Oyo police: Soka probe to go on
NEWS
Page 8
•No jungle justice, residents told
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News Kidnap suspect lynched in Ekiti Sports Man City are EPL Champions Business NSE worries over stocks sale
•Nigeria’s widest circulating newspaper
VOL. 9, NO. 2846 MONDAY, MAY 12, 2014
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Investors warn against ‘hasty’ sale of Mainstreet Bank
S
OME stakeholders are criticising the steps taken by the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) to sell Mainstreet Bank Limited, one of the bridged banks under its ownership. The steps are hasty, according to some of those interested in the process, as well as stakeholders in
By Simeon Ebulu, Group Business Editor
the defunct Afribank from where Mainstreet Bank took its root. The opposition is specifically against the one-week notice given by AMCON to those who are interested in bidding for the bank to express their interest. The notice is seen to be grossly in-
adequate for any meaningful due diligence to be done on the bank. In advertorials in the media last week, AMCON gave a week’s notice to interested parties in the acquisition of the bank to submit their Expression Of Interest (EOI) not later than May 16. To the parties, who asked not to be named so as not to jeopardise their interest, the
EKITI 2014
“rush” by AMCON to push Mainstreet Bank through the divestment process without recognising the enormous work that needs to be done to ensure fairness and transparency in the eventual bid process, put a question mark on AMCON’s intention. The potential buyers said while they were in agreement with AMCON on the Continued on page 4
•Fayemi, Aregbesola advocate use of card reader •Tinubu dares PDP •285,574 voter cards not collected AND MORE •Opinion poll rates APC candidate high ON•PAGES 9 & 59
More foreign experts join search for abducted girls •Pope calls for prayers
I
SRAELI counter-terrorism experts have joined the search for the Chibok girls, presidential spokesman Reuben Abati said yesterday in a statement after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to President Goodluck Jonathan. Abati said Jonathan was “very optimistic that with the entire international community deploying its considerable military and intelligence-gathering skills and assets in support of Nigeria’s efforts to find and rescue the abduct-
?
WHERE ARE THE CHIBOK GIRLS KIDNAPPED ON APRIL 15?
Continued on page 4
INSIDE
•Jonathan is hurting Nigeria - The Economist •Information vital, MORE ON says Fashola AND PAGES 2-6&59 •Police stop Abuja rally •Accra, New York protest •A cry beyond Nigeria, by Los Angeles Times
•ALL FOR THE GIRLS: British Prime Minister David Cameron and CNN anchor Christine Amanpour holding the bring back our girls placard on the PHOTO: BBC BBC’s Andrew Marr show in London...yesterday.
APC to Jonathan: no more time for excuses on terror
Party gives tips on ending insurgency It’s blackmail, says Presidency
P •Dr. Jonathan
RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan got yesterday a wake-up call from the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC). Time is running out on excuses, the party said, calling for a counterterrorism strategy to combat insurgency in the Northeast. The party, which also renewed its advocacy on new intelligence gather-
Just as they have left the girls in the forest and at the mercy of armed terrorists without mercy, this government has left the nation in the cold —APC By Emmanuel Oladesu, Group Political Editor
ing infrastructure, said improved intelligence, de-radicalisation, information management and peace building
Nigeria is not on auto pilot...there is a President who is also the Commander-inChief... He is doing his very best to provide quality leadership —Presidency
processes should be accompanied by economic development plan for the troubled Northern Nigeria. Also, the APC emphasised the importance of negotiation with the Boko
Haram sect, instead of the government passing the buck to the opposition party to discredit perceived political foes. APC Interim National Chairman Continued on page 4
•SPORTS P23 •CEO P27 •MOTORING P35 •JOBS P37 •POLITICS P43•FOREIGN P60