Presidency: Group endorses Tinubu/ Shettima ticket

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

Eleven days to the Presidential election, the Asiwaju Bola Tinubu/Kashim Shettima ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) got endorsement by a group, Clerics Congress of Nigeria.

Endorsements of the Tinubu/ Shettima ticket by the group took place at Stakeholders Conference held at Nicon Luxury Hotel attended by representatives of both the Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates of APC.

The Clerics led by Ali John Ali and Timothy Cheren, premised their endorsements of Tinubu / Shettima ticket on competence , capacity and required vision for progressive leadership and Nation building.

The speech reads in part "After a cursory look at all the presidential aspirants, and without any dint of sentiment attached, we have found one candidate suitable to deliver the required result needed to take our nation out of our present predicament and usher in the required development needed to take us to the next level.

"That candidate without any shadow of a doubt is Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Our decision has been predicated on the indices of track record of past performance, ability to unite the country and fight insecurity, economic programme of development and the ability to build a sterling leadership succession.

"In all of these, Asiwaju towers high above the pack of other presidential candidates .

Looking at his track record in Lagos where he held sway as governor for eight years, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu succeeded immensely in turning Lagos into a mega city and an economic giant not just in Nigeria but Africa and the rest of the world.

"On the issues of Muslim and Muslim ticket which has engendered so much debate, we have carefully considered the issues that gave birth to the decision to select a Muslim as his Vice and came to the conclusion that the reasons were more about the strategy to win elections and have somebody he can be comfortable to work with, than of religious discrimination."

2023 polls: Atiku Abubakar will garner 64% from three zones in north – New report claims

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

Alhaji Atiku Abubakar is projected to win the Nigerian 2023 election scheduled for February 25, 2023. The interim report from nine months study led by Dr. Oludare Ogunlana of June Group Research and Council for African Security Affairs (CASA) with other Intelligence practitioners in the United States, Europe, and Nigeria pointed to the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party of Nigeria as a potential winner.

Atiku was rated higher than other candidates from All Progressive Congress (APC) and Labour Party (LP), and New Nigeria Peoples’ Party (NNPP), using four key variables: political geography, Religion, Resources, and Class.

According to the group, “The study’s scope is limited to observing political actors and interviews with stakeholders in organizations from across six zones of Nigeria and the Nigerians in the Diaspora: political leaders, women groups, religious organizations, civil societies, trade unions, and youth organizations.

“In each interview, we focused on five areas: the personality of the candidates, ethnic influence, religion, power of incumbency, voters’ behavior, emotions’ role, political socialization, and tolerance of diversity of political views. The study that started in May 2022 accurately predicted the outcome of the PDP and APC primaries and the emergence of Alh Atiku Abubakar and Senator Bola Tinubu as candidates for their respective parties.

“We identified where the political influencers, religious leaders, organizations, and Nigerians in the Diaspora stood with voting President in February 2023 and how it aligned to victory for each candidate. In addition, we gathered data from facilitated workshops and interactive survey sessions with Nigerian political thought leaders, which include lawyers, political activists, and former and current serving political office holders.

“While we respect various polls that have put a particular candidate as the preferred candidate to win the election, we state that data alone does not speak for itself significantly when such data is based on manipulation and sectional polling. The result of every data must be put into context, including understanding the people, culture, pattern, geographical spread of the platform, and historical antecedents.

“In conclusion, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar is expected to garner 64% from the three zones in the North, rake 45% from the South-South region where his running mates come from, acquire 37 % from the South-East with 27% from the South-West, which is the stronghold of the APC candidate.”

From Abubakar Yunusa ABUJA

TAJBank Limited, Nigeria’s fast-growing non-interest banking services provider, yesterday on the trading floor of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) became the first corporate to list Sukuk Bond on the bourse.

The bank listed N10 billion Mudarabah Sukuk issuance after it successfully raised over N11.4 billion under its N100 Billion Sukuk Issuance Programme.

The first of its kind in Nigeria is an Additional Tier 1 Capital Mudarabah Sukuk with lossabsorbency features designed to help TAJ Bank strengthen its capital adequacy ratio and general corporate business activities.

The Issuance received interest from both Retail and Institutional Investors, resulting in a subscription of 113.6. The oversubscription of this Issuance demonstrates that the investment culture in the Country is still vibrant and there is sustained confidence in Nigeria’s path to economic recovery and stability.

Speaking at the closing gong ceremony in commemoration of the listing of the Sukuk issuance on the floor of the Exchange, Chairman, TAJBank, Alhaji Tanko Gwamna who was with top executives of the bank, reiterated that the listing is the first of its kind on the trading floor and it comes with non-interest bearing.

He noted that the listing of the Corporate Sukuk is what the capital market needs to enhance liquidity and further grow Nigeria’s economy.

TAJBank Boss disclosed that the financial institution is considering investing in the manufacturing and Agriculture sectors with raised funds from the Sukuk.

“Manufacturing sector is the only sector that can take most of the youth out of the street and keep them engaged. Also, we are funding agriculture production and its value chain from start to finish. These two sectors are where we wanted to fund the Sukuk issuance,” he said.

“The listing on the Exchange is for investors to trade in the Sukuk and diversify their investment,” he added.

According to him, “We are setting the trend and I’m sure a lot of corporates will come along. We are making more offerings because the market is in need of corporate Sukuk. It was a transparent exercise and people can trade with our Sukuk and it will offer more liquidity for economic growth.

He added that the financial institution very soon will be back in the capital market and raise more funds.

Speaking also, the Managing Director/CEO, TAJBank, Mr. Hamid Joda said the aim of the Sukuk listing is to give Nigeria’s investors alternative means of investment.

He noted that, “Millions of investors have been yearning