhile, Connected Development, while calling on women to ensure they collect their PVCs to enable them discharge their civic responsibility, said possession of PVC was the only weapon they had to effect genuine change and install good governance in the country.

Ambassador Hamza Lawal, an international election monitor, made the call at the weekend in Okene, Kogi State, at a programme for the empowerment of over 400 women, as part of sensitisation advocacy to the grassroots on the need to sustain the existing peace and collection of PVCs. Addressing the beneficiaries, Lawal said the empowerment was a token to appreciate women for their support in ensuring that the community remained peaceful at all times.

"Now that the PVCs are ready, we should mobilise women door to door to sensitise them on the need for them to collect their cards from INEC office in their respective local government areas,” Lawal said.

NEMSA: CONCRETE ELECTRIC POLE MANUFACTURERS GREW FROM 21 TO 143 IN SIX YEARS specifications of these electrical materials and equipment before they are now allowed to be brought into the country.

“And we are also going to inspect them and certify them before they are finally energised across the country,” Aliyu stressed.

He noted that NEMSA had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and will be meeting with the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) as part of its inter-agency efforts to curb the importation of sub-standard electrical products.

Aliyu said over 4,000 structures had been disconnected from electricity supply for various breaches.

NEMSA, he pointed out, also undertook the Nigerian National Accreditation System (NINAS) certification process and launched

the task force on monitoring/ evaluation of existing networks to stem the use of substandard electrical materials and equipment.

Aside from conducting a roundtable for legislature, judiciary and other stakeholders on the enforcement of technical standards, regulations and mandate of NEMSA, Aliyu explained that NEMSA embarked on the training of 18 electrical engineers on renewable energy in collaboration with Germany's GIZ. “We are building synergy among staff and between the agency and the external stakeholders in accordance with NEMSA Act, 2015, part 2 section 6(b) which empowers NEMSA to collaborate with other relevant government agencies to ensure that all major electrical materials and equipment used in NEMSA are of the right quality and standard.

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ANNUAL FAMILY HARVEST AND INAUGURATION OF OFFICE COMPLEX...

L-R: Chairman, Christians Association of Nigeria (CAN), Bishop Tunde Akinsanya; Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun and former President of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo at the 2022 Annual Family Harvest and inauguration of office complex at Communion Faith Assembly International, Kemta Idi-Aba in Abeokuta on Sunday

Many Feared Killed as Suspected Criminal Herders Attack Enugu Community Again Another set attacks Benue, kills three

George Okoh in Makurdi and Gideon Arinze in Enugu A yet-to-be-ascertained number of people have reportedly been killed after suspected armed herdsmen attacked Ebor, EhaAmufu community in Isi-Uzo Local Government Area of Enugu State on Sunday morning.

This is as another set of suspected herdsmen, weekend, carried out a fresh attack on Adaka community, killing at least three persons.

Since 2021, communities in Isi Uzo had come under attack, with over 100 said to have been killed so far.

According to sources, the masterminds of the early morning Sunday attack outnumbered the soldiers and local vigilantes while they launched the attack, killing several people.

A community leader, Ogbuabor Samuel, who confirmed the attack, said several people had been killed, adding that at least 10 bodies had been recovered.

He blamed the local

government chairman, whom he said was playing politics with the lives of Eha-Amufu, because of the 2023 general election.

“The chairman of the Isi-Uzo local government area is playing politics with our lives," he said, adding, "He didn’t want to tell the governor the true facts of what is happening in our community. He is not supporting the local vigilantes and other local security."

Samuel claimed that the LH chairman dissolved all the local vigilantes formed

by Eha-Amufu communities and hardly visited the affected communities.

"We need the government to declare a security emergency in Eha-Amufu, especially in Ebor, Umujiovu, Mgbuji and AguAmede communities,” he said, noting that, "Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi should do something drastic. His government should stop politicizing the situation in our place."

He further claimed that Agala people in Benue State had joined forces with the armed herdsmen in attacking and killing the

people every day.

“They have sacked several villages and occupied them. They have destroyed our people’s livelihood. Properties worth millions have been destroyed and those in political positions in Enugu State are playing politics with it?” he said. from Adaka, a settlement about 20 kilometers on the

outskirts of Makurdi Local Government Area, which is also Benue's State capital, a resident of the community, Iorkohol Unande,who survived the dastardly incident narrated that the attack was unprovoked.

He said the attackers shot sporadically, injuring several persons in the community while three dead bodies were recovered

The Niger State government, has commended the rescue of seven kidnapped Chinese nationals by operatives of the Nigerian Airforce.

The rescued Chinese nationals were abducted from Ajata Aboki mining sites in Shiroro Local Government of the state last June and were taken into hiding since then.

The nation’s top security operatives announced the rescue of the Chinese nationals on Saturday, saying they had

been taken to a medical facility for medical attention.

A statement by the Niger State Commissioner for Internal Security and Humanitarian Affairs, quoted Governor Abubakar Sani Bello as rejoicing over the feat performed by men of the Nigeria Airforce.

"His Excellency, Governor Abubakar Sani Bello, commended the courage and effort of the Commander and men of 271 NAF Detachment for the excellent operation. He specifically applauded the inspirational leadership style and acumen of the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal

herdsmen have a mission to displace our people and take over our lands ahead of next year's polls.

"It is unfortunate that other politicians in our state are collaborating with these monstrous terrorists to unleash mayhem on our people. We will reject such persons at the polls," he stated.

Abiodun to Church: Ensure Clerics Preach God-inspired Sermons The Ogun State governor, Dapo Abiodun, has called on the church to ensure that clerics preach God-inspired sermons, which according to him was important for spiritual upliftment of the people and the nation.

Abiodun who described a man of God as a good shepherd and a sincere preacher, noted that such a person should also be a

forthright and selfless personality.

He also urged the church to radiate the spirit of thanksgiving around it and the country as a whole.

Abiodun who made this call during the Annual Family Thanksgiving of the Communion Faith Assembly International, said people should count their blessings as the year is coming

Niger Commends Security over Rescue of Kidnapped Chinese Men Laleye Dipo in Minna

by the time the killer herdsmen retreated unchallenged.

According to him, the three persons killed by the attackers were all men, who were shot at and their bodies butchered by the assailants.

Reacting to the unending orgy of bloodletting, a resident of Makurdi, John Kwaghmande, stated that "the killer Fulani

Oladayo Amao, under who's command the NAF, has continued to record tremendous successes in its operations nationwide, including the successful rescue of these Chinese nationals in Kampanin Doka and Gwaska areas of Birnin Gwari LGA, Kaduna State" the statement read.

The statement also stated that the state government would continue to collaborate with all security forces in the state to ensure citizens were safe and secure.

"Governor Bello felicitates with the victims, their families,

friends and associates for their safe rescue and wishes them well," the statement added.

Not less than 22 people, including mobile policemen and soldiers were killed when about 250 gunmen attacked the Ajata Aboki goldmine in Shiroro last June.

About 20 corpses, including those of soldiers and men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps were recovered and brought to the IBB specialist hospital in Minna.The gunmen were said to belong to the dreaded Dogo Giede armed gang.

to an end, urging them not to look at the little things God did for them, but ensure that they have an attitude of gratitude.

"If the church as a body of Christ must look forward, it must radiate the spirit of thanksgiving around the church which will radiate to the whole nation.

"It is important that you men of God preach God inspired sermons because our people come here and they believe in you, they believe in God through you, please ensure that you preach God inspired sermons.”

The governor, however, urged the people to ensure they are not disenfranchised during the forthcoming general election, noting that they should endeavor to get their Permanent Voter's Card.

"Let me implore you as we approach the year 2023 general election, do not be disenfranchised, and that journey starts by you collecting your permanent voter's card, without your PVC, you will be disenfranchised. For you to have a leader you deserve, you

must get your permanent voter's card so that you can exercise your franchise," he said.

In his remarks, former President Olusegun Obasanjo while congratulating the Christian Association of Nigeria on the annual thanksgiving service, urged the governor to continue to have faith in God. In his message, Bishop David Bakare, who took his message from the Book of Isaiah 61 vs 3, noted that the password for thanksgiving for every individual is "thank you".

Bakare who also added that thanksgiving is a defence and a garment, noted that when people thank God for His mercies through praises, they are beautified.

The Chairman, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Ogun State and the General Overseer of the Communion Faith Assembly International, Bishop Tunde Akin-Akinsanya, who described Governor Abiodun as a complete gentleman, commended him for the infrastructural development of the state.

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ELECTABILITY CONFAB 1.0...

L-R: Peoples Redemption Party candidate, Akoko South East/West Federal constituency, Ondo State, Mrs. Aregbeshola Bukola; Canada High Commissioner to Nigeria, James Christoff and Former ENOCK REUBEN INEC Commissioner, Amina Zakari, during the conference for Persons With Disabilities (PWD) contesting for elective position in the coming 2023 election in Abuja ...recently

Secondus to Tinubu: Leave Obaigbena Alone, Face Electorate PDP presidential campaign goes on break after Katsina rally Chuks Okocha in Abuja A former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and the National Technical Adviser to the party’s Presidential Campaign Council, Uche Secondus, has described as a needless distraction, the attack on the publisher and owner of THISDAY Newspapers and Arise Television station, Prince Nduka Obaigbena, by the Media team of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Bola Ahmad Tinubu.

In a statement yesterday, Secondus said he has followed the issues behind the ongoing media war of words and wondered why the APC presidential media team chose to leave the business of marketing their Principal for which they were appointed and be chasing Obaigbena, who is indisputably an iroko in the media industry.

He said, rather than joining issues with Obaigbena, the APC team should have used the time and energy to position their

candidate positively in the eyes of the public.

According to him, “Unless they are surrendering to the town talks that they have nothing to sell in the current political space and have chosen to cause unnecessary distractions."

Secondus noted that given the role of the Nigerian media in the socio-political development of this country from independence in 1960 and continued in the June 12 democratic struggle that birthed this republic, he expected the media to get involved in some more pragmatic matters not on undesirable squabbles.

“From whatever perspective you want to look at it, Arise TV and THISADAY Newspapers have not gone outside the dictates of their profession in asking a presidential candidate of a ruling party to present himself for public scrutiny.

“It’s indeed an aberration that a person aspiring to rule over 200 million people are dodging from talking to them or answering their questions even from his media establishment," he stated.

The former PDP boss urged APC media not to cover up if their candidate was seriously challenged in anyway to face public interrogation, because that was what was required to avoid the deceit and propaganda of 2015 that brought the country where it is.

“The health of your candidate should worry you, because it would be unpatriotic to foist on the country unhealthy person for a position that requires complete mental and physical alertness.

"Prince Obaigbena and his media group were acting within the law to demand that APC candidate present himself for questioning either in a debate or Town Hall gathering. It mustn’t be Arise Tv, it can be any other medium but a person seeking public office must face interrogation.

"Even as a politician, who has played much at national level, no one can dismiss the critical role of Prince Obaigbena in the development of media as a catalyst to developments," Secondus said.

Meanwhile, the PDP Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has called on his supporters not to be complacent with their campaign to oust the APC, because of the Christmas and new year break.

In a statement yesterday, Atiku said, "We must not cut a break on the fact that the APC must not be allowed to come back in 2023, because of their woeful failure."

Although Atiku said having covered 15 states so far, "It’s a significant milestone. One, because no other party comes close and, two, because our commitment to Recover Nigeria is receiving great attention from the people.

"Of course, we could not have gone this far without your impeccable support. All the successes that we achieved during our state campaigns is on account of the tremendous job that folks like you had done in mobilising the people ahead of our visit.

"But let me tell you that after our rally on Tuesday in Katsina, The Home of Hospitality, our campaign is going on a break

Atiku: Stop Playing God, Rights Group Cautions Wike Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo

A human rights organisation, the Centre for Human Rights and Social Justice (CHRSJ) has cautioned the River State Governor, Mr. Nyesom Wike to stop playing God over the former vice president and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for 2023 presidential election, Atiku Abubakar, saying that only God chooses leader and not people with parochial interest.

The group gave the caution following incessant attacks on Abubakar as if the governor was God that would choose the next president for Nigerians in 2023.

Reacting to the recent statement credited to Governor Wike in the media that the people of River State should vote for all the candidates of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) except the party presidential candidate, Abubakar, the group said Wike and his acclaimed team should retrace their step from political dungeon as nobody could stop

Abubakar from become President of Nigeria in 2023 if God has destined it to be.

According to a signed statement at the weekend by CHRSJ's Executive Chairman, Adeniyi Alimi Sulaiman, Wike has not played political maturity since he lost to the PDP presidential ticket to Abubakar at the 2022 party's National Presidential Primary.

It stressed that Governor Wike should know that his popularity during the presidential party primary was just 32 per cent because for him to lose the said primary immediately after Governor Aminu Tanbuwa stepped down for Atiku, meant a lot in the political space.

The statement further stressed that people of Rivers State nay Nigeria knew whom they are going to vote for come 2023 presidential election but Governor Wike, as a respected leader of the people should stop overheating the politics with his ongoing in- house friction against the party that made him politically.

The statement noted that Wike

could not destroy the party that is more than a person because he lost election at the presidential primary.

The statement added that Governor Wike by now, should adopt internal mechanism of conflict resolution to settle all the grievances within his party instead of adding more injuries to the current problems facing by Nigeria masses under the current ruling party at the national level.

"Governor Wike should know that people of River State and good people of Nigeria know whom they are going to vote for, during the forthcoming 2023 Presidential election without being directed by anybody because they are being bitten harder with the current economic situation imposed by the current administration of ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) in Nigeria.

"Governor Wike should also learn from former Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Peter Ayodele Fayose, who was strong antagonist of President Muhammadu Buhari when Fayose was second term in

office as Governor of the State.

But immediately after Fayose left office, you rarely hear the voice of Mr. Fayose again till this present moment and it shows that political office is temporary by started thinking about the life after political office.

“Mr. Wike should know that the people of the country, particularly, the people of River State would hardly hear his voice after leaving office in 2023 and which shows that the current action of Wike and his team cannot be sustained beyond May 29, 2023.

“So, Wike should thread softly by retracing his step now.

"For us in CHRSJ, we are apolitical but as a responsible citizen by birth as enshrined in the section(25) of the amended 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

We cannot fold our arms because every human being is a political animal as postulated by the philosopher, this is the reason why we are out to caution Wike to retrace his step on the subject matter," CHRSJ submitted.

for the Yuletide. As your candidate in the next year’s presidential election, I shall continue to keep up with you even in spite of the break.

"I will expect that you too, in kind, shall hold firmly to your support base and even expand the base by the time we resume our rallies in January."

Unubiko Foundation Set to Hand Over Renovated School, Court, Others to Community In line with its objective of promoting infrastructure development in communities as well as in promoting justice and peace, the Unubiko Foundation will this Tuesday hand over the renovated Amaelu-Abam Customary Court to the community.

In addition, on December 25, 2022, the St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Atan-Abam; the Atan-Abam Women Development Centre and the renovated Ovukwu Abam Secondary School, Atan-Abam, would all be dedicated and handed over.

All the projects were done through the Unubiko Foundation. But the St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, was jointly built by the Founder, Unubiko Foundation, Chief James Ume and his uncle, Prof. Kenneth Kalu.

Ume, who is the Chairman, Unubiko Foundation, urged all indigenes of the state to be part of the dedication and handing over ceremonies. He said the initiatives were part of the Foundation’s life touching projects, expressing belief that the renovated classroom block, court rooms, the Women Development Centre and church would be greatly valued and urged members of the community to protect the facilities against vandalism.

“The Abam Onyerubi community in Arochukwu Local Government of Abia State has for so long desired transformation and improvement in the development of the ancient community.

“We heard the cry of the indigenes and embarked on these hope-restoring projects across the community,” Ume, who is the Chairman of The Whistler Newspaper said.

He revealed that prior to the intervention in the school, the students were learning under a dilapidated building, which was also a major discouragement to school attendance.

He wondered what type of learning outcome under such dilapidated structure would produce students that would be able to

compete with their peers in other parts of the world.

“Government and individuals must do more to support education, we need collective action on infrastructure development if we are to produce the right leaders of tomorrow,” Ume added.

Ume had last year revealed that the Foundatio had launched a N250 million intervention fund to rebuild the Ovukwu-Abam Secondary School, Atan Abam.

He had said the launch of the N250 million intervention fund was based on his commitment to the development of his people both infrastructural-wise and in capacity.

The Foundation had before now implemented many intervention programmes in Nigeria in areas of skills acquisition in digital technology and other areas, youths and women empowerment, job creation and poverty reduction among others.

He had said, “It is worthwhile to state that in my commitment to the development of our people both infrastructural-wise and in capacity, the Unubiko Foundation has just launched a N250 million intervention fund to rebuild the Ovukwu-Abam Secondary School, Atan Abam in Abia State and I invite all of us to be part of the future we are building.”

Previous, the Foundation had embarked on various youth empowerment programmes in Abia State. It had pointed out that the interventions were necessary to accelerate the shift towards digitallyfocused empowerment of youths in Abia State due to rising insecurity and youth unemployment.

It had also stated that its aim was to re-channel the negative vibes that some youths invest in unproductive ventures to something useful by starting to build enduring products and solutions that would power Africa with tech-innovation.

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NEWS

TAX MATTERS ON THEIR MINDS…

L-R: Legal Practitioner, Mr. Bankole James; Vice President, Ultimate Tax Relief Group (UTR), Mr. Ajenifuja Rasaq; Director, Tax Management and Operations,UTR, Mrs. Aderonke Oluruntoye;President/ CEO,UTR, Mr. Habeeb Fasuyi; and Business Development Executive, Mr. Rasheed Ologundudu,at a media briefing on tax matters in Ikeja, Lagos… recently ETOP UKUTT

DSS Withdraws Personnel from Osun Governor for Allegedly Insulting Officers

Yinka KolawoleinOsogbo

The Department of State Services (DSS) has reportedly withdrawn its officers attached to the Osun State Governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke, for allegedly insulting its officers.

A socio-political group, Osun Shall Rise Again(OSRA), had in a statement signed by its Chairman and Secretary, Lanre Akeju and Saheed Bakare respectively, claimed that Adeleke would personally appear at the DSS headquarters in Abuja over the matter.

The group disclosed that Adeleke had been allegedly insulting the officers attached to him for a while before the personnel made official complaints to the state Command.

“It is unfortunate that Governor Adeleke’s unguarded utterances has led to DSS withdrawing their personnel from him. Despite the fact

that top official of the department called to caution the governor, they (Adeleke and his sister) hauled more insults on the officers.

“The development angered the DSS headquarters, and after making contacts, they decided to withdraw their personnel.

“After the withdrawal, the

governor pleaded with the DSS Command for another chance. He is being expected in Abuja today, where he will explain himself and reassure the DSS that he can be trusted with their officers,” the group said.

While reacting, Adeleke said there is no cause for alarm over

the matter.

In a statement issued and signed

by Mallam Olawale Rasheed, the spokesperson to Governor Adeleke, said: “The attention of the Osun State Government has been drawn to a report on the alleged withdrawal of security personnel from Governor Adeleke.

Francis Sardauna in Katsina

Katsina, the Katsina state capital, according to the campaign council, was built during the PDP administration of former governor, Ibrahim Shehu Shema.

Chairman of the campaign council, Senator Ibrahim Umar-Tsauri, who disclosed this yesterday while addressing journalists in Katsina, described the development as sad and democratically challenging.

He explained that the PDP mega rally, which is expected to hold on December, 20, 202, is for the Presidential candidate of the party, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the state governorship candidate, Senator Yakubu Lado Danmarke and other candidates of the party in the state.

Tsauri said: “You all know that we built the stadium for the people of Katsina state and

Nigeria but today we want to use the stadium but because we are not in government, the government in power has refused us to use it.

“This is really sad, politically unbecoming and democratically challenging; it is too bad. But the issue of this campaign that is going to take place on Tuesday, we are going to use the Polo ground.”

Gombe Gov Signs 2023 Budget into Law Katsina Denied Us Venue for Rally, Says PDP Campaign Council Gombe State Governor, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya has signed the 2023 Appropriation Act of 176, 016, 202, 000, 00 as passed by the State House of Assembly.

The initial budget proposal 173, 697, 242, 000,000 had an increase of over 2,000,000.

Speaking shortly after signing the budget, Governor Inuwa Yahaya attributed the expeditious passage of the law to harmonious relationship between the Executive and the Legislature in the state.

The governor noted that this development signals a new dawn that will guide and direct government

operations in 2023 fiscal year.

He described the 2023 budget as a collaborative approach between the Executive and the Legislature right from its conceptualisation, drafting and eventual passage and assent into law.

“The House has been collaborating positively with this government ever since we started and I believe we shall collaborate to the last day, the cooperation and understanding we have together and the excellent relationship that we have are what made us move, not only a step but many steps ahead of many state,” he said.

Umeh Denies Demanding N500m to Support Soludo David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka Former National Chairman of All Progressives Grand Alliance, (APGA), and Anambra Central senatorial candidate of Labour Party (LP), Sen. Victor Umeh, has said there is no truth in the rumours that he demanded N500million to support the Anambra State Governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, in the last governorship election.

Umeh was speaking during the inauguration of the state executive of Senator Victor Umeh Solidarity Network (VUSON) at the weekend, a

support group, rooting for his emergence as a senator.

Umeh had dumped APGA, after he was denied the senatorial ticket of the party in what has been said to be a grand conspiracy among the leadership of the state, and the party.

Umeh said his opponents in the senatorial contest are jittery, and have resorted to all manner of propaganda against him.

According to him, “I was at Okpuno, where someone told me he heard something about me and felt he must enquire from me.”

ICT Media Chiefs Unveil Foundation to Drive Advocacy Top information, communication and technology (ICT) media practitioners have launched a foundation known as Cloud Network Foundation (CNF), to drive advocacy for skills acquisition and capacity building among youths . CNF will also push for policy that encourages local content in ICT development in Nigeria.

The foundation is worried that, among others, policy direction and implementation in the country has primarily neglected local

content development and the creation of the requisite skills and enablement for Nigeria’s teeming youth to excel in the ICT ecosystem.

Chairman of CNF, Mr. Abimbola Tooki, who remarked at the body’s inaugural meeting, said Nigeria has so much untapped potential that, when harnessed by the provision of the right policies and strategies, could replicate another Silicon Valley in California, the United States to Bangalore in India.

The Katsina State presidential and governorship campaign council of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has said the state government refused to grant the party permission to hold its presidential rally at the Muhammadu Dikko stadium.

The stadium, located in

Youth Organisation Moves against Vote Selling EmamehGabrielinAbuja

As the 2023 elections draw closer, a non-governmental organisation(NGO), Youth and Media Network Organisation (YOMEN) has launched a campaign against vote buying and selling.

Chairman, Board of Trustees of YOMEN, Emenike Eme, while

speaking with journalists in Abuja said the problem with Nigerian election was more with “vote selling than vote buying”.

Another arm of the organisation, Ready-To-Vote aimed at addressing voter apathy and disabuse the minds of the youth and electorate generally that their votes count, said it targeted audience was the

youths.

Emenike explained that the problem with our electoral process was not vote buying but the willingness of electorate to sell their votes to intending buyers.

He said: “A number of things that work against our elections in this country. One is voter apathy.

The other one is what is commonly

call vote buying. In YOMEN, we don’t see vote buying as a problem.

Let me shock you a bit. Why do we say it’s not a problem? Vote buying is not the problem, the problem is vote selling. Because if you go to the market now to buy a product and you don’t find that product, I know you won’t buy sand.

‘Uzodinma is not Opposed to Use of BVAS in 2023 Election’ President of the Centre for Convention on Democratic integrity (CCDI), Mr. Olufemi Aduwo, yesterday said that independent findings carried out by his organisation showed that the Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma is not opposed to the use of the innovative Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS)

in the 2023 general elections.

The Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) had alleged that there was a secret court action to stop the use of BVAS in the 2023 general elections.

The coalition, addressing a press conference in Abuja, through its spokesman, Ikenga Ugochinyere, had claimed it

was in possession of evidence to that effect. It, however, did not disclose the plaintiff to the suit it claimed had been filed in a court in the South East region of the country.

But Aduwo, in a statement, faulted the claim of the CUPP, saying that the Imo State Governor couldn’t have been the one fingered by the CUPP.

He added that having been a beneficiary of the Nigerian legal system, Uzodinma is at the forefront of ensuring democratic values are entrenched and as such, could never be averse to the use of BVAS in the 2023 election nor can he be making surreptitious moves to remove the INEC chairman.

Six Kidnappers, Robbers Impersonating Vigilance Groups Arrested in Delta

Omon-Julius Onabu in Asaba

Delta State Police Command announced a major breakthrough in the fight against sophisticated criminal elements in the state with the arrest of six persons allegedly impersonating local vigilance group members and

hunters.

Several arms and ammunition, including pump-action guns, were also recovered from the suspects who were said to have been operating in the Ekpan and Uvwie area in the Warri axis before luck ran out on them.

Their operational vehicle,

which they often use with the registration number removed, was also recovered from the criminal suspects and impersonators of regular security operatives and authorized vigilance members in the state.

The state police command spokesman, Mr. Bright Edafe,

who confirmed the arrest to THISDAY in Asaba, said that the heavily armed gang members were nabbed when the space wagon vehicle were intercepted by eagle-eyed police patrol team attached to the Ekpan police division in Ovwie Local Government Area.

Period of Politically-motivated Violence Over, Says Akwa Ibom Gov Okon Bassey in Uyo

Akwa Ibom State Governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, has expressed satisfaction that those dark and harrowing years of politically-motivated

violence had long gone in the state since his coming on board.

The state, he said, was now nationally considered as one of the safest states to live, work and invest in the nation

saying, “it was not always like this.”

He noted that today, one can traverse the length and crannies of the state at any hour, in peace and safety.

The governor spoke at the

2022 edition of State Christmas Carol held weekend in Uyo, stressing that the citizens of the state have every reason to sing praises to the Lord and the support enjoy from security agencies.

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Yuletide: Air Force, Local Hunters Begin War against Bandits, Kidnappers in Kwara Hammed Shittu in Ilorin The combined team of the Nigerian Airforce, local hunters and vigilantes in Kwara State at the weekend has begun ‘operation flushing out’ kidnappers, bandits and terrorists from the forest in Eiyenkorin, Peke and Okolowo in Asa Local Government Area of the state.

The development, according to the team, is to return the area to normalcy and peace for travellers and residents on that routes during the yuletide

and even beyond.

THISDAY checks revealed that the development might not be unconnected with the reported influx of the criminals from neighbouring states of Niger, Kebbi, Zamfara among others to Ilorin, the state capital.

Speaking with journalists in Ilorin after the exercise, the Commander 303 Medium Airlift Group, Nigerian Airforce in Ilorin said: “It’s no longer going to be business as usual for the bandits and kidnappers operating in the areas because they will begin entering the

bushes immediately after the exercise.”

Jibia aslo said his men would be supported by aircraft provided by the federal government towards ensuring that no criminal is left in their hideouts ins the forest.

He also commended residents for offering useful information, and the local hunters and members of the vigilante in the areas for their partnership, adding that without their support, they won’t be able to embark on the exercise.

Women Groups Reach Consensus to Vote out Anti-women Legislators KuniTyessi inAbuja

Due to the post-House of Representatives rescinding of all gender-focused bills early this year, Nigerian women are changing tactics to make their votes count in the 2023 general elections towards ensuring that all federal representatives who voted against the women-centered bills do not return to the National Assembly.

This was the consensus reached by women groups in the 45 minutes documentary, WOKEN, a joint project of the Gender Strategy Advancement

International (GSAI), and the Women’s RightsAdvancement and Protection Alternative (WRAPA) which premiered last Thursday in Abuja.

Member of the House of Representatives and House Deputy Chief Whip, Nkiruka Onyejiocha said it would have been the best alternative since the male representatives feared giving up their seats at the House.

However, they also threw out increased budget spending, and more demands by women once they gained foothold in the House.

Despite the failed advocacy, Onyejiocha urged the women to

remain steadfast in their cause and deploy other strategies to increase their representation in governance.

According to her, “We can liaise with political parties and engage with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to enforce the policy that parties without women candidates or that don’t engage women won’t be registered for election.”

In addition, she urged that beyond believing in themselves, the women should be communityoriented, warm up to their tribe and work with those who believe in the values that women can bring to governance.

Opposition Parties, Obaseki Hail Saraki at 60 political development.

19th December, 2022. Those of Udora Orizu in Abuja The Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) and Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, have congratulated former Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, on his 60th birthday anniversary.

CUPP in a statement by its spokesman, Ikenga Ugochinyere said Saraki, over the years, had greatly contributed immensely to nation building.

According to Ugochinyere, Saraki in his many years of service to as a former Governor of Kwara and 13th President of the Senate, contributed in great measures to the nation’s

He commended Saraki for his remarkable efforts in the re-building and growth of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Ugochinyere recalled with pleasure the time he worked with him as his Special Adviser on Students and Youth Matters.

While further commending the former senate president for his contributions to the PDP and nation building, he wished him many more years in good health.

The statement reads: “The immediate past President of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr Bukola Saraki will be 60 tomorrow Monday

us who know Saraki can affirm his excellent performance in the political sphere, particularly during his time as the Senate President.

“As President of the Senate in the 8th Assembly, he presided over a pro-people’s Red Chamber, which was dedicated to making laws targeted at making lives better for Nigerians. I, Ugochinyere in particular, note with great pleasure Saraki’s patriotism while conducting the affairs of the Senate, when I worked for him as Special Adviser on Students and Youth Matters in 2016.

Three Die in Ondo Road Accident, Gunmen Kill Popular Businessman collision of both vehicles, noting that accident.

Fidelis DavidinAkure Tragedy struck yesterday as three persons were killed in an accident that occurred close to the Federal Government Girls College on the Akure-Owo highway in Akure, Ondo State.

The accident involved a Toyota Sienna van with registration number: LND778YG and another Hummer bus with registration number: KTN 298 YJ. Witnesses told THISDAY that the accident was as a result of head-on

the two passengers on the Toyota Sienna, including the driver, died.

He said the driver of the Toyota Sienna attempted to overtake a trailer on the single lane highway when he collided with the Hummer bus coming from Lagos State.

When contacted, the Ondo State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Ezekiel SonAllah, said 15 people comprising 12 male adult and three female adult were involved in the

He said: “12 people-nine male adult and three female adult were injured while three male adult died.”

SonAllah described the cause of the accident as wrongful overtaking and speed violation, adding that the injured victims were taken to General Hospital, Akure, now known as Ondo State University of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospital (UNIMEDTH), for treatment while the dead bodies were deposited at the same hospital mortuary.

Oyebanji: Divert Your Birthday Gifts for Me to Charity Homes Gbenga Sodeinde in Ado Ekiti The Governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Biodun Oyebanji, has urged friends, family, well-wishers and the public to halt any plan they might have for his 55th birthday slated for December 21.

Oyebanji in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media, Mr. Yinka Oyebode, said he wouldn’t want any birthday gift, newspaper advert, gathering or party

in commemoration of his birthday, instead of advert placements, gifts or parties, the governor said anyone willing to celebrate with him should make donations to the less privileged children in the state.

Specifically, he said such plans should be converted to gifts and support to schools for the physically challenged in the three senatorial districts of the state-School for the Deaf, Ikoro-Ekiti; School

for the Blind, Ikere-Ekiti; and School for the Mentally and Physically Challenged, Ido-Ekiti.

He said financial and material gifts sent to these schools by his friends and well-wishers would be a more appreciated birthday celebration for him, adding that the country is at a point where citizens should make deliberate efforts at reaching out to the less privileged.

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Group Sports Editor: Duro Ikhazuagbe Email: duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com

0811 181 3083 SMS ONLY

Apart from leading his country Argentina to their third FIFA World Cup title against France yesterday, Captain of the Albiceleste, Lionel Messi, also emerged the first man in history to win the adidas Golden Ball twice.

Messi scored seven goals and three assists, to set multiple records and help his country win the trophy for the first time in 32 years is the best player of the tournament here at Qatar 2022.

Kylian Mbappe and Luka Modric received the Silver Ball and Bronze Ball respectively.

AWARD WINNERS Adidas Golden Ball: Lionel Messi Adidas Golden Boot: Kylian Mbappe Adidas Golden Glove: Emiliano Martinez Best Young Player: Enzo Fernandez FIFA Fair Play: England

PAST GOLDEN BOOT WINNERS 1930: 1934: 1938: 1950: 1954: 1958: 1962:

1966: 1970: 1974: 1978: 1982: 1986: 1990: 1994: 1998: 2002: 2006: 2010: 2014: 2018:

Guillermo Stabile (8 goals) Oldrich Nejedly (5) Leonidas da Silva (7) Ademir de Menezes (9) Sandor Kocsis (11) Just Fontaine, France (13) Florian Albert, Garrincha, Valentin Ivanov, Drazan Jerkovic, Leonel Sanchez and Vava (4) Eusebio (9) Gerd Muller (10) Grzegorz Lato (7) Mario Kempes (6) Paolo Rossi (6) Gary Lineker (6) Toto Schillaci (6) Oleg Salenko and Hristo Stoichkov (6) Davor Suker (6) Ronaldo (8) Miroslav Klose (5) Thomas Muller (5) James Rodriguez (6) Harry Kane (6)

Messi won the Golden Ball at Brazil 2014, where he helped Argentina finish runners-up to Germany.

Mbappe who scored eight goals won the adidas Golden Boot at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

The France forward scored eight times, one more than Lionel Messi, who collected the Silver Boot. Olivier Giroud‘s four goals seized him the Bronze Boot.

Mbappe scored three goals in the group stage and five in the knockout phase, including a hat trick in the final, which France ultimately lost on penalties.

He became only the second player to score more than six goals since 1974. Ronaldo, to whom Mbappe has been consistently juxtaposed, netted eight for Brazil in 2002.

The 24-year-old also moved on to 12 World Cup goals overall, just one shy of the France record held by Just Fontaine.

Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez kept three clean sheets as he helped Argentina win the

DURO IKHAZUAGBE Reporting live

Cup goal in the 2-0 victory over Mexico in the group stage.

Elsewhere, England won the FIFA Fair Play Trophy for the

fewest bookings throughout the tournament.

Qatar 2022 Milestones This was only the second World Cup final to see both sides score a penalty after the 1974 clash between Germany and Netherlands. It was also the first ever showpiece to see both sides score at least three goals.

Argentina have won the World Cup for a third time, 36 years since their last triumph in 1986. Only Italy (44 years from 1938 to 1982) have ever had a longer gap between winning two World Cups.

Each of the last three reigning champions to reach the World Cup final failed to win that final, with France joining Argentina in 1990 and Brazil in 1998 in doing so.

Argentina have won more penalty shoot-outs than any nation in World Cup history, with this their sixth such triumph. They are the third nation to win a World Cup final shoot-out after Brazil in 1994 and Italy in 2006.

A-list Celebrities, Football Royalty Watch the Final Match A-list celebrities and football royalty took in sport's grandest show as France and Argentina both bid to win their third World Cup crowns.

Lionel Messi's first half goal from the spot gave Argentina the lead as they dominated proceedings before Angel Di Maria doubled their advantage.

Usain Bolt posed in front of a Hublot sign donning an Argentina shirt pre-match as the Jamaican sprinter backed the country to end their World Cup anguish - having last won the trophy in 1986.

Meanwhile, David Beckham, who has landed himself in hot water over the past few weeks owing to his ambassadorial role with Qatar, posed for a photo on social media alongside his son Cruz.

British comedian Joe Lycett, in response to Beckham supposedly accepting money stretching into the tens of millions of pounds, said he would shred £10,000 on a live stream. It turned out that he actually shredded fake money, but released a programme on Friday night investigating various issues

World Cup and was given the Golden Glove award.

He played every minute of the tournament and saved Frenchman Kingsley Coman's spot-kick in the final shootout.

Morocco's Yassine Bounou and England's Jordan Pickford also kept three clean sheets as their sides reached the semi-finals and quarter-finals respectively.

Argentina and Benfica midfielder Enzo Fernandez, 21, was named Young Player of the Tournament after a string of impressive performances in Qatar.

He started the final win over France and scored his only World

Sponsored by:

Argentina Players Sweep Awards as Messi is Best Player of Qatar 2022

with the World Cup. Paul Pogba was also in attendance at the Lusail Stadium as he sought to offer moral support to his team-mates after being one of a number of France stars to be ruled out prior to the tournament owing to a knee injury.

The Juventus midfielder was photographed in a hospitality suite alongside a pantheon of sporting royalty, with Khabib Nurmagomedov also in attendance.

Interlocking arms with the former MMA fighter, Zlatan Ibrahimovic was all smiles as he posed alongside Pogba and the martial artist. To his right was his former boss at Paris Saint-Germain, Nasser Al-Khelaifi.

Also in the picture was tennis superstar Novak Djokovic and former PSG star Javier Pastore, who was there cheering on his compatriots in Argentina.

Elsewhere, Elon Musk was also pictured arriving at the ground ahead of kick off. The owner of Tesla and Twitter posted a video on the social media platform of Messi slotting his penalty beyond the despairing Hugo Lloris.

Argentina trio Enzo Fernandez, Lionel Messi and Emiliano Martinez all won individual awards, alongside France's Kylian Mbappe

Morocco’s Regragui Predicts an Africa Team to Win World Cup Soon Head Coach of Morocco, Walid Regragui, who led the Atlas Lions to a fairytale run at the tournament which ended last night here in Qatar declared on Saturday night that an Africa country is likely to win the World Cup in the next 15 to 20 years.

Regragui led Morocco to the semifinal of Qatar 2022 and lost the third place match to Croatia on Saturday night to finish overall fourth place amongst the 32 teams to featured here.

Morocco knocked out European powerhouses like Belgium, Portugal

and Spain on the road to qualifying for the last four stage of the tournament. It was the first time an African country was making it beyond the quarter final. Morocco only defeat in the World Cup here were to France in the semis and Croatia in the third-place.

But speaking at the post match conference of the third place match inside the Khalifa international Stadium in Doha, Regragui insisted that Morocco’s overall performance has shown that it is possible for an African team that work very hard could win the World Cup. According to Regragui, European teams fare better at the World Cup because they have participated in several tournaments, gaining the needed experience passed down to several generations of players.

The next World Cup in 2026, to be hosted by the USA, Canada and Mexico, will be expanded to 48 teams, and Africa will have at least nine slots – up from the current five.

“Our problem in Africa, without meaning to criticise, we can’t have just five African teams in the World Cup, given the number of teams there are,” Regragui said.

“When we see that Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa or Mali, who didn’t participate, it’s hard as it is just to come back. Now, I think we’ll have nine teams (in 2026), it’ll allow us to learn, and I think in 15-20 years, I’m certain an African team would win the World Cup because we’ll be back and apply what we’ve learned.

“This experience will teach our

boys and give them a football DNA. I think even those who have watched the matches on TV have learned the necessary details from watching to win a World Cup title,” stressed the Moroccan coach who led Wydad Casablanca to win CAF Champions League Regragui insisted Morocco gave a good account and showed that African teams work hard, adding that this memorable run doesn’t mean Morocco’s a lot stronger.

“We will have to learn, just like we learned from Ghana in 2010 in their quarter-final, how to pass that milestone.

“Africans and Moroccans have a goal to, hopefully, win the World Cup one day. Today I think we learned a lot from the semi-final and this third-place game.

Magic Messi Becomes First Player to Score in Every Stage of Tournament

Head Coach of Morocco, Walid Regragui

Lionel Messi broke another footballing record as his goal in Sunday's thrilling final win over France saw him complete the feat of scoring in every World Cup stage.

The 35-year-old attacker scored in the 23rd minute after Angel di Maria went down in the France box, with Messi making no mistake from the spot as he sent goalkeeper Hugo Lloris the wrong way.

Argentina went on to double their lead before being pegged back to 2-2 by a late Kylian Mbappe

brace which forced extra-time.

Messi scored his second of the night in added time before Mbappe complete his hat-trick to force a shootout, which Argentina won to secure their third World Cup triumph.

Messi started the journey to his scoring record with a goal in the group stage against Mexico. He then bagged a third tournament strike in Argentina's round of 16 win over Australia.

Messi then completed his

remarkable journey against France on Sunday as he opened the scoring in the World Cup final.

His 13 goals and eight assists over five World Cups means Messi has also had more goal involvements in the tournament since 1966 than any other player.

The six-time Ballon d'Or winner also shattered another record on Sunday as he became the World Cup's all-time appearance maker having started the final against France in Qatar.

MONDAY DECEMBER 19, 2022 • T H I S D AY

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MISSILE HURIWA to FG “The administration of President Buhari is to be blamed for the continued attacks on INEC offices. The government has refused to arrest or even prosecute any of the suspected attackers.

The government, despite its ineffective war on proliferation of light weapons, failed to stop nonstate actors from moving around with sophisticated arms and weapons of mass destruction...”

– Human Rights Writers Association (HURIWA) National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, berating the government and security agencies, for their lukewarmness on attacks on INEC offices.

MAHMUDJEGA VIEW FROM THE GALLERY

This Thing Called Vote Buying

I

am not a politician, have never been, I seek no power, have no sisi to buy anyone’s vote, and I have no hope of being elected a councilor in my home state or in my place of residence, so I am in a position to play the Devil’s advocate on this matter called vote buying. Too much ink has been spilled writing about it; too much saliva has been squandered groaning about it, and the airwaves are awash with academics, news anchors, INEC chiefs and busybody NGO activists railing against it.

There is the assumption by many people around here that money is the principal determinant of election victory in our clime and that party agents lurk around polling stations, persuade voters to vote for their candidates, use their smart phones to snap their [supposedly secret] ballot paper to show the agents as proof of who they voted for, and be paid for it in cash. There is reason to suspect that despite all the explanations offered by Central Bank for limiting cash withdrawal to N20,000 a day, the main reason is to curb vote buying during the upcoming election. That suspicion seems to tally with President Buhari’s well known instincts, his aversion to politics as usual and his oft-expressed distaste for money politics. While he partially managed to overcome money politics and get elected in 2015, it reasserted itself soon afterwards when his cult-like following evaporated.

I know for a fact that vote buying took [and probably still takes] place in many places during elections. During the 1999 senatorial elections in Kaduna for instance, my female reporter who was working as an NGO election observer told me an interesting story. A woman called Hajiya Tasalla, who was working for a rich senatorial candidate, set up shop in a small kiosk just behind the polling unit near the Nigeria Defence Academy. She apparently bought the entire election crew, including INEC officials, security agents and agents of rival political parties. Anytime a voter turns up, the INEC presiding officer will direct him to first go and see Hajiya Tasalla in her kiosk base. The person will emerge with a polythene bag containing sugar, salt and possibly some money. The officer will then accredit him and give him a ballot paper. How Tasalla ensured that the person voted for her candidate, I don’t know because in 1999 there were no smart phones to snap the ballot paper.

Maybe she made the person to swear

INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu

in the name of God. The election observer, who is ethnic Igbo but was born and bred in Kaduna, spoke Hausa fluently but pretended not to. As voting was ending, she overheard the president officer saying, “Tau! All these ballot papers remaining, we want to thumb print them for Hajiya’s candidate.

We are all agreed here, it is only this small girl that can cause a problem. Go and tell Hajiya to know what to do with this girl, so we can thumbprint all the remaining papers.” Presently Hajia Tasalla appeared and called the observer aside. She said, “My sister, please I want you to help me.

I want all the remaining ballot papers to be thumb printed for my candidate. It is only you that may not cooperate. Please I want you to help me. You know you are my sister.” The observer stoutly refused and the scheme failed, but that was only because it was in an urban area, for that matter near the NDA. If it were in a rural area, they could just beat her up.

Now, our election rules have since undergone major changes. Thumb printing ballot papers and snatching ballot boxes is not feasible now because voters are first accredited by card reader, since upgraded to BVAS, and the number must tally with the total votes cast and is electronically transmitted. But trust our politicians to evolve faster than technology. Since then smart phones have come along and agents ask a voter to snap his ballot paper and show it to them in return for payment.

INEC has now stopped voters from entering the polling booths with their phones, so which tactic will politicians come up with next?

Still, I believe the money distributed at polling stations is only a small factor in determining election victory anywhere in Nigeria. It might work better in a lower level election, such as for councilor or state assembly member, but could not be a big factor in a presidential or even a governorship election. Why because, much bigger factors are at play in the higher level elections, regional, ethnic, religious sentiment and party loyalty among them. Personal knowledge of candidates or their local agents, hopes for bigger reward when a certain candidate wins, influence of godfathers, patrons, parents, friends, in-laws and clerics all have an impact in many voters’ choice of who to vote for. “Issues” have an impact too, with academics and NGO activists!

I suspect that majority of voters in Nigeria decided who to vote for as soon as the major party candidates emerged, before anyone had the chance to buy their votes. Candidates have since then invested a lot of time, energy and resources in running up and down the country, holding town halls and open air rallies, erecting billboards, distributing pamphlets and souvenirs, placing ads in print, electronic and online media and debating one another on television. All of them to little effect, I dare say, because the big election factors trump all these campaign efforts.

Money distributed at polling stations, or even in compounds and houses just before election day, do not override the influence of local campaign structures for the most part. It is mostly rootless urban ruffians that are principally influenced by such money. Otherwise, in a settled rural and semi-urban community and even in settled parts of the urban community, a candidate’s local agents use a combination of regional, ethnic, religious and party loyalty factors, as well as personal influence of patrons, in-laws, godfathers and clerics to lock in support for their candidate.

That is the meaning of “structures” that politicians often talk about.

Very young folks may not remember the Ibadan godfather Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu, who died 12 years ago. As he himself once boasted, for 50 years since the early 1950s his house was always full of people. Anyone could stray in, eat amala and get a few naira notes, even during the long years of military rule when there was no politics or elections.

You think anyone could emerge overnight and override Adedibu’s influence by distributing money in polling stations?

Now, there are small Lamidi Adedibus

in every community around the country.

A candidate’s quickest way of locking up votes is to get them into your corner.

Quite alright, influence of the social media has been tremendous and a candidate can appeal directly to [youthful] voters over the heads of their parents and local chieftains. Trouble is, social media is not as reliable as local godfathers in ensuring that people turn up at the polls. The late Alhaji Yusuf Dantsoho once told me a story, that during the Third Republic presidential races, there was a man in Makurdi who was the leader of the Hausa community, and the community’s elders always gathered in his house. When an NRC aspirant arrives in Makurdi, he had a choice of either going to the community leader’s house, or to follow a youth leader who led a noisy band of youths to the airport to “welcome” the candidate and take him straight to the rally ground. One NRC candidate shunned the elders and followed the youth leader in the name of “newbreed politics,” while another aspirant told the youths to wait while he went and greeted the elders first. When the primaries held, the second aspirant swept the polls!

Most of the desperation we see at polling units, including naked vote buying, is orchestrated not by presidential or governorship candidates but by local party chieftains. They have a reason for so doing. After the election, any local chieftain who failed to “deliver” his ward or local government will be shortchanged when it comes to sharing the spoils of victory. He or she therefore employs all means legal and sometimes illegal, to deliver his ward. If he can get the father of a rebellious band of youths to paste his candidate’s poster on the wall of his house, that is often more effective than waiting to give them N500 each at the polling station.

In any case, pouring money into politics when you do not have the right local structures is usually a futile effort. Political money is best routed through a person who already has firm standing in the local community. Even if he pockets most of it, he still could deliver votes using connections and IOUs built over many years. Despite the pervasive poverty in Nigeria, it is not true that money alone could deliver an election victory. If the regional, religious, ethnic, party and local godfather factors are not right for you, you cannot win an election in many communities even if you drive in with a bullion van brimming with cash.

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