Monday, august 15, 2016 binder1 by Newtelegraphonline

Total blackout imminent as national grid collapse looms lSystem's partial shutdown hits record high lCollapsed 350 times in 10 years Adeola Yusuf

otal collapse of the Nigerian National Grid (NNG), which

will throw the entire nation into darkness, is imminent, New Telegraph

gathered at the weekend after the quarterly partial shutdown of the facility hit

a record high. The installation, investigations by this newspaper

Bill Gates donates $1m for feeding of IDPs

}37

revealed, has begun to show signs of final collapse, as the incessant collapse exceeded 350 times in the last 10 years.

The grid, a document of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) seen by this newspaper, showed CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

Sanctity Of Truth

NIGERIA’S MOST AUTHORITATIVE NEWSPAPER IN POLITICS AND BUSINESS

Monday, August 15, 2016

ICPC probes NFF officials over fraud }6

Vol. 3 No. 908

Pinnick

/newtelegraph /newtelegraph

Tremor causes panic in Rivers oil communities }40

Wike

Avengers dare military to come to the creeks }40

@newtelegraph1 www.newtelegraphonline.com @newtelegraph1 www.newtelegraphonline.com

Olonisakin

Militants arrested celebrating leader's girlfriend's birthday }8

N150

Owoseni

B'Haram: Military killed Chibok girls in air strikes

…offers to free girls in exchange for detained members

DHQ: Troops targeted terrorists FG: We're in touch with abductors Army declares journalist, Salkida, wanted over link with the sect }4

A still image from a video posted by Boko Haram showing dozens of Chibok girls...yesterday

Mother of one of the girls, Mrs. Esther Yakubu, watching the video in Abuja...yesterday

Tinubu, APC leaders split over Ondo guber poll

lEx-governor: I’ve right to support whoever I want }10 Coffee reduces cardiac damage –Scientists }47

MONday, AUGUST 15, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

SUCCESS STORIES OF THE BOI-NYSC GRADUATE ENTREPRENEURSHIP FUND (GEF) “ I am Emmanuel Faleti. born and raised in Mushin area of Lagos. I own Minuel Faleti, a lifestyle footwear fashion brand, producing shoes for domestic and export markets. As one of the pioneer beneciaries of the BOI-NYSC Graduate Entreprepreneurship Fund (GEF), I now own my business and employing other young Nigerians like me. Thank you BOI”

“...A lot more can be done for thousands of youth corp members across the country since there are three batches in a year” Waheed A. Olagunju

Ag. Managing Director & CEO, Bank of Industry

Emmanuel Faleti

CEO, Minuel Faleti | NYSC Batch A, 2015

THE BOI-NYSC GRADUATE ENTREPRENEURSHIP FUND

…supporting youth entrepreneurship

MONday, AUGUST 15, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

NEWS

MONday, AUGUST 15, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

B'Haram: Military killed Chibok girls in air strikes Emmanuel Onani Abuja

he Boko Haram sect has accused the Nigerian military of killing some of the Chibok schoolgirls in airstrikes carried out by the Nigerian Air Force (NAF). This was as the group insisted that the abducted schoolgirls will remain in captivity, unless the Federal Government released all its members in detention. The demand was made by a suspected commander of the sect, who appeared in a video showing some of the over 200 girls suspected to be the Chibok schoolgirls, who have remained in captivity since April 14, 2014, when they were abducted at the Government Girls’ School Chibok, Borno State. However, the Federal Government has reassured the public that it was doing everything to ensure the safe return of the girls. This came as the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) disclosed yesterday that it was studying the latest

video, with a view to ascertaining its authenticity or otherwise. The video, cited by the SITE Intelligence Group, was posted by Ahmad Salkida on YouTube. Salkida, a Nigerian journalist, is believed to have good contacts with Boko Haram. Salkida said he was given the video by associates of Abubakar Shekau, the factional leader of the terrorist group. In the latest video, the masked commander, who is seen wielding a gun, claimed that some of the girls were nursing lifethreatening injuries, while about 40 have been given out in marriage. The fighter, who spoke in Hausa, vowed that the abducted girls may never be released, unless detained fighters, who he said have been "in detention for ages" are released. Also in the video, bodies of some girls suspected to have been killed during air strikes are seen on one side. In apparent demonstration of his seriousness, the Boko Haram terrorist was seen in an interview with

a girl who gave her name as Maida Yakubu. The schoolgirl called on parents to appeal to the Federal Government to accede to the request to free detained fighters, for their (the Chibok girls') rescue. While another girl was seen holding a baby, others were seen weeping, ostensibly to hasten government's concession. Part of the translation reads: "It pleased God to let us have these girls in our captivity for over two years now. Our first message is to the parents of the girls to let them know that their daughters are still with us, some of them. “I also want to tell them to ask the Nigerian government to release our brethren, especially those in Maiduguri, Lagos and Abuja and other places across Nigeria. They should be released immediately. “You all knew that we had the girls, but God never allowed you to know their location and you will never know by God’s grace. You keep lying in your media that you will rescue them, they have been with us for

over two years, yet you can’t even know where they are. You have just been lying about these girls, people should know that. "Also, for the over two years that we have been with these girls, about 40 of them are married, some are dead as a result of airstrike by infidels. We will show you a video of how your own aircraft dropped a bomb that killed some of these girls. Some of the girls have suffered fractures and other forms of injuries as a result of the air strikes." Continuing he said: "As you can see, these are the girls, all we want is for you to release our brethren otherwise you will never get these girls God willing. This, in short, is our message to the Federal Government and the parents of the Chibok Girls. "As long as the government does not release our people, we will also never release these girls, that is our message. I specially inform our people in captivity in Lagos that they should be patient and continue with their prayers,

Oby Ezekwesili (left); parents of Dorcas Yakubu (third and fourth left), during the meeting with Bring Back Our Girls Group (BBOG) in Abuja… yesterday

BBOG identifies girls in new video Abuja

he BringBackOurGirls (BBOG) advocacy group has identified some of the 50 Chibok girls in the new video released by Boko Haram. The group specifically identified the girl interviewed in the video as Dorcas Yakubu whose mother, Esther, lives in Abuja. The video came 853 days after the abduction of the girls. The BBOG, in a statement titled "Official Response to Latest Video on the State of Our ChibokGirls" issued in Abuja yesterday by former Minister of Education, Dr. Oby Ezekwezili, and Aisha Yesufu, said it received the

“There is nothing you, or we, can do about this, but to get their people back to them, so we can go home. Exercise patience as we also have endured.” The sect commander took over and continued: "Let me conclude this message by saying that many people have been coming to us lying that they were sent by the Nigerian government to get the girls released. “Let the government and the whole world know that we have not sent anyone to negotiate with the government on our behalf over these girls. We have dealt with you in the past before and you know our recommended negotiators. “If you need to, you should talk to them. We don’t use our own people to negotiate with you, we use your own people such as journalists to talk with you. We have not sent any other persons. You know that we prefer to use journalists known to you. "Let me say again, release our people and we release your girls, otherwise, they will never be released. If you think you have the power to come and rescue them, go ahead and try. "President Buhari, your Army has been lying to you that they have finished us, let them try and see if they can rescue these girls alive." In Abuja, Maida’s mother, Mrs. Esther Yakubu, watched the video along CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

Links with terrorists: Army declares journalist, two others wanted

PHOTO: Yekeen nurudeen

Yekeen Nurudeen

God will take us to where no one expects and we will rescue them; all those in Lagos, Maiduguri and other southern parts of the country. Keep praying, very soon, we will rescue you." The gunman then called a girl out and interrogated her. Sect commander: What is your name? Girl: My name is Maida Yakubu Sect commander: Where are you from? Girl: I am from Chibok town Sect commander: Where were you picked from? Girl: School Sect commander: What is the name of the school? Girl: GSS Chibok Sect commander: For how long have you been here? Girl: About two years Sect commander: What message do you have for your parents and the Federal Government of Nigeria? Girl: “Our parents, please exercise patience. We are suffering here. There is no kind of suffering we haven’t seen. Our sisters are injured; some have wounds on their heads and bodies. “Tell the government to give them their people so we can also come to be with you. We are all children and we don’t know what to do. The suffering is too much, please endeavour as we also have exercised patience.

news with mixed feelings of grief and strengthened hope as the chilling words continue to sink in. The BBOG said the recognition of several of the girls leaves no room for doubt that "these are our girls". The group lamented that even the return of one of the girls, Amina Nkeki, has not inspired the sort of action demanded from the Federal Government. "Since we last met with the president in January, we have continued to call on him to be responsive to the needs of our Chibok parents, our movement, and the global community for timely updates on the rescue operation. “In the aftermath of an earlier video, we repeatedly called for the government

to treat the information as the missing piece of “credible information” it was seeking. Not even the return of Amina Ali, a Chibok girl, inspired the sort of response we demanded,” the group said. It also demanded an immediate, transparent, action and result-oriented response plan by the government. “After listening to the call of Dorcas Yakubu, we demand an immediate, transparent, action and result-oriented response plan by the government. “We state categorically that the excuse of a split within the terrorists’ ranks or a period of validation of the authenticity of their claims will not suffice this time. We shall press these demands with a march to

the Villa in the next few days. “Nothing short of the military being in contact with the parents, confirming identities of our girls, providing psychosocial support where necessary, and most importantly, articulating an action plan will be acceptable. “Today, 28 months since the abduction, we call on the governments of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, China, Australia, Israel, agencies like the United Nations and African Union and all who previously expressed intentions to support the rescue efforts, to reengage and adopt a strategic rescue position. As global citizens, this is the least our #ChibokGirls deserve," BBOG said.

he Nigerian Army has declared three persons, including a journalist, wanted allegedly in connection with the over 200 Chibok girls abducted by Boko Haram since 2014. They are Ahmad Salkida (Ambassador), Ahmed U. Bolori and Aisha Wakil. According to a statement issued yesterday by the Acting Director Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman, the wanted persons have information on the conditions and the exact location of those girls. "Therefore, the Nigerian Army hereby declares the two gentlemen and the lady wanted for interrogation. "We are relying on the relevant laws of the land and in particular the Terrorism Prevention Act 2011 (as amended) where Nigerians could be punished for failure to disclose informa-

£10.3m

The annual salary of Luis Alberto Suarez of Barcelona in 2014/2015. Source: Paywizard.co.uk

tion about terrorists or terrorists’ activities. "This becomes necessary as a result of their link with the last two videos released by Boko Haram terrorists and other findings of our preliminary investigations. "There is no doubt that these individuals have links with Boko Haram terrorists and have contacts with them. "They must, therefore, come forward and tell us where the group is keeping the Chibok girls and other abducted persons to enable us rescue them," Usman said. He called on all Nigerians and other peace-loving people to give useful information on the whereabouts of the suspects. "We are also liaising with other security agencies for their arrest if they fail to turn up," he said.

38.4

The number of fixed-telephone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants of Bahamas in 2000. Source: Itu.int

MONday, AUGUST 15, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

RETURNS ON SOURCES OF FUND SOLD TO CUSTOMERS FOR THE WEEK ENDED FRIDAY 12-08-2016 S/NO.

SOURCE

DATE OF FUND PURCHASED

1 GUARANTY TRUST BANK 2 EXPORT PROCEED

EXCHANGE RATE

AMOUNT PURCHASED ($) 1,000,000.00

8-Aug-16

311.50

9-Aug-16

316.67

1,679,001.82

3 ORDINARY DOMICILLIARY PURCHASED

10-Aug-16

315.00

201,570.00

4 MONEY GRAM

11-Aug-16

350.19

27,325.09

5 CAPITAL IMPORTATION

12-Aug-16

315.00

70,000.00

2,977,896.91

TOTAL

RETURNS ON UTILIZATION OF FUND SOLD TO CUSTOMERS FOR THE WEEK ENDED FRIDAY, 12-08-2016 S/NO.

CUSTOMER/FXPD/NON-FXPD 1 ADEFOLORUNSHO TECHNICAL VENTURES LTD 2 ADEYEMI KOREDE ADEKOYA

ITEM OF IMPORT PET CHIPS CR 8816 SCHOOL FEES

DATE OF FUND PURCHASED

EXCHANGE RATE

AMOUNT SOLD ($)

8-Aug-16

312.00

8-Aug-16

312.00

17,339.00

50,000.00 102,672.00

3 BHOJRAJ INDUSTRIES PLC

WYMO FINANCE LIMITED

8-Aug-16

312.00

4 BINANI PRINTING PRESS LIMITED

AUTOMATIC EXERCISE BOOK MAKING MODEL

8-Aug-16

312.00

110.00

5 BINANI PRINTING PRESS LIMITED

AUTOMATIC EXERCISE BOOK MAKING MODEL

8-Aug-16

312.00

100,000.00

6 CAPSTONE MICROFINANCE BANK LTD

SCHOOL FEES

8-Aug-16

312.00

18,499.88

7 DAHUNSI TITILAYO

LIVING EXPENSES

8-Aug-16

312.00

15,635.00

8 DAHUNSI TITILAYO

LIVING EXPENSES

8-Aug-16

312.00

11,788.00

9 G. T AND IMPORTS NIGERIA LIMITED

SNOW WHITE PETROLEUM JELLY

8-Aug-16

312.00

100,000.00

10 KRISHAN NIGERIA LIMITED

TOPEX BRAND PORTABLE GASOLENE ENGINE

8-Aug-16

312.00

1,394.85

11 KRISHAN NIGERIA LIMITED

MILLING MACHINERY SPARES

8-Aug-16

312.00

22,924.38

12 KRISHAN NIGERIA LIMITED

MILLING MACHINERY SPARES

8-Aug-16

312.00

29,301.32

13 NYCIL LIMITED

METHACRYLIC ACID

8-Aug-16

312.00

35,659.20

14 PLENCO INDUSTRIES LTD

INDUSTRIAL RAW MATERIAL

8-Aug-16

312.00

15 PRICERITE PRODUCTS LTD

RITE-TEK BRAND APPLIANCES

8-Aug-16

312.00

54,416.18

16 TERRATIGA LTD

ANIMAL FEED CONCENTRATE

8-Aug-16

312.00

100,000.00

17 TERRATIGA LTD

ANIMAL FEED CONCENTRATE

8-Aug-16

312.00

15,978.20

18 THE PRIORITY ALUMINIUM LIMITED

MOULDS/DIES FOR ALUMINIUM PRODUCTION

8-Aug-16

312.00

22,238.00

19 IDOWU YEMI

SCHOOL FEES

8-Aug-16

312.00

36,632.78

20 AFRO BALA NIG LTD

GRANITE TILES/GRANITE SLABS

8-Aug-16

312.00

12,917.00

21 BISOLA-OJO ADEDAYO

MEDICAL BILL PAYMENT

8-Aug-16

312.00

17,000.00

22 SAWHNEY TEJBIR SINGH

PHR

8-Aug-16

312.00

10,000.00

23 KUPONIYI KIKELOMO

ACCOMODATION

8-Aug-16

312.00

6,791.08

24 KUPONIYI KIKELOMO

ACCOMODATION

8-Aug-16

312.00

4,545.66

25 RELIANCE UNIVERSAL CONCEPT LTD

KEROSENE STOVES

8-Aug-16

312.00

23,000.00

26 AARTI ROLLING MILLS LTD

CAPITAL MACHINERY -VARIOUS COMPONENTS

8-Aug-16

312.00

2,699.23

27 AARTI STEEL NIGERIA LTD

PRIME HOT ROLLED CHEQURED STEEL PLATE

8-Aug-16

312.00

253.75

28 AARTI STEEL NIGERIA LTD

SPECIAL HIGH GRADE ZINC

8-Aug-16

312.00

17,554.49

29 STARTREND INDUSTRIES LTD

PRIME ELECTROLYTIC TINPLATE

8-Aug-16

312.00

216.00

30 STARTREND INDUSTRIES LTD

PRIME ELECTROLYTIC TINPLATE(INDUSTRIAL RAW MATERIAL)

8-Aug-16

312.00

216.00

31 STARTREND INDUSTRIES LTD

PRIME ELECTROLYTIC TINPLATE(INDUSTRIAL RAW MATERIAL)

8-Aug-16

312.00

116.00

32 RITE FOODS LTD

SET OF HANDLING PARTS FOR A NEW 600ML CSD BOTTLE

8-Aug-16

312.00

674.34

33 SOMOTEX NIG LTD

VIKRANT BRAND TRUCK NYLON TYRES

8-Aug-16

312.00

1,121.65

34 SOMOTEX NIG LTD

VIKRANT BRAND TRUCK NYLON TYRES

8-Aug-16

312.00

997.51

35 ADIREJE WEST AFRICA LTD

GAZPROMNEFT STANDARD 20W50 4L

8-Aug-16

312.00

667.56

36 SEVEN UP BOTTLING COMPANY PLC

MACHINERY SPARE PARTS

8-Aug-16

312.00

597.76

37 SEVEN UP BOTTLING COMPANY PLC

MACHINERY SPARE PARTS

8-Aug-16

312.00

485.41

38 GRAND CEREALS LIMITED

FEED MILL SPARES

8-Aug-16

312.00

478.69

39 SUNCHEM INDUSTRIES LTD

ESSENTIAL CHEMICAL RAW MATERIAL

8-Aug-16

312.00

1,555.92

40 SUNCHEM INDUSTRIES LTD

INDUSTRIAL RAW MATERIALS

8-Aug-16

312.00

1,035.25

41 IRIS SMART TECHNOLOGIES LTD

PASSPORT BOOKLETS

8-Aug-16

312.00

231.00

42 ELTEES FARMS LTD

POULTRY FARM EQUIPMENT

8-Aug-16

312.00

2,824.16

43 T.G ARLA DIARY PRODUCTS LIMITED

DANO COOL COW FILLED MILK POWDER

8-Aug-16

312.00

98.44

44 MAYFAIR AGRO-ALLIED NIGERIA LTD

LINEAR LOW DENSITY

8-Aug-16

312.00

250.00

45 D2H SERVICES LTD

AGRICULTURAL GRINDING MILLS

8-Aug-16

312.00

247.29

46 NEPAL OIL & GAS SERV LTD

UNLEADED GASOLINE

8-Aug-16

312.00

560.00

47 INTER-SWASTIK NIG LTD

PP COPOLYMER

8-Aug-16

312.00

547.70

48 MINDAS PETROLEUM LTD

GASOIL

8-Aug-16

312.00

25.00

49 GODY JONAS ENTERPRISES LTD

AGRICULTURAL GRINDING MILLS

8-Aug-16

312.00

714.33

50 SUNCHEM INDUSTRIES LTD

INDUSTRIAL RAW MATERIAL

8-Aug-16

312.00

759.84

51 STERLING BANK PLC

COURSE FEE

8-Aug-16

312.00

12,250.00

52 STERLING BANK PLC

RECURRING NAMENGLA BILLS

8-Aug-16

312.00

3,045.72

53 STERLING BANK PLC

ORANGE IP VPN CONNECTIVITY BILLS

8-Aug-16

312.00

2,543.00

54 OMOTOSHO SAMSON BABATUNDE

EXAMINATION FEE

8-Aug-16

312.00

650.00

55 DAMISA VICTORIA ENEYAMIRE

SCHOOL FEES

8-Aug-16

312.00

2,215.35

56 KIARA INDUSTRIES NIG LTD

LOW DENSITY POLYETHYLENE

8-Aug-16

312.00

20,000.00

57 MABAWONKU MODUPE

SCHOOL FEES

8-Aug-16

312.00

1,111.11

58 OLADOSU OLALEYE ALXANDER

SCHOOL FEES

8-Aug-16

312.00

3,500.00

8-Aug-16

312.00

8-Aug-16

312.00

59 OKECHUKWU OKORAFOR 60 OMORODION AANUOLUWAPO AKINDELE 61 AWOTUNDUN OPEYEMI MATHEW

PTA PTA

3,000.00 4,000.00 1,800.00

8-Aug-16

312.00

62 AARTI ROLLING MILLS LTD

CAPITAL MACHINERY -VARIOUS COMPONENTS

9-Aug-16

310.50

150,000.00

63 MARIANAH INTL LINKS LTD

BLUETOOTH INTERACTIVE PIGGYBANK,TOKENS INDUSTRIAL SPARES AND ACCESSORIES TO BE USED IN PLASTIC MANUFACTURING

9-Aug-16

316.41

250,000.00 24,864.00

64 STARSONIC NIGERIA LTD

PTA

45,640.00

10-Aug-16

312.50

65 STERLING BANK PLC

BLOOMBERG SUBSCRIPTION

10-Aug-16

315.50

21,720.00

66 BEAUMONT AROMATICS NIG LTD

INDUSTRIAL COMPRESSORS

10-Aug-16

315.50

10,935.82

67 BEAUMONT AROMATICS NIG LTD

INDUSTRIAL MATERIAL HANDLING EQUIPMENT

10-Aug-16

315.50

10-Aug-16

315.50

68 SHALDAG LIMITED

FISH FARM COMPONENTS

40,000.00 64,697.76 2,000.00

69 OVBUDE SUSAN TOLUWANII

PTA

10-Aug-16

315.50

70 ADEWUYI KOLAWOLE HASHIM

PTA

10-Aug-16

315.50 320.50

108,885.00 1,123,016.82

71 SARO AGRO SCIENCES LTD

JUTE BAGS

10-Aug-16

72 SARO AGRO SCIENCES LTD

TERMEX 1LT,SOLITEX 1TR,VANGUISH 1LT,STING 1LT

10-Aug-16

320.50

10-Aug-16

325.00 305.50

73 SIMPSON ADETUNDE OPEYEMI

EXAMINATION FEE

74 STERLING BANK PLC

SEND GRID SERVICES

11-Aug-16

75 STERLING BANK PLC

BLACKBERRY MESSENGER ADS

1,500.00

650.00 21,311.40

11-Aug-16

305.50

3,500.00

76 GBAJABIAMILA IFEDAYO KOLAWOLE

SCHOOL FEES

11-Aug-16

305.50

11,526.78

77 AKINGBADE JOHN ADEWALE

PTA

11-Aug-16

305.50

4,000.00

78 EGEOLU NNAEMEKA LEO

PTA

11-Aug-16

305.50

4,000.00

79 AGHOMON AIDELOKHAI NELSON

PTA

11-Aug-16

305.50 305.50

3,000.00 4,000.00

80 AKANGBE MARYAM OMOLADE

PTA

11-Aug-16

81 AKINRINDE ADEWALE OLUWATOSIN JAMESONS

PTA

2,000.00

11-Aug-16

305.50

82 WALE-AKINRINDE ADEWUNMI OMOLARA

PTA

11-Aug-16

305.50

1,000.00

83 EQUIDEB BDC LTD

BDC SALE

11-Aug-16

355.60

20,151.03

84 EQUIDEB BDC LTD

BDC SALE

11-Aug-16

356.69

7,174.06

85 CORONATION MFB

IBS

12-Aug-16

330.50

100,000.00

NEWS

Alleged fraud: ICPC probes NFF ...quizzes top officials over furnishing of Glass House, FIFA funds

Emmanuel Onani Abuja

he Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) has

commenced investigation into some alleged financial transactions in the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF). New Telegraph gathered authoritatively that the anti-corruption agency is probing the alleged

furnishing of the "Glass House", as well as funds made available to the Federation by the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA). It was further learnt that the commission is also investigating the League

Management Committee (LMC). A highly placed source, who spoke in confidence with New Telegraph, said the LMC's probe arose from a petition by some clubs that played league matches. The top officials to be

quizzed are from the accounts section of the football body. It was gathered that some of the officials were at the commission's headquarters in Abuja on Friday, but were asked to return today with others that were not available.

Boko Haram offers to free Chibok girls in exchange for detained members CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4

with her husband at the weekly rally of the Bring Back Our Girls campaign at Unity Fountain. But, the Federal Government yesterday reiterated its determination to rescue the girls. The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in a statement, said the government was being careful in its rescue operation, in order not to harm the abducted girls in the process. The minister said that the government was in touch with those purportedly behind the video. The minister, in a statement by his Special Adviser, Mr. Segun Adeyemi,

18.34%

The percentage contribution of Petroleum Profits Tax to total collection for June 2015. Source: Firs.gov.ng

said: "We are on top of the situation. But we are being extremely careful because the situation has been compounded by the split in the leadership of Boko Haram. We are also being guided by the need to ensure the safety of the girls. ''Since this is not the first time we have been contacted over the issue, we want to be doubly sure that those we are in touch with are who they claim to be," Mohammed expressed the hope that the latest development will signal the beginning of the end of the nightmare to which the girls, their families and, indeed, all Nigerians have been subjected since the unfortunate abduction.

Abuja

inister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, has declared that it is the exclusive reserve of universities to admit students based on criteria set by the individual institutions, using results from the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) examination. The minister also dispelled reports that the former Registrar and chief executive of JAMB, Dibu Ojerinde, was sacked following the way he handled the ongoing 2016 admission into universities and other tertiary institutions. Ojerinde was sacked alongside 16 other chief executives of parastatals and agencies under the Ministry of Education. In an exclusive interview with our correspondent at the presidential villa, Abuja, after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, Adamu insisted that the removal of the JAMB Registrar was because the Federal Government wanted to replace the heads of the agencies in the sector.

eo, especially the terrorist member and the girl that spoke in mother tongue. “It is extremely difficult and rare to hit innocent people during airstrike because the operation is done through precision attack on identified and registered targets and locations. "The precision airstrike is very effective at taking out targeted enemies be-

cause it is not a random operation. We are, nevertheless, studying the video clips to examine if the victims died from other causes rather than from the allegation of airstrike." It will be recalled that less than two weeks ago, Boko Haram's leader, Abubakar Shekau, had appeared in a video, where he threatened to attack President Muhammadu Buhari.

"The ICPC is looking into the scandal in the Glass House. Some top officials of the Accounts Department were invited, but because they could not get all of them, the commission asked them to report back at the headquarters on Monday. "The probe has to do with furnishing of the Glass House, and funds involving FIFA allocations. These are some of the funds the commission is looking for," he said. The source further disclosed that: "There is also the issue of the League Management Company (LMC). There are petitions against them on alleged misappropriation. Some of the clubs that played the leagues have sent petitions to ICPC, which they are currently investigating." When New Telegraph called the NFF's spokesman, Mr. Ademola Olajire, for comment, he said: "I'm not aware."

0.42

The number of fixed-telephone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants of Bangladesh in 2001. Source: Itu.int

JAMB has no right to admit students –Minister Anule Emmanuel

In the same light, the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has said it had begun a probe of the video, which will include an analysis of the voice of the fighter. The DHQ, in a statement by its spokesman, Brig.-Gen. Rabe Abubakar, said: "Currently we are studying the video clips to verify its authenticity and analysing the comments of the speakers in the vid-

MONday, AUGUST 15, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Speaking to New Telegraph, the Education Minister confirmed that the decision by JAMB to offer provisional admissions to students into universities was completely wrong. He said the board erred in the first instance by admitting students for the universities for the 2016 academic session. He said: "You know the decision we took to scrap the post Universities/ Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), but the right to admit students into universities remains with the universities not JAMB. "JAMB made a mistake by starting the admission process," Adamu stressed. The minister explained that "what we did was to say that they don't have the power, but it has nothing to do with why the Registrar was removed.” According to him, "the government only decided to replace heads of parastatals. Universities will go on with admission from the results of JAMB, but they can also do screening. There will be no postUTME, but they will just admit from the results of JAMB."

Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar (second left); Commander, 106 Headquarters, Nigerian Air Force Camp, Abuja, Air Commodore Kabiru Aliyu (second right), and the Chief of Policy and Plans, Air Vice Marshal James Gbum (left) exercising with other senior officers during the 3rd Quarter Route March in Abuja…at the weekend. PHOTO: NAN

Total blackout imminent as national grid collapse looms CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

"is in need of total overhaul to avert the impending crisis." The NNG, the document added, "experiences an average of 35 system collapse every year over the past 10 years." The constant collapse of the system increased in the second quarter to over 13 times in three months. In May 2016, the national grid collapsed five times. In June, it collapsed four times. And at the end of the quarter, the nation had witnessed more than 13 grid collapse, the document showed. "The grid risks imminent total collapse if nothing is done on its total overhaul," an engineer with the Oshogbo centre of the TCN told New Telegraph after his anonymity was guaranteed. For instance, the collapse that occurred on Sunday, June 19, which threw Rivers, Bayelsa, Cross River and Akwa Ibom states into total darkness, will be a child's play with the looming total grid collapse if nothing is done to avert it. The source, who ac-

knowledged that the Federal Government’s investment in the power sector has exceeded N4 trillion ($20 billion), maintained that the investment was made on misplaced priority – generation and distribution – while the transmission was left with little or no major investment. Between 1999 and 2007, the government invested $16 billion in power generation and distribution through Independent Power Projects (IPP) and the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN). And between 2007 and 2015, a document of the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) showed over $4 billion was sunk into power generation and distribution, leaving the power transmission with little or no investment. These, according to information, formed part of revelations before a 13-man ad-hoc committee set up in the first quarter of 2016 by the Senate to carry out a holistic investigation into the management of funds appropriated to the power

sector from the Olusegun Obasanjo administration to the government of Goodluck Jonathan. The NERC document showed that the commission submitted files detailing the investments in the power sector to the Senate committee. The incessant collapse of national grid and its attendant zero megawatt transmission to distribution companies, the source said had, however, shown that those investments were made by the government on misplaced priorities. Nigeria, a country of 170 million people, it would be recalled, was thrown in darkness caused by the partial grid collapse, which re-occurred for 10 consecutive days between Tuesday, March 29 and Thursday, April 7. “The government that sunk well over $20 billion investments into the power sector was not unaware that the national grid was so weak and needed a total overhaul," the TCN source said. "Why then is it that no

major investment was made to correct this?” he quipped. Although the TCN has deployed engineers to resuscitate the grid, investigation by New Telegraph showed that the total collapse of the grid is still imminent. What the country needs is the total overhaul of the grid coupled and the establishment of small super grids for power reservations to evade the total grid collapse threat. Further checks of the generation revision by the Nigeria Electricity System Operator showed that for 07/04/2016 00:00:00 megawatt generation caused by partial collapse occurred in April. Before this, the grid collapse had also grounded the power supply to zero MW nationwide at different hours between Thursday March 31 and Thursday April 7. The collapse in power supply, according to findings by this newspaper, occurred also between 12:30 and 3:00p.m. on the second week of May.

MONday, AUGUST 15, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

FIRST CITY MONUMENT BANK

RETURNS ON UTILIZATION OF FUNDS SOLD TO CUSTOMERS FOR WEEK ENDED FRIDAY AUGUST 12, 2016 DATEOFFUND PURCHASE

EXCHANGE RATE

AMOUNT

PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PREFUNDEDMASTERCARD PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PREFUNDEDMASTERCARD PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PREFUNDEDMASTERCARD PTA/BTA PREFUNDEDMASTERCARD PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA

8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16

330.50 330.50 330.00 330.50 330.00 330.00 330.00 330.00 330.00 330.50 330.50 330.50 330.00 330.00 319.50 330.00 330.00 333.00 333.00 330.50 330.00 330.00 330.50 330.50 333.00 330.50 333.00 330.50 330.50 330.50 330.00 333.00 330.50 330.50 330.50 330.50 330.50 330.50 330.00 330.00 330.50 330.50 319.50 319.50 330.50 330.00 330.00 330.00 330.00 330.00 330.00 332.50 330.00 330.00 330.00 330.00 330.00 330.50 330.50 330.50 330.50 330.50 330.00 330.00 330.00 330.50

4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 2,500.00 4,000.00 2,500.00 2,500.00 2,500.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 2,000.00 2,050.00 4,000.00 2,000.00 2,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 5,000.00 2,500.00 2,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 5,000.00 3,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 5,000.00 4,000.00 3,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 2,500.00 2,500.00 2,490.00 3,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 2,000.00 2,000.00 5,000.00 2,500.00 2,500.00 2,000.00 2,500.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00

PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA FORMA ODORIFEROUSSUBSTANCEFORCHICKEN SCHOOLFEES CORNSTARCHFOODGRADE SCHOOLFEES SCHOOLFEES HDPE SCHOOLFEES SKIMMEDMILKPOWDERMSKMHSPEC. METTALIZEDPAPERGEPALUX2000PLUSPLAIN METTALIZEDPAPERGEPALUX2000PLUSPLAIN UNCOATEDWOODFREEPAPERINSHEETS UNCOATEDWOODFREEPAPERINSHEETS UNCOATEDWOODFREEPAPERINSHEETS PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PREFUNDEDMASTERCARD PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PREFUNDEDMASTERCARD PTA/BTA PREFUNDEDMASTERCARD PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA

8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16

330.50 330.50 330.50 330.50 330.50 330.50 333.00 330.50 330.50 330.50 330.00 330.00 330.00 330.50 330.50 330.50 330.00 330.00 332.50 330.50 332.50 330.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 330.50 330.50 330.50 330.50 330.50 330.50 332.50 332.50 333.00 333.00 333.00 332.50 302.00 300.50 332.50 332.50 333.00 333.00 333.00 333.00 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 308.50 332.50 330.00 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 333.00 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50

4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 5,000.00 2,000.00 2,500.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 5,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 5,342.00 3,100.00 21,228.00 84,000.00 15,482.50 10,240.00 30,000.00 4,006.50 200,000.00 14,924.01 166,749.60 125,717.75 9,184.90 65,097.35 2,500.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 5,000.00 2,500.00 1,000.00 3,394.34 2,500.00 4,000.00 3,000.00 3,000.00 2,500.00 2,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 2,000.00 2,000.00 5,000.00 4,000.00 9,100.00 11,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00

PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA

9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16

332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50

4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 3,872.48 3,000.00

CUSTOMER

ITEMOFIMPORT

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67

ESSIENIDONGESITENE/BTA ESSIENMKPOIKANAN/BTA NWOSUJENNIFERO/PTA ADEWUSIADEKUNLE/BTA COWRYFIELDENERGYLTD/BTA OLUBUSOLAEDOZIE/PTA COKEROLUSOLA/PTA OLUWATOYINCOKER/PTA COKEROMOWUNMI/PTA AKINMUSAYOMARYSEYI/PTA FATIMABINTAYUSUF/BTA OLAJIDEOLANREWAJUE/PTA OYEDELEADEDAYOO/PTA UKACHUKWUTOBENNA/MASTERCARD SERIKIOLAPEJUASSISAT/PTA EKPENKHIOMERCY/PTA IRUMHEKHAADADANIELLA/PTA OLAYINKAIBIRONKE/PTA ADEYINKAADENIYI/PTA AKINWUMMIAKINADEA/BTA IZUORAONOCHIEUCHE/PTA OROLEKESUNDAYB/PTA OSITA-NWANUADACHINWE/PTA ADEYEMIADEDOYIN/PTA ADETUTUALU/PTA OSITANWANU/PTA ADISAISMAILOLADAPO/PTA ADEYEMISAHEED/PTA TAIWOSHEKONI/MASTERCARD ALADETUYIABIMBOLA/PTA BUKOLASMITH/PTA SHOYINKARASHIDAT/PTA CHIONONSOCHUKWUELUE/PTA TAIWOSHEKONI/MASTERCARD ADEDOYINJIBODU/PTA OKESANJOMOSOPEFOLUWA/MASTERCARD RONKEJIBODU/PTA CHIKECKUKWUELUE/PTA CHARLESPEACEU/PTA ABOHIBEKENNETH/PTA ABIOYEOLAWALEFATAI/PERDIEM ADEKUNLEOMOLOLAO/PTA OSHINAIKEBABATUNDEAMOS/PTA MORDIMICHAELCHIEDU/PTA AZEEZETTIOLASUNKAMI/PTA OSENIFATAIATANDA/PTA CHIEJINEELEMCHID/PTA SHADAKGLOBALRESOURCES/PTA BALOGUNADEBOLAO/PTA BALOGUNIBRAHIM/PTA OSENIKAFILATA/BTA OLUWAKEMISHOYINKA/PTA OLORUNDUYILEMIOYEYEMIT/PTA WASIUDEENGANIYUO/PTA OSHIKOMAYAOLUWAKAYODEA/PTA WASIUDEENSIKIRATA/PTA DUDUYEMIOLAYINKAI/PTA SALISUNAZIFIISA/PTA SALISUFATIHUISA/PTA BALASAADATUM/PTA SANIUSAMAUMAR/PTA SAGIRSHITUI/PTA WUNMIABIODUN/PTA ABIODUNADEOLUWAJ/PTA TOYEFRANCISO/PTA OLALEKANKAYODEF/PTA OWOLABIAYINDES/PTA

68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134

OLAYINKAMICHAEL/PTA ODODOEKWEIYUO/PTA AKINSANYAIBRAHIMA/PTA BADMUSIDAYATI/PTA LIHUDONALDC/PTA GRANVILLCONSULTANCYLTD/BTA LA-MODEVENTURES/PTA JIKOLATGLOBALINVESTMENT/PTA durustephaniec/pta AMUSANOMOLOLAM/PTA OGUNKOYAMARCUSA/PTA PEACHOMGLOBALSERVICESLTD/BTA okekeonyedikav/pta odinakavictorn/pta nwokoropaulc/pta SHIYANBOLAABDULHAFEEZA/PTA RAJIKABIRUOLALEKAN/PTA OMOGIWAMATTHEWTAIYE PROMASIDORNIGERIALIMITED SENBOREOLUKAYODEEMMANUEL SOHOMAVITAVENTURESLIMITED TOMOROLINVESTMENTSLIMITED TOMOROLINVESTMENTSLIMITED WATERFORDLIMITED ZUMAINTERNATIONALLIMITED JOFNIGERIALIMITED MASTERSTROKEPACKAGESLIMITED MASTERSTROKEPACKAGESLIMITED NEXUSFORLIFE NEXUSFORLIFE NEXUSFORLIFE INOKOBABINATARIS/PTA MUHAMMEDAMRAHR/PTA OBATOYINBOOLOYEDE/PTA OBATOYINBOOLOYEDE/PTA REALESTATEBROKERAGECOMPAN/BTA UTIKRONAKEGHA/PTA ADEBANJOMARY/BTA EBUCHEANN/PTA EBUIFEYINWA/BTA OLAJIDEOLUWASEUN/PTA UMUNNAUCHECHIE/PTA BENSONOLAJUMOKEO./MASTERCARD ADELEKEADEKUNLER/BTA AKUNEMEKINGSLEYU./PTA MOHAMMEDSHARAFADEEN/PTA MOHAMMEDKEHINDEB/PTA ALUMONAEJIKE/PTA ALUMONAPATIENCE/PTA OLUWOLEOLUWAKEMI/MASTERCARD OLAIYAOLUWATOYINE/PTA SAMSONSHOKUNBI/MASTERCARD OLAIYAOLUWATOYINE/PERDIEM OTOKITIADEBAYOAFOLABI/PTA MUHAMMEDMUSAM/PTA MOJEEDOMOLARAA/PTA BASHIRUMMITAL/PTA USMANISAHG/PTA AFOLABIDAMILOLAI/PTA HARDINGFUNKEJ/PTA AMOSBABAFEMIK/PTA ISSAKAYODEISMAIL/PTA ALADEAYODEJIJ/PTA JIMOHAKEEMO/PTA IBRAHIMMUSA/PTA MUNZALIHAMISU/PTA ABUBAKARHALIMAS/PTA

135 136 137 138 139 140

SHITUSAGIRHADIZA/PTA DANASABEDAUDAS/PTA OSADOLORSOLOMON/PTA ADEYEMIADETUNJIS/PTA OBOZUWAPATRICIA/PTA ADARAMODUPEM/PTA

141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200

geotechnicsservicesltd/BTA ODUSOTEOLUWATOYIN/PTA OLAMAMPEABIODUNF/PTA OGUNSANYAOLUWATOYINO/PTA OLAYINKAOLALERE/PTA OLAMETANIGERIAENT/MASTERCARD ROLIAKWARA/PTA JIMOHIBRAHIMO/PTA ADEGOKEMUJIDATO/PTA AIGBODIONAUSTINEO/PTA OHENHENUYIPETER/BTA MGBECHARLES/PTA RUNSEWENKECHIE/PTA ADEOLUADEBOYE/PTA BALOGUNBABAJIDEOLUDOLAPO BALOGUNBABAJIDEOLUDOLAPO BALOGUNBABAJIDEOLUDOLAPO BALOGUNUCHEANITA BROWNANDBOVARIACONSULTS DIAMONDBANK FBNMERCHANTBANKLTD FIDELITYBANKPLC HERITAGEBANKCOMPANYLIMITED OLUFOYEPAULADEDIRAN OROJIMIOLUWATOMIOROYEMI SHITTUOMOLARANIMOTALAI TECCHILASGLOBALLIMITED ZENITHBANK COKEROLUWASEUNDAMILOLA PROMASIDORNIGERIALIMITED PROMASIDORNIGERIALIMITED UNILEVERNIGPLC KRIELJEAN PEDABOASSOCIATESLIMITED PEDABOASSOCIATESLIMITED DOMBROCKJORG PADMAKUMARARUN IJEHCHIMENAGIJEHEBERECHUKWU JANSEVANRENSBURGFREDERIKRUDOLPH WEBSTERTIMOTHYJOHN BRILLIANTSHIPPINGSERVICESLIMITED BRILLIANTSHIPPINGSERVICESLIMITED FirstCityMonumentBankLTD NEBOIFEOMAJOSEPHINE/PTA NEBOIFEOMAJOSEPHINE/PTA PASEYJAYSRESTAURANTLIMITED/BTA MARINHOADEFOLAKEMI/PTA EKHAGUEREFLORENCEAMENZE/PTA EKHAGUEREESEOSAJOHN/PTA ACHIOYAATINUKE/PTA ADEDAPOADEMOLA/PTA OMOJOLAOLAJUMOKE/PTA ALUKOOLUFEMIO/PTA ALLENOLUREMIADEKEMI KUMUYIADENIRANJOHN/PTA KUMUYIOLAYINKAOMONIYI/PTA FirstCityMonumentBankLTD GAJEILIYAJOHN ADEOYEMICHAEL/PTA ADEOYECAROLINEA/PTA

PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PREFUNDEDMASTERCARD PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA FORMA FORMA FORMA FORMA FORMA INTERBANK INTERBANK INTERBANK INTERBANK TUITIONFEE SCHOOLFEES LIVINGEXPENSE NEWAUTOSPAREPARTS INTERBANK TUITIONFEE ODORIFEROUSSUBSTANCE ODORIFEROUSSUBSTANCE COLORONASUNGOLDSPARKLE PHR TUITIONFEE TUITIONFEE PHR PHR TUITIONFEE PHR PHR CHARTEREDFEE CHARTEREDFEE PRODUCTANDSERVICECHARGE PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA MORTGAGE PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PRODUCTANDSERVICECHARGE TUITIONFEE PTA/BTA PTA/BTA

9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 10-Aug-16 10-Aug-16 10-Aug-16 10-Aug-16 10-Aug-16 10-Aug-16 10-Aug-16 10-Aug-16 10-Aug-16 10-Aug-16 10-Aug-16 10-Aug-16 10-Aug-16 10-Aug-16 10-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16

332.50 330.50 332.50 332.50 284.00 284.00 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 300.50 332.50 330.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 311.00 311.00 311.00 311.00 332.50 332.50 332.50 330.50 311.00 332.50 330.50 330.50 315.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 330.50 330.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 322.50 333.00 332.50 334.00 332.50 332.50 332.50 335.00 332.50 332.50 335.00 335.00 330.00 330.00

5,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 3,000.00 4,000.00 5,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 3,908.49 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,010.92 930.30 58.77 28,086.25 28,032.00 200,000.00 200,000.00 50,000.00 300,000.00 6,060.24 5,806.25 8,227.54 21,000.00 300,000.00 7,000.00 42,160.06 56,499.34 23,120.75 3,080.00 21,797.41 15,397.88 6,364.00 1,500.00 15.00 9,100.00 5,060.00 500,000.00 400,000.00 30,483.19 3,000.00 3,000.00 3,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 2,000.00 3,000.00 1,414.37 4,000.00 4,000.00 50,000.00 6,000.00 2,000.00 2,000.00

201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267

ADEWOYINRACHAEL/PTA KODAOLUOMOTAYO/MASTERCARD ALAMUTUSAHEED/MASTERCARD FOLUSHORAHEEM/PERDIEM CHIKWENDUERNEST/PTA YEMISIEDUN/PTA CHIKWENDUERICAMSUGH/PTA OGUNMOYELAOLUGBENGA/PTA COKEROLUWASEUN/PTA OGUNDEROOJUOLAPE/PTA HASSANALABAR/PTA TOLUBOLUWATIFEO/pTA BOLUWATIFEISAACT/PTA SUBANNIGENTERPRISES/BTA adejugbasolomon/PTA KAZEEMGANIYUA/PTA ADEOSUNKAYODEE/PTA GBELUSHOLATAJUDEEN/PTA TUBIAYOBAMI/PTA RAPHEALNKECHIJ/PTA IBRAHIMABU/PTA SHITTURASHEEDO/PTA HASSANBABAYO/PTA ADEBAYOADEYEMIP/PTA EKPABEN/PTA ONELEONYEBUCHI/PTA CIKIDEMUHAMMADUA/PTA OLADAPOAKINTUNDEO/PTA DIBIECHUKWUNALUV/PTA AFOLABIOMOLAYOI/PTA DADAMUSILIUA/PTA OYETUNDENIMOTAA/PTA BABATUNDEJAMIUA/PTA HEAVENALLIANCEINTEGRATEDLTD/PTA HAMZATNURUDEENA/PTA ADEGBUYIBOLANLE/BTA ADEOYEJANETANIKE/PTA MAROOFBUSARI/MASTERCARD OLUYOOLASEGUNB/MASTERCARD ADEKOLAALLEN/MASTERCARD ADEOYEJANETANIKE/MASTERCARD ADEOYEADEBOLAM/MASTERCARD ADEWOYINMOFEHINTOLUWAG/PTA udeagbaaurthurc/PTA geraldanyasoro/bta stanleyumunnanwoke/PTA lasisimoninuola/PTA quadrilolanurudeen/PTA onalojaadegboyega/PTA nwabudikeoluwaseunt/PTA oyekaadaobi/PTA OSENISARAFAADENIYI/PTA ANYANWUNDULEWEAZUKA/PTA ABODUNRINFOLUKE/PTA ANYANWUNDULEWEAZUKA/PTA SALESFORCERESOURCESLTD/BTA SCRAGROINDUSTRIESLTD SILVERINDUSTRIESNIG.LTD C&ILEASING C&ILEASING TANKOIBRAHIMMOHAMMED WAHUMPACKAGINGLTD ABATANABIMBOLATEMITOPE NIGERCHINELECTDEVCOLTD RAYBROSENTERPRISESNIGERIALIMITED ALABIOLUGBENGA/PTA COKEROLUMUYIWAB/PTA

PTA/BTA PREFUNDEDMASTERCARD PREFUNDEDMASTERCARD PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PREFUNDEDMASTERCARD PREFUNDEDMASTERCARD PREFUNDEDMASTERCARD PREFUNDEDMASTERCARD PREFUNDEDMASTERCARD PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA ANANDDUPLEXSERIESOILEXPELLER BOPPFILMOFPOLYMERSOFSTYRENE CHARTERFEE CHARTERFEE TUITIONFEE WHITETOPKRAFTLINER UPKEEP ESSENTIALRAWMATERIALS GASOLINEGENERATORSETECMODEL PTA/BTA PTA/BTA

11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16

332.50 332.50 333.00 334.00 334.00 332.50 334.00 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 300.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 32.50 330.50 330.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 334.00 334.00 310.00 310.00 334.00 330.50 335.00 330.50 335.00 335.00

2,500.00 4,000.00 1,600.00 3,735.00 2,500.00 4,000.00 2,500.00 3,200.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 3,000.00 3,000.00 5,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 5,000.00 4,000.00 5,000.00 4,000.00 3,000.00 3,000.00 5,000.00 5,000.00 5,000.00 2,500.00 4,000.00 5,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 2,500.00 4,000.00 2,500.00 5,000.00 524.94 4,200.00 448,500.00 396,500.00 8,479.73 148,750.00 1,500.00 100,662.00 20,000.00 4,000.00

268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307

COKEROLUMUYIWAS/PTA ShamsideenFashola/MASTERCARD ABIMBOLAOYENUGA/BTA SANDAOLUSHOLA/BTA CARISSAMBADIWE/PTA BRUCLOTILDE/PTA DADABABATUNDE/PTA DADAADEBIMPE/PTA DADAOLUWATOFUNMI/PTA ACHIOYAOLUSEYI/PTA BOLOFINDEOLUSEGUNVICTOR/PTA ONWUEKWECHIDI/BTA OLAOREOLUKUNLE/PTA AFAMNWAKUWA/PTA OLAORELOLADE/PTA TACACINCHEMICALLTD/BTA MUHAMMEDMAHMUD/PTA ABUBAKARMUHAMMED/PTA IDAEWORKINGSLEY/PTA BALOGUNROTIMI/PTA TIJANISHAKIRATM/PTA AGBOOLAOLANREWAJUS/PTA DUNTOYEMICHEALS/PTA CHARLESONYEWEKE/PTA GREENIBUKUNE/PTA SEGUNAJALA/PTA OLADUNTOYETEMITOPEO/PTA ADIGUNRUTH/PTA SHOBOWALEMUSBAUA/PTA YAKUBOLAYEMI/PTA OKPALEIKECHUKWUA/PTA OWOYALELUKMAN/PTA bolaleronigltd/bta nwokiwuvincentn/bta ubaikennapatrick/bta purebrooksltd/bta SALAKOBABAJIDEM/PTA AKANDEANUOLUWAPO/PTA OMOWUNMIKALEJAIYE/PTA AKANDEJOSEPHINEOJETOUN/PTA

PTA/BTA PREFUNDEDMASTERCARD PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA

12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16

335.00 335.00 333.00 334.00 335.00 335.00 335.00 335.00 335.00 335.00 334.00 334.00 335.00 335.00 335.00 335.00 334.00 332.50 332.50 335.00 335.00 335.00 332.50 332.50 335.00 332.50 335.00 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 332.50 335.00 335.00 335.00 335.00 335.00 334.00 334.00 334.00

4,000.00 4,000.00 5,000.00 5,000.00 2,500.00 2,500.00 2,500.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 5,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 5,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 5,000.00 5,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 800.00 4,000.00

308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333

ALEROADOLLO/PERDIEM AKANDEIBUKUNOLUWA/PTA EZEALAKINGSLEYOKECHUKWU/PTA ATAKEEYIMDFEDOYLESAN ATAKEEYIMDFEDOYLESAN BABATOPEDAVIES BLSPETROLEUMSERVICESLTD BRILLIANTSHIPPINGSERVICESLIMITED FirstCityMonumentBankLTD GENEITHPHARMACEUTICALSLTD KAZEEMOLATUNJIADENIYI MICHELLELABORATORIESLIMITED MULTICHOICENIGLTD MUSAUMAR OBAJANAAGROSACKSLTD OGUNFUWAAFOLABIOLUBUKAYO OGUNFUWAAFOLABIOLUBUKAYO OLATUNBOSUNFAMILYFUND ORDUWAEZESAMUEL OYEBOABOLAJIFATAI SELECTIBLESSHIRTSANDMORE SHIVEXHOMEANDELECTRICALAPPLIANCESLTD SHIVEXHOMEANDELECTRICALAPPLIANCESLTD STARGATELOGISTICSLIMITED STARGATELOGISTICSLIMITED TRAININGANDMAPOWERDEVELOPMENTUNIT

PTA/BTA PTA/BTA PTA/BTA SCHOOLFEES SCHOOLFEES SCHOOLFEES BASEOIL CHARTEREDFEE SOFTWAREPAYMENT PHARMACEUTICAL SCHOOLFEES EMPTYHARDGELATINCAPSULES PROGRAMMINGFEE SCHOOLFEES MACHINE FOR SACKS SCHOOLFEES SCHOOLFEES SCHOOLFEES SCHOOLFEES SCHOOLFEES SCHOOLFEES ASSORTEDCONFECTIONERY ASSORTEDCONFECTIONERY CHARTEREDFEE CHARTEREDFEE TRAININGFEE

334.00 334.00 334.00 335.00 335.00 335.00 335.00 311.00 335.00 311.00 335.50 335.00 335.00 334.00 335.50 335.00 335.00 311.00 335.00 335.00 335.00 332.50 332.50 311.00 311.00 334.00

1,600.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 16,134.85 2,635.04 13,861.00 20,000.00 200,000.00 50,000.00 106,600.00 2,319.49 29,780.00 110,000.00 1,509.30 3,014.01 7,690.00 7,690.00 22,838.37 6,500.00 5,762.00 6,000.00 37,069.00 22,840.00 200,000.00 100,000.00 28,125.00

RETURNS ON SOURCES OF FUNDS SOLD TO CUSTOMERS FOR WEEK ENDED FRIDAY AUGUST 12, 2016 SN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27

SOURCE OTHERS OTHERS OTHERS CBNINTERVENTION OTHERS OTHERS OTHERS INTERBANK OTHERS OTHERS OTHERS OTHERS OTHERS OTHERS CENTRALBANKOFNIGERIA OTHERS INTERBANK INTERBANK INTERBANK OTHERS OTHERS OTHERS OTHERS OTHERS OTHERS OTHERS INTERBANK

DATEOFFUNDPURCHASE 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 8-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 9-Aug-16 10-Aug-16 10-Aug-16 10-Aug-16 10-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 11-Aug-16 12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16 12-Aug-16

EXCHANGERATE 332.00 332.00 330.00 310.50 332.00 332.00 310.00 315.00 330.00 310.00 310.00 300.50 334.00 333.50 305.00 312.00 310.00 310.50 342.50 334.50 335.00 312.00 335.00 312.00 312.00 312.00 310.00

AMOUNT 176,204.82 150,602.41 702,510.16 1,500,000.00 120,481.93 75,301.20 4,614.51 23,120.75 900,000.00 200.00 108.39 3,908.49 508,982.04 179,910.04 845,000.00 22.99 200,000.00 200,000.00 123125.88 687,593.42 29,850.75 175.00 7,690.00 125.00 480.00 2,625.00 200,000.00

monDAY, AUGUST 15, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

METRO

ABIODUN BELLO abiodun.bello@newtelegraphonline.com 08023938212

...CRIME, CITY WATCH, COURTS

Militants arrested celebrating leader’s girlfriend’s birthday

lLagos shuts Western Lodge Hotel

OP MESA vehicles in front of the hotel... yesterday. PHOTO: GODWIN IREKHE

Muritala Ayinla and Taiwo Jimoh

embers of the joint military task force yesterday stormed a community in Ikorodu and cordoned off Western Lodge Hotel where suspected militants cum oil pipeline vandals were. The hotel is located on

Isawo Road, Agric area of Ikorodu in Lagos State. It was learnt that the militants were in the hotel to celebrate the birthday of the girlfriend of one of their leaders. Sources said that immediately members of the joint military task force deployed in the creeks to flush out militants in the coastal communities of Lagos and Ogun states got wind of the presence of the

vandals’ leader, they moved in swiftly and laid siege to the hotel to stop him from escaping. A resident, who did not want his name in print, told our correspondent that they were about to start the birthday party when the military men stormed the area and held everybody inside the hotel hostage. He said: “The presence of the military men in the hotel signifies that some-

thing terrible is happening, because some of us in the neighbourhood had been praying fervently for the government to seal the hotel. Many of the bad boys in the community and its environs are using the facility as their hideout.” Another resident, who identified himself simply as Adekunle, said the displaced leader of the militants disguised as a woman into the hotel, thinking that

people around would not identify him. He said: “The Western Lodge Hotel has been in the news for bad things for long. Last Thursday, men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) came to the hotel to arrest some notorious criminals disturbing Ikorodu and its environs. “Some of us who have buildings close to the hotel hardly allow our children to go outside at night

LASTMA guards fond of sleeping, says suspect Juliana Francis

suspected thief, Mr. Hakeem Fatai, has told officials of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS), Lagos, that his gang targeted office of the Lagos State Transport Management Authority (LASTMA), Ojota, because the guards there were always sleeping. Fatai used to scale the fence of the LASTMA office to steal batteries from impounded Volkswagen vehicles. It was discovered that more than 20 batteries disappeared from the office within two weeks. Police said Fatai was caught while attempting to remove another battery from an impounded bus. He was picked up at the weekend. On his arrival at the RRS’ headquarters, the suspect confessed

that he operated with an accomplice he identified as Yahoo, now at large. Fielding questions from police, Fatai said he used to work with Yahoo. Fatai said: “I’m responsible for the missing batteries. But I don’t work alone. I belong to a two-man gang. Our targeted vehicle is Volkswagen bus because its batteries can be removed easily without much stress. We don’t usually go for trailer because its battery is protected with iron. We have devised our operation to the extent that no one could suspect us while committing the crime on the premises. “We know the exact time to scale the fence because LASTMA security guards there are too fond of sleeping. We capitalised on their inefficiency to strike. My role is to scale the

fence, while Yahoo stays outside to watch for people.” Revealing while he took to stealing, Fatai said after the death of his mother 10 years ago, his father re-married and shifted his attention to his new wife. He decided to run away from home and fend for himself. Fatai confessed to have sold each battery for N2,500 to a battery charger at Ogijo, a suburb of Ogun State. His confessional statement led to the arrest of the receiver, Nofiu Oriade, 46. Oriade, who professed ignorant of the crime, said that he never knew those batteries were stolen items. He said: “I was ignorant of the sources of those batteries. I thought he was a scavenger who picked up used items from refuse dump. I didn’t know he is a thief.”

The suspects

because of the indecent dressing of some of the underage prostitutes who patronise the hotel. We are happy with the arrest of the lodgers. Personally, I am not praying for the reopening of the hotel.” When our correspondent visited the area yesterday, an Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) and two vans were positioned in front of the hotel, while all those in the hotel – the lodgers, workers, and invited guests to the said birthday party – were rounded off and gathered in a hall. The suspected leader of the militants, his loyalists and girlfriend were said to have been kept in a separate place to avoid a mix-up, while some of the military men guarded them. Adekunle added that some of the militants, before the military bombardment, were using the hotel as their resting place. He added that they also used to lodge some of their partners in crime in the hotel before moving them into the creeks. Meanwhile, the Lagos State government said yesterday it had sealed off Western Lodge Hotel for allegedly harbouring criminals. The Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Steve Ayorinde, made the announcement in a statement. Ayorinde also reassured the general public that the protection of lives and property of wellmeaning and peace-loving residents remained government’s priority. Lagos had earlier warned that it would confiscate buildings occupied by criminals or used as hideouts by militants or kidnappers. It also warned members of the public not to allow any building to be used by criminals. However, there was a mild drama in the area yesterday as prostitutes at a nearby brothel, Around Hotel, rushed out when they heard of the operation at Western Lodge Hotel. The prostitutes fled in drove to avoid being caught. A policeman from Owutu Police Station asked them to return because the operation was not about them. Even when the manager of Around Hotel persuaded them to return, the sex workers bluntly refused.

METRO

monDAY, AUGUST 15, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Again, Lagos demolishes Armed men kill banker, hotelier in Rivers, Abuja 235 shops, others Chris Ejim Yenagoa

A bulldozer demolishing shops at the market

Muritala Ayinla and Taiwo Jimoh

agos State Government has continued to demolish of shops and containers built under high-tension wires. The state Task force on Environmental and Special Offences (Enforcement) Unit, at the weekend, demolished 235 shops and 125 containers (make-shift market stalls) at Igbara Market, Jakande, on Lekki-Epe Expressway. It was alleged that the owners of the shops and containers had been given prior notice before the commencement of the demolition. The Chairman of the task force, Olayinka Egbeyemi, said the demolition exercise shouldn’t be viewed as punitive, but rather as Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s efforts to save lives and government’s property. Egbeyemi urged market leaders’ at all local governments and Local Council Development Areas to support government by educating traders on the dangers of trading under high-tension cables. He said that high current flowing in the high-tension cables, with its intermittent sound, posed imminent danger to health. Egbeyemi also said that a seven-day notice was

served on shop owners and traders before commencement of the demolition exercise. But the Chairman of the Spare Part Traders’ Association, Igbara Market, Mr. Ugo Onuha, said they had been operating in the market for more than 20 years. He said: “The market was constructed by Igbara community, which comprises three different families, namely Lawal family, Balogun family and Badanu family. The families collect between N3,000 and N5,000 from those selling inside containers, while others who trade inside brick shops pay from N10,000 to N20,000 monthly.”

top banker with Skye Bank, Mr. Adewale Adesanya, has been murdered by gunmen suspected to be hired assassins at Ahoada area of Rivers State. This came as armed men also butchered the Chief Executive Officer of De-Pulo Hotel and Suites, Mr. Vicent Obianado, on Friday night in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Before his death, the 39-year-old Adesanya worked at the Ekeki branch of Skye Bank in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State. Adesanya, who was driving his car to Port Harcourt on Saturday in company with two others, was shot several times about 3p.m. before the vehicle skidded into the bush near a Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) filling station after Okobe. The assassins followed the vehicle into the bush with further gun shots to ensure he never survived. The names of two other occupants were simply given as Haruna and Samson, all of whom were well known by family and friends of the deceased. The two young men escaped into the bush when they noticed that the gunmen were coming towards the car as the late banker

The late Adesanya

tried to crawl out with his last strength. According to statement obtained from Samson, who later resurfaced in Yenagoa, one of the gunmen repeatedly told a member of the gang to ‘finish him up’ and ‘offload him’. A team of policemen from the Ahoada-East Area Command later arrived the scene to remove Adesanya’s body and the car. Witnesses said no item was removed from the car apart from Adesanya’s GSM phone which the assassins took away. The assassins had used the phone to alert his friend who called on the development. A family source said the late Adesanya, a banker of almost 10 years, was the account officer to many of

Man masterminds uncles’ kidnap, demands N2m Sabiu Mustapha JALINGO

The suspected kidnappers

olice in Taraba State have arrested Mr. Isah Yahaya for allegedly conspiring with seven others to abduct two of his uncles in their settlement and demanding N2 million. The state police commissioner, Mr. Yakubu Babas, at the weekend, paraded Yahaya and another suspect, Musa Abdullahi, before journalists. Babas said the two suspects were brought to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Jalingo, with one AK47 rifle with 20 rounds of live ammunition.

City Briefs

‘Ponmo’ scarcity looms Muritala Ayinla

the former militants on the payroll of the Niger Delta Amnesty Programme. He was believed to be having running battle over certain deductions from the amnesty allowance in line with the payment standing order. The late banker, who hailed from Ijebu-Ode in Ogun State, was a socialite well known in Yenagoa. Adesanya has two children while his wife is pregnant. Meanwhile, detectives attached to the Divisional Police Station, Madalla, on the outskirts of the FCT are on the trail of those who murdered Obianado. Obianado, a former manager with defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), was killed on the premises of his hotel.

The suspected hired assassins stormed the hotel on a motorcycle. A police officer, who pleaded anonymity, told our correspondent yesterday that the hotel security officials on night duty have all absconded. However, other workers on duty, including guests who lodged in the hotel, have been taken in to custody for questioning. An experienced and competent Divisional Crime Officer (DCO) is leading a team to unravel the death, the officer added. He said: “On Friday night, we got a distress call from a worker in the hotel that his boss had been slaughtered. The complainant, who was on night duty at the time of incident, said that two men came on a motorcycle in about 12a.m. and demanded to see the MD who was in his office. They went into his office and shortly after, the MD and the two men stepped out into the compound of the hotel. “He said they thought they were having a private conversation until the shouting of their boss attracted attention as his visitors continued to stab Obianado with a knife until they finished butchering him to pieces. They took off on the motorcycle.” The hotel was sealed and locked when New Telegraph visited the place yesterday.

agos State government has closed down the processing section of cow skin otherwise called ‘Ponmo’ at the Oko-Oba Abattoir and Lairage Complex, Agege. The closure followed concerns over the health hazard inherent in its processing and production. It was learnt that government also dislodged those who process cow

skin in a heap of burning tyres. Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr. Toyin Suarau, who led officials of his ministry and men of the state Task Force on Environmental and Special Offences (Enforcement) Unit on the exercise, said that the closure of the ‘ponmo’ processing section and dislodgement of the processors became necessary because of the safety of Lagosians, especially lov-

ers of ‘ponmo’. According to him, the fire emits a thick toxin smoke which spreads within the complex and adjoining neighbourhood. He said: “I wish to make it clear that the use of tyres for cow skin processing has been reported to government sometimes ago and has been dealt with. But the return to this unhygienic method of processing in the complex leaves much to be desired and this is why this section of the complex had to be closed.”

The commissioner said that on July 19, about 5a.m., the two suspects conspired with six others now at large and went to the settlement of Alhaji Mohammadu Dabo and Umaru Mohammadu all of Sibre village in Ardo Kola Local Government Area and kidnapped two of them. Babas added that later Umaru was released to pay ransom of N2 million before Dabo could be released. He said: “They masked their faces so that they would not be identified. The command tracked them and knew the location where they were calling from.”

The commissioner explained that N1.5 million was sourced and given to the kidnappers before the victim was released. He said: “But as they were trying to leave their hiding place, unknown to them, my men and the vigilantes were waiting at a strategic place for them and they were arrested with the money intact.” “It was then discovered, to our chagrin, that the mastermind of the kidnap saga was the victims’ nephew.” Babas advised people to report cases of this nature immediately they occurred instead of paying ransom to the kidnappers.

Third Mainland Bridge auto crash claims five Juliana Francis

t least five people were feared dead yesterday in an auto crash on the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos. The accident occurred about 6:10p.m. on the bridge inward Iyana Oworo by the University of Lagos (UNILAG) Water front. Three vehicles, a Lag bus, a Hilux truck belonging to a vigilance group and a Rover ‘Jeep’, were involved in the accident. The victims were three female adults and two children – a boy and a girl – while five others who were injured were taken to the Trauma Centre by the Lagos State Ambulance Service (LASAMBUS).

Officials of the Lagos State Transport Management Authority (LASTMA), Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), the police and the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) participated in the rescue operation. Also, the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) Response Unit recovered the vehicles involved in the crash, while the bodies were evacuated by the State Environmental Health Monitoring Unit (SEHMU) to Mainland Hospital mortuary. The LASEMA General Manager, Mr. Michael Akindele, said relevant government agencies would conduct proper investigation to determine the cause the accident.

10 NEWS

MONday, AUGUST 15, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Tinubu, Akande, APC leaders split over guber poll

Babatope Okeowo Akure

he leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has split into five major political camps ahead of the August 27 governorship primaries in Ondo State. The election for Governor Olusegun Mimiko’s successor holds on November 26. The arrowhead of one of the groups and probably the most formidable is the National Leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who has pitched his tent with Dr. Olusegun Abraham from Akoko North East Local Government. The support given to Abraham by Tinubu has, however, led to sharp disagreement with the group headed by former Interim National Chairman of the APC and erstwhile governor of Osun State, Chief Adebisi Akande, who has thrown his weight behind the candidature of Prof. Ajayi Boroffice, the Senator representing Ondo North Senatorial district. Interestingly in the camp of Akande is Tinubu’s wife, Senator Remi, who is an unrepentant supporter of Boroffice. Mrs. Tinubu addresses Boroffice as ‘My Governor’. Impeccable sources told New Telegraph that Tinubu, Akande and National Vice Chairman of the APC (South-West), Chief Pius Akinyelure, had in one of their meetings in London, agreed on Boroffice’s choice for Ondo governorship ticket until the trio disagreed and now sponsoring three different candidates for the election. In a bid to pacify Tinubu to back down on his support for Abraham, a meeting was held in Bourdillon Road, the residence of the APC leader, at the weekend in Lagos. Tinubu, his wife and Boroffice were in attendance. A source said that Tinubu reeled out a catalogue of allegations against Boroffice and why he is withdrawing his support. One of the issues raised is that Boroffice would turn out a “difficult governor” to relate with. It was learnt that Borof-

£858,640 The monthly salary of Luis Alberto Suarez of Barcelona in 2014/2015. Source: Paywizard.co.uk

7.44m

The population of men in Ecuador in 2012. Source: Un.org

fice denied all the allegations. Another formidable group is that of Abuja headed by Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasiru el-Rufai. El-Rufai’s group is supporting former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and governorship candidate of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in 2012 election in the state, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN). In the camp of el-Rufai are prominent ministers from the South-West and a minister from the SouthSouth. Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar is said to be sympathetic to this group. New Telegraph learnt that the Abuja group is not in support of Boroffice because of the role he played during the party’s presidential primaries leading to the emergency of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari as the presidential candidate of the APC. Boroffice had supported former Kano State governor and now senator, Rabiu Kwankwaso, with the intention of being his running mate. The fourth camp is that of Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State. Aregbesola is pushing for Chief

Olusola Oke from Ilaje Local Government in Ondo South Senatorial District of the state. Aregbesola’s strategy is to pair his Special Adviser on Environment, Hon. Bola Ilori, with Oke, the former National Legal Adviser of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Oke’s albatross is that he is a new entrant to APC from the PDP. New Telegraph learnt that Akinyelure is also supporting Mr. Boye Oyewumi, a new entrant into the political firmament of the state.

Akinyelure has an alternative; Mr. Awodehin Akinsehinwa, popularly called Apata, from Owo Local Government Area of the state. Although there are five major formidable groups contending for the sole ticket of the party, there also other splinter groups including that of Chief Segun Oni, erstwhile governor of Ekiti State and the Deputy National Chairman of APC who is supporting his godson, Prince Ademola Adegoroye from Akure in Ondo Central Senatorial District.

Another splinter group is the state chairman of APC, Hon. Isaacs Kekemeke who is supporting Dr. Bode Ayorinde, a member of the House of Representatives representing Ose/ Owo federal constituency. Despite the existence of the camps, the APC national secretariat cannot rein in the groups because of the weak national leadership of the party. The camps within the party, New Telegraph learnt, are threatening the chances of the party at the polls as the groups that lost out in the party primaries

may work against the interest of the candidate at the polls. This development made the chairmen of APC in the 18 local government areas of the state to warn against the imposition of any candidate ahead of the primaries fixed for August 27. The chairmen said the party would lose the November 26 governorship election in the state should they impose any candidate on the party as the people would prefer the ruling party in the state, the PDP, ahead of any imposed APC candidate.

A cross section of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps officers blindfolded to couple AK 47 riffles, after undergoing two weeks proficiency training at the 7 Division of the Nigeria Army in Maiduguri…at the weekend. PHOTO: NAN

Ondo poll: I’ve right to support whoever I want –Tinubu Wale Elegbede

ormer governor of Lagos State, Senator Bola Tinubu, yesterday declared that he has the right to support whoever he chooses among the 25 All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirants in Ondo State. Tinubu spoke against an allegation by a lawyer and one of the aspirants, Mr. Tunji Abayomi, that he is unduly influencing the party’s primary election. He described Abayomi’s open letter to him as “woefully misplaced and inappropriate.” Abayomi had, in the letter, alleged that Tinubu is unduly influencing free and fair primary electoral process in Ondo State. But Tinubu, who is the national leader of the APC, said in a statement signed by his media adviser, Mr. Sunday Dare, that he has always been a democrat and would remain firmly rooted to its progressive inclination. Tinubu said: “In writing the letter, you appear to have been bitten by a bug that often blinds the objectivity of a man. You have been bitten by an ambition that you fear you shall not be able to realise.

In your pursuit of office, you have sought my support and influence. When you sought that support, you thought it proper and democratic to do so. If I had signalled my support for you, I am sure that you would never have written this letter alleging that I was undermining the democratic will of the people. You would have been pleased with me, I suppose. “However, because that support has not been forthcoming, you fear that the support you wanted may now go to a rival candidate. In your judgement, my support for you would have been democratic. Should I support another, then that same support is now to be considered dictatorial and unfair? “Frankly, dear friend, I do not see the objectivity in your analysis or the merit in what you claim as your injury. If you seek a person's support, you cannot in good conscience turn around and object that such support should never be given to another person. Your position is more undemocratic and unfair than what you accuse me of. Your words attack me for being undemocratic when in reality your heart attacks me

for not giving you what you want. “I have participated in elections for decades for myself and others. Some have been won. Some lost. Never, however, have I asked a friend for support than condemn for giving the very support I sought of them to another person. To do so is not to stand on principle but on bruised pride. “You said I seek to deny your democratic right. It is you who seeks to grab mine. If not mistaken, I believe I am a member of the APC. I have a right and duty to support the candidate who I believe will best represent the party. What your letter is really saying is that if I don’t support you I should keep my mouth shut. “You complain of a purported meeting I had to discuss the coming primary in Ondo. Do you deny me and other APC members now the right to assembly and talk? Had you heard that the meeting had anointed you, I doubt you would have written the first word of the letter you sent to me.” While stating that the APC will stick to a process of free and fair primaries, Tinubu said: “But here, I want to give you and oth-

ers a clear assurance that you may rest more at ease. I reserve the right to support any candidate I wish because no one has the right to take this away from me. However, I will also do everything in my power to ensure the primaries are free and fair and that there will be no undue influence on the process. “The candidate who can garner the most support and votes will win. Since its inception, the APC has run the cleanest and most transparent primaries in the history of this nation. The just-concluded primary in Edo is further evidence of this. My dear friend, I leave you free to run and win the primary. If you do, I shall congratulate you and support you in the general election. However, you must respect my rights as well and leave me to my own conscience to support who I will support. And to show interest in whom I wish.” On the allegation of Abayomi that he talked Tinubu into supporting Buhari at the 2015 election, the former Lagos governor said: “I also need to correct what appears to be a mistaken impression on your part about the 2015 election. Your letter seems

to indicate that it was on your advice that I backed President Muhammadu Buhari. You assume too much credit and should be more guarded in your assertions. As a veteran in the political arena, I do not make important decisions lightly. “I make final political decisions and calculations on my own after deep reflections and consultation with many people from many perspectives. I can assure you, dear friend, that I trust my own political counsel more than yours and that I have numerous other advisors whose advice I weigh more than yours. After all, had you so much influence over me in the presidential election, it would mean you surely should have greater influence over me when it comes to the primary in your state. “I am a democrat. I am ready for the chips to fall where they may after an open and fair primary in Ondo. Instead of welcoming this, it appears you are afraid of it. Instead of fighting me who is but one man with no vote, you should be fighting for votes and support. Your letter to me was woefully misplaced and inappropriate.”

MONDAY, august 15, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Interview How civil war set University of Ibadan back – Olayinka

Politics

Obasanjo finally shuts the door What seemed an attempt by some people within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to paint a picture that the party was in talks with former President Olusegun Obasanjo for his possible return, has resulted to the former leader slamming his door against the platform he won the presidency on two occasions, Felix Nwaneri reports

or mer P re s i d e n t Olusegun Obasanjo is one man who understands the country’s politics. While his detractors could conjure any conceivable hubris to denigrate him, truth is that, when you make allowance for human frailties, Obasanjo’s ascendancy and continuing national relevance is partly explained by his deep knowledge of the Nigerian society. Perhaps, it is against this backdrop that the former military and civilian leader remains one of the most sought after politicians among his peers. Since he left office in 2007 and retired to his Abeokuta, Ogun State Hill Top Mansion, the place has remained a Mecca for politicians. From the northern to the southern parts of the country, members of the political class have continued to pay visits to consult the former president on issues of national concern. But the visits got to a height during that build up to the 2015 general elections. To the consternation of most Nigeriansat that time, both the then ruling and opposition political parties

FELIX NWANERI

GROUP PoLITICAL EDITOR nwanerif@newtelegraphonline.com

The picture that sparked the row shows Obasanjo (middle) leaving the Yar'Adua centre after attending the event organised by the Commodity Association

– Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressives Congress (APC), met Obasanjo on several occasions to seek his endorsements of their respective presidential candidates – then President Goodluck Jonathan and former Head of State, Maj. General Muhammadu Buhari (now president). Even the former president’s known political foes like former Lagos State governor and National Leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, had to overlook their political differences to consult him. It was same for the leadership of the PDP on whose platform, Obasanjo won the presidential election twice (1999 and 2003). Tinubu said then: “We are here to pay homage to our former President and have a number of discussions with him because he has a number of influences in the political spheres. As a good merger, we need to talk, because, this merger will serve various branches. It is a very big tree, so, we need to talk, find out his thinking about Nigeria and the future. We need to seek his observation as some of his former boys who are running for presidency, what he can say of them.” For the PDP, whose delegation was led by then Senate president, David Mark, “we came to discuss

with him (Obasanjo) and raise some basic issues that affect both the party and the nation at large; discussions that would move this nation forward. You know his (Obasanjo) passion for this nation is unquantifiable.” But beyond the theories advanced by the APC and PDP leaders for recent visits, events later proved that their respective trips to Abeokuta centred on Obasanjo’s endorsement for the 2015 presidential election.

How could I go back to a now divided, factionalised party gasping for breath?

Staying off PDP activities For the PDP, in particular, the visit to the former president was meant to persuade him on the need to work for the party during the polls, particularly that of the presidency. Obasanjo had before then stayed off from activities of the PDP after he announced in January 2015, that he was withdrawing from the activities of the party as long as his kinsman, Buruji Kashamu (now senator representing Ogun East in the National Assembly), whom he accuses of being a “wanted habitual criminal” remains a leader of the party in the South-West (his geo-political zone). On the part of the APC, the then opposition cashed in on the rift between Obasanjo and Jonathan, to get his endorsement

for its presidential candidate. The duo were embroiled in bitter political battle then though the former was instrumental to the latter’s emergence to the national political scene in 2007, when he single-handedly picked him and the late Umaru Yar’Adua as the PDP’s presidential and vice presidential candidates of the party. The rift was played down until Obasanjo’s open letter to Jonathan, and the consequent reaction from the Presidency, many said, informed the former president’s unceremonious exit as chairman, PDP Board of Trustees (BoT) on April 3, 2012. The former president had claimed then that stepping down as the party’s BoT chairman would enable him fulfill his duties as a statesman, locally and internationally as well as concentrate on his presidential library and mobilise investments into the continent, but those in the know said he was schemed out by Jonathan’s camp. To pave way for him to become the chairman of BoT, Obasanjo had seen to the amendment of the party’s constitution, which provided that only a former president still in the party could hold that position. But members of Jonathan camp CONTINUED ON PAGE 14

MONDAY INTERVIEW

MONDAY, august 15, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

How civil war set University of Ibadan back – Olayinka Prof. Idowu Olayinka is the Vice-Chancellor of the nation’s premier university, the University of Ibadan (UI). He speaks with KAYODE OLANREWAJU about the effects of the Nigerian Civil War on the university and efforts to reposition the institution, among other salient issues The University of Ibadan (UI) at a point in its existence ranked as a foremost university in the Commonwealth in terms of academic excellence and research, specifically the College of Medicine. What is being done to bring back the good old memories? Like you are aware, the university was established between 1947/1948, as a College of the University of London. And, in those days admission was very competitive because only the best were admitted into the University of Ibadan. It was the only university in Nigeria then and not until the first 12 years of its existence until (1960), that the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) was established by the then government of Eastern Region, and later other universities came on board. And today, at the last count, we have about 142 universities in the country-public and privately-owned. So, from 1948 to 1967, the standard was very high and admission, as I have mentioned was highly competitive. The staff and students mix was largely international. You could imagine that the first three principals of the University College Ibadan, as it was known then, were all expatriates. The late Prof. Kenneth Dike, a Nigerian was the last principal and the pioneer Vice-Chancellor of the university. He was here between 1960 and 1968 at the onset of the unfortunate Nigerian Civil War. However, the University College Ibadan and later the University of Ibadan, which it was renamed since 1962, in those days could compete favourably with other universities in the Commonwealth and in the rest of the world. But, with the unfortunate civil war of between 1967 and January 1970 many renowned professors, other members of staff and even students of Eastern Nigerian extractions left the university in drove, and many expatriates also left. And, indeed for the next 30 years, we had a prolonged military rule up till 1999, although we had an interregnum for about four years during the Second Republic. All these years and activities greatly affected the university negatively and so you find out that in those years the standard started dropping.

Olayinka

But, over the last 17 years, since the new civilian dispensation, efforts had now been invigorated to reposition the university and bring it back to its mainstream. What moves have been initiated to reposition the university? Well, let me add here that it will take us a lot of things to be a world-class institution. Importantly, what does it take us to be a world-class university? I mean as we speak; we need three main things that should come into interplay. Of course, the first is that we need high concentration of talents in terms of students, academic staff and internationalisation, because you should be able to attract international staff and students. Like I mentioned, one major ingredient of a world-class university is high concentration of talents whether in terms of staff and students mix, otherwise that university will remain a local champion. The other factor is favourable government. There is the need for autonomy and strategic leadership, the vision of where the university wants to be in the next 10 or 15 years since we are competing with the rest of the world is important, because the rest of the world will not wait for us. So, we need a strategic team and leadership, vision and autonomy, which brings us to the other component of a world-class university. Meanwhile, the third leg of this has to do with the issue of resources, whether in terms of proprietary funding or other areas of income generation, such as ancillary fees. As a federal university, we ex-

With the unfortunate civil war... renowned professors, other members of staff and even students of Eastern Nigerian extractions left the university

pect the Federal Government, the proprietor of the institution with the President as the Visitor to fund us adequately. We also have students, either postgraduate or regular students or those on distance learning mode, who pay some users’ fees. The third stream is through grants and in this area, our staff member could apply for grants and donations in terms of funding of the university or research efforts. If you don’t have all the three ingredients, definitely the university will be substandard in terms of quality tuition and research. For instance, in talking about financial resources, the university requires abundant resources for it to attain all these. We need resources for laboratories, e-library, ICT and lecture theatres, among other facilities, which all require adequate funds. But, the exciting thing is that if you have rightly observed, you would have realised that in the last 68 years, the fortune of the University of Ibadan had been tied to the fortune of the country. What do you mean by that? Well, what I am saying in effect is that when the country is doing well, you will definitely observe that the university will also be doing well. If it is on the other hand, you will also observe it. For the past six months we have not been able to pay our staff salaries in full because the university is being funded by the Federal Government and the government said we cannot charge tuition fees. It is a good thing that the government directed federal universities in the country not to charge fees, but the irony of it is that the

government is not in the position to provide all we need to run the university. But what will you say about some universities, such as the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) that are charging high tuition fees? If you have discussed with all the federal universities in the country, probably you would have discovered that they have been having shortfall in their personnel allocation since December last year. The Education minister recently addressed the Vice-Chancellors and Pro-Chancellors, where he mentioned that the government is aware of the short fall in the personnel allocation which we use to pay staff salaries. Though, for some of the vice-chancellors the shortfall they experience is not as much as that of University of Ibadan and so it will be a bit easy for them to complement payment of their staff salaries from their internally generated revenue. But, the shortfall has been applied across board since December 2015. What I am saying is that funding is crucial to the life of a university. Though, we are just talking about seven months into that crisis situation, which of course is a short period in the life of a university, which is over 70 years old. But, on the other hand, you will find out that the fortune of the University of Ibadan is tied to what is happening at the federal level. Currently, the income available to the Federal Government is dwindling and ordinarily we expect it to affect government budgeting in all fronts. That is part of the problems facing the institution. In summary, the problem is not so much of lack of ideas, because if we are think-

MONDAY INTERVIEW

MONDAY, august 15, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

ing about concentration of talents, staff and students mix, good governance and university autonomy, definitely you will agree with me that we would require adequate funding to do all these. The government policy is also very important if really a university wants to attract the best. Could you shed more light on how government policies are affecting the universities? You are aware of the government policy in terms of admission and especially the post-UTME and what have you. What I mean is that university admission policy is being influenced by whatever policy the government puts in place, which is based on only 45 per cent on merit. The point I am making is that in other parts of the world between 95 or 100 per cent admission is based on merit and this will definitely affect the quality of what you get in terms of output of the university. Of course, all these things are interrelated. The issue of funding is central to whatever we do such as setting up laboratories, e-library and e-learning facilities and subscribing to all necessary data bases, since all these will cost you a lot of money, especially now that the exchange rate is a problem. Also our members of staff have to attend international conferences and seminars and as I have said before, all these, cost a lot of resources. The more members of staff that attend these conferences the better for the university’s rating.

charge fees but they have less subscription. I have a friend, a vice-chancellor of a private university, who once told me that a department in the university has only two students, and another one whose child is studying Medicine, which increased fees for medicine to N3 million and he had to withdraw that child and send him to another private university, where they charge less. Like in our situation, this admission year, the University of Ibadan has over 29,000 candidates, who picked it as their first choice, and perhaps you will realise that the minimum cut-off marks specified by the Federal Government for universities is 180 marks. But, the JAMB Registrar, Prof. Dibu Ojerinde said for six first generation universities including UI, OAU, UNIBEN, UNILAG, UNN their cut-off marks should remain 200 marks. That is also part of quality we are talking about here. Even when the government said 180 marks, we pegged our own at 200 marks. For instance, in MBBS programme, our quota is 150 students, but over 700 candidates who scored over 200 marks subscribed to the programme, that makes it difficult that at the end you are unable to pick the best. Apart from merit, we admit students based on the less-advantaged and the catchment area or locality. But, for UI the entire country is our catchment area and the competition becomes so keen. Coming to the scrapping of postUTME, the merit of the directive to me is that on the face value, the candidates are being subjected to too many examinations. They write the Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) conducted by WAEC and NECO and the UTME almost at the same time. But, on the other hand, we should not lose sight of what led us to the introduction of the PostUTME in the first instance. They last students to write concessionary examination into UI was in 1977 and in the following year the government introduced JAMB. For about 20 years, the quality of JAMB was high standard. Of course, the performance of candidates in JAMB was enough for universities to select their students for admission, meeting the government’s criteria of merit, less-advan-

The minister has just announced the scrapping of the post-UTME, how did you receive this directive as a vice-chancellor and as the university system? Well, I think the issue is that when we look at what we are doing at the universities, we should look at it from a triangle. First and foremost, we need access. If for instance, in every year about 1.6 million candidates write the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), which is conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), there is great need for access, which is still limited. So, the government will want as many as those who are qualified for university admission to be admitted. But where are the spaces in the universities? Of course, those who could not be admitted due to lack of access should be encouraged to go to the polytechnics, monotechinics and colleges of education. The other aspect is the quality. If in a university, you have a laboratory that is meant for 100 students and you admitted 500, some things have to give way. Meanwhile, we have to look critically at the cost too. So, the three; access, quality and cost should be looked into critically. For instance, if you have a hostel room meant for two students and you pack 10 of them there, they will live a sub-human life. And, this is why we have to look at the cost of doing all these things. In Nigeria today, we have three segments of universities – federal, state and private. The federal universities are more competitive partly because they are the cheapest, while the state-owned universities pay more. On the other spectrum, we have the private universities which Olayinka

taged and locality. However, at a point people started picking holes and lack of confidence in examination bodies in the country such as JAMB, WAEC and NECO. Over the years, we discovered that some candidates that had done so well in JAMB could not prove their mettle at the universities. In 2005, the then Minister of Education, under the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo, Mrs. Chinwe Obaji, introduced the Post-UTME, under which the government allowed each university to conduct its own screening tests.

If we think our system should not be made to attract the best because of the nation’s admission policy, then it is unfortunate

But, the screening exercise was abused by universities, which extorted money from the candidates and turn it to money making venture. You may be right, but for us at the University of Ibadan, we have been an active participant in this exercise and not to make money. Even though, it is to make money, we needed money to run the university, but let me stress here that the emphasis had not been to make money. Before, we began to conduct the screening test the records are there, that between 12 to 18 per cent of our students were being asked to withdraw due to poor academic performance at the end of the first year. Like I said, there was no correlation between those candidates’ JAMB score and academic performance in the university. So, many of the students were asked to withdraw. When we started the post-UTME, I was the Dean of Faculty of Geology then; some students confessed to us that they cheated in their JAMB. A student came to me, who has just completed his 100-Level at the university at the Faculty of Technology, but who was asked to withdraw and he wanted to change to Geology. And, when I asked him what the problem was, he confessed to me that virtually all of them that wrote JAMB in his state that year passed. He said the state governor assisted them and all those who wrote JAMB that year in the state passed very well with high scores. But at the end of first year he could not meet up with our standard. If we had introduced the postUTME test, there would have been no way for such students to secure admission into our university. The irony of it all is that such students who were asked to withdraw have prevented or denied some other students who genuinely passed their JAMB to be admitted. Secondly, those students would have wasted out resources because in the first instance he or she is not a university material and so why should we allow them to come and congest our facilities. Like I mentioned before the post-UTME screening was introduced, between 12 and 18 per cent of our students were asked to withdraw, but with the introduction of post-UTME we kept on fine-tuning the template and for the past five years, less than three per cent are being asked to withdraw. Even, one of the admission officers once told me that the university now records less than 1.9 per cent who is being asked to withdraw at the end of their first year. The records are there as the quality has improved over the years and the lecturers are confirming that quantitatively. While other universities are admitting about 12,000 students, the University of Ibadan only ad-

mits 3,000 because of our carrying capacity and election as postgraduate institution. We admit just about 3,000 students. If about 29,000 candidates subscribed to the university, ordinarily it shouldn’t have been difficult for us to select the best 3,000, who should be the best the Nigerian secondary school system could throw up. We have been extremely delighted about the improved quality of our students. If the input of the system is good and you have good lecturers, it will definitely rub on the quality of the institution, but if on the other hand, you recruited those with poor quality, the output will definitely be poor. You have only talked about your university, but at the level of vicechancellors, how have they received the directive? On the contrary, the Association of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities met recently, where they defended the policy robustly based on what I have discussed. Like I said, one good thing about the scrapping of the postUTME is that it will reduce the too many examinations taking by the students. That is on the fillip side, but on the other hand, why was the policy introduced. It was because the people have lost faith and confidence in public examination and the examination bodies. That indicted the examination bodies and parents, who could do anything to get their children to the universities, even to the extent of buying marks, were also at fault. Ironically, this year was the time JAMB would migrate to only Computer-Based-Test (CBT) mode. I understand that there were logistic problems in the conduct of the examination. The truth of the matter is that our carrying capacity is limited. The biggest lecture theatre that we have, which is used for CBT could only seat 600 students and if we admit 12,000 and pack them like sardine, what result do we get? It is going to affect the quality. For us at University of Ibadan, what has been working for us is our adherence to our carrying capacity and admission of quality students. Though I cannot speak for other vice-chancellors, but here especially for 2015/2016 academic year the percentage of those advised by the management to withdraw at the end of their first year has reduced from two to 1.9 per cent. And that is a good record. On the whole, it is not the problem of JAMB only, but that of Nigerian society, where parents could go to any extent to buy marks for their children. For us, we are happy about the post-UTME, but it all depends on what you want for your university. Today, University of Ibadan could not rank among the top in the world because of all these variables, but at the University of Legon, Ghana, admission is based on 95 per cent merit and there are some courses that students could not ordinarily be admitted without scoring AAA in their Advanced Level results. You can go to the Business or Medical School elsewhere, you will realise they are very competitive. So, if we think our system should not be made to attract the best because of the nation’s admission policy, then it is unfortunate. TO BE CONTINUED

POLITICS

MONDAY, august 15, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

How Obasanjo, PDP political CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11

felt unease with Obasanjo on such a sensitive position. So, his reign was cut short and he was replaced with Chief Tony Anenih (Mr. Fix It), who he (Obasanjo) dethroned to assume the position. To make matters worse, many of Jonathan’s foot soldiers then in the South-West described their kinsman (Obasanjo) as a spent force, who has lost political relevance in the zone. But analysts, however, wondered how Jonathan and the PDP would go into the 2015 presidential contest without the support of the man who won the presidency for two terms on its platform. Some analysts insisted then that it would amount to a political suicide by the party as Obasanjo holds the record of Nigeria’s longest serving leader – 11 years (military – 1976 to 1999 and civilian – 1999 to 2007) and remains a factor in the country’s politics. They recalled the scheming that saw his emergence as the PDP’s presidential candidate in 1999, barely months after coming out of prison over a phantom coup against late dictator, General Sanni Abacha, ahead of highly favoured former Vice President Alex Ekwueme. Against all odds, members of the Northern oligarchy, comprising of retired and serving military officers, not only ensured his victory at the party’s national convention but the election as well. Bitter lesson for PDP While the several warnings for the then PDP leadership to reconcile with Obasanjo fell on deaf ears until it was late, the outcome of the 2015 presidential election taught the party some bitter political lessons. The then ruling party realised the need to reconcile with Obasanjo too late. Its then National Chairman, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu and Mark, who literally went on their knees, when the party received back to its fold the former governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, acknowledged that the PDP offended Obasanjo and asked that he should, as a father forgive the entire stakeholders, leaders, elders and members. Mu’azu, particularly admitted that mistakes were made in the past and Obasanjo should come and lead the party, adding that the then leader of the party, Jonathan was also waiting eagerly for him to come back to the party. His words: “Baba, you have to forgive us. I beg you in the name of the Almighty God, so that you too are forgiven. We are your children. We are making mistakes, we have made mistakes, we have apologised, we will not agree even if you want to throw the baby with the bath water, the baby will not go with you. “Come and lead us. Even the president is waiting for you. Come and lead us. You are our leader, we appreciate you. We

thank you for your leadership, we thank you for your courage, and we assure you that by the grace of God, we are all good boys and girls.” Mark on his part, said: “All of us in the PDP are begging Baba (Obasanjo) to forgive us even if he is annoyed with us. We truly apologise to him. He should forgive us because he cannot throw us away; He will have to forgive us and make sure we are not sheep without shepherd.” Obasanjo, did not heed to this pleas to forgive and join hands with the PDP to fight the opposition and he seized the opportunity of the presidential election to extract his pound of flesh from the party and Jonathan. He publicly tore his party’s membership card at the eve of the poll and endorsed APC’s Buhari by attesting to the uprightness of the former military ruler in public service. Obasanjo said he had found the Katsina-born General’s record to be unblemished. Consequently, those who tagged the former president as a political featherweight, have come to realise that though he may not be the toast of his kinsmen in the South-West, his political structure spreads across the country. Shutting the door Unlike some politicians, who are ready to go back to their vomit at the slightest opportunity, Obasanjo has come out to finally shut the door against his former party about 18 months after he contributed to its defeat for the first time in the presidential election since 1999. The former leader, who is known for his bluntness, in taking the decision, gave a damn verdict on the party. According to him, the PDP is divided, factionalised and gasping for breath. The former president, who

Obasanjo directing his ward chairman to tear his PDP membership card in January 2015

If he comes back to this party, we are ready to receive him

stated this while reacting to media reports that he was sighted at a PDP event at the Shehu Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja, said the reports were aimed at scoring “cheap political gains.” Obasanjo said having announced his exit from partisan politics publicly, it is unthinkable and preposterous for anybody to contemplate that he would reverse himself and return to a comatose PDP. He said he was at the Yar’Adua Centre as a guest of the Commodities Association Stakeholders, which had no relationship with the PDP. His words: “Those who know me, know that I have publicly announced my quitting partisan politics and those who will believe the purported story will believe anybody who tells him that his or her mother is not a woman. “If I quit a party when it was alive and seemingly united, how

could I go back to a now divided, factionalised party gasping for breath?” His office followed up with a statement, saying: “While ordinarily his first reaction to the news was that those behind it targeted to get him annoyed and embarrassed him, his conclusion was that he has told the world that he has quit partisan politics and that is final. Anybody hoping to drag him back will fail like any man feeding mice to a dead cat. “To clear the minds of doubting Thomases and those behind the orchestrated news in circulation and particularly those who had been calling to ascertain what actually happened at the Shehu Musa Yar’adua Centre, on the invitation of the Commodities Association Stakeholders, His Excellency was invited to the “Zero Hunger Nigeria” event at

Oyedokun: Nobody is indispensable

Ogundele: We're already

Chief Shuaib Oyedokun is a member of the PDP BoT and former Deputy National Chairman (South) of the party

Hon. Sikirulai Ogundele is the factional chairman of Ogun State chapter of PDP

f Obasanjo decides to come back to the PDP, we will welcome him. I have always told people that he never tore his membership card. It was another person who tore his card. Nobody saw Obasanjo tearing his card. So, he can come back anytime and if he so desire. We want him back because he was one of the founders of the PDP or even if he was not originally a founder, he sustained it for a while and that was the platform he used to rejuvenate his prestige. So, he should not be so abandoned for posterity. Even if he doesn’t come back physically, let him give moral support towards the rebuilding of the party. I believe nobody on earth is indispensable. Nature rejects vacuum. A political leader and a thinker in my place died recently and somebody had occupied

his place. That incident buttressed the fact that nobody is indispensable. At this crucial period of the PDP, if Obasanjo offers advice, we will take it. If he refuses to offer it, God will compensate us through other sources.

t is a very credible attempt, we have been charged as a state chapter to go and work on Baba Obasanjo, appease and appeal to him. From all intents and purposes, you cannot put aside the credibility of his personality. Baba is a special breed created by God and it will be a great credit to have his likes in PDP. Unfortunately, he left the party in annoyance and we are all aware of the reason why he left the party. He left the party because of a personality that has questionable personality. Baba is of the opinion and rightfully so, that such a person with shady character is not the most appropriate person to lead us in the South-West. Ogun State is an elitist state whereby whoever is going to lead among the legion of credible, quality ones, should be above board. Baba Obasanjo left the party based on the person that was imposed to lead the party then and who a quenstionable image. During my inaugural speech as PDP chairman in Ogun State, I said my emergence will influence Baba's coming back to the party and to God be the glory, we are already taking steps on the task

MONDAY, august 15, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

romance turned sour

Jonathan

Jibrin

the Centre. “He arrived at about 10.00am and immediately moved to the meeting. The meeting commenced but few minutes into the session, his attention was drawn to the presence of some people walking up to where he was seated. “At closer glance, he recognised them to be politicians and they exchanged pleasantries, saying they came to greet him and they walked out again from the meeting. The former president cracked jokes with them calling them invaders and gate crashers.” The statement added that as soon as the programme ended Obasanjo and his entourage headed back to Lagos. He said he was barely hours in Lagos when he started receiving calls from far and near wanting to find out about his presence at a political party programme in Abuja.

“The photo news in circulation, which claimed that he was spotted at a political party event is therefore mischievous, and a responsible journalist ought to have gone further to ascertain his actual destination. Shocking also to note that the picture was actually taken while on his way out of the centre after the programme he had attended had finished,” the statement added. PDP reacts The national leadership of the PDP, in a swift reaction to Obasanjo’s claim, said the party is dead only in his imagination. Chairman of the PDP BoT, Senator Walid Jibrin, who slammed Obasanjo during the party’s inauguration of 18-member peace committee, however said that despite the former president’s reckless statement and prediction of doom, the party was ready to

Kashamu

Any sincere PDP member should know that PDP is bigger than an individual

receive him if he comes back. His words: “Leaders who are talking in newspapers that this party is not alive, the party is alive. It is only in the imagination of those saying that this party is dead and that it will not come back. “Such people should change their minds. If he comes back to this party, we are ready to receive him.” What next? Obasanjo may not be in a position to install a president come 2019 like he did in 2007, but he still has the wherewithal to influence things. At the moment, the PDP is trying to rebuild after the 2015 shocking defeat but lacks a strong figure to rally its factionalised members. The immediate past president, Jonathan, who many had expected to be the rallying point, has remained silent on issues

working on his return

Babatope: We won’t beg Obasanjo to return

to bring him back. I've built up a cordial relationship with him and we are using that to appease him and talk to him to return to the party. I hope you remember that we had our congress in Baba's place and he will not have allowed us use that venue if not for one or two considerations. We used that venue and Baba allowed us. Since I emerged, I've been talking to Baba and appealing to him and we have been seeing results. We are working towards some of the conditions and by the grace of God, we will get result.

Chief Ebenezer Babatope is a former Minister of Transport and member of the PDP BoT

f Obasanjo wants to come back to the PDP, we will receive him. The party will receive him if he wants to come back but we will not go and beg him to return to the party. If he wants to come and join, we will accord him all the dignity that should be given to a former president. We recognise his experience and the fact that he is somebody whose experience cannot be toyed with. But we will never beg him to come back; we will not do that. I don’t believe Obasanjo’s claim that the PDP is dead. How can the PDP be dead? He has only expressed an opinion, which he holds firmly to. PDP cannot die. In Yorubaland, we don’t insult elders and that is why I won’t join issues with him. But I can assure him that PDP is as strong as rock of Gibraltar. If Obasanjo shows interest in coming back to the PDP, why must we stop

him? We won’t do that. We will welcome him; everybody is welcome but whether he wants to come back or not is his own problem. Any political party would want Obasanjo but like I said, we will not go cap in hand to beg Obasanjo to join the PDP. We won’t do that. • Interviews by Temitope Ogunbanke

POLITICS

concerning the party since he left office. He even declined the BoT chairmanship offered to him upon losing the presidency. Anenih, had resigned his position as BoT chairman in May 2015 for Jonathan to take over but the latter turned down the offer. Consequently, the board appointed a former acting national chairman of the party, Mohammed Haliru Bello, as acting chairman of the BoT for a period three months after which a substantive chairman would be elected. The then secretary of the board, Senator Wali Jibrin, was later elected into the position. PDP’s lack of a rallying point has been blamed for the leadership crisis presently rocking the party. The party is factionalised into two camps with former governors of Borno and Kaduna states, Senators Ali Modu Sheriff and Ahmed Makarfi, laying claim to the national chairmanship position. While several efforts have been made to resolve the issue, there seems no end to the impasse as the two factions have shifted the battleground to the courts. Both factions keep brandishing court rulings empowering them as the authentic leadership. A national convention is billed for this Wednesday by the Markarfiled faction to elect a substantive national chairman but the Sheriff ’s camp is opposed to it. It is against this backdrop that analysts and even some PDP stakeholders agreed that the party needs an exemplary leader to rescue and lead it to redemption. This, many said, explains why the party needs a strong character like Obasanjo to whip members in line. Jonathan, who seems to share this view, urged members to sheath their sword and allow for the party to pick up its bits and pieces. The former president, who spoke when members of the PDP BoT paid him a visit at his Maitama, Abuja residence recently, said: “I have been talking to individuals but not in a way that is exposed to media but I believe I should do more. “Unfortunately we have been challenged, but I don’t think you should be discouraged. Challenges are part of life; even in families there are challenges. There are challenges even in the church more than what may be happening at political level. So you should not be discouraged, and I believe, collectively, we can solve it. “This should not be beyond us but I believe that collectively, we can resolve it. Any sincere PDP member should know that PDP is bigger than an individual. And many members have sacrificed their interest for the party.” He added that despite all that is happening, PDP is alive, stating that “anybody who wants to destroy PDP will not succeed.” No doubt, the PDP is alive given its control of 12 out of the country’s 36 states and appreciable seats in both Houses of the National Assembly – Senate and House of Representatives – its leadership must intensify efforts at wooing aggrieved members back if the party, which dominated Nigeria’s political landscape for 16 years prides itself as Africa’s largest political party, is to bounce back.

MONDAY, AUGUST 15, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Opinion Tonic for national reconciliation Dominik Umosen

eliberate defiance of the geographical wisdom that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line has robbed the country of monumental political momentum, as we have consistently maintained on this circuit. And this curious defiance of logic is responsible for the over-heat in the polity which has inspired demands for reformation to expunge perceived injustice in the polity (re-structuring). Incredible profit that is accruing to mischief-makers benefitting from disunity among federating nationalities in the country, it costs nothing to foster real unity among Nigerians. That is why it is more attractive to spend billions in pretending not to see them what is commonsensical like upholding the original vision of the country’s founding fathers which would have saved the country enduring frustration in its pathetic attempts to forge a united nation. It is possible to detoxify the polity but the most pragmatic model is to use the youths as proposed by Nigerian Youth Impact Conference, a platform convened by Pastor Bassey James, a Lagos-based cleric. According to the convener, the administration can seize the timely opportunity to re-invent the confidence of younger Nigerians and channel their famous positive energy into building a truly united nation that we have been trying to forge. The driving sprit behind the conference, according to the cleric, is painful realization that over time, a critical segment of the population was erroneously classified as reserve for mindless trouble-makers and social deviants whose sole qualification as youth was

capacity for notoriety; a classification which he strongly disagrees with as misleading. Considering the landmark contributions of some young men and women in all spheres, this stated objective of galvanizing the energy of the younger generation of Nigerians can not be over-emphasized. The contributions of some people, especially selfish politicians, he said, helped to sustain the misrepresentation and crisis of youth identity. Some political leaders also exploited the dysfunctional economy to lure unsuspecting young men and women with easy money into anti-social activities but this went unnoticed. This misrepresentation that all you needed to qualify as youth is capacity to be notorious or be a trouble-maker is what the conference is set to correct by tapping into the positive energy of youths, Bassey explained. Eradicating the misconception that nothing positive is possible from youths is a noble mandate that the Nigerian Youths Impact Conference has imposed on itself. The revolutionary platform provided by Pastor Bassey James is convinced that it is possible to reverse the uncomplimentary argument and that the administration can actually exploit this reversal to promote its programmes. The argument is that just as some misguided youths have been manipulated into evils like insurgency and militancy, it is possible to to mobilize the positive energy of the youth and deploy same to fortify the original message of peace and national unity that the administration has sworn to uphold. The urgent need to defuse tension in the polity makes support and encouragement for the conference imperative and an obligation for the Federal Government. Any opportunity to reduce tension in the polity like the one offered by the Nigerian Youths Impact Conference should be supported and encouraged,

Engaging young people constructively is imperative

especially as the Federal Government considers options to stamp out insurgency and militancy among idle youths. Engaging young people constructively is imperative, especially now that criminals and enemies of the country now hide under cattle-grazing to cause instability. As alerted by the military authorities, the possibility of insurgents posing as herdsmen to forment trouble is very real as the worsening economy provides sufficient cover for this criminality. Before the warning by military authorities, the Emir of Ilorin had alerted the authorities that criminals fleeing from pursuit by security agents in the sub-region now pose as genuine herdsmen. Relying on existing institutional infrastructure, the conference plans a robust mobilization drive from Abuja, Kaduna, Enugu and Uyo down to Lagos to convert the positive energy of young people into immense profit for the elusive national unity among Nigerians. It is the expectation of the conveners that the Federal Government will key into this desirable objective and take maximum advantage of the conference to build confidence among young people in the country. The support and confidence of young people is crucial to strengthen national unity which has remained elusive among the federating nationalities in the country. It is important to emphasize that in order to eliminate, or at least reduce, avoidable political tension that has suffused the polity for some time now, every avenue and possibility to de-toxify the polity like this should be supported and encouraged by the Federal Government. The Nigerian Youths Impact Conference convened by Bassey James is a worthy opportunity that deserves support and encouragement from the authorities, in spite of the huge threat this brilliant initiative poses to powerful profiteers from enduring disunity among Nigerians. •Umosen (dominik.umosen@gmail.com) wrote in from Lagos.

Exploiting the sick Adewale Kupoluyi

he ongoing controversy surrounding the widely reported case involving Mayowa Ahmed’s fund raiser meant to fly the University of Lagos graduate abroad for cancer surgery, reminds us of the fate of many sick people in our society today. Ahmed’s family is said to have raised over $100,000 donations with the backing of popular Nollywood stars, including actress Toyin Aimakhu while additional donations running into millions, were also allegedly received by her family. However, in a twist, the #SaveMayowa campaign was accused of being a scam, sparking controversy on the social media such that actress Aimakhu, who played a major role in soliciting funds, was said to have reported the family to the police while doctors at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, where the patient is being attended to, were said to have refused giving the family a referral for treatment abroad on the premise that no hospital could save her from the ovarian cancer, said to be at its stage 4. While investigations are still ongoing to ascertain the real situation of things, what is of interest is the seeming trend of the various narratives of people reaping from the suffering and

misfortune of others. The upsurge in similar activities in the country could be attributed to the operations of unregistered and illegal non-governmental organisations that are fast making an inroad into the socio-economic life of the nation largely due to the inability of the appropriate authorities to put a tab on their activities. The proliferation of NGOs could be linked to the 1990s following an attempt to expand both the liberal democratic approach and a neo-liberal economic order to governance. NGOs are then seen as the key engines in the drive towards positive change. In Nigeria, the rise in the activities of NGOs actually began in the late 1980s; an era that promoted the adoption policy of the World Bank/International Monetary Fund-aided Structural Adjustment Programmes while donor support for NGOs was connected to a wider interest and faith-based civil societies as the crucial mechanism toward civil rule, democratisation and development. With the progression of such platform, proliferation of the NGOs may actually not be divorced from the prevailing economic climate, whereby unemployment is a big issue as many able-bodied men and women continue to roam about the streets. As no jobs are forthcoming, they would ordinarily want to try their hands on anything, just to survive. Of course, one of such

options could be the floating of NGOs with people of like-minds. Various experiences continue to show the manifesting of this proliferation. I recall a few experiences that once I shared in which the police in Lagos nabbed a six-member gang that allegedly specialised in using children, suffering from various ailments, to solicit funds from unsuspecting members of the public, as the operatives rescued a two-year-old girl suffering from cancer of the eyes. The kingpin of the gang was said to have abandoned his cartpushing business for the ‘lucrative and alms-begging business’. As he had allegedly confessed: “I was making small amount of money from cart-pushing until I met my master, who told me that we could make a lot of money by using children suffering from ailments such as cancer and epilepsy, to solicit for alms from members of the public … We don’t use blind kids because people don’t respond to blind persons ... We convince the parents that we were working for a non-governmental organisation, which cares for the sick and the girl’s father allowed the child and mother to go with us ... We lodged in hotels ... We made so much money before people could start suspecting us”. No doubt, those engaging in this trade appear to be well-organised and coordinated because they usually have offices,

tactics, operational tools and personnel that are intelligent-enough to go about luring vulnerable members of the public into their illegal activities. They even go a step further by deceiving and convincing the parents of these victimchildren by making fake promises and pledge to give them medical treatment. What then happens? They merely bring the children to the cities, use them to beg for money and dump them without fulfilling the promised medical assistance by smiling to the banks. For them, this is a big-time business. Hear this: “We were making an average of N30,000 everyday and we were paying the money into our director’s account. There is a lot of money in the business because we were paying N6,000 daily as hotel accommodation and we were giving the child’s mother N1,000 everyday, for feeding. Our director also bought a motorcycle for our victim’s father and sends him monthly stipend”, the gang leader had allegedly confessed. Another pathetic experience was given of an indigent woman, who was said to have been raped by members of an officially non-existing NGO, which promised to help treat her two-and-half year-old daughter of cancer. •Kupoluyi writes from Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), adewalekupoluyi@ yahoo.co.uk,@AdewaleKupoluyi

MONDAY, AUGUST 15, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

EDITORIAL

Our VISION To build a newspaper organisation anchored on the sanctity of truth. Sanctity of Truth

Our MISSION To publish a newspaper of superior value, upholding the fundamental ethics of journalism: balanced reporting, fairness, accuracy and objectivity.

Nigeria’s most authoritative newspaper in politics and business

Using the law to curb kidnapping

nitially, it was regarded as the exclusive preserve of the Niger Delta region when it reared its head a few years ago. Today, it has spread across the nation as youths and some ‘unemployed graduates’ embrace kidnapping as a money spinner. They in turn demand ransom for the social malaise which has enveloped the nation called Nigeria. When it began with the abduction of the white oil workers by youths from the creeks of the Niger Delta, it was viewed as no man business as no recorded opinion condemned it. While it raged on, other parts of the country may also have viewed it as business as usual with little recorded opinion condemning it. However, kidnapping gradually became a tool by some politicians to settle political scores. From the creeks where it all began to Rivers State where abduction eventually became a battle for supremacy by some renegade groups, it spread like wildfire. Although it appeared that the initial idea of abducting white oil workers and taking them to the creeks, was to draw the attention of the world to the environmental evils perpetrated by the oil multinationals in the Niger Delta region, kidnapping turned out to be a misadventure which is today threatening the corporate image of the entire country. Kidnapping took a twist in 2007 as political opponents and their dependents, innocent mothers, fathers of political enemies were abducted. It was at this juncture that the whole exercise took a different dimension. Sadly today, kidnapping hasbecome a thriving business as the

young, the old, male, female, white, everybody becomes a victim in Lagos, Kaduna, Rivers, Ondo, Edo and Ekiti states. In churches, mosques, schools even at home, people are no longer safe. This has forced many multinational oil companies to relocate from the oil rich region including men of means, leaving the city in droves, several indigenous wealthy citizens and movers of the state economy have virtually relocated to Abuja and Lagos for fear of their safety, the safety of members of their families and their economic well-being. A businessman was not lucky. He was kidnapped in Lagos a few days shortly after he relocated from Akwa Ibom to Lagos. His whereabouts is

Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief

Funke Egbemode

Managing Editor, Business & Strategy n Yemi Ajayi

Managing Editor, Publication & Operations n Emeka Obasi

Managing Editor, South n Emeka Madunagu Managing Editor, North & Abuja n Laurence Ani (Leave of Absence) Editor n Ayodele Ojo Editor, Sunday n Juliet Bumah Editor, Saturday n Waheed Bakare Deputy Editor, Group Head, Newsroom n Geoffrey Ekenna

Bureau Chief, Abuja n Onwuka Nzeshi Bureau Chief, Brussels n Leo Cendrowicz Bureau Chief, Washington DC n Marshall Comins Editorial Coordinator, Europe n Sam Amsterdam

Business Development Manager n Taiwo Ahmed Sales/Circulation Manager n Oyebanji Abiodun Head, Arts & Creative n Ugochukwu Nnakwe Head, Admin. n Robinson Ezeh

corded when the police rescued Oba Oseni, the Oniba of Iba three months after it recorded the same feat when Babington schoolgirls were rescued having spent six days in kidnappers’ den. Unlike Oba Oseni, who was abducted in his palace and released 22 days after N15million ransom was paid, the schoolgirls were rescued six days without any ransom paid. Before Oba Oseni was abducted, three traditional rulers had also tasted the bitter pill of the ravaging malaise. Two from Ondo states including a former Secretary to

Sadly today, kidnapping has become a thriving business

still not known. The abduction of over 200 school girls at Chibok, Borno State some four years ago, the kidnaping of three students of Babington Macaulay Junior Secondary School, Lagos, a Redeemed Christian Church of God pastor in Lagos, another in Kaduna state and other reported cases which made newspapers’ headlines, are some of the ills kidnapping had foisted on the country. The latest is the abduction of a Lagos Oba, Goriola Yushau Oseni, although he was freed after many days with the arrest of two of his abductors. The Lagos state government was euphoric at the success it re-

DAILY TELEGRAPH PUBLISHING COMPANY LIMITED

Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon and the truth – Buddha

the Federal Government, Chief Olu Falae, a Regent and two monarchs from the East were abducted. While four were rescued alive, some

two from the East were murdered even after ransoms was paid. About four of Oseni’s abductors, including those who allegedly facilitated his kidnap are already assisting the police. But these alleged kidnappers’ trial, prosecution and conviction have not gone beyond police parade months after the police assured Nigerians that they would be made to face the full wrath of the law. What has happened to them after initial police parade is no longer in the public domain. During the parade of Oseni’s kidnappers, Lagos Police boss, Mr Fatai Owoseni made the same pledge that the suspects would face prosecution.

Lagos governor was not different. Governor Akinwunmi Ambode said “the kidnappers are also prime suspects in the murder of two persons killed during the kidnap and they will face the full wrath of the law.” Time will tell if Governor Ambode’s assurance will not go the way of suspects in the Babington schoolgirls’ abduction. However, while some believe that there is the need for severe punishments like death penalty to deter many people from taking part in the crime, others disagree. In 2010, former Anambra state, Mr. Peter Obi presented a bill to the State House of Assembly asking that stringent measures be put in place to checkmate the monsters. There is the need to check the extravagant spending of governors’ political aides as well as their commissioners as the way the so-called new breed politicians waste government funds is very ridiculous and could lead the youths to anti-social vices such as kidnapping for money. However, to stop this nuisance from becoming endemic, stringent laws like death penalty being contemplated by the National Assembly must be passed to protect the nation’s image. In other words, death penalty which had been passed by some states ought to be made a national law. And, it must be fully implemented. The role of police is also critical: their mindset must change by acting swiftly whenever they receive reports of abduction and kidnapping.

MONDAY, AUGUST 15, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

monDAY, AUGUST 15, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Law

Dasuki

Although its reason to request for the transfer of high profile corruption cases from various prosecutorial agencies is to ensure speedy trial, there may be more than meets the eye if lawyers’ fear on the Federal Government’s directive that some corruption cases before the court must be handed over to a newly inaugurated committee-National Prosecution Coordination Committee (NPCC). TUNDE OYESINA reports

ast month when various courts adjourned further hearing of corruption cases initiated against some key officials of former president Goodluck Jonathan including top military officers to September following their annual vacation, lest did lawyers handling the cases know that they would be ‘debriefed’.

FOLUSO OGUNMODEDE JUDICIARY Editor

foluso.ogunmodede@ newtelegraphonline.com

Interview Takon: Why FG must yield to restructuring call

File Is budget padding a crime?

Rage over takeover of Saraki, Dasuki, Badeh, Kanu, others’ cases To them, the courts’ annual vacation would afford them to embark on a rigorous research work on how to either secure conviction or sustain their clients’ innocence on corruption charges brought against them by the Federal Government. Although a number of them were retained, other lawyers engaged by the prosecutorial agencies to handle the cases were disappointed at the weekend following the Federal Government’s directive that all corruption cases must be transferred from employers—the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt and Other Offences Related Commission (ICPC) to a newly inaugurated committee—the National Prosecution Coordination Committee (NPCC). The Federal Government through the Federation Justice Minister and Attorney-General, Malam Abubakar Malami, last week directed all prosecutorial agencies to hands off all the corruption cases to the National Prosecution Coordination Committee (NPCC) on the grounds that there was the need to fast-track the trial of the accused persons. Malami said “the aim is to ensure effective investigation and prosecution of high profile criminal cases in Nigeria.” Already, the federal government has unveiled 11 Senior Advocates of Nigeria to handle the ‘debriefed’ cases. They are Abeni Obomeileh Mohammed, Rotimi Jacobs, Aliyu Umar, Olu Daramola, Oluwemimo Ogunde, Jibrin Okutepa and Y.C Maikyau. Others are Lanre Ogunlesi, Joy Okungbowa Adesina, John Bayieshea, Emeka Ngige and Prof. Ernest Ojukwu. The NPCC has 20 members apart from the “SANs empowered to prosecute the cases. NPCC members are Malami, who is the Chairman of the Committee, Mr. Taiwo Abidogun-Solicitor-Gen-

In persuading the government to constitute this committee, the AGF has just succeeded in selling a dummy to the Federal Government

eral/Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice, Mr. Dipo Okpeseyi, SAN, Mr. Chukuma Machukwu, SAN, Professor Bolaji Owasanoye, the Executive Secretary of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Anti-Corruption, Mr. M.S. Diri, Director of Prosecution, Ministry of Justice and Mr. Pius Oteh. Others are Okoi Obono-Obla Esq, Mrs Juliet Ibekaku, Mr. Abiodun Aikomo, Mr. Kehinde Oginni, Mr. Salihu Othman Isah-Special Adviser, Media and Publicity to the AttorneyGeneral, Al-Amin Ado Ibrahim, from the Office of the National Security Adviser, Nafiu Yakubu, Tunji Oluborode, Eric Onokif Ifere, Mrs Diane Okoko, Temitope Adebayo, DIG Abdulrahman Yusuf, and Sylvester Imhanobe, Secretary. But the newly inaugurated committee and the federal government’s directive may have split lawyers. To some, the government’s directive was novel and must be supported. But others see it from another perspective. They said the transfer of the cases from the anti-graft agencies was unknown to the nation’s jurisprudence as such would create more suspicion of the President Muhammadu Buhari led government’s commitment to the fight against corruption.. Speaking to New Telegraph Law on why the committee was inaugurated, the media aide to the AGF, who also doubles as the spokesperson of the committee, Salihu Othman Isah stated that the idea was to fast-track the hearing and determination of corruption cases. Isah said: “There are cases that are dragging; some are not even attended to. Those that are attended to are not going the way it should. We are looking at the possibility of taken over such cases so that we can fast track it.” Agencies that will be affected by this new policy are the Nigerian Police Force (NPF), Department of State Services (DSS), Economic

20 22

Badeh

and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), among others. Prominent among the high profile cases that the committee will takeover, is the prosecution of the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki, his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu and two others over alleged forgery of House Rules and Procedure. The case is already before an Abuja High Court. The defendants had already been arraigned on a two count charge bothering on conspiracy and forgery of the house rules. The defendants had pleaded not guilty to the charge and consequently admitted to bail. Further trial in the case was stalled by the annual vacation of the judiciary. With the new policy of the AGF, anti-graft agencies such as the EFCC and the ICPC may have to hands off from some of the corruption cases they are prosecuting. Such cases that may be transferred are that of a former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki. Dasuki is standing trial over alleged illegal possession of ammunition and diversion of funds meant for the procurement of firearms. Other high profile cases that may be taken from the EFCC are that of a former Chief of Defense Staff, Air Marshall Alex Badeh, Air Marshall Umar Dikko, AVM Olusola Amosu among others. Also every other corruption case involving any past governor or any other public servant may be categorized under high profile cases and such will henceforth be taken from the prosecution agency and handed to the new committee. To set the new policy in motion, the AGF had met with the various agencies in his office with a view to briefing them on the exigency and CONTINUED ON PAGE 24

20 Law|Interview

Takon: Why FG must yield to restructuring call

thief that is caught is the one that is caught. He should face his trial and defend himself. However, my question is why are they being tried now for offences allegedly committed before now? Saraki is also being tried for alleged false declaration of assets. But why are we having his trial now? Are those information not available for him to be prosecuted immediately he left office as Governor of Kwara State? If he is being prosecuted for the right reasons why was he not tried immediately his tenure ended as a governor? Why should it be now that he became the Senate President as against the will and dictation of the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Some other Nigerians and I know that his travail was due to how he emerged as the Senate President that is against the plans by the APC. But for them, like I said, they have to face the law and defend themselves. If other preferred members of the Senate by the leadership of the APC have emerged, Saraki’s trial would never have happened. We will not be hearing about any forgery suit against him. That is the truth and that is my opinion. But as far as I am concerned, the Senate is not on trial but its leadership.

Destiny Obun Takon was called to the Bar about 22 years ago. Takon, who plies his law trade in Lagos, speaks on the Abia State governorship impasse, conflicting judgements, trial of some Senate’s principal officers and sundry issues. AKEEM NAFIU reports Although the Court of Appeal has reserved judgement in the Abia state governorship impasse, how would you look at the dust generated by the impasse? Let me start from the issuance of certificate of return to Dr. Uche Ogah by INEC. I think INEC acted rascally by issuing the certificate to him. What was the urgency? What was the rush? The commission claimed it is obeying the order of Justice Okon Abang. But, you are a Nigerian, can you tell me how many of such orders in the past have INEC obeyed? You see, the thing with us is that we are always doing the right thing for the wrong reason. That is the major problem we have as people and that is what is playing out here. INEC was a party to that proceedings and the court has ordered that he should be issued with the certificate but where the litigant takes step to file an appeal and an application for stay of execution of the judgement, INEC should have waited. It then needs not act under the guise of obeying a court’s order because it amounts to brigandage and rascality. This is because by this action, INEC was trying to extinguish the man’s constitutional right of appeal. As far as I am concern, there are no two governors in Abia State. Being a Governor does not just end with being issued with a certificate of return, has he been sworn-in? So, Ogah is not a governor even though he was hastily issued a certificate of return by INEC. The Abia State High Court that stopped Ogah’s swearing-in does not sit on the appeal of Justice Abang’s judgement. What we have are two conflicting judgements of courts of co-ordinate jurisdiction. INEC cannot even choose which of them to obey as it were because it is not a judicial body. In actual fact, there is a stalemate in Abia State and as such the law must be allowed to run its full course and both parties must see it through. But what can be done to stem the tide of conflicting judgements in our courts? Yes. These conflicting judgements are endangering our judicial system. It is quite disturbing. But one way of tackling it is through periodic conferences and seminars for these judicial officers. At these fora,

Takon

the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) and others in charge should continue to make them see the dangers in giving conflicting judgements in order to avoid judicial rascality. It was this rascality that give rise to all these conflicting judgements. But the thing is that judgements are usually given in line with the materials placed before the court. So, I am afraid we might continue to have these conflicting judgements as long as people are placing materials before the court. Conflicting judgements is not healthy because it portrays the judiciary in bad light, most especially, in this part of the world that we know that graft has become a way of life. So, giving what Nigerians know, everyone will be quick to say that judiciary is corrupt particular each time this issue of conflicting judgements reared its ugly trend. Even though, that was not what really happened. The National Judicial Council (NJC) should also wield the big stick on any erring judicial officer. Do you believe that the Senate is on trial in view of two of its principal officers facing corruption charges? I do not agree that it is the Senate that is on trial. But I agree with Nigerians who believe that it is the leadership of the Senate that is on trial. I also say as I have said at other fora that these principal officers of the Senate are on trial because power-that- be does not want them there. I also believe that it is not open to those who are facing trial for forgery to cite reasons why they are being tried. They cannot be heard to say I’m not the only thief. If you are caught as a thief, even if there are other one million thieves, the

Everyone will be quick to say that judiciary is corrupt particular each time this issue of conflicting judgements rearly its ugly trend

Of what importance is Senate’s invitation of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) on the trial of Saraki and others over alleged forgery? Well, the summons is in order because the AGF is compellable and summonable. But of course, they want to ask him why they are on trial. They are on trial because they are alleged to have committed offences. Therefore, the AGF is not doing anything wrong legally by signing charges or preferring counts against them. He is only acting in his capacity as the AGF. So, as far as I am concerned, it depends on what the Senate has asked the AGF to come and explain. Also, because a matter is in court does not preclude any discussion on it. It depends on the context of the discussion or the issues. That is why as a Judiciary Correspondent, you can write about the matter, even as it is in court. You can even seek lawyers’ opinion on the issue. So, the AGF is being invited by the Senate to come and say, they are on trial and charges were preferred against them because they were alleged to have committed certain offences. He can equally tell them that he is not a judge but only doing his part as the Chief Law Officer of the country. These are the allegations against you. These are the evidence that were gathered. These charges were filed so that the court can make pronouncement on the issue. I think that is good enough explanation for the summons. What is your view on the letter written by Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, to the international community over his trial? Well, I do not see what is erroneous in the letter because the world is a global village now. What happened in one nation seems to have a spiral effect in several other nations

monDAY, AUGUST 15, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

and even the world at large. Nigeria is a major oil producing country. Nigeria is also a member of the Commonwealth and the African Union. We have also signed a lot of treaties and declarations. So, as it is, if Ekweremadu feels that his trial is politically motivated and as he said that his trial is capable of truncating democracy in Nigeria, he can write to the international community to intervene. He has written and I do not know the content of his letter, but he must have given his reasons as to how he thinks his trial might truncate Nigeria’s democracy. It could be that there is substance in the letter but this will depend on what he alleged. If at the end of the day there is substance in the petition, the United States, for instance, can call President Buhari and ask him questions. Can you imagine if the man writes in his letter that his trial is capable of bringing war in Nigeria and he gives his reason? Do you know that the international community will consider the effect of war on a country as large as Nigeria on the rest of Africa? The world is in crisis today because of the refuges’ status of Syria. So, the international community will always look at the larger picture. If there were to be internal strife in Nigeria, the likely spiral effect on the world will make the international community ask questions. So, to answer your question specifically, I do not see anything wrong in what he has done because it doesn’t mean what is happening in court will be affected. There is lopsidedness in President Muhammadu Buhari’s appointments into key positions. Is this the way to go in a country with several ethnic groups especially as federal character seems to have been jettisoned? Yes. I agree with people’s opinion. When he gave us the list of the first set of Ministers, everyone was agog as to what is happening. Then, the President said he is going to balance out. But I am shocked with the subsequent appointments. If you look at it now, has he balanced out? The answer is no. He has not. So, I think those who are complaining have an axe to grind with the President. This is a Federal Republic of Nigeria and we have a Federal Character Commission. We also have fundamental objectives of state policy as enshrined in the Constitution that the Federal Character must be respected. It is stated that whatever we do must reflect the constituent elements of the federating states. Therefore, it is surprising when you look at the entire appointments made so far by the President and there was a tilt towards a section of the country. If we consider that, for now, Nigeria is a nation populated by as much as 170million people, the President cannot tell me that in the six geopolitical zones of this country, you can’t find a good person whom you can work with. So, I urge the President to look around and balance things up. This lopsidedness in appointments might also be the reason for these agitations here and there. But the real question is, why are all these agitations? There are agitations because there are inequalities and injustice across the land. That is why we have the Niger Delta Avengers coming up today. I am an advocate of the restructuring of the nation. The restructuring of the country is highly necessary because it is long overdue. On this issue, we need the composition of a national conference where people that will sit there should emerge from the grassroots.

monDAY, AUGUST 15, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

How would you compare the obsolete delegate system with the newly introduced electronic voting and adult suffrage for NBA elections? Personally, I believe that the just concluded NBA national election as regards the e-voting is the first of its kind in Nigeria. It is, however, a welcome development. But my fear before the election was that the policy may throw up hiccups in terms of electricity, logistics, service provider, and others. Although, the aim of creating this platform is to eradicate a situation where delegates are been bought over through enticing incentives to vote against their will in a bid to get results at all cost. Meanwhile, whatever is being used for the first time, especially in events such as elections, is bound to have setbacks or failures. But that failure would not amount to electoral malpractice. I strongly believe that if the practice should succeed and not become a subject of criticism, the federal government could adapt and improve on it. After all, we all seek a free and fair election devoid of corruption, rigging, money bagging and other vices. The advantage of this policy makes it possible for everyone to vote wherever you are, at any location, provided there is an internet access, instead of the conservative routine of traveling for the general meeting. Hence, the delegate system would now remain a thing of the past. A section of Nigerian believe our democracy is being threatened by INEC’s inability to conduct a credible and conclusive election since President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration began. What is the implication of this for the 2019 elections? INEC’s inconclusive election is a ‘carryover’ of former president Jonathan’s administration. INEC’s officials from this immediate past government are responsible for the inconclusive elections and until they are weeded out, Nigeria may not have conclusive elections. It is pertinent to note that an inconclusive election does not mean it is invalid. It simply means that INEC is requesting for more time to play its part effectively and efficiently. More so, in the midst of every sector, there must be a Judas. And no matter how effective that sector is, progress would be slow

Law|Interview 21

‘Force can’t resolve Niger Delta crisis’

He is a Lagos lawyer. Yemi Omodele, principal partner Omodele group of lawyers in this interview with JOHN CHIKEZIE speaks on INEC’s inconclusive elections, Nigerian Bar Association’s (NBA) e-voting, militancy and other issues tion. I was glad when I heard that the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) are gradually resettling in this original country homes in Borno and Maiduguri. What is your appraisal of the APCled government? For me, I believe that President Buhari is simply on trial and not a perfect leader or Mr excellent. The president cannot function effectively in the circles of corrupt politicians. However, the president is trying, though in a little capacity, judging by the present economic crisis facing the country. Inflation is killing Nigerians as prices of items in the market have gone up. This is the area his administration must look into. Aside this problem, I will give him kudos for defeating Boko Haram terrorists.

President Buhari must be commended for curtailing Boko Haram insurgency

Omodele

with the presence of such Judas. Having said this, elections in 2019 would still remain inconclusive, if and only if such purge of officials from INEC are not carried out and replaced with new and competent individuals. There is threat to Nigeria’s corporate unity following militancy in the Niger Delta. How can we get out of this challenge? The ultimatum given by what I would call “the unknown face

or illegal organizations” of the Niger Delta is simply ‘dead on arrival’. It would never see the day light of democracy and I advise they should remain calm. This is because the present government is far different from the previous one in terms of fighting terrorism. We have witnessed, at least to a decent degree, a victory over Boko Haram incessant attacks. If the present government has been able to curtail their operations, then the Niger Delta is no excep-

On what grounds would you evaluate the implication of ex-governors, who are now senators, receiving salaries and at the same time canvassing life pensions and immunity for National Assembly principal officers? I would refer them as ‘wounded lions’. On what sensible grounds would a governor seek life pension? As an ex-governor, there are already life entitlements attached to them. One of the problems we have in this country is that we don’t have enough deterrents. For instance, if some corrupt governors had been sent to Kirikiri, Ilesha, Benin or Owerri prisons and they complete their jail terms, none of them would ever raise such criminal issue on the floor of the National Assembly. So, the source of their strength comes from the idea that none of them has ever been convicted.

Buhari, Bakare laud Ubani Foundation for less privileged John Chikezie

Bakare

ice President- elect of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Monday Onyekachi Ubani has asked privileged Nigerians to support the less privileged and the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in order to alleviate the incessant uprising of poverty in the country. However, President Muhammadu Buhari lauded Ubani for his passion to alleviate the sufferings of the less privileged. Besides, President Buhari said Ubani’s effort to assist the poor must be commended, saying his name may enter the nation’s Hall of Fame if his Foundation truly lives up to expectation by lifting the poor and the needy in the society. Buhari spoke at the weekend through his media aide, Mr. Femi Adeshina at

the launch of Onyekachi Ubani Foundation (OUF) in Lagos. Buhari said: “It is significant that the Foundation is dedicated to helping the poor and the needy in the society and also to celebrate those who made our country proud with virtuous acts. “I am very pleased that the Foundation launched will be marked by a public lecture, in person of Pastor Tunde Bakare, which topic focuses on one of the things dearest to the heart of this administration, which is the anti-corruption war. I look forward to details of the address.” Pastor Tunde Bakare, who gave a keynote address, said that there was the need to halt the ‘Nigerian society which promotes corruption through a warped expectation and demand culture.’ The fiery Pastor, who was represented by Mr Segun Oloketuyi, the Manag-

ing Director of Wema Bank Plc., said “the society further corrupts the system through a warped expectation and demand culture.” Bakare went on: “A constituency that expects monetary hands-out as support during elections in place of laws that facilitate good governance, has already created an atmosphere for corruption and ineptitude where the power of recall for poor performance is never activated. “The corruption problem in the Nigerian system is a people and expectation problem. It is created through the supply of people of questionable character to the political decision-making system from the citizenry.” Bakare, in his address, blamed the corrupt expectation and demand culture as the main cause for the attitude of impunity of corrupt individuals.

22 Law|File

monDAY, AUGUST 15, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Is budget padding a crime?

Wahab Shittu

have followed with keen interest the controversy surrounding the allegations and counter-allegations involving the removed Chairman of the Appropriation Committee of the House of Representatives on one hand and certain named principal officers of the House of Representatives on the other hand culminating in the public declaration by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara that budget padding is not a crime known to law. Expectedly, reactions have trailed Mr. Speaker’s public declaration and this intervention is meant to put matters in proper perspectives, reflecting the divergent positions taken on both sides of the divide and concluding with the issues that ought to be focused upon at the moment. Open mind I observe that allegations and counter-allegations have been made and investigations on the veracity of same are ongoing. In the light of this development, the first point that I would make is to urge Nigerians and other interested party to maintain an open mind until we get to the bottom of the controversy. Secondly, it is also useful to urge that no one is entitled to pronounce guilty or innocent until the legal process including the investigative process are concluded and finalized. However, given the seeming lack of sufficient information on what budget padding means, it became necessary to undertake some measure of research with a view to promoting consciousness in this area and assist in the quality of the debate. Conceptual clarification I begin my analysis with conceptual clarification. What is meant by padded? What is padding? What is budget padding? What are the incentives for budget padding? What consequences flow from budget padding and what are the ethical considerations involved in the process? The word ‘padded’ is defined by Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition is defined as ‘to furnish with a pad or padding … to expand or increase especially with needless, misleading or fraudulent matter…’ padding is the ‘material with which something is padded’. Research efforts In my research, I stumbled on an article written on the subject area highlighting some of the issues raised above. Danielle DeLee in an article titled ‘What is padding the Budget’ made the following observations reproduced hereunder: “Padding the budget is a practice that some people use in business when submitting a budget for approval. It artificially inflates the proposed budget in order to give the project room to expand or to cover unexpected costs. Many see budget padding as unethical, but its practitioners defend it on the grounds of practicality…padding the budget means making the budget proposal

Dogara and Jibrin

larger than the actual estimates for the project. This is done either by increasing a project’s expenses or decreasing its expected revenue. The goal of budget padding is to get an approval committee to grant an artificially high level of funding to the budget maker’s proposed project. There is some contention over the exact definition of padding; some contend that inflating expenses to take expected inflation into account is responsible foresight rather than padding, while others see any increase beyond current estimates as padding… First, they want to account for economic factors. This is true of budget increases that anticipate inflation or, in the case of international projects, fluctuations in exchange rates. Second, they want to avoid red tape. If an unexpected expense arises, the padding gives the project flexibility to cover it that is called slack or breathing room. Third, they want to make a favourable impression on their superiors. If they propose a larger budget and then outperform the budget, then the project team will be viewed favourably by the bosses. Finally, they fear budget cuts. Some budget padders fight against cuts that they see as unfair by anticipating them with an inflated proposal… In theory, projects should spend according to the accurate budget estimates so that padding would have no real effect. In practice, however, budget padding has concrete consequences. Projects with extra room in their budget tend to use it. Recurring projects, especially, spend money unnecessarily in order to use up their entire budgets. That way, the approval committee does not cut their budgets in the following year…Aside from the financial consequences; many people question the acceptability of budget padding because it is a deceptive practice. They say that it breeds a harmful corporate atmosphere. Budget padding’s defenders cite its widespread use as a justification of its acceptability. They also argue that unfair actions on the part of bosses, like budget cuts, force them into preemptive budget inflation”. Constitutional provisions The above may have partly ad-

dressed the definition, incentives, consequences and ethical considerations of budget padding. However, the controversy still lingers whether in the context of our own circumstances budget padding constitutes a crime?

People question the acceptability of budget padding because it is a deceptive practice

Section 81(1) of the Constitution provides: “The President shall cause to be prepared and laid before each House of the National Assembly at any time in each financial year estimates of the revenues and expenditure of the Federation for the next following financial year”. The question that arises from the above is the ownership of the budget in terms of preparation? I have no difficulty in saying on the strength of the constitutional provisions above that the preparation of the budget is the responsibility of the Executive. This position is fortified by Section 81(2) of the Constitution. “The heads of expenditure contained in the estimates (other than expenditure charged upon the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation by this Constitution) shall be included in a bill, to be known as an Appropriation Bill, providing for the issue from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the sums necessary to meet that expenditure and the appropriation of those sums for the purposes specified therein”. But whose responsibility is appropriation as opposed to the preparation of the budget. Again I have no difficulty in saying that appropriation is the responsibility of the National Assembly. Scope of budget preparation The next question that arises is what is the scope of preparation of the budget? What is the scope of the appropriation of the budget? The answers to these posers would determine whether budget padding constitutes a crime or not. Given the definition of padding and the synonyms of same to include ‘insertion’ and ‘mutilation’ the question that naturally arises is whether the National Assembly in the guise of appropriation is entitled to insert estimates of

projects not included in the budget preparation as laid before the National Assembly by the President. Budget planning and preparation are (or should be) at the heart of good public expenditure management. To be fully effective public expenditure management systems require four forms of fiscal and financial discipline namely: • Control of aggregate expenditure to ensure affordability; that is consistency with the macroeconomic constraints; • Effective means for achieving a resource allocation that reflects expenditure policy priorities; • Efficient delivery of public services (productive efficiency); and • Minimization of the financial costs of budgetary management (i.e. efficient budget execution and cash and debt management practices). It is correct to say that budget preparation is the principal mechanisms for achieving items 1 and 2 while item 3 is an element of the budget preparation process of industrial countries and item 4 reflects budget execution and cash management. In the budget preparation process the provisions of Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007 is relevant providing with respect to annual budget for: a) annual budget to be derived from medium term expenditure framework; b) annual budget to be accompanied by certain documents; c) preparations of estimates of revenue and expenditure by corporations etc Scope of budget appropriation What then is budget appropriation? The Black’s Law Dictionary defines appropriation to mean ‘the exercise of control over property, a taking of possession…a legislative body’s act of setting aside a sum of money for public purpose…if the sum is earmarked for a precise or limited purpose, it is sometimes called a specific appropriation’. In broad terms, it means the designation by the government or an individual of the use to which a fund or money is to be applied. An appropriation bill is a proposal placed before the legislative arm of the government by one or a group of its members to earmark a particular portion of general revenue or treasury fund for the use of government objective. Based on the above definition of the scope of budget preparation and appropriation, it is safe to conclude that while the executive retains the exclusive right to prepare the budget, the national assembly retains the right to appropriate funds for the budget proposals. In my view, in the course of appropriation, the national assembly is entitled to reduce or increase expenditure for projects earmarked for execution by the president in the budget preparation. But with such projects cover constituency projects initiated by the national assembly itself without reference to the execCONTINUED ON PAGE 24

Law|News 23

monDAY, AUGUST 15, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

My agenda for the Bar, by Mahmoud President-elect of the lawyers’ umbrella body, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Abubakar Balarabe Mahmoud, at the weekend laid his card before his colleagues at the NBA House, Abuja on what he would achieve at the end of his tenure in 2018. TUNDE OYESINA was there

he President-elect of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. Abubakar Balarabe Mahmoud, SAN has unveiled his agenda for the Bar. Mahmoud emerged NBA President at the first ever e-voting election of the association after polling simple majority votes to defeat his closest rival, Chief Joseph Kyari Gadzama, SAN. Speaking on his agenda at a postelection media briefing, Mahmoud said that his topmost priority was to create one of the best Bar association in the world with that of a brave new Bar, driven knowledge and skills of its members as a veritable agent of national transformation. “My mission statement speaks to the issues relating to regulation, representation, re-engineering and public interest. To deliver on the transformation agenda, I need not only an effective and efficient structure but also the support and cooperation of all our members, including those who for some good reasons did not support my candidature”, he stated. He however promised to rejig the nation’s justice sector which according to him had suffered acute neglect, stemming from lack of appreciation of the very important role the justice sector plays in the society. Mahmoud said: “We are worried that so much effort has been put into the reform of the justice sector but we are yet to see the concrete impact of such initiatives. There have been many talk shops, plethora of such recommendations and promises but the state of the sector is on the decline. The present state of affairs in which other sectors are given more attention than the justice sector, ought to be reversed. We must begin to give the sector the attention it deserves. The slow pace in legislative activities is also a clog in the wheel of progress in the justice sector.” Citing some justice sector bills that had been left unattended to by the legislature as; Bill to Amend the Legal Practitioners Act, Prison Act Bill, Police (amendment) Bill and Legal Education Amendment Bill, Mahmoud called on the National Assembly to expedite legislative action with a view to passing the listed justice sector bills to law. Anti-corruption crusade NBA president-elect noted that corruption was a canker worm that had impeded economic development and crippled the ability of a developing country like Nigeria to attract foreign investment and hindered the growth of institutions that consolidated democracy. He said: “While NBA commends the current efforts to fight corrup-

tion, we note that the present legal institutional frame work which is in place for anti-corruption crusade is defective in structure and substance. The current anti-corruption crusade seems to be much more focused on fighting corruption after it has occurred, but not much attention is paid to preventive measures with a view to minimizing the incidence of corruption. “To successfully and substantially reduce or eradicate corruption, the legal framework, systems and initiaves for investigation and prosecution, education against corruption and above all prevention must equally be robust and effective. “ T h e current system is not sufficiently robust to prevent corruptuon within the public Mahmoud service system. To combat corruption, a combination of strong laws and the presence of effective and efficient anti-corruption agencies is required, but this is not all that is required, particularly when corruption has become endemic as is our institution. It is a fact that most, if not all acts of corruption involve ethical breaches. If this is so, then a strong and effective ethical framework is important for success.” He however called on the Federal Government to initiate measures that seek to prevent corruption from occurring, in addition to the fight after corruption as occurred. “The NBA under my watch will set up an Anti-Corruption Commission charged with responsibility to (i) identify all those involve in the unwholesome and indeed criminal practice of judicial corruption, (ii) investigate same and refer the outcome to the relevant anti-corruption law enforcement agencies for prosecution and any other action they may deem fit to take conjunction with the CJN.” National security Mahmoud stated that his administration will manage conflicts including its prevention. “While we commend the efforts of the Federal Government in tackling the security challenges which we are facing, we urge government to spare no efforts at ensuring peace, security, law and order in Nigeria. “We must again reiterate that the NBA will continue to support security measures taken by the Federal Government subject however, to the security agencies abiding by their rules of engagement which will ensure respect for the fundamental rights of the citizens concerned and compliance with the rule of law. Mahmoud recommended an enactment of investment friendly legislation, putting in place good tax policies, promoting transparency, accountability and probity in governance and ensuring that citizens ac-

An independent and selfaccounting Judiciary is inevitable in ensuring good governance, rule of law, and economic development

count for their actions and inactions. Other recommendations are diversifying from a mono-economy into broad economy, investing in education to raise literacy level and research, publication and implementation of a legislative agenda on ease of doing business. Independence of judiciary The NBA president elect said the present legal and institutional framework put in place for anti-corruption crusade is defective in structure and substance. “The current anti-corruption crusade seems to be much more focused on fighting corruption after it has occurred, but not much attention is paid to preventive measures with a view to minimising the incidence of corruption”, he said. Mahmoud said to successfully and substantially reduce or eradicate corruption, the legal framework, systems and initiatives for investigation and prosecution, education against corruption must be robust and effective. “The Judiciary is one of the three arms of government in a democratic society like Nigeria. There is therefore, the need to observe the principles of separation of powers. “Accordingly, the independence of the Judiciary must be guaranteed and secured. To secure the independence of the Judiciary, it must enjoy true financial autonomy and a full selfaccounting status. The funds of the Judiciary should be released to it as soon as same is approved in the budgets of the Federal and State governments. The personal emoluments of judicial officers, together with their other conditions of service, should be enhanced. “An independent Judiciary is important for preserving the rule of law, another principle of good governance. An independent and selfaccounting Judiciary is inevitable in ensuring good governance, rule of law, and economic development. “As things stand at the moment, the Judiciary is starved of funding and is not self-funding. According to a former CJN, Justice Mariam Aloma Mukhtar, “over the years, funding of the courts has remained a challenge as evidenced in the condition of many courts in Nigeria today. Statistics has shown that funding from the Federal Government has witnessed a steady decline since 2010. “One of the immediate tasks that our administration will be embarking upon is to inaugurate a committee that will take stock of the finances of the courts both states and federal. “It is gratifying to note that sometime in the not too distant past, the Federal High Court sitting in both Lagos and Abuja, in two different suits upheld the financial independence of the Judiciary in a case brought against the Attorney-General of the

Federation and Minister of Justice, the National Judicial Council and the National Assembly. “We hereby call on the Federal Government of Nigeria to obey the order of the court in both cases. “The NBA reiterates that government must recognize that it is only the existence of a virile, fearless and a well-funded independent Judiciary that can guarantee an enduring democratic government, and the maintenance of law and order. It must be recognized that a good legal regime in Nigeria will provide the enabling environment for foreign investments, economic growth and social development. “We call on the Federal Government of Nigeria to review upwards, the funds allocated to the Judiciary and to restore the fiscal autonomy of the Judiciary, which the court and the Constitution have conferred on the Judiciary. “We believe that adequate funding for the judiciary will entrench a functional Judiciary. Rule of law and the challenge of impunity Speaking on the rule of law, Mahmoud said he was worried not only about the increasing failure of some Nigerians to abide by the requirements of rule of law in their actions, but also with the high level of impunity among a reasonable number of Nigerians. “The Rule of Law is the only mechanism so far devised to provide impartial control of the use of power by the state. This single sentence is sufficient to explain why the rule of law is preeminently the best available system for organizing civil society. “An independent, impartial Judiciary, presumption of innocence; the right to a fair and public trial, without undue delay; a rational, proportionate and appropriate punishment, a strong and independent legal profession; equality of all before the law; these are all fundamental principles of the Rule of Law. “The NBA shall put mechanisms in place with a view to monitoring and flagging acts of impunity that fly in the face of the rule of law. We shall demand that government should address cases of infractions and also hold those responsible for such violations accountable irrespective of their status in the society. Mahmoud also expressed his worries about the delay or snail speed at which the Federal government is approaching the issue of judicial reforms. “Despite the diverse investment of time, financial and human resources in judicial reforms, result-oriented steps have not been taken to pass the recommendations into law. The latest effort relates to the report of the Stakeholders’ Committee, which was a committee set up by a former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Honourable Justice Dahiru Musdapher. His Lordship had on the 4th of October, 2011, set up a 28-person Committee on legal and judicial reforms. “It is important to note that the report of the said Stakeholders’ Committee on Judicial Reform gave rise to the drafting of the 5th Alteration Bill, 2012 as it relates to the Judicature. The Fifth Alteration Bill, which has been presented to the National Assembly, seeks further amendment to some sections of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) on Judicial Reforms.”

24 Law|news

monDAY, AUGUST 15, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Lawyers divided over prosecution committee C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 1 9

existence of the Committee and fashion out a working synergy between the Committee and the agencies. However, explaining on what constitute a high profile case, the AGF noted that such must have overriding public interest elements especially as he had powers to categorise cases as high profile. He added that sometimes, the quantum of value of a case and its sensitivity also influences whether a case was a high profile one. However some lawyers who spoke to New Telegraph Law said that the new policy was not justifiable. They added that the AGF was giving to outsiders, jobs that could be handled by the lawyers in the employment of the ministry. An Abuja based lawyer, Dr. Duro Abegunde said that constituting a committee to do the works which the lawyers in the ministry were paid to do was an affront, a scheme by the AGF to take care of his friends. He said that the decision was also contrary to the promise made by the Federal Government to run a lean administration. Abegunde said: “First, there appears to be no legal basis upon which the mandate of the committee can be justified. With due respect to Isah and the AGF, the provisions cited cannot be the basis for setting up a committee to coordinate prosecution of high profile cases. The minister should simply exercise that power by going ahead to take over any case he wants to take over. Setting up a coordinating committee to do so will result in avoidable duplication, waste of resources and serve as a disincentive to the guys at EFCC who are taking a lot of risk to cleanse the corruption mess left behind by the previous government. “Above all, it will also slow down the fight against corruption. Other questions begin for answers include: How will the committee determine high profile cases? Where will the funding of the committee come from? How will the committee relate with anti-corruption agencies? Are members of the committee not likely to jeopardize or compromise investigation being carried out by anti-corruption

Malami

Buhari

agencies as the more the number of people who have the details about an investigation, the more the chance that the investigation will leak? “The advisory mandate is also not tenable. The AGF has not less than two lawyers advising him. This is aside from the SolicitorGeneral and other retinue of lawyers working in the Ministry of Justice. Perhaps, the AGF does not know that he can also seek advice from those at the helms of affairs at the EFCC and the Independent Corrupt Practice and Other Related Offences Commission. Many public spirited lawyers will also willingly give the AGF advice for free. “In persuading the government to constitute this committee, the AGF has just succeeded in selling a dummy to the Federal Government.” Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said: “This is the sort of responsibility place on your own shoulders as well, the responsibility to exercise prosecutorial power independently and without any direction except of course from the learned Attorney-General who is the constitutional and prosecutorial authority in the country.

C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 2 2

utive? My answer in the light of constitutional provisions is NO. therefore, in the guise of appropriation the national assembly is not entitled to add its own projects to the budgetary estimate presented by the president if the national assembly is interested in any project, it may consult with the executive who may then add such projects to the budgetary estimate prepared by the president as part of the president’s developmental agenda for the country. This is so because the job of the national assembly is limited to lawmaking, representation and oversight responsibilities not project execution which is the terrain of the executive. Budget padding - whether a crime? It is in this context that budget padding may be understood particularly where there are insertions into the budget or mutilations of the budget without the consent of the owner of the document (the president) or with intent to betray the initial objectives of the budget preparation. However, padding of the budget may not

Setting up a coordinating committee to do so will result in avoidable duplication, waste of resources

“It is a very serious responsibility because it also involves making sure that people is treated fairly or that people are not pursued by reason of bias or any other such consideration. “When the system is fair everybody buys into it and it is not difficult for people to relate with it and support it. “Given the nature of economic crimes and the enormity sometimes of the money that is involved and the influence of those who may have to be prosecuted, you need more than legal skills. You need men and women of strong character and courage who will not only be able to turn down inducements of any kind but also act without consideration for tribe, friendship, religion or any other parochial considerations. “This is a very important committee because the administration itself is committed to ensuring that we are able to deal with not only question of corruption which is a big item on our agenda but also other economic crimes. Terrorism has assumed different shapes and proportions of late, and the vandalism that we see in parts of the

Niger Delta, which has affected so many different things including oil production, power supply. “We are in a very crucial time in our social development and a committee such as this is very necessary and historic because I do not know of any other of such committee in the history of this country.’’ Osinbajo was echoed by Malami, who said that the committee comprised 12 ex-officio and eight external members of proven integrity and competence. He said that to fast-rack the work of the committee the ministry had created 20 prosecution teams with four members each and had requested all agencies exercising police powers to recommend five experienced investigators to support the committee’s work. ``The aim is to ensure effective investigation and prosecution of high profile criminal cases in Nigeria,’’ he said. Malami dismissed insinuations that the committee was not a duplication of the existing anticorruption agencies as it would collaborate with such agencies for effective service delivery. Pro-Chansellor of the Osun State University and Senior Advocate, Malam Yusuf Olaolu Ali said “any step that will assist in the speedy dispensation of justice, especially criminal administration should be applauded as long as it is going to yield desired positive result which will lead to the clearing of these high profile matters from the court, it is better for the system.” Also toeing Ali’s view is another Senior Advocate, Ahmed Raji, who simply said “I think it is a welcome development in the sense that where there is no enough capacity as it seems to be and presumed to appear, there is no harm in the AGF office enlisting the support of members of the Bar who are willing, ready and competent enough to assist in prosecuting the cases.” Raji went on: “There is however a caution, that since it bothers on professional competence, the AGF should not be partisan in his selection. He should look for the best, so long as the integrity is there and not just a patronage for partisan people. He should look for the best

Is budget padding a crime? be established except it is shown that the budgetary process is either broken, corrupted or compromised. This may have introduced the element of proof. What proof? First it is important to find out the motivation for such insertions i.e. whether designed to defeat the objectives of the budget as laid before the national assembly by the president. Secondly, it must be shown that the act of insertion or mutilation was actually carried out by the national assembly and the persons involved in the illegal insertions or mutilations of the budget. Thirdly, whether the acts complained of was successful? And the last ingredient is the benefit derived from the process by the beneficiaries. It will also be useful to determine whether the culprits carried out the exercise without the knowledge of the body of the National Assembly as a whole as such a scenario will confirm its illegality. Except it is shown that the select

few acted in defiance of the majority of the National Assembly, it may be difficult for the national assembly to vote something and it is regarded as padding. It is in this context that budget padding may be likened to corrupt practices similar in nature to such offences as abuse of office, attempt to embezzle, diversion and misappropriation of public funds, conspiracy to act corruptly and illicit enrichment – all of which offences are recognized under United Nations Convention against corruption to which Nigeria is a state party. Further, a clear scrutiny of legislations such as Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, Economic and Financial Crimes Establishment Act (EFCC) and Fiscal Responsibility Act respectively would reveal further offences that could come within the framework of budget padding. The focus

In the budgeting process, we have tended to focus on how much we earn and how quickly such earnings can be expended without really addressing the problem whether the funds appropriated are well utilized. The searchlight may have to be focused on efficient and effective utilization of resources appropriated during our many years of budgetary experience. This may be the key to unlocking this budget padding controversy. In summary, whether any offence is created would depend on the role of civil servants, individual members of the National Assembly, nature of projects appropriated for and whether such projects are actually executed and diversion of funds meant for such projects in previous years. Indeed anti-graft agencies have a lot of work to do and the starting point is to examine existing legal framework and enforce their provisions.

MONDAY, august 15, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Interview ‘Monies govt agencies collect from airlines not well utilised’

Business

Money Line Falling reserves worsen forex liquidity fears

34 36

What's new L-R: Chief Investment Officer, Old Mutual Investment Group, Hywei George; Chief Executive Officer of the Group, Diane Radley; Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun and Managing Director/ CEO, Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), Uche Orji, at the agreement-signing ceremony between the NSIA and Old Mutual Investment Group for $500 million Real Estate and $200 million Agriculture Vehicles, in Abuja. PHOTO: NAN

Recession hits $4bn marginal fields’ operations p.26

Nigeria needs N292.7bn to meet palm oil demands in 2016

Rates Dashboard INFLATION RATE June 2016 ..............................16.5% May 2016...............................15.6% April 2016............................13.7%

p.26

LENDING RATE Interbank Rate....................12.57% Prime Lending Rate...........17.93% Maximum Lending Rate...26.83%

EXCHANGE RATE

(Parallel Market as at August 12)

(Interbank as at August 12)

USD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N392 Pounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N510 Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N430

l Foreign Reserves – $25.901bn as at 10/8/2016

USD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N310 Pounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N404 Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N348

Source: CBN

Forex: Funding, others stall NIMC’s operations

•Nigerians rate agency poor in performance

The Business Desk Ayodele Aminu

Deputy Editor (Business)

Bayo Akomolafe

RESPONSIBILITY Agency is legally saddled with the responsibility of delivering the country’s biometric-based electronic identity cards (eIDs)

Asst. Editor (Maritime)

Sunday Ojeme

Asst. Editor (Insurance)

Tony Chukwunyem

Asst. Editor (Money Market)

Dayo Ayeyemi Property Editor

Adeola Yusuf Energy Editor

Wole Shadare Aviation Editor

Chris Ugwu

Capital Market Editor

Abdulwahab Isa Finance Editor

Taiwo Hassan

Industry, Agric & Brands Editor

Kunle Azeez

Senior Correspondent

Chuks Onuanyin Energy

Nnamdi Amadi Reporter

Johnson Adebayo

Asst Production Editor

Kunle Azeez

earth of funding is currently crippling the activities of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), New Telegraph has learnt. According to sources, the agency, legally saddled with the responsibility of delivering the country’s biometric-based electronic identity cards (eIDs), apart from facing image problem for its slow pace of activities, is particularly facing a major challenge in paying for its annual software maintenance fee, which it bought from a foreign firm to run its identity management exercise. “The agency is finding it difficult to pay for the annual renewal license of its foreign software, which it is using to collect bio-data from Nige-

rians for the processing of the eID cards,” one of the sources told this newspaper. “The on-going difficulty in getting foreign exchange (forex) in dollars to pay the licensor of the software is a major problem facing NIMC operations. No access to forex and funding from the current administration has been a big issue. Forex is making things difficult for the Commission to pay for the foreign software being used,” the source said. Another industry source lamented the penchant for patronage of software products by government agencies and businesses in Nigeria, saying this makes the country put her national data in the hands of foreigners, which also leads to capital flight in billions of naira. Said the second source: “It is, however, unfortunate that lack of patronage of local software companies in powering NIMC operations by the agency is resulting in huge capital flight from the country. I think NIMC pays roughly about $1.6 million (about N512 million) annually for the use of the software to run the national identity project and now, the Commission is having hassles settling the foreign software

N121 billion Being the total value of tax payer’s money wasted on the identity project since 1981

vendor because of on-going problem in the country in accessing dollars for foreign exchange activities. “I think we have got a stage when ministries, department and agencies (MDAs) of government should be more patriotic and nationalistic by ensuring that it is only when you don’t have a similar IT product or service that can be delivered by Nigerian firms that you have to resort to going abroad to source the needed technologies. Nigeria is facing a revenue squeeze as earnings from oil fall due to lower prices and a resurgence of militant activity destroyed installations in the crude-producing Niger River delta, slashing output to an almost three-decade low. The naira peg at N197-199 per dollar, compared with an unofficial exchange rate of N340 per dollar just before the currency was allowed to float, caused fuel shortages for months, as businesses struggled to access foreign currency to place orders. Restrictions on the use of dollars to import goods ranging from steel products to rice still apply. Under the new forex regime (flexible exchange rate), naira trades at CONTINUED ON PAGE 26

BUSINESS |news

Funding, others stall NIMC’s operations CONTINUED FROM PAGE 25

about N315 per dollar on the interbank, while it exchanges at N400 on the black market. This newspaper gathered that annual losses to the Nigerian economy due to firms and organisations patronising imported software may have grown from N200 billion in 2012 to over N400 billion currently. The estimated amount covers the acquisition and maintenance of foreign software used in both public and private sectors of the economy. This software is used in banks, oil and gas industry, information technology (IT), manufacturing sector and ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of governments. Because of the huge capital outflow and loss of business by indigenous software developers, stakeholders have called on government to support local developers by either legislation or full patronage. Already, a NIMC source, which craved anonymity, also confirmed the foreign software maintenance settlement issue, which the Commission had been facing. However, he said that NIMC was incubating an idea of working with Nigerian universities to promote development of local software tailored toward addressing national issues such as the national identity management project. “What I can say is that NIMC is currently planning to work with Nigerian universities from the six-geo political zones of the country with a view to coming up with a template for implementation of local content in the area of software. This initiative, which would be fully funded by NIMC, is in the offing,” the source said. Meanwhile, Nigerians have expressed dissatisfaction at the slow pace of NIMC in delivering the eIDs to Nigerians while also lamenting the huge amount of money spent on the national ID project in the past three decades. “One wonders what NIMC is up to. It is a total failure or it is turning to be a total failure just as those before now, which has cost the nation billions of naira,” said Adewale Oke, a Lagos-based biometric technology expert. “We are tired of the ID project because it has constituted itself into a conduit through which tax payers’ money is budgeted and spent, but without tangible result and the current process being handled by NIMC also is not encouraging,” said a computer expert, Mr. Tunde Osowunmi. Also, an IT professional who gave his name as Mr. Uchenna John, insisted: “If it could take the Independent National Electronic Commission (INEC) three months to deliver voter’s cards to Nigerians, one wonders why I should take NIMC ages to sufficiently deliver on its identity management mandate.”

MONDAY, august 15, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Recession hits $4bn marginal fields’ operations

•More local operators risk bankruptcy DERISORY Seventeen out of the 24 marginal fields issued to 31 firms during the 2003 bid round could not produce

Adeola Yusuf

ore local oil operators in Nigeria risk bankruptcy, as signs of depression has started to manifest in the over $4 billion marginal fields’ operations. While 17 out of the 24 marginal fields issued to 31 firms during the 2003 bid round could not produce, New Telegraph gathered at the weekend that the financials of some of the seven operating marginal fields are turning into red due to oil price rout and the renewed militancy in the Ni-

ger Delta, which has crashed production at the onshore and shallow water acreages, where the indigenous firms operate, to 30 per cent. Already, banks and other lenders have exchanged correspondence with the operators, expressing fear that the over $130 million loans ploughed into the marginal field operations between 2007 and 2011 may go bad. “It is not enough to stop the flow of new investment in the section, what happens to the investment already made is a major cause for concern, as we speak. It will interest you to know that between 2007 and 2011 alone, three banks in Nigeria invested $130 million in the marginal fields,” a source at the oil and gas investment section of one of the new generation banks told this newspaper at the weekend. Banks and other lenders that had invested in this industry, he said, are already fretting over their financials. For instance, Skye Bank

has funded many marginal field projects such as Platform Petroleum’s Gas Processing Plant, and WalterSmith’s Production Boost Project. Recently, Skye Bank approved a loan facility of $18 million for Pillar Oil, to enable the company drill a well at an interest rate of 17 per cent per annum. Besides, former Intercontinental Bank now Access Bank Plc, approved $6 million for Niger Delta Petroleum for the ‘work-over’ of Ogbelle I, at an interest rate of 18 per cent per annum, a project that led to their crucial first oil. Also, Brittania-U received its initial funding of $23 million from Union Bank of Nigeria Plc in 2007 for its project on the Ajapa field. By the time Brittania-U reached first oil, this loan had increased to $50 million. Brittania-U also received an additional $30 million loan facility from Union Bank, which the company used to buy-out its ‘troublesome’ foreign technical partners. Currently, Brittania-U is

producing about 2,300 barrels per day (bpd). However, the source said focusing on the fortunes of Brittania-U might give the erroneous impression that the local banks were in a lending frenzy to marginal field operators. He said: “The fact is that of the six companies producing from marginal fields as at 2011, only Brittania-U commenced operations with a bank loan.” Platform Petroleum, the first to reach production, was, according to the source, able to do so with funds provided by its partners (New Cross), a cash-loaded Nigerian company. Pillar Oil struggled for cash and was forced to rally funds through shareholder’s contributions, in order to commence production without a bank loan. He noted: “Pillar drilled a new well, funded by Skye Bank, to enable the company increase production. WalterSmith Oil Ltd could not raise funds from a bank until it had established production.

L-R: Jaiz Bank’s Head, Corporate Banking, Alhassan Abdulkarim; NDIC Executive Director, Operations, Prince Aghatise Erediauwa; MD/CEO, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Umaru Ibrahim; MD/CEO, Jaiz Bank Plc, Hassan Usman and Chief Compliance Officer of the bank, Ahmed A. Hassan, during a visit by the bank’s management team to the Corporation.

Nigeria needs N292.7bn to meet palm oil demands in 2016 UNFORTUNATE Nigeria has not made appreciable efforts to tap into the value chain in palm oil industry, which could create millions of jobs and export

Bayo Akomolafe

igeria is currently in deficit of 1.7 million tons of crude palm oil valued at N292.7 billion ($935 million) to meet its local demands. The country’s current production is between 970,000 tons and one million metric tons per annum, with local consumption estimated at 2.7 million tons. The price of the commodity had already fallen from $610 to $550 per ton since July 2016 in the global market due to export challenge.

Presently, importers have been reluctant to import the commodity into the country due to the Central bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s exchange rate of N313 per $1 with which the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) calculates import duty on cargoes imported into the country. It was learnt that 90 per cent of palm oil consumption in the country is used in the production of foods, while only 10 per cent is used as a raw material by the soap and other non-foods industries. Nigeria imports its crude palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia and it is among the top five markets for Indonesian crude palm oil in the last two years. Already, demand for the palm oil has declined in Malaysia, as inventories had expanded. In its report, the Malaysian Palm Oil Board said it was worried that the stockpile of the commodity had climbed 4.2 per cent by the end of June 2016 from a month earlier.

The study added: “Stockpiles are set to swell further as plantations enter peak production season and may weigh on futures, which tumbled 14 per cent in the second quarter. Weaker export demand alongside higher output will be negative for prices, which are seen trading.” Also, a forecast by the United States Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) had indicated that “Africa’s largest economy (now second largest economy) has not made appreciable efforts to tap into the value chain in palm oil industry, which could have created millions of jobs and export hub.” It noted that the global demand for palm oil would double by 2020 and triple by 2050. As at last year, Nigeria’s importation had climbed to 570,000 metric tons, while production remained static at between 970,000 and one million metric tons since 2010. Meanwhile, the country’s production began to decline

in 1976, when the demand was greater than supply. Between 1950s and 1960s, United States department of Agriculture (USDA) data explained that Nigeria was the largest producer of crude oil palm in the world with a market share of 43 per cent. It supplied 645,000 metric tons of palm oil across the global market annually, but the reverse has been the case in the last seven years. In June this year, Indonesia reduced its export tax for crude palm oil to 22.5 per cent, depending on the international palm oil price to encourage exporters. Also, it was learnt that the country had introduced a zero per cent for crude palm oil export whenever the international and local prices fall below $750 per metric ton. Since 2014 when the benchmark price slipped below $750 per ton, Indonesia had given a zero per cent as export tax to encourage exporters.

BUSINESS | Movers, Shakers and Appointments

MONDAY, august 15, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Board of directors for FBN group

BN Holdings Plc’s Board of Director has approved new Board appointments in the FBN Holdings Group. The appointment took effect from July 19, 2016. Group Chairman of the holding company, Dr. Oba Otudeko, in a statement, explained that the appointments were meant to deepen the corporate governance, insight and strategic decision making of the boards in the group, while extending value for the customers, shareholders, employees and other stakeholders in a sustainable manner. A statement by the group’s Global Head, Marketing & Corporate Communications, Folake Ani-Mumuney, noted that the Board of Directors had approved the appointments, but remain subject to all necessary regulatory approvals. She added that Ms. Cecilia

Akintomide and Mrs. Oluwande Muoyo were joining the Board of FBN Holdings Plc, while Mrs. Titi Adebiyi and Alhaji Yusufu Modibbo join the Board of FBN General Insurance Limited as Independent non-executive directors. Ani-Mununey said, “Other appointments in the group have Mr. Akin Osinbajo and Mr. Babatunde Odunayo join the Board of FBN Merchant Bank Limited while Mr. Folarin Alayande joins the Board of FBN Insurance Brokers Limited respectively, all as Non-Executive Directors. “These developments are consistent with the FBN Holdings Group corporate governance, risk management, efficiency, diversity and sustainability outlook, enabling the Group to take advantage of the synergies from its globally experienced Board members for the benefit of its

wide array of customers and other stakeholders.” Ani-Mumuney added that Akintomide brings varied senior management experience with a legal background. Also, Muoyo is a chartered accountant and professional banker with over 30 years’ postqualification experience in the private and public sectors. She was a commissioner for budget and planning in Ogun State and, before then, had been in banking for over 22 years. She is skilled in public finance management, budgeting, planning, financial control, treasury and financial services, private banking, foreign operations, corporate banking, transactional banking, auditing and taxation. Osinbajo according to the statement, was Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Ogun State, for eight years. “He

Coca-Cola names VP, finance director for Nigeria, India

oca-Cola has appointed Sanjeev Kumar Sarvita as its finance director for West Africa. Also, the company has appointed Sarvita Sethi as vice president, finance, for India and South West Asia. Already, Kumar according to the statement, has been asked to resume in Lagos by the company to oversee 31 countries in the Coca-Cola West African business units. Sethi takes over from Sanjeev Kumar who moves to Lagos as Director Finance, Coca-Cola West Africa. The company said that Kimar would report to Peter Njonjo, President, West African Business Unit. It also said that Sethi would report to Venkatesh Kini, President, CocaCola India and South West Asia, The India and South West Asia Business Unit of The Coca-Cola Company includes Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives, besides India. He will also be heading the company’s finance operations for 31 countries. The India and South West Asia

Business Units of The Coca-Cola Company includes India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives. Before being appointed as the VP (Finance), Sethi served as the Commercial Finance-Director for the Coca-Cola Central and Southern Europe business.

Sarvita

Customs appoints PRO for Tincan Command

Ejesieme

The Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) has appointed Mr Uche Ejesieme, a deputy superintendent, as public relations officer of the Tincan Island Port command. He replaced Chris Osunkwo who bowed out of service last month, according to a statement. Ejesieme had served in various capacities since he joined the service and has attended several courses both locally and internationally, among which is the conference for counterfeit medicine in France, 2016. Until his new appointment, he was the image maker of the Federal Operations Unit, Zone ‘A’, Ikeja, Lagos. Ejesieme holds a first class degree in Anthropology from the University of Ibadan (1999) and a master’s degree in International Law and Jurisprudence from the University of Lagos (2009).

is a highly experienced Advocate and Commercial Law Practitioner, Chartered Arbitrator and Notary Public, who has represented several multinational and local clients and worked with some of the world’s reputed law firms in transactions with trans-national jurisdictions across many continents.” The global head also said that Odunayo, an agriculturist and chartered accountant, was executive vice chairman/chief executive officer of Honeywell Flour Mills Plc where he served for 17 years as pioneer CEO, part of a total 22 years in the service of the Honeywell Group. As group managing director of Honeywell Group of Companies, he had responsibility for eight companies. He is Chairman of FBN Mortgages Ltd, among other board positions. Adebiyi, managing director, Avit Trust and Investment Lim-

ited, according to the statement, is a passionate and focused business administrator, with 26 years’ all-round experience in commercial bank branch operations, relationship management and corporate leadership. “She sits on the Board of Sigma Pensions Limited and will make invaluable contributions to the Board of FBN General Insurance Limited,” the statement said. Folake Ani-Mumuney, said: “Modibbo, an agriculturist and banker with over 30 years’ experience, is versed in investment banking, public sector, non-interest banking, corporate finance, international operations, credit and marketing as well as corporate development and stockbroking. His vast experience in financial services will bring immense benefit to the Board of FBN General Insurance Limited.

Ecobank names regional executive for W’Africa

cobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) has announced the appointment of Dan Sackey as managing director of its Ghanaian subsidiary, Ecobank Ghana and regional executive for Anglophone West Africa, subject to regulatory approval. His appointment according to a statement, takes effect from September 1, 2016. Sackey’s appointment follows a reorganisation at Ecobank earlier this year, which created four geographical units: Nigeria, with head office in Lagos; Anglophone West Africa, with its centre in Accra; French West Africa (the francophone West African Economic and Monetary Union or ‘UEMOA’) in Abidjan and Central, Eastern and Southern Africa, with its centre in Nairobi. He replaced former Ecobank Ghana Managing Director, Samuel Adjei, who was appointed Managing Director of Ecobank Kenya and Group Executive, Central, Eastern and Southern Africa earlier this year. According to a statement, Sackey has extensive experience of the African banking landscape, having risen through the ranks in the Ecobank Group he joined in 1995 as a risk analyst in the corporate banking division of Ecobank Ghana. Sackey has worked as managing director of Ecobank Rwanda, Deputy Group Risk Manager and Regional

Risk Manager. In his current role as managing director for Ecobank Zimbabwe and Cluster Head for the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) zone, he has been responsible for driving Ecobank’s businesses in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo, in addition to spearheading the expansion of the Ecobank franchise into Angola.

Sackey

Disco gets new MD

buja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) has appointed Mr. Ernest Mupwaya as its managing director and chief executive officer. The company’s Board of Directors approved the appointment, according to a statement by its Head of Media, Ahmed Shekarau, in Abuja. He stated that the appointment took effect from August 1, 2016. Until his appointment, Mupawaya was the director of Commercial Services of the company. The statement however, said that the appointment was subject to the approval of the Nigerian Electric-

ity Regulatory Commission (NERC), following the retirement of Mr Neil Croucher, after three years of service. The statement further said that Croucher, who played a significant role in steering AEDC successfully through the challenges of post-privatisation from 2013 to date, had over 37 years of experience in electricity supply industry. The statement said that the managing director would supervise the activities of five different units, including the Human Resources, Procurement, Government and Regulatory Relations, Public Relations and Fleet and Facilities Management.

BUSINESS |Stock Watch

MONDAY, august 15, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

FBNH: Restoring shareholders’ value Generally, the macroeconomic headwinds have impacted negatively on the Nigerian economy and businesses. CHRIS UGWU writes that FBN Holdings Plc is leveraging on its diversified business model to restore shareholders’ value

ith oil prices still low despite slight recoveries recently, Nigeria’s economy continues to go through turbulent times, as creeping inflation, forex uncertainty, rising unemployment and bleak economic prospects persist. The banking industry is one sector that was not insulated to the persistent macroeconomic headwinds that have weakened consumer purchasing powers and eroded earnings of companies including banks. Nigerian banks are grappling with reduced credit growth due to lower loan demand, higher impairments from oil & gas exposures, and increasing regulatory capital requirements. The fall in crude prices heightened pressure on the nation’s foreign reserves and the domestic currency, leading to the volatility in exchange rate and a dip in foreign reserves. These microeconomic pressures and unrelenting regulatory adjustments have to a large extent constrained the margins of financial institutions in the country. While it is acknowledged that the banking sector can only be as healthy as the economy itself and since the sector is not immune to the macroeconomic distortions, it is expected that the industry feel the effects of the turbulence. However, despite its decline in bottom line, First Bank’s longstanding existence and strong fundamentals were indicative of the resilience and wherewithal to deal with the shocks and reposition the Group for better stakeholders’ value. Investors’ confidence is being reengineered on the back of improving cost control and optimisation of revenue generating opportunities as well as hope that the bank’s improvement in operating efficiency would help the management reinforce its statutory business to unlock better potentials. Just as other quoted firms in the local bourse is depleting in share prices due to massive sell offs that had pervaded the stock market, sentiments for the shares of the bank have also dwindled relatively. The bank’s share price, which closed at N6.20 per share in September 2015, has declined considerably. At the close of business last Friday, the share price stood at N2.14 per share, a drop of N3.06

or 49.35 per cent year-to-date. Financials FBN Holdings Plc closed the first quarter of the year 2016 ended March 31, 2016 with a Profit before tax of N22.1 billion as against N26.9 billion recorded in 2015. Profit after tax stood at N20.7 billion compared with N22.6 billion recorded a year earlier. Gross earnings closed 15.2 per cent down y-o-y to N107.5 billion as against N126.8 billion posted in March 2015 driven by a 12.4 per cent y-o-y decline in interest income to N83.5 billion from N95.3 billion in March 2015 as well as a 25.2 per cent y-o-y decline in noninterest income to N21.9 billion from N29.3 billion in March 2015. This according to the management, was attributable to the slow business environment and restricted trade flows. The growth in net interest income was weakened by the 12.4 per cent decline in interest income to N83.5 billion from N95.3 billion March 2015 following a decrease in loans and advances to customers. Net interest income increased by 7.2 per cent y-o-y to N63.9 billion from N59.6 billion in March 2015; supported by a 45.2 per cent y-o-y decline in interest expenses from N35.7 billion to N19.6 billion. This was driven by a deliberate strategy to re-price maturing wholesale deposits lower. Consequently, interest expenses on customers’ deposits, constituted 76.7 per cent of total interest and similar expenses from 85.0 per cent in March 2015; the proportion of interest expense on borrowings to total interest expense increased to 18.0 per cent from 13.2 per cent a year earlier while interest to banks makes up the balance of 5.3 per cent from 1.8 per cent in March 2015. The group posted a profit after tax of N35.855 billion during the half year 2016 compared to N40.061 billion recorded a year earlier. This represented a decline of 10.49 per cent. It posted profit before tax of N45.886 billion for the second quarter ended June 30, 2016 as against N52.086 billion recorded in 2015. Gross earnings decreased by 1.2 per cent y-o-y to N267.9 billion from N271.3 billion reported in June 2015. Commenting on the results,

FBN Holdings Plc 2015 September 30

N6.20

October 31

N5.10

November 30

N5.34

December 31

N5.13

January 2016

N3.93

February 29

N3.89

March 31

N3.15

April 30

N3.60

May 31

N4.36

June 30

N3.89

July 31

N3.41

August 12

N3.14

Eke

It is advisable for First Bank to make further improvement on cost control and revenue generating

the Group Managing Director UK Eke, said: “FBNHoldings’ performance has remained resilient in the challenging macroeconomic and business environment, further exacerbated by the devaluation of the Naira and by the persistent rise in inflation. He said: “The group returned gross earnings of N267.9 billion and profit before tax of N45.9 billion; a reflection of the strength of our underlying business, improving cost control as well as optimisation of revenue generating opportunities. Focus remains on organic earnings generation, divestment of non-core assets, in addition to balance sheet efficiency to further enhance capital. “We remain focused on leveraging the strength of our diversified business model by exploiting synergy opportunities and crossselling across our commercial banking, merchant banking & asset management as well as our insurance businesses towards creating sustainable value for our stakeholders.” He noted that total assets increased by 15.3 per cent y-t-d to N4.8 trillion (Dec 2015: N4.2 billion); which according to him, was essentially driven by growth in loans to banks and customers by 87.8 per cent and 16.2 per cent to N724 million and N2.1 trillion respectively (Dec 2015: N385.8 million and N1.82 trillion). Eke added that total interest earning assets grew by 19.6 per cent y-t-d to N3.8 trillion from N3.2 trillion, representing 79.2 per cent of total assets (Dec 2015:76.3 per cent). Total customer deposits rose by 4.2 per cent y-t-d to N3.1 trillion (Dec 2015: N2.97 trillion). Capital adequacy The group noted: “Following a detailed model incorporating our future business growth strategy, potential economic shocks and the current banking group capital adequacy ratio of ( 17.1 per cent), a healthy 200 basis points buffer to the regulatory minimum capital requirement for systemically important banks, which comes

into effect in June, 2016, there are no immediate plans for any fresh equity raise.” Instead, it said, Through focus on implementing a priority approach towards capital allocation and optimization, reviewing the group’s dividend pay-out policy by increasing the level of earnings retention thereby reducing dividend pay-out to focus on optimising its balance sheet and retaining a substantial portion of FirstBank’s profit to boost capital position and drive growth would enhance the Group’s capital adequacy. “ With the liquidity ratio for First Bank of Nigeria Limited at 58.6 per cent, we approach the future with confident that our increased cautious measures will support our aspiration to maintain the lead as the nation’s financial services group of first choice. Through focus on efficient Asset and Liabilities Management Committee overseeing liquidity management, diversified sources of funding, contingent funding planning and effective cash flow planning, we will leverage our sound liquidity position to generate a rebound in asset creation. Future outlook Eke said: “We recognise that an institution can hardly have an outlook beyond that of its operating environment. International rating agencies postures attest to this truism. We are nevertheless optimistic that the fundamentals of our heritage have prepared the Group for a time like this. “The adverse impact on our loan book and the distortion occasioned by the shocks in the global market place notwithstanding, the silver-lining in all of this is that the Group fundamentals remain very strong and evergreen. The expanded breath of our service and product offerings through the Holding Company structure is expected to come to fore at a time when the commercial banking sub-sector is under significant pressure”. He noted that the challenging macroeconomic environment, the dwindling oil price and the resultant impact in the widening of the funding gap for the government present opportunity for project and infrastructure finance, debt capital raising and financial advisory offered by the group’s Merchant Banking and Asset Management group. “Similarly, the insurance business of the Group continues to ramp-up in its growth trajectory, supported by the seamless integration of the acquired general insurance business. All of these are in addition to the effort of the Group to fully integrate its West African operations to our FBN Bank (UK) Limited to drive significant growth in trade finance,” Eke said. Conclusion Given the fact that the Nigerian banking industry has continued to face multiple challenges arising from a weaker macroeconomic environment, it is advisable for First Bank to make further improvement on cost control and revenue generating.

MONDAY, august 15, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

BUSINESS | Capital Market

The Nigerian Stock Market Exchange as at August 12, 2016

30 The agitation across the country by elderly citizens over nonpayment of their benefits is yet to abate, as pathetic pictures of the aged struggling to get what they had worked for keep reoccurring. SUNDAY OJEME reports

n what has become a recurring expression of frustration across the country, aged pensioners in Kwara and Edo states in the last two weeks agitated to be paid their arrears of benefits, just as the former claimed that they had lost over 1,000 members to government’s neglect. Although authorities in both states have come out in defence of whatever allegations the elderly had made against them, it has, however, become worrisome that even with all the promises and policies put in place by some of the governors to put an end to pensioners’ plights, the situation appears not to be abating. While Federal Government pensioners are also battling to get government fulfill some of its promises, their state counterparts are daily in the news for one demand or the other. This is amidst pockets of public pronouncements by some of the state governors claiming not to owe pensioners. Edo state In what appears like an attempt to get the ruling party’s pound of flesh, especially now that a major election is approaching, Edo state pensioners, last week, came out in their thousands like never before to ground commercial activities in Benin City, the state capital over non-payment of pension arrears running into several months. According to the report, the pensioners, who brandished placards, marched through Kings Square, Airport Road and Ezoti Street in Benin City, causing traffic gridlock on the major roads. Lamenting the situation, the Chairman, Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), Edo State chapter, Pullen Noruwa, said that the suffering of the pensioners had become unbearable, as most of them could no longer meet their needs. He said the option to resort to public outcry was for everyone to know that the state government was owing them, adding that the pensioners knew that the governor’s tenure would end in November this year. Fear of the unknown He said: “We are pleading. Oshiomole is leaving the stage. We want him to pay our entitlements before he leaves office. Let him use it as a parting gift to us. “Some of us receive less than N2,000 per month. This is as a result of no harmonisation of our pensions. You will find out that those of us who retired in 2000,

Insurance

MONDAY, august 15, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Pensioners’ angst: Kwara, Edo in public glare

L-R: Head AgricBusines, Unity Bank Plc, Sabiu Sani, GM, Abuja and North Central of the bank, Bonaventure E. Okhaimo, Kwara State Governor, Abdullfatah Ahmed and Chukwudi Okonkwo, also of Unity Bank, at Kwara State Government House, during a visit on agric financing, recently.

1996, what they were given us at retirement is what they are still earning today. “You may have known that somebody died during the screening. That person was on less than N10,000 a month because his pension was not harmonised.” He, however, blamed the delay in payment of their arrears on the absence of Pensions Board, stressing that the state government should harmonise the pension of the 1996 and 2000 retirees to enable them meet their financial needs. Kwara state In the case of Kwara, where 1,005 pensioners were said to have died due to non-payment of pension, the Chairman, Kwara State Local Government Pensioners Association, Mr. lsiaka Akanbi, said the victims, who cut across the 16 local government councils of the state, died as a result of their inability to get adequate healthcare attention. Akanbi, who reportedly urged relevant authorities to urgently effect the payment of the pension arrears to the senior citizens, said no fewer than 3,000 of the pensioners were unable to buy drugs for their ailments. He pleaded with the Kwara State Governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed, to come to their aid by ensuring the payment of their pension arrears. He said: “We have suffered unprecedented discrimination since Ahmed came to power in the state. We are senior citizens and deserve fair treatment. The number of our members who have died is the greatest in comparison with any other sector in the state.” Defence In their separate defence against the pensioners’ allegations, the governors of both

Federal Government pensioners are also battling to get government fulfill some of its promises

states gave a clearer picture of the situation with the Edo State helmsman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, claiming to be owing just four years arrears out of almost 17 years left unpaid by previous administrations. Oshiomhole, while reacting to fears in the camp of the opposition party that he would be leaving behind huge debt when his tenure ends in November, said that contrary to the allegation by the opposition party, he was not leaving behind any liability for his successor. The governor said: “From 1998 when the Army left, to 1999 to 2000, 2001, 2002 up to the end of 2008 when I took over, that was a period of 13 years. So, you find a pension bill of 13 years, arrears of gratuity and pension not paid by PDP government including the 7,000 people they dismissed. “Now when I assumed duties at the end of 2008, I had two options. On the one hand, I had this temptation to say ok I would be paying those who retired during my tenure. “But then, as a former labour leader, I asked myself that if an employer was so callous to carry out massive retrenchment of workers as the PDP did by sacking 7,000 and all the permanent secretaries and did not pay them gratuity, is it the fault of those workers? “And so, I accepted the fact that government is a continuum. And so whatever they didn’t do, I will have to try to do. So, as we speak today, we have paid pension in 1998 and all those who pensioned in 1999, all the ones they dismissed in 2000 and those who retired from 2001, 2002, 2003 up to 2011. “So, I have paid pension arrears of 13 years even though I have been in government for only seven years plus.’’ He also gave assurance that his administration would settle part of the outstanding four years pensions before handing over power to a new government.

Kwara not indebted For the Kwara State Government, the governor, denied owing neither workers nor pensioners. In statement by his spokesman Muideen Femi Akorede, the state government described the attribution death of over 1000 people to alleged non-payment of pension as patently improbable to the discerning. He said: “How did the pensioners come by the figure of 1,005 dead retirees? Did the reporter verify the figures? Death by any cause is tragic and sad but who established a link between the pension arrears and the pensioners’ demise?” According to the statement, the state’s civil servants and pensioners are fully paid to date by the administration of Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed. The said pensioners are local government retirees and are therefore the responsibility of the 16 local government councils. “Notwithstanding, it is on record that the state government has a history of augmenting local government allocation, which had dropped from N2.7 billion to N1 billion per month as of June. The latest intervention was in July when Governor Ahmed approved the release of N162 million to the local governments. “Nigeria is stuck in a national economic gridlock. Twenty-seven states, says the president, can’t pay workers. Kwara is not among them. The solution lies in thinking our way out of the problem and not in vacuous opinion articles,” he added. Conclusion With more states expected to follow up in the months ahead following the current economic hardship, it is expedient for the federal and state governments to clear the air on their status as regards pension payment and fulfilment other promises made to the elderly.

MONDAY, august 15, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

OVERHEAD An Information Technology platform is being worked out to enable industrial operators reduce overhead costs

Sunday Ojeme

embers of the Insurers’ Committee have reaffirmed their position to rebrand the sector for effective and widely acceptable business operation. The rebranding, which is expected to be given a wider media attention, is meant to enhance insurance penetration in the country. Chairman, Sub-Committee Publicity and Communications of the Insurers Committee, Oye Hassan Odukale, disclosed these this last week after committee’s meeting. He said the media would be engaged in the rebranding to further enlighten members of the public on the benefits of insurance. Odukale said the rebranding platform would be designed in such a way to enable individual operators in the industry to key into apart from their existing publicity outreach.

BUSINESS | Insurance

Penetration: Insurers’ C’ttee reaffirms need for rebranding

The rebranding is to sell the concept of insurance, he said. In the area of minimising cost, he said the committee was already in talks with an agency to reduce overhead cost for the underwriters by applying technology and creating a platform to manage business. They are also to come up with suggestions as committee

had been drafted for this purpose to bring down cost. He specifically said that the industry was working with the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) on the project, adding that NIBSS had made a presentation to the committee. Odukale noted that the committee had mandated its information subcommittee to exam-

ine the initiative and advise the general body. He noted that the implementation of the initiative when adopted would help reduce the overheads of many insurance companies, adding that the initiative had helped the bankers in reducing and managing their overheads. On her part, the Vice Chair-

man, Sub-Committee Publicity, Eberechukwu Nwanchukwu, said the committee was also working on improving customer relations, stressing that the committee believed the rebranding initiative being worked on by the industry could only be successful when customers are treated with high esteem.

Mrs Oluwatoyin Campbell (r), new chairman of the Chartered Institute Of Taxation of Nigeria, Lagos District Society (CITNLDS), presenting an award of ‘Partner in Progress’ to Mr. Olufolarin Ogunsanwo, Executive Chairman, Lagos Internal Revenue Service (LIRS) during a visit to his office by CITN on Friday.

NIA chair’s investiture holds tomorrow

he Nigerian Insurers Association will hold an investiture luncheon in honour of its 22nd Chairman, Eddie Efekoha, tomorrow. According to a statement by the Director–General of the Association, Sunday Thomas, the investiture ceremony presents yet another wonderful opportunity for the Association to showcase the insurance industry and forge closer ties with the government, investors and other critical stakeholders. He stated that chief executives, investors, stakeholders and other corporate players were expected to grace the occasion. According to him, dignitaries expected include the Honourable Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun; Commissioner for Insurance, Mohammed Kari, and members of Insurance Committees of both chambers of the National Assembly. The Managing Director, Niger Delta Exploration and Production Company, Dr. Layi Fatona, will be chairman of the event. The formal investiture ceremony follows the election of Efekoha for a-two year tenure at the association’s 45th annual general meeting in June.

Ekiti moves for speedy passage of health insurance bill

hairman, Ekiti State House of Assembly Committee on Information, Chief Olugboyega Aribisogan, has disclosed the house members’ optimism for a quick passage of health insurance bill aimed at easing the indigenes’ access to healthcare. The Ekiti State Health Insurance Scheme Bill 2016 is at the second reading before the lawmakers. A statement signed by Aribisogan said the bill also aimed at ensuring that the basic minimum package for the poor and vulnerable was delivered, subject to the availability of the fund stipulated by the National Health Act. While introducing the Bill to other members at plenary in Ado-Ekiti, the Deputy leader of Business, Hon Alagbada Adenran, called on his colleagues to expedite action on its passage, due to its expected advantages to the people.

He also pointed out that the bill would improve and harness private sector participation in the provision of healthcare services in Ekiti state. In his contribution, Speaker of the Assembly, Rt. Hon [Pastor] Kola Oluwawole, said the bill deserved special attention and consideration, hence, the need to allow all members to make input at this stage. Rt Honorable Oluwawole remarked that the bill, when passed, would ameliorate the financial problems confronting most patients in Ekiti hospitals. The House has slated further legislative action on the bill for this week. Other members of the House, including the Deputy Speaker, Hon Olusegun Adewumi; Hon Akinleye Ekundayo and Fajana Ojo-Ade, called for a special consideration of the bill, due to its expected impact on health care delivery system in the state.

PFAs UNIT RATE FOR RSA AND RSA RETIREE FUND AS AT 29th JULY, 2016 S/No

PFA

Unit Value - RSA

DATE

Premium Pension

3.0454

29-Jul-16

Crusader Sterling

3.0227

29-Jul-16

ARM Pension

2.9900

29-Jul-16

Legacy Pension

2.8376

29-Jul-16

Stanbic IBTC

2.8365

3-Jun-16

NLPC Pension

2.6873

29-Jul-16

Pension Alliance

2.6288

29-Jul-16

Trust Fund Pensions

2.5928

29-Jul-16

First Guarantee Pension

2.5152

29-Jul-16

Sigma Pension

2.5031

29-Jul-16

Leadway Pensure

2.4316

29-Jul-16

AIICO pension

2.3316

29-Jul-16

Fidelity Pension

2.1426

29-Jul-16

FUG Pension

2.1066

29-Jul-16

Apt Pension Managers Limited

2.0561

22-Jul-16

AXA Mansard

2.0467

29-Jul-16

OAK Pension

2.0419

29-Jul-16

Investment One Pension Managers 1.8792 Limited

29-Jul-16

IEI Anchor Pension Managers Limited

1.8641

29-Jul-16

IGI Pension Fund Managers Limited

1.5219

8-Mar-16

NPF Pensions Limited

1.1623

25-Jul-16

BUSINESS | Financial Market News

MONDAY, august 15, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

BUSINESS | Financial Market News

MONDAY, august 15, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

SEC orders operators to register with trade group RESOLUTION Registration with a trade group now mandatory

Stories by Chris Ugwu

n a bid to facilitate complaint management in the nation’s capital market, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has directed market operators to register with trade group of their profession. Director General of SEC Nigeria, Mounir Gwarzo, gave the directive at the SEC Second Quarter Capital Market Committee (CMC) meeting press briefing in Lagos.

He said SEC had been bored with all sorts of complaints by various interests, which ordinarily could be resolved by trade groups. “We agreed that every market operator must register with a trade group to help in acceleration of complaint management. Registration with a trade group is now mandatory,” Gwarzo said. He noted that in the light of its readiness to collaboration with the NSE and other market operators, the management is working to empower Self Regulatory Organisations (SROs) and trade organisations to enable them handle some complaints and deal with them with dispatch. He added that the strategy

of the management was not to create committees but to focus on prescriptions and ensuring that they are executed within reasonable time frames. Gwarzo expressed the Commission’s readiness to collaborate with other stakeholders in the market as a means to taking the market to greater heights. He said the current management of the Commission is willing and open to discussions on issues that will move the market forward in the interest of Nigerians and Economic Development. Gwarzo expressed the Commission’s determination to raise the participation of retail investors in the Nige-

Stock market extend weekly losses

he NSE All-Share Index and Market Capitalisation depreciated by 0.65 per cent to close last week at 27,246.88 and N9.358 trillion respectively. Similarly, all other Indices finished lower during the week, with the exception of the NSE Industrial Goods Index that gained 0.66 per cent while the NSE ASeM Index closed flat. A turnover of 1.361 billion shares worth N10.711 billion in 16,070 deals were traded last week by investors on the floor of the Exchange in contrast to a total of 1.185 billion shares valued at N13.033 billion that exchanged hands last week in 18,548 deals. The Financial Services Industry (measured by volume) led the activity chart with 1.237 billion shares valued at N7.913 billion traded in 9,544 deals; thus contributing 90.87 per cent and 73.88 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively. The Conglomerates Industry followed with 46.182 million shares worth N77.192 million in 637 deals. The third place was occupied by the Consumer Goods Industry with a turnover of 38.102 million shares worth N1.372 billion in 2,907 deals.

Trading in the Top Three Equities namely – Wapic Insurance Plc, FBN Holdings Plc and Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (measured by volume) accounted for 666.721 million shares worth N5.064 billion in 3,205 deals, contributing 48.99 per cent and 47.27 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively. Further analysis of the trading showed that 18 equities appreciated in price last week, lower than 22 equities of the previous week. Thirty-eight equities depreciated in price, lower than 40 equities of the previous week, while 124 equities remained unchanged higher than 118 equities recorded in the preceding week. Also traded last week were a total of 1.003 million units of Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) valued at N12.116 million executed in 43 deals, compared with a total of 11,383 units valued at N128,168.98 transacted the previous week in 48 deals. A total of 4,044 units of Federal Government Bonds valued at N4.062 million were traded in 6 deals compared to a total of 340 units of Federal Government Bonds valued at N370,066.80 transacted the previous week in 1 deal.

rian Capital market, as that is one of the critical ways of deepening the market. He noted that the dominance of the market by foreign investors was one of the reasons why the market is not as deep as it ought to be. He said, “Our intention is to ensure that we raise the level of participation of retail investors in the market that is the only way we can maintain the strength of the market. Dominance of the market by foreign investor is one of the reasons why our market is the way it is. Although it is the pattern of the market, but this dominance is a major factor because they are the ones that come in and come out.

We need to upscale the participation of the retail investors in the market and that is why we are addressing some of their concerns. “Anyone you meet today and tell him to come back, the issue of unclaimed dividends is always a major problem. In order to achieve this, the DG disclosed that the Commission has embarked on various initiatives like recapitalisation, e-dividend registration, the Direct Cash Settlement as a direct benefit to investors from the e-dividend registration as when they register for e-dividend, anytime their shares are sold, they would get the proceeds directly in their bank accounts among others.”

Dangote Flour returns to profitability D angote Flour Mills has returned to profitability, after months of re-acquisition from Tiger Branded Consumers Goods. The company posted a profit before tax (PBT) of N2.64 billion in the half year ended June 30, 2016, compared to a loss of N9.55 billion posted at the corresponding period in 2015. According to the half year report of the company released to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), the Flour milling group recorded a gross profit of N14.03 billion in the period, while profit from operating activities rose to N8.47 billion. The company was sold to Tiger Brands but later reacquired and repositioned for good results. Having reacquired the flour mills, the new board and management started a restructuring process, which included the reopening of the closed Dangote Flour Mills, Kano. Chairman, Dangote Flour Mills Plc, Ighodalo Asue, who spoke on the repositioning said : “We bought back Dangote Flour Mill from Tiger Branded and by this move, it means we have a stronger, better sophisticated and more focused Dangote Flour Mills. “Since the takeover, we have taken a lot steps to reposition the company through expansion to drive growth.

We are also using this medium to restate our commitment to increasing our shareholders value and our dear customers. “Let me assure you that we will continue to invest in the State and other parts of the country and even beyond the country, because we believe in job and wealth creation. It is our hope that our return to Kano will create more job opportunities and impact positively on the economy of the State. “I will like to commend Aliko Dangote for his investment in Dangote Flour Mills, a few months ago when Tiger Branded Company was going to leave the country, it appears that the fate of the company was in jeopardy, but Aliko Dangote’s decision to buy back the company has saved the jobs of about 3000 employees and the shares of over a million shareholders. More importantly, the multiplier effect of his investment in the country is immeasurable”, he said. Group Chief Executive Officer, Dangote Flour Mills, Thabo Mabe said the return to profitability follows several strategies adopted by the company to increase market share and create value for shareholders. He noted that the flour mill is driven by the vision of putting its products on the table of every Nigerian.

BUSINESS | Interview

‘Monies govt agencies collect from airlines not well utilised’

Mr. Obi Mbanuzuo is the Chief Operating Officer/ Accountable Manager for Dana Air. In this interview with WOLE SHADARE, he speaks on various issues plaguing the aviation industry; ranging from multiple taxations, high cost of aviation fuel and how Nigeria has failed to tap the enormous aviation potential locally, among others. Excerpts: Airlines are in dire straits. What do you consider the way out of their current depression, especially now that the economy is in recession? Getting foreign exchange to run our business is very difficult. We require it to do business and it has become very difficult to come by. Times are hard. We are trying our best. Airline business is capital-intensive, everything in aviation is dollarised. We import everything we use, from the spare parts to jet fuel, which is not refined locally. Even in the good times, all these were imported, but the cushioning effect in the past is that, at least, the local currency, which we traded, was a bit stable, but of recent, naira has collapsed. So, what we pay for both spare parts and maintenance has gone up the roof and this affects what customers pay as well. Aviation has the potential to contribute, at least, four or five per cent to our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Nigeria, which is now the second biggest economy in Africa. If maintenance were done in Nigeria, we would not have wasted money abroad. But now, we have to spend almost a million dollars on each air plane. The money is coming from the naira that we are trading. So, it is very difficult for us. We are a private business, once the policies are correct, we will make headway. So, we need government support in the sense of making the right policies. Recently, Ghana reduced the price of aviation fuel by 20 per cent but government here says it is deregulated, but the currency is dropping every day. We should be looking at the Nigerian

MONDAY, august 15, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Mbanuzuo

economy. How has this policy flip-flop affected your operations and how have you been able to remain in business? Well, from Dana perspective, we want to see a Dana Airline that will be here for another 50 years, just like Aero that has existed for over 50 years now. Airlines do not owe because they want to owe. Sometimes, it is because some of those charges are duplicated. Why do we do reconciliation? This is because they do not know what we owe. We are only surviving despite the economic challenges. Aero is the oldest commercial airline and it is finding it difficult today because of some of the unfriendly policies we have in the sector. Dana Air has wide range of skilled staff and in terms of customer satisfaction, we are always on the top and we make sure we get very skilled people and we give them enough training. You talked about government policy not making it possible for carriers to thrive. Could you expatiate on this? Aviation fuel takes over 40 per cent of airlines’ revenue. There is the need to refine jet fuel locally. Currently, a lot of the supplies are imported. There are import problems, which are causing scarcity. If we can refine locally, there will be excess supply to satisfy growing demand. Secondly, government should make that zero per cent on import work so that when something lands from Abuja, Kano or the seaports, the airline should have their parts in less than five hours. The policies on maintenance should be such that we could get our parts and equipment, in and out of the country. There should be nothing that stops Dana Air, for instance, from taking a land in Lagos and building a hangar. But because the policies do not work, it is not viable. Airlines and aviation agencies have been at loggerheads over charges. Why do we have crisis when it is the turn of airlines to pay up

Airline business is capitalintensive, everything in aviation is dollarised

what they owe? From an airlines’ point of view, I believe that five per cent of what we pay as charges should be completely done away with because we pay the regulators for everything that we do. We pay for aircraft registration, pilot licences, approval of manuals and approval of simulators, amongst others. There is a contentious issue of five per cent on tickets sales. The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) says it is from the five per cent on ticket sales it finances itself. I am a supporter of the independence of the regulators and advance economy supports that regulators should be independent from government so that they do their job properly. They have to fund themselves somehow. Any service that the airlines need from regulators, they pay for it. If we want to get a pilot’s licence approved, we pay for it and that is how it is done in other countries. You pay for certain services. Apart from these charges, five per cent on ticket sales is also being deducted in Nigeria. The five per cent does not exist anywhere else. The five per cent is hard work of the airline. If I do my customers service properly, do my marketing right and do my staff training, amongst others and I charge my passengers, it is my hardwork, not the regulator’s. The five per cent on ticket sales is shared among Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), but NAMA also charges every airline separately from the percentage taken from the ticket sales on navigational aids per kilometre. They have a second charge called the terminal navigation charge, for using the radars. So, why impose double taxes? What is the need for the double taxation? In foreign countries, aircraft manufacturers can manufacture aircraft with a particular maximum take-off weight. You could purchase the same airplane with maximum take-off weight of 100,000kg but another airline can purchase the same airplane with maximum take-off weight of 120,000kg, but CONTINUED ON PAGE 35

BUSINESS | Interview

MONDAY, august 15, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH CONTINUED FROM PAGE 34

he will carry a bit more weight. Take-off and landing are charged by weight. Dana has five airplanes with different take-off weights, but the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has charged us, all the airplanes, at the maximum. We are in dispute with them for overcharging because they go to website and start charging, but FAAN has agreed to it. So, there is a lot of that double taxation. Another issue is the fact that the money being collected from the airlines are not well ustilised for the good of all. For instance, if I pay taxes and I see where my taxes are used, I will be happy to pay taxes, but if I do not see where they are being used, then we have a problem with that. The day we can see where our money goes, nobody will complain of anyone owing. The airlines are prepared to pay once it is transparent and government can justify the collection of many taxes and charges imposed on airlines to improve airport infrastructures. But the government agencies responsible have not been able to justify what they collect from the operators. Once we begin to see the results of the taxes and other charges they collect, we will pay, once everything is clear. Dana Air has shown over the years that it meant business and despite the challenges of the past, the airline seems to have broken a new ground. Please tell us what the airline has been doing lately? We are Nigerian airline and we want to be everywhere. Our new route is Owerri. We are expanding gradually, as we focus on our operations. You will recall that we first operated to Owerri in 2014, but ceased because we had to take one of our aircraft out for maintenance. The airplane is back, so, we had to re-open the Owerri route. We looked at the domestic market where there is demand. We have customer feedback all the time. Every seat has a customer feedback form. We read every feedback, good or bad and we reply. What also counts for us is the fact that we changed our menu every two weeks and keep them fresh. Our service on board is the best in the country. We collate all these, sit back and access our areas of service and where it is profitably reliable. Owerri is one point we felt is a big enough market. Some people in Rivers, Bayelsa, part of Enugu and Anambra states use Owerri as their point of travel. Dana Air is in Owerri to stay. We are doing well on that route and we have lifted over 110,000 passengers on board and we just started three weeks ago and we are quite happy with the performance of that route and it will only grow from strength to strength. What is the update on the compensations of families affected by the plane crash? We insure the aircraft, the staff, the pilots and cabin crew. Every passenger that buys a ticket on the airplane is also insured. Every year, as the law requires, Dana Air buys enough insurance to cover our liabilities such as the passengers, the luggage, passenger injury or life. In respect to the accident, the insurance company handles the insurance. What we do, till now, is that we liaise with the insurance company, ensure that every question from the families of those affected is answered. The insurance companies have lawyers that work for it. Dana air is saying that documentations have to be done. Immediately an accident happens, by law, without questions, everybody gets paid a certain amount. Currently, it is $30,000. That was done for all the families. The insurance company paid everybody that first part. Going further, families then had to fill in certain documentations, especially with regards to who the actual next of kin is. All the families that did the necessary things, such as doing the necessary registrations, getting all the probates, were paid. Those doing legal proceedings, the insurance company had to stop any further action until the legal proceedings were completed. Everyone who completed the processes and has no legal impediments has been paid. What are your projections for the rest of the year? We survive and work in our environment

and whatever shocks the economy will face, we will always have plans. The current and biggest shock in the economy is naira devaluation because this affects us the most. We are closely watching what happens with the new forex policy and we are making plans on how we can survive going forward. Our hope is that going forward, things will get better. We had a very tough July because of the fuel scarcity, but one thing that stood for us is that while airlines were cancelling flights, Dana Air operated 95 per cent of its scheduled flights. For those with delays, we made sure we got messages out to customers and they understood. There were very little disruptions or bad will from customers. We kept passengers informed and made sure people were fed and watered when they needed to be. Part of Dana Airâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s standard operating procedure is that after a one-hour delay, everybody gets delay parks, after two hours, if people are tired and do not want to fly again, they get their monies, 100 per cent. Going forward, this August is looking bright and we thank our customers for always showing understanding. We hope that things will get better. What routes does Dana Air ply presently? Are there new areas where you want to commence flight? Our footprint in Nigeria covers Lagos, Port Harcourt, Uyo, Owerri and Abuja and in three years or less, a few places in the northern part of the country will be covered. We had plans to go into the north eastern part of the country, but we had to stop because of insecurity. However, with better security, we will cover two or three locations in the northern part of the country and we will move further.

I will be happy to pay taxes, but if I do not see where they are being used, then we have a problem with that

Mbanuzuo

The Company: Dana Air Education: MSc, Aeronautical Engineering, National Aviation University, Kiev, Ukraine; Post Graduate Diploma, Business Administration, UK. Career: Promotional Logistics Ltd, providing service centre support to British Airways Executive Club in Watford, UK; Revenue Management Analyst at Virgin Atlantic Airways, Crawley, UK; Project Team member for start-up Virgin Nigeria Airways; set up first revenue manage ment department in Nigeria at Virgin Nigeria Airways and instrumental in concept of variable pricing; Member, turnaround strategy member for airlines; General Manager Commercial, Dana Air (2011); Chief Commercial Officer (2014) and currently Chief Operating Officer and Accountable Manager responsible to the NCAA for maintaining safety standards required by regulation and additional standards specified by the AOC holder. Honours: One of the top 100 Travel and Tourism personalities in Nigeria (2014). He is profiled in the centenary edition of the Travellers Yearbook. Marital status: He is married with children.

BUSINESS | MONEYLINE

MONDAY, august 15, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Falling reserves worsen forex liquidity fears

Concern Reserves decline to $25.90 billion

Tony Chukwunyem

ith the country’s external reserves on a steady decline in recent days, concern is growing in industry circles about the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s capacity to sustain its almost daily intervention in the interbank foreign exchange market. The reserves, which stood at $26.12 billion on August 1, 2016, had fallen to $25.90 billion as at August 10, 2016. Financial experts believe that as the low price of crude oil impacts accretion to the reserves, the apex bank may be limited in its ability to continue to boost liquidity in the interbank forex market through frequent dollar sales. In order to ease pressure on naira, the CBN has sold dollars on the interbank market almost on a daily basis since the launch of the flexible exchange rate policy on June 20. Indeed, forex dealers point out that but for the regulator’s interventions, the naira would have by now declined more steeply against the dollar. Prior to CBN’s dollar sales last Tuesday, naira had fallen to an all-time low of N350 to the dollar. Similarly, dollar sales by the apex bank resulted in the naira, which opened at N320 per dollar, closing at N310 last Thursday. Forex dealers said the CBN

asked some traders to bid for $1.5 million each, adding that a total of $6.27 million was traded on that day. Also, last Friday, Thomson Reuters data showed that naira hit an all-time low of N350.91 to the dollar in one interbank market trade worth $1 million as at mid day. Market analysts attribute poor liquidity in the market and the attendant weakness of naira to the continued reluctance of foreign investors to return to the market despite the fact that a key reason for the CBN liberalising the exchange rate is to lure foreign investors back to the country after they had fled in the wake of the former naira peg exchange rate regime. As part of efforts to attract Foreign Portfolio Inflows (FPI), the CBN has in recent weeks introduced several measures. For instance, it hiked interest rates from 12 per cent to 14 per cent. Also, interbank overnight lending rate soared to 23 per cent last Friday from 10 per cent its previous close, after CBN sold treasury bills at higher yields to lure foreign investors. According to traders, the CBN has been offering treasury bills at high rates to attract offshore flows into the country. “The central bank is trying to drive the economy with bills and

bonds that is they are offering securities at such high yields,” one trader said. The regulator raised N256 billion in six-month bill last Friday, N206 billion more than it had planned to issue and at a higher yield of 18 per cent to soak up naira liquidity and attract foreign investors back to the country, Reuters reported. In addition, CBN, last month, told international money trans-

he Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), said it has secured approval for an upward review of its maximum deposit insurance coverage (MDIC) from N200,000 to N500,000 per depositor of Primary Mortgage Banks (PMBs) and the extension of Differential Premium Assessment system (DPAS) to the PMBs. The corporation said this in a statement signed by its Head, Communications and Public Affairs, Hadi Birchi. The NDIC said the approval was granted by the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun

As at N19,142,526.05m N18,579,219.49m 16.5 14 10.77 US$42.62 US$25,901,023,883

Mar, 2015 Mar, 2015 June, 2016 26/07/2016 Mar 2015 12/8/2016 10/8/2016

Description 15.10 27-APR-2017 16.00 29-JUN-2019 15.54 13-FEB-2020 16.39 27-JAN-2022 14.20 14-MAR-2024 12.50 22-JAN-2026 10.00 23-JUL-2030 12.1493 18-JUL-2034 Tenor (Days) Call 30 90 180

TTM

Price 104.65 114.59 111.96 120.58 109.60 100.54 83.82 97.56

1.07 3.24 3.87 5.82 7.95 9.81 14.31 18.29

NIBOR

Rate (%) 4.4583 9.1071 11.0102 12.3790

Bid Yield 10.38 10.55 11.60 11.44 12.27 12.40 12.44 12.49

Change (%) -2.50 ▼ -0.74 ▼ -0.65 ▼ -0.68 ▼

Change (%) -0.02 ▼ -0.01 ▼ 0.00 ↔ 0.00 ↔ -0.07 ▼ -0.08 ▼ -0.03 ▼ 0.02 ▲

Price 104.80 114.89 112.26 120.88 109.90 100.84 84.12 97.86

Tenor (Months)

Change (%) -0.02 ▼ -0.01 ▼ 0.00 ↔ 0.00 ↔ -0.07 ▼ -0.08 ▼ -0.03 ▼ 0.02 ▲

NITTY

Rate (%) 6.9949 7.2368 8.0819 9.2061 9.5872 10.5042

1 2 3 6 9 12

Treasury Bills

Offer Yield 10.24 10.45 11.51 11.38 12.22 12.34 12.39 12.44

Change (%) 1.12 ▲ -0.27 ▼ -0.17 ▼ -0.11 ▼ 0.03 ▲ 0.42 ▲

Money Market

Maturity Date Discount Bid Yield Change (%) Discount Offer Yield Change (%) Rate (%) 7.67 7.82 -0.51 ▼ Open-Buy-Back (OBB) 3.83 30-Jun-16 7.92 8.08 -0.51 ▼ 6-Oct-16 8.59 8.34 8.71 -0.31 ▼ Overnight (O/N) 4.33 8.99 -0.31 ▼ 16-Mar-17 9.36 10.28 -0.07 ▼ 9.11 9.98 -0.07 ▼

Spot($/N)

Bid 199.14

Offer 199.24

Change (%) 0.57 ▲

NIFEX

Spot($/N)

Bid 199.0000

CBN Clearing Rates of January 7, 2016 Spot($/N)

196.00

197.00

in a letter dated August 4, 2016, which emphasised the need for the Corporation to ensure that all Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), PMBs and Microfinance Banks (MFBs) strictly adhere to sound risk management practices and entrench compliance to the CBN approved code of corporate governance standards. Said the statement: “As part of its statutory functions as a deposit insurer, Section 20 (2) of the NDIC Act 2006 empowers the Corporation’s Board to periodically review the maximum deposit insurance coverage for licensed banks and other deposit taking financial institutions in accordance with changes in deposit structure, income levels and in line with global best practices. “The MDIC review is carried out through studies and surveys and is aimed at ascertaining

the adequacy or otherwise of the deposit insurance coverage level for insured institutions in Nigeria. The outcome of the most recent survey that was conducted in August, 2015 revealed the compelling need for the upward review of the current MDIC for the PMBs from N200,000 to N500,000 per depositor. The survey also revealed that the MDIC increase would cover 99 per cent of depositors of the PMBs in Nigeria.” The Corporation further stated that the adoption of DPAS in assessing the annual premium payable by PMBs would promote better risk management in the banks in line with international best practices. It disclosed that currently over 120 countries across the globe have adopted DPAS as an objective method of insurance premium pricing.

Sterling Bank launches diaspora services

Source:CBN

FGN Bonds

rate at which they bought. It hopes the move will help narrow the gulf between the official and black market rates and boost dollar liquidity, traders say. CBN set a margin of two per cent over the rate at which BDCs sourced dollars from banks as resale premium to customers and pegged BDC disbursement at $5,000 per transaction to cover travel allowance, medical bills and school fees.

NDIC raises deposit insurance coverage for PMBs to N500,000

Economic Indicators M2* CPS* INF MPR 91-day NTB Bonny Light Ext Res**

fer operators to pay dollar proceeds from customer transfers into local commercial banks in naira, while selling the dollars themselves to Bureaux de Change (BDC) outlets. Last Tuesday, the apex bank pegged the dollar transactions, which banks can carry out with BDCs, at $30,000 per week and set a margin for the banks to sell dollar to currency outlets at not more than 1.5 per cent over the

0.00 ↔

Offer 199.1000

Change (%) -1.75 ▼ -2.08 ▼

Change (%) 0.00 ↔

n line with its enriching life mantra and plan to extend its unique banking services abroad, Sterling Bank Plc has announced the launch of the Sterling Diaspora Services for Nigerians based outside the shores of the country. The Bank’s Group Head, Strategy & Communications, Mr. Shina Atilola, said this in a statement. He said all Nigerians living abroad with local and direct ties in Nigeria would be encouraged to embrace the services. “We will also ensure that businesses owned by Nigerians and associations abroad make use of the services,” the bank’s chief strategist added in the statement. He disclosed that the lender was in discussions with various Nigerian communities abroad for business collaboration in the area of customer acquisition, management and retention. He explained: “It will be recalled that the World Bank recently put the estimate of Nigerians in the Diaspora at

20 million who remitted an estimated $21 billion in 2015. This provides a platform for proactive financial institutions like Sterling Bank to tap into the business opportunity available outside the shores of the country. This will give millions of Nigerians abroad access to the services through online and electronic channels.” Sterling Bank has continued to demonstrate its unwavering commitment and passion for Retail Banking over the years through its continued investments in the areas of capacity building, product development for superior customer experience and provision of technology infrastructure to harness the vast potentials in that segment Specifically, the bank has built its retail banking strategies around people, processes, products and technology with strong emphasis on differentiation. This is to enable it navigate the current changing tides of Retail Banking and in the process turn its customers to advocates.

national | news

monday, august 15, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

FG to peg budget at $50 per barrel for three years Taiwo Hassan

ollowing the astronomical drop in the prices of crude oil at the international market, the Federal Government has disclosed that it would peg oil prices at $50 per barrel in the country’s appropriation bill in the next three years. Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, who made this revelation in a chat with New Telegraph in Lagos, said that government has concluded plans to fix oil price at $50 per barrel in the upcoming budgets in the next three years whether crude oil price was beyond $50 per barrel or less at the international market. According to the minister, the benchmark of the crude oil price projections became necessary in order to give government a working clue of its expenditures in the upcoming appropriation bills. He explained that the sudden drop in crude oil price at the international market was an eyes opener for this present administration to look inward at revamping the economy. The minister noted that

the effect of the drop in oil price was the jigsaw of recent happenings in the country and her economy, adding that his ministry was well prepared for the future budget challenges ahead. “We know that oil price will continue to go below in sometimes to come. Our projections right now, would be anything much higher than $50 per barrel in the next two or three years. Even

if it goes higher than that, we will still maintain the modest price ($50 per barrel) benchmark in our oil price projections,” he said. Udoma stated that government has intensified wide consultations with private sector groups in the country, adding that joint partnership between the public and private sector was the alternative antidote to grow the economy at the pace “we all wanted at this trying period of re-

cession in the anal of the country’s economy.” He, however, assured the private sector and the investing public of the present administration’s intentions to provide an enabling environment for business to thrive. According to him, the Presidential Economic Council on Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria set up by the government under the supervision of the Office of the Vice-President

was meant to address the various bottlenecks facing ease of doing businesses in the country. He assured that the private sector group that the Council would achieve its objectives in the nearest future and this would impact positively on the country’s economy. His words: “We know, as a government that we are experiencing difficulties with the current recession in the country and moving forward, we are determined to fix the economy,

and that is why we are consulting extensively with the private sector groups in the country, because we know, it is only through partnership between the public and private sector that we can actively transform this economy. He continued: “Giving that if we want this economy to grow, we have to provide the enabling environment as a government, that is why, we had set up a Presidential Economic Council on Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria.

Johnchuks Onuanyim

that looking back over the years, he has no regrets whatsoever joining the game of politicking, even as he stated that as long as he lived, he would do all in his capacity to ensure Nigeria achieved greatness. Interacting with journalists on his sojourn to politics and if there was any regret, he said, "No, I have not had any regret actually. For me, it has been an era of service to nation and like I said, I think I only said that publicly once, the moment I embarked on politics and decided to be a full time politician and to seek elective office, my objective was clear and that is that I was growing up and look up to these wonderful leaders."

Bill Gates donates $1m for food, farming aids to Borno Oyegun: My enemies are just G political ones overnor Kashim Shettima yesterday flagged off the distribution of food items and farm outreach targeting 40,000 victims of the Boko Haram insurgency in Borno State. The project is through the support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which donated one million dollars to the Borno State Government as a post conflict intervention that is meant to support victims who are returning to their communities. Shettima launched the support with the distribution of 25 kilogram bags of rice and 10 kilogram bags of beans to each of 1,100 households at Mainok vil-

lage in Kaga Local Government area, 45 kilometers away from Maiduguri. The governor announced that officials of the State Government working with the Gates Foundation used the $1m to procure the food items and commenced funding of 100 hectares of farm where beans is being cultivated. He explained that 200 farm-families will be allocated tilled and fertile land measuring half hectare each along with improved seeds, fertilizer, chemicals and technical supervision, so that they can start growing food crops. The governor also announced the release of two

trucks of maize grid to add to the food procured with Gates donation. "We are grateful to God for creating people like Mr Bill Gates and his dear wife, Melinda. These leading lights of philanthropy across the world have shown love to the good people of Borno State at a time we are on the ground and looking for any hand to hold in trying to lift ourselves up. “Now, with the emerging peace in Borno State, it is only necessary that as post insurgency response, focus should be combined in supporting all categories of the victims from those at Internally Displaced Persons..."

Abuja

he National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun at the weekend said that he has only political enemies in his sojourn in public office. Oyegun, who fielded questions from journalists after marking his 77th birthday with his staff at the All Progressives Congress National Headquarters in Abuja, also stated that his coming into politics was accidental. According to him, he did not deliberately joined politics but was lured into it by those who believed in him. He, however, stated

Shell saves $30m on Nigeria's subsea tree refurbishment contracts Adeola Yusuf

S L-R: Public Health Nurse, Shell Petroleum Development Company, Mrs. Suodei Akenge; Chairman, Ogbia Local Government of Bayelsa State, Mr. Ebiango Egain; Shell’s Regional Community Health Manager, Dr. Akin Fajola; Director General, Bayelsa State Medical Service Agency, Mrs. Monica Azazi Olarinde; Vice President Health, Shell Group, Dr. Alistair Frazer; Permanent Secretary, Bayelsa State Primary Health Care Board, Dr. Kogjo Omietimi; Shell’s Regional Health Manager, Dr. Femi Oduneye; and the Regional Occupational Health Manager, Dr. Ntia Nsikak, at the Progress Review Session for the Shell-funded N1 billion Oloibiri Health Project... at the weekend

PDP begins countdown to national convention

Onyekachi Eze ABUJA

arely any unforeseen eventuality, the national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will still hold as schedule. The party has fixed this Wednesday for its national convention in Port Harcourt to elect new National Working Committee (NWC) members. Five aspirants have obtained the nomination form to contest the national chairmanship of the party. They include former Deputy National Chairman, Chief Bode George;

the party's governorship candidate in Lagos State in 2015, Mr. Jimi Agbaje; former Minister of Education, Professor Tunde Adeniran; Chairman emeritus of Daar Communications Plc, Dr. Raymond Dokpesi and former Minister of sports and Youth Development, Professor Taoheed Adedoja. Party leaders have engaged on high level consultations since last week to assuage the feeling of the factional National Chairman, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, who had called for the postponement of the convention. Sheriff, who has insisted that he remained national chairman till 2018,

had gone to court to stop the convention. The court presided over by Justice Okon Abang is expected to sit today to begin hearing on the matter. The factional chairman has given his terms for reconciliation of the leadership crisis, which included the disbandment of the National Caretaker Committee headed by Senator Ahmed Makarfi and the postponement of the convention to allow the stakeholders to fix a new date. Inuwa Bwala, media aide to Sheriff however, said the former Borno State governor want not part of the convention. According to him, "We

don't have to be reacting. He (Makarfi) is doing his convention, we are doing some other things. They are putting us on the defensive and that will not sell. "We are not part of it, we don't know about it and we will not even comment about it. "Let's just wait and see whether he will have his way. "We are fixing the party. We are trying to bring aggrieved members on board so that we can move the party forward."

603,700

The total area (in sq. km) of land of Ukraine. Source: Worldfactsandfigures

hell at the weekend announced a cut down of $30 million significant savings in the cost of subsea equipment refurbishment in-country. Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo), a subsidiary of Shell, which announced this, maintained that it achieved the feat through an initiative, which has seen the refurbishment of five Subsea Trees in-country led by Nigerian engineers slashed 105 months off the contracts delivery period on the projects. SNEPCo saves about $6 million for every refurbished Subsea Tree, and this is delivered within 15 months as against 36 months for newly manufactured ones, the company said in a statement at the weekend. A Subsea Tree is an arrangement of valves and other components installed at the wellhead to control and monitor production/injection flow. SNEPCo embarked on a Tree Refurbishment initiative in 2013 to ensure

timely delivery of the equipment at lower cost for the Bonga Phase 2 project, which comprises drilling and hook-up of in-field wells within Bonga. “Beyond cost consideration, we were also looking to indigenise the know-how so that Nigerian engineers can acquire the necessary skills,” said Mr. Bayo Ojulari, Managing Director of SNEPCo. “We are pleased with this success story. The first Subsea Tree under the programme was installed on schedule in May 2015. This was the first of its kind re-using a Subsea Tree fully stripped down and refurbished locally in Nigeria, with all of its original functionality restored.” SNEPCo’s Engineering Manager, Subsea and Pipelines, Mr. ‘Debo Oladunjoye, who leads the refurbishment team, said: “The scope of work entails the retrieval of Subsea Trees for disassembly, repair and rebuild following procedures developed by the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) to international standards and codes.

News|South-west

monDAY, AUGUST 15, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Yoruba Obas warn against aspirants’endorsement Babatope Okeowo Akure

raditional rulers from six states in the S o u t h - We s t geo-political zone, have warned against endorsement of candidates of any political party ahead of the November 26 governorship election in Ondo State. The monarchs who met in Akure, the Ondo State capital under the auspices of Peace and Conflict Resolution in Yorubaland, urged their colleagues in the state not to be partisan. Instead, they asked the governors to seek advice from them in order to move their respective states forward

by bringing development to the grassroots. Also, they are seeking an amendment of the constitution in a way that would guarantee constitutional role for them. The monarchs, whose major aim was to end conflicts among kings in the region, also said their colleagues must be careful so as not to be used as instrument to win an election by politicians. The Chairman of the group, the Olugbo of Ugbo Kingdom, Oba Fredrick Akinruntan,

N539.63bn The total revenue of 2015 Government Quarterly Target from Non-oil taxes for the 2015 Q2. Source: Firs.gov.ng

who spoke with reporters shortly after their monthly meeting in Akure, the state capital, appealed to government to give recognition to the traditional rulers and the institutions. Akinruntan noted that there was the need for government to give the traditional rulers some roles in their daytoday administrative activities of their respective states, saying they were grassroots mobilisers. He said: “We want the government to give us recognition as mem-

27.61

The average age of football players in Italy in the 2013-2014 season. Source: Football-observatory.com

bers of their cabinet so that we can give them some useful advice. “As Ondo State prepares for governorship election, we don’t want any Oba to be partisan; we want our members to be neutral and play a fatherly role to every candidate. We hereby urged our politicians not to heat up the polity and also called for one man, one vote.” The monarch, however said that the group had played a crucial role in reducing conflicts among traditional rulers in Yorubaland since the group was founded five years ago. He commended the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi for uniting the Yoruba Obas since he was crown as the Ooni of Ife.

Osun monarchs want IG to withdraw police from highways Adeolu Adeyemo Osogbo

raditional rulers under the aegis of the Osun Divisional Conference of Obas (ODCO), at the weekend asked the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to halt an increase in checkpoints on the highways by its men contrary to directives handed over to them by successive IGs. The traditional rulers unanimous clarion call was contained in a communique signed by their Secretary, the Aragbiji of Iragbiji, Oba Abdul-Raseed Olabomi at the end of a meeting held by ODCO at the Palace of the Ataoja of Osogbo, Oba Jimoh Olanipekun

APC aspirant dumps party, picks PDP form Babatope Okeowo Akure

APC, LP to fill late Aremu’s position in Oyo by-election Sola Adeyemo Ibadan

ollowing the murder of a Labour Party member representing the Oorelope state constituency in the Oyo State House of Assembly, Gideon Aremu on July 1, his party, is angling to retain the position in a bye-election holding on August 20, just as the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has vowed to reclaim the seat. Aremu, a former Chairman, House of Assembly Committee on Information, Public Relations and Security, who was shot dead by a four-man gang of armed robbers in front of his residence at Alakia in Ibadan, was the only LP lawmaker in the 32-member House of the Assembly. He was set to receive his Ph.D in Mathematics from the University of Ilorin when the armed robbers,

among whom one has been apprehended, snuffed life out of him. LP in a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Mr. Taiwo Ibrahim said in a telephone conversation with New Telegraph that the party regretted the loss of the sterling lawmaker, and was poised to elect another member to fill the position left vacant with the dastardly act. It said: “The Labour Party in Oyo State mourns the death of our lawmaker, Hon. Gideon Aremu, who was mowed down by some wicked people on the 1st of July, 2016. In his honour, the party is working hard to ensure that we replace his position in the House of Assembly. This is to ensure that his legacy is not forgotten.” However, the rival APC in the constituency said yesterday that it was sure of victory in the by-election according to a statement signed by Mr Dauda Kolawole.

rked by the alleged endorsement of an aspirant by the National Leader of All Progressive Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, one Apostolic Faith of the leading aspirants Church choir of the party in Ondo and orchestra State, Hon Niran Sule performing on stage at the 2016 Akinsuyi has dumped the party for the Peoples Camp Meeting Democratic Party (PDP). Concert, with Theme: ``Heaven The former APC aspirant On Earth’’ held at said he dumped the party for the PDP in order to Apostolic Faith Tabernacle, Faith realise his governorship ambition. City, Igbesa in Akinsuyi rejoined the Ogun-State … party he left shortly beyesterday. fore the last year presidential election and picked the governorship form at the Senator AliModu Sheriff ’s faction of System and Improvement the party. on Internally Generated Speaking with reportRevenue’ was very apt and ers after he was given a relevant to meet the state government’s target on revenue generation and execution of projects. Folami said all hands must be on deck to improve Babatope Okeowo on the Internally GenerAkure ated Revenue (IGR), noting that the training was about orried by the plight acquisition of skills, knowlof the nation’s senior edge and attitude. citizens particularly the penHe said: “Capacity build- sioners, the Secretary-Gening of the newly appointed eral of the Afenifere, the Pan sole administrators is im- Yoruba socio-cultural group, perative and cannot be Bashorun Seinde Arogbofa over-emphasized. The and his wife, Olukemi, have workshop will enable the urged government at all levsole administrators and els to cater for the elderly in all Heads of Accounts and the society. Finance to have better unThey also urged the govderstanding of the cashless ernments to prioritize benpolicy and the operation of efits of pensioners, who had the system.” retired from active service in Folami however reiterat- the country. ed that the workshop would The Arogbofas said this create easy platform for tax at the weekend during the payers to make payment 70th birthday of the matrielectronically and usage arch and her investiture as of POS for all transactions the “Iyalode Egbe-Isokan” within the local government of Ebenezer Africa Church councils across the state. Akure, the Ondo State

Lagos tasks LGs, LCDAs on cashless economy Muritala Ayinla

he Lagos State Government has tasked Sole Administrators in the 20 Local Government Councils and the 37 Local Council Development Areas in Lagos State to embrace cashless revenue collection policy. While swearing-in the 57 Sole Administrators, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode had tasked the council chiefs to focus on revenue generation to fast-rack the development of their councils. But speaking at a sensitisation programme organized by the Ministry for the newly appointed Sole Administrators and Heads of Accounts and Finance, Commissioner for Local Government and Community Affairs, Muslim Folami said that the adoption of the cashless policy will prevent revenue leakages in their various councils. He said the workshop, with the Theme: ‘Impact of Cashless and Deployment of Information Technology

The royal fathers said they were no longer comfortable with the increased number of illegal police checkpoints on the highway as noticeable on Ibadan- Ilesa expressway where their brazen admission that the money being collected from motorists had the IG’s endorsement. They said: “We have observed that policemen are back on our roads collecting money from motorists. Conference frowns at this development which is tarnishing the image of the country. “We recommend outright cancellation of these road blocks or stop and search exercise. Rather, intelligence gathering and community policing should be adopted to reduce crime.”

waver and letter of clearance to contest the party primary fixed for August 23, Akinsuyi who was a former Commissioner for Special Duties said he decided to join the PDP so as to get a viable political platform to contest the November 26 governorship election in the state. He said: “It is a function of where the interest of the people of Ondo State lies and how to achieve it. As individuals, we believe that moving forward, as far as the 2016 election is concerned, we need a platform that will allow us to shoulder common responsibilities and progress and development to our people. “The leaders of the APC today are the same people who left PDP some years ago. So, all we need to do is to be sensitive to see where our interest as a people and as a state can be better protected.”

Afenifere’s scribe seeks Buhari’s support for ‘elders’

capital while her husband was made the title of “Asiwaju Egbe-Isokan” of same church to his “Asiwaju” of Oka-Akoko land. Mrs Arogbofa regretted that the elderly in the country were abandoned and uncared for by the government unlike what was obtainable in the developed countries, where the government and the society created a home for their up-keep and wellbeing. She said: “Many of my mates that are of my age, some cannot walk well due to some diseases; they don’t have enough money to take care of themselves and if the government can do well like in advanced countries, where they take care of old people the challenges of the elderly would be minimal.”

south-east | news

monday, august 15, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Obiano to women: Take advantage of free immunisation programme Pamela Eboh Awka

ife of Anambra State Governor, Chief Mrs. Ebelechukwu Obiano, has called on mothers and pregnant women in the state to take advantage of the ongoing New Born, Maternal and Child Health Week, which kicked off on August 9 to immunise themselves and their children against all childhood diseases. She made the call at the flag-off of the Health Week at Abba Town Hall in Njikoka Local Government Area of the state. Mrs. Obiano, who was represented at the occasion by the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor/ Executive Director, Anambra State Primary Health Care Agency, Dr. Chioma Ezenyimulu, said Mrs. Obiano's NGO, Caring Family Enhancement Initiative (CAFÉ) was actively engaged in the promotion of maternal and child health and urged women in the state to use the platform of the health week to sensitise their communities and get their children immunised.

Biafra: IPOB, NDA inseparable, says group's leader Charles Onyekwere ENUGU

he leadership of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) yesterday said the organisation and the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) are on the same page in the quest to ensure the actualisation of a Biafran republic. A release signed by IPOB spokesmen, Emma Nmezu and Dr. Clifford Iroanya, said that there was no negotiation between the Federal Government and the militants, emphasising that Nnamdi Kanu must be released unconditionally. The release said: "The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) hereby categorically state that we and our brothers, the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) are inseparable in our quest for Biafra’s restoration. Just as the NDA stated in their demand, which the Nigerian Government was very much aware of but has chosen to ignore, there will be no negotiation if there is no freedom for the leader of IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu. "Nigeria will avert imminent doom only if Buhari is compelled by

civilized nations to obey existing court orders and release Nnamdi Kanu unconditionally. Trying the discredited divide and rule tactics of using the media to claim Nnamdi Kanu denied NDA in order to engineer acrimony and hatred between him and the NDA has failed woefully. The South-South and South-East are united in this noble quest for freedom and no amount of media manipulation can alter this fact. "Only if Buhari knows who Nnamdi Kanu truly is or the amount of influence he commands among the people of South-East and

South-South, he won't listen to the lies Lawal Daura of the DSS and Ohanaeze Ndigbo have been feeding him with. "Although we acknowledge that our lawyers spoke out of turn in a recent press conference, we are also aware that Mr. Rochas Okorocha, who parades himself to the contrary as an Igbo man, has been working as a front for Muhammadu Buhari to penetrate and compromise IPOB governing structure and our lawyers. “We are aware of the grand conspiracy orchestrated by Rochas Okorocha to penetrate IPOB by

ENUGU

n Enugu High Court presided over by Justice E. N. Oluedo, has dismissed a suit filed against the Inspector General of Police and the Enugu State Commissioner of Police by Theophilus A. Alum, for alleged unlawful arrest and detention. The court also upheld a directive by the police barring Alum and his village, Umuanekeode in Ibagwa Nike community from celebrating a separate new yam and masquerade festival different from

that of the Ibagwa Nike autonomous community, in Enugu East Local Government of Enugu State. Alum, had on September 15, 2014 in a case number E/449m/2014, filed an application on behalf of himself and his village, Umuanekeode, urging the court to, among other things, declare that police had no right to arrest and detain him as well as compel him to sign an undertaking that his village should not celebrate their new yam festival. The application was filed against the then Commissioner of Police, Enugu State, Abubakar Adamu Mohammed, As-

Imo PDP congress illegal –Stakeholders Steve Uzoechi OWERRI

ajor stakeholders in the Imo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have risen in condemnation of last Monday’s state congress held in Owerri, describing it as illegal, illogical and a complete nullity. The stakeholders also warned that those behind the action were out to destroy the party in the state. Former Legal Adviser to the party in the state, Chief Cyprian Akaolisa, in a statement in Owerri yesterday, said the purported

state congress was designed by few disgruntled members of the party to cause confusion, wondering why the same group that had accepted the ward, council and the state congress held by the Ali Modu Sheriff led National Executive of the party would turn around to hold a repeat state congress. Akaolisa reasoned that by opting to hold the repeat state congress, the group in Imo had exposed themselves to ridicule because according to him, “a repeat congress implies that you are repeating what had been done earlier."

all and any means necessary. We know that one of our lawyers has been meeting with Okorocha clandestinely in the past few weeks just like Buhari through Lawal Daura of DSS has been doing through inducements and threats. “Some of our lawyers are currently being investigated by the EFCC at the behest of Daura of DSS over a land case settled years ago, in order to unsettle them sufficiently to turn to DSS informants and ultimately undermine the legal defence of our leader as was the case with Vincent Obetta.

"In spite of all these shenanigans by Buhari through Daura of DSS and his co-jesters in the media peddling falsehood about negotiations that our leader never consented to, IPOB Worldwide is unwavering, determined and resolute under the supreme command of Nnamdi Kanu. No other person dead or alive has the right to command or can command IPOB whether that person is residing in Government House, Owerri or from a private hospital in Nnewi. Only Nnamdi Kanu can tell us in IPOB what to do and we will obey." L-R: Vice Chairman, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), SouthEast , Chief Austin Umahi; Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu; Enugu State Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi; his Ebonyi State counterpart, Dave Umahi; Senator Sam Egwu and former Anambra State Governor, Mr. Peter Obi, at the Zonal Executive Committee meeting of the PDP in Enugu… yesterday.

Court dismisses N40m suit against IG, Enugu CP Kenneth Ofoma

sistant Commissioner of Police (CID) Enugu, Jonathan Towuru, the IGP and the Police Service Commission even as the applicant demanded N40 million damages. In the judgment obtained by New Telegraph on Friday in Enugu, the court ruled that the police were right in inviting the applicant and preventing him and his village from holding separate new yam festival, as such would have caused a breach of peace in the community. The court ruled that police did their job pursuant to Section 4 of the Police

Act and Regulation Cap. P. 19 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, by taking reasonably necessary action to prevent the applicant from committing a criminal offence. The court upheld the submission of the respondents (IGP and CP) that it was wrong for Umuanekeode village, which is one of the five villages that make up Ibagwa Nike Autonomous Community, with His Royal Highness, Igwe Emmanuel Ugwu, as the traditional ruler, to hold a separate new yam festival on a different date after the entire community had celebrated theirs.

NDE empowers 25 Enugu indigenes Charles Onyekwere ENUGU

etermined to reduce unemployment in the country, the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) said it has empowered 25 unemployment school leavers of Enugu State Environmental Beautification project. The orientation programme for the beneficiaries was carried out under the supervision of the Special Public Works (SPW) department. Speaking in Enugu, NDE Coordinator, Mr.

Ohakim quits partisan politics, regrets PDP crisis Steve Uzoechi OWERRI

ormer Governor of Imo state, Dr. Ikedi Ohakim, at the weekend, formally announced his temporary withdrawal from partisan politics and his desire to pursue other idealistic ventures that would add value to the society. Ohakim, who addressed political associates and PDP faithful in his Burma Retreat country home, also lamented Nigeria's sad departure from politics of ideas to politics of vendetta and

brigandage. He regretted the crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) since last year’s general elections. In his address, the former governor said: "In view of the current situation, I have come to the sad conclusion that I will no longer be able to be part of this circus in the political arena for the time being. I am by this statement announcing my temporary withdrawal from active participation in partisan politics." He said the political class may have learnt nothing from the outcome of the 2015 general

elections, which instructs that people's preferences must count, Ohakim said it was regrettable that in the last one year, nearly every election was characterised by brigandage and hooliganism. "Curiously, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) became more vulnerable than it had ever been. A commission that was hailed worldwide in 2015 suddenly became a source of acute pain for Nigerians. In the last 16 months, INEC has not been able to conduct any election satisfactorily even to the most timid Nigerian."

Iroegbu Eke Joseph, said the directorate put in place four core programmes to tackle unemployment in the society. The programmes, according to him, include the vocational skills (VSD), Small Scale Enterprises (SSE), Special Public Works Department (SPW) and the Rural Employment Promotion (REP), among others. He said NDE in pursuit of her mandate of combating unemployment encourages wealth creation and poverty reduction and has decided to organise the training to empower 25 persons through capacity building. According to Iroegbu, the workshop was aimed at equipping participants with the necessary skills not only to be their own bosses but to become employer of labour. In his address, NDE Acting Director-General, Mr. Olakunle Obanyan, represented by a Deputy Director, Special Public Works Department, Mrs. Patience Osunkwo, NDE would continue to evolve new schemes in its various departments to combat the menace of unemployment in the country, despite the current dwindling economic situation in the land.

News|south-south

Tremor causes panic in Rivers oil communities

Emmanuel Masha Port Harcourt

esidents of some o i l - p ro d u c i n g communities in Ahoada West Local Government Area (LGA) of Rivers State have raised the alarm over repeated earth tremors, which they descibed as a warning that an earthquake was imminent. The people of Edegbari and Joinkrama communities said that the last earth tremor they experienced happened in late June, and it sank some houses, and cracked their buildings’ walls, forcing them to run to the authorities for help just like they did in 2011 when it first happened. The Traditional Ruler of Edagberi community, HRH Jacob Sunny Ubele, who spoke to reporters at the weekend, said the trem-

or had occurred severally. He said: “We are afraid that there may be earthquake in this community anytime soon. “It was a very terrible experienced that night of June 26. The sound of the tremor was unprecedented. All the buildings were shaking that midnight and people ran out of their houses thinking that the end of the world had finally come. “In this Edagberi community alone, we have 46 oil wells and 22,000 barrels of crude oil is produced

here every day. That is big money for the Nigerian government. Why can’t they come and help us from this imminent disaster?” Ubele lamented that the entire community had been abandoned despite its vast contributions to the national economy. Another Chief from Joinkarama, Chief Ominigiri Sam, explained that the situation seemed like a confirmation of the “end of the world we have been told. We are still living in fear. Nobody knows what happens next. That is why

both government and the oil companies must come and help us urgently.” The Caretaker Committee Chairman of the LGA, Hon Jerry Gabriel, who confirmed the incident, blamed oil companies that have been doing oil business in the area for more than 50 years and have not done enough to help the people. He said the oil companies should “as a matter of urgency deploy experts to the area to deal with the issue of the consistent earth tremor in Ahoada West.”

monDAY, AUGUST 15, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Bayelsa formulates policy to reduce dependence on govt funding Chris Ejim YENAGOA

he Bayelsa State Government said it would formulate a comprehensive policy that would guide the management of all its tertiary institutions and the government parastatals towards making them less dependent on government funding. To this end, the government is to constitute subcommittees to study and streamline the various policies that would be generated, based on the report presented by the Committee on the Management and Funding of Tertiary Education and Government Parastatals.

General Superintendent, Deeper Life Christian Church, Pastor W.F. Kumuyi (left|), with Akwa Ibom State Governor, Mr. Emmanuel Udom, during the governor’s special Sunday service at the Church in Lagos… yesterday.

The total number of titles won by Enyimba in the Nigerian premier division. Source: Goal.com

56%

The estimated percentage of the antiretroviral therapy coverage (range) of Eastern and southern Africa in December 2010. Source: Who.int

PHOTO: GODWIN IREKHE

Governor Henry Seriake Dickson stated this at the weekend in Government House, Yenagoa, while receiving a report of a Committee headed by the Deputy Governor, Rear Admiral Gboribiogha John Jonah (rtd). The Governor said the State Executive Council would also analyse the report thoroughly and fashion out relevant policies that would guide the operations of all tertiary institutions and government agencies in the state. Dickson, who stressed the need to reposition such educational facilities and the government parastatals by making them self-sustaining, pointed out that the measure had become imperative in view of the dwindling finances of the state, occasioned by the national economic downturn. He, however, assured that, the government would support all tertiary institutions in the state, including the Niger Delta University, Amassoma, as it is the only public tertiary institution in Bayelsa. Applauding the efforts of members of the committee for doing a thorough job, Governor Dickson said the government would implement the findings and recommendations contained in the report, and directed the committee to make a copy of the report available to the State House of Assembly.

Avengers dare military to come to the creeks Ijaw group blasts ASUU over NDU strike

...say two suspects arrested by NNS Delta not members

Chris Ejim

Joe Obende

WARRI

he militant group, Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) yesterday dared the military to come to the creeks and match force for force with them. The group dared the Commander of Operation Delta Safe, Rear Admiral Joseph Okojie and Commanding Officer, NNS Delta, Commodore Joseph Dzunye, asking them to come to the creeks rather than stay in the cities threatening and arresting innocent citizens and branding them as Avengers. Spokesperson of NDA, self-styled Brig-Gen. Mudoch Agbinibo, threw the challenge in a statement rebutting claims by commander, NNS Delta on Saturday that two suspects, Stanley Tonghan and Felix Miyenminiye, arrested by the Navy a few days ago, were members of the militant group. NDA alleged that the two suspects were agents working in conjunction with security agencies who were paid N5 million by two lead-

ers (names withheld) to give the Nigerian military intelligence on the activities of the group. The statement reads in part: “We made it clear that the Nigeria military is using sleepers’ agents to track or checkmate the activities and operations of the Niger Delta Avengers. But the more they try, the more they run into crisis with their employed sleeper agents. “Stanley Tonghan and Felix Miyenminiye that were arrested and paraded by the Nigerian Navy are a few of the sleeper agents working for the Nigerian Military in conjunction with two arrested leaders (names withheld). “The suspects (Tonghan and Miyenminiye) were paid N5million to give the Nigerian military intelligence information on the activities of NDA. On failing to deliver, the suspects were arrested and tagged NDA members, what a shame?” It added: “Stanley Tonghan and Felix Miyenminiye are not members of NDA.We do not know or have any connection with them. The Navy Commanding Officer, NNS Delta, Warri (Commodore

Joseph Dzunve) is trying to impress his boss in Abuja, by arresting sleeper agents recruited by his predecessor. “Any criminal arrested is now an NDA member. Since we (NDA) started the struggle, none of our operatives has been arrested. All those in detention in the name of NDA are not part of NDA, the world should know this. “Nigerian military have not seen embarrassment. NDA will keep embarrassing you because the only thing you are good at doing in the Niger Delta region is arresting and killing of innocent citizens of the Niger Delta in the name of looking for NDA and illegal bunkerers.” The militant group also stated that “if the Nigeria military is serious about arresting NDA, let them come to the creeks of the Niger Delta; that is where we dwell, not in the city. If I (Brig. Gen Moduch Agbinibo) was the Commanding Officer, NNS Delta (Commodore Joseph Dzunve) and Commander of the so-called Operation Delta Safe (Rear Admiral Joseph Okojie), I would have been in the creeks instead of sitting at the comfort of my air-conditioned office.”

YENAGOA

oncerned by the prolonged industrial action embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the Niger Delta University (NDU) Chapter, the United for the Educational Advancement of the Ijaw Nation (UEAIN), has added its voice to the call on ASUU to accept the 50 per cent salary payment offer from the Bayelsa State Government and return to the classroom. In a statement issued by the National President and Secretary of the body, Dr.

kurobo Ikasakumo and Mr. James Diebimo, the group urged ASUU, NDU chapter, to take a cue from other institutions in the country facing similar challenges, but had decided to embrace dialogue, instead of resorting to industrial action. Making reference to the developments at the University of Ibadan, the Kwara state University, University of Abuja, to mention but a few, the group noted that, members of ASUU and NASU of the affected institutions had been on 50 to 70 percent salary since February, this year. While the lecturers of the affected institutions,

down played their individual interests, it was sad to note that, the lecturers of NDU were playing politics with the future of the students entrusted in their care. The group advised any lecturer that wanted to play active politics, to leave the academic environment, rather than hiding under the umbrella of the union. It said if other classes of workers in the state could demonstrate a reasonable level of understanding by accepting the 50 percent term of payment, as proposed by the government, it wonders why the case of ASUU is being seen as special.

President to know that Nigerians are feeling the present economic hardship. Bishop Isong, who addressed a press conference at the weekend in Calabar, to react to reports which quoted President Buhari as saying that citizens were not feeling the harsh impact of the economy, said Nigerians were suffering and the President should put on his thinking cap instead making assumptions that never reflected the reality.

To buttress his point, Isong said about 17 members of his church had decided to go to their villages to face the reality of life as they could not pay house rents in Calabar. “As a Pastor, I can tell you that Nigerians are feeling the hard impact of the economy. Let me give you an example. Right now, 17 of my members are leaving for their villages because they cannot pay their house rent.”

Cleric to Buhari: Nigerians are feeling economic hardship Clement James Calabar

residing Bishop of the Christian Central Chapel International (CCCI), Calabar, Dr. Emmah Gospel Isong has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to tinker with his economic policies and engage them in a way practical solutions can be brought to bear on the present economic reality. He said that the comfort of Aso Rock does not allow

monDAY, AUGUST 15, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Why there’s fresh polio cases in Borno, by Shettima B orno State Governor, Kashim Shettima, yesterday explained reasons for fresh cases of polio in the state, blaming it on inability of health officials to access communities to administer polio preventive vaccines from December 2013 to the end of 2015 as well as the earliest part of 2016. The governor spoke in Mainok, Kaga Local Government Area, shortly before launching the $1 million food and farming aid donated by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which targeted the distribution of food items and funding of farming

activities to benefit 40, 000 victims of the Boko Haram insurgency, who were being resettled to their communities. Shettima was reacting for the first time since the two cases of polio were declared last week, a development that many saw as a major setback in Nigeria’s successful fight against polio. “Back in November, 2013, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation even awarded Borno State for being the most committed to fighting polio in the North-East despite our insurgency. It is however, unfortunate that last

week, fresh cases of polio were identified in Borno. “While this is officially painful and personally embarrassing to me as an award winner in polio eradication, the basis of the recent outbreak of polio is largely due to the unimaginable condition we found ourselves. I have seen one commentator saying Borno was dragging the country backward on polio eradication. “From December 2013 to the end of 2015, we had hundreds of communities in 20 local government areas seized by Boko Haram; many roads were

practically under their command; citizens including young children wandered for months around the desert and forest, scampering for safety in the wake of attacks by Boko Haram on their communities; thousands of citizens were trapped in communities around the Sambisa, around the shores of the Lake Chad and around territories being administered by Boko Haram; thousands, including pregnant women and children, were held captive by Boko Haram while hundreds of children were even born in captivity.”

News|north

41 Ortom links Benue’s salary crisis to Suswam’s corrupt leadership Cephas Iorhemen MAKURDI

enue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, yesterday said the state’s salary crisis arose from the mismanagement of resources by the immediate past administration led by Dr. Gabriel Suswam. Ortom, who stated this at the weekend when the national leadership of the Catholic Biblical Apostolate of Nigeria (CBAN) visited him in Makurdi, said corruption characterised the former administration in the state. The governor who said he inherited a lot of debts assured the Catholics that God would help

We’ll consider Plateau’s interest in implementing ranching policy Musa Pam Jos

Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima (left), presenting a bag of grains to a beneficiary during the distribution of food items to victims of insurgency by Bill and Belinda Gates Foundation in Mainok, Kaga LGA of Borno … yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

Police probe Ombatse’s threat to attack Nasarawa communities Cheke Emmanuel LAFIA

asarawa State police command said at the weekend that it was investing an alleged threat by Ombatse militant’s group to attack some communities in the state. Commissioner of Police in the state, Abubakar Sadiq Bello, broke the news when he led the state Director of the State Services and other security chiefs in the state on a

courtesy visit to the paramount ruler of Eggon, the Aren Eggon, Dr. Bala Angbazo, at Nasarawa Eggon, headquarters of Nasarawa Eggon Local Government Area of the state. Bello told the monarch that the police were worried when they received information on the alleged threat by Ombatse to attack some communities in the southern part of the state. He said the police would not tolerate any

breach of peace in the state. Ahmed Ubangari directed Eggon village heads to alert security agents of any suspicious movement in their domain. He, however, directed the leadership of Eggon Cultural and Development Association to embark on peace building tour to preach peace within and around Eggon communities in the state. Meanwhile, Nasarawa State House of Assembly has called for investigation

into the threat by Ombatse to attack some communities in the state following an alarm raised during plenary by a member representing Nasarawa Eggon East constituency, Mohammed Agah Muluku that a new Ombatse group had emerged in the state. Muluku’s view was supported by his counterpart representing Nasarawa Eggon West constituency and Deputy Speaker, Godiya Akwashiki, saying the new Ombatse group was deadlier than the former.

Agatu killings: Council boss makes case for victims’rehabilitation CephasIorhemen MAKURDI

ollowing the genocide done to the people of Agatu Local Government Area of Benue State by the Fulani herdsmen and the eventual return of peace to the communities, the council’s Acting Chairman, Mr. Okpale Omenka, at the weekend, appealed to both the federal and the state governments

to rehabilitate victims of the attacks. Omenka, who made the appeal while interacting with some members of Opiatoha K’ Idoma, stressed the need to make life more meaningful for the victims of the attack, who he said had been traumatised in the process. He said what happened in Agatu was worse than what took place in the North East. He called on the state and

the federal governments to embark on the rehabilitation exercise through the construction of houses, provision of building materials and other essentials of life. He particularly called on the Victims Support Fund (VSF) under the Chairmanship of General T. Y. Danjuma, to urgently come to the aid of the victims, especially now that the rains had set in. The Agatu council boss, who described the area as an

agrarian community, called for the supply of seedlings and other farm implements to the people in order to go back to their farms, as according to him, agriculture was the mainstay of the area and by extension Benue State. He however sued for cooperation and support of the staff and people of the local government in the effort to rehabilitate the victims of the Fulani crisis.

him to overcome the challenges because the state had been dedicated to Him. While emphasising that his administration would not compromise its stand against corruption, the governor said those in his government would lead with the fear of God. He said any government official that shortchange the people would account for it, assuring that God-gifted talents would be used for the development of the state. Governor Ortom said the visit was a honour to the state and observed that one who served God would definitely be blessed as stated in Job 36 : 11-12.

lateau State Deputy Governor, Prof. Sonni Tyoden, at the weekendsaid the administration of Simon Lalong in the state would not jettison the interest and voice of the people in implementing the ranching policy of the Federal Government. He said the government was still consulting relevant stakeholders in the state on the idea, adding that it was wrong for people to conclude that the idea was meant for Fulani headsmen alone, saying it was for everybody. Tyoden spoke at a political awareness semi-

nar organised by the special programmes committee of Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN) tagged; “Grazing Reserves/Ranching Policy, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, held at COCIN headquarters in Jos, the Plateau State capital. He stressed that any area a ranch was established would only be for the host communities and no one would step in to a ranch set in another community. Tyoden however emphasised the need for utmost solution in ending the lingering clashes between the Fulani herdsmen and the farmers, especially in the state.

Lawmaker partners Attorney-General on prisoners’ freedom Dan Atori MINNA

ouse of Representatives member representing Chanchaga federal constituency, Hon. Mohammed Umar Bago-yesterday said he would partner with the state Attorney-General to ensure the release of prisoners whose release were tied to monetary fine option. Bago, who spoke when he visited the Medium Security Prison, Minna, Orphanage Home and the physically-challenged in Niger State to donate relief materials, said there were 438 inmates in the prisons, which had only 160 beds. According to him, “this assistance for the release of these prisoners will be immediate. We have already written to the prisons to give us the list of the people so that we can give it to the Attorney to see to their cases because some of them are with the option of monetary

fine which is not much. “We have also entered into partnership with the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) so that by the time they are released they will be enrolled into the NDE/Bago Foundation programme so that by the time they come out they will become responsible people in the society.” The lawmaker, who visited four locations said his foundation had put in place modalities to reach out to the masses by distributing relief materials to the prisoners.

£80,000 The weekly salary of Javier Hernadez of Real Madrid/Manchester United in 2014/2015. Source: Paywizard.co.uk

£16,000 The daily salary of Javier Hernadez of Real Madrid/Manchester United in 2014/2015. Source: Paywizard.co.uk

WORLD \ NEWS

News

Ize-Iyamu advises youths to remain vigilant, warns against inducement

he Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu Campaign Organisation has urged youths in the state to remain eternally vigilant as the September 10 governorship election draws nearer. It also admonished them to avoid being used and dumped again by the All Progressives Congress (APC) government. The campaign organisation stated this in a press statement issued yesterday, while responding to allegations of financially inducement of the youth by the APC. The PDP campaign organisation said it is too late in the day for APC to stop the willpower of the Edo people to punish it for subjecting them to untold privation in the past seven and a half years. It said that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) believes that one of the ways to guarantee peace and security is to properly direct the energy of the youths to productive ventures through job creation,

Edo DECIDES

saying the SIMPLE Agenda of Ize-Iyamu, if elected, is to create an enabling business environment in the state, such that it can attract honest investors. Condemning Governor Adams Oshiomhole for wasting the state’s financial resources for the political aspiration of the APC governorship candidate, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, the organisation said that a government that refused to recognise the youth for nearly eight years cannot be trusted. The statement read in part: “In the last seven and a half years, the APCled government in Edo regarded our young men and women as workers

that must be used and dumped; they cannot now come around few weeks to election to induce them for their dirty political jobs. We must say no to them; they don’t mean well for us. ‘’Pastor Ize-Iyamu believes strongly that our youths are today’s citizens and they must be recognised for their potential to make amazing changes in the state. Addressing young people’s needs and aspirations is vital for both social and economic progress of Edo State. ‘’Oshiomhole-led APC government has done nothing in nearly eight years to help the youths. He isolated them from the mainstream and infused in them a legacy of distrust and hopelessness. ‘’Pastor Osagie Ize– Iyamu, if elected, will invest in the biggest source of human potential that the state has ever had, and reap the benefits of that investment through greater growth and social well-being for youths and the generations to come.”

Trump rails against press in response to reports of chaos

S Republican Donald Trump on Saturday repeated his attack on President Barack Obama that he helped “found” Islamic State and railed against media reports that his campaign is failing, at a campaign rally in Connecticut, a state where he has a longshot of being victorious. Speaking for more than an hour in a sweltering room, Trump spent a significant portion of his speech complaining about the media. He again threatened to revoke the press credentials of The New York Times. The credentials allow reporters access to

press-only areas of his campaign events. He has already banned other outlets, including The Washington Post. Saturday, the New York newspaper published an article detailing failed efforts to make Trump focus his campaign on the general election. “These are the most dishonest people,” Trump said. “Maybe we’ll start thinking about taking their press credentials away from them.” Trump visiting Connecticut, a heavily Democratic state, raised eyebrows among many Republicans. “It’s asinine that he would be in Connecticut holding a public rally less than 90

Opposition leaders can’t be trusted –Obaseki Cajetan Mmuta BENIN

he All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, yesterday, stormed Ogbona, the political base of the chairman of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Dan Orbih in Etsako Central Local Government Area with a call on the people not to trust the party and their campaign, which is riddled with lies. He said: “We did schools in part one, built roads and gave you water. In part two, we will continue and improve on the pace. The schools that we are yet to build, we will build, every community in this area will be provided with water. Be assured that it will not be like the one that they gave

to you that don’t produce water today. “What is important in the part two is human development, we will look at the men, women and our youths. We will give loans to the traders, create jobs and bring investors to create employment for our people.” Also speaking at the rally, the state APC Chairman, Anslem Ojezua, noted that the opposition party is less concerned about the development of the state. Describing Obaseki and his running mate, Hon. Philip Shaibu as tested and trusted, Ojezua, pointed out Governor Adams Oshiomhole has laid a superb foundation for the duo to build on, while assuring the people that a vote for the APC is a vote for more infrastructural and human development. His words: “Support the party that can help you

and your children. PDP has ruled us for many years; all those years, did they repair the schools, did they build roads? I know the PDP chairman is your son; he promised that he will give you water, did he give you water that is still running? Did he give you roads? Oshiomhole not only gave you roads, but he built schools and that is the reason why you should trust us. Oshiomhole has set the example and the reason why we chose Obaseki and Philip Shaibu is to continue the good works that was started by Oshiomhole. “Obaseki and Philip Shaibu have been tested and trusted, and that is the reason we are bringing them to you to support them by using your voters’ cards to vote them in as governor and deputy in Edo State. Support Obaseki and you will not regret it.”

LP denies endorsing PDP candidate Cajetan Mmuta

BENIN

he leadership of Labour Party in Edo State has denied reports that the party has endorsed the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for the September 10 governorship election in the state, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu. The state chairman of the party, Mr. Kelly

Ogbaluo, stated this in reaction to the purported support for Ize-Iyamu by some individuals claiming to be members of LP n Edo North Senatorial District of the state. Ogbaluo told newsmen shortly after the party’s campaign flag off in Benin at the weekend that the clarification became necessary in order not to jeopardise LP’s chance of victory at the poll. He expressed the party’s optimism of winning the

election given the pedigree of its candidate, Amos Areleogbe and his running mate, Mrs. Jane Osagie. According to him, “this ignoble act of the PDP, in which it fraudulently put together a faceless group with the banner of our party in a pseudo-declaration, is highly condemnable.” He stated that LP has resolved to contest the election irrespective of whose ox is gored, even as he maintained that there is not faction in the party.

MONDAY, AUGUST 15, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

days before the election,” said Republican strategist Matt Mackowiak. “You don’t see Hillary publicly campaigning in Idaho and Mississippi. I have to think this proves the candidate is running the campaign, which explains why it’s such a disaster of biblical proportions.” At several points the crowd chanted “lock her up,” a frequent campaign rally chant in reference to Trump’s Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. Trump told the crowd that normally he responds by saying he intends instead to defeat her in the Nov. 8 election, but this time added, “You know what? You have a point!”

Protesters at Rizal Park during a rally to oppose Marcos’ burial

ProtestsrockPhilippinesover hero’sburialforMarcos

t least 1,500 people have protested in the Philippines against plans to move the body of disgraced former President Ferdinand Marcos to the National Heroes’ Cemetery in Manila. President Rodrigo Duterte decided last week it could be transferred from Marcos’ home city of Batac. President Marcos brutally repressed dissent until he was overthrown in 1986. Protesters say a “hero’s” burial would be a “grave injustice” to his victims. Demonstrators assembled in heavy

rain at the seaside Rizal Park in Manila carrying banners calling on Mr. Duterte to reconsider. Marcos’ embalmed body is on display in Batac. Burial in the capital could take place in September. Senator Risa Hontiveros, among those taking part in the protest, has put forward a senate resolution opposing the move, describing Marcos as an “unrepentant enemy of our heroes”. Marcos was elected in 1965, but declared martial law in 1972 heralding a period characterised by corruption, killings, torture and abductions by

the military. He and his wife Imelda were deposed in what became known as the People Power Revolution. Mr. Duterte won a landslide election in May, promising a “bloody war” on crime and corruption. Crime fell during his two decades as mayor of Davao City but human rights groups say more than 1,000 people were killed at the hands of death squads. Mr. Duterte has defended his decision on Marcos, saying he should be buried at the National Heroes’ Cemetery because he “was a Filipino soldier”.

Fidel Castro appears at 90th birthday event

he former Cuban leader Fidel Castro has made a rare public appearance at an event to mark his 90th birthday. He appeared at a gala in Havana’s Karl Marx Theatre with his brother, President Raul Castro, and Cuba’s ally, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. In his first public appearance since April, he appeared frail and remained seated during the event. Fidel Castro, who stood down in 2008, had earlier attacked US President Barack Obama

in a newspaper column. He criticised Mr Obama for not apologising to the people of Hiroshima for the nuclear bomb dropped there by the US in World War Two. Mr Obama visited the Japanese city in May. “He lacked the words to ask for forgiveness for the killings of hundreds of thousands of people,” Mr Castro wrote. Ties between the US and Cuba have been restored under Raul Castro’s presidency, but after a visit by Mr Obama to Havana in March, Fidel Castro

wrote that “we don’t need the empire to give us anything”. The gala in Havana focused on key moments of Fidel’s life, including the CIA-backed invasion attempt in the Bay of Pigs in 1961. A large street party was also held in the capital late on Friday, and fireworks exploded when the clock hit midnight. The BBC’s Will Grant in Havana says that Fidel Castro now has all but retired from public life and is thought to exercise limited influence over political affairs in Cuba.

MONDAY, AUGUST 15, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Sport News

Sport N

igeria Olympic team coach Samson Siasia has said the focus is to beat Germany on Wednesday to qualify for the gold medal match, while praising his defence for holding out against “a very, very good” Denmark. Permutations have pitch Nigeria against hosts Brazil in the gold medal match, but Siasia has insisted his team have to first eliminate Germany to reach the final. “I don't want to worry about Brazil right now. I have the semifinal against Germany to think about and that is the only thing in my mind right now. After crossing the Germany hurdle, we will think of our opponents for the gold medal match,” Siasia said. "We saw what the Brazilians did to the Danish team (4-0); they are a very good side. They didn't start well but the most important thing is how well you end. It's not easy scoring four goals against this Danish team. “We have gone through a lot on this journey and we cannot get to the gold medal match and then freeze.” The coach singled out his defence for praise as the kept a clean sheet after fears they might buckle

Siasia

against a rampant Denmark's attack. “We were actually worried about our defence, but they came out and played very, very well against a good Danish team,” he commended. “I think these guys have to be applauded coming out like that, and getting those two goals. It wasn't an easy game but I am happy we are in the semifinals." Captain Mikel Obi, who scored Nigeria’s first against the Danes, said he was not surprised that the team has been able to come this far, given the quality of playing and coaching personnel. “We are all very excited reaching the semifinals but the ultimate is the gold medal and as the coach has said, we are still taking it one match at a time. My objective here, as with each of the other players, is to win the gold medal.”

Sports Ministry refunds Mikel's $4,600

International Mourinho hails Man United

44 45

Siasia dares Germany, hails players

Mikel says it is gold or nothing

Lasse Vibe of Denmark (right) vies for the ball with goalkeeper Emmanuel Daniel of Nigeria (centre).

We’ll beat Brazil to reach quarterfinal- D’Tigers' captain

N Adekunle Salami Group Sport Editor

Emmanuel Tobi Assistant Sport Editor

Ajibade Olusesan Sport Correspondent

Charles Ogundiya Sport Correspondent

Croatia's Bojan Bogdanovic, (left) passes over Nigeria's Ike Diogu (6) during a basketball game

i g e r i a ’ s D’Tigers have an opportunity to progress into the quarterfinal of the basketball event of the on-going Rio Olympics if they beat hosts Brazil in their last group game today and Captain Ike Diogu says it is a possibility. The team got their first triumph at the Olympics on Saturday night with a victory over Croatia and in the process moved within a win of the quarterfinals. The AfroBasket 2015 champions were beaten by Argentina, Lithuania and Spain in their opening three

games but they prevailed in their penultimate Group B match, 90-76 over Croatia. A win over hosts Brazil on Monday would seal a place in the last eight for D'Tigers. Diogu, who had 10 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and two blocks against Croatia, said they were ready to shock the Brazialians who also lost to Argentina last Saturday. “I'm really proud of my guys. We came out here and our backs are against the wall and we battled,” Diogu said after the victory over Croatia. “We have a golden opportunity to make history; coach

told us that a long time ago. Here we are. It's going to be tough, but if we play like that, we can pull it off." There is a sharp improvement in the performance of the team since they lost their first game to Argentina and Diogu said, “We figured out that our identity is going to be pressure basketball for 40 minutes. That's how we thrive and that's the only way that we can stay in contention. It's not our offence because we haven't really shot the ball that great but the way we pressure, get out and run, we have a chance against anybody.”

SPORT NEWS

MONDAY, AUGUST 15, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Sports Ministry refunds Mikel's $4,600 Emmanuel TObi

fficials of the Ministry of Sports have refunded to U-23 Eagles captain, Mikel Obi, the $4,600 he paid for the team in São Paulo on their way to Salvador. According to an official statement by the Nigeria Football Federation, the ministry of Youth and Sports made the refund after the team’s 2-0 victory over Denmark on Saturday. This is contrary to an earlier statement by the ministry that Mikel did not bail out the team. Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Chinyeaka Ohaa, praised the team. “I am happy to be a Ni-

Mikel

gerian, because in spite of all the challenges, you have taken the world by storm; you have by your performance given happiness to more than 160 million Nigerians,” he remarked. “Football is the biggest uni-

U-23 Eagles for $6,000 bumper match bonus T

he Nigeria Olympic team, who only this past week embarked on a pay strike, will now be entitled to a bumper bonus payout of as much as $6,000-a-man after they reached the medal bracket at the Rio Olympics. Before hitting the Olympics semi-finals, the team were only entitled to a daily camp allowance of $150-aplayer and they have so far been paid for 22 days. “The fortunes of Siasia’s team have improved remarkably since their qualification for the semi-finals. Now that they could win a medal in Brazil, they might pocket as much as $6,000 or even more by winning their next two matches,” a top team official told AfricanFootball.com. “The Nigeria Football Federation pay bonuses on a match-by-match basis, but with the sports ministry it is only when you are within winning a medal that you will be paid a bonus.

“That was the case at the All Africa Games in Congo Brazzaville last year, when the players received $3,000-aman as bonus for clinching bronze.” This bumper payout is most certainly a sharp departure for a few days ago when Chelsea star Mikel Obi had to again bail out the team in Sao Paulo and the players stayed away from training so as to protest that they are yet to receive the full payment of their allowances. Nigeria defeated Denmark 2-0 to set up a semi-final showdown against rampant Germany on Wednesday night in Sao Paulo.

fying factor in Nigeria today. From Mr. President to the average Nigerian you have made everyone proud. "I am humbled by your efforts, your commitment, your patriotism. I want to assure you that your sacrifices will

Bewarang stranded in Rio Adekunle Salami

igeria Football Federation’s Technical Director, Bitrus Bewerang, is currently stranded in Rio, Brazil, New Telegraph can report. It was a big surprise for our correspondent who is currently in Brazil to know that there was no provision for the former Super Eagles assistant coach, with Bewarang already sending ‘Save our Soul’ message back home. Investigations by our correspondent revealed that there was no provision for him and it has been difficult for him to cope with living in Brazil. “The old man was sent here without any provision,” a source who craved

anonymity said. “I am not sure the ministry is aware of his trip and even if they do, they have not been doing anything to help him. “It has been very difficult for him, he can’t be at the team’s hotel because he was not part of the accredited member of the team, same as the games village, so he has been living from hand-to-mouth.” Bewarang was drafted to join the U-23 team last week with the Nigeria coaches’ president arriving Brazil at the weekend. Some Nigerians had earlier expressed displeasure with the decision to send the coach to Brazil, saying that his presence could cause some distractions in the camp, especially, when he had not been

3 – 4 Liverpool

B'mouth

1 – 3 Man Utd

Hull City

2 – 1 Leicester City

Burnley

0 – 1 Swansea City

C'Palace

0 – 1 West Brom

Everton

1 – 1 Tottenham

M'brough

1 – 1 Stoke City

S'hampton 1 – 1 Watford

igeria U-17 side, Golden Eaglets, have been told to gird their loins for the second leg, second round AFCON qualifier against Junior Menas of Niger in Niamey this weekend. Coach Manu Garba’s wards take a 1-0 advantage to Niamey and must record at least a draw to progress to the

Man City

2 – 1 Sunderland

RIO MEN'S FOOTBALL RESULTS Nigeria

2 – 0 Denmark

Brazil

2 – 0 Colombia

South Korea 0 – 1 Honduras Portugal

0 – 4 Germany

Nigeria's Imoh Ezekiel (left) in action against Denmark

Enyimba ready for Zamalek –Udoji Charles Ogundiya

nyimba captain, Chinedu Udoji, is confident the People's Elephant will cover themselves in glory when they face Egyptian club, Zamalek, in the CAF Champions League on Monday. The Nigerian club have lost all two of their previous group stage games and need a positive result to put their campaign back on track. “We are happy to be here. We were bitter when we got the news about the change of date for the game and we decided to travel

part of the team’s build up to the Games. Bewarang was appointed National Technical Director of the NFF in July, following the death of Shaibu Amodu, who was occupying the position.

Bewarang

U-17 qualifiers: Eaglets get morale-booster for Niger clash

EPL RESULTS Arsenal

not be in vain. “Aside whatever the NFF have for you, we will as much as possible make you happy, if only you will be patient with us. Today, with your performance, I am convinced that you will get that gold.”

and make this huge sacrifice for the team. “We are happy the management won the battle for us (players). It will give us enough time to rest and bond with the team before the game on Monday," Udoji was quoted as saying on the club’s official website, www.enyimbafc.net. Enyimba head coach, Paul Aigbogun, is also optimistic going into Monday’s game. “We are in Cairo to get a good result and if not why are we here? We have prepared to get a good result and we will give our 100% best and hopefully on the match day we will achieve our target as a team," he said

final round in the race towards next year's 20th U-17 AFCON in Madagascar. Nigeria Football Federation Head of Psychology, Dr. Robinson Okosun has warned the players to be ready for the task ahead after they were forced to a 1-1 draw in a tune up match on Saturday by Clique Sports Football Academy of Lagos at the NFF\FIFA Goal Project Pitch in Abuja. The Eaglets went in front courtesy of a well-taken half volley by Nazifi Yahaya in the 13th minute but they eventually surrendered when Isaac Ajibolade rammed home the equalizer for Clique from the spot in the 73rd minute. "Victory as well as defeat is easy to achieve but as good athletes, there are things you must avoid if you want to succeed starting with your match against Niger in Niamey this weekend,” explained Okosun who helped the Super Eagles to win the AFCON in 2013. Okosun went further: "You must have the heart of a lion and be courageous; you must avoid fear and not be intimidated because experience has shown that the Nigeriens would

Dogara: U-23 Eagles good for gold

he Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, has hailed the heroics of the U-23 Eagles over their 2-0 win against Denmark. Speaking after watching the Nigerian side put down Denmark in the grueling quarterfinal duel, Dogara said the Nigerian spirit was on display in the encounter. "We pleaded with the team not to boycott the quarterfinal match and here we are in the semi-

final, we can go all the way and win the gold medal as was the case in Atlanta 96'. We are about to do it again." Dogara called on all Nigerians to line behind the team as they seek to make the country happy under difficult economic times. "I believe that the can do spirit of the average Nigerian is pushing the team to the highest level and no team can stop us," he declared.

INTERNATIONAL SPORT

MONDAY, AUGUST 15, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

We were lucky, says Guardiola

ep Guardiola’s Manchester City career got off to a winning start as they beat Sunderland 2-1 on Saturday but the Spaniard knows there is much work to do to build a title-winning team. Paddy McNair’s late own

Guardiola

goal gave the hosts victory on the opening day of the Premier League season after Jermain Defoe’s Sunderland strike had cancelled out Sergio Aguero’s early penalty. City dominated possession but were short on the incisive attacking play that was a hallmark of Guardiola’s Barcelona and Bayern Munich teams. “Sometimes you are a little lucky,” City’s new manager told reporters. “We should have been a bit more aggressive but these kind of things have to happen to know how to get better in the next game.” The match was an intriguing glimpse into what the fans can expect from Guardiola.

Liverpool stun Arsenal in seven-goal thriller L

iverpool came from behind to begin their Premier League season with victory in a sevengoal thriller against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. The hosts took the lead through Theo Walcott, who recovered from missing a penalty to slot home just 69 seconds later, but Jurgen Klopp's side stormed back as a Philippe Coutinho brace and strikes from Adam Lallana and Sadio Mane proved enough to seal the points. Arsenal rallied to grab two back through Alex OxladeChamberlain and Calum Chambers but ultimately came up short as Liverpool were left celebrating a remarkable 4-3 win. The game took time to get going but it was Arsenal who were

given a golden opportunity to take the lead when Walcott was felled inside the box by Alberto Moreno. The England international dusted himself down to take the resulting penalty only for Simon Mignolet to guess right and make the save. Walcott did not let his head drop, however, and made up for the miss by putting the Gunners ahead moments later, picking up Alex Iwobi's pass and this time giving Mignolet no chance. With Arsenal upping the pace, Liverpool tried to hit back straight away but Roberto Firmino's effort was well wide of Petr Cech's right-hand post as Klopp's side struggled to create chances

Rooney (right)

Mourinho hails Man United After 3-1 win at Bournemouth

Walcott (middle) is cut to the ground for a penalty by a late challenge from Liverpool's Moreno (right)

Ranieri rues stage fright as Foxes lose C

laudio Ranieri admitted his Leicester City side were suffering from nerves after they began their Premier League title defence with

Ranieri

a surprise 2-1 defeat at managerless Hull City. Ranieri's team suf fered only three league defeats all season on the way to winning the title for the first time in their history last May as they finished 10 points clear of runnersup Arsenal. But they looked disjointed and anxious as they were beaten at the KCOM Stadium on Saturday by Hull, a team with only 13 fit senior players and in turmoil off

the pitch. The Tigers' supporters protested before and during the match against owners Assem and Ehad Allem, who they accuse of failing to invest properly in the club.

ose Mourinho said the result against Bournemouth was the end of a good week's work after winning the Community Shield at Wembley last Sunday. Mourinho got off to the perfect start as the Red Devils boss as his side picked up three points in his first English Premier League game in charge Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored on his EPL debut as Mourinho's Manchester United beat Bournemouth 3-1 at the Vitality Stadium on Sunday. The former Sweden captain, who netted the winner on his first competitive outing in the Community Shield, drilled in a superb low shot from distance to add to goals from Juan Mata and Wayne Rooney. Speaking at a post-match press conference, he said: "We prepared well. "It was a very complete performance and I am happy. People know we want to fight for the title." "I thought at 3-0 the game was over but it wasn't. You make mistakes you get punished.

"We have the players to be competitive in every competition. " United, who also handed a first EPL start to Eric Bailly, had found it difficult to gain control on a ground where they suffered a 2-1 defeat last season before surprise starter Mata

‘Ronaldo has signed new Real contract’ U

FC star Conor McGregor has revealed that Cristiano Ronaldo has agreed a new deal with Real Ma-

Ronaldo

Balotelli calls up Sassuolo

ario Balotelli reportedly offered himself to Serie A minnows Sassuolo, but they would prefer Alessandro Matri. According to La Gazzetta dello Sport and Mediaset Premium, an idea has been hatched to see SuperMario revive his career at the Mapei Stadium. He is surplus to requirements at Liverpool and has

been told to find another club this summer after an unsuccessful loan spell at Milan.

Balotelli

pounced on an error from Simon Francis. Artur Boruc twice made good saves to keep United at bay, but Rooney doubled the visitors' lead just before the hour mark as he steered Anthony Martial's miscued volley into the corner.

Italian sources now suggest Balotelli called up Sassuolo to offer his services, though it would have to be a loan move with Liverpool paying at least part of his wages. However, La Gazzetta insists Coach Eusebio Di Francesco is unenthusiastic at the idea of relying on Balotelli for his attack and would prefer to take veteran Matri on loan from Milan instead.

drid. The Portuguese star is currently tied to the capital club until 2018, but reports in Spain have stated that he is set to put pen to paper over a new deal after being crowned a European champion with both club and country this year. And it seems the 31-year-old has already committed his future to the Champions League winners and passed the news onto his friend McGregor. When asked if he could overtake Ronaldo in the Forbes rich list any time soon, McGregor told an audience at a UFC event: "Give me next year. I'll climb that Forbes list and challenge him for the No.1 spot. "He's up there and he said he's just signed a new deal with Real Madrid so it's going to be tough."

SPORTS

MONDAY, AUGUST 15, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Olympics

Phelps ends career as Olympics legend

Fraser-Pryce

Fraser-Pryce rates Rio bronze ‘greatest medal’

or Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, just getting into the blocks in the 100 metres at the Rio Olympics was a major achievement to rank alongside her title winning exploits at her two previous Games. The 29-year-old Jamaican came up short in her quest to become the first woman to win three straight Olympic gold medals in an individual athletics event on Saturday, taking bronze behind compatriot Elaine Thompson and American Tori Bowie. Given the toe injury that has plagued her throughout the season, though, she said she considered it her “greatest medal ever”. “First of all I didn’t think I would have been here at this championships, it was a tough journey,” she said. “I just wanted an opportunity to defend my title. And it was really, really hard. By far, I would definitely say this was my best championship ever. “Because I knew how hard I worked, I knew the pain, I knew the sacrifice, I knew the tears, I knew everything. Despite everything I stuck to it, I toughed it out and I kept my head in the game, even when the odds were against me.” “It was really difficult, I cried because

it was unbearable but I knew I had one more race to go,” Fraser-Pryce added. “I prayed and said ‘God if it’s to be, then it will be’. I can’t begin to tell you how happy I am to be able to stand on the podium after having a year like this.”

MoFarah, Britain's greatest everathlete –Black

oger Black believes Mo Farah deserves to be considered Great Britain's greatest athlete, with or without a world record to his name. Farah recovered from an early fall in Saturday's 10,000 metres to claim his third Olympic gold in stunning fashion, with the possibility of a fourth awaiting in the 5,000m. His dominance over the distances has also seen him pick up multiple world and European titles as rivals from around the globe have tried and failed to unseat him. One thing the 33-year-old has not managed is besting Kenenisa Bekele's world record marks in either event but Black, a double silver medallist in Atlanta 20 years ago, thinks that is no bar to his claims on greatness.

Argentina beat Brazil in Olympics men's basketball

Mo Farah

free, 4x200m free, 200m butterfly and 200m individual medley, with a silver in the 100m fly for good measure. Phelps’ coach believes we will never see his likes again. "Absolutely not, I'm not even looking," Bob Bowman said after Saturday's final swimming races. "He's too special. It's not even once in a generation -- it may be once in 10 generations that someone like Michael comes along. "He just had so many things going for him: he had the physical skills, the mental outlook, the family that supported swimming. He has an emotional ability to get up for big races and actually perform better under pressure."

Phelps

Mayweather scouts for new talent

rgentina came away with a 111-107 win over Brazil after the second overtime at the ongoing Rio Olympics here. Andres Nocioni led the Argentines with 37 points. Facundo Campazzo finished with 33 points and 11 assists. Nene had a team-high 24 points and 11 rebounds for Brazil here on Saturday, reports Xinhua. "This is great. This is an eternal rivalry for us. What we did today was big," said Nocioni. Argentina was 28-19 ahead in the first quarter before Brazil responded with a 33-point explosion in the second to go 52-44 up at the break. Two fouls shots by Huertas extended the Brazilians' lead to 85-82 with 20 seconds left. Nocioni buried a triple to tie the game at 85 with three seconds remaining. The game were tied at 95 with 38 seconds left before both teams scored empty in the remaining seconds to step into the second overtime. Campazzo got hot hand, hitting two three-pointers to seal victory for Argentina.

ichael Phelps brought down the curtain on his Olympic career when he helped the USA win 4x100m medley relay gold at the Rio Games on Saturday, taking his personal tally to 23. Phelps took the lead in the third leg, the butterfly, before Nathan Adrian brought it home as the United States won ahead of Britain and Australia. Phelps and his teammates took the deck to a thunderous ovation and Ryan Murphy got the Americans off to a blazing start, clocking a world record 51.85sec on the opening backstroke leg. The victory gave Phelps his fifth gold of the Rio Games after his triumphs in the 4x100m

loyd ‘Money’ Mayweather has not boxed for some while now, with his perfect record of 49-0 (26KO) as it was since last September when he outpointed Andre Berto at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. There’s no doubt that his fans will see him back in the ring, most likely next year, in a bid to reach that elusive 50-0 mark that surely will tempt him back. But for the meantime in recent months Mayweather seems to be upping his activity as a promoter, putting his name in the hat for fighters

such as Mikey Garcia to sign. As a former Olympian himself, Mayweather knows however that to be a truly top promoter he will need to bring someone through right from the start of their professional career to world champion. He’s got his team USA colours on him this year to show support for his home country too:

Kenyan wins Olympics marathon for first time elagat Sumgong became the first pion Mare Dibaba of Ethiopia took J Kenyan to win the women's Olym- bronze. pics marathon on Sunday, delivering Unlike the annual Rio marathon, her country's first gold of the Rio de Janeiro Games. Sumgong completed the course in 2 hours, 24 minutes, 4 seconds ahead of Kenyan-born Eunice Kirwa, who now runs for Bahrain. World cham-

the Olympic route didn't go near the eye-catching beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema. It started and finished in hot and sunny conditions at the Sambodromo parade area.

Mayweather

monday, august 15, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Sulaiman Salawudeen Ado-Ekiti

kiti State Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, has berated President Muhammadu Buhari for favouring his northern roots in appointments. He alleged that such has brought poverty upon Nigerians. In a release issue in Ado-Ekiti yesterday, by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Fayose said, “the country is in the hands of wrong managers, who do not know what to do and out of nepotism, not ready to be assisted by those who know.” He added: “Presently, Nigerians are suffering, hungry and angry because the APC Federal Government has run the

CONFIRMATION/ change OF NAME

Egba-West

Buhari is bringing poverty on Nigerians –Fayose country aground. Nigeria has gone beyond recession. The economy has collapsed completely and painfully, those who should revive the economy do not have any clue as to what to do,” he said. According to him, Nigeria was experiencing the worst form of nepotism in the history of government in the country, saying, “nepotism is the reason our President discarded competent people in his party that should be running the government with him and opted for his relatives, friends, in-laws and very close associates." He said: "The only qualification to hold key positions in the Presidency is to know a certain nephew of the President or be a

member of his family. That's nepotism and what nepotism breeds is incompetence. "The most influential person in the Presidency today is said to be one Mamman Daura, who is a nephew of the President. Personal Assistant to President Buhari is said to be the son of Mamman Daura while the State Chief of Protocol is to be married to Mamman Daura’s daughter. "It is also the height of nepotism that apart from just two, all security

N1,021.5bn The total revenue of 2015 Government Quarterly Target from Petroleum Profits Tax and Non-oil taxes for the 2015 Q2. Source: Firs.gov.ng

chiefs and heads of all the paramilitary agencies in Nigeria, as well as all the political-heads overseeing all the military and paramilitary arms and agencies are from the North of Nigeria. “As a leader, you don’t need to fear anything. But the moment a leader peeps into the future, realising that his lack of capacity could have consequential effects on him, such a leader will definitely resort to nepotism to protect himself. “Also, the moment a government is unable to guarantee the existence of the people, it must resort to nepotism to protect itself and that is exactly what is being witnessed in Nigeria, especially with the

I, formerly known and addressed as Egba Sobana West and Major Sobana now wish to be known and addressed as Egba-West Major Sobana. All former documents remain valid. UBA Plc, Skye bank Plc and the general public should take note.

Clement

I, formerly known and addressed as Diepreye Kuogha Tekenah now wish to be known and addressed as Diepreye Kuogha Clement. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

Alamene

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Isaiah Diepreye Favour now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Alamene Diepreye Favour. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

Goddy

This is to confirm that Oshevire Oghenero Goddy is the same person as Oshevire Oghenero Ally with which my First bank/ BVN was registered. Henceforth, I wish to be known and addressed as Oshevire Oghenero Goddy. All former documents remain valid. First bank Plc and the general public should please take note.

Joshua

I, formerly known and addressed as Adesina Oladunni Daodu now wish to be known and addressed as Adesina Oladunni Joshua. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

Iremoko

I, formerly known as Miss Okoh Onyinyechi Philomena now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Iremoko Onyinyechi Philomena. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

Ucheji

I, formerly known as Miss Ucheji Rosemary now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Chukwu Rosemary Anulika. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

Ukpa

I, formerly known as Ukpa Emmanuel Chisom now wish to be known and addressed as Igwe Emmanuel Friday. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

Ogundipe

I, formerly known as Bamigboye Oluwabunmi Oluwaseun now wish to be known and addressed as Ogundipe Oluwabunmi Oluwaseun. All former documents remain valid. General public note.

A performance by some Indian children during the Festival of India celebration in Lagos…at the weekend. PHOTO: SULEIMAN HUSAINI

Court hears suit to stop PDP convention today Tunde Oyesina Abuja

he Federal High Court sitting in Abuja will today hear a suit filed by a factional chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ali Modu Sheriff. The suit is seeking to stop the planned August 17 national convention of the party. The Sheriff-faction of the national leadership of the party had filed an application on July 4 for an interlocutory injunction seeking to stop the convention. The faction said it filed the suit numbered FHC/ ABJ/CS/464/2016 for

themselves and on behalf of the Executive Committee/National Working Committee of the PDP. Cited as defendants are Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC and the PDP. The applicants in the suit alongside Sheriff are Prof. Wale Oladapo (National Secretary), Dennis Alonge-Niyi (Deputy National Youth Leader), Alhaji Bashir Maidugu (Deputy National Legal Adviser), Mrs. Hanatu Ulam (Deputy National Women Leader), Alhaji Lawa Dutsima Anchi (Deputy National Auditor), Chief Okey Nnadozie (Deputy National Organising Secretary) and Chief Olisa Metuh (National

Publicity Secretary). The applicants argued that the interlocutory injunction was intended to preserve the res pending the determination of a substantive suit they filed on July 4 in which they argued among others, that by virtue of the PDP Constitution, their tenure expires in 2018. The Sheriff faction filed the interlocutory application on July 20 shortly after the Ahmed Makarfi-led faction announced August 17 for the party’s national convention. The applicants want the court to stop the party from going ahead with the planned national convention pending the determination of their substantive suit.

national | news

Coffee reduces cardiac damage – Scientists Appolonia Adeyemi

rinking at least one cup of coffee a day could boost survival after a heart attack. These are the findings of a study published in the journal ‘Coronary Artery’. According to the researchers, patients who drink one to two cups a day are 20 per cent less likely to die prematurely from heart damage than those who never touch coffee, while those downing more than two are nearly half as likely to die early. The findings, by the British team at York University in Canada, support other recent research suggesting coffee – once considered a potential danger to the heart – may actually have a protective effect when drunk in moderation. Although, around 70 million cups of coffee are consumed every day in the United Kingdom (UK), not as much is consumed in Nigeria. Many Nigerians are also not only known to drink coffee, some are addicted to it. Coffee is slightly acidic and can have a stimulating effect on humans because of its caffeine content. Coffee is one of the most popular drinks in the world, after water. The popular beverage has been shown to protect against liver cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and even strokes. Last year, experts at the renowned Harvard School of Public Health in Boston in the United States (U.S),

ABUJA

hree civil society groups, Trade Union Congress (TUC) Procurement Observation and Advocacy Initiative (PRADIN) and the Civil Society Legislative and

Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) have kicked against the proposed amendments to the Public Procurement Act 2007 pending before the two chambers of the National Assembly. In a joint letter addressed to the House of Representatives Committee on Public Procurement

and the Senate Committee on Public Procurement, the organizations warned that there were inconsistencies and perceived political motives in the proposed amendments, a situation they described as dangerous. The letter read in part: “We wish to put on record

found three to five cups a day reduced the risk of dying from heart disease, as well as incurable conditions like Parkinson’s, according to a report in the mailonline, an online news website. Now a British team has found coffee may also help those who have already had a heart attack. The findings are potentially very significant because this group of patients is at high risk of another heart attack, or developing heart failure as a result of severe scarring in the cardiac muscle. The team tracked 3,271 victims across the UK, including 604 who survived but later died as a result of their condition. The patients had all taken part in research which chronicled their coffeedrinking habits as part of a wider lifestyle study. ‘Light’ drinkers, who got through just one or two daily were also at much lower risk of an early death, with the dangers reduced by about a fifth. Few studies have looked at how coffee might improve the health of this large group of patients. The York researchers said it’s still not entirely clear how coffee might boost the heart but noted there were a whole host of potentially beneficial ingredients in coffee beans, not just caffeine. These include healthboosting plant chemicals, called flavonoids, as well as compounds called melanoidins, which can reduce the build-up of fatty deposits.

El Rufai vows to domesticate Child Rights Act Ibraheem Musa Kaduna

overnor Nasir ElRufai of Kaduna State has promised that the Child Right Act would soon be domesticated in spite of the opposition from traditional rulers and religious leaders. El-Rufai, who briefed journalists at Government House yesterday, shortly after a closed door meeting with some Civil Society Organisations, disclosed that the amended Child Right Bill was already before the

TUC, CISLAC, others kick against amendments to procurement law Onwuka Nzeshi

that this Memorandum and Joint Statement represents the voice of over 150 CSOs in Nigeria and as represented by Procurement Observation and Advocacy Initiative (PRADIN) and Civil Society Legislative and Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) and the Trade Union Congress

State House of Assembly for necessary legislative work and passage into law. The governor also said that there was no hiding place for rapists and those who defile children, noting that the Child Right Act which had since 2003 been a federal law, could not be domesticated in Kaduna State due to issues on the specified age for a girl child to get married. According to the governor, his administration has been able to find a way around of age of marriage for girls and the bill would soon see the light of the day.

(TUC). Thus, this letter is a follow up to the earlier Memorandum submitted to the Senate Committee on Public Procurement in response to the invitation to the Public Hearing and Call for Memorandum of Thursday 26 of May 2016 as advertised on Thursday May 24”

On Marble

In the end, it is those words you refused to use when you are angry, that would be tendered as the evidence of your maturity.

World Record

Sanctity of Truth

NIGERIA’S MOST AUTHORITATIVE NEWSPAPER IN POLITICS AND BUSINESS

– Kingsley Ogbeide-Ihama

MONDAY, AUGUST 15, 2016

N150

Worst World leader ever: Adolf Hitler was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1934 to 1945. He was responsible for Nazi Germany, World War II and the Holocaust. This brutal dictator had a hand in killing at least 11 million people, including up to six million Jews. He is definitely the most sinister leader the world has ever seen.

Public arena T he column you write

Redenomination of the naira Boniface Chizea

t suddenly manifested on the social media the suggestion to revisit Naira redenomination; an idea which was aggressively touted towards the end of the first term of Professor Chukwuma Soludo as the Governor of the Central Bank. And this suggestion was floated by no other than that irrepressible Senator Ben Murray- Bruce of Silver Bird media fame who always signs off by announcing that he just wants to make commonsense. But as the saying goes Common Sense is not so common! Often if you are not schooled in the uncanny ways of the world, if you are not street wise, you might not be fully endowed with Common Sense. I was intrigued by this suggestion particularly as one who had a ringside vintage position the last time redenomination was canvassed in this country. I recall that day at one of the meeting rooms at Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja when along with some eminent economists we were assembled by President Yar’dua who was represented by his then Deputy Dr. Goodluck Jonathan to declare open a dialogue session for us to advise the Federal Government on the desirability of experimenting with currency redenomination as then proposed by the Central Bank. Then Vice President Jonathan after he declared the discussion open handed over to Tony Elumelu to pilot the discussion. Other members on this panel included the following as I could recall; Dr. Biodu Adedipe, Bismarck Rewane, Professor Willy Iyiebuniwe of the Department of Finance, University of Lagos, Suleiman Barau, Deputy Governor, Central Bank, Dr. Magnus Kpakol, Madam Nenadi Usman and a few others who were sent to represent the party of the day; PDP. Therefore it is not quite correct to observe that the President stopped the exercise simply because he was not consulted. In point of fact a careful reading of the Central Bank 2007 Act makes it quite clear whose responsibility it is to introduce changes in the currency structure. The Act directs that the standard weights and composition of the national currency issued by the Central Bank and the amount of remedy and variations must be determined by the President on the recommendation of the Board of Central Bank. Therefore the authority to permit any alteration to the structure of the national currency is domiciled at the Presidency and therefore what is required is beyond mere information but really approval. Let us remind ourselves what currency redenomination is: Currency redenomination is aimed at deliberately reducing the volume of currency in circulation in the economy, often introduced to deliberately force a reduction in the volume of currency needed to undertake regular and normal transactions usually precipitated by a situation of hyperinflation or sometimes at the commencement of flag independence or as a result of joining a monetary Union.

Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun

CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele

Redenomination is often contemplated after due consideration of the risks involved in carrying stacks of currency to do routine transactions and it has far reaching implications for financial, accounting and computing aspects of transactions. And therefore it is an experiment which must be accorded due consideration before introduction because of its far reaching consequences and implications. Some of the reasons advanced by the Senator include the following: the Naira has become unstable especially after it was allowed to float as the flexible exchange rate regime was introduced, it will take some time for the Naira to stabilize and in fact it may never stabilize, foreign investors will continue to wait on the sidelines as they remain wary of the uncertainty occasioned by unstable and unpredictable rates of exchange, already several financial institutions including World Remit have suspended money transfer operations to and from Nigeria, it will impact the level of inflation as coins acquire more value to be used in transactions, it will impact positively the cost of printing the currency, it will facilitate the much desired but elusive exchange rate convergence between

the interbank and parallel market rates and then he weighed in with the recommendation which I fully endorse that the Central Bank must remain effective and for Nigeria to continue to embrace best practice it must enjoy instrument autonomy. In the first place I do not believe that the level inflation in the country at 16.5 per cent higher than the policy preferred single digit target has reached a stage whereby redenomination should be contemplated as could be attested to by a careful review of the level of loss in currency value in the other countries that implemented devaluation. And also I remain of the firm view that once fiscal policy kicks in as we anticipate and productivity is gained we would begin to witness a reduction to the prevalent rate of inflation. What is pertinent in this connection is to remain conscious of the fact that the inflationary pressure being cost push would have one off limited effect; that is once its effect had been felt it remains ineffectual for subsequent inflationary increases. It is also difficult for me to understand how redenomination could bridge the gap between the interbank and parallel market rates. For as long as there are pressing foreign exchange demands which are not met at the interbank market such demands would find satisfaction obviously at a premium at the parallel market. This explains why it has been argued that for as long as those 43 items excluded from access to official foreign exchange remain so that the parallel market would continue to thrive with the inevitable differential. Therefore the bridging of the spread between the interbank and parallel market is farfetched as I recall that is a feat we celebrated only once in our history. And I remain realistically of the view that we can only aim to reduce the spread not close it to impact the incentive to rent seeking as re-

Currency redenomination is aimed at deliberately reducing the volume of currency in circulation in the economy

cycling is attempted. With regard to currency remittance companies, we were informed that the Central Bank restricted the number of such companies to three since it imposed the requirement that such inflows should be sold to Bureau de change operators to drive dollar liquidity to that market and help facilitate a reduction in the demand pressure at the parallel market with the expectations that the rates will in consequence firm up. Again this policy measure it has been claimed, will negatively affect dollar inflow estimated at an average annual volume of over 20 billion dollars from the Diaspora as the restriction bites. But what should be of even more important consideration is that the focus for today should not be in undertaking Naira redenomination but to improve on the attractiveness of the Nigerian economy as we adopt cashless platforms in all our transactions. It would be recalled that the Central Bank in 2012 introduced the cashless policy as a strategy for the reduction of the volume of cash in circulation with its obvious adverse implications for the attainment of the drive to deepen the financial system thereby attain an improvement on the effectiveness of monetary policy measures in this respect. This policy it will be recalled imposed cash handling charges for daily withdrawals of above Five Hundred Thousand Naira for individuals and Three Million Naira for corporate entities. It is in my opinion much more productive for us as a country to be progressive by focusing on the adoption of platforms that would move us in the direction of the adoption of cashless platforms in our transactions instead of dissipating energy on redenomination which I do not believe can offer us any unique advantage. •Dr. Chizea wrote in from Lagos.

HIGH CHIEF

CORRUPTION IS OFFICIAL IN NIGERIA – Pastor Bakare

- Hey, don’t let Buhari hear o!

Printed and Published by Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Ltd: Head Office: No. 1A, Ajumobi Street, Off ACME Road, Agidingbi, Ikeja-Lagos. Tel: +234 1-2219496, 2219498. Abuja Office: Orji Kalu House, Plot 322, by Banex Junction, Mabushi, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. Advert Hotlines: (Lagos 0902 928 1425), (Abuja 0805 5118488) Email: info@newtelegraphonline.com Website: www.newtelegraphonline.com ISSN 2354-4317 Editor: AYODELE OJO.