Monday, october 31, 2016 binder1

Recession: Shell, Chevron plan fresh 250 job cut ...Begin entrepreneurship training for staff IOCs' profit losses hit $2bn in 3 months

Adeola Yusuf

S

hell and Chevron have begun entrepreneur-

ship valedictory training for some of their staff, as the lingering tough time forced the companies and other International Oil

Companies (IOCs) operating in Nigeria to slate about 250 fresh staff for disengagement, New Telegraph has learnt.

ExxonMobil and Chevron, two American companies that had earlier engaged in cost-cutting including downsizing, de-

clared at the weekend humongous losses of over $2 billion in just three months that accounted for the third quarter of 2016.

This newspaper gathered that Shell and Chevron, which had earlier announced the sack CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

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Arms probe: Buhari to fire indicted top aides Jonathan

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President: Count me out of judges’ arrest NJC decides justices’ fate Thursday

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L-R: Group Executive, Consumer Banking, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), Patrick Akinwuntan; Group Chief Executive Officer, Ade Ayeyemi; Division President, MasterCard, Mr. Daniel Monehin and Area Business Head, West Africa, Omokehinde Adebajo, during the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the bank and MasterCard in Lagos...recently.

Gunmen in SARS uniform rob BDC operators …cart away N12m in Edo market

Mixing energy drinks, alcohol as dangerous as cocaine to brain

}43

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2

NEWS

monday, OCTOBER 31, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Arms probe: Buhari to fire indicted top aides

Our Correspondent

S

trong indications emerged over the weekend that President Muhammadu Buhari may have concluded plans to sack two officials of his government indicted in the final report of arms procurement probe.

The 13-man Presidential Committee on the Audit of Defence Equipment Procurement in the Nigerian Armed Forces (2007-2015) had submitted its final report to Buhari on Sunday, October 23.

The probe cut across procurement of arms and related military contracts between 2007 and 2015 in the Ministry of Defence, Nigerian Army (NA), Nigerian Navy (NN), and Nigerian Air Force (NAF).

The arms panel also probed the activities of the Presidential Implementation Committee on Maritime Security (PICOMS).

New Telegraph had reported exclusively that the final report indicted some influential officials of the present and immediate past administrations.

The report also indicted a former Chief of Army Staff (COAS), an ex-Chief

of Defence Intelligence (CDI), some former ministers of defence, senior military officers, a permanent secretary, top officials of the Ministry of Defence and several contractors.

Even some of the military top brass facing prosecution in connection with arms scandal are also indicted in the final report.

Some former officials of the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) were indicted in the latest report.

The panel, in the final report, had recommended that the indicted persons and firms should be prosecuted and made to return some huge amount of money.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is expected to commence investigation of those indicted as soon as the president releases the report of the arms probe.

Consequently, it was gathered from highly placed sources that the president was under intense pressure to ease out his senior appointees that were found wanting in the final probe report.

It was gathered that Buhari's zero tolerance

for corruption will weighin substantially, as it would be a contradiction to overlook the development.

This newspaper further gathered that those privy to the final report are particularly angry with the way and manner public funds meant for arms procurement were alleged to have been mindlessly diverted or misapplied, as the case may be.

"Further to the indicted senior officials, it is most likely that Mr. President will excuse two top officials of his government.

"Don't forget that his avowed commitment to the ongoing anti-corruption fight, is total. The president would not shield anybody from investigation and prosecution, no matter whose ox is gored.

"To say the least, the final report is too weighty and indicting, and those in the know are furious about startling discoveries," the source said.

Like other indicted persons, it was learnt that the two top officials of the Buhari administration were also quizzed by the probe panel.

Their involvement was as a result of procurement of military hardware and other purchases while

holding sensitive positions in government.

The arms panel established that there were irregularities and fraud in some of the procurement under their watch.

There are fears that the panel report will be suppressed because of those indicted in the latest report.

A source, however, told New Telegraph that the president will not tinker with the panel’s report which indicted some officials of the present administration.

Tunde Oyesina Abuja

T

he National Judicial Council (NJC) will, on Wednesday and Thursday, meet over the pending issue of the seven judges arrested by the Department of State Services (DSS) over alleged corruption.

An impeccable source, who spoke with New Telegraph yesterday on the condition of anonymity, said that the Chairman of the Council and the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CNJ), Justice Mahmud Moham-

President: Count me out of judges’arrest Abuja

T

he presidency yesterday distanced President Muhammadu Buhari from the arrest and planned trial of judges by the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Mallam Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the president has advised journalists and other Nigerians to stop linking the travails of the judges to the influence of the president.

Shehu said Buhari

would be the last person to authorise anybody to induce a judge to pervert the course of justice.

He recalled that despite his personal familiarity with some court judges, the president had never used that familiarity to seek favours from them from 2003, 2007 and 2011 when he was challenging the fairness of the presidential election results, from the lowest to the highest courts in the land during the periods in question.

The Senior Special Assistant also explained that as a politician, Buhari had never suggested to his lawyers to approach any judge

for assistance to win his cases.

He said the president lives by this principle and has never deviated from it.

On the fate of the judges facing corruption allegations, the presidential aide said the president doesn't dictate to courts how to do their jobs and that anybody accused of corruption is protected by law to defend their innocence.

He explained that the purpose of the law is to punish the guilty and acquit the innocent, noting that the law protects the rights of everyone.

Garba said the president doesn't have any powers to force any court

tired military officers.

Prior to the event of October 23, the 13-man panel, which sat for 14 months, had indicted a former NSA, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd); former Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh (rtd); former Chiefs of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Azubike Ihejirika (rtd), and Lt.Gen. Kenneth Minimah (rtd); and ex-Chiefs of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal M.D Umar (rtd), and Air Marshal Adesola Amosu (rtd).

NJC decides justices’ fate Thursday

L-R: Member, Association of Nnokwa Professionals, Barrister Emeka Madualuchi; Rev. Festus Abone; representatives of Anambra State Governor, Mrs. Uloma Wise and Mrs. Pauline Nwandu; Chairman, Dr. Simon Ukpaka and Mr. Nnamdi Anozie during the launching of the association in Lagos… on Saturday.

PHOTO: GODWIN IREKHE

Anule Emmanuel

The Air Vice Marshal J.O.N Ode (rtd)-led panel was established in August 2015, to audit defence equipment procurement in the Nigerian Armed Forces, as well as the Ministry of Defence.

Some firms, which executed contracts with the ONSA and the Ministry of Defence, were also recommended for prosecution by the EFCC, based on their levels of culpability.

Before the final report, the panel had turned in two interim reports, which indicted serving and re-

to convict anybody who is innocent, arguing that in a democratic society, that cannot happen without resistance by the people.

“The president doesn’t have any powers to force any court to convict anybody who is innocent,” he said.

4.97m

The total volume of payment channels made by NIP of Nigeria in April 2015.

Source: National Bureau of Statistics

$3.16m

The capital importation of the Oil & Gas sector of Nigeria in Q3 2014.

Source: National Bureau of Statistics

med had scheduled an emergency meeting to hold between Wednesday and Thursday to decide the fate of the judges.

According to the source, the meeting is expected to look at the request by some of the accused judges seeking for the leave of the council to file a legal suit against the DSS over what they described as sting operations against them.

In addition, the council will also consider the call whether the affected judges should step down as made by the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Body of SANs and non-governmental organisations.

"The CJN, who is also the Chairman of the council, has called for an emergency meeting of the council on Wednesday and Thursday of this week.

The outcome of the meeting will resolve several issues that are controversial.

"You know that some of the judges arrested by DSS on October 8 and 9 have written to the council, seeking its leave to sue the DSS. The council will give its position on that matter. Also, the council will deliberate on whether the judges will step aside or not.

"Several people and bodies are calling for the suspension of the judges. The council will, at that meeting, look at it critically and come with a clear position on it.

"In addition to all of this, the council will also consider the request made by an NGO, Citizens Advocacy for Social and Economic Rights (CASER) for live broadcast of sensitive court cases.

"At the end of the meeting, so many lingering issues will be resolved. The council is still resolute on its earlier position that it is the only constitutional body recognised to sit over judges’ misdeed and punish them if found guilty.

"The Federal Government should learn to respect the doctrine of separation of powers.

The council is not shielding any corrupt judge, but

what the council is saying is that due process should be followed.

"This is where several people are misrepresenting the council. The council does not support corruption or any corrupt judge. But what the council is saying is that there is a procedure of doing things," the source stated.

The two Justices of the Supreme Court, Inyang Okoro and Sylvester Ngwuta, who were part of the initial seven judges arrested and released on bail by the DSS had sought the leave of the council to sue the secret service and the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN) over their arrest.

Also, two judges of the Federal High Court, Justices Ademola Adeniyi and Nnamdi Dimgba had also sought the leave of the council to sue the service over alleged breach and violation of their constitutional rights.

Though Justice Dimgba was not arrested, his house was raided.

Other affected judges, which the council had concluded their matters, were Justice Mohammed Tsamiya of the Court of Appeal, Ilorin, and the Chief Judge of Enugu State, I. A. Umezulike.

Likewise, after recommending the sack of Justice Kabiru Auta of the Kano High Court, the council also approved his prosecution by the Nigerian Police Force.

For Justice Muazu Pindiga of the Federal High Court, Gombe who was part of the seven judges, the council had dismissed the petition against him for lacking merit.

Alongside the seven judges, the AGF had sent the names of additional six to the secret service for investigation.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had also invited eight for interrogation.

This has brought the total number of judges under investigation to 21.

3

monday, OCTOBER 31, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

I am Emmanuel, this time last year, I was a serving corp member with Lagos state. Today, with the aid of the BOI N2billion Graduate Entrepreneurship Fund (GEF), I now own a shoe manufacturing line.

The 2nd edition of this programme is currently running, and I advice all serving corps member with great business ideas to apply for loans under the scheme.

Emmanuel Faleti

CEO, Minuel Faleti NYSC Batch A, 2015. Lagos State.

Submission of business plan online via www.boi.ng/gef 4-day intensive Entrepreneurship Capacity Building Programme Loan amount of up to N2 Million to be provided to successful participants:

Interest Rate - 9% | Tenor : 3-5 years | Moratorium: 6-12 months

GEF: THE NUMBERS FOR BATCH A 2015 Number of applicants

3,100

Number of approved applications

1,002

Applicants who attended training programmes across the country

896

Loan applications received after the training programme

360

Total loans applied for

N695.16 million

Total amount approved

N426.7 million

Total number of beneciaries

253

“...A lot more can be done for thousands of youth corps members across the country since there are three batches in a year” Waheed A. Olagunju, Ag. Managing Director & CEO, Bank of Industry Only serving Youth Corps members in 2016 Batch A stream 1 & 2 are eligible to apply.

Loan application portal opened on 26th October, 2016 th and will close by midnight, 7 November, 2016. @BOINigeria

@BOINigeria

Bank of Industry Nigeria

@BOINigeria

www.boi.ng

4

NEWS

monday, OCTOBER 31, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Fraud: Insurance boss refunds stolen N66m Sunday Ojeme

T

he sweeping fight against corruption across all sectors of the economy has caught up with a chairman of an insurance company, who dipped his hands into the finances of the underwriting firm.

Disclosing this to journalists in Gombe State, the Commissioner for Insurance, Mohammed Kari, noted that all the parties that engaged in corrupt practices over time would be reported to anti-graft agencies for prosecution.

Although he did not disclose the name of the culprit and the particular insurance firm, indications are, however, rife that it must be among the ones under regulatory intervention.

Kari also disclosed that some shareholders, who appropriated shares without paying for them, have also been dragged to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

On the probe of some insurance firms and ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of government, by the House of Representatives, he said the commission

was collaborating with the lawmakers to ensure government’s insurances are properly undertaken.

He lauded the efforts taken by the legislators, adding that the result would help restore public confidence on insurance.

The commissioner stressed that the probe would also help to en-

sure that government’s insurance budgetary provisions were properly utilised, adding that with the probe, premium budget for next year would be properly channelled.

Recall that the interim management board of Goldlink Insurance Plc., set up by NAICOM, in a share capital audit that

looked into the activities of the former management, observed that about 2.5 billion shares were inappropriately issued to selected shareholders.

A report of investigation carried out by the commission revealed that to support the creation of the bubble shares, the head office building and

of workers, have approved about N50 billion severance packages for some 1,700 in Nigeria out of 25,000 workers slated for sack in their global operations.

Executive Director of the FATE foundation, an entrepreneurial group, Adenike Adeyemi, confirmed to New Telegraph that her foundation was one of the groups engaged in talks with oil companies on provision of Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) skills acquisition for staff who are to be disengaged.

One of the oil majors, she said, is particularly in talks with our foundation on the training and this will commence very soon.

“We are progressing with talks with one of the big oil companies,” she told New Telegraph on the sideline of an event in Lagos, adding, “what this means is that although oil is important to our economy, the MSME is so critical to get our economy out of recession.”

Adeyemi stated that the SME landscape shows that it contributes 48.7 per cent to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), far above the contribution of oil and gas sector.

“We also have a large market for SMEs in Nige-

management board has recovered 1.2 billion shares through voluntary surrender and about 134 million shares by way of forfeiture.

It was also discovered that about 1.2 billion share unit were disposed of by some of the beneficiaries.

Chukwu David

tive/legislative relationship, to address some areas of constant friction and conflicts in roles.

Enang explained that the purpose of the proposed conference was to enable the different arms of government sit at a roundtable and trash out their differences and streamline their roles.

According to Enang, the proposed conference on executive/legislative relations will be organised in collaboration with the National Assembly, the Nigerian Legislative Liaison Office, the Executive in Nigeria and the American House Democratic Partnership.

He expressed optimism that this initiative would tackle the long existing strife and rivalry between the two arms of government and ensure peace and stability in the polity.

Buhari to end executive/ legislative conflict – Enang Abuja

P Vice President Yemi Osinbajo with Congress Woman Sheila JacksonLee, at the gala nite of the Christian Association of NigerianAmericans, in Houston… at the weekend

Shell, Chevron plan fresh 250 job cut CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

other assets of the company were revalued and inflated by about N1.5 billion.

The revaluation surplus was used in part to create these shares against sound accounting standards and principles.

So far, the interim

ria based on our population and all these made it imperative for the government to focus funding and investments in the sector,” she said.

The gale of mass sack rocking the industry is far from being over, a source at one of the IOCs added.

“In all, about 250 staff in the non-core areas of our operations is still being pencilled down for right sizing. The training you talked about is part of the global standard; a way of ensuring that they are well placed and engaged in the SMEs after they have left the oil industry,” he said.

Exxon Mobil Corporation reported at the weekend 3Q 2016 earnings of $2.7 billion, down 38 per cent ($1.6 billion) from 3Q 2015.

Like other oil and gas companies, low oil prices prompted the company to cut capital expenditures (CAPEX). In the first three quarters of 2016, ExxonMobil’s capital and exploration expenditures were $14.5 billion, down 39 per cent from 2015. Last April, the company lost its Triple A credit rating, something it has held since the Great Depression.

Not surprisingly, the oil company’s upstream earnings declined as well.

ExxonMobil earned $620 million in 3Q 2016, down

$738 million from 3Q 2015.

And U.S. upstream earnings declined by $35 million from 3Q 2015.

Chevron Corporation also reported a drop in quarterly profit at the weekend that still beat expectations, as cost cuts in the company's U.S. oil production division helped mitigate some of the impact of low crude prices.

The company posted a third-quarter net income of $1.28 billion, or 68 cents per share, compared with $2.04 billion, or $1.09 per share, in the year-ago period.

Excluding one-time items, Chevron earned 49 cents per share during the quarter. By that measure, analysts expected earnings of 37 cents per share.

Earnings at Chevron's upstream arm, which produces oil and natural gas, jumped more than sevenfold as costs in the United States dropped and tax expenses fell.

Chevron's refining arm saw profit drop more than 50 per cent as margins dropped both within and outside the United States.

Production fell about 1 per cent to 2.5 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.

Shares of Chevron rose 0.6 per cent to $100.51 in premarket trading.

Still, ExxonMobil’s Chief Executive Officer, Rex Tillerson believes the integrated structure of the company is delivering “solid results.”

On October 27, ExxonMobil, along with its partners, discovered a reservoir off the coast of Nigeria that could hold up to one billion barrels of oil.

Oil workers in Nigeria had, last Wednesday, said that Pan Ocean, Ground Petroleum, among others, were leaving the country following the prevailing economic recession which has led to the sacking of about 3,000 oil workers.

“It is painful to say as I address you, Chevron has wound up in the East and their offices closed.

A total of 1,500 workers were sacked without their entitlements and nobody is saying anything. As we speak, many companies have left and many others are winding up to go.

“Many oil companies are winding up, including ExxonMobil, Pan Ocean, Sapiem Ground Petroleum, and Hercules Offshore Nigeria Limited. About 3,000 workers had already been sacked by the various oil companies," President of Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas workers (NUPENG), Igwe Achese said.

resident Muhammadu Buhari has set machinery in motion to eliminate the constant friction between the executive arm of government and the National Assembly.

This is to achieve harmony between the two arms for optimum performance in governance.

Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Senator Ita Enang, disclosed this when he played host in Abuja to a delegation of the Republican Democratic Institute, United States of America.

He said that Buhari had mandated the Presidential Liaison Office, which he (Enang) is in charge of, to organise a conference on execu-

Emadeb expands operations, ventures into retail outlets to build the retail outMojeed Alabi

I

n spite of the dwindling fortunes in the oil and gas sector, a petroleum products haulage and distribution company – Emadeb Energy Services Limited, has ventured into retail outlets ownership towards ensuring business growth and employment creation.

This was disclosed in a statement issued by the company’s Chief Operating Officer, Mrs. Kike OjoAwosika, who added that one of the 20 retail outlets, which the company targeted to build nationwide within the next one year will be commissioned in Abuja on Friday.

She said the forecast in the expansion drive is subject to the outlook in the downstream sector, adding that the decision

2

The total number of open play goals conceded by Japan at Brazil 2014 World Cup. Source: Fifa.com

88

The sex ratio of women to 100 men (international migrants) in Germany in 2010.

Source: Un.org

lets, stemmed from “our growth strategy and the commitment to taking our business to the next level, following the commissioning of our ultramodern Tank Farm in February 2014.”

According to her, “Emadeb Energy has specialised in the importation, storage and distribution of refined petroleum products, particularly Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), which forms more than 60 per cent of the total import in the sector.”

She explained that ownership of retail outlets would enable the company to enjoy economies of scale, which would, in the long run, increase turnover/margins.

Ojo-Awosika, who sounded confident that the market is beckoning on the company, declared: “We currently have clients across the six geo-political zones in the country and it is important we take our services to their doorstep.”

She added, “We are, therefore, targeting about 20 retail outlets in the next 12 to 18 months to increase our market share.”

5

monday, OCTOBER 31, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

RETURNS ON SOURCES OF FUND SOLD TO CUSTOMERS FOR THE WEEK ENDED FRIDAY 28-10-2016

S/NO.

SOURCE 1 IMTSO 2 IMTSO

DATE OF FUND PURCHASED

EXCHANGE RATE

24-Oct-16

374.35

AMOUNT PURCHASED ($) 665.67 1,571.33

24-Oct-16

374.68

3 IMTSO 4 IMTSO

24-Oct-16

375.02

255.28

24-Oct-16

378.22

1,164.73

5 EXPORT PROCEEDS 6 ORDINARY DOMICILLIARY PURCHASED

24-Oct-16

308.00

192,600.00

24-Oct-16

308.00

27,422.18

7 IMTSO 8 IMTSO

25-Oct-16

374.46

1,747.00

25-Oct-16

376.44

2,600.73

9 ORDINARY DOMICILLIARY PURCHASED 10 IMTSO

25-Oct-16

308.00

115,656.29

26-Oct-16

335.54

1,787.27

11 IMTSO 12 IMTSO

26-Oct-16

335.61

1,268.72

26-Oct-16

338.38

875.00

13 IMTSO 14 IMTSO

26-Oct-16

339.17

686.69

26-Oct-16

351.43

15 IMTSO 16 IMTSO

26-Oct-16

356.00

4,274.72 1,725.67

26-Oct-16

372.43

608.93

17 IMTSO 18 IMTSO

26-Oct-16

380.00

26-Oct-16

381.22

7,784.26 602.60

19 ECOBANK 20 ORDINARY DOMICILLIARY PURCHASED

26-Oct-16

314.50

26-Oct-16

308.00

21 ORDINARY DOMICILLIARY PURCHASED 22 IMTSO

26-Oct-16

305.00

13.44

27-Oct-16

366.03

892.34

23 IMTSO 24 DIAMOND BANK

27-Oct-16

376.71

2,189.81

27-Oct-16

305.50

200,000.00

25 ECOBANK 26 IMTSO

27-Oct-16

314.50

450,000.00

28-Oct-16

377.47

1,517.51

27 IMTSO

28-Oct-16

375.00

1,759.90

400,000.00 150,853.57

1,570,523.64

TOTAL

RETURNS ON UTILIZATION OF FUND SOLD TO CUSTOMERS FOR THE WEEK ENDED FRIDAY, 28-10-2016 S/NO.

CUSTOMER/FXPD/NON-FXPD

DATE OF FUND PURCHASED

EXCHANGE RATE

24-Oct-16

380.00

2,742.76

PTA

24-Oct-16

315.00

3,000.00

3 MOROHUNKE EYI - OGUNGBAMILA

PTA

24-Oct-16

380.00

4 BSV INDUSTRIES LIMITED

25-Oct-16

308.50

5 CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA

POLYVINYL CHLORIDE IMTSO

25-Oct-16

380.00

3,260.80

6 DIANA EGEOLU

SCHOOL FEES

25-Oct-16

308.50

1,622.94 12,000.00

1 CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA 2 MOROHUNKE EYI - OGUNGBAMILA

ITEM OF IMPORT IMTSO

AMOUNT SOLD ($)

500.00 192,600.00

7 NARASIMHAN GRAMA

PHR

25-Oct-16

308.50

8 OBISANYA IDOWU ISAIAH

EXAMINATION FEES

25-Oct-16

380.00

414.25

9 SOLPIA NIG LTD

ARTIFICIAL FILAMENT TOW(TYPE: AFRELLE)

25-Oct-16

308.50

25,000.00 50,000.00

10 SOLPIA NIG LTD

ARTIFICIAL FILAMENT TOW(TYPE: AFRELLE & WIG CONDITIONER)

25-Oct-16

308.50

11 TRISA NIG LTD

25-Oct-16

308.50

15,189.27

12 CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA

RAW MATERIAL FOR PLASTIC INDUSTRY IMTSO

26-Oct-16

335.50

4,617.68

13 CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA

IMTSO

26-Oct-16

340.00

4,274.72

14 CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA

IMTSO

26-Oct-16

342.00

1,725.67 7,784.26

15 CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA

IMTSO

26-Oct-16

370.00

16 CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA

IMTSO

26-Oct-16

380.00

908.65

17 MACAULAY OLAYINKA

PTA

26-Oct-16

308.50

4,000.00

18 SUNRISE PRODUCTS LIMITED

CALCIUM CARBONATE MAGICCARB(RAW MATERIAL FOR INDUSTRIES) RAW MATERIAL FOR INDUSTRIES

26-Oct-16

308.50

33,600.00

26-Oct-16

308.50

56,250.00 60,144.00

19 SUNRISE PRODUCTS LIMITED 20 SUNRISE PRODUCTS LIMITED

RAW MATERIAL FOR INDUSTRIES ARTIFICIAL RESIN

26-Oct-16

308.50

21 ADEGUN ADEGBOYEGA ADELANI

SCHOOL FEES

27-Oct-16

306.00

3,496.48

22 BAWA HAMIDU SAIDU

PTA IMTSO

27-Oct-16

308.50

3,000.00

27-Oct-16

380.00

2,311.62

27-Oct-16

306.00

1,389.81

23 CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA 24 DOSUMU ADE AKINFOSILE 25 ISHAQ SALIHU ISMAIL

TUITION FEES

308.50

27-Oct-16

306.00

40,000.00

27 MUDATHIR LAWAL

27-Oct-16

306.00

1,854.45

28 MUDATHIR LAWAL

LIVING EXPENSES

27-Oct-16

306.00

1,854.45

29 MUDATHIR LAWAL

LIVING EXPENSES

27-Oct-16

306.00

1,854.45 26,431.16

30 NYCIL LIMITED 31 PAUL-TAIWO ADEOYE OLUKOYA 32 RITE FOODS LTD 33 SAM PHARM LTD 34 SUNCHEM INDUSTRIES LTD 35 WANDEL INT'L NIGERIA LIMITED

PTA

3,000.00

27-Oct-16

LEYLAND CITY BUS IN SKD FORM LIVING EXPENSES

26 LEYLAND BUSAN MOTOR COMPANY LTD

XYLENE SCHOOL FEES BEVERAGE RAW MATERIALS ESSENTIAL DRUGS FOR PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY ESSENTIAL CHEMICAL RAW MATERIAL USED IN MANUFACTURING PROCESSES MOTORIZED TRICYCLES IN CKD

27-Oct-16

306.00

27-Oct-16

306.00

4,509.01

27-Oct-16

306.00

50,000.50

27-Oct-16

308.50

20,000.00

27-Oct-16

306.00

20,000.00 50,000.00

27-Oct-16

306.00

28-Oct-16

380.00

1,589.88

37 CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA

SCHOOL FEES IMTSO

28-Oct-16

380.00

2,458.06

38 SARO AGRO SCIENCES LTD

AGRICULTURAL INSECTICIDE DICLORVOS

28-Oct-16

315.00

39 SARO AGRO SCIENCES LTD

AGRICULTURAL INSECTICIDE SNIPER 100ML AGRICULTURAL INSECTICIDE SNIPER 100ML

28-Oct-16

315.00

160,000.00

28-Oct-16

315.00

160,000.00

28-Oct-16

315.00

160,002.64

28-Oct-16

315.00

240,000.00

36 OLASUPO FUNMILAYO

40 SARO AGRO SCIENCES LTD 41 SARO AGRO SCIENCES LTD 42 SARO AGRO SCIENCES LTD TOTAL

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News|NATIONAL

Yekeen Nurudeen Abuja

I

n what appears like a criticism of his successor’s selective anticorruption war and intolerant for freedom of speech, former President Goodluck Jonathan has implored Nigerians to continue to support democratic governance.

Speaking at a dinner he attended in the United States on Saturday evening, the former President said “ under my watch, not a single Nigerian was sent to prison because of anything they wrote or said about me

Jonathan: Nobody was detained for free speech under my watch

or the administration that I headed,” He added that “Nigeria had neither political prisoners nor political exile under my administration.”

Jonathan, who was the keynote speaker at the Nigerian Lawyers Association’s annual dinner and merit awards ceremony held in New York, mentioned some factors he considered to be his administration’s demo-

TUC condemns Senate over CCB, CCT amendment bill Chukwu David Abuja

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he Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), has condemned the amendment of the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) and Tribunal Act by the Senate to enable them take over the controlling powers of the establishments from the President.

In a press statement, signed by Comrade Bobboi Bala Kaigama, President, TUC; Comrade (Barr.) Simeso Amachree acting Secretary General and Comrade Kenneth Mokwenye, Assistant Secretary General (Media), the Congress accused the lawmakers of manipulating the law to shield themselves from prosecution whenever they committed acts of misconduct.

It also regretted that the

nation’s highest lawmaking Chamber had abandoned pressing issues of national concerns to pursue parochial interests, stating that if they were doing the right thing, they would not be busy, trying to circumvent the laws.

The trade union body further lamented that the National Assembly members were being paid juicy salaries and allowances for doing nothing for the electorate who entrusted them with their mandate.

It noted that the Act regulating the activities of the Bureau and the Tribunal did not target any individual or group but was rather designed to make political leaders responsible, wondering why the desperation by the legislators to meddle with the original focus of the law.

Mixing energy drinks, alcohol as dangerous as cocaine to brain Appolonia Adeyemi

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rinking highly caffeinated alcoholic beverages has been shown to trigger changes in the adolescent brain.

The changes are similar to taking cocaine.

According to findings of a study published in the journal ‘PLOS ONE’, the consequences of drinking highly caffeinated alcoholic beverages, last into adulthood as an altered ability to deal with rewarding substances.

Cocaine, also known as coke, is a strong stimulant mostly used as a recreational drug. It is commonly snorted, inhaled, or injected into the veins.

Mental effects of cocaine may include loss of contact with reality, an intense feeling of happiness, or agitation while physical symptoms may include a fast heart rate, sweating, and large pupil.

Cocaine has a small number of accepted medical uses such as numbing and decreasing bleeding

monDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

during nasal surgery.

Science daily reported that Richard van Rijn, an assistant professor of medicinal chemistry and molecular pharmacology, looked at the effects of highly caffeinated energy drinks and highly caffeinated alcohol in adolescent mice.

According to researchers from the Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, U.S., these alcohol studies cannot be performed in adolescent humans, but changes seen in mouse brains with

cratic credentials.

In his speech posted on his Twitter page on Saturday, he said “I urge the Nigerian lawyers in the US and those in the Diaspora to do their best to support the democratic institutions we have built”.

His speech came at a time several of his aides are being detained and some prosecuted for alleged corrupt practices while many others have since absconded from the country.

Some of his former aides being prosecuted include ex-NSA Sambo Dasuki and former presidential aide Waripamowei Dudafa. Others being in-

vestigated and currently in detention include former presidential spokesperson, Reuben Abati, and ex-FCT minister Bala Mohammed.

Some others like former aide Kingsley Kuku and expetroleum minister Diezani Alison-Madueke have since left the country allegedly to avoid prosecution.

The speech also followed an increasing crackdown by security agencies on citizen journalists and bloggers.

In Abia State, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu admitted to plotting the arrest of a blogger and indigene of his state, Emenike Iroegbu.

In Katsina, a blogger was arrested and detained for 22

days for posts criticising the administration of Governor Aminu Masari.

Within this period, it was also reported that no fewer than five cases of individuals being arrested and charged – or released – by the authorities for offences bordering on expressions.

In his speech, the former President also argued strongly for Nigeria’s diversity and its inherent benefits.

“Diversity could remain a strength only when all interest groups in the society feel safe and secure,” Jonathan said, while speaking on the theme ‘Diversity As Our Bridge to Tomorrow.”

L-R: Member, Dangote Foundation Board, Hajara Adeola; Executive Director, Dangote Industries Limited, Halima Aliko Dangote; Chairperson, NASCON Allied Industries Plc, ‘Yemisi Ayeni; Non-Executive Director, Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, Benedikter Molokwu; Executive Director, NASCON Allied Industries Plc, Fatima Aliko Dangote, at the Dangote Women’s Network Career Mapping & Financial Competence Development Workshop in Lagos …at the weekend

drugs of abuse have been shown to correlate to those in humans in many drug studies.

These energy drinks can contain as much as 10 times the caffeine as soda and are often marketed to adolescents. But little is known about the health effects of the drinks, especially when consumed with alcohol during adolescence.

Van Rijn and graduate student, Meridith Robins, published results in the journal Alcohol that showed adolescent mice given high-caffeine energy drinks were not more likely than a control group to drink more alcohol as adults.

Reps summon customs boss over payment of N250m to unlicensed broker Philip Nyam Abuja

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he House of Representatives has invited the Comptroller General of Customs, Col Hameed Ali (rtd) to appear before an ad hoc committee for allegedly paying over N250 million as commission to unlicensed brokerage firms over the years.

Chairman of the House Ad-hoc Committee on Insurance probing allegations of wrongdoings between insurance outfits and ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of govern-

ment from 2013 to 2015, Hon. Adekunle Abdulkabir disclosed this at the weekend.

While making this disclosure at an investigative session with the Managing Director of Guinea Insurance Plc., Mrs. Isioma Omoshie-Okokukuwas, the committee expressed displeasure with the insurance firm to have paid the money knowing well that Fortis brokerage firm was unlicensed.

Chairman of the committee equally queried

Abuja

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he number of travelers, aircraft and the weight of cargo as well as mails that moved across the nation’s airports in second quarter of 2016 declined compared to first quarter, a report obtained from National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) indicated.

According to NBS,

a total of 54,405 aircraft arrived at, or departed from Nigerian airports in the second quarter of this year representing a decrease of nine per cent relative to the 59,808 aircrafts recorded in the first quarter.

Similarly, the number of passenger that travelled dropped marginally to 3,532,775 passengers in the second quarter as against 3,549,360 recorded in the

first quarter.

The report added that in both the first and second quarters of 2016, domestic travel recorded smaller growth rates than international travel.

It noted there were 2,475,448 domestic passengers in the first quarter of 2016, and 2,411,251 in the second, representing quarterly declines of 9.1 per cent and 2.6 per cent respectively.

why the authorities of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) deliberately refused to make submissions to his committee on the issue.

Abdulkabir explained that the custom chief who is to appear before the committee on Wednesday this week would explain why NCS paid over N250 million commission to Fortis, an unlicensed brokerage firm in defiance of laid down rules guiding the insurance sector during the period under review.

We’re preparing for 2019 elections – EU Ambassador Ebere Ameh

Passengers, aircraft and cargo traffic at airports drop in Q2–NBS T Abdulwahab Isa

The former president said he carefully selected his cabinet members to reflect the diversity of Nigeria and warned against exploitation of the country’s fault lines by any leader.

“Most of my principal aides in government hailed from different ethnic nationalities,” Jonathan said.

“We never placed ethnoreligious interests above merits or individual values when making decisions.

“Nigeria is for all Nigerians. We must resist the push of ego that may make us want to pursue a regional or narrow agenda.”

Jonathan ended his speech with a touch on transparency and accountability.

“We enacted the Freedom of Information Act and by that, we tore the veil of secrecy covering governance.”

he Head of the European Union Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Michel Arrion, has disclosed that the Delegation is already preparing for the 2019 elections in Nigeria.

In his opening remarks at a seminar organized by the Delegation for Diplomatic and Foreign Affairs Correspondents in Abuja at the weekend, Arrion noted that it was already a preelection season, disclosing that the delegation

started preparing for the 2015 elections in 2012.

“One of our best known achievement probably is what we did during the 2015 elections. It was not only the observation, we had observers organized via the chief observer and member of the European parliament, but before and after, our works supporting the electoral cycle was enormous.

So, we are already in pre-election period and today, we are preparing for 2019 elections. It’s a never ending effort,” Arrion said.

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10 News|NATIONAL

Dangote wants tax holidays, infrastructure for investments

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he distressing state of the nation’s economy was brought to the fore at the weekend when business mogul, Aliko Dangote, lamented that more than 100 million out of a population of 187 million Nigerians were wallowing in poverty.

Dangote, the President of Dangote Group, told participants at the Executive Course No. 38, 2016 at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPPS), Kuru , near Jos, Plateau State that the situation was unacceptable to him given Nigeria’s abundant resources.

Delivering a paper on Promotion of Local Manufacturing and Poverty Reduction In Nigeria: The Private Sector Experience and Policy Options, the foremost entrepreneur lamented “It is a curious paradox that Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producer, and the largest economy on the continent, also has one of the highest levels of poverty. It is estimated that more than 100 million out of a population of 187 million Nigerians, live below the poverty line.”

Quoting a United Nations (UN) report, Dangote said youth unemployment rose to 42 per cent in 2016 with many graduates

combing the streets in major cities such as Lagos, Kano, Abuja and Port Harcourt in search of oftenelusive white-collar jobs while for some who are employed, their situation can best be described as that of under-employment, as they are underutilised and poorly paid.

This development, posited, no doubt, has serious security implications, as evidenced by the high rate of social ills plaguing the nation. “The spate of kidnappings, intermittent vandalism of petroleum pipelines in the Niger Delta, and the protracted insurgency in the North East, are all fuelled, to a

monDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

large extent, by the high level of endemic poverty in the country.”

Dangote pointed out that the current economic recession has further worsened the situation, as the government continues to record dwindling revenues, thus making it increasingly difficult for the government to fulfill some of its obligations to the people.

“Coupled with this, the activities of insurgents in the North East, have also affected the level of poverty in that part of the country.

It is estimated that there are over 2.4 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), in the region. It will take billions of Naira to rebuild the North East and fully re-settle victims of the insurgency. For a government that is severely constrained in terms of funds, this, no doubt, is a daunting challenge.”

Kukah: Sharia law, politicians’ gimmick to cheat Johnchuks Onuanyim Abuja

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rchbishop of the Sokoto Catholic Diocese, Rev. Mathew Hassan Kukah, yesterday lambasted some politicians, stating that their religious inclinations are mostly for cheating.

The Archbishop, who stated this at the 50th

Birthday of the National Organizing Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, Senator Osita Izunaso and the 11th Anniversary Celebration of Kpakpando Foundation for Physically challenged persons, cited the Sharia Laws as example.

Warning that the country has gone through a lot, the Clergy man called the managers of

the country not to place any religion, section or tribe above the other.

Speaking on a paper: “The place of person with disability in contemporary Nigeria”, Kukah asserted that deprivation and poverty were forms of disabilities.

He said: “A nation that cannot take care of its citizens is in some form of disability. We must address the kind of struc-

ture that produces mass poverty in the midst of plenty. Capitalism has not been able to address man’s inequality”.

Addressing the issue of people living with disability, the Bishop said, “People with disability should hold the constitution and ask whether the framers and implementers have been fair to them.”

$15m scam: SERAP asks court to dismiss Jonathan’s suit Tunde Oyesina Abuja

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he Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) yesterday asked the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos to dismiss the suit instituted by the wife of a former President, Goodluck Jonathan, Patience.

Jonathan and her group, Union of Niger Delta Youth Organization for Equity, Justice and Good Governance, had accused SERAP in suit number FHC/L/CS/1349/2016 dated 6th October 2016 of using online, print and electronic media to publish to the public unfounded and malicious allegations that she stole $15m (US) and ought to be prosecuted.

However, SERAP in a preliminary objection dated 27 October 2016 and signed by its executive director, Adetokunbo Mumuni, stated that, Patience Jonathan’s claims cannot be maintained because they are brought on her behalf by a group that is unknown to law.

The group further submitted that Jonathan’s group is not a registered

organization envisaged by law, adding that such calls for questioning the legal capacity to file the said suit against SERAP, and the jurisdiction of the court to entertain her suit.

SERAP’s preliminary objections read in part: “Since the process of court has not been used bonafide and properly it is unnecessary to consider whether or not there is a genuine case on the merits. An abuse of court process is not the specie of sins called an irregularity. It is a much more fundamental vice which is deserving of the punishment of dismissal.

“The suit as constituted discloses no reasonable cause of action against SERAP and as such not maintainable. Mrs Jonathan and her group cannot and has not articulated what legal wrong SERAP has done or what legal dispute they have with SERAP. They have not shown that the matter is justiciable and that a dispute exists between them and SERAP. Mrs Jonathan’s case against SERAP is therefore a flagrant abuse of court process and as such must be dismissed.”

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MONDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Ondo decides PDP crisis: Police warn against violence

Politics As tension builds in Ondo State over the authentic candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the November 26 governorship election, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Alliance for Democracy (AD) are set to reap from the crisis in the ruling party in the state, BABATOPE OKEOWO reports

Interview Nigeria is under state terrorism –Nwabueze

12 14

A divided house

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pposition parties in Ondo State are on the verge of cashing in on the crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party over who flies the party’s flag in the November 26 governorship election in the “Sunshine State.”

The ruling party in the state has been enmeshed in crisis since its two factions conducted parallel primaries that saw the emergence of the state immediate past Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Eyitayo Jegede (SAN) and businessman, Barr.

Jimoh Ibrahim as its governorship candidates for the poll.

While party stakeholders have being making efforts to ensure that the party goes into the election a united house despite the various court cases on the issue, the publication of the lists of the 28 candidtes for the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) last Thursday, seems to have shut the door to the peace efforts and it is now left to the court to decide on the party’s candidate.

INEC, had against expectations listed Ibrahim as the party’s candidate for the election citing an order by Federal High Court, Abuja, presided by Justice Okon Abang.

The development has led to violent protests in Akure, the state capital and others towns in the state.

Angry party supporters, who are protesting Ibrahim’s candidature, have vowed to ensure that the election did not hold if Jegede, who emerged in the primary election held in Akure on August 22 is not on the ballot.

FELIX NWANERI

GROUP PoLITICAL EDITOR nwanerif@newtelegraphonline.com

© Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited

Jegede

Jegede’s emergence Jegede emerged the candidate of the party on August 22, having defeated his closest challenger, Hon. Saka Lawal in the governorship primary held at the International Events Centre, in Akure, the state capital, and supervised by the governor of Bayelsa State, Seriake Dickson. The INEC team that monitored the exercise was led by the commission’s Administrative Secretary, having been notified by the party 21 days earlier while security agencies, observers and the media were present.

Among the delegates to the primary election were elected local government chairmen; party executives at the local government level; members of the State Executive Council led by Governor Olusegun Mimiko and his deputy, Alhaji Lasisi Oluboyo; former deputy governor of the state, members of state and National Assembly elected on the PFP platform; adhoc delegates from the 203 political wards in the state and former officers of the party.

Since his emergence as the PDP candidate, Jegede has been moving from one local government to another telling the people why he is the best choice to succeed the outgoing governor of the state. Apart from uniting the aggrieved members of the party, his candidacy has also attracted new members to the party.

Ibrahim’s emergence Ibrahim emerged as the governorship candidate of the Sena-

Mimiko

There was a subsisting ruling by Justice Abang and we have to comply with the order

Ibrahim

tor Ali Modu Sheriff faction of the PDP in a primary conducted in Ibadan, Oyo State capital. He contested with three former commissioners under Mimiko’s government; Chief Sola Ebiseeni, Prince Bamiduro Dada and Hon Niran-Sule Akinsuyi. However, neither INEC nor the security agencies monitored the primary.

Also, no elected official under the platform of the party participated in the primary.

Since he emerged as the factional candidate of the party, he has not commenced campaign in the state.

No single poster or jingle has been aired or posted in any part of the state thereby questioning his readiness for the November 26 governorship election.

Court cases After the Ibadan primary, Ibrahim filed a suit at a Federal High Court, Abuja, asking it to declare him as the candidate of the party.

In the suit filed before Justice Okon Abang, Ibrahim asked the court to declare him the authentic candidate of the party having emerged in the primary conducted by the Prince Biyi Poroye-led executive of the party in the state.

While the suit was still pending, Poroye and members of his executive filed contempt proceeding against INEC before Justice Abang and asked the court to convict the electoral umpire for not accepting the candidate of their faction of the party. They based the contempt proceeding on a judgment earlier given by the court recognising Poroye as

the chairman of the party in the state. Consequently, Justice Abang ordered that INEC should accept the name of Ibrahim as Ondo PDP candidate. It must be noted that neither Jegede nor Ibrahim was party to the suit.

This development angered the state chapter of PDP which petitioned the National Judicial Council (NJC) and Legal and Privileges Committee on alleged professional misconduct of Justice Abang and two legal practitioners; Merss R.A Oloyede and Olagoke Fakunle (SAN) in the procurement of the order.

The state PDP chairman, Clement Faboyede, insisted that the party would not accept the verdict of the court and will challenge it at the appellate court. He also said the two decisions of Justice Abang were procured through fraudulence means.

His words: “By originating summons dated and filed on June 7, the claimants, who were nine in number, sought certain reliefs from the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja. The suit sought to determine the tenure and membership of the State Executive Committee of PDP in the South-West zone and in addition sought directions in respect of party primaries for the 2019 elections. The claimants sought a declaration that they were the people entitled to deal with nomination of candidates for 2019 general elections.”

He also noted that the state govCONTINUED ON PAGE 11

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POLITICS

MONDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

PDP crisis: Police warn against violence Stories by Babatope Okeowo

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he Ondo State Police Command has war ned against breakdown of law and order before, during and after the forthcoming governorship election in the state.

The Police Public Relation Officer (PPRO) in the state, Mr. Femi Joseph, who gave the warning in a statement yesterday, said anybody or party, who is aggrieved about the decision of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) or court in regard to party's

candidate should seek legal means in expressing their grievances instead of resulting into violence.

He was reacting to violent protests in different parts of the state over INEC’s reacognition of Mr. Jimoh Ibrahim as the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rather than Mr. Eyitayo Jegedae (SAN).

The police spokesperson said: "In view of the recent decision of the Federal High Court, Abuja, in respect of the issue of candidacy of one of the political parties in the state, the Ondo State Police Command is hereby appealing to those who might feel aggrieved by the decision

to explore available legal means in expressing their grievances.

“Consequently, the command advises against the use of bonfire, causing obstruction on the highway and harassment of other road users as a way of protesting against any decision.

"The command once again promises the good people of Ondo State adequate security before, during and after the election."

This development came as a PDP leader in

ONDo DECIDES

the state, Hon. Suffy Uguoji, urged party members not to panic over Jegede’s candidature.

The party chieftain, who dismissed the judge-

ment of Justice Okon Abang, said it was obtained by fraud and that PDP members should not panic as the primary that produced Jegede followed due process.

His words: “The days of robbing Peter to pay Paul are gone forever. We are ready to defend the mandate the good people of PDP gave to Jegede during the party’s primary in Akure where INEC, the police and representatives of the National Working Committee of

the PDP attended.”

He appealed to party members not to allow the temporary setback occasioned by the ruling of the court to dampen their morale as Jegede is working assiduously to make sure the PDP defeat its rivals in the election.

He also appealed to the factional leaders at the national level of the party not to allow their differences spread to the state as Ondo PDP is united for the forthcoming election in the state.

Hold PDP, APC responsible for crisis in Ondo State – SDP

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he Ondo State chapter of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) has asked security agents to be proactive in combating criminal activities ahead of the governorship election in the state.

The party made the call following protests over the release of the final list of governorship candidates for the November 26 governorship election.

Its Publicity Secretary, Mr. Remi Olayiwola, in a statement said the protests that trailed the removal of Mr. Eyitayo Jegede's name and its replacement with Barr. Jimoh Ibrahim as the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has to do with the flag bearer of only one out of the 28 participating political parties in the election.

The SDP said that since the PDP could not put its house in order by ensuring a credible primary, other participating political parties and innocent citizens of the state should not be

made to bear the brunt of the internal crisis within the party.

The party wondered why anyone would embark on protests over an intraparty crisis, adding that security agencies need to be more prompt in dealing with hoodlums trying to foment trouble in the state.

“The other day, it was the APC disturbing the people of the state, today, it is the PDP. These are political parties in government at various levels in the country. So, if there's any violence during the forthcoming governorship election, the two parties must be held responsible,” SDP said.

It advised the people of the state, especially parents, to caution their children against being used by desperate politicians to cause chaos in the state, recalling that the negative effects of the 1983 crisis is yet to abate on the socioeconomic development of the state.

Ondo has no business with poverty – Oke

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he governorship candidate of Alliance for Democracy (AD) in Ondo State, Chief Olusola Oke, has attributed the rising crime rate and propensity of youth to violence in the state to pervasive unemployment.

Oke, who blamed the high unemployment rate on the comatose state of industries in the state, regretted that the current governments in the state abandoned the economic and industrial policies of its predecessor.

Speaking at Idanre during his campaign tour of the town at the weekend, he promised to revive all moribund industries in the state as well complete abandoned ones.

His words: "Ondo State has no business with joblessness and poverty. God greatly endowed this state with resources and we will put all these to use for the benefit of our people.”

He listed the moribund and abandoned agro-allied industries and projects to include Olokola project; Cocoa Processing Company, Ile Oluji; Cassava Processing, Ikoya; Fisheries, Akure; and Alfa 3D, Ikare Akoko.

Oke said politicians, who deliberately pauperised the people through their anti-people policies, capitalised on the jobless situation, gave money to the youth to perpetrate violence, whereas their children are outside the shores of the country.

Party members protesting against the declaration of Mr. Jimoh Ibrahim as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate for Ondo State in Akure, at the weekend.

Akeredolu promises even development

T

he governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State, Mr. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN) has said that he is ready to govern the state in a way that his name will forever be remembered.

Akeredolu said having attained the zenith of his profession as a lawyer, he

will not want his name to be soiled in the murky political water. He assured that he will provide a purposeful leadership that will bring a new dawn to the state.

He spoke at the weekend during his campaign rally in Ifedore Local Government Area of the state where he visited, Irese, Aaye, Ijare, Ikota,

Ero, Isarun , Igbara Oke and other towns.

The APC candidate said his ambition was borne out of his passion to bring better life to the people of the state, adding that he will roll out programmes that will improve on the living standard of the people.

While highlighting his programmes for the state,

Akeredolu told market women to organise themselves in groups so as to be able to access loans from the government.

He also promised to ensure even development throughout the 18 local governments of the state, saying he will not marginalise any district or area as he would be a governor for all.

Ibrahim can't be PDP candidate – George Wale Elegbede

F

ormer Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode George, has said that the decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise Mr. Jimoh Ibrahim as the party’s gubernatorial candidate

in Ondo State is unsavory and disturbing.

In a statement issued yesterday, the PDP chieftain said the decision is not only wrong, but an inexcusable assault upon justice, fairness and morality.

He said: "By measures of equity and appropriateness, Jimoh Ibrahim cannot claim to be the bonafide candidate of our party in

Ondo State. Even Ibrahim's card carrying membership in PDP is still a subject of debate. Ibrahim went to an hotel room in Oyo State and declared himself a candidate of an election that will decide who will govern Ondo state! What a travesty of rationality.

"Meanwhile, everyone including INEC and all the law enforcement agencies

Group asks judiciary to save democracy

P

ro-democracy groups under the auspices of Coalition in Defence of Nigerian Democracy and Constitution (CDNDC), yesterday, appealed to the judiciary to rise in defence of the nation’s democracy and prevent anarchy that could truncate it.

The group expressed regret that a major political incident that led to the fall of the Second Repub-

lic in 1983, is gradually building up in the polity, insisting that only the enthronement of electoral justice will save the current democratic journey.

CDNC’s co-convener, Ariyo-Drae Atoye, who raised the alar, expressed fear that the rising tension in Ondo State based on the 1983 experience is capable of truncating Nigeria’s democracy unless the judi-

ciary comes to the rescue.

Atoye, in his statement said: "With every sense of responsibility, we state that the latest electoral insurrection by INEC in illegally and wickedly substituting a validly nominated candidate for a meddlesome interloper and a busybody who arm-twisted the judiciary to obtain a fraudulent order must never be allowed to stand by the judiciary.

witnessed the well televised Ondo State gubernatorial primary which produced Mr. Eyitayo Jegede as the lawful PDP candidate."

Speaking on the ruling

by Justice Okon Abang on the party's candidature, he said it has forced the hands of INEC and has now created tension and deep- seated uncertainties everywhere.

He said: "I appeal to President Muhammadu Buhari as an officer and a gentleman to ensure that justice invariably prevails in Ondo State. Though the case is now before the appellate court, the body language of our president is equally important in ensuring the preservation of our democratic tenets.

"Justice must not only be done in this case, it must be carried out swiftly and smoothly to convince our people that truth and fairness are the most crucial ingredients of democracy."

POLITICS \ MONDAY INTERVIEW

MONDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

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Ondo: AD, APC set to reap from PDP crisis C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 1 1

ernorship election scheduled for November 26 was not part of the plaintiffs claim and no reference was made to it in the claim.

He said: “It is interesting to note the following; the summons was taken out by one ‘Olagoke Fakunle (SAN) of 84 Kwame Nkrumah Crescent, Asokoro, Abuja.’

This is so reflected on the face of the summons. Same summons also listed the names of the following as plaintiffs’ counsel: Dr. Alex A. Iziyon (SAN), F.O. Iziyon (Esq.) Charity Adah (Miss), and Otobong Bob (Esq). This is also so reflected on the face of the summons.

“Surprisingly and most shockingly, the same Olagoke Fakunle (SAN) who took out the summons appeared for the defendants. In other words, he took out the summons for the plaintiffs on one hand and appeared as counsel for one of the defendants on the other. At the time of trial, most shockingly, the defendant’s counsel O.O. Fakunle (SAN), who interestingly took out the writ against the defendants appeared in court and by his submission supported the position of the plaintiffs.

“The case was concluded on June 29 and the reliefs that had to do with election referred to and were tied to 2019 general elections.

There is no nexus between the suit and 2016 Ondo state governorship election.

“Of recent a new set of processes was filed dated September 29 by Clarisa Adaogbo Ebuseme of TRLPLaw. Of note is the fact that TRLPLaw is a law firm with R.A. Oluyede as the principal counsel.

R.A. Oluyede of the same TRLPLaw appeared for the second defendant in the same process where a counsel in his law firm was representing the plaintiff. It is interesting also to note that the same style and modus operandi that was adopted in the first set of process was replayed here. Counsel to second defendant also conceded to a claim filed by a counsel in his law firm, when he appeared for the second defendant.

“It should be noted that it is a contempt proceedings against INEC, but wherein the presiding Judge directed INEC to receive the nomination papers of Jimoh Ibrahim from the applicants as State Executive of the PDP against the backdrop of numerous decisions of the Supreme Court that it is the National Executive of a political party that has the responsibility to submit names of candidates to INEC.” INEC’s decision Despite the appeals against the decision of Justice Abang and other counter orders from the state High Courts restraining INEC from substituting Jegede’s name, INEC on Thursday listed Ibrahim as the PDP candidate for the Ondo election.

The electoral umpire explained that it took the decision based on the order of the Federal High Court, Abuja. The Resident Electoral Commission in the state, Mr. Olusegun Agbaje, explained that the decision would stand until there is a contrary order by a higher court.

His words: “We received an order from the High Court in Akure, but there was a subsisting ruling

Oke

Akeredolu

also convince us that the bribe had not been taken."

Insisting that Jegede remains the PDP flag bearer, he said: "It is not the duty if any court to impose or dictate candidate for the party.

It is a pre-election matter and the Supreme Court, which is the highest court in the land, has said it severally that pre-election matters are not matters of the court."

by Justice Abang and we have to comply with the order. The situation will continue that way until the matter is decided by the Supreme Court if the parties choose to proceed to the apex court. We do not have any candidate but we will always abide by the laws guiding the process.”

Ondo PDP reacts Chief Faboyede, while reacting to the substitution of Jegede's name, described it as a mockery of democracy and an indication that the nation's democracy is dying in the hands of the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Government. He said INEC has attained the reputation of being fair to all before the coming on board of the APC, noting that no free and fair election had been held under the present administration.

He stated that Jegede was duly nominated through the party’s primary as stipulated by the Electoral Act, which was monitored by INEC, but the commission has succumbed to the pressure from some moles within the PDP. "The event culminating in replacing Jegede is crude and the handiwork of some moles in PDP and some high-placed government officials of APC at the federal level," he said, adding that the moles within the PDP believe that removing Jegede from the race will pave way for easier manipulation of the election in favour of the APC candidate.

He challenged INEC to deny not receiving the $1million bribe demanded from Ibrahim as alleged by him.

He said: "Is INEC succumbing to Jimoh's intimidation or accepting that the allegation is true or is it because of the allegation that INEC went ahead and agreed to his bidding by removing Jegede's name? By publishing Jimoh's name, it means they have accepted the $1million, and if otherwise, we are asking INEC or concerned department of INEC to take Ibrahim to court within the next 48 hours.

“INEC should prove beyond reasonable doubt that Ibrahim's allegation as contained in his interview is not true and convince the party that they are not publishing his name base on that allegation and should

We will continue to explore all avenues to make INEC see reasons why this impunity must not stand

Jegede appeals for calm Reacting to the development, Jegede appealed to the people of the state to embrace peace while protesting the list released by INEC for the election.

In a statement he personally signed following protests that rocked the state after INEC published the list of candidates for the governorship poll, he said that he shares in the pains of the people having to contend with a miscarriage of justice, which he described as a temporary setback.

His words: "I passionately appeal to the people of Ondo State to embrace peace at this period, which is one of the trying times for our democratic process, which will soon pass away. Let's keep our eyes on the big day ahead as we continue our campaigns."

He expressed optimism that the Appeal Court will correct the anomaly and restore the mandate that was freely given in a democratic process under the very eyes of INEC and the security agencies.

"I am confident the Appeal Court will do the needful in addressing this anomaly. My mandate remains intact and irreplaceable by any conspiracy as we fulfilled all legal requirements that brought us to where we are today. We are unmoved, undeterred and not intimidated with God on our side," he said.

Mimiko fumes Governor Mimiko, who quickly rushed to Abuja to consult President Muhammadu Buhari on the omission of his anointed (Jegede) from the governorship candidates’ list, expressed concern that INEC’s decision has the potential of endangering the peace of the state.

The governor, who met with the president on Friday, told journal-

ists that he was shocked by INEC decision to substitute Jegede with Ibrahim.

“I am shocked. In logic, in law, in politics, there is no basis for it whatsoever,” he said, warnning that INEC’s action could lead to a breach of peace in the state.

His words: “In Ondo State in the last seven and half years, we have done everything possible to put good governance on the table.

We see this action as potentially dangerous.

“It can cause conflagration in the state and that is why as the chief security officer of the state, I have come to alert Mr. President of the potential danger of this injustice so that we can nip it in the bud. The whole day (Friday) from 5a.m., I have been on phone with stakeholders to ensure they keep the peace in the state.

“The extent of the protest you have seen has been reduced by our intervention to ensure that there is no breach of peace. For the people of the state, it is just from the blues. I have assured them that this injustice will not stay. We will continue to explore all avenues to make INEC see reasons why this impunity must not stand.”

Ibrahim not deterred Faulting the protests over his candidature, Ibrahim said they are the handiwork to Governor Mimiko.

In a statement entitled ‘Tyre Burning for Sympathy’ and personally signed by him, Ibrahim said the protest had Mimiko’s signature all over it.

He said: “Mimiko called on the drivers’ union in the state, whose chairman is his relative to gather disposed tyres across the state and burn them so as to show that there are security challenges in Akure town.

“While the tyres were burning, school children were attending their classes. Banks were opened, market women and traders were carrying on their economic activities, courts were sitting and more tyres were burning by the side of the road.

“Regrettably, Mimiko’s orthodoxy has played out to be fake, empty and unbecoming of a person that occupies the position of the governor of a state. This tyre burning for sympathy will not work as Ondo State remains peaceful.”

APC, AD set to reap As the two PDP factions bicker over who flies the party’s flag, the question most analysts in the state are asking is: Who benefits from the crisis in case Jegede did not make the ballot?

Many people believe that it was the APC that used its federal might to disqualify Jegede as candidate thinking it would be easy to overrun the AD’s candidate in the election. The development has made people, especially Akure residents to express sympathy for the Alliance for Democracy (AD) candidate, Chief Olusola Oke. While the APC has appealed for calm over the matter, saying it has nothing to do with the crisis in the ruling party in the state, there is no doubt that it stands to reap from PDP’s predicament alongside the AD.

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Nigeria is under state terrorism –Nwabueze

MONDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Foremost constitutional lawyer, Prof. Ben Nwabueze (SAN), says he cannot continue to sit and watch things go wrong in the polity, and therefore has been forced to come out of retirement to speak out on recent developments in the country. He bares his mind on the state of the nation in this interview with Felix Nwaneri How would you react to the recent arrest of some judges by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) over allegations of corruption, and the counter-claims by two of the judges that they are being persecuted for refusing to do the bidding of some people in government?

It would be too difficult for me to react on the issues that have been raised by the Justices Inyang Okoro, Sylvester Ngwuta and Chibuike Amaechi because they are still in the realms of allegation. Since they are yet to be proved by both parties, it would be wrong for me to make public comments on them. I won’t do that. But I want to state that the problem that we are facing is that of state terrorism. Why do you have terrorise people when the instruments at the disposal of the state for coercion are irresistible. We have about 371,000 personnel in the police force. If you mobilise all these, no individual can mobilise a counter force. The state has exclusive monopoly for the use of force but there are safeguards in the constitution on the use of such force. The safeguards are meant to protect the citizenry against arbitrary use of this force. Unfortunately, most people don’t appreciate this.

At the time of independence in 1960, our political leaders at that time were not unaware of the danger of the use of this mighty force, which is a monster at the disposal of the state. The question was: How do we control this monster? The constitution stated in clear terms, how to control it to prevent the emergence of personal power. All these were discussed at the constitutional conferences held in London before independence. The minorities were apprehensive and they wanted to be protected against this force. Forget about chapter four of the constitution, which talks about guarantee of rights; it has nothing to do with this. It is the control of the operational use of this force, primarily, the Nigerian Police Force and secondarily, the armed forces.

The minorities wanted safeguards and they insisted on the control of the police by these safeguards in the constitutions. And the agreed safeguards include the command of the police, which refers to its operational use of the force. The word ‘force’ has a special significance; it is not just any word because it can be used to coerce you against your will like one of the judges alleged that he was forced to sign against his will to sign a document. It is unimaginable that a Supreme Court judge could be coerced to sign a document. How can that happen in a constitutional democracy? That is state terrorism. We complain about Boko Haram terrorism but the state is also involved in terrorism. Is compelling a judge or any other person to sign a document under gunpoint not state terrorism?

Nobody is saying that judges are sacred cows, but they are not like you and I, we must accept that. It is not because there is anything special in their persons, but because they represent an institution – the judiciary, which is the third estate of the realm. We must not destroy the institution.

If a judge is corrupt, investigate him and if you have evidence, prosecute him, but don’t employ terroristic methods.

What do you make of the call by the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) that the affected judges should step aside pending the outcome of the investigations against them? This question is against the backdrop that a similar call was made during the travails of the Senate president and his deputy when they were accused of forging the Senate rules but they insisted that they will not step aside until the matter was withdrawn by the Federal Government.

The two cases are diametrically opposite. In the first case, the Senate president and his deputy were accused of forging the Senate rules but the charges have been withdrawn because of what I wrote on the doctrine of Separation of Powers, which

Nwabueze

If a judge is corrupt, investigate him and if you have evidence, prosecute him, but don’t employ terroristic methods

was published in the newspapers.

I stated that the three arms of government – executive, legislature and judiciary control their respective houses. So, you don’t go and coerce them on how to handle issues concerning them.

But having said that, I want to make it clear that a judge is not in the same position as the Senate president; a judge is in a position, where he intervenes in disputes between you and I. The Senate president is not in such a position. The judge settles disputes between individuals and if he is to do that creditably, he must be seen to be totally impartial, to have clean hands to administer justice. Justice must not only be done but seen to be done, but once you bring someone that is alleged to have soiled his hands, then you cannot guarantee justice. So, there is a good reason for the position taken by the NBA. If I were one of the judges affected, I will not continue to sit on the throne of justice. I will not feel comfortable that such allegations are hanging on my head and I am still sitting on the throne of justice. I will feel uncomfortable and embarrassed and as a person, I will step aside for investigation to be carried out. If I am vindicated, I will resume my functions. So, I agree entirely with the position of the NBA that the judges' should step aside and be investigated.

You described the arrest of the judges as a war on the judiciary, but the belief in some quarters is that

it is a battle against some individuals, who have allegedly soiled their hands. How do you reconcile this?

I think it is both. You will recall that somebody said that right from the beginning of his administration, President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed his grievance against the judiciary. He once said that his greatest problem in his war against corruption is the judiciary. So, he has a grouse against the judiciary, rightly or wrongly. So, what it means is that what happened to the judges must have been motivated by the grouse the president has for the judiciary. On the other hand, two of the judges have alleged that they are being persecuted because they refused to do what those in government asked them do to do.

Don’t you envisage that asking the judges to step down and the endless investigation that may follow portends great danger for the polity because it is likely to be extended to other judges, who are perceived to be against the government?

The imagination is too wide. It is wrong that the government is going to go after all judges. Are they going to shut down the judiciary? It is bad luck if you are mentioned, and if I am a judge, I will step down. A lot of things happen to us by luck; some will call it fate. You can be in your home and trump up charges would be leveled against you.

Such happened to me when I was in the University of Lagos. I was

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MONDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

the statutes book of this country.

John Idowu Taylor, who heard my appeal, said that he did not understand how a trained magistrate would sentence me for an offence that I never committed. It was the University of Lagos crisis that led to the first military coup of 1966 and the magistrate was sacked.

So, an allegation can be made against you on completely false grounds like it happened to me, what would you do? And if it is your luck, you can get convicted like in my own case. If such happens to you, the best thing is to accept it as bad luck and pray that you be vindicated. If you are innocent like I was, you would be vindicated. But to say that because you believe that you are innocent and therefore you should be allowed to carry on with your duties like in the case of the judges is wrong.

What if you are not vindicated despite being innocent?

I agree that some people have suffered for offences they never committed, but generally, the innocent would be vindicated whether alive or dead.

one of the first lecturers to be appointed in the university.

The university was established in 1962, but three years after, there was crisis over the appointment of Prof. Eni Njoku as the pioneer vice chancellor. There was trouble between the Igbos and Yoruba over the issue. Some students and staff led by Prof. Saburi Biobaku would not accept it, but some of us supported Njoku on principle.

We argued that the professor had done first class works, so why should he be dropped on tribal grounds, and I was charged on account of this.

Who charged you to court; the university authority or the state?

I was prosecuted by the state through the then Department of Public Prosecution (DPP) before the Chief Magistrate at Igbosere Magistrate Court, who the then Premier of the West Region, Sir Ladoke Akintola, had promised to make a judge. My trial was one of the biggest events in Nigeria then. If you come to court at that time, you will see thousands of Igbos, but they were directed by the Premier of the then Eastern Region, Dr. Michael Okpara, not to make trouble.

In the course of the trial, a lecturer came out to testify that he saw me with a stick and chair when the students were beating him. After listening to him, the magistrate sentenced me to six months imprisonment for something that I never witnessed. I was saved because I appealed. Justice

The incident of 1965, which you narrated tends to give credence to the belief in some quarters that some judges are really corrupt…

Nobody is saying that judges are immune from corruption.

Who in this country is immune from corruption? I will never say that the Nigerian judiciary is free from corruption because that place is stinking in corruption, but I do not think that its credibility should be undermined because of that. The government should find a way of investigating and prosecuting those who are involved. The institution should not be disgraced because of one or two rotten eggs. There is a way to do it, not the police state method. But here is a president, who is prejudiced against the judiciary and who is a dictator by nature.

He doesn’t believe in democratic methods, he believes in personal power and the National Security Agencies Act that has given him the personal power that he wants.

Go and read the Act and you will find out that he is exploiting it.

That Act must be expunged from

Nwabueze

Given the slow pace of the nation’s judicial system, don’t you think that there is the need for some extreme measures in the fight against corruption, a vice which President Buhari has persistently said will kill Nigeria if it is not killed?

It is not only the judicial system that is slow-paced, but the entire legal system including that of investigation, which is certainly not efficient. It is slow, cumbersome and compounded by corruption. But I will not because of that give it up because it is the law. What we need to do is to improve on it.

Nigeria must be restructured by reducing the number of constituent units from 36 to a maximum of six or seven

Has the National Judicial Commission lived up to responsibility on this matter?

The commission is trying to, but it depends on its powers. The NJC doesn’t have enough powers; it cannot sack a judge, it can only recommend such. I am not sure that the NJC is an appropriate body to execute the functions assigned to it. Look at its composition; a pool of judges and a few others from the NBA. My position is that the commissioned need to be revamped to be effective in discharging the functions assigned to it. A body meant to discipline judges but parked with judges cannot work.

You once accused the president of plotting to Islamise Nigeria. Do you still hold that belief?

He has been doing that through appointments into strategic positions in his government.

What is your take on the recent crisis in the first family over the outburst by the president’s wife and his response?

I do not want to be drawn into their family issue but my reading is that the president probably meant his comments as a joke. I think he tried to make a joke, which shouldn’t have come from the president of Nigeria at a forum outside the country. If he had made that joke within Nigeria, perhaps, it would not have been misunderstood. Making such in Germany before a woman – Angela Merkel – who is the German Chancellor, seems to be ill advised. I think that he intended it to be a joke, but it is one that should not have been made by the president of Nigeria before the international community. But I hope that he will learn from it and avoid making such joke in future.

The Southern Nigeria Peoples Assembly (SNPA) met recently in Umuahia, the Abia State capital to deliberate on the state of the nation, and one of the resolutions at the end of meeting was that the Federal Government should release the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, who has been in detention for some time now. Where do you stand on this demand?

Igbo Leaders of Thought made a similar demand at its recent meeting in Enugu. We stated it clearly in our communiqué at the end of our meeting signed by me that Nnamdi Kanu should be released unconditionally and that the Federal Government should engage his group in dialogue. The IPOB should be engaged in dialogue. I don’t believe in the idea of

crushing. They have a reason for their agitation because the initial 31 or 34 appointments made by the president without one single from the South-East. The appointments indirectly told them that they do not belong to Nigeria and they are reacting to it.

So, the Federal Government should release the poor fellow and engage him and his group in dialogue. We also said that demand for self-determination does not necessarily mean secession.

People tend to view self-determination as secession, but that is not true. If you read the judgement of the South African Constitutional Court on the meaning of self-determination, it said that self-determination does not mean secession and there is a provision in the Constitution of South Africa where the term self-determination is raised. You can have selfdetermination within a country, and that is why many people are demanding for the restructuring of the Nigerian federation. There is too much power at the centre; let the regions or zones manage their affairs.

What do you make of the Senator Ken Nnamani-led Constitution and Electoral Reform Committee that was recently inaugurated by the Federal Government?

I just heard that Senator Nnamani was appointed the chairman of the Constitution and Electoral Reform Committee but I haven’t seen the terms of reference.

The committee was charged to consolidate on the recommendations of the Justice Mohammed Uwais Electoral Reform Committee by looking into possible amendments to the Constitution and Electoral Act and coming out with a more robust and generally acceptable electoral system.

I had the opportunity of asking the immediate past government of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan to implement the Uwais report because I have read it and agree with most of the recommendations. Jonathan neither published the report nor implemented it, and I criticized him for that. I do not see it necessary appointing another committee, when that report is yet to be implemented. What is the new committee going to do? So, I stand by what I said before that recommendations of the Uwais Committee report should be implemented.

Would you also call for the implementation of the report of the 2014 National Conference, which unfortunately President Buhari said is in the archives?

He is only courting for trouble by saying that the report has been confined to the archives. Nigeria must be restructured by reducing the number of constituent units from 36 to a maximum of six or seven; by drastically reducing the power at the centre and giving such to the zones or regions; by introducing fiscal federalism.

The present system is not based on the principle of fiscal federalism. You cannot have a successful federal system unless the constituent units are able to generate their own revenue and manage it.

The idea of going to Abuja cap in hand every three months to share from the federation account is not acceptable.

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MONDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Opinion The ambush against Buhari Dominik Umosen

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irtually everything awry that could have bred ill-will and intensified nightmare for the administration, including inevitable economic collapse, happened barely two years after inauguration of the All Progressives Congress (APC)-controlled administration. It is hardly gratifying to consider that the Federal Government scampers between hilarity and dignity, desperately seeking funds to execute projects that lack of foresight and institutionalized corruption that the current dispensation prefers to ignore consistently failed to do.

Dismay is compounded by the regrettable fact that instead of pursuing national recovery with unadulterated passion and commitment as President Muhammadu Buhari promised Nigerians in South Africa soon after inauguration, that laudable objective has been hijacked by politicians who are unapologetically disdainful of values cherished by the president. While Buhari gyrates on the war against corruption, politicians upgrade hypocrisy by seeking to establish a naval university when all that is required, especially during recession, is upgrading and aligning existing Maritime Academy, Oron, Akwa Ibom State.

Other indices of escalating dismay with enduring conspiracy by politicians to embarass the President exist. Perhaps most regrettable is the comspiracy against true national unity and cohesion as reflected in the impending collapse of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), scheme, allegedly because of lack of funds even when funds are sufficient to blow on an unnecessary university for the Navy.

Other events continue to dampen enthusiasm

and complicate dismay. On the scale of infamy as the biggest blow to the president’s credibility as a true patriot is refusal by the administration to sanction criminal Fulani herdsmen appropriately for atrocities they commit, including genocide and regicide. More than any other factor for plummeting of ranking, the seeming conspiracy by security agencies invariably inspired many folks to allege that failing to prosecute criminal herdsmen is code word for favour for the president’s kinsmen.

As a matter of fact, politicians and mischief engineers in the administration so manipulated this false presumption that it became the biggest challenge to the president’s credibility as a true patriot. For example, critics say that despite warnings by prominent citizens, including the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar 111 and the Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Sulu Gambari, among others, criminal herdsmen and sundry fugitives from political crises in the sub-region have successfully evaded appropriate sanction by the Federal Government for challenging the country’s sovereignty.

Many Nigerians attribute this woeful failure by security agencies to respond appropriately to a legitimate security challenge to enduring manipulations by mischievous politicians, ostensibly to rubbish the president’s image. Many have concluded that delay in declaring a state emergency in Kaduna State despite serial genocides committed by herdsmen in Godogodo and failure to prosecute criminals in Zamfara and Kano who killed law-abiding citizens, allegedly for blasphemy, re-inforces this theory of nepotism.

Critics are emphatic that Buhari has a choice to accept or reject this conspiracy of mischief by politicians who have allegedly hijacked his administration. They say it is difficult to reconcile his avowals of commitment to the country’s

The country might borrow more than is necessary

unity with impending collapse of the NYSC scheme which remains one of the few surviving symbols of national unity in a country in desperate need of national cohesion. They argue, and correctly, that it is hypocritical and provocating to kill protesting members of the Independent Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), and the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), but pamper and patronize criminal herdsmen who smile away with genocide and rape.

The argument among Nigerians is that by now, Buhari should have been able to decode shenanigans by mischievous politicians. For instance, Gov Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State has perfected the deceit of feigning political-correctness by disappearing behind the radar each time criminal herdsmen commit genocide in Godogodo and simultaneously thrusting his deputy forward to make hollow pledges, just like the administration of former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, in which he served, made with the Academic Staff Union (ASUU), but never kept it.

It should be gratifying for President Buhari to note that it is evident to discerning folks that scheming politicians are determined to ambush him and possibly hijack and derail his noble objectives for the country.

In case he has not already figured it out, he should ‘shine his eyes’ very well before scrutinizing requests for loans; a flurry that is already generating concern.

The allegation is that if trending desperation for credit is not kept in absolute check, the country might borrow more than is necessary, thereby ridiculing the desired legacy of prudence that the president is struggling to build.

The president deserves to be aware that in addition to landmines of mischief erected against him by politicians, another pitfall is the regrettable clay foot developed by those responsible for explaining that the huge viral joke about the other room was gross distortion of legitimate African perception of gender roles.

•Umosen (dominikumosen1@gmail.com) wrote in from Lagos.

Olojo Festival: Ooni’s as ecumenical spirit Under heaven, there is nothing impossible. All you need is a man with a heart – Chinese proverb.

Demola Balogun

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ime changes everything. As echoes of tragedy threaten the peace of our communities and livelihoods, the Ooni of Ife, the ecumenical spirit and Arole-Oduduwa waves an olive branch in pursuit of peace and unity irrespective of political leanings or bias. This is not about a devastating account of the clear and present travails in the land.

If you have been following public events in Nigeria, and with particular reference to Ile-Ife, the cradle of human existence, you will not miss His Imperial Majesty, Arole-Oduduwa, Ooni Adeyeye Enitan Babatunde Ogunwusi, and Ojaja II in news reports, and high octane circles. The coming of Ooni of Ife to the throne of his ancestors since last December at a time when schools and youths are being bombarded with negativism and sensitive social dilemmas across the country was great information for hope and sacrifice.

And Ooni’s encounters with people from all walks and all parts of the world who are genuinely good and continued to make a difference in the

lives of our youths the way forward with great efforts to promote peace, harmony and economic development across the borders. In his first major traditional function since ascending the throne, Ooni Ogunwusi has given the Olojo festival, celebration of the first dawn, a brand new face.

At the corporate forum cum unveiling of the Olojo 2016 logo icon, Ooni had stated that the commemoration of Olojo festival in Ile-Ife, the land of expansion was a divine heritage and symbolic spiritual pilgrimage to ensure the place of memory in the history of Africans and the Diaspora to reawaken the consciousness to re-valuate and reclaim their ancestral origins or roots.

According to the Ooni, “Olojo festival commemorates the descent of Oduduwa to Ile-Ife and it is historically tied to Ogun, the quintessential deity of iron and truth who is the father of modern science, the Yoruba deity of iron is the pathfinder. The Yoruba cosmology informs that Ogun charted the way to earth for Oduduwa, (the progenitor of the Yoruba) and other deities. Olojo festival is therefore, meant to commemorate the period Oduduwa and hundreds of other deities descended on the earth.

The traditional festival commenced last week in the ancient town with cultural trades/art exhibition international colloquium and literary debate/quiz competition among schools in Ile-Ife. However, the Olojo heritage festival with scheduled for October 8th – 17th

2016 including seven sacred days. During this week, Oonirisa Ogunwusi goes into a state of seclusion (a symbolic spiritual and transcendental commune with his ancestors for five days during which he is barred from entertaining visitors or interacts with mortals). The traditional ruler emerges from the spiritual solitude on Friday, October 14th, 2016 (Ojo Ilagun, a day of nature preservation and environmental cleansing, which engages the community in a procession called Iwode, Ile-Ife while Oonirisa in a state of immortal and reflection beams terrestrial message of hope, peace, vitality, magnanimity and balance to the world.

These are principles that exist within the human realm that can mobilize humankind towards greater personal effectiveness and increased lives satisfaction. “Infact Ooni’s special message during Olojo festival is pivotal just like the sacred Are crown that he is spiritually endowed to wear only during the festival as the crown is a mystical heavy object that can not be worn by the Ooni as he pleases.

Distinguished by the Yoruba ancestral heritage, Ooni Adeyeye Ogunwusi has been intimately crafting a rich character of the ancient city, Ile-Ife on a journey of recovery by making the most of every moment as a plenipotentiary ambassador. In an era when clueless politicians have turned the pride of Yoruba race into a land of tragedy and misery, the Ooni has mobilized

the youths and young entrepreneurs in the task of rebranding Ile-Ife and reinventing its economic fortunes and vast tourism potentials.

The Arole-Oduduwa perfectly represents the highest benchmark in terms of creativity and pioneering spirit on the task ahead of traditional institutions in Nigeria. The inspiration and cultural manifestation of Olojo festival for which Ooni has raised the bar celebrates the ancient city in a blend of traditional dance and contemporary artistic offerings while welcoming thousands of visitors within the country, African continent and the Diaspora.

Ooni said, “My greatest desire is to facilitate the unity of the black race in order to make the world a better place.

I see this as a spiritual calling. Africa is the mother continent, it is the center of the world and the most populous black nation in Africa is Nigeria where Yoruba race holds a significant position.

Studies have shown that for over a millennium African indigenes, South of the Sahara who were hunted, battered and sold into slavery, since the latter part of the 20th century have embarked on a return journey home some in search of their true origins, others in the spirit of a symbolic pilgrimage, and yet others to re-claim and re-connect with their roots.

•Balogun, a journalist is the National Coordinator of Ife Consultative Network (ICON)

MONDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

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larly the failure of governance, which ordinarily is all about the welfare and concern for the people, based on the resourcefulness and accountability of the leaders, the future of these children inadvertently is being put on the rope.

In fact, many students will miss their admission into higher institutions this year in some states owing to the failure or refusal of their governments to pay the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and

agreed as part of its free education policy to pay the one the parents did not pay for, the same government refused to remit the fees paid by the parents to the examination bodies.

Due to the non-chalant posture of the state government, led by Governor Abubakar Sani Bello towards the education of the children, the seizure of the candidates’ results following government’s inability to pay the fees has denied the candidates opportunity to process their admissions

the National Examination Council (NECO) registration fees for the Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) and for which the

into tertiary institutions this year.

As part of its admission of failure, the governor announced the withdrawal of state government’s assistance to the students and their parents by cancelling the N800 million it spends yearly on registration fees for candidates in public secondary schools across the state.

The governor had said: “We must review the issue of the payment of NECO and WAEC fees because at the moment, the state is owing NECO and WAEC about N800 million. It is appalling that government is spending that huge amount of money on students who could not obtain credit in four subjects in the examinations, as only about five per cent of students obtained credit in four subjects and above.”

According to the state Commis-

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

The case of Niger State deserves special mention

examination bodies withheld the results of candidates in the affected states.

For instance, states such as Kano, Bayelsa and ten others, whose candidates’ SSCE results were seized by WAEC over nonpayment of the students’ registration fees, were said to have two weeks ago, paid the registration fee, when most of the universities had already closed their admission portals for the 2016/2017 academic session.

In the meantime, the case of Niger State deserves special mention, although the parents paid the registration fees for either WAEC or NECO, as directed by the state government, which

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

Governors and future generation

here is no doubt that the future of Nigerian children is being sacrificed and mortgaged on the altar of dysfunctional governance orchestrated by some state governors.

Apparently, this is traceable to the attitude of some governors in providing for the developmental needs of the children, especially their education, which is the basis for laying and building a solid foundation for their future.

This untoward attitude not only calls for questioning, it is also suggestive of lack of foresight and direction, essentially of our political leaders to shape the future of the nation today.

For whatever situation, the expected future of the younger ones, which should be paramount in the scheme of national development, greatly depends on the conscious attention accorded the laying of the foundation for solid education and other social needs in all ramifications necessary, as the children grow up.

Certainly, any default necessitated along that process will go a long way in hampering and truncating whatever remains of their tomorrow, especially in a nation like Nigeria, where government, as a critical element in the growth and development of the children, lacks the temerity to provide and meet those fundamental needs.

Therefore, given the scenario of these deficiencies and particu-

17

EDITORIAL

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

sioner for Education, Hajiya Fatima Madugu, the current financial challenges have prompted the state government to withhold funds meant for the payment of the children’s registration fees.

Government has every right to re-plan its strategies, the concern of every discerning mind is that any government that is responsive to the educational needs of its citizenry should make education number one priority.

Education of the people should not be allowed to suffer at the detriment of other social services, given the critical role of the sector as the fulcrum of development, and its place in the Human Rights, which makes education an inalienable right of every child and which must be provided by the state.

These state governments have erred in this direction and they should without further delay admit their wrong doing by providing funds to pay the examination bodies for the children to access their results.

Failure to do this will amount to a deliberate action on the part of the affected state governments to compromise the future of the children and jeopardise the future development of their respective states and by extension, the country at large.

Any governor, who, for whatever reason or reasons, does not value education of the children and is openly exhibiting such retrogressive tendencies, does not deserve to lead the people.

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MONDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

19

monDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

INTERVIEW

Law

Akintola: DSS lacks power to freeze judges’ accounts

NEWS Falana tackles CJN over policy

20 21

Alleged corruption: Row over judges’ trial Should an independent panel be raised for the trial of judges under investigation for alleged bribery and corruption?

Lawyers say no, yes.

FOLUSO OGUNMODEDE writes

F

or the first time in Nigeria’s history, judges would stand in the dock as accused persons to face criminal prosecution. This is happening at a time the country is battling to rid itself of corruption of any kind following the war being waged by President Muhammadu Buhari-led government against graft.

Seven judges including two Supreme Court Justices were battling to safe their neck from allegations of bribery and corruption to pervert the course of justice initiated against them by the Department of State Security Services (DSS).

Fresh investigations has also being launched against 10 other judges of the Federal High Court by the anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as four of them last week became guests of the agency in Lagos while 14 other set of judges are being probed by the DSS. Already under investigation by the DSS are two Supreme Court Justices, Sylvester Ngwuta and Inyang Okoro.

Others are: the suspended Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeal, Ilorin Division, Justice Mohammed Ladan Tsamiya; Federal High Court judge, Justice Adeniyi Ademola; the Chief Judge of Enugu State, Justice I.A. Umezulike; Justice Kabiru Auta of Kano State High Court; Justice Muazu Pindiga of Gombe State High Court; Justice Bashir Sukola and Justice Ladan Manir from the Kaduna State High Court.

All were arrested on October 7 in a sting operation by the DSS and detained at the agency’s Abuja office until their release the following day following the intervention of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Jus-

FOLUSO OGUNMODEDE

deputy group news editor/ JUDICIARY coordinator foluso.ogunmodede@newtelegraphonline.com

© Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited

Osinbajo

tice Mahmoud Muhammed.

Of the judges, the National Judicial Council (NJC) has recommended sanctions for Justices Tsamiya; Umezulike and Kabiru Auta while the EFCC is investigating six other judges of the Federal High Court.

They are: Justices Mohammed Nasir Yunusa; Hyeladzira Ajiya Nganjiwa; Musa Haruna Kurya; Agbadu James Fishim; Uwani Abba Aji and Rita OfiliAjumogobia.

The government is insisting that the judges should be suspended from office by the NJC to pave the way for their trial.

But the NJC said the judges would not step down, describing the DSS’ sting operation carried out on their homes and their subsequent arrest as nothing but an attack on the judiciary by the Executive.

Last week, a non-governmental organization (NGO), Legal Defence and Assistance Project approached an Abuja court, asking it to bar the prosecution of the troubled judges.

LEDAP specifically asked the Abuja Federal High Court to declare as unlawful, the raid and arrest of the judges by the DSS. LEDAP also asked the court to bar the planned charge and arraignment of the arrested judges.

In the suit brought against the DSS and the Attorney-General of the Federation, LEDAP insisted that the judges cannot be charged and arraigned in court without the authorization of the National Judicial Council (NJC).

In a motion on notice for in-

Ahamba

terlocutory injunction, LEDAP sought “an order restraining the defendants/respondents (DSS and AGF) from filing any charge in court or arraigning before any court or arresting and/or detaining, inviting for questioning or searching the office or residence of any of the judicial officers listed in the schedule hereunder or any other judicial officer in Nigeria unless with the authorization and referral of the National Judicial Council (NJC) pending the hearing and determination of the originating summons filed in this suit.”

Should the judges be tried by a proper court? Lawyers say no, yes.

This however sparked a row among lawyers. While some advanced for an independent panel to be constituted by the NJC, others insisted that judges were not different from others facing criminal charges over sundry corruption charges and that they also must subject themselves to trial on the alleged bribery and corruption hanging on their neck.

For instance, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, a Senior Advocate and Professor of Law said the NJC had no final say on the alleged corruption brought against the judges as final decision on any act of professional misconduct by judges lies with either the president or governors.

Osinbajo said: “With regard to the discipline of judges, the reform policy dictated that every case of judicial corruption would be investigated and submitted to the NJC, which would then ap-

point an independent investigation panel to make recommendations.

“Prior to the NJC’s creation in 1999, the JSC had been the sole adjudicator on disciplinary issues, providing an avenue for local interference in the process.

“It is important to note, however, that the NJC does not have the final say on the disciplining of judges. This lies with the governor or president as the case may be.”

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Sylva Ogwemoh, said DSS had no power to try any judges on any allegation whatsoever.

Instead, he pushed for the rule of law and due process, saying there was the need to ensure that the judges’ alleged involvement in corrupt practices would not set a dangerous precedent.

Ogwemoh said: “The Constitution is very clear on the institution that has the mandate to exercise disciplinary control over serving judicial officers. That institution is the National Judicial Council (NJC). The DSS should allow the rule of law to prevail and not set a dangerous precedent by its actions”.

In his own views, Godwin Obla (SAN) cautioned the Federal Government against hastily putting the judges in the dock over the alleged offences.

He said, “Let me say this, when a military person is accused of committing an offence, the first thing that is done by the authority is for the accused to face a court CONTINUED ON PAGE 24

20 Law|INTERVIEW

monDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Akintola: DSS lacks power to Chief Niyi Akintola, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, in this interview with AKEEM NAFIU, bares his mind on the raging issues of judges’ arrest on corruption allegations, DSS’ power to freeze account, treasury looters, state police, capital punishment, among others

The Department of Security Services (DSS) frozen bank’s accounts of some of the judges arrested for corruption. Do the secret police have power to so do?

There is no organization known to law called DSS. It is non-existent.

Cap 74 of the Laws of the Federation which repealed the NSA Act is so clear about the issue. To that extent, it is even an illegal body and its existence is questionable. I don’t have the details of the sequence of event but what I know is that the DSS is a body not known to law. The 1986 Act does not recognize DSS. Three agencies were recognized by the law.

These are: the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) and the State Security Service (SSS).

Now assuming without conceding that the DSS is taking on the roles of the State Security Service (SSS) that is recognized under the law, the DSS has exceeded its powers. This is because the powers and sanctions of the SSS is as stipulated under Section 2(3) of the National Security Agencies (NSA) Act. It is purely internal and any other things prescribed for them by the National Assembly.

To the best of my knowledge, the legislature has not done anything in that regard. So, if the DSS has carried out the operation in company of the EFCC, ICPC or with any other agency recognized by the law, it would have been understandable.

But because they wanted to claim the glory all alone, they exceeded their bounds. This is what the DSS has been doing for a very long time.

Besides, there is also the issue of the Constitution which the president swore to uphold. In his oath of office, he swore to uphold the Constitution and the extant laws.

Certainly, the sting operations recently carried out by the DSS is not part of what he swore to uphold.

The discipline of erring members of the judiciary is clearly spelt out in the Constitution. It is the duty of the National Judicial Council (NJC). We have a problem on our hands. This issue of corruption, how do we go about it? It is endemic and calls for sober reflection.

What do you expect Mr. President to do for the war against corruption to be won?

I called on the president to suspend the rule of law for a year so that he can fight corruption head-

Akintola

long. The Constitution which he swore to has limited the extent he can go to fight corruption. He can go to the National Assembly to seek their consent in that regard. I agree with the president that it will be difficult to fight corruption under the present structure that is in operation in the country. The structure is so bad that we have so many square pegs in round holes. Nigeria is a federation and every act of governance must respect and appreciate that diversity. We must also use the instrumentality of the law to fight corruption. Our laws must be amended to reflect what we want.

The Federal Government has established the National Prosecution Coordinating Committee (NPCC) for the prosecution of high profile cases in Nigeria. What useful purpose do you think the committee will serve?

Well, the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, has the powers regarding the issue of prosecution under the Constitution. He can initiate criminal proceedings and delegate his powers to prosecute. He can also decide to discontinue a case. No one can challenge his authority with regards to all that. But the only area where I think we might run into stormy waters on this issue is the fact that most of these federal laws have not been domesticated at the state level.

Do you know that the Public Procurement Act (PPA) under which public officials are being charged have not been domesticated in any of the states. The Child Rights Act has only been domesticated in Kwara State alone in the entire Northern States.

How many states have domesticated the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act? It is only Lagos and Ekiti States. To that extent, I was amazed

when I heard that the AGF was saying he will give fiat to states Attorney General to prosecute offences.

It will be a difficult task because most of the Federal laws upon which people were charged are yet to be domesticated in states of the federation. In this country, we have been running government of the illiterate by the illiterate for the enlightened.

If you are asking people to go and prosecute without the necessary legal backing, nothing will be achieved at the end of the day.

For instance, the press has been labeling many judges as being corrupt because some accused persons were set free. The question is, which judge will convict a person under a law that is not in existence in that state? If you accused someone in Ogun State of breaching the provisions of the Public Procurement Act (PPA) and the law is yet to be domesticated in the state, the presiding judge will have no option than to set the accused person free.

So, if the committee is to succeed, the AGF needs to impress it on the State Attorneys-General to liase with the House of Assembly of their respective states to see how some of these federal laws will be promptly domesticated. Most of these laws are not in existence at the state level but majority of our people have been exhibiting their ignorance when they are passing comments on these issues.

The truth of the matter is that out there n o w , there are

four sets of commentators over this issue. We have the ignorant, the emotional, the mischievous and the patriots. The ignorant are dishing out falsehoods; they don’t know what they are talking about. The emotional ones are usually carried away by their emotions and they were never objective in their analysis. The third set of commentators which is the mischievous group, are the neverdo-well in the legal profession who are envious of their colleagues at the Bar and on the Bench.

They were the laid backs and they are not creative. They practice their law on the pages of newspapers and on the television. They condemn everybody. To them, no one is good except themselves. The fourth category of commentators, are the patriots who will subject issues to critical analysis.

The Federal Government has set up a committee headed by a former Senate President, Ken Nnamani to come up with some electoral reforms despite the non-implementation of the recommendations of the Uwais-reform committee. What is your take on this?

To me, the setting up of another committee on electoral reform is a waste of time and resources. What Nigerians are clamoring for is the implementation of the recommendations of the Uwais committee to the letter. Anything outside that is like government is just trying to give job to the boys. I don’t see the need for another committee on electoral reform when recommendations by the one we initially had was never implemented. Most of the laudable recommendations were thrown into the dust bin and those were the things that Nigerians were yearning for. Nigerians were saying that the onus should be on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) which says it is conducting free and fair elections to justify the results of any election it conducted and not on the petitioner. If you observe carefully, since 2011, no election has been upturned at the governorship level in this country despite all the anomalies and rigging associated with those elections. The task before the petitioner is so enormous and all these should be placed on INEC which claimed to have conducted a free and fair election.

Do you think we need to amend the Electoral Act to tackle the problem of electoral violence in Nigeria?

I think the Uwais’ report has taken care of that as solutions to all these problems are contained in it.

Let the government do the needful and do something about this report, Nigeria will surely be better for it.

Do you share the view of those calling for restructuring?

As a matter of fact, most of the problems

monDAY, OCTOBER 31 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

freeze judges’ accounts bedeviling the country today were due to lack of political will by our leaders to restructure the country. Even the issue of the invasion of the judges’ houses and what have you was due to imbalances in the system. If we are running a proper system of government, there will be no need for the National Judicial Council (NJC) because it is an aberration in a federal structure.

This kind of a thing only happens in Nigeria. Now, when you bring someone who is conversant with the sharia law to come and preside over the Court of Appeal in Lagos and be sitting over maritime and shipping, what do you think will be the result? There was an embarrassing situation about two months ago at the Court of Appeal, Enugu Division, where none of the judges sitting there is an Igbo man. They could not even speak the language. Why must you have about eight Justices of the Court of Appeal in Lagos without a single Yoruba man in their midst. We can address all these problems by restructuring the country. One of the cardinal principles of federalism is that every component part should be allowed to develop at its own pace. Anything short of that will only bring anarchy in the country.

As a matter of fact, the federal structure we are operating cannot last us for another twenty five years before it will collapse. It is better to have small of something than to lose everything. So, there must be proper restructuring of the country.

For instance, the National Judicial Council (NJC) should be made to shed some of its powers to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC). The JSC across the length and breadth of the country are toothless bulldogs.

It is no longer functioning at the state level. NJC has practically usurped the functions of the JSC. Nigeria is being run as a unitary state.

What business does someone sitting in Abuja to be appointing judges in Gombe? That is why if you look at the issue very well people have been criticizing the NJC because they don’t know the position of the law. NJC as presently constituted is just an advisory body. Most of the recommendations made by the council to some state governors have been rejected in the past. We have seen situations where from Delta to Rivers to Abia to Oyo to Kwara to Kano to Borno, we have had situations where recommendations to the governors of these states were rejected. They were not implemented.

So, people that were blaming the NJC are ignorant because they don’t know how some of these things operate. We all saw the conflict between the NJC and Rivers State over the appointment of a Chief Judge for the state. So, what are we talking about?

Would you see the creation of state police as panacea for stemming the

Akintola

tide of kidnapping and other vices in the country?

The creation of state police in the country is long overdue. This was part of what we discussed at the last confab organised by former President Goodluck Jonathan. We fought for it seriously at the occasion; it is the ‘sine qua non’. It is all we need. Nigeria is the only country in the world where you take somebody from Maiduguri and ask him to police somebody in Badagry when he could not understand any of the languages spoken there. It cannot work. We are trying to plant unity by force. In a federal system of government, we desire union and not unity. We must have feelings for the locals where you are. Can I go to Enugu now and tell them that I want to celebrate ‘Oro festival or Oloolu’? I am from Ibadan where the ‘Oloolu festival’ is recognized. This means we must start to have feelings for the locals where we found ourselves. You cannot take your masquerade to Ilorin, otherwise you will be lynched. We must appreciate our local differences. There are limitations to every freedom.

How would you want the law to look at treasury looters? I mean, would you support those calling for capital punishment for looters of treasury?

Of course, yes. I have not changed my mind on the issue. Those who are stealing us blind in Nigeria are not up to five thousand. We can afford to waste them because we have a population of over 170 million in this country. I gave an insight into how some of these corrupt acts are being perpetrated in my

The discipline of erring members of the judiciary as clearly spelt out in the Constitution is the duty of the National Judicial Council (NJC)

paper in the lecture I delivered in 2008 at the University of Ibadan. I was the first to use the operative word, ‘anticipatory declaration of asset’.

This is what many public officers do by declaring what they don’t have. They will now be stealing towards it. I believe that there was no rocket science in fighting corruption. We can fight it using the tax instruments. The Nigerian elite do not pay tax and we all know that. If you declare N3 trillion assets and N200 million tax, your tax declaration will be checked and if it is not commensurate with what you declared, you will go to jail.

Those who are stealing us blind have contributed immensely to the issue of terrorism, kidnapping and what have you.

So, let us introduce death penalty and do it the way it is being done in Singapore and China. The man who introduced tax in Singapore was a first class lawyer. A law in a country is what they said is law. In the United States, they have been fighting terrorism in their own way and no one is crucifying them for that. Six Nigerians were reported to have been beheaded in Saudi Arabia over drug offences, has anyone castigated the country for taking the action? So, if it pleases us and we decide to start executing looters of public wealth, nobody can hold us to ransom. Look at the number of people that have been killed by Boko Haram, over 37,000, according to our President. These are all due to corruption.

Despite the enactment of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015, delay in justice delivery system is still a cause of worry. What

Law 21

do you think is the way out?

Again, it is the problem of the type of structure that we are running in this country. When the defunct western region introduced Court of Appeal before it was hijacked by the Federal Government, it was better organised. The region was far ahead of other regions of the country. But what do we have now? Cases that were supposed not to go on appeal usually find their way to the appellate court. Cases like chieftaincy and land matters have no business at the appeal court.

Cases like these should end at the state level. No constitutional cases should go to the Supreme Court.

That is the practice in the United States. The United States has only nine Justices, we have sixteen here.

Cases of 2005 and 2009 are still pending at the Supreme Court. You see, all these issues were addressed at the National Confab.

But it is sad that the man at the helm of affairs in Nigeria today said he is not interested in implementing any of the recommendations. He is only postponing the evil day. The Confab report should be implemented. Even though, all problems facing the country cannot be addressed, it will surely help in mitigating some of our problems. So, once the country is restructured, all these issues will be taken care of. Powers should be decentralized. Over concentration of power at the top is not helping us. This is what breeds corruption.

Seek ye first the kingdom of decentralization and all other things will be added. The truth of the matter is that most of our leaders don’t read and that is why we have been running government of the illiterate by the illiterate for the enlightened over the years. Our leaders are either political, social, economic or legal illiterates; Nigeria has never had an all-round leader.

Would you say President Muhammadu Buhari has fulfilled any of his campaign promises of change in the last 17 months?

I give it to him, he has fought corruption very well. In fact, he is the only one that can fight corruption the way he is fighting it.

However, the problem is that he is the only one fighting corruption.

But he cannot do it all alone. His mindset is that every other person is a rogue and this is what is militating against the bigger success we would have recorded. He has fought terrorism very well. He has brought discipline into our national psyche. But he has been a disaster on the issue of the economy.

Can the EFCC seek transfer of a case that has already been scheduled for hearing from one court to another?

It depends on the circumstance.

But, I pray that may we never experience a situation where the prosecution or the defence will be dictating to the judiciary. The rules and law allows for transfer of cases. The Chief Judge of the Federal High Court assigns cases and he has the power to transfer case from one judge to the other.

The rules also make provision for the transfer of cases from a High Court to a Federal High Court.

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monDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Emeka Nwadioke

J

udicial corruption is a grievous menace to any society.

It ought to be classified as a ‘crime against humanity.’ For lawyers who have been at the receiving end of judicial corruption, it is not difficult to see why they may readily support the midnight raids

by Department of State Security (DSS) operatives on the residences of some judicial officers penultimate week. It is doubly frustrating when, convinced that one has a good case and having applied oneself to elucidate the fine points of the case, one finds that such efforts are sacrificed on the altar of nocturnal meetings where justice is bargained away like salt and pepper.

It was the inimitable Justice Chukwudifu Oputa (now deceased) who painted a graphic picture of the hazards posed by a corrupt judge thus: “.... No one should go to the Bench to amass wealth, for money corrupts and pollutes not only the channels of justice but also the very stream itself. It is a calamity to have a corrupt Judge. The passing away of a great Advocate does not pose such public danger as the appearance of a corrupt Judge on the Bench, for in the latter instance, the public interest is bound to suffer and elegant justice is mocked, debased, depreciated and auctioned. When justice is bought and sold, there is no more hope for society. What our society needs is an honest, trusted and trustworthy judiciary.”

It is therefore agreed that, of all species of corruption, judicial corruption ranks very high on the ladder of ignominy. If so, why then the hue and cry over the arrest of the affected judicial officers, including two justices of the Supreme Court?

A major reason is that stated by former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon. Justice Dahiru Musdapher when he said: “However, as I further pointed out, it is of equal importance that accusations of impropriety against judicial officers should not be made lightly. It must be appreciated that the integrity of the Judge and the judiciary is a sacred public trust that must be protected and upheld by all. Today, mere suspicions of impropriety emanating from unconfirmed rumours, together with foul innuendoes find ready spaces in our media without proper concern for the far reaching damage being done to not only the Judge in question but the entire institution of justice.”

Also crucial is the fact that law and order thrives on certainty and predictability. Our jurisprudence is founded on the need to reduce, and ultimately eliminate, arbitrariness in human affairs. The process is just as important as the outcomes.

Even more worrisome is that it is increasingly becoming difficult to keep track of the ‘anti-graft’ agencies. Aside from the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the long-suffering Nigeria Police Force, the DSS has now joined the fray as a graft-bursting agency.

Section 2(3) of the National Security Agencies Act N74 LFN 2011 sets out the duties of the DSS, otherwise called the State Security Service (SSS) as follows: “The State Security Service shall be charged with responsibility for- (a) the prevention and detection within Nigeria of any crime against the internal security of Nigeria; (b) the protection and preservation of all non-military

Daura

Mohammed

Taming DSS, judicial corruption classified matters concerning the internal security of Nigeria; and (c) such other responsibilities affecting internal security within Nigeria as the National Assembly or the President, as the case may be, may deem necessary.

It has been stated that pursuant to Section 6 of the NSA Act, former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar in 1999 promulgated the State Security Service Instrument One of 1999. The Instrument enlarged the duties of the agency to include the prevention, detection and investigation of economic crimes of national security dimension, among other things. Having preceded the 1999 Constitution, the NSA Act has a saving provision in Section 315 (5)(c) of the Constitution. This is deemed to have conferred a constitutional flavor on the NSA Act. In justifying the clampdown, the DSS claimed that it was “in line with its (DSS) core mandate,” adding that the action was “based on allegations of corruption and other acts of professional misconduct by a few of the suspected Judges.”

The DSS also claimed that “we have been monitoring the expensive and luxurious lifestyle of some of the judges as well as complaints from the concerned public over judgment obtained fraudulently and on the basis (of) amounts of money paid.” It is apparent that some of these claims do not add up. It is also asserted that even with a combined reading of the NSA Act and the Instrument One of 1999, it is difficult to see how judicial corruption is a “core mandate” of the DSS. The DSS also referred to “complaints from the concerned public,” though it failed to name the complainants. Indeed, it was not until after the arrests that the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN) reportedly sent some petitions by CESNAC to DSS. It is clear that the raison d’etre of the DSS/SSS is the “internal security” of Nigeria. As NBA President, Mr. Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN) has observed, “The DSS must be restricted to its constitutional and statutory du-

The integrity of the judge and the judiciary is a sacred public trust that must be protected and upheld by all

ties. Its core mandate is guaranteeing internal national security. It is not its duty to conduct police investigations or arraign and prosecute cases of corruption. It is not its responsibility to conduct sting operations on judges for corruption or professional misconduct in the middle of the night.”

Even more worrisome is that the era of media trials is still alive and well within our security agencies. Or how does one reconcile the wild assertion by the DSS Director-General, Mr. Lawan Daura that certain judgements were “obtained fraudulently and on the basis amounts of money paid.”

And to think that the judicial officers are yet to be arraigned and that Section 36(5) guarantees a presumption of innocence to all citizens until proven guilty.

Further, in light of the current debacle, there have been spirited efforts to define “internal security” in very elastic terms, merely for the purpose of accommodating the apparent breach of mandate by the DSS/SSS. There are clear disciplinary procedures set out by the Nigerian Constitution to deal with judicial officers who abuse their office through corrupt enrichment and sundry misfeasance.

It needs no emphasis that the NSA Act cannot override the grundnorm, to wit the Constitution.

Part I of the Third Schedule to the Constitution provides that the Federal Judicial Service Commission shall (13) (b) “recommend to the National Judicial Council, the removal from office of the judicial officers specified in subparagraph (a) of this paragraph.”

Item 21 of the schedule also provides that “The National Judicial Council shall have power to - (b) “recommend to the President the removal from office of the judicial officers specified in sub-paragraph (a) of this paragraph and to exercise disciplinary control over such officers; (d) recommend to the Governors the removal from the office of the judicial officers in subparagraph (c) of this paragraph, and to exercise disciplinary control over such officers. (f) advise the President and Governors on any matter pertaining to the judiciary as may be referred to the Council by the President or the

Governors; (i) deal with all other matters relating to broad issues of policy and administration.” Perhaps it bears repeating that all the judges arrested by the DSS are under the disciplinary radar of both the Federal Judicial Service Commission and the National Judicial Council (NJC).

Also, Rule 3(F)(1) of the Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers provides that “A Judicial Officer and members of his family shall neither ask for nor accept any gift, bequest, favour, or loan on account of anything done or omitted to be done by him in the discharge of his duties.” Article (iii) of the Preamble to the Code unequivocally states that “Violation of any of the rules contained in this Code shall constitute judicial misconduct or misbehaviour and may entail disciplinary action.”

It is contended that the allegations made by the DSS fall within the ambit of “judicial misconduct or misbehavior” for which the affected judicial officers should be proceeded against by the NJC, not the DSS, especially in light of Rule 3(F)(1) of the Code. It is only after they have been adjudged guilty and sanctioned by the NJC that the appropriate agency may step in to proceed against those found culpable of criminal breaches.

Indeed, it will presently become apparent why this procedure is a nobrainer.

Assuming that the DSS proceeds, as promised, to arraign the affected judicial officers before the courts, they are bound to be granted bail (the DSS had granted them bail on self-recognisance) while the trials continue. During this period, there is no plausible reason why the judicial officers, having not been removed vide Section 292 (1)(b) of the Constitution, cannot continue to sit as judges in our hallowed temples of justice, even in the highest court of the land! Indeed, a time may yet come when litigants may be told that the court will not sit because the judge is facing trial or awaiting sentencing before another judge! How does this noxious scenario promote a “respected and respectable Judiciary” as envisaged by the Code?

It would not seem that the Constitution contemplated this absurdity.

Law|News 23

monDAY, OCTOBER 31 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

YOUNG LAWYERS’ FORUM Ayeobasanmi Ige Asemudara was called to the Bar in 2006. In this encounter with AKEEM NAFIU, he bares his mind on his experience and embarrassing moment since his call to Bar How will you look at practice since your call to bar?

I was called to the bar in November 9, 2006. I began to practice law the moment I was called to the Bar. I could remember that immediately I was called to the Bar, I rushed down from Abuja to Okitipupa in Ondo State.

This is because I know that there was a brief waiting for me out there.

I eventually appeared before an Ondo State High Court sitting in Okitipupa.

On that day, I appeared with someone and I was so happy that I finally started my practice. After I was called to the Bar, I was posted to the Ministry of Justice in Ogun State, at the office of public defendant (Citizens’ Rights Department) in Ijebu-Ode. This gave me the opportunity to start appearing in court on my own without being led by anybody. I started my practice appearing for people on pro-bono basis. I appeared for people that are awaiting trials, in landlords and tenants issues and other cases that has to do with the mandate of that office. After leaving the office of the public defendants in Ogun State, I also trained under three eminent Senior Advocates of Nigeria; Late Chief Theodore Eze Obi, Prof.

Olawoyin and Chief Anthony Idigbe.

These places where I trained shaped my practice and made me to have an all-round experience in the legal profession.

Can you speak on your low points in practice?

Yes. One of my low points in practice was when I was in the Ministry of Justice in Ogun State. There was

Asemudara

a case involving one man, an herbalist, who was accused of killing a girl for ritual purpose. The incident happened around Ijebu-Mushin.

The victim was allegedly lured into the bush by a teenager that lives around the place. The girl was murdered with her eyes removed and her virginity tampered with.

The accused person did not have a lawyer and we were drafted from the citizens’ rights department to defend him in court. Legally speaking, the man is entitled to a counsel of his choice and if he couldn’t afford to do that, the state has an obligation to provide him with one. So, I appeared for this man in court with my senior. During proceedings, a lot of documents were tendered by the prosecution and my senior did not object to their admissibility. As a lawyer who was just called to the Bar, I was agitated with the action of my senior and I felt he should have raise objections to the tendering of those documents. I thought since this man has already been convicted in the court of public opinion, we should still try and do our best for him. But, because

‘Judiciary of my dream’ I was just called to the Bar, I did not know that when you are appearing with somebody, it is the person leading that will conduct proceedings. At a point, I felt more agitated and I jumped up from my seat to say, my lord, I am objecting to the admissibility of these documents. The judge asked me to sit down and allow my senior to continue.

I felt confused and embarrassed. It was my senior that later offered some explanations on the issue to me that since he is leading, the court will not allow any other counsel to conduct proceedings. I told him I did not know that was how it is.

What about your high point?

Sincerely, if I must tell you, everyday in court is an high point for me. This is because, I love law from Bethlehem to Judea. I love law from beginning to the end.

Nobody forced me to do law. It was my choice. I believed my father did not have the privilege of being a lawyer. But, he lived like a lawyer. He had native depth and intelligent. He was fondly referred to as a native lawyer. As a matter of fact, when I was processing my admission to study law in 1998, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) was my first and second choice. Law was my first and second choice. In order words, I foreclosed any other option because I wanted law at all cost. My belief is that the profession will help me to actualize my dream of setting free the captives and fighting the cause of those being oppressed. I believe that is my calling and ministry. In my ten years of practice, I have never lost a case.

I believed it is God. He takes me through the cases himself. The only time I think I nearly lost a case was when the court said it has no jurisdiction to hear the case. But, for every of other cases that I have handled, I have never lost any of them. Some of these cases included the one I did in 2015 before Justice Buba of the Lagos Federal High Court involving some persons alleged to have been

involved in oil bunkering. The seven accused persons were later discharged and acquitted on my no case submission. I also had another case at the National Industrial Court,wherein a bank staff who was unjustly sacked got all his entitlements through the court’s order. These among others are some of the cases which I have handled and won to the glory of God. What reforms will you like to see in the justice sector?

The justice sector needs a complete and total overhauling because there are a lot of things that are wrong with the system. I want to start from the police because I believed they are also part of the justice system. The police, EFCC and other law enforcement agencies needs to be trained on laws and legal procedures. These are things that they need to know that will help them to properly carry out their assignments. Now, coming to the legal profession and the judiciary, it is the lawyer that makes the judge. We have all sorts of lawyers that were practicing in Nigeria. A lot of atrocities are being perpetrated by some of these lawyers. Many lawyers have abused the trust placed on them by their clients. They are no longer practicing in line with the ethics of the legal profession as spelt out in the rules of professional conducts. I believe that the foundation of corruption is being laid the moment there were departures from ethics of the profession. It is bad lawyers that usually turn out to be bad judges. Most of these problems are foundational and had to be tackled from the scratch. Now, the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) is doing its best and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) must also help a lending hand in this regard. Besides, the National Judicial Council (NJC) and other regulatory body must also stand up and do something about corruption in the judiciary.

Falana tackles CJN over policy D Foluso Ogunmodede

ays after the outgoing Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmoud Mohammed moved against the coverage of proceedings involving judges under investigation for alleged corruption, activist lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr Femi Falana at the weekend described such policy as unconstitutional, null and void.

According to Falana, the CJN and the National Judicial Council (NJC) had no power to bar Nigerians from exercising their freedom, saying the new policy was designed to bar searchlight from the work of the NJC. Falana had protested a new National Judicial Policy (NJP) launched at the weekend by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, barring leakage of ‘complaints’ against judges.

Sections 2(2) (4) to 2(2) (9) of the new policy would henceforth prohibit leakage or publication of any complaints of against the judiciary and its officers.

The new policy says “it shall be the policy of the judiciary that complaints of misconduct against judicial officers or employees of the judiciary shall not

be leaked or published in the media.

“Where complaints on allegations against judicial officers and court employees are submitted for investigation, the complainant or complainants shall be made to give an undertaking not to do anything to prejudice investigation or actions that may be taken.”

It also said that “the institutions of the judiciary concerned with investigation or and implementation of decisions taken on such complaints shall be obliged to cease further action where such complaints are leaked or discussed in the media.”

NJC however warned that “where such a leakage is occasioned after the submission of a complaint, then all investigations on the complaints shall be suspended, the leakage investigated and if such leakage is from the complainant or through other parties known to such a complainant, such a complaint should be discarded.

It went on: “Where such leakage is occasioned prior to the presentation of the complaint and the source of the leakage is found to be the complainant or through other parties known to and connected with the complainant, then such complaint shall not be accepted, upon submission by the appropriate

disciplinary body.

“Upon the conclusion of any investigation, the judicial disciplinary bodies may allow public disclosure of their findings, subject to following the proper channels for such disclosure.”

But, Falana described the new policy as absurd saying it amounted to not only gagging the media but also infringe on Nigerians’ rights to freedom of speech.

He said: “Two weeks ago, the NJC claimed that it had treated all petitions alleging misconduct against judicial officers in the country. The Civil Society Network Against Corruption listed about 10 complaints that the NJC did not attend to. The new regulation is a reaction to the exposé.

“Does the NJC not know that every complainant has the fundamental right to freedom of expression which includes the right to impart knowledge and pass information to other people?

Can the secretariat not leak information on a petition submitted to the NJC?” “Before a judge is appointed, the Bar is required to comment on his or her suitability. To what extent has the Bar written genuine reports on candidates?

Did the NJC consider the comments?

Falana

We have five representatives in the NJC. What has been their role in the process of appointment?”

“We should take advantage of the current crisis to redeem the profession.

We need a panel to visit state-by-state, gather evidence and make recommendations. That was what the Justice Kayode Eso panel did. The NBA has to be democratized to reflect the interests of the generality of the members.”

24 Law|news C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 1 9

martial and later he can face the civil aspect of the alleged offence. Also, if a police officer, in the course of his duty shoot somebody and is liable to be charged for murder, he must first of all face an orderly room trial. It is upon the conclusion of such trial that he can then be charged to court.

“Now the National Judicial Council (NJC) is not a creation of judges but a creation of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

It is not now that we begin to change the law. I don’t see what the hurry in trying the judges is all about. We are not saying that people should not be tried but what is the essence of due process, if it cannot be followed? Due process must be followed.

“No one is saying any corrupt judge should go unpunished but we are still at the level of suspicion. It is not an open and close thing as some people are making it to look like. If you are asking the judges to step aside, what about some ministers that were also accused of being corrupt, have they stepped aside? I think we need to be very careful about this issue of stepping aside”.

Another silk, Lawal Pedro was not different.

Pedro, a Senior Advocate and former Lagos Permanent Secretary and Solicitor-General asked government to exercise restraints on the judges especially their arraignment as there was no need for such desperation.

He said: “To me if any judge is found culpable of corruption, he just has to face trial.

Of course, everyone is equal before the law. But the point is very simple, there is a process that needs to be followed.

If the process is not followed, the trial will just backfire and nothing serious will come out of it.

“We must also bear in mind that there is no limitation in criminal prosecution. I don’t believe we should sacrifice justice on the altar of speed.

Irrespective of whoever is involved, due process must be followed.

“If the National Judicial Council (NJC) says allow us to deal with this issue in our own way and come up with a position, then, it should be allowed.

I don’t see how a serving judge who has not been dealt with by the NJC by way of suspension can be tried. It does not work that way.

“It’s just like when people are not satisfied with the performance of a government, they should be patient and allow the government to run out its term and vote it out. Democracy does not guarantee good government.

“What has happened to these judges is not happening for the first time in Nigeria. So, no one should tell us any cock and bull story about the issue.

Every corrupt judge must be prosecuted but we must be very careful not to desecrate the judicial system of Nigeria.

“There is only one government in Nigeria and we only have three arms. So, if the

monDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Row over judges’ trial

Obla

executive is biting more than necessary thinking it is hurting the judiciary, it is indirectly hurting itself. So, we must be careful with this issue and ensure that due process is followed in bringing anyone to justice.

“The NJC must be allowed to do the needful on this issue.

The Executive can even give it timeline within which to do all that it wants to do on the matter.

“We should not deceive ourselves, some people are more equal than others and where the privileges are, it must be respected. If a lawyer is appointed a judge today, he will be given an orderly and a driver the same day he was appointed.

This was a person who might not have a car prior to his appointment as a judge. These are the privileges we are talking about that must be respected.

“Judiciary is special specie whether we like it or not, so, let NJC carry out its assignment first and whoever should be prosecuted will be prosecuted.”

Another Senior Advocate, Chief Mike Ahamba differ.

To Ahamba, there should be proper investigation and anyone found culpable eventually must be prosecuted.

He said: “If the government has facts of corruption, it has a duty to prosecute. If every other person can face trial, then, they should face trial.

“There are no special criminal codes for the judges. But if the government could not substantiate its claims against the judge, then it should apologise to them. Otherwise, the government has a duty to prosecute.

I cannot support any corrupt judge. I am talking law and not for or against anybody.

“NJC has no business with crime. But the mere fact that somebody is not found culpable in crime does not mean he cannot be found liable under the NJC and vice versa.

Sowemimo

The NJC had no final say on the alleged corruption brought against the judges as final decision on any act of professional misconduct by judges lies with either the president or governors

“What I don’t want lawyers to do is to give the world an impression that we are protecting one of our own. I am strongly against the victimization of any judge.

But I am not prepared to defend any judge found to have been actually involved in crime of corruption.

“But as far as I am concerned, this is something that does not concern the government and NJC alone, it is a national issue.

The problem in this country is that when something favours us, we want it to happen but the reverse is the case when it does not favour us. Are you now saying government should interfere with security agents’ activities?

“I am saying that the people involved have lawyers, let them work with them and take steps to protect their clients in this matter. There is no sacred cow. If you create sacred cows in the legal profession what stops people from creating sacred cows in the medical profession or elsewhere?

“So, my contention is that there should be thorough investigation by those authorized to investigate crimes. If they find reasons to prosecute, they should do so in the normal court but if otherwise, apology should be tendered to the judges. They must be respected as people with high profile personalities”.

A law lecturer, Dr. Akin Akinyoye, noted that constitutional and statutory duty of the DSS was primarily to guarantee internal security for the country and its citizens.

Akinyoye said “It is not the duty of the DSS to arraign and prosecute cases of corruption.

It is not its responsibility to conduct sting operations on judges for corruption or professional misconduct in the middle of the night.

“The Constitution outline the body that should deal with judicial officers who abuse their office through corrupt enrichment.

“Part I of the Third Sched-

ule to the Constitution provides that the Federal Judicial Service Commission shall (13) (b) “recommend to the National Judicial Council, the removal from office of the judicial officers specified in subparagraph (a) of this paragraph.

“The allegations against the judges fall within judicial misconduct or misbehaviour, which the NJC could handle, especially in light of Rule 3(F)(1) of the Code.

“It is after they had been adjudged guilty and sanctioned by the NJC that the appropriate agency might step in to deal with those found culpable”.

Dennis Nwankwo, while reacting stated that the laws on which DSS was established, National Security Agencies Act Cap 174 laws of the Federation, does not in any way whether formally or informally, explicitly or covertly enshrined power on the DSS to prosecute any matter concerning financial crimes or other similar corruption charges.

“In truth, the closest to such authority can be construed in Section 3(a) of the said Act, which aptly declares that “the State Security Service shall be charged with responsibility for the prevention and detection within Nigeria of any crime against the internal security of Nigeria.”

He however queried that going by the Act that established DSS, are judicial officers security threats?

He further queried whether the DSS discovered under the beds of the judges, local bombs or Boko Haram suspects? ”The DSS has no power whatsoever to prosecute the judges. If the FG wants to prosecute them, the matter should be transferred to the ICPC, EFCC, the police force or at least the Code of Conduct Bureau but never the DSS.” Seyi Sowemimo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria said if the judges were to be tried at all for any offence, it must be done in the normal court.

He said: “If they are going to be tried, it will be in the same law courts. These are the only courts recognized by the Constitution. The law does not recognize any other form of Tribunal for their trial beside the normal law court.

“The body of Senior Advocates has come out to say that they agree with the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) that all the judges that are under investigation should not be sitting. It is only proper that when people are facing such allegations and their integrity is being questioned, they should allow the process to go on and vindicate them before they continue with their works.

“It’s quiet inconsistent to have a judge who is under probe to be trying other people. So, it is out of the need to protect the integrity of the Bench, that is why these judges have been asked not to sit why these allegations are still hanging on their head.”

•Additional report from TUNDE OYESINA and AKEEM NAFIU

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MONDAY, october 31, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Interview ‘Lack of national carrier threatens Nigeria’s code-sharing pact’

Business

Money Line Experts: Stronger dollar’ll lead to lower oil prices

IMPAIRED Cash crunch has worsened lenders’ apathy for Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) refineries’ co-location contracts

O

The Business Desk Ayodele Aminu

Deputy Editor (Business)

Bayo Akomolafe

Asst. Editor (Maritime)

Sunday Ojeme

Asst. Editor (Insurance)

Tony Chukwunyem

Refineries’ co-location contracts in disarray •As Shell, Chevron halt downstream investments ping up of downstream investments by ExxonMobil and Total is seen as a major signal that the talks on co-location of refineries may not go far with the multi-nationals who have the funds to invest,” a senior civil servant at the Ministry of Petroleum Resources told this newspaper after his anonymity was assured.

ExxonMobil had already announced the sale of its entire 60 per cent stake in Mobil Oil Plc to Nipco Plc, while the process for the confidential sale of downstream assets by Total is on-going.

Meanwhile, the on-going cash crunch has worsened lenders apathy for downstream investment.

The investments made

by most of the banks in the downstream sector are almost not performing. The sector seems saturated and everything looks tight for Return on Investment (RoI) in the sub-sector.

The only major investment is the $12 billion refinery and fertliser investment by Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote.

NNPC had earlier said that it was progressing on colocation initiatives to expand refinery capacity to 695,000 barrels per day.

Expressing optimism over talks with Total and other IOCs, the Corporation said that it had, through such collaboration, re-streamed all the three refineries in Decem-

N36,555,981,451 Being the payments made to Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) in July, 2016

Dayo Ayeyemi Property Editor

Adeola Yusuf Energy Editor

Aviation Editor

Chris Ugwu

ber 2015.

“We commenced engagement with Shell, Chevron and Total for technical partnership/ support in the refineries. Redefined the refineries business to a profit center model,” NNPC had said in a document, maintaining that “domestic products sales and distribution for July, 2016, showed that 876.18 million litres of petroleum products was distributed in July compared with 860.46 million litres in June, 2016.

“53.07 million barrels of crude oil and condensate was produced for the month of June 2016, representing an average daily production of 1.77 million barrels being an increase of 1.39 per cent compared to May, CONTINUED ON PAGE 26

Asst. Editor (Money Market)

Wole Shadare

36

L-R: Chairperson, Organising Committee of Association of Professional Women Bankers (APWB) and General Manager, Corporate Banking Group, Sterling Bank Plc, Mrs. Mojisola Bakare-Asieru; President/Chairman of Council, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) Prof.

Joseph Olusegun Ajibola; Former Lagos State Deputy Governor Alhaja Sinatu Aderoju Ojikutu and Director General, Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), Mr. Jaiyeola Olaoye, at the APWB Forum/Dinner held in Lagos.

Adeola Yusuf n-going talks on multi-billion dollars refineries’ co-location contracts between the Federal Government and international oil companies (IOCs) are heading for the rocks, as oil majors whom government is dangling the contracts before have embargoed downstream investments, New Telegraph has learnt.

This newspaper gathered at the weekend that Shell and Chevron were the first to foreclose investment in refining and petroleum product marketing in Nigeria.

Shell, checks from Ministry of Petroleum Resources revealed, has not hidden its lack of interest in refining and downstream participation in Nigeria for the NNPC, its Joint Ventures (JV) partner, who is also the promoter of the refinery co-location contract.

Country Chairman of Shell Companies in Nigeria, Osagie Osunbor, particularly told this newspaper that investments in Nigeria’s downstream sector is “not on the card for Shell for now.”

Chevron “too is not participating while the on-going mop-

34

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Capital Market Editor

4G-LTE: Experts seek tougher measures against cybercrimes

Constraints to foreign airlines’ operations in Nigeria, by Turkish Airlines

p.26

Abdulwahab Isa Finance Editor

p.26

Taiwo Hassan

Industry, Agric & Brands Editor

Kunle Azeez

Senior Correspondent

Chuks Onuanyin Energy

Nnamdi Amadi Reporter

Johnson Adebayo

Asst Production Editor

Rates Dashboard INFLATION RATE Sept 2016 ..............................17.9% August 2016 ...........................17.6% July 2016...............................17.1%

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

EXCHANGE RATE (Parallel Market as at October 28

USD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N470 Pounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N565 Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N505

l Foreign Reserves – $49.59bn as at 28/10/2016

Source: CBN

EXCHANGE RATE (Interbank as at October 28)

USD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N305.5 Pounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N373 Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N333

26

BUSINESS |news

MONDAY, october 31, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

4G-LTE: Experts seek tougher measures against cybercrimes SYNERGY Increased collaborations are being sought by stakeholders to ensure cases of cybercrimes are minimized, as high-speed Internet gets deeper in the country.

Kunle Azeez

A

s telecoms companies in Nigeria commenced rolling out the latest high-speed Internet networks across the country, stakeholders and experts in the Nigerian economy have advocated the need for the country to strengthen measures against cybercrimes.

The latest high-speed Internet networks are the fourth generation Long Term Evolution (4GLTE) networks being launched by the telecoms companies to deepen Internet speed and widen broadband availability and accessibility in the country.

The wake-up call by stakeholders was hinged on the projection by some industry experts that, as 4G-LTE continues to extend across the country, making more Nigerians have access to high-speed Internet/ broadband, there is tendency for cyber-criminal activities to get sophisticated.

For instance, President, Cybersecurity Experts Association of Nigeria, Mr. Remi Afon, said the more Internet access expands, the more access will hackers and online fraudsters have to perpetrate more sophisticated cybercrimes.

With mobile broadband penetration currently standing at 20 per cent threshold in Nigeria, the country is targeting to reach 30 per cent penetration by 2018 in line with the country’s National Broadband Plan.

Latest data from the Nigerian

Refineries’ co-location contracts in disarray CONTINUED FROM PAGE 25

2016, performance.”

The payments update to FAAC also showed that N36,555,981,451 was in July 2016 paid to FAAC. Recounting the costs of crude oil disruptions in Nigeria in four years (2012 - 2016), the corporation said that the disruption to “Nigeria’s crude oil production reached 750,000 barrels per day (b/d) in July 2016, the highest levels recorded since January 2009.”

This, the document stated, follows increased militant attacks on major oil and natural gas infrastructure in the country.

The Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) and others have been carrying out attacks on oil and natural gas infrastructure throughout the region.

Communications Commission (NCC) show mobile Internet users in the country has reached over 93 million Internet users in the country.

This, according to the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof Umar Danbatta, who spoke recently at a forum in Lagos, was expected to increase as the country begins 4G-LTE revolution with unhindered access to the Internet.

He explained that the expected explosion in high-speed Internet access also meant “both those who use Internet for legitimate and illegitimate businesses will now have increased access to the Internet.”

While reckoning that trillion of transactions are now carried out online by individuals, businesses and governments these days, Ojobo said, there was a need to ensure “all hands are on deck to minimise the use of the expected explosion in Internet access through 4G-LTE

network roll-out for wrong purposes such as using it to commit cybercrimes.”

According to him, though the country has passed the Nigerian Cybersecurity Act 2015 into law, thorough implementation of the provision of the Act was key to sanitising the country’s cyber space.

Also speaking, Chairman, Information Security Society of Africa - Nigeria, Dr. David Isiavwe, said collaboration was the new watchword in the new 4GLTE era as “every day, Internet hackers constantly deploy new ways of committing all kinds of nefarious activities on the web.”

Meanwhile, cybercrime’s high level of complexity requires action at different levels (both virtual and physical) and by different actors (governments, private sector, civil society, and intergovernmental organisations), among others.

“The current scale and growth of ICT applications

transcend all spheres of social and economic boundaries worldwide. Whether it is broadcasting (digital TV) or social networking, e-Commerce (mobile banking and financial services), e-Governance (government services management, e- education, e-health, e-taxation, among others), governments, institutions and the society in general, are increasingly embracing these technologies and at the same time becoming exposed to vulnerabilities of cyber-attacks,” he said.

Isiavwe added: “As we approach the end of the second decade of the 21st century, the challenges of a secure cyberspace is becoming more daunting as threat actors are becoming more resourceful (both in terms of skillsets, competencies and available technologies), more brazen and determined to inflict maximal damage to their victims (who may be individuals, corporate organisations,

enterprises, or even nations) and more pervasive in terms of their profiles.”

He also explained: “The advent of embedded and wearable technologies, Internet of Things (IoT) and other advanced Information and Communication Technologies has made cyber incidents to have greater effects in our physical world; it is no longer just about money and data – however, important these are – it is also about lives.

“Hence, both technical measures and appropriate legal instruments must be put in place to enhance the resilience of cybersecurity infrastructure and safeguard cyberspace users.”

Danbatta further stated that the NCC has been playing a major role in creating awareness and educating the general public on issues of cyber security through sponsorship and support of various awareness campaigns organized by cybersecurity organisations.

L-R: Executive Director, Service, Heritage Bank, Mr. Niyi Adeseun; Director, Mr. Tony Madojemu; Director, Mr. Oladele Oyelola; Director, Mr. Adetola Adekoja, who represented the Chairman of Board, Mr. Akinsola Akinfemiwa and Executive Director, Lagos/South West & Corporate Banking, Mrs. Mary Akpobome, at the bank’s first Investors Forum in Lagos. PHOTO: SULEIMAN HUSSAIN

Constraints to foreign airlines’ operations in Nigeria, by Turkish Airlines IMPEDIMENTS Converting naira to dollar and transferring is a problem in the sector Wole Shadare

T

he difficulty in getting flight rights, devaluation of the naira and foreign issues are some of the major factors inhibiting the operations of airlines in Nigeria – especially the foreign carriers, Country Manager for Turkish Airlines in Nigeria, Tarkan Ince, has said Ince, who spoke with New Telegraph in Lagos, noted that foreign exchange problem experienced by many foreign carriers operating to Nigeria is causing huge problems to airlines.

Converting naira to US dollar and transferring it, he stated, is a big problem in the sector.

He added: “It is either your money is stuck or transferred with great loss. Forex issues

have a negative chain reaction.

It extends to a point where providing jet fuel for operations becomes a critical matter.”

Ince said that for airlines to survive in Nigeria, they need to reflect on the foreign exchange value on their ticket prices, lamenting that it is very difficult for passengers to cope with added cost to their tickets.

He said scarcity of forex has serious implications on people to buy goods and services, purchase of aviation fuel popularly called Jet A1.

His words: “Let me state that forex issue is really tearing us down. For us to survive as operator, we have to reflect the forex value on our ticket prices but then, it becomes difficult for passengers to cope with that change.

“As Turkish Airlines, we are really doing our best to keep that reflection at the minimum possible. Forex has serious implications on people’s ability to buy goods and get services. A concrete example is, again, the problem being faced in the area of provision of the jet fuel to

run our fleet. It becomes more difficult because any delay in this matter threatens the connecting flights and, as you may be aware, most of our passengers are on connecting flights.”

On how to solve the problem that is threatening the aviation industry, the Turkish Airline chief prescribed what he called the right diagnosis as the first step for effective solution.

He lauded the Nigerian government for putting forth various solutions for forex issues and still continuing to do so, describing it as a wonderful approach.

“Personally, I believe there are other solutions than the Nigerian government can bring into existence depending on the negotiating country, meaning the foreign country has to come in with its own solutions to negotiate and that is where I believe we would have a positive outcome.

“In short, Nigerian government is giving the full constructive support, so, most of the solution is there for us to evaluate and advance.”

Ince said he was less than

satisfied with the level of infrastructure and security at the nation’s aerodromes, hinting that infrastructure needs an upgrade within the airports, while security needs to be enhanced.

He recalled that last December, the carrier had a late baggage delivery case in Abuja, which escalated to a point where passengers wanted to take laws into their hands, adding that they managed to find a way and entered into the apron area.

Ince said even the authorised employees within the airport don’t possess that right, explaining that the area is highly restricted, yet civil people were on tarmac.

“This, indeed, is a big question mark on the security of the airport on international and global scale. Let me state clearly here that I never meant to demean all the handiwork that has been displayed by the Nigerian authorities. That would be an unfair statement.

However, for further precautions, I just wanted to point out this fact.”

BUSINESS | Movers, Shakers and Appointments

MONDAY, october 31, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Guinness’ new commercial director resumes tomorrow

Egerton

G

uinness Nigeria, manufacturers of alcoholic and non- alcoholic beverages, has appointed Emmanuel Egerton-Shyngle as the new Commercial Director.

A statement by the company said that he would resume tomorrow (November 1, 2016).

Egerton-Shyngle would take over from Paul Costigan, who will be moving into other roles within Diageo.

Commenting on the appointment, Managing Director/CEO, Guinness Nigeria Plc Peter Ndegwa said: “I am really excited to have Em-

manuel in this new role as he builds upon the work that Paul has started. I want to really thank Paul for his immense contribution to developing our sales organisation over the past two years.”

Egerton-Shyngle joined Guinness Nigeria one year ago.

During his time, he has played a key role in supporting and shaping the sales organisation’s focus on retail execution and increasing sales performance standards right across the board.

According to the statement, prior to joining Guinness Nigeria Plc, Egerton-Shyngle was the sales director at Cadbury Nigeria, general manager at Fidson Products Plc., worked overseas as a branch manager in retail banking and had built a career of over 23 years at Consolidated Breweries and Nigerian Breweries Plc. The statement added that Paul would play a key role in supporting Emmanuel during the handover to ensure a smooth transition.

27

Tata replaces chair over lack-luster performance

T

he Board of Tata Sons has replaced its Chairman, Mr. Cyrus P. Mistry Ratan Tata, who was named interim chairman until a new successor could be appointed.

The company said in a statement that the search for a successor was likely to take four months.

It was learnt that Mistry’s administration had been rocky and has hit headwinds with lacklustre performances.

The company said that some of its branches domiciled in Indian, United Kingdom, Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Egypt and other countries in Africa and Asia had been adversely affected.

Its businesses include one of India’s largest IT firms, Tata

Consultancy Services, the biggest vehicle maker, Tata Motors and, a ritzy hotel chain, which includes Mumbai’s Taj Mahal palace hotel.

Tata Sons is the holding company of Tata Group founded under British colonial rule in 1868. It is India’s most famous family conglomerate, which spans at least 100 companies in many countries.

The statement said: “The Tata Group is going through a lot of problems and most of it was either inherited, such as Tata Steel or Tata Motors, or due to adverse economic conditions like the IT business,” said G. Chokkalingam, Managing Director of Equinomics Research & Advisory Pvt.

FG confirms Okhiria as NRC MD

T

he Federal Government has confirmed the appointment of Mr. Fidet Edetanlen Okhiria as the managing director of Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC).

The Corporation’s Director, Public Relations, Mr Mahmoud Yakubu, in a statement, said that Okhiria had been on acting capacity before his confirmation.

The new managing director attended Ujeolen Primary School between 1967 and 1972 and Ujeolen Grammar School between 1973 and 1977; both in Ekpoma, Edo State.

He obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Lagos.

The managing director began his engineering career immediately after his youth corps with NEPA be-

tween1985 and 1986.

He worked as an electrical engineer in Nigerian Institute of Instrument Engineering between 1986 and 1987.

O

Mistry

Cross River hires consultant for Calabar carnival

A

s tourists from Nigeria and other countries gear up for Calabar Carnival in December, 2016, the Governor of Cross River State, Prof. Ben Ayade, has re-appointed, the Leader of TeamAfrica, Mr. Ikechi Uko, as consultant to manage the international aspect of the carnival.

This move, according to a statement made available to New Telegraph, is part of the state government’s vision to

Okhiria

Firm appoints advisor ne of the global leaders in skills and talent development, NIIT Limited, has appointed Barry Libert as a digital board advisor.

The company said in a statement that his valuable advice would help it build and execute a digital transformation roadmap for companies in India, China, South African and Nigeria.

Libert leads a team of experts who continuously research digital leadership and business models using machine learning and advanced text mining while exploring the underlying

In March 1987, he joined the service of Nigerian Railway Corporation as a pupil engineer and rose through the ranks to his present position.

drivers of value and growth in the age of platforms and networks.

Speaking on his appointment as a digital transformation advisor to the NIIT Board, Libert said: “This is indeed an exciting role that will allow us to offer our insights and advice to NIIT in order to partner with NIIT to help leaders throughout India, China and Emerging Markets drive their digital transformation agenda starting with leadership transformation and ending with more valuable business models.”

Also, NIIT has entered

into an exclusive partnership with OpenMatters LLC, the leader in Business Model Science. Under this partnership, NIIT will bring the content and expertise developed by OpenMatters for Wharton’s SEI Center.

Speaking on this significant development, Rahul Patwardhan, chief executive officer of NIIT Limited said: “This two-tiered partnership is in line with our strategy to play a leadership role in the Digital Learning World, leveraging the exciting new age Digital Technologies that are impacting every industry and every company and their business model.”

Uko

make the carnival as number one event in Africa.

Also, he has been mandated by the governor to grow the 2016 event and bring more countries to the biggest street party in Africa.

Uko is the organiser of Akwaaba African Travel Market.

He was first appointed last year by the governor to promote the international version of the carnival when a total of 11 countries participated.

28

BUSINESS |Stock Watch

MONDAY, october 31, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Cadbury Nigeria: Macro headwinds retard growth The manufacturing industry has continued to struggle. Cadbury Nigeria Plc is not immune, writes CHRIS UGWU

T

he cumulative effect of the scarcity of foreign exchange, falling oil prices, security challenges in northern part of the country, the resurgence of restiveness in the Niger Delta and the continued depletion of foreign reserves, have continued to pose serious threats to businesses and social activities in 2016.

Aside from rising cost of raw materials driven by the challenging working environment, coupled with fiscal and monetary headwinds, which have resulted in marked reduction in domestic output some manufacturers, especially multinational consumer goods firms who have taken up foreign currency liabilities, are also groaning under the pressure of the increased cost of the dollar.

Given headwinds such as weak demand on the back of a squeeze on household wallets, most consumer goods companies in Nigerian have continue to find it difficult to weather the storm.

The volatility in performance of Cadbury Nigeria Plc is a good example of the current challenges facing the real sector.

After a string of losses from 2006 to 2009, exacerbated by an internal crisis and financial misappropriations, which led to the suspension of its shares, Cadbury returned to profitability in 2010.

However, in the last few years, the company has been affected by a squeeze on consumer disposable incomes.

Although Cadbury has attempted to offset some of the headwinds with new product introductions/re-launch (Tang, Buttermint, Cadbury Hot Chocolate 3-in-1 drink and TomTom varieties), its full offering is still limited compared with peers.

The company, which began the year 2016 impressively finished the third quarter in a disappointing note to what market analysts majorly attributed to weak consumer demands, stiffer competition and lack of accessibility to key markets in the Northern part of the country, coupled with increased financing cost, which have resulted in slow growth of many fast moving consumer goods companies.

Market sentiments for the shares of Cadbury Nigeria, one of the country’s leading consumer goods companies listed on the floor of the Nigeria Stock Exchange, has also dwindled relatively due to challenging environment, just like other quoted firms in Nigeria facing depression in share prices.

The share price, which closed at N19.66 per share in November, 2015, has recorded a dip in growth that when the closing bell rang on Friday, the company’s share price stood at N13.00,

cant impact on profit.

Cadbury Plc 2015 November 30

N19.66

December 31

N17.15

January 2016

N19.00

February 29

N17.20

March 31

N14.77

April 30

N15.50

May 31

N16.85

June 30

N17.35

July 31

N14.27

August 29

N14.00

September 30

N16.49

October 31

N13.00

Atedo Peterside

a decline of N6.66 or 33.87 per cent year to date.

Financials Cadbury Nigeria completed the full year ended December 31, 2015 with a 46 per cent drop in profit after tax.

The food and confectionery maker recorded a profit after tax of tax of N1.153 billion from N2.137 billion in 2014, accounting for a percentage decline of 46 per cent.

Similarly, the firm posted a profit before tax of N1.577 billion during the full year from N2.385 billion reported in the same period of 2014, depicting a decline of 34 per cent.

Gross earnings also dropped to N27.825 billion during the full year, against N30.518 billion a year ago, accounting for a drop of 9 per cent.

Reprieve however, came the way of investors at the beginning of the year, as Cadbury Nigeria’s revenue for the first quarter (Q1 2016) rose 6 per cent to N7.1 billion, from N6.7 billion a year earlier.

The company returned to profitability by turning around its loss-making business for the better during the first quarter.

Cadbury’s pre-tax profit rose 329 per cent to N694 million, from a N304 million loss it incurred in the first quarter of 2015.

According market reports, the company had taken a series of bold steps to emerge from the difficulties it found itself a year ago. In October 2015, Cadbury unveiled a new manufacturing plant it built to boost production of its famous Bournvita, at a cost of N10 billion. In the same month, it partnered with Indomie noodles maker, Tolaram Group to launch a 3-month promo campaign of value packed Bournvita and Indomie noodles.

In April 2016, Cadbury relaunched its flagship Bournvita in a newly re-designed packaging, which the company said contains improved nutritional content (creamier with

It is important for the company to continue to manage its cost base tightly to deliver moderate operating margins improvement

increased quantities of cocoa and milk).

Cadbury’s profit after tax grew by 322 per cent to N673 million in the first quarter from N304million loss in the same period in 2015.

Cadbury Nigeria also recorded a profit after tax of N147.147 million for the half year ended June 30, 2016 as against a loss after tax of N250.716 million a year earlier.

Key extracts of the accounts statement for the half year submitted to the NSE showed growth in key performance indices.

The food and confectionery maker also reported a profit before tax of N216.393 million during the period under review from a loss before tax of N250.716 million in 2015.

However, gross earnings dropped marginally to N13.917 billion during the half year, against N14.137 billion a year ago, accounting for a drop of 1.56 per cent.

Efforts to sustain the profit margin was however, dashed in Q3 2016. While sales of N7.4 billion grew by 6.8 per cent y/y due to base effects, the company recorded pre and post-tax losses of –N1.1billion and –N989million respectively. The losses were driven by a gross margin contraction of -2,709bps y/y to 5.8 per cent, offsetting a -22.3 per cent y/y decline in opex to N1.5 billion. On a q/q basis, sales were up 9.0 per cent q/q while the pre and post-tax losses mirrored, although to a greater magnitude, the –N477 million and –N526 million losses on the PBT and PAT lines in prior quarter.

Moving on to the 9M 2016 numbers, sales grew marginally by 1.2 per cent y/y to N21.3 billion. However, the company recorded losses before and after tax of -N842 million. Although opex declined by -14.5 per cent y/y to N5.5 billion, a -939bp y/y contraction in gross margin to 21.0 per cent had a more signifi-

Analysts’ view According to analysts at FBN Quest, the results showed that Cadbury, like most consumer goods firms, is yet to overcome the negative impact of macro headwinds. The continued devaluation of the naira, which moved further down to N305/ US$ as of end-September (having fallen to N280/US$ as of endJune from N199/US$), weighed on gross margins. Production inputs such as sugar and milk are mostly imported.

The experts noted: “Compared with our estimates, sales were 15.5 per cent ahead. However, we had forecast PBT and PAT of N309 million and N247 million respectively vs. the pre-tax and after-tax losses reported by the company. While the annualised sales figure is in line with consensus full year sales estimate of N27.5 billion, the PBT (loss) tracks behind consensus’ N960 million. On our published estimates, Cadbury currently trades on a 2016E P/E multiple of 35.8x for 2017E EPS growth of 3.0 per cent. Cadbury shares have shed -23.4 per cent ytd (vs -3.7 per cent ytd for the ASI); we expect the market’s reaction to this result to be negative. We rate the stock Underperform.

According to analysts at Exotic Research, “Cadbury’s results are poor and below our expectations, but broadly consistent with peers during the period.

It reflects the company’s relatively low operating leverage, compounded by a surge in input costs (particularly in Q3 16), weaker volumes and delays raising product prices. We expect some improvement in the company’s profit in subsequent quarters, having raised product prices aggressively in October 2016 and sustained operating efficiencies driving operating costs lower. “However, the downside risks to Cadbury Nigeria’s short- to medium-term earnings – such as weakness in the naira and loss of market share to its competitor, Nestle Nigeria – remain relatively high. We therefore maintain our Hold recommendation on the company despite the upside to our target price.”

They noted that input costs surged notably in Q3 16, +50 per cent yoy, highlighting the effect of the timing of the devaluation of the naira, following its floating in June 2016. “Prior to that, local manufacturers including Cadbury were sourcing FX at a much lower average rate, despite sourcing from alternative markets. We expect this headwind to remain in Q4 16, but it should be better managed by the recent increase in product prices,” they said.

Conclusion Though high cost of operations have remarkably weighed down on the manufacturing sector, it is important for the company to continue to manage its cost base tightly to deliver moderate operating margins improvement for growth and profitability.

29

BUSINESS | Capital Market

MONDAY, october 31, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Prices for Securities Traded as of 28/10/2016 Printed 28/10/2016 14:32:48.048

The Nigerian Stock Market Exchange as at October 28, 2016 Price List (Equities)

PRICES FOR MAIN BOARD SECURITIES INDUSTRIAL GOODS

Prices for Securities Traded as of 28/10/2016 Printed 28/10/2016 14:32:48.048

S/N

BUILDING MATERIALS

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

126

LAFARGE AFRICA PLC.

250,519.60

50.00

2.84

66

2,108,129

127

PAINTS AND COATINGS MANUFACTURES PLC

666.05

0.84

-

2

700

128

PORTLAND PAINTS & PRODUCTS NIGERIA PLC

16,740

129

PREMIER PAINTS PLC.

580.00

1.45

-

4

1,277.97

10.39

-

0

0

98

2,258,472

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

BUILDING MATERIALS

Prices for Securities Traded as of 28/10/2016 Printed 28/10/2016 14:32:48.048

S/N

Price List (Equities)

PRICES FOR PREMIUM BOARD SECURITIES

1

BANKING ZENITH INTERNATIONAL BANK PLC OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

-0.33

126

2,511,257

133

BETA GLASS CO PLC.

126

2,511,257

134

GREIF NIGERIA PLC

Price List (Equities) MARKET CAP(Nm)

TRADES

VOLUME

171

14,054,881

PRICES FOR MAIN BOARD SECURITIES OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS

171

14,054,881

FINANCIAL SERVICES AGRICULTURE

297

16,566,138

FBN HOLDINGS PLC

108,762.74

S/N LIVESTOCK/ANIMAL SPECIALTIES BUILDING MATERIALS

LIVESTOCK FEEDS PLC. DANGOTE CEMENT PLC

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

1,600.00

175.00

0.80

-3.61-

15

8

572,153 91,331

8 15

572,153 91,331

15 67

91,331 1,324,899

MARKET CAP(Nm) 2,982,088.80

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

LIVESTOCK/ANIMAL SPECIALTIES BUILDING MATERIALS INDUSTRIAL GOODS Traded as of 28/10/2016 Prices for Securities AGRICULTURE PREMIUM BOARD TOTALS

Printed 28/10/2016 14:32:48.048 CONGLOMERATES

Price List (Equities) MARKET CAP(Nm)

S/N DIVERSIFIED INDUSTRIES PRICES FORLEVENTIS MAIN BOARD SECURITIES 9 A.G. NIGERIA PLC. AGRICULTURE

CHELLARAMS PLC.

CROP PRODUCTION

JOHNCOCOA HOLT PLC. FTN PROCESSORS PLC

12 5

S C O A OIL NIG.PALM PLC. PLC. OKOMU

6 PRESCO PLC 13 TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATION PRICES FOR MAIN BOARD SECURITIES OF NIGERIA PLC 14 U A C N PLC. ESTATE CONSTRUCTION/REAL

CROP PRODUCTION

FISHING/HUNTING/TRAPPING

DIVERSIFIED INDUSTRIES S/N REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT 7 ELLAH LAKES PLC. FISHING/HUNTING/TRAPPING CONGLOMERATES 19 UACN PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT CO. LIMITED CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE REAL DEVELOPMENT Prices for ESTATE Securities Traded as of 28/10/2016 Published byBUILDING The Nigerian Stock Exchange © CONSTRUCTION REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUSTS (REITS) PrintedS/N 28/10/2016 14:32:48.048 15 20

ARBICO PLC. FUND PLC SKYE SHELTER

21 UNION HOMES REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST BUILDING CONSTRUCTION (REIT) S/N BUILDING STRUCTURE/COMPLETION/OTHER 22 UPDC REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST 16 COSTAIN (W A) PLC. REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUSTS (REITS) BUILDING STRUCTURE/COMPLETION/OTHER CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE S/N INFRASTRUCTURE/HEAVY CONSTRUCTION PRICES FORGOODS MAIN BOARD SECURITIES CONSUMER 17 JULIUS BERGER NIG. PLC. CONSUMER GOODS S/N AUTOMOBILES/AUTO PARTS 18 ROADS NIG PLC. S/N BEVERAGES--BREWERS/DISTILLERS 23 DN TYRE & RUBBER PLC INFRASTRUCTURE/HEAVY CONSTRUCTION 26 GUINNESS NIGPARTS PLC AUTOMOBILES/AUTO

PricesS/N for Securities Traded as of 28/10/2016 27 INTERNATIONAL BREWERIES PLC. BEVERAGES--BREWERS/DISTILLERS Published byCHAMPION The Nigerian Stock Exchange © Printed24 14:32:48.048 2828/10/2016 NIGERIAN BREW. PLC. BREW. PLC. 29 25

PREMIERGUINEA BREWERIES PLC GOLDEN BREW. PLC.

S/N BEVERAGES--NON-ALCOHOLIC 7-UP BOTTLING COMP. PLC.

312

16,657,469

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

2,038.41

0.77

-

0

0

3.41

-

0

0

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

BEVERAGES--NON-ALCOHOLIC

53 bySTERLING BANKStock PLC.Exchange © Published The Nigerian UNION BANK NIG.PLC.

55 UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA PLC Prices for Securities Traded as of 28/10/2016 Printed56 28/10/2016 14:32:48.048 UNITY BANK PLC as of 28/10/2016 Prices for Securities Traded Printed 28/10/2016 14:32:48.048

57

WEMA BANK PLC.

0.66 0.50

--

0 0

0 0

3.77 41.00

--

0 35

0 451,150

S/N INSURANCE CARRIERS, BROKERS AND SERVICES AFRICAN ALLIANCE INSURANCE COMPANY PLC

FINANCIAL SERVICES PRICES FOR MAIN BOARD SECURITIES 59 INSURANCE AIICO INSURANCE PLC. BROKERS AND SERVICES S/N CARRIERS, FINANCIAL SERVICES 73 N.E.M INSURANCE CO (NIG) PLC. S/N INSURANCE CARRIERS, BROKERS 60 NIGER AXAMANSARD INSURANCE PLC AND SERVICES 74 INSURANCE CO. PLC. 76 REGENCY ALLIANCE INSURANCE COMPANY PLC 75 PRESTIGE ASSURANCE CO. INSURANCE PLC. 61 SOVEREIGN CONSOLIDATED HALLMARK PLC 77 TRUST INSURANCE PLC

78 62

STANDARD ALLIANCE INSURANCE CONTINENTAL REINSURANCE PLC PLC.

79 STANDARD TRUST ASSURANCE PLC Published TheINSURANCE Nigerian Stock Exchange © 63 byUNIC CORNERSTONE INSURANCE COMPANY PLC. 80 PLC.

24 70

301,596 17,804,560

43,850.00 40,657.05

35,881.75

137

43.85 1.00

18.68

3.66 -1.00

59

1.36

S/N

752,746

%CHANGE

TRADES

65

1,171,264

MARKET CAP(Nm) 511.20

PRICE 4.26

%CHANGE-

5,585.94

3.25

0.31

1350 TRADES 135 230

18,975,824 VOLUME0 18,975,824 494,8880

23

494,888

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

VOLUME

Page TRADES

22 of VOLUME

1

4.79 100.00

-

0

0

45.22

-

0

0

MARKET CAP(Nm) 26,682.70 542.19

PRICE 10.00 0.50

%CHANGE -

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES 0 0 0 0 27 TRADES

VOLUME 0 0 0 0 505,308 VOLUME

50,160.00 MARKET CAP(Nm) 165.00 MARKET CAP(Nm) 2,386.33

38.00 PRICE 6.60 PRICE 0.50

%CHANGE %CHANGE -

120,471.06

80.00

-

63,908.44 MARKET CAP(Nm) 1,157,648.73 20,200.10

19.40 PRICE 146.00 2.58

%CHANGE -0.68 -4.65

4 TRADES 0 TRADES 1 4 29 1 TRADES10

10,420 VOLUME 0 VOLUME 104 10,420 41,471 104 91,962 VOLUME

2,888.67 231.34

2.95 0.85

--

Price List (Equities)

Page 64 9

2

112

840,250

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

101,725.75

158.80

-0.69

7

15,920

7

15,920

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

17,550.00

3.51

-

16

85,878

75,000.00 MARKET CAP(Nm) 51,225.11 1,858.35 9,357.63 2,564.23 1,861.25

6.25 PRICE 19.52 29.33 1.18 2.46 0.50

-3.85 %CHANGE 1.09 -

1,070.98 MARKET CAP(Nm) 21,195.51 65,512.87 214.00 189,164.81 616.69

6.01 PRICE 8.00 16.50 5.35 50.00 0.50

%CHANGE -

4,507.36

16.49

-

19 TRADES 25 1 3 8 0 Page9 1 TRADES 6 17 0 20 0 37 0 306 70

Price List (Equities)

3

MARKET CAP(Nm) MARKET CAP(Nm) 25,543.55 164,889.44 626,991.10 MARKET 25,244.82 CAP(Nm)

PRICE PRICE 13.60 5.70 791.00 PRICE 1.09

%CHANGE %CHANGE 4.62 0.35 -0.87 %CHANGE -4.39

701,933.62 192,670.29 8,189.38 25,787.57

23.85 10.50 0.59 0.89

26,199.28

0.91

-0.62 5.00 -1.67 4.71 -4.21

76,549.85

4.52

-

14

117,190

154,550.78

4.26

1.43

95

7,274,358

7,598.07

0.65

4.84

14

2,028,250

23,530.42

0.61

3.39

22

2,113,520

628

83,733,916

Price List (Equities) MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

Price List (Equities)

10,292.50

0.50

-

0

0

MARKET CAP(Nm)

4,019.52

PRICE

0.58

%CHANGE

3.57

TRADES

5

VOLUME

4,224.40 MARKET 20,265.00 CAP(Nm) 3,869.74 3,334.38 2,759.15 3,000.00 4,170.41

0.80 PRICE 1.93 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50

%CHANGE--

3 TRADES 6 0 0 0 0 0

25,000 VOLUME 35,9000 0 0 0 0

5,996.59 10,476.47

0.50 1.01

4.12-

0.50

-

7,364.75 1,291.15

0.50 0.50

--

TRADES TRADES 49 110 21 TRADES 66 70 115 41 39 92

Page 20

of

0

0

0 0

GOLDLINK INSURANCE WAPIC INSURANCE PLCPLC

66

GREAT NIGERIAN INSURANCE PLC

85

NPF MICROFINANCE BANK PLC

INSURANCE COMPANY

PLC MORTGAGE CARRIERS, BROKERS AND SERVICES

86

ABBEY MORTGAGE BANK PLC

87

ASO SAVINGS AND LOANS PLC

88 70

INFINITY TRUST BANK PLC LAW UNION ANDMORTGAGE ROCK INS. PLC.

89

RESORT SAVINGS & LOANS PLC

90

UNION HOMES SAVINGS AND LOANS PLC.

LASACO ASSURANCE PLC. LINKAGE ASSURANCE PLC

PRICES FOR MAIN BOARD SECURITIES

MORTGAGE CARRIERS, BROKERS AND PLC. SERVICES 72 MUTUAL BENEFITS ASSURANCE

FINANCIAL SERVICES S/N OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS

AFRICA REGISTRARS PLC OTHER PRUDENTIAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS

92 by AND ALLIED PLC Published The Nigerian Stock Exchange © 94 CUSTODIAN FCMB GROUP PLC.

93 by DEAP CAPITAL Stock MANAGEMENT &© TRUST PLC Published The Nigerian Exchange

2,411.47 6,825.20 1,913.74

MARKET CAP(Nm)

11,799.67 3,070.00

0.50

0.53 0.51 0.50

PRICE

2.58 0.50

-

2.00-

-

%CHANGE

--

1,966.97

7.46

-

0 0

PHARMACEUTICALS

103

EVANS MEDICAL PLC.

104

FIDSON HEALTHCARE PLC GLAXO SMITHKLINE CONSUMER NIG. PLC. MAY & BAKER NIGERIA PLC.

40.00

-

18

-

S/N

EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION

149

SEPLAT PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LTD

S/N

ADVERTISING

150

AFROMEDIA PLC

%CHANGE 3.21

TRADES 50

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

214,108.93

380.00

1.33

Page

144

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

2,219.52

0.50

-

S/N

APPAREL RETAILERS

19,354

8

PRICE

69,131

VOLUME 124,827 13

432,76122

of

VOLUME

13

537,982

13

537,982

210

1,664,347

TRADES

VOLUME

0

0

0

0

MARKET CAP(Nm) Price List (Equities)

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

210.49

3.00

-

Prices for Securities Traded as of 28/10/2016 Printed 28/10/2016 14:32:48.048

PRICES FOR MAIN BOARD SECURITIES SERVICES S/N

APPAREL RETAILERS

151

LENNARDS (NIG) PLC.

Price List (Equities)

0

0

0

0

AUTOMOBILE/AUTO PART RETAILERS

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

R T BRISCOE PLC. PRINTING/PUBLISHING

588.18 MARKET CAP(Nm)

0.50 PRICE

0 VOLUME

UNIVERSITY PRESS PLC.

%CHANGE-

0 TRADES

1,302.80

2.19

-

0 0

1,975.86

4.58

-

2

0 0 50,000

COURIER/FREIGHT/DELIVERY

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

153 S/N

RED STAR EXPRESS PLC ROAD TRANSPORTATION

2,357.99 MARKET CAP(Nm)

4.00 PRICE

%CHANGE-

1 TRADES

100,000 VOLUME

165 154

ASSOCIATED BUS COMPANY PLC TRANS-NATIONWIDE EXPRESS PLC.

828.85 222.68

0.50 1.12

-

0 0

1

0 100,000

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

COURIER/FREIGHT/DELIVERY SPECIALTY

S/N 166

HOSPITALITY TECHNOLOGIES PLC INTERLINKED

167 155

SECURE ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY PLC TANTALIZERS PLC

MARKET CAP(Nm) 946.80

PRICE 4.00

%CHANGE-

2,815.77 1,605.81

0.50 0.50

--

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

5,420.73 4,385.39

3.50 2.70

--

SPECIALTY

Printed 28/10/2016 168 AIRLINE 14:32:48.048 SERVICES AND LOGISTICS PLC

156 169

CAPITAL HOTEL PLC HANDLING COMPANY PLC NIGERIAN AVIATION

TRANSPORT-RELATED SERVICES 157 IKEJA HOTEL PLC S/N

158

SUPPORT AND LOGISTICS

TOURIST COMPANY OF NIGERIA PLC.

170

C & I LEASING PLC.

159 171

TRANSCORPOFFSHORE HOTELS PLC CAVERTON SUPPORT GRP PLC

S/N

160

S/N

MEDIA/ENTERTAINMENT

DAAR COMMUNICATIONS PLC

PROPERTY MANAGEMENT

MEDIA/ENTERTAINMENT 172 SMART PRODUCTS NIGERIA PLC PROPERTY MANAGEMENT S/N PRINTING/PUBLISHING CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE 161 ACADEMY PRESS PLC. CONSUMER GOODS 162 byLEARN AFRICA Stock PLC Exchange © Published The Nigerian PricesS/N for Securities Traded as of 28/10/2016 FOOD PRODUCTS

Printed 28/10/2016 14:32:48.048 173 MCNICHOLS PLC

VOLUME 0

0 0

0

MARKET CAP(Nm) 1,394.80

PRICE 2.20

%CHANGE-

TRADES Page

TRADES 2

0 0 0

14

0 27

0

VOLUME of

VOLUME 1,700

3,658.68

1.76

-

29 0

140,694 0

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

7,885.00 941.41

40,130.13 3,685.56 Price List (Equities)

3.51

-

MARKET CAP(Nm) 6,000.00

MARKET CAP(Nm)

0

0

0.50

-

0

0

5.28 1.10

10.00-

1 22

1,000 444,650

22 1

444,650 1,000

PRICE 0.50

PRICE

%CHANGE -

%CHANGE

57

746,463

TRADES

VOLUME

1,761

131,790,803

0

0

TRADES

VOLUME

34.20

0.76

-

0 0

0 0

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

0 TRADES

0 VOLUME

308.45

0.51

-

493.73

0.64

-

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

421.44

1.29

-

0 0

2 Page TRADES

CONSUMER GOODS

0 0

16

10,119 22 of VOLUME

0

Page 0

FOODby PRODUCTS Published The Nigerian Stock Exchange ©

0

15

of

0

0

0

TRADES

VOLUME

S/N

MORTGAGE CARRIERS, BROKERS AND SERVICES

174

OMOLUABI SAVINGS AND LOANS PLC

MORTGAGE CARRIERS, BROKERS AND SERVICES PRICES FOR ASEM SECURITIES FINANCIAL SERVICES OIL AND GAS HEALTHCARE S/N PETROLEUM AND PETROLEUM PRODUCTS S/N PHARMACEUTICALS DISTRIBUTORS 175 PLC. 176 AFRIK ANINOPHARMACEUTICALS INTERNATIONAL PLC. PHARMACEUTICALS 177 CAPITAL OIL PLC HEALTHCARE 178 NAVITUS ENERGY PLC OIL AND GAS 179 RAK UNITY PET. COMP. PLC. S/N PETROLEUM AND PETROLEUM PRODUCTS PETROLEUM AND PETROLEUM PRODUCTS DISTRIBUTORS DISTRIBUTORS OIL AND GAS

MARKET CAP(Nm)

Price List (Equities) 4,600.00

MARKET CAP(Nm) MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

0.92

-

0

0

0

0

0

0

PRICE PRICE

%CHANGE %CHANGE

TRADES TRADES

VOLUME VOLUME

12.45 6.05

0.50 0.25

-

2,928.77

0.50

-

62.12

0.63

-

0 0 0

0 0

0

28.31

0.50

-

0

0

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES 0

VOLUME 0

0

0

TRADES

VOLUME

SERVICES

22

FOOD/DRUG RETAILERS AND WHOLESALERS PricesS/N for Securities Traded as of 28/10/2016 180 JULI PLC. Printed 28/10/2016 14:32:48.048

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

349.83

1.75

-

S/N byWASTE MANAGEMENT Published The Nigerian Stock Exchange ©

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

792.08

0.89

-

FOOD/DRUG RETAILERS AND WHOLESALERS

0

0

0

Page TRADES

0

17

22 of VOLUME

181

THE INITIATES PLC

ASEM TOTALS EQUITIES TOTALS

Price List (ETP)

0

0

0

0

2,073

148,448,272

PRICES FOR ETP SECURITIES

0

2.69

0.37

1

84.91

7.31

0.55

1,873.98

12.46

0.40

1

74.92

17.10

3.39

1

2

661.63

130.49

0.05

3

2,352

8

2,362

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

5,100.00 MARKET CAP(Nm)

2.55 PRICE

3.24 %CHANGE

26 TRADES

995,766 VOLUME

21,821.72

21,584.95

3.71

1.09

2.83

411.91

552.20

-

750.00

0.50

-

170,000.00

17.00

-

15,000.00

2.50

1.21

Page 11 47

0 Page

0 0

Page

6

Price List (Equities)

S/N

7

8

22

of

0 22

of

0

5 by VETIVA CONSUMER ETF© Published The Nigerian StockGOODS Exchange 6

VETIVA GRIFFIN 30 ETF

0

7

VETIVA INDUSTRIAL ETF

0

8

VETIVA S & P NIGERIA SOVEREIGN BOND ETF

22

0

16

COMPANY

Prices for Securities Traded as of 28/10/2016 VETIVA BANKING ETF Printed428/10/2016 14:32:48.048

of

202,000 14,785,325

MARKET CAP(Nm)

Price List (BONDS)

PRICES FOR DEBT SECURITIES S/N

260,820

COMPANY

ETP1 TOTALS (182-DAY CBN TBILL)SIB SEP2024

1 Page

0 2 18

of

2 22 2

-

80

2,3620

-

0

0

12,000.00

100.00

-

0

0

272,400.00

90.80

-

0

0

12,950.00

100.00

-

0

0

12.1493% FGN JUL 2034

909,151.42

84.50

-

0

0

7

12.40% FGN MAR 2036

298,189.41

84.71

-

0

0

8

12.49% FGN MAY 2029

150,000.00

100.00

-

0

0

9

12.50% FGN JAN 2026

403,572.68

86.23

-

0

0

2

10.00% FGN JUL 2030

3

10.20% IFC FEB 2018

4

10.70% FGN MAY 2018

5

11.25% ADB FEB 2021

6

100.00

417,056.18

100.00

70.50

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

1,765.05

3.54

-

0

0

10

13.00% UBA SEP 2017

20,000.00

100.00

-

0

0

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

11

13.25% SIB SEP 2024

15,440.00

100.00

-

0

0

1,776.57

0.50

-

0

0

12

13.50% LAB NOV 2020

87,500.00

100.00

-

0

0

0

0

13

14.00% DEL SEP 2018

50,000.00

100.00

-

0

0

14

14.00% EDO DEC 2017

25,000.00

100.00

-

0

0

15

14.00% NIG DEC 2018

12,000.00

100.00

-

0

0

16

14.00% NIG OCT 2018

9,000.00

100.00

-

0

0

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

251.09

1.65

-

1

100

1

100

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

366.17

0.50

-

0

1,905.00

1.27

-4.51

3

17,842.48

14.92

-0.73

35

%CHANGE -

TRADES

Page 0

9

0

0

0

0

0

20

14.50% EKI DEC 2018

20,000.00

100.00

-

0

85,000

21

14.50% EKI DEC 2020

5,000.00

100.00

-

0

0

396,685

22

14.50% FGN JUL 2021

221,730.43

98.29

-0.31

1

3,000

23

14.50% LAB NOV 2019

79,960.24

99.95

-

0

0

24

14.75% OSUN DEC 2019

30,000.00

100.00

-

0

25

14.75% OSUN OCT 2020

106.76

-

0

VOLUME

of

0

0

0

Price List (BONDS) 12,170.82

Page Page

Published byFOR The DEBT Nigerian Stock Exchange Exchange © © Published by The Nigerian Stock PRICES SECURITIES

S/N

22

COMPANY

0 0

0 0

20 19

of of

22 22

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

26

14.90% NMR JUL 2030

8,000.00

100.00

-

0

0

27

15.00% FGN NOV 2028

75,000.00

100.00

-

0

0

28

15.00% KGB DEC 2020

100.00

-

0

0

29

15.00% NAS JAN 2021

5,000.00

100.00

-

0

0

30

15.10% FGN APR 2017

483,671.18

100.74

-

0

0

31

15.25% NAH DEC 2020

2,050.00

100.00

-

0

0

15,000.00

100.00

-

0

0

2,000.00

100.00

-

0

0

20,000.00

100.00

-

0

0

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

32

15.5% BAU DEC 2021

1,470.89

0.50

-

0

0

33

15.5% FID NOV 2019

0

0

34

15.50% GMB OCT 2019

Price List (Equities)

0

-

2,000

0.50

-

97.60 100.00

1

PRICE

100.00

26,000.00

-

1,776.00

35,000.00 702,714.27

14.25% FCM NOV 2021

0.82

MARKET CAP(Nm)

14.00% UBA SEP 2018 Prices 17 for Securities Traded as of 28/10/2016 18 14.20% FGN MAR 2024 Printed 28/10/2016 14:32:48.048 19

803.60

5,000.00

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

35

15.50% TRN DEC 2020

9,758.00

100.00

-

0

0

4,519.67

0.91

-

0

0

36

15.54% FGN FEB 2020

608,855.72

100.40

-

0

0

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

37

15.75% LAC OCT 2018

3,000.00

100.00

-

0

0

38

16.00% DNB APR 2019

4,500.00

100.00

-

0

0

39

16.00% FGN JUN 2019

357,272.45

101.70

-

0

0

40

16.00% GMB FEB 2022

5,000.00

100.00

-

0

0 Page

10

of

0

2.67

-

0

0

NCR (NIGERIA) PLC.

970.92

8.99

-

0

0

TRIPPLE GEE AND COMPANY PLC.

673.14

1.36

-

0

0

0

0

IT SERVICES MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

2,348.03

0.50

-

0

0

21,504.00

5.12

-

1

400

1

400

PROCESSING SYSTEMS PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

2,446.80

0.50

-

0

0

TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES

0

ICT

22

S/N

400

INDUSTRIAL GOODS MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

910.10

2.47

-

0

0

27,455.70

12.26

-

12

76,393

1,996.88

6.89

-

1

100

23,625.00

33.75

-

6

3,910

-

7

52,500

295.75

0.91

-

0

0

1,055.18

6,572.42

0.50

5.23

-

0

Page

of

COMPANY

41

16.00% TRN OCT 2022

42

16.39% FGN JAN 2022

PRICE

%CHANGE

TRADES

VOLUME

10,000.00

100.00

-

0

0

647,076.39

106.90

-

0

0

43

16.45% UBA DEC 2021

30,500.00

-

0

0

16.48% FBB MAY 2022

30,000.00

100.00

-

0

0

45

16.5% BNU FEB 2022

4,950.00

100.00

-

0

100.00

0

46

16.5% OYO FEB 2022

4,800.00

100.00

-

0

0

47

17% ZAM APR 2022

6,999.22

99.99

-

0

0

48

17.00% CRS MAY 2022

8,699.18

108.74

-

0

0

49

17.00% KGB MAR 2022

3,000.00

100.00

-

0

0

50

17.25% FMB APR 2017

6,000.00

100.00

-

0

0

51

18.00% C&I NOV 2017

940.00

100.00

-

0

0

52

7.00% FGN OCT 2019

233,896.70

100.00

-

0

0

53

8.50% FGN NOV 2029

200,000.00

100.00

-

0

0

54

9.35% FGN AUG 2017

100,000.00

100.00

-

0

55

9.85% FGN JUL 2017

20,000.00

100.00

-

0

56

BAYELSA STATE DEVELOP. BOND 20

50,000.00

100.00

-

0

57

CHELLARAMS PLC BOND (MPR+5% FE

540.00

100.00

-

0

8,770.12

109.49

-

57,500.00

100.00

-

60

TOWER FUNDING BOND (MPR+5.25%,

1,000.00

100.00

-

61

TOWER FUNDING PLC BOND(MPR+7%,

3,630.00

100.00

-

BONDS TOTALS

Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange ©

22

MARKET CAP(Nm)

44

58 DANA GROUP PLC BOND (MPR+7%, D Published byLAGOS The Nigerian Stock Exchange © 59 STATE FIXED RATE BOND 20

0

11

0

PRICES FOR DEBT SECURITIES

0

1

Prices for Securities Traded as of 28/10/2016 Printed 28/10/2016 14:32:48.048

Price List (BONDS)

VOLUME

MARKET CAP(Nm)

22

FINANCIAL SERVICES

98.35

MARKET CAP(Nm)

22

0 138,994

MARKET CAP(Nm)

SUPPORT AND LOGISTICS HOTELS/LODGING SERVICES PRICES FOR ASEM SECURITIES

0

TRADES 0 0

HOSPITALITY

PricesS/N for Securities Traded as ofSERVICES 28/10/2016 Published byTRANSPORT-RELATED The Nigerian Stock Exchange © S/N HOTELS/LODGING

60,119

MARKET CAP(Nm)

ROAD TRANSPORTATION S/N

4

2

6,741.29

Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange ©

190.00 329.99

0

0 0

VOLUME

CEMENT CO. OF NORTH.NIG. PLC

10,159.55

-

8,2000

TRADES

FIRST ALUMINIUM NIGERIA PLC

68,513.10

MARKET CAP(Nm) 112,038.81

78.19

1

0 0

%CHANGE

DN MEYER PLC.

9,100 106,132

895.04

0

-

PRICE

123

3 52

STANBIC IBTC ETF 30

-

-

0.50

MARKET CAP(Nm)

125

PETROLEUM AND PETROLEUM PRODUCTS DISTRIBUTORS

2.19

3

0.50

3.02

4,000.00

Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange ©

124

MRS OIL NIGERIA PLC. TOTAL NIGERIA PLC.

2.81 120.02

VOLUME

ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES

CAP PLC

147 148

0 104,217

3,664.65 156,323.78

0

COMPUTER BASED SYSTEMS

122

FORTE OIL PLC.

1

483,785

BERGER PAINTS PLC

145

TRADES

483,685

121

144 ETERNA PLC. PRICES FOR MAIN BOARD SECURITIES

-

40

ASHAKA CEM PLC

VOLUME

0 13

10.12

39

120

TRADES

-

%CHANGE

HEALTHCARE

AFRICAN PAINTS (NIGERIA) PLC.

%CHANGE

0.50 35.90

8.92

PHARMACEUTICALS

119

693,604

PRICE

24,912.88

PRICE

0

BUILDING MATERIALS

53 MARKET CAP(Nm)

Price List (Equities) 1,858.49

0

3,990.00

0

S/N

693,604

553.04

-

MASS TELECOMMUNICATION INNOVATIONS NIGERIA PLC

53

598.50

1.62

118

0.19

LOTUS HALAL EQUITY ETF

351.25

TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES

5.20

NEWGOLD EXCHANGE TRADED FUND (ETF)

PHARMA-DEKO PLC.

S/N

0 VOLUME

62,580.02

1

109

PROCESSING SYSTEMS

0 0 TRADES

2

0

CHAMS PLC

%CHANGE

0

0

E-TRANZACT INTERNATIONAL PLC

BECO PETROLEUM PRODUCT PLC CONOIL PLC

VOLUME

0.50 PRICE

0

0

116

PETROLEUM AND PETROLEUM PRODUCTS DISTRIBUTORS

142 143

TRADES

3,131.35 MARKET CAP(Nm)

-

0

117

%CHANGE

0 0 0

0.50

-

ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES

0 0 0

0 0

-

ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES

OANDO PLC

MAIN BOARD TOTALS ESTATE CONSTRUCTION/REAL

0

3.62

MTECH COMMUNICATIONS PLC

-

4,6500

0.86

PRICES FOR MAIN BOARD SECURITIES

0.56

1

556.71

COMPUTERS AND PERIPHERALS

123.20

PRICE

0

0 0

1,349.81

OMATEK VENTURES PLC

0 VOLUME

0

NEIMETH INTERNATIONAL PHARMACEUTICALS PLC

111

0 0 TRADES

MARKET CAP(Nm)

22

VOLUME

%CHANGE

0

NIGERIA-GERMAN CHEMICALS PLC.

COMPUTERS AND PERIPHERALS

TRADES

0.50 PRICE

-

107

S/N

%CHANGE

2,130.97 MARKET CAP(Nm)

-

108

ICT PricesS/N for Securities Traded of 28/10/2016 COMPUTER BASEDas SYSTEMS Printed 28/10/2016 14:32:48.048 Published byCOURTEVILLE The Nigerian Stock Exchange © 110 BUSINESS SOLUTIONS PLC

PRICE

0

--

MEDICAL SUPPLIES S/N

MARKET CAP(Nm)

of

-

0.50

HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS MORISON INDUSTRIES PLC.

0 VOLUME

12

1.25

103,596,508

102

Page 0

1.47 0.67

817

MEDICAL SUPPLIES

141

S/N

0 47,250

FINANCIAL SERVICES

S/N

INTEGRATED OIL AND GAS SERVICES

PRINTING/PUBLISHING

0 0

0 3

2,327,789

UNION DIAGNOSTIC & CLINICAL SERVICES PLC

0 TRADES

0

18,571,700

101

%CHANGE

0

48

HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS

PRICE

0

148

S/N

MARKET CAP(Nm)

0

OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS

EKOCORP PLC.

VOLUME

0.50

3,661.72

-

100

-

0 0

TRADES

5,250.00

103.24

HEALTHCARE

9.75

%CHANGE

7,370.87

6,130.57 2,303.01 Price List (Equities) 5,664.87 4,000.00 2,949.22

3,313.67

PRICES FOR MAIN BOARD SECURITIES S/N HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS

2,144.57

PRICE

VOLUME

0 0

WASTE MANAGEMENT

47,250

SIM CAPITAL ALLIANCE VALUE FUND

HEALTHCARE

MARKET CAP(Nm) Price List (Equities)

TRADES

SERVICES

VOLUME

97

UNITED CAPITAL PLC

ENERGY EQUIPMENT AND SERVICES JAPAUL OIL & MARITIME SERVICES PLC

S/N

152 S/N

0

3

-

STANBIC IBTC HOLDINGS PLC

-

0 860,592

TRADES

-

0.50

99

%CHANGE

3.52

0 0 2,273,165

VOLUME

-

2,572.69

98

PRICE

1,465.18

0 0 101

1,243,642

0

%CHANGE

0.50

ROYAL EXCHANGE PLC.

Printed 28/10/2016 14:32:48.048

MARKET CAP(Nm)

0

38

1.04

96

S/N

VOLUME

0 15

PRICE

NIGERIA ENERYGY SECTOR FUND

115

TRADES

TRADES

2,378.10

642.04

S/N 140

164

0

MARKET CAP(Nm)

95

Published The Nigerian Stock © Prices forby Securities Traded asExchange of 28/10/2016

0

THOMAS WYATT NIG. PLC.

163 STUDIO PRESS (NIG) PLC. AUTOMOBILE/AUTO PART RETAILERS

2,000 200,900

5

139

SERVICES

106,400

1 6 0 Page 0

PAPER/FOREST PRODUCTS

S/N

of 22 1,659,788

65 83

INSURANCE CARRIERS, BROKERS AND SERVICES MICRO-FINANCE BANKS PricesS/N for Securities Traded as of 28/10/2016 84 FORTIS GUINEA MICROFINANCE INSURANCE PLC.BANK PLC Printed6728/10/2016 14:32:48.048

114

%CHANGE

APPAREL RETAILERS

VOLUME VOLUME 277,763 15,494,388 74,630 VOLUME 11,533,829 352,393 7,470,523 898,375 14,777,957 20,365,738

4

MINING SERVICES MULTIVERSE MINING AND EXPLORATION PLC

S/N

PRICES FOR MAIN BOARD SECURITIES

163,850 VOLUME 524,498 500 11,200 17,040 0 of 17,54022 3,823 VOLUME 10,000 106,159 0 88,489 0 194,648 0 2,220,104 799,249

0

CWG PLC

14,693

PRICE

ADVERTISING

of379,48822 327,329 00

0

113

3 MARKET CAP(Nm)

EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION Prices Securities Traded as of 28/10/2016 OILfor AND GAS Printed 28/10/2016 14:32:48.048 SERVICES

00

-

IT SERVICES

14,693

0

PETROLEUM AND PETROLEUM PRODUCTS DISTRIBUTORS

0.50

S/N

0

3

Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange ©

MARKET CAP(Nm)

7,000.00

ALUMINIUM EXTRUSION IND. PLC.

METALS

S/N

S/N

8,000.00

EQUITY ASSURANCE PLC.

METALS

146AND MOBIL OIL GASOIL NIG PLC.

711.32 2,000.00 11,305.89

4,670.54

B.O.C. GASES PLC.

138

S/N

UNIVERSAL INSURANCE COMPANY PLC

S/N

0

-

INTEGRATED OIL AND GAS SERVICES

82

S/N

-

9.69

ENERGY EQUIPMENT AND SERVICES

PRICE

0

112 ICT

1.32 31.50

413.18

PAPER/FOREST PRODUCTS Prices for Securities Traded as of 28/10/2016 NATURAL RESOURCES OIL AND GAS Printed 28/10/2016 14:32:48.048

0

106

902.85 15,749.12

MINING SERVICES

-

105

NIGERIAN ROPES PLC

PRICES FOR MAIN BOARD SECURITIES

0.50

91 S/N

VOLUME

METALS Published

by The Nigerian Stock Exchange ©

6,933.33

71

135

S/N

UNITY KAPITAL ASSURANCE PLC

69

TOOLS AND MACHINERY

136

64

S/N

TRADES

CHEMICALS

81

68 INTERNATIONAL MICRO-FINANCE BANKSENERGY

S/N

NATURAL RESOURCES Prices for Securities Traded as of 28/10/2016 PrintedS/N 28/10/2016 14:32:48.048 CHEMICALS

MARKET CAP(Nm)

BANKING PRICES FOR MAIN BOARD SECURITIES

58

%CHANGE

TOOLS AND MACHINERY

VOLUME

256.84 1,100.00

2,449.84 39,110.31

Price List (Equities)

Price List (Equities)

S/N FOOD PRODUCTS PRICES FOR MAIN BOARD SECURITIES 31 DANGOTE FLOUR MILLS PLC CONSUMER GOODS 32 DANGOTE SUGAR REFINERY PLC S/N HOUSEHOLD DURABLES 33 FLOUR MILLS NIG. PLC. 43 NIGERIAN ENAMELWARE PLC. 34 HONEYWELL FLOUR MILL PLC 44 VITAFOAM NIG PLC. Prices35 for Securities Traded as of 28/10/2016 MULTI-TREX INTEGRATED FOODS PLC HOUSEHOLD DURABLES Published

by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © Printed3628/10/2016 14:32:48.048 N NIG. FLOUR MILLS PLC. S/N PERSONAL/HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS 37 NASCON ALLIED INDUSTRIES PLC 45 P Z CUSSONS NIGERIA PLC. 38 P S MANDRIDES & CO PLC. 46 UNILEVER NIGERIA PLC. 39 U T C NIG. PLC. PERSONAL/HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS 40 UNION DICON SALT PLC. CONSUMER GOODS FOOD PRODUCTS FINANCIAL SERVICES S/N FOOD PRODUCTS--DIVERSIFIED PRICES FOR MAIN BOARD SECURITIES S/N BANKING 41 CADBURY NIGERIA PLC. FINANCIAL SERVICES 47 ACCESS BANK PLC. 42 NESTLE NIGERIA PLC. S/N 48 BANKING DIAMOND BANK PLC FOOD PRODUCTS--DIVERSIFIED 51 TRUST BANK PLC. 49 GUARANTY ECOBANK TRANSNATIONAL INCORPORATED 52 BANK PLCPLC 50 SKYE FIDELITY BANK

54

0 0

NATURAL RESOURCES

PRICE

BEVERAGES--BREWERS/DISTILLERS 30

AVON CROWNCAPS & CONTAINERS

PRICE

0

0

PACKAGING/CONTAINERS

VOLUME

2,465.17

MARKET CAP(Nm)

11 4

S/N

132

MARKET CAP(Nm)

0 0

INDUSTRIAL GOODS

INDUSTRIAL GOODS

S/N

PACKAGING/CONTAINERS

14.90

1.00

10

-

PRICE

%CHANGE

83

2.09 1.89

467,807.76

3.03

S/N

2,256.91 1,664.45

MARKET CAP(Nm)

PRICE

2

AUSTIN LAZ & COMPANY PLC CUTIX PLC.

S/N

BANKING S/N

130 131

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30 Last week’s confrontation between lawmakers in the lower house and two insurance companies over fraudulent premium collection is a pointer to the can of worms yet to be opened on Federal Government’s insurance transactions. Sunday Ojeme reports

Insurance

Fraud: FG’s assets as insurers’ fertile ground •Regency, Standard Alliance likely scapegoats

T

he failure of Nigeria’s insurance sector to develop over the years has basically been due to the scramble by operators for risks that put easy money in their pockets.

For a long time, industry observers and operators alike have wondered, albeit in pretence, why the industry remains at a standstill despite the huge human and natural resources available in the country.

Specifically, with a population of over 160 million, the financial value of life assurance alone in Nigeria should have been among the highest in the world. This is, however, not so as the process of developing it appears to be too tedious and demanding for the underwriters who rather prefer the soft buttons.

Save for a few that have reaped from hard work and creativity, some other operators have been designing roadmaps that are never moved forward or poorly implemented.

Scramble for FG’s assets To stay afloat in business, the underwriters have chosen the easy path to wealth by capitalising on fraud-prone activities in government circles, thereby scrambling only to insure government assets.

Genesis of probe Although the deal has been on for years, the closest indication to the fact that an end to the rot was near occoured in July this year when the House of Representatives opened up on its intention to investigate an alleged fraudulent practice involving multi-billion naira insurance covers for government assets in the country.

T he motion , sponsored by Rep. Prestige Ossy , alleged that some insurance companies we re being given undue advantage in return for bribing some government officials.

The House resolved to compel the Head of Service and other government establishments to provide a detailed data of all premiums paid on government assets within the last three year s The investigation is to cover an in-depth audit of the selection process, investigate the complicity of brokerage firms, insurance and reinsurance companies in

MONDAY, october 31, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Abdulkadir

Alhaji Mohammed Kari as the Commissioner for Insurance

the matter .

Fraudulent premiums The matter eventually came to the open last week when the lawmakers made scapegoats of Regency Alliance and Standard Alliance, two underwriters that have so far been fingered in fraudulent premiums received for giving cover to some Federal Government assets.

According to the details released by an ad-hoc committee, the insurance companies insured dysfunctional coaches for Nigeria Railways Corporation (NRC). The committee queried the NRC and the management of Regency Alliance for insuring dysfunctional coaches and other machines belonging to the corporation.

It also picked holes in the insurance cover for the Presidential Air Fleet, which Standard Alliance could not provide the exact insured amount for 2013.

Chairman of the ad-hoc committee, Adekunle Abdulkadir, had sought explanation from Regency Alliance why it provided a ‘plant all risk’ insurance for NRC at over N142 million in 2014, when most of the machines were not functional.

Details of the insurance for 2014 and 2015 showed that the gross premium invoiced (GPI) was N404,922, the premium received N323,937, commission N80,984, while the net premium was N323.937.

Also, for June and September 2014, the NRC was insured

by Regency Alliance for N408.72

The latest revelation by the lawmakers is obviously a pointer to the monumental fraud that occurs while doing business with government

million, with a GPI of N1.09 million. Premium received stood at N878,158, while the commission was N219,539 and net premium N878,159.

The committee asked why the NRC entered into a plant all risk insurance cover in 2014 when most of its equipment were grounded.

Defence But the Executive Director (Business Development) of Regency Alliance, Mr. Sunny Olaniyi, told the committee that there was nothing wrong in insuring non-functional assets since they still belong to NRC. The committee also queried Regency Alliance for not providing the specific sum insured for the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company.

The latest revelation by the lawmakers is obviously a pointer to the monumental fraud that occurs while doing business with government. While that of banks has been curtailed with the introduction of Treasury Single Account (TSA), the current probe into underwriters’ dealings with government is also very likely to reshape the industry.

Reconciling transactions As far back as 2012, the then House Committee Chairman on Finance, Abdmuminin Jibrin, had summoned a meeting with top insurance companies’ chief executives for the purpose of reconciling unpaid premiums on Federal Government assets following agitations by the underwriters.

Originally seen as the owners of the juiciest risks to be underwritten, every operator put in everything to corner a few government ac-

counts. This thinking, however, turned out to be one of the banes of local insurance operation, as in several cases, premiums were either never paid or extensively delayed.

With such a development, the insurers themselves abused the dictum, ‘No premium, no cover’ as they kept giving cover without premium.

Alleged indebtedness At a point, the estimated debt owed the underwriters by government ran into several billions of naira in unpaid premiums.

Ordinarily, premiums are not supposed to be owed in the first place. But because money from government was easy to come by, the underwriters manipulated covers and subsequently sealed deals with directors and permanent secretaries, followed with millions of naira being paid out.

This is besides the fact that some agencies and departments merely slot insurance coverage into their budget proposals, which they never really implement after collecting the allocation and this is perpetrated in most cases in connivance with some dubious insurance operators.

No premium, no cover In fact, the outstanding premium put at over N25 billion was recorded as bad debt when the regulator eventually emphasised the need to fully implement the Insurance Act on ‘no premium no cover.’

The immediate past Commissioner for Insurance, Fola Daniel, had said emphatically that the Federal Government never owed any outstanding premium to any insurer since the law stipulates that underwriters must collect their premiums before giving a cover.

The commissioner noted that all insurance covers shall only be provided on a strict ‘no premium, no cover’ basis, adding that only cover for which payment had been received directly by the insurer or indirectly through a duly licensed insurance broker shall be recognised as income in the books of the insurer.

Ay insurer who grants cover without having premium in advance or premium receipt notification from the relevant insurance broker shall be liable to a penalty of N500,000 in respect of each cover so granted and in addition, may be a ground for suspension of the license of the insurer.

Parley with lawmakers As a matter of fact, the probe had been on for long as NAICOM had, in collaboration with the Nigerian Insurers AssociaCONTINUED ON PAGE 31

BUSINESS | Insurance

MONDAY, october 31, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

ABUSE Pension managers have largely abused pension management under the Defined Benefit Scheme in the past

Abdulwahab Isa Abuja

T

o enthrone transparency in the administration of pensions under Defined Benefits Scheme (DBS), the Executive Secretary of Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate( PTAD), Mrs. Sharon Ikeazor, has raised an in-house anti-corruption and transparency unit.

The unit inaugurated last weekend under the supervision of senior officials of Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has, among its duties, to report all alleged cases of corruption to the ICPC. The unit is also to handle all forms of misconducts, which include suppression of records, false claim, corruption, embezzlement, dishonesty and falsification of records to the unit.

Speaking in a remark preceding the inauguration, the executive secretary said: “ Today marks the beginning of a change in the administration of pensions under the DBS. As we all are aware, before the establishment of PTAD, pension administration in Nigeria had fallen into disrepute amidst allegations of misappropriation of funds, mal-administration, corruption and fraud as well as numerous pensioners’ complaints about non-payment and/ or short payment of pension and gratuity, removal of names from the pension payment voucher and unpaid pesnion arrears, among other problems.”

In the absence of strong regulatory oversight, the

PTAD creates anti-corruption unit PTAD boss said defunct pension offices- the civil service pensions, police pension office, the customs and immigration, prisons pension office and the pension board of trustees were riddled with cases of misappropriation of funds, with fraud running in to billions of naira.

Performing the inauguration, representation of ICPC, Mr. Justin Kuatsey, said there had been reported cases of alleged mismanagement and corruption in the handing of pension funds of retirees, a situation he described as most unfortunate.

“The ICPC is equally of the view that positive results will be attained, especially now that we shall be leveraging on the strong liaison between the commission and PTAD to produce positive results in serving the people better.”

The Anti-corruption and Transparency Unit (ACTU) of PTAD is an eight-man committee headed by Mr. Balewa Ayako

tion, taken the problem to the National Assembly, precisely the House of Representatives Committee on Finance, seeking an intervention from the lawmakers.

During the parley, the lawmakers promised to look into the matter in order to ensure that not only will the assets and properties be properly insured, but that the premiums due will also be remitted as at when due.

Feelers from the meeting, however, revealed that during a previous meeting with the regulator, members of the committee were intimated with the activities of some dubious underwriters.

This revel ation prompted Jubrin to request that the CEOs of all

L-R: Head Marketing and Corporate Communications, Omobolanle Osotule; Executive Director, Operations & Technology, Yvonne Isichei; MD, Keystone Bank SierraLeone, Ime Okon; Chairman, Keystone Bank SierraLeone, Samir Hassanyeh, at the SierraLeone Business Awards... recently

TUC backs mobile phone for pension deals

P

resident, Trade Union Congress (TUC), Mr Bobboi Bala-Kaigama, has advocated the use of mobile phones for pension transactions.

Bala-Kaigama, who disclosed this in an interview in Abuja, said that the union endorsed the use of phone for contributors and administrators.

He added that it would quicken pension activities and make the scheme easily available for almost everybody both in rural and urban areas.

Bala-Kaigama, however, said that whatever technology adopted, should have sufficient security that would

the insurance companies make documents on their operations available to the committee two weeks from the day of that sitting. The documents were actually to be perused in order to know those who had been involved in various misconducts.

Jubrin, while assuring the CEOs of the lawmakers’ cooperation to take the sector to the next level, however, reminded them that a proper look at the industry and the need to play the statutory oversight role were the basic issues on the burner.

He said: “All of you need to submit certain documents to enable us know what has really been happening in the sector. And let me make it clear that those who have been doing the right thing have nothing to fear. We

‘Nigeria’s GDP main contributors still outside CPS’

T

he move by the National Pension Commission (PenCom) to launch micro pension scheme would help move bulk of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contributors into the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).

Executive Director, Business Development & Investment, Premium Pension Limited, Kayode Akande, who disclosed this in a statement, said bulk of the individuals driving the nation’s GDP are yet to be captured in CPS. He noted that capturing the informal sector workers into the scheme would shore up the pension fund and provide bet-

safeguard pension funds.

“Yes, we encourage the use of current technology, but again we implore the players that they should use only security tight technology for pension transactions,” BalaKaigama said.

He said that TUC, Nigeria Labour Congress, Nigerian Union of Pensioners, are board members of the Pension Commission that monitor and ensure that nothing happened to the pension funds.

The TUC boss called on the government to constitute the board, adding, “the board members have not been constituted for over two years now.’’

Fraud: FG’s assets as insurers’ fertile ground CONTINUED FROM PAGE 30

31

cannot sit as lawmakers and allow the role of insurance in the economy of the country remain a shadow of itself. We are going to look at the Insurance Act and apply it to guard against fraud.”

He thereafter listed the documents to be forwarded to include list of Federal Government’s assets being handled since 2007 till date, history of claims, remittances on such claims, compliance with reinsurance treaties as stipulated by the NAICOM, and evidence of submission of audited accounts to NAICOM. Others were list of arbitration in the last five years, tax clearance certificates, records of compliance with the rules of reinsurance, and specifications of premiums on government assets.

ter future for the self-employed.

“If you look at the GDP of Nigeria, what constitute the bulk is the activities of people in the informal sector.

And bulk of the people that drive the nation’s GDP, are not presently captured in the contributory pension scheme. You could image the growth that would be attained when these people are integrated into the scheme,” he said.

PenCom has commenced a nationwide dialogue with selfemployed persons and workers in the informal sector ahead of the commencement of the Micro Pension scheme, which is expected to integrate over 20 million workers.

PFAs UNIT RATE FOR RSA AND RSA RETIREE FUND AS AT 21ST OCTOBER, 2016 PFA

RSA

RETIREE

DATE

1

Premium Pension

3.1124

2.3397

21-Oct-16

2

Crusader Sterling

3.0653

2.1997

21-Oct-16

3

ARM Pension

3.0544

2.4290

21-Oct-16

4

Stanbic IBTC

2.9630

* 2.7063

21-Oct-16

5

Legacy Pension

2.8985

2.2729

21-Oct-16

6

NLPC Pension

2.7503

2.2712

21-Oct-16

7

Pension Alliance

2.6876

2.2718

21-Oct-16

8

Trust Fund Pensions

2.6382

2.1638

21-Oct-16

9

First Guarantee Pension

2.5731

2.2733

14-Oct-16

10

Sigma Pension

2.5406

2.4627

21-Oct-16

11

Leadway Pensure

2.4866

2.3040

19-Oct-16

12

AIICO pension

2.3913

2.2416

21-Oct-16

13

Fidelity Pension

2.1965

2.1138

21-Oct-16

14

FUG Pension

2.1605

2.3139

21-Oct-16

15

Apt Pension Managers Limited

2.1190

2.2903

17-Oct-16

16

AXA Mansard

2.0958

2.0177

21-Oct-16

17

OAK Pension

2.0845

2.3850

14-Oct-16

18

Investment One Pension Managers Limited

1.9166

1.6545

21-Oct-16

19

IEI Anchor Pension Managers Limited

1.9007

2.1817

21-Oct-16

20

IGI Pension Fund Managers Limited

1.5219

1.2934

8-Mar-16

21

NPF Pensions Limited

1.1926

21-Oct-16

32

BUSINESS | Financial Market News

MONDAY, october 31, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

BUSINESS | Financial Market News

MONDAY, october 31, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

PROGRESS Key extracts of the interim report showed that net interest margin, which measures the profitability improved

Stories Chris Ugwu

S

terling Bank Plc continued to build on the efficiency, quality and profitability of its core banking business, as the latest earnings report released at the weekend showed considerable improvements in key underlying fundamentals of the lender.

Sterling Bank boosts Q3 core business •Improves asset quality

The nine-month report for the third quarter ended September 30, 2016 released at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) last weekend, showed steady growth in the core banking business, underlining the success of the lender’s core retail banking business.

Key extracts of the interim report showed that net interest margin, which measures the profitability of the core lending business, improved to 8.5 per cent in third quarter 2016 as against 7.9 per cent in comparable period of 2015.

The proportion of non-per-

forming loans (NPL) to gross loans and advances, which indicates assets quality and the efficiency of the credit risk management, also improved significantly from 4.8 per cent in December 2015 to 2.5 per cent in the third quarter 2016.

This brings Sterling Bank well ahead of the 5.0 per cent industry thresholds for NPL set by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The bank’s cost of funds also improved to 5.3 per cent in third quarter 2016 compared with 6.2 per cent in corresponding period of 2015.

Commenting on the results,

Shareholders laud Conoil’s N2bn dividend payout

S

hareholders of Conoil Plc have praised the company’s strong financial performance despite the difficult operating environment in the country.

Speaking at the company’s annual general meeting (AGM) held last weekend in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, the shareholders expressed delight that the fuel marketing company was able to declare such a huge dividend in spite of the difficult economic challenges in the country.

The final dividend payout ratified at the meeting translates to N3.00 on every 50 kobo ordinary share for the 2015 financial year, compared to N1.00 paid the previous year.

Sir Sunny Nwosu, a notable shareholder and founder of a shareholders’ advocacy group, Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN)expressed his appreciation to the board and management of the company for growing profit and increasing dividend payment at a time when Nigeria is in recession.

“This dividend reinforces the resilience of the company amidst the tough operating

33

environment in the downstream sector of the petroleum industry characterised by scarce foreign exchange.

It also speaks volume of the quality of the company’s management and its entire workforce,” Nwosu noted.

Also speaking at the event, Mrs. Bisi Adedigba of Lagos zone shareholders association commended Conoil for the resounding performance, saying that its efficient management of resources has made the company the toast of investors.

“We commend this impressive performance. It indeed, calls for celebrations particularly at this austere times and I would recommend other companies to take a cue from Conoil’s laudable example,” Bakare said.

Another shareholder, Ambassador Olufemi Timothy, President, Renaissance Shareholders’ Association, said he was pleasantly surprised at the company’s performance in the midst of tight liquidity, rising cost of funds and the general tough operating environment in the downstream oil sector.

“It is very heartening that

Conoil has not only braved the odds, it has remained committed to maximising shareholders’ value and delivered superior returns,” Ambassador Timothy noted.

In his own comment, Chief Timothy Adesiyan, President Nigerian Shareholders Solidarity Association, said Conoil, by its performance and dividend policy, has further earned the loyalty of its teeming shareholders. “They have shown that they are not only concerned about making profit but that they have the interest of shareholders at heart,” he said.

Conoil recorded an increase in profit after tax from N834million in 2014, to N2.3billion in 2015. Its profit before tax also increased by 125 per cent; from N1.5billion to N3.4billion. Its earnings per share rose by 177 per cent; from 120kobo in 2014, to 333 kobo in 2015.

In his end of year address to shareholders, Chairman of the company, Dr. Mike Adenuga Jr. (GCON) assured that Conoil would further consolidate on the gains recorded so far and ensure better returns in the coming years.

Managing Director, Sterling Bank Plc, Mr. Yemi Adeola, said the improvements in the underlying fundamentals in the third quarter despite the depressing effect of the tough macro-economic conditions on the overall performance of the sector, underlined the resoluteness of the bank in building a sustainable business anchored on effective risk management and a robust retail business.

He said a 37.7 per cent growth in net interest income was largely due to a 12 per cent reduction in interest expense, which underpinned the 60 basis points increase in net interest margin. “Sterling Bank has grown its active customer base by over 40 per cent year-to-date with improved penetration across all digital channels. The non-interest banking business has also witnessed significant growth in deposits and profitability by 87 per cent and 415 per cent respectively. This gives fillip to our resolve to diversify

our business significantly over the coming years,” Adeola said.

He outlined that the bank would continue to prioritise operating efficiency and aggressively drive retail funding, noting that these priorities will guide bank’s business in the final quarter of the year and serve as the fulcrum for 2017.

The Sterling Bank boss noted that the tough operating environment characterised by foreign exchange supply shortages, rising inflation, negative economic growth and generally recessionary environment, has sustained downward pressure on core earnings in the industry.

“Although macroeconomic conditions could witness some modest improvements, the operating environment would continue to be challenging and business confidence somewhat subdued. Nonetheless, Sterling Bank remains committed to building a sustainable business anchored on efficiency,”

Access Bank grows Q3 profit to N72bn

A

ccess Bank Plc has recorded a profit of N72 billion for the nine months ended 30 September 2016.

The lender’s profit before tax (PBT) showed an increase of 19 per cent from N60.4 billion recorded during the same period in 2015. Profit after tax (PAT) grew by similar margin from N48.1 billion in 2015 to N57.1 billion in 2016.

Access Bank Group’s unaudited nine-month results released to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) last Friday, also showed gross earnings of N274.5 billion, up seven per cent from N257.6 billion in the corresponding period of 2015. The growth in gross earnings was driven by 17 per cent increase in interest income on the back of continued growth in the lender’s core business.

Also, the bank posted 12 per cent growth in operat-

ing income to N199.3 billion from N178.1 billion in 2015.

Customer deposits grew 25 per cent to N2.10 trillion from N1.68 trillion in December 2015.

Access Bank’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) remained solid at 19 per cent as at September 2016, above the regulatory minimum.

Commenting on the result, Group Managing Director/ CEO, Herbert Wigwe said, “Access Bank’s performance in the first three quarters of this year remained strong and consistent, reflecting a stable business with the capacity to deliver sustainable returns, particularly during a period underlined by significant macro headwinds.”

He said the Group maintained stable asset quality, recording Non Performing Loan (NPL) and Cost of Risk Ratios (CRR) of 2.1 per cent and 0.9 per cent, respectively.

34

BUSINESS | Interview

MONDAY, october 31, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

‘Lack of national carrier threatens

that right, it is highly restricted, yet civil people were on tarmac. This, indeed, is a big question mark on the security of the airport on international and global scale.

Let me state clearly here that I never meant to demean all the hard work that has been displayed by the Nigerian authorities. That would be an unfair statement. However, for further precautions, I just want to point out this fact.

How have all these challenges affecting your operation in this country?

Let me state that forex issue is really tearing us down. For us to survive as an operator, we have to reflect the forex value on our ticket prices, but then, it becomes difficult for passengers to cope with that change. As Turkish Airlines, we are really doing our best to keep that reflection at the minimum possible. Forex has serious implications on people’s ability to buy goods and get services. A concrete example is, again, the problem being faced in the area of provision of the jet fuel to run our fleet. It becomes more difficult because any delay in this matter threatens the connecting flights and, as you may be aware, most of our passengers are on connecting flights.

Mr. Tarkan Ince is the Country Manager for Turkish Airlines in Nigeria. In this interview with WOLE SHADARE, he speaks on many issues affecting the Nigerian aviation ranging from forex, poor state of infrastructure, poor code sharing opportunity, travellers’ welfare and measures being taken by the airline to strengthen its operations in Nigeria and globally. Excerpts: How will you assess the Nigerian aviation sector as one of the key players in the country?

First of all, let me start by saying that Nigeria has a powerful position within the continent. High population and richness in resources are all promising a better future. In terms of international air traffic, it would not be wrong to say that Nigeria is heavily on an outgoing traffic rather than incoming. Nigeria does not have a national carrier and this prevents foreign airlines from having effective codeshare agreements. Therefore, point-to- point flights within Nigeria comes into play, but it has its pros and cons. For example, getting flight rights to Nigeria is a difficult matter. Having said that, let me state unequivocally that there are great people with extremely high experience about aviation business in the Nigerian aviation sector. They are doing a highly skilled job considering the infrastructure capabilities. I believe in near future, we will all feel more the positive outcomes of that constructive experience that we have in Nigeria. On the codesharing arrangement, which I earlier spoke about, Turkish Airlines recently announced the start of a code-sharing partnership with Air Europa effective October 1, this year. The agreement enables both carriers to tap into new markets and offer their passengers more travel options. At the initial stage of this cooperation, Air Europa is placing its marketing code on Istanbul-Madrid route operated by Turkish Airlines while Turkish Airlines will place its marketing code on Madrid-Las Palmas/Ibiza/ Palma de Mallorca and Madrid – Havana/Santo Domingo/Lima flights operated by Air Europa.

Such an expansion of the code-sharing agreement will allow passengers to benefit from better connectivity and increased travel flexibility

between Spain and Turkey and beyond the carriers’ respective networks. Basically, the agreement allows both companies to continue its growth and expansion and gives us the opportunity to offer our passengers a wide and varied range of connections with all the advantages and comfort of a code-share agreement. Similarly, this is the kind of arrangement that Turkish Airlines would have loved to strike possible deals.

This would have facilitated more flexible flight operations between Nigeria and other countries where Turkish Airlines has flight rights. Again, the fact that Nigeria does not have a national carrier makes it impossible for foreign airlines to have effective codeshare agreements.

What do you consider the greatest challenges for operators in the Nigerian aviation?

Well, besides the difficulty in getting flight rights, the devaluation and forex issues have continued to have a negative effect on airlines. Converting naira to US dollar and transferring it is a big problem in the sector, either your money is stuck or transferred with great loss. Forex issues have a negative chain reaction. It extends to a point where providing jet fuel for operations becomes a critical matter. Infrastructure needs an upgrade within the airports and also, you have some issues with the security level. Last December, we had a late baggage delivery case in Abuja. This issue escalated to a point where passengers wanted to take laws into their hands and they managed to find a way and entered into the apron area. Even the authorised employees within the airport don’t possess

Ince

Nigeria does not have a national carrier and this prevents foreign airlines from having effective codeshare agreements

What are the solutions to these problems threatening the industry?

Right diagnosis is the first step for effective solution. Nigerian government has put forth various solutions for forex issues and still continuing to do so. This is a wonderful approach. Personally, I believe there are other solutions than the Nigerian government can bring into existence, depending on the negotiating country, meaning the foreign country has to come in with its own solutions to negotiate and that is where I believe we would have a positive outcome.

In short, the Nigerian government is giving the full constructive support, so, most of the solutions are there for us to evaluate and advance.

Customer satisfaction is a key operational principle in the aviation sector. Can you share with us how you have been handling customer service issues especially given the recent misunderstanding among air travellers, the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) and Turkish Airlines?

Thank you for this very important question. Within Turkish Airlines, we have a saying that is a philosophy shared by our personnel. It states ‘Customer is the boss.

We have to reach out and touch the hearts of our customer’ and on this note, I would like to state a few things that we are doing as Lagos Station. We have renovated all our offices. It is taking longer than we anticipated, but we are changing them all.

In the airport, we will have two offices one specifically for baggage and the other one for sales and operation. A new cargo office follows by a new city office in Victoria Island, Lagos. When all infrastructures are completed, we will have a focused call center to give an enhanced passenger service. Giving out the right information is key for us. For example, if passengers have bought a ticket from a travel agency, they should be informed or they should know that travel agencies, which sell Turkish Airlines’s tickets to them, are their main point of contact, especially when it comes to making changes on the ticket. We see that passengers are coming to the airline and asking for change. The airline does not possess any authority to make the necessary changes on the ticket because those tickets were bought from a travel agency. It is the travel agency that holds the right to make the necessary changes. Some agencies inform their passengers about this, some don’t. Another example may be the baggage claim. Passengers have defined rights about CONTINUED ON PAGE 35

BUSINESS | Interview

MONDAY, october 31, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Nigeria’s code-sharing pact’

35

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 34

the baggage delay or loss and airlines have to comply. However, the concept of baggage is an issue, some valuables such as rings, money in the baggage, accessories and so on, are not considered to be in the definition of baggage.

These kinds of items should not be placed in baggage. We are doing our best in giving out the right information to the passengers and doing our best to reply to their needs within that scope, which we have to follow and we are working with authorities in Nigeria for an amicable resolution of any matter arising from customers and Turkish Airlines as our strive is to remain one of the most friendly airlines in the world.

You recently unveiled in Nigeria an Aviation Trends 2015 study carried out by Forsa and industry stakeholders have hailed the insights provided by the study. What actually informed the study?

As I have expressed earlier, customer and, in this case, our passengers, are our prime and only focus as an airline. To reach out to them, defining their needs is vital to us.

Forsa is a well-known research company.

Turkish Airlines Brand department teamed up with Forsa to do a detailed study in 2014.

The study was actually generally on aviation rather than Turkish Airlines at first and then they have enhanced it to specifically cover Turkish Airlines too. In 2015, the team magnified the scope of the research and continued its surveys in various countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Japan, Nigeria and other African countries. And all study results are transparently shared with stakeholders and community through the media for better understanding of the air travellers. On the motivation behind embarking on the study, we noticed that the competition in the aviation industry is increasing steadily. It is also becoming ever more important to identity key trends in aviation and to understand the needs of travellers both in Nigeria and in other countries where we operate. This allows offer to be optimised and better services to be provided. I must say that the survey gives us well-founded insights about the wishes of passengers from Nigeria. The results are an important basis for fulfilling the needs of customers for a longterm perspective. First-class support – before, during and after the flight - is essential for the success of any airline.

Among other findings, the study shows that social trends are entering the aviation industry. Distinct tendencies are visible in the desire for being online at all times as well as more comfort and more service in all areas of aviation. But these are only a few examples of on-going changes we are or plan to be focusing on. For over nine years, Turkish Airlines has been very active in the Nigerian market. The importance of Nigeria for innovative airline companies is reflected in the connections, which are being expanded and intensified constantly. It is now possible to fly to over 280 destinations worldwide from three airports in Nigeria via the hub in Istanbul. So, to answer your question straight, we believe that by offering some insightful information about the global comparison and the Nigerian aviation market, we hope to contribute to creating more diversification and innovation within the Nigerian aviation business.

You are known to be flying more international routes than any other airline. What challenge has this thrown up for you in

CV

Institution: Bilkent University-Tourism and Hotel Administration (4-year) Ankara Dost College (Graduation) Istanbul Hurn Court School Bournemouth -England Gazi Osman Pasa High/Secondary School Istanbul Hasan Ali Yücel Primary/Elementary School (Graduation) Istanbul Tebeatha School Tel-Aviv /Israel

Some valuables such as rings, money and accessories… should not be placed in baggage

Designation: Country Manager for Turkish Airlines in Nigeria.

Past positions held: August 01, 2015 – General Manager for Lagos.

October 31, 2012- 31 July, 2015, General Manager for Toronto January 13, 2010 – 31.October, 2012 General Manager for Bologna February 19, 2009 -13 January.2010 Vice President for North Europe And Americas July 14, 2005- February 19, 2009 General Manager for Kuwait August 2, 2004 –July 14, 2005 Product Development Manager (acting) December 31, 2003 Marketing & Sales Specialist.

Obligatory Army Service 1998: Ankara- Air Transport District Command (short term-8 months) Marmara University Istanbul - Marketing and North Cyprus Girne American University (distance learning) .

terms of being able to meet travellers’ expectations?

Well, one thing we have noticed with passion is the fact that there is huge diversity in cultures within a single country not to talk of all our countries of operation and this challenge here is obvious, especially in the area of ensuring effective communication towards creating mutual understanding between travellers and us across our countries of operation. And, indeed, this is critical. In every country actually, in every destination, we have a team headed by a general manager to construct this cumulative knowledge and memory in understanding the travellers’ expectations to serve them better. Our focus on Aviation Trends studies is also an offshoot of our understanding in this respect.

What are your expansion plans to have

Ince

more landing and take-off points in Nigeria in order to reduce the stress Nigerians pass through for having to travel to Lagos to fly with Turkish Airlines?

At the moment, we are flying from three points from Nigeria, namely: Lagos, Kano and Abuja. We do have expansion plans more than that. Our desire, going by our on-going plan, is to have greater presence in the country.

What do you think the Nigerian government and players in the industry can do towards raising the standard and rating of the aviation sector in the country?

As I have said, there are extremely experienced and knowledgeable people out there. Since I am in the sector, I can see that they are already doing their best in reflecting the necessary steps under the available conditions. Yet, there are always options and possibilities to do better every time to push limits to higher borders; it never ends.

More collaboration is needed from all stakeholders to ensure that all hands are on deck towards making the operating environment friendlier for more player participation.

Finally, can you share with us some of the initiatives you want to deepen to demonstrate your commitment to Africa’s largest country?

Nigeria is extremely important and dear to us within the African continent. No matter how tough the circumstances get, we want to stay on the field as much as we can with our Nigerian friends to form better air bridges. We want to deepen and widen our operations, depending on circumstances. Sometimes, you have to take a step back to jump higher, if it comes to that, we can execute that too, but all our efforts will be dwelling on doing better for air travellers. There are concrete plans that I would have loved to share with you, but since they are still in the pipeline, it would not be right to talk about them now. Having said this, we will also act as a facilitator to invigorate certain travel segments in order to provide more options for our passengers. Sometimes, you will see us facilitating Turkey as well as all other destinations that serve as cross-markets to the Nigerian traveller. Take this template and apply to 291 destinations that we fly; you will have a matrix of wonder to widen your world.

36

BUSINESS | MONEYLINE

MONDAY, october 31, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Experts: Stronger dollar’ll lead to lower oil prices Forecast Nigeria’s external reserves stand at $23.9bn

Tony Chukwunyem

A

gainst the background of rising speculation of an imminent hike in interest rates in the United States, analysts at Financial Derivatives Company (FDC) Limited, have said that such a move would make the dollar stronger , a development, they say could lead to lower oil prices.

In a note obtained by New Telegraph, the experts stated: “Higher US growth rate will inspire the Fed to increase interest rates… Stronger dollar will push oil prices lower.”

Data released last Friday showed that US Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in the last quarter exceeded expectations, as it accelerated to 2.9 per cent compared with the second quarter’s pace of 1.4 per cent.

Analysts said that if the Fed hikes rates, this could fuel capital flight out of emerging markets such as Nigeria, with investors re-balancing their portfolios by holding more US investments as a hedge. In a recent report, the Financial Times of London stated that a Fed rate hike would mean a stronger dollar against most countries’ currencies, including Nigeria’s.

The newspaper said: “A stronger US dollar, backed by higher US interest rates, tends to depress the values of Emerging Market (EM) currencies at a time when many EM econo-

mies are already weakening and their currencies have already slumped against the greenback. The Fed’s rate rise could exacerbate the EM currency turmoil and even help precipitate a full blown crisis.”

According to industry watchers, in the event of a Fed rate hike, a stronger dollar and the resultant slide in oil prices, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will come under even more pressure to sustain its interventions in the interbank foreign exchange market.

The apex bank had stated that the success of its forex

liberalisation policy would rest on it (policy) attracting significant foreign capital inflows into the interbank forex market, which would boost liquidity in the market and help to stabilise the exchange rate.

However, since the policy was launched on June 20, the regulator has remained the main supplier of dollars to the market, intervening almost on a daily basis as foreign investors have generally stayed away, citing the poor state of Nigeria’s economy and what they say is CBN’s refusal to allow the naira to float freely.

Abdulwahab Isa Abuja

T

he Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has promised to assist Niger State rice farmers tackle incessant flooding wreaking havoc on rice farm land across the state.

CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, made the pledge last weekend at Sunti in Lavun Local Government Area of Niger State during the official inspection of CBN’s anchor borrowers’ rice farmers’ programme in the state.

Niger State is expected to produce over one million tonnes of rice as the federal government intensifies efforts for a sufficient rice production in the country.

The governor said that given the huge large mass dedicated to rice production by the rice farmers, the state was already competing with Kebbi State in rice production.

“We can focus on Niger state for its peculiarity in

terms of producing varieties of food produce. I can see that, you have excellent topography that can produce varieties like rice, soya beans, corn and millet.

No doubt, your governor briefed me of challenges you encountered. He told me that some crops were destroyed by flood and excessive rain. We will see how to guide and support the state so that incidence of flooding do not have serious impact on farmers,” the CBN governor pledged.

He said over 14, 000 farmers have been supported through the scheme while over N2 billion had so far been disbursed to the farmers.

Emefiele urged state governments to key into the anchor borrowers’ programme initiated by the bank in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural

As at

MPR 91-day NTB Bonny Light Ext Res**

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

N19,142,526.05m N18,579,219.49m 17.9

Mar, 2015 Mar, 2015 Sept, 2016

14 10.77 US$49.59 US$23,947,628,178

26/07/2016 Mar 2015 28/10/2016 27/10/2016 Source:CBN

FGN Bonds

TTM

1.07 3.24 3.87 5.82 7.95 9.81 14.31 18.29

Price 104.65 114.59 111.96 120.58 109.60 100.54 83.82 97.56

NIBOR

Rate (%) 4.4583 9.1071 11.0102 12.3790

Treasury Bills

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) 1 2 3 6 9 12

90 per cent of the country’s foreign exchange earnings, analysts believe that any drop in oil prices will make it difficult for the banking watchdog to sustain its interventions in the forex market.

Data obtained from the banking watchdog’s website showed that country’s external reserves fell by $100 million from $24 billion last Monday to $23.9 billion last Thursday.

Indeed, the data showed that in September alone, the foreign reserves dropped by $600 million from $24.5 billion to $23.9 billion.

CBN to rescue Niger State rice farms from flood

Economic Indicators M2* CPS* INF

The situation has worsened the liquidity squeeze on the interbank market, leading to many firms closing shop and sacking workers. It has also resulted in virtually all the country’s banks suspending or limiting customers’ use of naira debit and credit cards for international transactions.

Foreign investors have alleged that the regulator was still manipulating activities on the interbank market and was yet to allow market forces to determine the local currency’s true value. With oil exports accounting for over

Offer Yield 10.24 10.45 11.51 11.38 12.22 12.34 12.39 12.44

NITTY

Rate (%) 6.9949 7.2368 8.0819 9.2061 9.5872 10.5042

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

Change (%) -1.75 ▼ -2.08 ▼

Development, with a view to diversifying the economy away from oil as well as creating jobs.

Earlier in his remarks, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, commended the apex bank for the anchor borrower rice programme.

He said the CBN initiatives were aimed at creating jobs, reducing food importation and diversifying the economy He promised that the state’s rice farmers that some unspecified number of

rice milling machines were already on ground and they will soon be installed to aid in milling the rice.

Speaking at the occasion, Niger State governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sanni Bello, commended the CBN governor and Minister of agriculture for their supportive roles.

“With the support from the CBN and rice milling machines to be installed soon, they will go a long way towards increasing the production of rice,” noted the governor.

AfDB, OECD launch tool to help African firms prevent bribery

N

ew guidance from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) will help African companies of all sizes set up measures to prevent bribery and improve the quality of corporate compliance and anti-bribery policies, according to a statement issued by the bank.

Many African companies have yet to establish effective internal control mechanisms to ensure compliance with the law and prevent bribery in their business transactions. The OECD-AfDB Joint Initiative to Support Business Integrity and Anti-Bribery Efforts in Africa has developed the Anti-Bribery Policy and Compliance Guidance for African Companies to serve as a practical, concise guide to help African companies ensure adequate controls are in place to prevent bribery.

“Transparency and accountability provide the pillars for good economic governance, which itself forms the foundation for real economic transformation. It is the duty of all actors on the continent, both public and private to break the chain of corruption,” said Akinwumi Adesina, President of the Af-

rican Development Bank.

“Companies can prevent bribery, a corrosive crime that erodes the strength of our economies and the trust of citizens in our private and public institutions. By working together to foster transparency, compliance and accountability, we can fight bribery and promote stronger, cleaner and fairer economies throughout the African continent,” said Angel Gurría, Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The guidance will not only assist companies to get started with drawing up corporate anti-bribery policy and related compliance measures, it will also provide key insights on how to put them into practice.

The guidance of fers a detailed compliance checklist enabling African companies to monitor their progress on areas relating to raising awareness of anti-bribery legislation among employees; developing anti-bribery policies; supporting the implementation of anti-bribery policies; industry collective action measures; specific bribery risks for state owned enterprises; and overcoming challenges confronted by SMEs.

monday, OCTOBER 31, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

37

38

monday, OCTOBER 31, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

News|south-WEST

monDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

NMA decries dearth of medical personnel, facilities in Ogun Kunle Olayeni Abeokuta

O

gun State chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has bemoaned the dearth of manpower and poor infrastructure in state-owned health institutions, saying the development has worsened brain-drain in the health sector.

The association’s Chairman, Dr Abayomi Olajide, while speaking at a press conference on the issue noted that the health sector

had suffered neglect under the current administration in the state owing to the fact that the number of medical personnel and facilities in government hospitals were grossly inadequate for the delivery of qualitative healthcare.

According to him, the state has 40 government owned institutions spread across the state geopolitical zones apart from the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu.

He said, “There are five state hospitals, 25 general hospitals, two Hansen’s

centres, five dental centres and four community mental hospitals. In nearly all these institutions, there were abysmally poor infrastructure for the delivery of qualitative healthcare.

“Some of the buildings are not only old but dilapidating and needed urgent government attention. There is no good road network to some of the hospitals, thus making it difficult to access qualitative healthcare. Adequate water supply and electricity coverage still remain a mirage in most of the government hospitals.”

Alleged N40bn fraud against Fayemi diversionary –APC

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kiti State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has said that the N40 billion fraud allegation against former Governor Kayode Fayemi by the Ekiti State House of Assembly was diversionary. The party accused Governor Ayodele Fayose of being the brain behind the allegation, saying it was an attempt by him to shift attention from his alleged crimes to blackmail the Federal Government and put the former governor in bad light.

The party said Nigerians are not deceived by such antics to take attention from the “flurry of confessions in courts” exposing how Fayose allegedly participated in fraudulent activities to win his election.

In a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun, the party

said it was too late to divert attention from the revelations on alleged fraud perpetrated by Fayose to fix his election.

He said: “These lawmakers are pitiable sights on television speaking to reporters on an issue they have no competence and you can see their mediocrity as a bunch of slave boys to a reckless, lawless governor desperately seeking to divert the attention of Nigerians from the revelations in court over his seamless infractions on the law to stay in power.

“Besides not having constitutional powers to act as petitioners in matter that concerns only the executive arm of government, majority of the members do not possess educational qualifications that can prepare them for the duties they were elected to perform, hence, their

120 Ekiti schools getWorld Bank’s aid Sulaiman Salawudeen Ado-Ekiti

T

he World Bank has supported 120 public primary and secondary schools in Ekiti State with teaching materials running into millions of naira.

Speaking while distributing the items to the representatives of the affected schools in AdoEkiti at the weekend, the State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, said his administration would complement the effort by supplying the remaining schools with the items. He said no school would be left out in the exercise.

The governor also said ‘Open Day’ would now be observed in public schools for parents to go and assess the performance of their children and wards in schools.

This he said would remedy the situation where they have to wait until the term runs out when

their children would then bring their academic results home before any assessment can be done.

“The level we have attained in the education sector must be improved upon. We can’t afford to drop our guards. If we came first in NECO examinations this year, it must not be once in a while achievement.

“We must maintain our enviable position. I am not in support of fire brigade approach to policies, as that won’t help us as a state. We must plan ahead and take necessary steps.

“For teachers, we can’t jettison them, as doing so is ignoring the future of our children. We will continue to encourage them and I appeal to our parents to show understanding too. Teachers are human and they have personal challenges and must be encouraged to pay attention to our children.”

directionless conduct and acting as tools of the governor while they suffer in penury.

“We don’t know when the House of Assembly conducted their investigation to arrive at this petition, as what they have in the petition are the same allegations that Fayose has been bandying around to deceive the workers on the state’s debts.”

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NLC threatens solidarity strike over Ogun workers, govt face-off Yekeen Nurudeen Abuja

T

he Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) yesterday threatened to join their colleagues in Ogun State in a solidarity strike if Governor Ibikunle Amosun failed to stop intimidating workers for upholding their rights.

The threat was handed down by the Deputy President of NLC, Comrade Kiri Mohammed, while reacting to strike by workers of Ogun State.

He warned against a national strike in solidarity with the workers if the governor failed to resolve the issues amicably, calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently call him to order.

Mohammed described the steps taken by the state government as barbaric, inhuman and unlawful, stressing that it would be better for the government to imbibe the culture of collective

bargaining to resolve the impasse.

The Deputy President, who is also the National President of Nigeria Civil Service Union (NCSU), as well as Chairman of the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council for Trade Union, however called on other well-meaning Nigerians to intervene in the industrial dispute with a view to restoring peace in work places in the state.

He noted that workers were demanding the, “remittance of the 72 months contributory pension deducted on their behalf to their pension fund administrators, 12 months deductions from workers for cooperative, bank loans, check off dues to their respective institutions and failure of the state government to pay gratuity

$400,000

The total amount from endorsements of Adrian Gonzalez (Baseball) for 2015.

Source: Forbes.com

to retired civil servants since 2012.

Other demands of the workers according to him are; “non-release of promotion to qualified and deserving workers since January 2015 and nonrecognition and refusal to allow the joint allocation committee of local government to function in accordance with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, thereby crippling the local government system.

“The council condemns the intimidation and harassment of labour leaders for fighting for the legitimate right of the workers. The Governor of Ogun State is advised to imbibe the culture of collective bargaining by dialoguing with the organised labour for peaceful settlement of the impasse.”

20.7

The annual mortality rate (per 100,000) due to Alzheimer’s Disease in Texas State in 2010.

Source: Alz.org

A crosssection of some members of the foundation of Yoruba Initiative after a meeting in Ibadan, Oyo State…at the weekend

Group onYoruba progressive agenda to be launched

A

group, The Yoruba Initiative (TYI) which will serve as a strong advocate, with intent to change the psyche of the Yoruba and Nigerians in general towards self-development is set to be launched.

Convener of the group, Otunba Ayodeji Osibogun, while speaking on the outcome of a meeting it held in Ibadan, said the TYI as a non- partisan group is to henceforth engage primarily in social mobilization, political awareness and education of the Yoruba race in Nigeria and in diaspora.

According to him, the TYI would work to attain Yoruba Unity as a first step towards driving its agenda for repositioning the Yoruba nation on advancement

in economy through agriculture, education, security, foreign relations, youths and women empowerment and mutually rewarding integration with other major ethnic groups in Nigeria.

The convener also noted that the present state of Nigeria demands the unity of the Yoruba nation spread over Lagos, Oyo, Ogun, Ondo, Ekiti, Osun and in Kwara, Kogi, Delta and Edo States.

“Our mission is to serve as a strategic planning and advocacy platform for all who genuinely support the building of a socioeconomic self-reliant and creatively manage Yoruba nation comprising all local and state governments in all the South-West states.”

My role not defined by Constitution– Fayemi’s wife Johnchuks Onuanyim Abuja

T

he wife of the former governor of Ekiti State, Erelu Bisi AdeleyeFayemi, at the weekend said her role as the first lady of the state was not defined by the constitution.

According to her, she was more concerned on how to help her husband impact on the lives of the people rather than looking at the constitutional provision for the office of the first lady.

She spoke at a workshop organised by International Republican Institute (IRI) and European Union (EU) for women and youth political participation.

In her keynote address

titled; ‘Securing Women and Youth Political Participation: A necessity for Social Justice’, the former first lady stated that Ekiti women would always remember that there were two bills in place that she helped in passing and signed into law.

She also advised women to support their folks in politics and also to impact positively on the lives of people while in office.

She said, “l was not interested in knowing if my role was constitutional or not. As a first lady, l did not look at the constitution to play a role. Ekiti State women would know that there are two laws in place in the state that l helped to pass and signed into law.”

40

News|SOUTH-EAST

monDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Release Kanu now, Igbo leaders tell FG Igbeaku Orji, UMUAHIA

L

eaders of the Igbo nation have called on the Federal Government to immediately release detained leader of the Independent Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu and others still in detention, saying that their agitation for Biafra did not constitute threat to peace.

The call was part of a communique issued at the end a three-day World Igbo Summit held at Gregory University, Uturu, Abia State, attended

by prominent Igbo people, including first class traditional rulers and co-chaired by General Ike Nwachukwu (rtd.); Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife, Joe Achuzia, Chief Francis Oji and Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu.

They also called for the restructuring of the nation so that the Igbo nation that has made the “biggest sacrifice and contribution to the building of modern Nigeria” would be allowed to live and operate freely as equal citizens without discrimination.

The leaders resolved that Ndigbo should take full responsibility for

the rebuilding of Igbo economy and development, just as they condemned in strong terms, the destructive activities of Fulani herdsmen and called on governors and lawmakers in South-East states to enact laws prohibiting open grazing in Igbo land.

The communiqué which was signed by Nwachukwu, Achuzie, Ezeife, Ojih, Iwuanyanwu, Prof George Obiozor, Dr. Greg Ike Ibe, Iyom Josephine and Dr. Joe Nwaorgu, called on governors of Igbo land to form a joint commission for the development of their areas.

The communiqué, which was read by Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, reads: “Since Biafran agitators are no threat to national security, the Federal Government should promptly release Nnamdi Kanu and all other prisoners of conscience in line with the rule of law.

Ndigbo have made the biggest sacrifice and contributions to the building of the modern Nigeria and insist that henceforth will work for a nation where the Igbo are allowed to live and operate as equal citizens without any discrimination, bias or intimidation.

Ebonyi stops payment of electricity bills DISCO threatens total darkness Uchenna Inya, ABAKALIKI

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bonyi State government at the weekend ordered the people of the state to stop paying electricity bills to the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) until the company provides prepaid meters for the people of the state and improve electricity supply in the state.

The government said it will no longer watch its citizens being ex-

ploited and maltreated by the power distribution company.

But the EEDC had written to the state government and threatened to throw the state into total darkness following the government directive to the people of the state not to pay their electricity bills until the company improves its services and supply prepaid meters to the state.

Speaking during a meeting between officials of the distribution company and the state government, the

state Commissioner for Power, Chief Emmanuel Uguru, ordered the company not to embark on any disconnection of electricity in any parts of the state.

He warned the company not to misunderstand the peaceful disposition of the people, adding that the government will continue to engage the distribution company in the overall interest of the people.

“If Ebonyi State doesn’t get regular power supply, do not expect further payment of elec-

tricity bills by the people of the state. And I want to say explicitly that the deadline for supply of prepaid meters to the people is November.

“After November, nobody, both state, individuals and government, will pay a dime as electricity bill. We have endured enough since 2014 when these prepaid meters were paid for. 2015, Ebonyi people endured, 2016, Ebonyi people endured.

We have endured a lot and enough is enough,” he said.

Nnokwa community laments neglect, wants electricity restored Mojeed Alabi

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he Nnokwa community of Anambra State has decried what it described as continued neglect by successive administrations in the state.

The community said that the town has not enjoyed electricity for many years while other infrastructural facilities such as roads have been allowed to degenerate.

This call was made by a group of concerned men and women from the community, who gathered in Lagos at the weekend, under the auspices of the Association of Nnokwa Professionals (ANP).

At a media briefing, which was addressed by the group’s interim Chairman, Dr. Simon Ukpaka, the association said it is proud to be the first town among the state’s 177 recognised communities to organise its professionals for community’s development and that of the state.

According to the group, the formation of the association became important following the

Trial of corrupt judges’ll restore confidence in judiciary -NBA Uchenna Inya, ABAKALIKI

T Enugu State Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (second right), with Anglican Bishop of Nsukka Diocese, Ret. Rev. Aloysius Agbo; his wife and other officials of the diocese, as the governor received a meritorious award of excellence from the church… yesterday

Umahi releases woman held in prison for stealing

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woman held at the Abakaliki Prisons for allegedly stealing cocoa yam worth N400 has been released on the order of Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State.

Umahi ordered her release after being briefed on Friday by the National Human Rights Commission on the outcome of its investigation into the extra-judicial killings of some inmates of the

Abakaliki prisons during the August 18 attempted jail break.

A statement yesterday by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Emma Anya, stated that the Chairman of the NHRC, Prof. Ben Angwe, had reeled out the pathetic condition of inmates of the prisons, saying some of them had suffered to the extent that no amount of compensation would

assuage the sufferings they had passed through.

He listed some cases, including that of the woman, who according to him, was in the prison with her two children apparently due to the fact that she had no one to cater for them.

Angwe said when the woman was arraigned the judge granted her bail with two sureties who must be civil servants on Grade Level 16.

The NHRC boss said: “We saw very pathetic cases. We saw a woman with two children in the prison accused of stealing cocoa yam worth N400.”

16%

The percentage of the population of men above 60 years of Ireland in 2012.

Source: Un.org

continued neglect the community has suffered from government interventions, and called on professional men and women from the community with honour and dignity to rise in its support for the leadership of the town towards achieving the forefathers’ vision and dreams for the town.

Ukpaka said:“We have launched this association not to rival any existing group but to attract and support value added development of our great community, to mentor our youths, create political awareness towards attracting government patronage and encourage and support, advise and assist the constituted authorities in Nnokwa for good governance and continued peace in the community, among others.”

Also in attendance at the gathering was the Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of New Telegraph Newspapers, Reverend Festus Abone, who solicited the support of every son and daughter of the community in the association’s efforts to attract development to the town.

he Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Abakaliki branch, yesterday said the on-going trial of some judges in the country for alleged corruption would re-enforce the confidence the public has in the judiciary.

Chairman of the association, Victor Anyanwu, stated this in Abakaliki while speaking with journalists.

He noted that when such trials are held, the

public would believe that no one is above the law in the country.

“The people would know that judges who try others can also be tried, as it was only the country’s president, vice president, governors and their deputies that are covered by immunity when they are in office,” he said.

Anyanwu said this category of persons will be tried when accused for crimes on leaving office as prosecuting the judges would also warn other judges, lawyers among others, to be careful.

Abia targets 10,000 hectares of oil palm plantation by 2018 Igbeaku Orji, UMUAHIA

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s part of measures to navigate the state economy out of the present recession and diversify it for sustained growth, Abia State government has concluded plans to expand its oil palm plantation by 10,000 hectares with high yielding variety by 2018.

To achieve this, the state government has set a target of developing 7.5 million seedlings

between 2016 and 2019, targeting 10,000 hectares of oil palm plantation across the state which would be achieved in phases.

Other agricultural produce like ginger, pineapple plantation and cassava are also part of the agriculture revolution pioneered by the state Ministry of Agriculture.

The aim, according to Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, is to develop oil palm value chain to make the state the number one in oil production, not just in Nigeria but Africa.

News|south-South

monDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Militants ‘blow up’ Effurun-Otor delivery line in Delta Ola James Warri

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iger Delta Militants, operating in the upland of Delta State, under the aegis of the Niger Delta Greenland Justice Mandate, yesterday, claimed to have blown up another 32 inch pipeline delivery line in Effurun-Otor,

Delta State.

The militant group, who stated this yesterday, in a statement by its spokesperson, Aldo Agbalaja and made available to journalists in Warri, said the attack was in furtherance of its operation tagged, ‘Operation Hammurabi Code.’

They had vowed to continue attacks on oil installations in fulfill-

ment of their promise to uproot all oil installations from their land.

The militant group added that it had no confidence in the Chief Edwin Clark-led dialogue team, even as it said it was not opposed to a genuine dialogue between the Federal Government and real representatives of the various nations of our region.

The statement reads, “At about 23:30 hours of Saturday, October 29, in furtherance of the OPERATION HAMMURABI CODE, our Akuma Strike Team struck and brought down the 32-inch Effurun-Otor delivery line. This is not ending soon. We shall fulfill our promise of uprooting your entire assets in our land.

“We are reiterating our

South Korean firm to build 550mw power plant in Cross River

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South Korean firm, Kingline Integrated Power Development Limited, has expressed its readiness to build a 550 megawatts gas-fired power plant in Cross River State.

Chief Executive Officer of the company, Mr. Sean Kim, dropped the hint when he led a delegation from the firm on a courtesy visit to the gov-

ernor, Prof. Ben Ayade, at the Government House, Calabar, yesterday.

He said: “We have already done some preliminary checks in Cross River State and the proposed sites meet all of the requirements, which is why we are here today. The next phase will be the application for a generation licence, initiating processes for the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and preparations for the

project, among other necessary bureaucratic processes.”

Offering insight into the financing of the project, bearing in mind the current economic realities in the country, Kim said: “On financing, about $560 million will be coming in from the company and other investors, which includes the World Bank,” pointing out that the money will “be sufficient to get this power

plant underway.

“We intend to invest around $10 million during the developing phase and then once we get to the financing closure, together with our investors, we plan to bring in $150 million in terms of equity. At the same time, we will put together a debt package of $400 million composed of export credit, agency support from Korea as well as the World Bank and others.”

L-R: Managing Director, Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), Ms Hadiza Usman; Chief Executive Officer of Indoroma, Mr. Andrew Dawes; and Port Manager, Onne Port Complex, Mr. Alhassan Abubakar, during the Usman’s visit to Onne Port Complex, in Rivers State…at the weekend.

PHOTO:NAN

Assaulted woman reconciles with monarch, begs for forgiveness Cajetan Mmuta BENIN

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orried by the mounting pressure and threats from some subjects and associates loyal to Ojuromi of Uromi, His Royal Highness, Anslem Aidonojie II, the woman who was allegedly assaulted verbally by the monarch, who is now under suspension by the Edo state government, Mrs. Betty Okoebor, yesterday begged him for forgiveness.

Okoebor, an All Progressives Congress (APC) women leader in Uromi and subject of the Uromi traditional council had knelt down in tears before the suspended monarch at his Benin residence in the

presence of some elders of Uromi and her relations, to plead for mercy and forgiveness in the altercation between her and the Ojuromi during the September 28 governorship election held in the state.

Governor Adams Oshiomhole, had in a letter signed by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Prof. Julius Ihonvbere and made available to newsmen in Benin last week, slammed a sevenday suspension order on the Onojie of Uromi, in Esan North-East Council Area of the state, His Royal Highness, Anslem Aidenojie, over the traditional ruler’s alleged verbal and physical attack on Okoebor before members of the public. dated October 26, 2016, titled; “Suspension from

Office as Traditional Ruler,” conveyed the decision of the Edo State Executive Council at its meeting on October 26, 2016.

According to the letter, the monarch was suspended from office for seven days and if within the said seven days, no public apology was tendered to the state government, he would stand deposed as the Onojie of Uromi.

It will be recalled that the women wing of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, had condemned the action of the monarch and called for him to tender an apology to Okoebor and also foot the medical bill incurred by her for the treatment of injury sustained in the attack.

Speaking with newsmen after tendering an apology

to the monarch, Okoebor, however, denied that she was not pressured into taking the decision to seek for forgiveness.

She said tradition forbids a monarch to go to his subject to ask for forgiveness. She also said that her decision to do this was because the Ojuromi of Uromi, Anslem Aidenojie, remains her father.

According to her, “I have offended my father and have come to him for forgiveness, and he has forgiven me and also prayed for me.”

In his reaction, the monarch said the woman remains his subject and therefore it was his duty to always forgive whenever there was any disagreement between him and his subjects.

unflinching belief that the Pan-Niger Delta Forum, being coordinated by E.K Clark, is a job and therefore can never get our support.

“Like we said before now, the Niger Delta Greenland Justice Mandate is not opposed to a genuine dialogue

41

between the Federal Government and real representatives of the various nations of our region.

“We are collecting names from the nations in the region, those who will sincerely and equitably represent our various peoples.”

Group to ICC: Investigate human skulls found in Cross River Yekeen Nurudeen Abuja

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human rights group, Advocates of Social Justice for All (ASJA), has called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate the 23 human skulls reportedly found at a shrine allegedly belonging to the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) by the Nigerian military in Cross Rivers State.

Nigerian troops fighting militancy and other criminalities in the Niger Delta last week said they had discovered at

least 23 human skulls and a human skeleton in some of the shrines operated by militants in the Niger Delta.

Speaking at a press conference in Abuja yesterday, Executive Director of the group, Patriot Andrew James, who described the presence of the skull as barbaric, said there was need to investigate the source of the skulls.

He commended the military for making public the information, saying one would never have known that those claiming to be fighting for the emancipation of their region could engage in such acts.

CONFIRMATION/change OF NAME Ogun: This is to confirm that Ogun Ebi Ann with which my BVN was registered is the same person as Ebibowoye Ann Zuokemefa. Henceforth. I wish to be known and addressed as Ebibowoye Ann Zuokemefa Ogun. All former documents remain valid. UBA Plc and the general public take note.

Etim

This is to inform the general public that my correct name is Etim Anthonia Edem and not Manly Tonia Bassey as used in my First bank account no. 3028878282.

General public take note.

Ojo

I, formerly known and addressed as Oluwatoyin Ojo now wish to be known and addressed Oluwatoyin Segun Ojo. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

Gboghoro

I, formerly known and addressed as Ogboghoro Festus and Gboghoro .E. Festus now wish to be known and addressed as Gboghoro Efetobor Festus. All former documents remain valid. Ecobank Plc, First bank Plc, Sterling bank Plc and general public take note.

Ayeni

I, formerly known and addressed as Halimatu Ndudi Musa now wish to be known and addressed Halimatu Ndudi Ayeni. All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

Potency

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Baraburu Gbalari Happiness now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Potency Gbalari Happiness. All former documents remain valid. The general public take note.

Symba

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Yibadiweri Wellington James now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Symba Omoregie Becky Yibadiweri. All former documents remain valid. NYSC and the general public take note.

Akinbohunje

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Folashade Abosede Elizabeth now wish to be known and addressed Akinbohunje Adeyinka Abosede Elizabeth. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note

Jeje

I, formerly known and addressed as Jeje Sunday Ezekiel now wish to be known and addressed Jeje Ezekiel Sunday. All former documents remain valid. Banks and General public please take note.

PUBLIC NOTICE

RAODAT ISLAMIC DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION

The general public is hereby notified that the above named has applied to the Corporate Affairs Commission Abuja for Registration Under part C of the Companies and Allied Matters Acts,1990.

The Trustees are: 1. 1 Mahmud Ibrahim Miqdad 2. Mahmud Luqman Abiodun 3. Mahmud Adenike Mulikat 4. Adeleye Hameed Adewale AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ARE: 1. To propagate Islamic religion through da’wah 2. To propagate all pillars of Islam 3. TO assist the needy among Muslim brotherhood 4. To champion the course of Islamic economic system 5. To empower Muslims through economic empowerment schemes.

Any objection to the registration should be forwarded to the RegistrarGeneral, Corporate Affairs Commission, plot 420 Tigris Crescent, off Aguiyi Ironsi Street, Maitama, Abuja within 28 days of this publication.

SIGNED: TRUSTEES

42

MONDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

METRO Camillus Nnaji

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suspected kidnapper, Blessing Bamidele (26), has told journalists in Lagos that his gang made N14.8 million in three months from victims.

Bamidele gave the name of the gang leader as Gaifo Agbajo.

The suspect and seven others were paraded by the Lagos State Police Commissioner, Fatai Owoseni.

Owoseni said police got a tip-off that a kidnap gang had lodged at De-Sholly Hotel at Ijede, Ikorodu, from where they would track their victims.

Police invaded the hotel about 11a.m. on October 17 and arrested the suspects who had made confessional statements.

He said: “Two AK 47 rifles with 6 AK 47 magazines, a Toyota Camry car used to ferry their victims and two Army camouflages were recovered from the suspects.”

Also, a teenage member of the gang identified as Chinedu disclosed that he joined the gang to raise money to rent an apartment.

Chinedu (16), who hails from Imo State, admitted he was paid N100,000 for his effort.

He said: “I joined this gang because I wanted to rent a house and give my mother some money. I did the job only once before police came to pick me from Imota, Ikorodu.”

It was also learnt that the gang had used the victim’s vehicle to drop Chinedu in his house.

But Agbajo said it was Bamidele who was the leader of the gang.

According to him, his role is to share their loots in the bush.

He said: “When I was introduced into kidnapping by Blessing, the first man we kidnapped was a white man. We kidnapped

ABIODUN BELLO nabiodun.bello@telegraphonline.com 08023938212

...crime, city watch, courts

We made N14.8m in three months – Kidnappers

The suspected kidnappers

others at Ijebu-Ode, Epe and Gberigbe. We got N6 million, N5 million and N3.8 million in three months. In one I got N1.2 million as my share.”

Agbajo said they got their Army camouflage from his inlaw who is a soldier, though the soldier knew nothing about that while their rifles were hid inside the bush after each operation.

Another suspect, Pleasure George, from Ondo State, said the gang had a supreme leader identified as OC. According to him, they hardly see OC but take orders from him.

He said: “We have an overall

leader in the water, called OC. We don’t see him always unless when he comes around to see his wife. He gave us guns and we went into operation. He re-

ceived N1.5 million when we got N6 million. His share varies according to what we are paid.”

Owoseni said the suspects had confessed to vandalism,

kidnapping and armed robbery.

He said: “They kidnapped a pastor (name withheld), an oil dealer (name withheld) and another man in Epe.”

40 UNICAL, CRUTECH students renounce cultism Clement James Calabar

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orty students of the University of Calabar (UNICAL) and the Cross River State University of Technology (CRUTECH) have renounced their membership of various cult groups.

The students, made up of 30

male and 10 female, made their decision known yesterday at the Police Officers’ Mess in Calabar at a ceremony organised by the Campus Cult Eradication Foundation to welcome and integrate them back into the society.

The students, who said they were members of various cult groups, including Vikings, Black Axe, Klans, among others, did not, however, surren-

der arms or other dangerous weapons.

Speaking on the occasion, the National Coordinator of the foundation, Mr. Samuel Ejembi, said the Inspector General of Police (IG), Mr. Idris Ibrahim, set up the foundation with the mandate of eradicating cultism from tertiary institutions in particular, and the country in general.

City Briefs Two killed in police, illegal miners’ clash Dan Atori MINNA

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olice at the weekend shot and killed two miners at Kafin-Koro in Paikoro Local Government Area of Niger State.

The incident occurred when several miners reportedly decided to attack policemen deployed to the mining site after the death of seven illegal miners.

A source at the village said the illegal miners, who had defied warnings from both the state government and security agents to desist from their illegal activities, mobilised themselves and waylaid the policemen.

The source added that the miners, who were armed with dangerous weapons, attacked the policemen, and injured a policeman in the head. This, the source said, forced the policemen

to open fire on the miners.

The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Bala Elkana, said the police had sealed off the mining site.

He, however, warned all those involved in the illegal mining activities across the state to desist from such act because if caught, they would face the full wrath of the law.

The identities of the miners killed were not known at press time.

Illegal mining activities have become rampant in various parts of the state in recent times and have become a source of concern to government.

Governor Abubakar Bello recently expressed concern over the illegal mining in the state with particular reference to Shikira village in Kagara, Rafi Local Government Area where many lives, mostly minors, were lost to lead poison from illegal mining of gold by the locals.

Man drowns in Ogun River during police raid Kunle Olayeni Abeokuta

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31-year-old man, Gafar Ajibola, has drowned in Ogun River in Abeokuta during an alleged police raid.

The incident, which occurred on Saturday, has thrown the Oriyanrin community into mourning and palpable tension.

Ajibola, an artisan, was said to be washing his clothes at the river bank when policemen, allegedly searching for hoodlums, stormed area.

It was learnt that to escape being killed by the policemen reportedly

shooting sporadically, the man jumped into the river.

Family members told our correspondent that after a spirited search, Ajibola’s body was found some metres away from the river bank.

At the family house, emotion ran high as sympathisers, who thronged the place, bemoaned Ajibola’s untimely death.

Speaking with journalists, an uncle of the deceased expressed shock at Ajibola’s demise and blamed the police for the loss.

The uncle, who declined to give his name, threatened that the family

would take legal action against the police in order to ensure justice.

He said: “My brother's son was washing clothes and out of fear, he jumped into the river.

We have been searching for him since yesterday.”

The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Abimbola Oyeyemi, however, absolved the police of any wrongdoing in the incident.

He said: “The information I got is to the effect that the police had gone to raid criminal hideouts. There are places around that area known for harbouring criminals."

METRO

MONDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Prostitutes pay me N2,500 each daily, says hotelier Taiwo Jimoh

Obano and Grace

cause of the economic situation of the country to stop such act because of the result.

Obano told our correspondent that it was the victim who persuaded him to bring her to Lagos to work.

He said: “I met the lady three months ago through a friend, when I travelled to Calabar for a friend’s burial, that she had problem taking care of her two children. She begged me to bring her to Lagos so that she could work and take care of them.

But before bringing her, I went to see her father who also consented to her coming.

“Before we left Calabar for Lagos, I told her what she would be doing when we get to Lagos and she agreed. The first money

she made, she sent it back home for the upkeep of her children. But suddenly she was not concentrating on the hustling anymore. She started going out with some boys in my area which annoyed me and I seized her phone.

“I was in my hotel on Wednesday when policemen came and arrested me for trafficking girls and also forcing them into prostitution. Some of the ladies in my hotel came through their friends to work; nobody is forcing them into what they are doing. They pay N2,500 daily for each room they use. What I am after is money; whenever the girls come I always provide them accommodation. I don’t chase them away.”

Grace said she did not know anything about the

case.

She said: “I only came outside to urinate when policemen who came to raid the hotel arrested me.

“What I was able to gather was that, when the victim was brought into the hotel, we never knew she had a sister in the neighbourhood. It was when the owner of the hotel seized her phone for going out with some boys in the area that her sister brought police to arrest our chairman.

“Since my children and I were abandoned by my husband, it was my mother who was taking care of us. That was what prompted me into prostitution to care of my children. But I thank God I have being able to make a living from the work I do.”

Lagos begins clampdown on street urchins Muritala Ayinla

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fficials of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) have arrested six underage urchins terrorising Oshodi, Lagos.

Residents of Lagos have been lamenting over return of street urchins, particularly underage boys who rob, rape and beat unsuspecting pedestrians.

It was learnt that the six teenage mobile

The suspects

Gunmen in SARS uniform raid Bureau de Change operators, steal N12m Cajetan Mmuta BENIN

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33-year-old hotelier, Mr. Victor Obano, has said that each prostitute in his hotel paid N2,500 daily for using the hotel rooms.

Obano was arrested in Lagos for allegedly forcing young girls to work as prostitutes in his hotel.

The suspect, it was learnt, would travel to places like Cross River, Akwa-Ibom and Edo states to lure young girls with the pretence to secure jobs for them, but later force them to work as prostitutes in his hotel.

Policemen also arrested a prostitute who identified herself simply as Grace when they stormed the hotel at Ijegun on the outskirts of Lagos.

The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Fatai Owoseni, who paraded the suspect at the weekend at state Police Command Headquarters, Ikeja, said Obano seized the phone of a victim for refusing to work as a prostitute.

Owoseni said the suspect was arrested when the victim’s aunty lodged a complaint at the State Criminal Investigations Department (SCID), Panti, Yaba, that her younger sister’s phone was seized by her master for refusing to work as a prostitute in his hotel.

The police chief, however, urged parents and guardians to be wary of those who come to them to assist their girl-child secure job in Lagos be-

phone thieves were apprehended the same day at Oshodi while brazenly dispossessing commuters of their belongings.

Some of the urchins also known as "Area Boys" pretend to be porters and in the process snatch handbags, phones and other valuables from unsuspecting people.

The suspects are Ganiyu Rahman (18), Sadiq Adebayo (15), Timilehin Oluwaseun (14),

Ogundare Moyinoluwa (18), Toheeb Tijani (19) and Adeleke Sodiq (17) were arrested on Friday morning in Oshodi Oke. Speaking with journalists, one of the suspects, Rahman, who belongs to a gang of over 50 boys, said they usually pretend to be helping unsuspecting pedestrians but their focus is on their valuables.

He said: “We are over 50 boys. We are always at Oshodi-Oke, from morning till late night. At time, we pretend to be helping them but our focus are their valuables. Most times, we work in groups. While the others are helping out, another person is stealing the victim’s valuables either from bag or pocket.

“There are some other guys who forcibly dispossess passers-by of their belongings. These

gangs operate early in the morning and late at night when their victims are helpless.”

Rahman, however, blamed his woes on broken home. According to him, he became a street urchin when his parents got divorced remarried.

He added: “I have been sleeping in Oshodi Under Bridge since 2013. I work as conductor and whenever I am not, I am with my peers to rob and snatch valuables at Oshodi.

“We were three when we stole the Microsoft phone from a lady’s bag. We pretended to be helping the lady to get a bus. Meanwhile, our intent was her phones. I have been committed to 13-month rehabilitation by the Lagos State Task Force but my home is at Oshodi Under Bridge.”

43

three-man gang of armed robbers at the weekend raided the popular Bureau De Change market on Sakpoba Road, Benin, Edo State and carted away over N12 million.

The robbers, dressed in the outfit of men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), were said to have trailed one of the operators, who went to the bank to cash money, to his office at the exchange market.

The traders at the market had believed that the robbers were SARS men who escorted the man to the bank.

But seconds later, things turned sour as people started running helterskelter when the gunmen started shooting sporadically into the air after they had robbed the victim of N9 million and another victim of N3 million.

It was learnt that the robbers stormed the Bu-

reau de Change market in a Toyota Prado ‘Jeep’ which they parked a few metres away from the market.

They ordered people to lie down as they kept on shooting until they zoomed off with their loot.

Armed policemen were later invited but the robbers had escaped by then.

Angry Hausa traders and bystanders booed the police for arriving late.

One of the traders, Alhaji Haruna, said police always come late each time robbers raided the market.

He said: “We don’t know whether the police are conniving with them to rob us. It is really sad and we have been calling them to come. The robbers dressed like SARS members so we don’t know what is happening.”

When contacted yesterday, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Stephen Onwuchei, said he was not in town and was not aware of the incident.

Kidnapper killed while picking ransom Dominic Adewole ASABA

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suspected kidnapper, identified simply as Victor, has been shot dead by the police in Delta State while trying to pick up ransom.

The state Police Commissioner, Zanna Ibrahim, who disclosed this in Asaba yesterday, said Victor was killed on Benin bypass while his accomplice, Emmanuel Tariuwa, was arrested.

He said: “Following a tip-off, Mrs. Doris Eromosele, who was kidnapped on October 16 about 8a.m. on Osubi Eku Road by Emecco Hotel on her way to church, was rescued by detectives from the bush at Ubogo village opposite Jehovah Witness Camp in Udu Local Government Area.

“Following a move to collect ransom from the victim’s husband, the kidnappers called on the phone requesting that the ransom be brought to Oghara junction, but later redirected that the ransom be brought to Benin bypass.

“About 5:30p.m. a Toyota V6 ash colour with registration number BKW 196 AR Delta with two occupants who came to Benin bypass for the

ransom, Emmanuel Tariuwa ‘m’ of Mosogar town was arrested while Victor (surname unknown) was shot dead. The vehicle was recovered. Case is under investigation.”

Also, the police have arrested six teenagers, suspected to be students of the Delta State University (DELSU), Abraka, for jointly committing cybercrime at their hideouts in the university town.

They are 24-year-old Tony Sunday, Ugwe Junior (23), Maxwell Irezor (23), John Gochukwu (25), Richard Odiase (26) and Overera Adogbo (21).

The police squad which swooped on them also seized the working tools with which they have defrauded unsuspecting members of the public, which include laptops, Indian hemp and highpowered phones.

Ibrahim said they were arrested after a tip-off that they had converged to penetrate the crime.

He said: “Based on information received that some cult members were holding meeting in an apartment on Locas Road, Abraka, SARS (Special Anti-Robbery Squad) operatives based at Eku mobilised to the scene and arrested the above-listed suspects, all of Eku and Abraka respectively.”

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News|NORTH

Murder of don: Akume moves to save indicted commissioner

Cephas Iorhemen MAKURDI

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ndication emerged yesterday that the leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Benue State and senator representing Benue North-West senatorial district in the National Assembly, Dr. George Akume, has commenced moves to save the state Commissioner for Arts and Culture in the state, Mr. Sekav Iortyom, who was said to have fled the state over

his alleged involvement in the murder of a university lecturer in the state.

Iortyom hails from Buruku Local Government Area of the state and from the same senatorial district with Akume.

New Telegraph gathered that as part of the plot to save the embattled commissioner, who is a close ally of the former governor, a meeting of Buruku people, which included traditional rulers and major political stakeholders, was convened yesterday

by Akume in his Judg-

es Quarters’ residence along the Makurdi-Gboko Road, to seek solution to the matter.

A source in the meeting hinted New Telegraph in confidence that while majority of the Buruku people voted for the replacement of Sekav, a few others pleaded for the return of the now hunted commissioner, who was spotted in the senator’s house on Saturday evening in Makurdi, shortly after Governor Samuel Ortom performed the groundbreaking ceremony of the N38 billion Cargo Airport in

Makurdi, along Kilometre 28, Makurdi-Lafia road.

NewTelegraphcorrespondent,whowasamongjournalists in the senator’s residence following a quest for an interaction with him, also sighted Iortyom,whosaid:“Higentlemen, I read a report in one of your newspapers (not New Telegraph) that I have been declared wanted and I am going to sue that newspaper, here am I,” he said.

As at the time of filing this report, no successor of Iortyom had emerged as a heated debate on who would be picked dominated discussions.

L-R: Minister of Defence, Brig.-Gen Mansur Dan-AlI (rtd); Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai; Minister of Interior, Lt.-Gen Abdulrahman Dambazau and the Minister of Sports and Youth, Mr Solomon Dalong, at the closing ceremony of 2016 Ministry of Interior Games in Kaduna …at the weekend

SGF visits Kebbi over CBN’s Anchor Borrowers’ rice programme Abubakar Abdul Birnin Kebbi

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ollowing the release of N14 billion to Kebbi State by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the Anchor Borrowers’ rice programme during this year, the Secretary to the Federal Government (SFG), Babachir David Lawal, at the weekend, visited the state on a fact-finding mission over the one million metric

tonnes of rice promised by the State by December 2016.

Our correspondent gathered that the SGF arrived in the state and was taken round the rice farms by Governor Atiku Bagudu, while he (Lawal) also departed the state yesterday.

Briefing newsmen in Birnin Kebbi, the state capital, the SGF said his visit was to assess rice farms in the state in line with the promise made by farmers to produce one million tonnes of

the product by December 2016. He, however, assured Nigeria that Kebbi State would meet the target.

“Bagudu is my friend and am also a farmer, so am here to see how I would improve on my farm, Kebbi is great in farming,” he added.

He also emphasised that diversifying the economy was the major target of the Muhammadu Buhari administration while urging the people to support the President to ensure

that the dream was actualised.

Meanwhile, the leadership of All Farmers’ Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Kebbi State chapter at the weekend, said the N14 billion Anchor Borrowers’ loan disbursed to rice and white rice farmers by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in collaboration with the Federal Government in the state last year was at a loss. The farmers made this known while addressing newsmen over the failure.

Nasarawa Fire Service saves five lives, loses three in fire outbreaks Cheke Emmanuel LAFIA

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asarawa State Fire Service at the weekend said it has lost three and saved five lives from many fire outbreaks in the state between January and September this year.

The Chief Fire Officer in the state, Alhaji Dogara Dalhatu, disclosed this to newsmen in an interview in his office. He said property worth N2.1 billion were saved by men of his command while N57.5 mil-

lion properties were lost to fire during the period under review.

He said: “We received 99 distress calls from members of the public and 89 were for fire outbreak, nine for rescue, one was a false call and another one for special services, we lost five lives and saved three, we also saved properties worth N2.1 billion and lost properties worth N57.5 million from fire outbreaks.”

The chief fire officer said the command was battle ready to fight any such fire outbreak in the state, especially at this period of ember months.

Dalhatu added that the state recorded 99 fire outbreaks this year, against the 146 cases recorded last year.

He regretted such fire outbreaks, saying that the command has initiated Fire Operational Centres to gather and manage information such outbreaks and prevent outbreaks of fire in the state.

Dalhatu assured the people that operational expertise have been employed to tackle fire incidences, adding that the command was faced with the challenge of under staffing, lack of water hydrants and equipment in

the five stations and called on government to come to the aid of the command by way of providing needed support to enable it fight fire outbreaks effectively.

$171.04m The total amount of the ICT sector of the Nigeria Stock Exchange for 2015 Q4.

Source: Nigerian Stock Exchange

6%

The percentage of the population of women above 60 years of Iraq in 2012.

Source: Un.org

monDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Army foils another bomb attempt in Borno Ahmed Miringa MAIDUGURI

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roops of the Nigerian Army at the weekend foiled another attempt by a suspected Boko Haram suicide bomber to bomb the Bakassi Internally Displaced Persons’ camp in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

The attempt came barely 18 hours after a suicide bomber detonated an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) at the entrance of the camp killing five people.

Confirming the incident at the weekend, the army in a statement sign by its spokesman, Col. Sani Kukasheka, said “at about 9am this morning, troops of Operation LAFIYA DOLE deployed behind Bakassi Internally

Displaced Persons (IDPs’) camp, Damboa Road, Maiduguri, on security duty, intercepted and killed a male suicide bomber, who had attempted to sneak through the troops’ inner parapet towards the IDPs’ camp.” a said the vigilant sentry sighted the bomber and laid in wait until the suicide bomber came close. The sniper instantly shot and killed the terrorists as he tried to force his way to the western flank of the IDPs’ camp.

“Unfortunately, the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) vest strapped on the bomber’s body failed to detonate. Consequently, a combined team of military and police Explosive Ordinance Device (EOD) unit were called to safely detonate the IED,” the statement added.

NMEC: Plateau has 1.5m non-literate persons Musa Pam Jos

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xecutive Secretary of the National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and NonFormal Education (NMEC), Prof. Abba Haladu, has said that Plateau State has 1.5 million non-literate persons.

He blamed the increasing population of non-literate persons in the state to school drop-outs, early marriage and the persistent crisis that continued to rock the state.

Haladu disclosed this during the Jos 2016 Round Table and 50th International Literacy Day commemoration, organised by PAMOJA Nigeria, under the theme: “Reading the Past, Writing the Future,” held in Bukuru near Jos, the Plateau State capital.

“Plateau State is saddled with a relatively high number of illiterate citizens. A 2012 report from the National Bureau of Statistic (NBS) indicates that the state has a literacy rate of 59 percent, which means that 41 percent or 1, 502, 005 out of the state’s population of 3, 663,428 are non-literates.

“In recent times, the data also indicated that the literacy level in Plateau State has decreased duetothe persistent crisis that rocked the state, especially the rural communities.

“Incident of tribal and communal strife, insurgency andpocketsof youthviolence werealsoresponsible for the increase in the number of displaced persons and the ensuing rise in school drop-out rate in the state.”

Niger spends N300m on flood disasters Dan Atori MINNA

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iger State government said it has spent more than N300 million on disaster management in parts of the state since the commencement of the raining season this year.

The government through the Director General, Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), Mallam Ahmed Ibrahim Inga, over the weekend, disclosed this in an interactive session with journalists in Minna, the state capital.

He said the fund was spent on providing succour for the victims till the end of the raining season.

The NSEMA boss disclosed further that the state recorded heavy flooding in several flood-plain com-

munities in 19 local government areas across the state, where several deaths were recorded when some residential buildings were flooded and farmlands and livestock were also washed away by the raging flood during the period.

According to him, “The money was spent on providing succour for the victims in the area of procurement of drugs, foodstuffs, building materials, including the provision of clothing materials, bed covers, blankets, mattresses, as well as outright cash gifts and provision of temporary camps for victims of such disasters in the upper land areas of the state.”

Inga, who commended Governor Abubakar Sani Bello, over his timely intervention and personal visits for on-the-spot assessment of some of the worst hit communities in the state.

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MONDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Did you know?

Sport

That for the first time since 2007, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, has played six matches without scoring a goal after his failure to hit the target in Man United’s 0-0 match against Burnley on Saturday.

T

Charles Ogundiya

Mikel

No holiday for First Bank players

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fter winning the FIBA Africa Zone Three championship, First Bank Basketball Club will begin preparation for the finals, which comes up in Mozambique next month.

Coach of the team, Peter Ahmedu, after his team defeated Etoile Filante of Lome 68-39 in the final game stated that he wanted the players to be at their best hence the need to deny them holiday and begin preparation today (Monday).

“It was good that we won this championship with a 100 per cent record,” Ahmedu said.

“We still need to work extra hard to win a medal at the finals in Mozambique. The African Championship is of a higher level and we need to be at our best.”

Rohr tough on late comers

44

Adepoju: Mikel’s experience vital in Eagles

NOC's course starts in Lagos

he Nigeria Olympic Committee has concluded arrangements to organise the Advanced Sports Management Course from November 1 to 3 at the Command Guest House, Apapa, Lagos.

According to the President of the NOC, Habu Gumel, the course, which is a joint initiative of the International Olympic Committee and its local affiliate, the NOC, will be anchored by the IOC Course Director, Prof. Fasan Clement, Dean Faculty of Physical and Heath Education, University of Lagos and Dyagas Jonathan of ANOCA. Gumel, an Executive Committee member of the IOC said the course, which was the third session in the series, would be an overview of the last session activities.

Sport News

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x-intern a tional, Mutiu Adepoju, has said the experience of Super Eagles skipper, Mikel Obi, is very important for the national team to excel in an attempt to earn the Russia 2018 World Cup ticket.

Adepoju said despite not playing for his club, Chelsea FC of England, his leadership quality in the Super Eagles was enough to rate Mikel as a true leader.

“Mikel is one of the leaders in the Super Eagles,” he said.

“People should not judge him with his current condition in Chelsea because anytime he is with the national team, he gives his best and also motivates the other players to perform, I think we should leave it that way.

“It is not good to evaluate every-

body on the same platform, if you look at Mikel since becoming the captain; he has been giving more than 120 per cent to the cause of the team. We should encourage him.”

He further applauded the current goal scoring form of Leicester City winger, Ahmed Musa.

The former Kano Pillars striker was again on the scorers’ sheet against Tottenham Hotspur in a 1-1 draw in one of the English Premier League matches played at the weekend.

Musa has scored back-to-back in the English Premier League, after failing to score in his first five league games at Leicester.

He opened his account for the EPL defending champions in a 3-1 defeat of Crystal Palace, just a week ago.

Adepoju added: “Musa scored again and I believe that will definitely boost his confidence coming back to the national team.

“He should continue in that form and he will surely get back to scoring ways for the Super Eagles.”

Meanwhile, the current La-Liga ambassador says he expects the Super Eagles to defeat their Algerian counterpart in a World Cup qualifier scheduled for November 12 in Uyo, Akwa Ibom.

Adepoju urged the team to continue the good work started in Zam-

Adepoju

bia when they won their first game 2-1 away in Ndola.

“My expectation is nothing less than victory; we have a formidable team after winning the last two matches against Tanzania and Zambia.

“Although we have to be very careful, Algeria drew their game at home and will be looking forward to get a victory when they come to Nigeria.

“I believe in our players and they should not go to sleep because the job is just starting, they should not be complacent, they should rather improve on what they did against Zambia,” he said.

Oshonaike rules Africa again Ping pong queen in tears after massive victory

Adekunle Salami Adekunle Salami Group Sport Editor

Emmanuel Tobi Assistant Sport Editor

Ajibade Olusesan Sport Correspondent

Charles Ogundiya Sport Correspondent

© Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited

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igeria’s Olufunke Oshonaike reclaimed her long lost African title at the ITTF African Senior Championships on Sunday in grand style by beating Africa’s number one seed and Egypt’s Dina Meshref 4-2 in the final of the women’s singles.

The Egyptian has been unbeaten in the last two years, but Oshonaike with her experience and focus whipped the North African to emerge as the new continent’s number one star.

To emerge as the new African Champion, Oshonaike won (7-11, 11-13, 11-5, 11-9, 7-11, 7-11).

The table tennis queen was in tears while speaking to our correspondent on the telephone.

She said: “I knew it was going

to be tough because being the African champion and she has been unbeaten in the last two year. I just told myself to go out there and have fun and show my experience and when it started working I gained more confidence. But when the match was 2-2, my coach, Segun Toriola, told me not to give up and I kept on going and it worked for me at last.

"This victory means a lot to me that I can still become African champion despite my age.

It shows that nothing is impossible regardless of age inasmuch as you put your mind at it. I am so happy despite the challenges of making it to Morocco. I feel great and I am so excited that I can still do it and this is also an inspiration for

girls that no matter your age, you can achieve whatever you put your mind into in life."

However, Aruna Quadri’s efforts of becoming the continent champion failed as the Nigerian fell 4-3 to defending champion, Egypt’s Omar Assar, in an entertaining final.

An elated Omar Assar said after the match, “It was really a crazy match because against Aruna is always very exciting. I gave my 100 per cent concentration and I was listen more to my coach, Helmy Ashraf. Aruna played very well because he was always changing service and he was more aggressive on his forehand. I am so happy retaining the title and I hope I can play better than this in future tournament.”

Oshonaike

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SPORT NEWS

NIG vs ALG:

MONDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Rohr tough on late comers

Charles Ogundiya

S

uper Eagles coach, Gernot Rohr, has promised to be tough on some of the national team players who are found of coming late to camp ahead of an important game.

It was reported by Africanfootball.com that the coach settled for Abuja camp so that none of the players would complain about getting a straight flight from Europe to Uyo, the venue of the match against Algeria on November 12.

Also, the big hotel in Uyo has made it very difficult for the players to be fully monitored by officials leading up to a match day.

“Rohr has been far from impressed with some of the Super Eagles stars who have chosen to report late to camp citing the dif-

ficulty of connecting local flights to Uyo,” an official said.

“By having the squad all in Abuja now, they will all leave for Uyo three days to the game. There are always flight from Europe and locally to Abuja and so no one can use flight hitches as an excuse to come late to camp anymore.”

Another top official informed that the team’s hotel in Abuja is a lot more compact as against the hotel in Uyo, which is big and sprawling and so gives room for the players to whatever they choose even before a big game.

The Eagles training camp will open on Sunday night, November 6, and training is slated to begin Monday morning.

The squad will then fly out to Uyo on Thursday ahead of the showdown against Algeria on Saturday.

African T’Tennis Championship

Toriola, Quadri clinch doubles gold for Nigeria

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aving watched Egypt claimed three titles ahead of them in the ITTF Africa Senior Championships, Nigeria showed their quality in the men’s doubles as the pair of Aruna Quadri and Segun Toriola retained the men’s doubles title.

Pairing for the first time in a major championship, the partnership of Aruna Quadri and Segun Toriola conquered Egyptian teams to hold on to the title won in 2015 by Aruna Quadri and Kazeem Makanjuola.

The Nigerian duo defeated ageing Egyptians – El-Sayed Lashin and Ahmed Saleh 4-2 to give Nigeria its first gold medal in the one-week championship holding in Agadir, Morocco.

An elated Toriola said: “For us winning this title is very good because I had said earlier that it is a must for us to win this doubles title.

But I must also tell you that it was not

Moses (left)

an easy match because the match was strange to us in all departments.

Also our opponents are very experienced players and clever, so we are so excited claiming the first gold medal for Nigeria in this competition.”

In the women’s doubles, Egypt’s duo of Dina Meshref and Yousry Helmy won the title ahead of their compatriots.

Meshref described the win as special, “Winning the doubles title this year is very special because this is the first time I am partnering Yousra Helmy, who is my cousin and I think we played very together as doubles partner. The absence of players from Congo Brazzaville and Nigeria may have taken the shine off the event but what is most important is that we have won for Egypt,” she said.

NCC League: Tombim beat Leadway in epic clash

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Why LMC set Dec. league kick off date –Dikko Charles Ogundiya

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he Chairman of the League Management Company, Shehu Dikko, has revealed that the Nigeria Professional Football League, 2016/2017 season will be start in the first week of December.

There was rumour of December 4 starting date for the new season and Dikko has said the plan to start the league in December was to allow the teams playing on the continent to prepare for the competition.

He stated further that the target for the new sea-

son was to improve on the achievements of the last season and also to take the league to another level.

“We want to start so as to allow our clubs playing on the continent to be in a competition mood,” he told New Telegraph.

“We always evaluate where we are coming from and where we are going to and the target is to move ahead to another level.

“We are going to evaluate the positives and see how to improve on the negatives. We are not there yet, we have to continue to improve and the

stakeholders have been telling us that we are improving, so we want to continue to move forward.”

Dikko

NBBF lifts suspension on player, ref

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t the end of the first day of deliberations of the Executive Board of the Nigeria Basketball Federation held at the Parkview Hotel, Abuja, the technical committee of the federation presented the cases of a suspended player, Victor Koko Anthony and Referee Segun Adekanmbi who wrote

letters of apology for their participation in the unauthorized "African Basketball League" last season.

In the letters, the player and the referee respectively expressed remorse for their ill-advised action and informed the federation of their withdrawal from the illegal league.

After due consideration and discussion, their suspension was lifted and both were cleared to participate in all activities of the federation with immediate effect.

The referee's apology and the federation's decision will be forwarded to FIBA for further necessary action.

oses Michael and Sarah Adegoke bagged a decisive 6-4, 6-0 win over Monday Igbinovia and Ronke Akingbade in the mixed doubles to give defending champions Team Tombim a 4-3 win over Team Leadway in the Blue Group of the 2016 Nigeria Communication Commission League in Lagos.

Both teams tied 2-2 after four matches on Saturday with Moses Michael beating Joseph Imeh 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 in the first singles match on Centre Court but the home team levelled following Igbinovia's 0-6, 6-4, 7-5 win over Christopher Edward.

Adegoke's 6-4, 7-6 (3) win over Akingbade in the women's singles puts the visitors from Abuja in the driving seat once again but it was cancelled by the 6-4, 4-6, 11-9 win by Imeh and Mohammed Mohammed

who defeated Moses and Christian Paul in the men's doubles meaning there is all to play for on Sunday's last three matches.

Tombim's top player, Moses, not unexpectedly defeated Igbinovia 6-2, 6-2, but Imeh, who vowed to shock coach Babatunde Abe's team before the encounter, defeated Paul in the second reverse singles making the mixed -doubles final match a winner takes all.

Leadway coach, Abel Ubiebi attributed the mixed doubles loss to internal disagreement between players in the course of the match.

The final of the League is billed for Lagos in December with the first placed team getting N7m. The second, third and fourth placed teams will get N5m, N3m and N2m respectively.

Sports to be reformed, says Dalung

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he Ministry of Youth and Sports says it will no longer invest in elite sports development.

Minister of Sports, Solomon Dalung, made the statement when Otunba Femmy Carrena CEO/ President of Arabella 21st Century, a sports Promo/marketing company made a proposal to invest about $1.5b in the Nigerian league.

According to Carrena, some investors in the United Kingdom are willing to invest the amount in the Nigerian Professional Football league.

"They want to bring in about $1.5b into Nigerian football but there is a caveat to it. They are not going to tamper with the constitution, statutes or football article. It is the same thing they did in China and Japan. The league board will operate with the NFF and the Ministry will be involved."

Carrena also hinted that like any other investor, they'll like to make money. " They want to come to Nigeria and manage our league for the next 20 years.

After a meeting with the ministry and other stakeholders, they'll set up the company but their Nigerian counterparts are expected to invest 30% of the $1.5b. They're ready to put their own

money into the stock exchange but they'll have the controlling share."

Carrena stated that after this process, there would be a football conference in the country to let the various clubs know what to expect.

"They will restructure the league, get the television rights but not before a conference which will explain to everyone how it will work. They will be coming with technical experts from the EPL. In his response, Dalung restated that sports would henceforth be private sector- driven.

He said: "It will now be stakeholder- defined . You must put your money in it. The days of when government will make huge budgetary allocations for people who have no single contribution is over.

"If you want to come and set up another league, you're welcome. Since we as government are interested in it, we will buy shares and become stakeholders. We have kick-started the machinery to reform sports.

"If you want to run a league, run the league. Elite sports should be able to produce the money that will sustain itself.”

SPORT

MONDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Pat Ekeji’s Corner patrick.ekeji@yahoo.com 08159364282 (sms only)

Will sports assets be included for sale?

T hey were all included for ‘Concession’ by the immediate past regime. Many of us may not be aware that in truth and fact, only two major sports Stadiums in the country, namely; National Stadium Lagos and National Stadium Abuja were built by the Federal Government. Ahmadu Bello Kaduna, Nnamdi Azikiwe Enugu, Obafemi Awolowo Ibadan were built by the three Regional Governments but acquired by the Federal Government following the creation of states as their ownership became contentious amongst contiguous states which hitherto belonged to same Region. However in the course of political and economic egressions that have stoked the Federal Government, it became increasingly difficult to comfortably and sustainably provide the resources for the maintenance of these Stadiums and other inclusive associated sports facilities such as swimming pools, tennis, basket and volley ball courts, hockey pavilion etc. In the Abuja facility, the latest built by Government, other structures have been added such as hostels and NFF HQ. The concern of this discussion is on the sense or lack of it, in the ongoing debate on sale of Government assets. The Stadiums mentioned above were included in the basket of Federal Government assets that were to have been “sold” by the Governments of Obasanjo and Jonathan -ostensibly to raise money for Government.

Recently it was touted that the Federal Gover nment “hints at sale of public assets” and my thoughts flicked to the sports assets. My understanding for providing spor ts facilities by the Federal Gover nment is to promote and encourage par ticipation in sports by all and sundry, especially the Youths. Sports belong to the Social Welfare service sector in the political economy of Nations and our country is not an exception. This therefore puts Gover nment to task as to the role it is supposed to play in the development of that aspect of its Youth. Let me digress for a moment at this point. Emotions that held sway in the country largely supported privatization of many public enterprises following which the Obasanjo regime did privatize many. I do not know if the policy was very well executed. In my opinion the very fundamental attitudinal changes which underscore the success of the magnitude of privatization of national assets were addressed only on paper.

If I may digress, Li Quan Yew, the pioneer Prime Minister of Singapore laid out change approach in leadership which should be perfect examples for all third world countries. At independence in 1959, the citizens of Singapore were as undisciplined as we are today. His

government ultimately also privatized public Enterprises. Not only did that country ultimately succeed, by the time he stepped down in 1992, Singapore had risen”From third World to First” . Singapore is not “blessed” with crude oil yet she is not as endowed as we are in land mass or population. She was also colonized by Britain just as we were. Is the fault in our spirit or ourselves? The sports sector there still remains a public concern of government but it has also developed an industry out of it.

I do not believe it would be the right thing to sell off the sports assets that belong to the Federal Government. They are simply invaluable in many ways. All we need to do is to enact the right policies that should drive sports by, for instance, constituting a Board of tested professionals for the National Sports Commission with one of its mandates being to turn around sports administration in its first term of service. The Board should be instructed, at inauguration, to lay out its pathway to achieving its mandate, which it must present to the Federal Executive Council for approval. I would also propose that the changes sort by the Council should be fast-tracked as an Executive Bill for passage by the National Assembly. Should the sports facilities be “sold” to interested investors, the sports sector administration as it is now, would be so badly hit by the collateral damages to the extent that sports development in the country would be so only on paper.

I imagine that no investor expressed interest at the past effort at concession because prospects of “Retur n-On-Investment” was zero. A Prospective investor may have foreseen operational limitations that were discouraging, for instance; would Government limit buyer’s activities to sports business alone? In all seriousness our sports programs are not competitive enough to attract viewership let alone income from sales of any kind! What kind of regulations would be put in place that would preclude the Concessionaire from charging Sports Federations from paying fees for usage of the facilities? How would the Sports Federations sustain the practice? What shall be the role of the supervising entity for sports in the arrangement? Shall Gover nment retain a role in the arrangement? What shall be the relationship between Sports Federations and “owners” of the facility? There are so many questions which beg for answers.

Well if the Federal Government would not be bothered about sports development any more, it may go ahead and sell, after all that would contribute to housing and tourism development.

WORLD \ NEWS

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CETA: EU, Canada sign historic trade deal

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he European Union and Canada signed a historic free trade agreement yesterday that is promised to generate jobs and economic growth on both sides of the Atlantic. Critics, however, denounced the deal as power-grab by multinational corporations.

Some 100 anti-globalisation protesters clashed with police outside the venue in Brussels, trying to break down barriers in front of the main entrance and hurling red paint.

Canadian Prime Minis-

ter Justin Trudeau signed the treaty along with the heads of EU institutions, a step that should enable a provisional implementation of the pact early in 2017 with the removal of most import duties.

The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement’s (CETA) passage has not been smooth.

French-speakers in southern Belgium - a minority within their own small country and accounting for less than one percent of the 508 million EU consumers likely to be affected

by CETA - raised objections that held up the deal until a breakthrough on Thursday,

confirmed by regional parliamentary votes on Friday.

“All’s well that end’s well,” said European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. “We have 20 ongoing negotiations and today we are fixing the global standards the European Union and the European Commission want others to accept.”

The deal must still clear some 40 national and regional parliaments in Europe in the coming years to enter fully into force. Nick Dearden, of the UK-based group Global Justice Now, told Al Jazeera the agreement was “a ticking time bomb”.

Belgium finally signed the deal

Violence, low turnout mar Ivory Coast’s constitutional referendum

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iolence erupted at around 100 polling stations in Ivory Coast yesterday as voters decided whether to approve a new constitution that President Alassane Ouattara argues will guarantee peace in the wake of years of political turmoil.

Elections worker Nandi Bamba was preparing to open the voting when a group of young men, some of them armed with clubs and machetes, attacked her polling station in Abidjan’s Yopougon neighborhood.

“They demanded we stop working because the new constitution wasn’t for the people. Then they smashed the ballot boxes, scattered the ballots. They broke everything,” she said.

Under Ouattara, Ivory Coast has made an impressive recovery since a 2011 civil war capped a decade-long crisis. The International Monetary Fund projects it will be Africa’s fastest growing economy this year. However, despite five years of peace, Ivorians remain deeply divided along political and ethnic faultlines.

And both they and the investors who are now flooding in crave the stability that will allow the world’s top cocoa grower to cement its status as the continent’s rising star.

Opposition parties called for a boycott of the vote, arguing that the new text was designed to further entrench Ouattara’s political coalition.

Some called upon their supporters to act to stop the referendum from being held - and a low turnout could rob what is expected to be a “Yes” vote of legitimacy in the future.

Italy: Tremor destroys ancient buildings

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owns and villages in central Italy have been hit by an earthquake for the fourth time in three months.

The 6.6-magnitude quake - Italy’s strongest in decades -struck close to the region where nearly 300 people were killed by a quake in August. This time no-one appears to have died, but about 20 people were injured.

The medieval basilica of St Benedict in Norcia, the town closest to the epicentre, was among buildings destroyed. An

evacuation of buildings in the region deemed vulnerable to seismic activity last week, following strong aftershocks from August’s quake, may have saved lives.

Tremors from this latest earthquake were felt in the capital Rome, where the Metro system was shut down, and as far away as Venice in the north. The head of the national civil protection agency, Fabrizio Curcio, said there had been extensive damage to many historic buildings but no deaths had been registered. “About 20 people

are injured.

As far as people are concerned, the situation is positive, but many buildings are in a critical state in historic centres and there are problems with electricity and water supplies,” he added.

Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has promised that everything will be rebuilt, saying resources will be found. “We are going through a really tough period,” he said.

“We must not allow the profound pain, fatigue and stress that we have now to turn into resignation.”

On Marble

There is nothing wrong in dining with the devil, when you find life no longer worth living.

World Record

Sanctity of Truth

NIGERIA’S MOST AUTHORITATIVE NEWSPAPER IN POLITICS AND BUSINESS

– Kingsley Ogbeide-Ihama MONDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2016

N150

The largest known land gastropod is the African giant snail (Achatina achatina).

The largest recorded specimen of this specie measured 39.3 centmeters (15.5 inches) from snout to tail when fully extended. Its shell length was 27.3 centimeters (10.75 inches) and it weighed exactly 900 grams (2 pounds).

Public arena T he column you write

Still on the Chibok girls

Adewale Kupoluyi

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t was relieving to see President Muhammadu Buhari meeting with the 21 Chibok girls alongside their families at the State House, Abuja, recently. The visitors were part of more than 200 kidnapped schoolgirls that were allegedly held captive since April 2014 by the notorious Boko Haram terrorists.

According to the government, the girls were released after successful negotiations between the sect, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as well as the Nigerian and Swiss governments.

For many, the Federal Government and the various parties that facilitated this intervention deserve high commendation for restoring the hopes of the families of the girls and several people from all over the world that are touched by the unfortunate experience. While a combination of local and foreign pressures was being mounted for the release of the innocent girls, pessimism kept flying about as to why it would be an impossibility to get the girls back home. A former Nigerian President once raised a similar false alarm, saying the nation should learn to forget those girls, insisting that they were not coming back while other extreme opinions suggest that the girls may have either been turned into suicide bombers or married-off to the militants!

However, beyond the release of the schoolgirls, a number of other key issues have arisen that should be given the necessary attention. To begin with, there is the need to find the remaining girls, whose fate still remain unknown without further delay, hoping that they are still alive and traceable. The government should deploy the same tact, resources and energy to rescue others.

There is the tendency to be reveling with the euphoria of the present success at the detriment of the others. Secondly, there is the need to monitor with more caution, the kind of information that would be shared to the public following the release of the girls.

Because of the high security nature of the case, unnecessary publicity should be avoided for now to avoid jeopardising subsequent efforts. We should remember that all is not over until the remaining girls are found and rescued hale and hearty. Thirdly, is the issue of giving adequate rehabilitation to the rescued girls going by the nation’s nottoo-encouraging records of rehabilitating victims of emergencies and natural disasters. This time, the rehabilitation should be thorough and sustained.

Another point to take seriously is the imperative of putting in place the necessary mechanism to solicit and manage the relief items meant for the upkeep of the girls. Donated materials to the victims should not be diverted by those entrusted with the task of managing the items. Government should ensure that any man-made bureaucratic vacuum that could make the relief materials to

FREE AT LAST: The girls in a group phtograph with President Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo

get into private hands is prevented. It is common knowledge that victims of such circumstance like the Internally Displaced Persons in the North-East, remain under terrible and pitiable living conditions because of the inability of the beneficiaries to access donated materials.

Such a perilous situation has been adduced to be one of the reasons why many victims of such incidents often run way from such camps to eke out a living and in the process; they fall into the hands of human traffickers, ritualists and kidnappers, akin to the idiomatic expression of moving from frying pan into the fire. Reports from past rescued victims have not been very encouraging. It is also not new that victims of kidnap and forced marriage usually opt to go back to their former abode having been made to adapt to their strange lifestyles. That is also a good reason why there should be thorough rehabilitation.

In addition to the existing arrangement, the government should include reputable groups such as the civil society, the media and the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) in supervising the rehabilitation process and the management of the relief items by giving the entire process more transparency and accountability. The essence is to truly make the rescued girls to come out of

Unnecessary publicity should be avoided for now

the trauma they are most likely to have suffered while in captivity, such as rape, forced marriage and labour, sexual exploitation, torture, sexually transmitted diseases, brutality and forced imprisonment. The girls should be accorded generous and specialised forms of restorative intervention and support.

More importantly and as promised by the government, the girls should be allowed to continue the pursuit of their academic programmes that was truncated with their abductions in 2014. Though, it may not be surprising to know that the girls could have been averse to going back to school, because of the likelihood of indoctrination by the terrorists, whose slogan is, ‘western education is evil’.

Apart from the non-challant attitude to education that could be displayed, a very close observation should be given to the girls, who might have been indoctrinated with deviant and false beliefs that promote violence, disregard for human lives, penchant for hostilities and disobedience to civil authorities. They should not be allowed to become handy tools for the terrorists whenever they are reintegrated into their communities. The government should not be in a hurry to fully send them back without the necessary observation and monitoring.

The authorities should have it at the back of their minds that the girls, before their abduction, were young, presumably innocent and susceptible to vices and nefarious activities of their captors.

Over the past few months, the girls could have been brainwashed by the terrorists and may, therefore, find it difficult or strange to adapt to a normal life that could be at variance with what obtains in the Sambisa Forest, where they are believed to have been kept in the last two years. Hence, the government should not underrate the girls under any guise.

That is why they should be given close monitoring.

Finally, it may not be out of place to assume that the terrorists may network to prevent the girls from opening-up. This has happened in the past to arrested criminal suspects. This could be to ensure that the girls are unable to disclose vital information to security agencies on what they saw, what they heard and what they did during their captivity. No one knows. They should be placed on security surveillance. And as previously mentioned, sustained effort should be deployed at ensuring that the remaining girls are found and rescued alive. Nigerians would certainly be happier when all the missing girls are found.

•Kupoluyi writes from Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), adewalekupoluyi@yahoo.co.uk,@ AdewaleKupoluyi

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