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Private Sector Operators Propose 10-Point Action Plan to Boost Nigeria’s Fiscal Position Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja The Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG), a private sector-led think-tank and policy

advocacy group, has proposed a ten-point action plan under an integrated strategy for revenue optimisation, expenditure efficiency and public debt

management.

The action plan was contained in a report submitted in Abuja, yesterday, to the Debt Management Office (DMO)

under the auspices of Debt Management Roundtable (DMR), an initiative of the NESG and Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA).

The NESG chief executive, ‘Laoye Jaiyeola in a statement highlighted the depth of research and sub-regional collaboration involved in the production

of the report, as well as its significance for sustainable debt management across the Continued on page 5

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INEC Reminds Parties of Deadline, Says They Have till June 3 to Conduct Primaries Chuks Okocha in Abuja

L-R: Nigeria High Commissioner to United Kingdom, Amb. Sarafa Isola; Leader of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi; Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi; All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Aspirant, Senator Ibikunle Amosun; his wife, Mrs. Olufunso Amosun and representative of the First Lady of Nigeria, during the official declaration ceremony of Senator Amosun to contest for the APC presidential ticket held at the Shehu Musa Yar'Adua Centre, Abuja...yesterday

For the third time, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has sent a reminder to the 18 political Continued on page 5

ACF to Southern Leaders: Enough of Blackmail, North Not Afraid of Break-up “These Southerners contest the facts that the North has 78% of the landmass of Nigeria. They refuse to accept that the North has over 55% of the population of Nigeria. They won't concede that the voting population in the Northwest region of the North alone is bigger than those of the Southeast & South-south combined"

Says threat over zoning unacceptable John Shiklam in Kaduna Not comfortable with stereotypes and alleged blackmail anymore, a foremost umbrella body for the north, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), yesterday, reacted to the ongoing controversy and constant bashing of the region over zoning within the two leading political parties - the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) - and declared that the North would not allow itself to be blackmailed any more, neither

was it afraid of the country's break-up.

The forum, in a statement in Kaduna, warned that gone were the days, when Northerners felt blackmailed and intimidated by threats of re-structuring, secession, break up or break down of Nigeria.

According to the statement signed by the Secretary General of the forum, Murtala Aliyu, the North is not and had never been opposed to the election of any Continued on page 5

APC Mulls Deal with Multitude of Presidential Hopefuls, Consensus Candidate Likely... Page 11 I AM READY...

Senator Ali Ndume (left) and Minsiter of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, displaying his presidential nomination form at the party secretariat...yesterday

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US Senate Committee Passes Bill Likely to Expose Nigeria, OPEC Nations to Lawsuits for Collusion Emmanuel Addeh with agency report A United States Senate committee passed a bill yesterday that could expose members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) like Nigeria and partners to lawsuits for collusion on boosting crude oil prices.

The No Oil Producing or Exporting Cartels (NOPEC) bill sponsored by senators, including Republican Chuck Grassley and Democrat Amy Klobuchar, passed 17-4 in the Senate Judiciary Committee, a Reuters report said.

Versions of the legislation have failed in Congress for more than two decades, but lawmakers are increasingly worried about rising inflation driven in part by prices for US petrol, which briefly hit a record above $4.30 a gallon recently.

"I believe that free and competitive markets are better for consumers than markets controlled by a cartel of state-owned oil companies ... competition is the very basis of our economic system" Klobuchar said.

NOPEC would change US antitrust law to revoke the sovereign immunity that has long protected OPEC and its national oil companies from lawsuits, the report indicated.

However, the bill must pass the full Senate and House and be signed by President Joe Biden

to become law.

If passed, the US attorney general would gain the ability to sue OPEC or its members, such as Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and others in federal court. Other producers like Russia, which works with OPEC in wider group known as OPEC+ to withhold output, could also be sued.

Saudi Arabia and other OPEC producers have rebuffed requests by the US and other consuming countries to boost oil production beyond gradual amounts, even as oil consumption recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic and Russian supply falls after its invasion of Ukraine.

OPEC+, which cut production when oil prices crashed to historic lows when the pandemic slashed oil demand, agreed on Thursday to stick to its existing plans to reverse the curbs with modest increases for another month.

NOPEC is intended to protect US consumers and businesses from engineered spikes in the cost of fuel, but some analysts warn that implementing it could also have some dangerous unintended consequences.

In 2019, Saudi Arabia threatened to sell oil in currencies other than the dollar if Washington passed NOPEC, a move that could undermine the dollar's status as the world's main reserve currency, reduce Washington's clout in global trade and weaken its ability to enforce sanctions on nation states.

PRIVATE SECTOR OPERATORS PROPOSE 10-POINT ACTION PLAN TO BOOST NIGERIA’S FISCAL POSITION West Africa sub- region, if implemented.

He said: “At the NESG, our mission is an open, inclusive, sustainable and globally competitive economy.

We champion sustainable debt management because unsustainable public debt accumulation is inimical to economic growth, not only in Nigeria but ECOWAS as a whole.

"Nigeria is a focal point for debt sustainability, considering that the country accounts for 50 per cent and 67 per cent of the region’s total debt and GDP respectively. This behooves us to adopt more sustainable strategies to create the required fiscal space for national development, with positive knock-on effects in other ECOWAS nations.”

The presentation was graced by stakeholders from Nigeria’s public and private sectors, including Dr. Abel Essien of the ECOWAS Commission; Paul Adeyeye, OSIWA and Zainab Mangga, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Country Office, among others.

In her keynote address, The Director-General, DMO, Ms. Patience Oniha, said: “The timing of the launch of the report could not have been more appropriate with the global debt levels already rising pre-COVID-19 and still growing since the COVID-19 pandemic started in the year 2020.

“Concerns around debt sustainability have expectedly been heightened. According to the World Bank’s World Economic Outlook, ‘Globally, sovereign debt grew from 49.1 per cent of GDP in 2014 to 57.9 per cent in 2019, and in sub-Saharan Africa, from 35.1 per cent of GDP in 2014 to 55.4 per cent in 2019.’ The respective figures for 2021 were 66.7 per cent and 60.3 per cent.

"The indications are that the trend will continue as the economic consequences of COVID-19 may linger for a

longer period, coupled with the increased economic pressures in the form of rising inflation from higher food and energy prices caused by the Russia-Ukraine war.

"The IMF projects in its World Economic Outlook for April 2022 that the average Debt to GDP Ratio in West Africa is expected to rise to 67.2 per cent in 2022 from 56.4 per cent in 2019.”

In his remarks, the DMR Chairman, Taiwo Oyedele, identified corruption in public spending, insecurity, geopolitical challenges, resource over dependency, and a shallow tax base as some major drivers of unsustainable debt.

He added: “The DMR report is holistic and includes workable recommendations that, if adopted, can prevent West Africa from getting into a debt trap. Debt in and of itself is not a bad thing. It is what we do with the debt that really counts.

“So how can we begin to apply the resources that we make – whether internally generated or money borrowed – in an efficient manner to promote productivity and prosperity for our people. " The report provides answers that should help steer Nigeria and other ECOWAS countries towards debt sustainability.”

Inaugurated in March 2021, the DMR was tasked with providing viable alternatives and recommendations that government can apply to ensure public debt is sustainably managed. The urgency of the initiative was in response to growing concerns over rising debt profile in major countries, including Nigeria and possible spill-over effects to other ECOWAS economies if left unchecked.

The report provides some background on the ECOWAS fiscal landscape and public debt portfolio, including several policy recommendations for debt sustainability and key performance indicators.

Previous versions of the NOPEC bill have failed amid resistance by oil industry groups like the American Petroleum Institute (API).

But anger has risen lately in the US Congress about soaring petroleum products prices that have helped fuel inflation to the highest level in decades, raising the chances of its success this time.

OPEC producers have rebuffed requests by the United States and allies to open the oil taps by more than gradual amounts

as global consumers emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine keep oil prices boiling.

Some analysts said that rushing a bill through could lead to unintended blowback, including the possibility that other countries could take similar action on the United States for withholding agricultural output to support domestic farming, for example.

"It's always a bad idea to make policy when you are angry," said Mark Finley, a fellow in energy

and global oil at Rice University's Baker Institute and former analyst and manager at the Central Intelligence Agency. “OPEC nations could also strike back in other ways,” the analyst said.

The kingdom could also decide to buy at least some weapons from countries other than the United States, hitting a lucrative business for US defence contractors.

In addition, the kingdom and other oil producers could limit US investments in their

countries or simply raise their prices for oil sold into the United States - undermining the basic aim of the bill.

API has also come out against the NOPEC bill, saying it could hurt domestic oil and gas producers.

Another industry concern is that NOPEC legislation could ultimately lead to overproduction by OPEC, bringing prices so low that US energy companies will have difficulty boosting output.

FG: AfCTA, Game Changer, to Emerge as World’s Largest Free Trade Area Michael Olugbode The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama has said the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) would be a "game changer," adding that the continental trade pact would emerge as the largest free trade area in the world.

In addition, he said it would make doing business much easier for countries with seamless access to 54 markets which is a huge advantage.

The minister who attended the 7th Raisina Dialogue in New Delhi India, where he took part in two panel discussions with the themes: "Out of Africa: Leading on Trade and Economic Integration," and "Building the Gates of Globalisation: Investment: Infrastructure and Taboos," called for stronger ties between Nigeria and India.

He also took time out to speak

on the various partnerships for infrastructure development, such as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and other initiatives with India, the European Union, and other African countries all of which contribute enormously towards development.

He said: "Why I say AfCTA is going to be a game changer is because it will make it easier for our political leaders and Africans to reach out to other African countries so what will come as a result or consequences will be infrastructure- the trans saharan highway and continental highway across Africa promoting connectivity and doing business.

“That will be the natural result of pulling down all the barriers that are preventing this connectivity within the continent."

Speaking on the role of Africa in the upcoming world in terms of trade, cooperation and partnerships especially

with Africa's Asian partners and India as a special partner, he said the continent with the new digital age was playing a role with its huge population of young people and was looking for partnerships with a dynamic and prosperous Asia.

He noted that Nigeria and India have had a long history of very close cooperation and people-to-people relationship with generations of Indian families living in Nigeria, Nigerian students in India and in the military establishments.

He said: "We know ourselves very well and of course now in a globalised world there is a lot more we can do. India has a comparative advantage in the health sector- we saw the role India played in the COVID-19 outbreak.

“India has a very strong pharmaceutical sector so healthcare is an area we can do

a lot with India. And we have seen the ICT miracle that is in Bangalore. Also, the technology capacity of India is another area that we can cooperate in.

“Nigeria has a very youthful population that is also getting into ICT and extremely dynamic and the partnership with India could absolutely be a game changer for us."

Speaking further, Onyeama said "India is the second-largest producer of steel in the world. We want to industrialise. We have had challenges with developing our steel industry in Nigeria so that's another area we can do alot with India.

“We have a framework already although it's a continental framework of India-Africa Summit and clearly we are looking at developing a more precise roadmap that responds to the priorities and needs of our country.”

INEC REMINDS PARTIES OF DEADLINE, SAYS THEY HAVE TILL JUNE 3 TO CONDUCT PRIMARIES parties expected to participate in the 2023 general election, saying they have till June 3 to conduct their primaries for all elections.

In a statement yesterday by INEC’s National Commissioner in charge of Publicity and Chairman, Voter Education, Festus Okoye, the commission said, "It is imperative to remind political parties that they have one month from today to conclude their primaries.

"The deadline remains Friday, 3rd June 2022. While urging the parties to ensure rancour-free and transparent exercise, the commission reiterates that the deadline is firm and fixed."

The commission explained that the nominations for presidential and National Assembly elections would be submitted through the

INEC web portal from June 10 to 17, 2022, while governorship and House of Assembly nominations would be submitted between July 1 and 15, 2022.

INEC said political parties were further reminded that they must submit to the commission the list of candidates, who must have emerged from valid primaries.

The commission had on February 26, 2022 released the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2023 general election, where it said political parties should conduct their primaries for the nomination of candidates from April 4 to June 3, 2022. It said this was is in compliance with Section 82(1) of the Electoral Act, 2022.

INEC noted that all 18 political

parties had been served the required notices, indicating the dates for their conventions, congresses, and primaries for the purpose of nominating candidates for various elective offices, as specified in the constitution and the Electoral Act. The commission explained that some of the parties had already commenced the process, and it had deployed staff to monitor the exercises as required by law, given the importance of the exercise to the emergence of candidates for the various elective positions for the 2023 elections.

Okoye said the commission would continue to work with political parties to ensure fidelity to the constitution, the Electoral Act, and the timelines for all

the activities contained in the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2023 General Election.

Meanwhile, in an update on the continuous voter registration, the commission said fresh registrants stood at 8,855,996 as at Monday, May 2, 2022. It also said completed registration of voters stood at 5,415,619, while online registrants were 2,379,063, and physical registration was 3,036,556.

In a breakdown of the registration exercise, the commission said male registrants were 2,688,246, female registrants were 2, 727, 37, and the persons with Disability (PWDs) were 45,412, while the number of youths registered so far was 3,745,129.

ACF TO SOUTHERN LEADERS: ENOUGH OF BLACKMAIL, NORTH NOT AFRAID OF BREAK-UP Nigerian from any part of the country as President, maintaining however, that anything that would be done to achieve that must be in accord with the law and democratic principles.

ACF said some Southern politicians were already “giving their Northern counterparts an ultimatum not to elect anyone from the North as president or we will break up the country!“ In the statement title, “Enough of the blackmail”, the ACF warned that gone were the days when Northerners felt blackmailed by certain narrative from the South, but that the times had changed.

The statement read: “A long running political riddle that has continued to frustrate all efforts at achieving 'justice, equity and fair-play' is this: anything and everything in which the North has superiority or advantage or strength is, in the opinion

of many Southerners, fake or contrived or speculative and therefore unacceptable.

“These Southerners contest the facts that the North has 78% of the landmass of Nigeria. They refuse to accept that the North has over 55% of the population of Nigeria. They won't concede that the voting population in the Northwest region of the North alone is bigger than those of the Southeast & South-south combined.

“They will never acknowledge the fact that all the beef, all the tomatoes, the onions, the beans, etc. consumed in the South, is produced in the North. They concede nothing. On the contrary, they say the North brings nothing to the table and is entitled to nothing. Not to an equitable share of national revenues, not to a fair share of employment in the public services or to admissions into public schools.

"If the law says, for example, that election outcomes must be based on one man one vote, they quickly dismiss it as an 'imposition' by Northerners.

They contest every fact, every principle including those that formed the basis of our union such as our federation, our system of administration, our democracy, etc.

“And as we inch up towards the 2023 elections, it comes as no surprise that some Southern politicians are giving their Northern counterparts an ultimatum which roughly translates thus: elect no one from the North as President or we will break up the country!

But what are the facts?

“Nigeria's Fourth Democratic Republic is about 22 years old.

Of this, Northerners ruled for only ten years. But in-spite of this, some southern politicians are furious, issuing dare warnings

against the election of any Northerner as president. It has to be stated clearly and for the avoidance of any doubt that the North is not and has never been opposed to the election of any Nigerian from any part of the country as President.

“Anything that will be done to achieve that, however, must accord with the law and democratic principles. Gone are the days when Northerners felt blackmailed and intimidated by threats of re-structuring, secession, break up or break down of Nigeria.

“The North does not seek to dominate any part of the country but will not submit itself to be relegated to serfdom. Those issuing ultimatums are to be pitied, knowing that they know not what they are doing. They own no patent nor monopoly of the art or science of ultimatums.

Enough of the blackmail.”

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Group News Editor: Goddy Egene Email: Goddy.egene@thisdaylive.com, 0803 350 6821, 0809 7777 322

DEPOSIT INSURANCE: RESTRATEGISING FOR TOMORROW...

L-R: Managing Director/CEO, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Bello Hassan; Executive Director, Corporate Services, Emily Osuji; Chairman, House committee on Insurance and Actuarial Matters, Nwakocha Darlington; Board Member, NDIC, Adeleke Adewale; and Executive Director, Operations, Mustapha M. Ibrahim during the NDIC retreat for members of the house of representatives committee on insurance and actuarial matters, with the theme “ Deposit Insurance in Nigeria: Restrategising for Tomorrow” in Lagos...yesterday SUNDAY ADIGUN

At €28.7bn, EU Remains Nigeria’s Strongest Trade Partner, Says Envoy Michael Olugbode in Abuja The Head of the European Union (EU) Delegation to Nigeria, Ambassador Samuela Isopi has said the Union remains Nigeria’s strongest trade partner over the years.

Isopi, who is also the head of the EU Delegation to the rest of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), while addressing a press conference in Abuja, on the forthcoming Europe Day 2022, and also provide information on several issues, including the European Union’s engagements with Nigeria and with ECOWAS, revealed that the total EU-Nigeria trade in 2021 stood at €28.7 billion.

She put EU’s imports from

Nigeria at €17.5 billion with exports to the country in 2021 at €11.2 billion.

The EU Head disclosed that the trade balance in 2021 stood at €6.4 billion in favour of Nigeria, while the year-on- year change between 2020 and 2021 recorded a surplus of 25.8 percent.

She said that: “The EU is Nigeria's most important trading partner accounting for 20.9 per cent of Nigeria’s trade with the world.”

She added: “EU is the first export destination for Nigeria, accounting for 25.4 per cent of its exports,” while the EU is second in Nigeria's imports from the world accounting for 16.1 per cent of its total imports.

Isopi, however, noted that the

EU was oftentimes not seen as the most important business and trading partner of Nigeria because it, “is seen with the eye of different countries with varying trade and bilateral relationship with Nigeria.”

She said this was a misconception, maintaining that the EU is a trading bloc and should be seen as such.

“The recent launch of the Multiannual Indicative Programme (2021-2027) last February, is an important step in reinforcing and concretising the EU’s cooperation with Nigeria. It will enable the EU and Nigeria to continue working

together on programmes and projects that are built on shared objectives, principles and values,” she added.

She recalled that the recent visit to Nigeria of the Executive Vice President of the European Commission, Ms. Margrethe Vestager focused on a positive economic, innovation, youth and digital agenda in line with the outcome and objectives of the EU-AU Summit.

Isopi said one of the plans to further improve trade and bilateral relationship with Nigeria was the EU-Nigeria Business Forum being

organised in collaboration with the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment. It was scheduled to take place in Lagos, between June 30th and July 1, under the theme: ‘Nigeria and the new world economy,’ which would address key issues relating to doing business in Nigeria - the opportunities, challenges adding that the second day would be devoted to EU involvement in the agricultural sector.

The EU Head in the country while lamenting that Nigeria currently faces manifold security crisis with violence encompassing

Months After Take-off, NERC Releases Documents Approving Tariff Adjustments for Discos

OPEC+ Leaves Oil Supply Plan Unchanged, Boosts June Power distributors get about N4 increase rate, US inflation rate and available stated that it considered the periodic Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja Production by 432,000bpd reports from the System Operator, generation capacity.

Underperforming Nigeria’s quota hits 1.772m bpd Shell's Q1 earnings soar almost threefold to $9.1bn Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies known as OPEC+ yesterday agreed to stick to last year’s plan to gradually release just over 400, 000 barrels per day of oil into the market, leaving the deal unchanged.

As predicted earlier, the oil producers' group, like in the previous months, said it was boosting crude oil production next month by 432,000 bpd during a meeting attended by members of the organisation.

The meeting also saw the international oil cartel increase Nigeria’s production allocation for June to 1.772 million bpd, even though the country had been underperforming for over a year and was barely able to drill 1.4 million bpd.

The country’s inability to raise its production therefore means that it’s not able to benefit from high oil prices, which temporarily exceeded $110 on Thursday.

An OPEC production schedule allocating next month’s oil production ration showed Nigeria’s share of global crude drilling will rise by 19,000 bpd for the month, with OPEC hiking it from 1.753 million bpd in May to 1.772 million bpd in June.

Aside Nigeria, which received the highest share among African oil-producing nations, Angola was allocated 1.480 million bpd, coming second on the African continent, while Algeria will produce 1.03 million bpd and Congo 315, 000 bpd.

In other climes, Saudi Arabia and Russia, OPEC+ biggest producers got approval to drill 10.663 million bpd each next month, meaning that while the OPEC 10, excluding Libya, Venezuela and Iran, which are exempted, are to produce 25.864 million bpd, non-OPEC members will drill 16.694 million bpd, to hit 42.558 million bpd for the month.

The decision was taken after a very short virtual meeting, the third Continued on page 43

various phenomena, such as terror attacks, armed banditry and organised crime, including kidnapping and human trafficking, noted that on several occasions, national stakeholders had raised the alarm about insecurity and violence in the country.

She said that with several nonstate armed groups challenging the state’s monopoly of violence in different portions of the territory, the EU has responded by supporting government efforts to fight against terrorism, radicalisation and violent extremism.

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), the power sector regulatory body, yesterday released documents approving tariff increases for Distribution Companies (Discos), about four months after the implementation of the new rates commenced.

In separate orders issued to the 11 Discos, NERC noted that the “minor” hike in tariffs was to compensate for market fundamentals outside the control of the electricity distributors.

It’s unclear why the regulatory agency surreptitiously took the decision in the documents signed at the end of December, but which took off in February, as the usual practice before now was to make the announcement before implementation.

But while a number of the Discos got roughly N4 increase, some of the bills paid by the numerous tariff band customers were kept constant, while a handful were also marginally reviewed downward.

Cited as the “Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO-2022)”, specifically, NERC based the adjustments on the Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs) of the Discos as well as indices such as gas price, inflation, exchange

“In line with the subsisting MYTO methodology, the following indices with potential impact on electricity rates were considered. These indices shall be reviewed every six months to update the tariffs with changes in the indices as applicable in line with the MYTO methodology,” NERC stated.

It stated that the Nigerian inflation rate for the month of November 2021 of 15.40 per cent as obtained from the website of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) was adopted to project the Nigerian inflation rates for the period 2022 - 2026.

“The actual average monthly inflation rate for the period January 2021 to November 2021 of 16.97 per cent was applied for the retroactive review of tariffs for 2021,” it noted.

On the adjustment for exchange rate, it noted that the data was based on the “Investors and Exporters (I&E) FX-window" of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

In addition, it explained that the US inflation rate for the month of November 2021 of 6.8 per cent as obtained from the website of the US Bureau of Labour Statistics was adopted to project the rates for the period 2022-2026.

For generation capacity, NERC

with a projection of average sent-out generation of 5267MWh/h adopted for the period.

It pointed out that the gas pricing was benchmarked on the $2.18/ MMBTU, gas transportation cost of $0.80/MMBTU, and contracted gas prices outside Domestic Gas Supply Obligation (DOMGAS).

Nigerians had noticed a general increase in their electricity bills at the beginning of the year, although it was kept under wraps by the regulator.

Pressed recently by journalists on the development, the NERC Chairman, Mr Sanusi Garba, hinted that the adjustment was made in February this year following some economic fundamentals considered by the commission.

“What happened on February 1, 2022, is a minor review of tariff.

It is very clear on our website that every six months we will adjust rates to take care of the foreign exchange component of cost and also inflation,” he stated.

Garba described the tariff adjustment as straightforward, stressing that the distribution companies were meant to inform their customers of the changes.

However, a THISDAY review

yesterday showed that the commission’s orders to the Discos were jointly signed by Garba and the Vice Chairman, NERC, Musiliu Oseni on 29th December, 2021.

The document which showed the minor increases will run between now and 2026 on a biannual basis, indicated that for instance, the Port Harcourt Disco customers on (A-Non MD) who paid N56.16/kwh in January 2022 will now (February to December 2022) pay N60.67/kwh).

For (B Non-MD) customers who paid N56.64/kwh in January 2022, they will now expend N59.64/kwh for the same purpose, while the E- MD2 customers who for example paid N50.72/kwh in January 2022, have been from February 2022 paying N54.22/kwh .

But for Abuja Disco, while for instance, A-non-MD increased from N51.75 to N56.28, B-non MD was hiked from N49.72 to N54.13 , C non-MD was increased from N45.65 to N50.65 and C-MD1 from N58.03 to N62.05.

Despite recent hikes , Nigeria remains a nation mostly in darkness with incessant power outages as well as national grid collapses which the managers of the sector have attributed to vandalism of gas supply assets.

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FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF CEDRUS GROUP...

L-R: Team Lead, Trust Services, Cedrus Group Africa, Gbolahan Oluyemi; Managing Director, Cedrus Capital Limited, Busola Ogbonna; Chief Executive Officer, Cedrus Group Africa, Olubusayo Adeniyi; Team Lead, Business Resources & Compliance, CGA, Modupe Areola; and Business Manager, Information Technology and Digital Transformation, CGA, Bassey Ekpenyong, during a press conference on the first anniversary of Cedrus Group Africa, in Lagos…yesterday SUNDAY ADIGUN

Alakija: Ongoing Oil Industry Reforms, Dangote Refinery, Others to Revitalise Nigeria’s Economy Peter Uzoho Africa's richest woman and Vice-Chairman of FAMFA Oil Limited, Mrs. Folorunso Alakija, has stated that current reforms in the oil and gas sector are expected to have a far-reaching impact on revitalising the Nigerian economy.

Alakija also stated that the 650,000 barrels per day Dangote Refinery currently under construction, which was expected to come on stream before first quarter next year, would also contribute a great deal in transforming the country's economy by helping to tackle petrol subsidy and overreliance on imported petroleum products.

The FAMFA Oil's vice

president was quoted in a statement to have stated these while speaking as a guest on a recent CNN interview programme, 'One World with Zain Asher,' where she equally discussed issues around climate change, the African economy, and how Nigeria can diversify its economy and focus on other areas that are safer for the environment.

She pointed out that as part of the structural adjustments to ramp up the nation's oil production, the government had introduced reforms such as the marginal field bid rounds, the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) and the transformation of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) into a limited liability company

Igbo Traders Say Sanwo-Olu Deserves Second Term United Nigeria Airlines’ boss hails governor Chinedu Eze and Segun James An amalgamation of Igbo traders across 58 major markets in Lagos State, yesterday passed a vote of confidence on the leadership of Babajide Sanwo-Olu, endorsing the governor’s second term bid.

The traders, under the aegis of Ndigboamaka Progressive Markets Association, said although SanwoOlu had not formally informed them of his second term bid, they unanimously support the governor’s re-election in appreciation of the state government’s business policies and infrastructure development which support their trades.

Sanwo-Olu got the endorsement at the 2022 All Markets Conference organised by the association in Amuwo Odofin area of the State.

President of Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo in Lagos, Chief Solomon Ogbonna, led others to the event also attended by market leaders and traders from all the 58 Igbo markets in Lagos.

According to a statement, in a passionate address to the Governor, Secretary General of Ndigboamaka traders’ association, Mr. Chinedu Ukatu, said: “Mr. Governor, you have not formally told us whether you are seeking re-election or not, but I want to tell you that all the

market leaders seated here today are yearning for a second term for you.

“Anytime you walk, we will walk with you. I have been directed by all market leaders under the auspices of Ndigboamaka Progressive Markets Association in all the 58 dealer markets, to tell you that we have endorsed you for second term to show appreciation for your friendly policy and infrastructure projects initiated to help our businesses.”

Sanwo-Olu described the endorsement as a mark of general acceptance of his administration’s efforts to deliver ‘Greater Lagos’ and strengthen the culture of good governance for which the State is reputed.

The support, he said, comes with an assurance of more development programmes to be expected from his administration.

The governor promised not to take the Ndigbo’s support for granted, while re-assuring them of the State Government’s continued collaboration to create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive.

Sanwo-Olu said Igbo traders remained prominent players in the economic growth of the State, noting that Lagos’ development narrative would not be complete without the mention of entrepreneurial spirit of the Igbo.

through the PIA. She said in view of the last marginal field bid rounds, which was as a result of the international oil companies (IOCs) divesting from some of their assets in the country, the industry now has more indigenous players that would help the growth of the economy.

Alakija expressed optimism that the Dangote Petroleum Refinery under construction in Lagos, would bring a positive change in the downstream sector of the oil and gas industry by helping to eradicate subsidy

and boost the nation's refining capacity when operational later this year.

She added that the refinery would impact the economy such that the country would not have to import as much refined products as it currently does.

The richest black woman in Africa, who also expressed her views on climate change, highlighted the need for the government to diversify the economy.

On how Africa and Nigeria would successfully move away

from the impacts of climate change on their economy, Alakija stated that the only way to reduce the impacts was for Nigeria and other African countries to pay more attention to other sectors that would not have damaging consequences on the environment.

According to her, these sectors include the manufacturing, agriculture, services and entertainment, ICT, mining, among others, pointing out that those sectors have suffered because Nigeria had relied solely on oil revenue over the years.

“There would be more demands on us now to look inward and to ensure that we are using our land, water, climate, and human resources to ensure that agriculture is ramped up again as it used to be the case before we found oil.

“There is the ICT sector that we need to pay attention to, and I believe that Nigerians are making waves in that sector. Our mining is an area that we need to pay more attention to. I think those areas have all suffered because we have relied solely on oil over the years,” Alakija said.

Kebbi Lawmaker: Malami, Others will Resign Before APC Primaries Says AGF already obtained forms to contest Kebbi governorship poll Sunday Aborisade, Abuja The House of Representatives member, representing Argungu/ Augie federal constituency in Kebbi State, Bashar Isah has said the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami would resign his appointment before the party's governorship primary slated for this month.

Isah stated this in an interview with journalists in Abuja yesterday.

He confirmed that Malami had already obtained the necessary forms needed to contest the Kebbi State Governorship Election, from the national Secretariat of the party in Abuja.

He alleged that those blackmailing the AGF over his recent cars distribution and the presidential amnesty granted to some prisoners, were also aiming to rule Kebbi State next year, but were afraid to face Malami at the polls because of his popularity.

Isah said, "The Attorney General of the Federation has collected forms to contest the forthcoming Kebbi governorship primary election and I have also picked my own too. I want to

return to the National Assembly.

"The provisions of the new Electoral Act, in Section 84 (12) did not direct the political appointees to resign within a specific period.

"It only stipulates that they should resign before the primary election. Malami is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, and he cannot make that mistake.

"The law says political appointees should resign before the primary election. He is going to resign before then. He must resign because even our party, the APC will not allow him to remain in office while standing for the primary election.

"He is not the only person.

Other political appointees would equally resign. Whoever wants to contest among them must resign."

The lawmaker described all the allegations so far levelled against Malami in recent times as false, saying they were targeted at tarnishing his image because of his popularity among his people.

He said, "The allegations against the Hon Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mallam Abubakar Malami are mere hearsay.

"They are false. It is true

that he distributed cars to some people, but the critics had blown it out of proportion.

"They are accusing him of distributing cars to delegates.

Some others are saying that the cars were from the customs auctions which is not true at all.

"How can they possibly believe that a man who has more than over 1000 delegates to contend with would distribute cars to all of them? He cannot do that.

"It is not also true that he collected cars from the Nigerian Customs Service because the current Comptroller General of the NCS did not give more than three cars to any individual in an auction, no matter the status in the society.

"How can the AGF now collects more than three cars and give out to delegates. The allegations are completely false.

I want the public to disregard that allegation.

"It is one of his associates that supported his governorship aspirations in Kebbi State with the 10 cars. It is a common thing. A member of the House of Representatives recently distributed over 100 cars to his constituents and heavens did not fall.

"Some people are just interested in tarnishing his image and defame his character just because they had scored to settle with him.

"Those who are behind the falsehood against the AGF are those who wanted to contest the next governorship elections with him but have suddenly discovered that he is much more popular than them and that the best thing is to tarnish his image."

On the issue of presidential pardon to wrong prisoners, the lawmaker said Malami did not carry out the exercise, unilaterally.

He said, "The amnesty granted some prisoners was not a unilateral decision of President Muhammadu Buhari and the Attorney General. It was done by a committee put together by the President.

"The Committee even included Christians and Muslim clerics. People are merely accusing Malami because he is the Attorney General.

"The president, his vice and other top Nigerians numbering about 15 are members of the committee and they all approved the list of people that were pardoned," he added.

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T H I S D AY • FRIDAY, MAY 6, 2022

NEWS

ENGINEERING ALUMNI ASSOCIATION LUNCHEON...

L-R: Chairman, UNILAG Faculty of Engineering Alumni Association (UNILAGFEAA), Engr. Dideolu Falobi; Deputy Governor of Ogun State, Engr. Noimot Salako-Oyedele; former Governor of Ogun State, Gbenga Daniel and Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu being presented a portrait, during the UNILAG Faculty of Engineering Alumni Association Luncheon, held at Lagos…yesterday

APC Mulls Deal with Multitude of Presidential Hopefuls, Consensus Candidate Likely Denies asking aspirants to sign withdrawal forms in advance 17 presidential hopefuls, 95 governorship aspirants obtain APC nomination forms 241 aspirants pick senate forms, 821 for house Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja The sudden dramatic mad dash to get the presidential ticket of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), even at a whopping N100 million, is actually to angle for an invitation to the negotiating room by President Muhammadu Buhari, where trade-offs would be negotiated and commitments extracted in exchange for standing down presidential ambitions,

THISDAY learnt yesterday night.

The APC leadership, according to multiple sources, is considering the carrot-and-stick approach in dealing with its multitude of aspirants, since the party is likely to adopt the consensus option in choosing the best candidate under the current situation, to save it from rancour.

As at today, the number of aspirants who have either collected forms or indicated interest to

NAHCON: Politicians Desecrating Saudi Arabia with 2023 Posters Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has expressed displeasure over some politicians spreading posters of their candidates at the grand mosque in Makkah, Saudi Arabia as part of the campaign for the 2023 general elections in Nigeria.

The condemnation was contained in a statement issued yesterday by the spokesman of NAHCON, Fatima Sanda Usara.

The statement warned that the Saudi Arabian authorities are very strict on any form of politicking while on their land, especially at the Ka’aba where devotees engage in solemn prayers.

It said the breach by the politicians amounted to desecration of a religious sanctuary which could attract penalties against the defaulters when apprehended, adding that in the interest of the politicians and the country’s image, pilgrims are cautioned to desist from such illegal activities.

The statement also urged the public to be aware that the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah had instructed Nigeria and other participating countries to enter

contract agreement with selected services providers responsible for accommodation, catering, and transportation for this year’s Hajj latest May 16, 2022.

Sanda said NAHCON, placed regulatory advertisement in Saudi Arabian newspaper calling for expression of interest in these fields with a deadline for submission that expired on April 30, 2022.

The chairman of the screening committee and NAHCON’s Director Inspectorate and Compliance, Alhaji Usman Aliyu Shamaki, assured that his team would expedite action in order to conclude the assignment in time for final submission to the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah.

Other members from NAHCON include Deputy Director States and Zones, Alidu Shutti, Deputy Director Special Duties, Bashir Jazuli, Assistant Director Research and Statistics, Dalhatu Isa among others.

The States’ Pilgrims’ Welfare Boards’ were represented by Executive Secretaries (ES) from Adamawa, ES Plateau, Chairman Zamfara, Chairman Lagos pilgrims’ board and its Board Secretary. Also, among the screening committee members was the representative of Nigerian Consulate in Jeddah.

contest for the presidential ticket of the party would climb to 23 even though 17 have actually collected forms to vie for presidential ticket, while 95 governorship aspirants obtain nomination Forms and 241 aspirants have picked senate forms, while 821 for house of representatives.

Also yesterday, the APC denied reports that its presidential aspirants were being required to fill a “withdrawal form” in advance as part of plans to edge out contenders, when it eventually settled for a consensus candidate.

APC claimed a “withdrawal form” could only be filled when an aspirant decided to withdraw in the process of the presidential primary.

However, sources within the party told THISDAY last night that one of the deals being considered by APC to enable it manage the choice of candidate for the presidential election next year would be guaranteed nonprosecution after leaving office. This is especially with regard to those

holding offices currently and who have allegedly mismanaged their positions and resources entrusted to them.

For those, who do not hold any office, the party, THISDAY sources said, would offer them “juicy deals” or political appointments if the party retains power, just so they do not rock the boat in collective interest.

But, in the event that anyone proves difficult and attempts to make a big deal from the path the party decides to take, it may not hesitate to wield the big stick by beaming the searchlight on their activities using the anti-graft agencies.

According to sources, mulling this option has become imperative because of the number of persons already in the race for the APC presidential ticket. They added that an elective primary might not augur well for the party, given the likelihood of hijack by moneybags, who might prevent the emergence of a competent candidate.

Another source stated thus, “So,

there’s going to be a gathering of everyone in a room at the very last minute – I mean all the aspirants – in a room for a meeting at the instance of the president, where the matter would be trashed and a decision, based on consensus, would be taken.

“However, if you are not in that room when the deal is struck and a decision is taken on the candidate, such a person is evidently on his own.”

The source added, “So the rush to purchase the N100 million form may actually mean buying a ticket to the negotiating room, where some would be asked to step down and promised rewards.

And to be relevant, you must buy your way to that room where the final act would play out before the convention, which by all indication is going to end in consensus or affirmation.

“Exactly what happened in the chairmanship race is what will happen again. So we can manage the situation."

Meanwhile, the controversial

Form 18 “Letter of Withdrawal” was attached to the Expression of Interest and Nomination forms sold to aspirants to fill and submit along with other forms and their credentials. The form was worded, thus, “I hereby voluntarily withdraw my candidacy from the contest. My withdrawal is in the best interest of our great party, the All Progressives Congress.”

But reacting to THISDAY’s enquiry in a telephone chat, yesterday, National Secretary of APC, Mr. Felix Morka, said aspirants were not mandated to submit the withdrawal form, when submitting completed nomination forms to the party.

Morka said, "The withdrawal form was included as part of a third model for the election of candidates at our primaries. As you know, both our constitution and the Electoral Act provide for three modes or models for the election of primary: Direct, Indirect and Consensus.

Continued on page 12

Edo Set for Farm-to-Table Initiative, to Connect Farmers to Produce Buyers Online The Edo State government has concluded plan to launch an online portal to connect farmers in the state to produce buyers globally in a renewed drive to promote trade and develop farmer cooperatives.

The state’s Commissioner for Industry, Trade and Cooperatives, Afishetu Braimoh, was quoted in a statement to have said this at the end of the weekly Executive Council meeting presided over by Governor Godwin Obaseki.

According to her, "We are providing access and boosting trade by creating a website to

connect farmers and the buyers.

“The government is creating policies that will make it easy to do business in Edo State and empowering the people through a programme called ‘The Farm-to-Table programme’ “The programme is created to purposely identify the great things about Edo and take them from the farm to the table.

So, we will be putting them in mainstream stores in Edo and the global market.

“We are working with other stakeholders to identify products that are shop-ready as we plan to showcase these products

at the 6th Lagos Trade Fair. It gives the state an opportunity to showcase Made-in-Edo products.”

She added: "Our goal is to make our people understand that we can actually develop the product value chain and sell them to the global market. We encourage our farmers to come together to form cooperatives that will enable them to promote their farm product.”

The Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Adaze Enwanta said the council through Head of Service (HoS) thanked the governor for the

recent approval of N40,000 minimum wage for Edo workers.

“The harmonised pension for Edo pensioners which had not been done in the last 21 years was made possible by Obaseki.

The Edo labour house is the very first labour building across the country,” he added.

The Commissioner for Physical, Urban and Regional Planning, Isoken Omo, said the state was transitioning from the ‘Operation Show Your Building Plan’ to ‘Operation Plan Edo,’ in collaboration with other ministries in the state.

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T H I S D AY • FRIDAY, MAY 6, 2022

NEWS

COURTESY VISIT TO THE PALACE...

L - R: Deputy Director, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Mr. Clem Omife; Director, Consumer Affairs Bureau, Mr. Efosa Idehen; Assistant Director, Hajiya Mistura Aruna; the Alake and Paramount Ruler of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo; Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management, NCC, Mr. Adeleke Adewolu and Zonal Controller, Lagos, Mr. Yomi Arowosafe, during the courtesy visit to the Palace and Village Square Dialogue in Abeokuta, Ogun State…recently

Education Minister Apologises to Striking Varsity Workers ASUU to Buhari: Fund education, sign our agreement to preserve Nigeria’s future Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja and Kemi Olaitan in Ibadan The Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu has tendered an apology to the workers in the federal universities for not responding promptly to their demands.

The Permanent Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Education, Andrew David Adejo who represented his boss at a reconciliatory meeting brokered by the Minister of Labour and Employment Senator Chris Ngige, yesterday, told the leadership of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and Non

Academic Staff Union that the ministry had not abandoned their issues but that circumstances had made it look as such.

The apology came just as the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), yesterday said a smarter way to preserve the future of Nigeria was for the President Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government to provide funding for the education sector and sign a decent agreement with the union.

Adejo while speaking at the meeting, said the minister specifically, “asked me to come and plead for forgiveness. It seems as if your employer, the Ministry of Education

Ekiti Workers, Retirees Wont Sleep with Empty Stomachs Under Me, Says Oni Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti The candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) for the June 18, 2022, governorship election in Ekiti State, Engr. Segun Oni, has declared his readiness to rescue workers in the state civil service and pensioners from wanton poverty and neglect if elected governor.

Oni, who spoke through a group named Ekiti Build Back Better (EBBB), alleged that Governor Kayode Fayemi's refusal to pay promotion, salary and pension arrears as well as over a decade pending gratuity, were responsible for high level poverty among workers and retirees.

Oni, who said this in a statement by EBBB's spokesman, Idowu Adelusi, in Ado Ekiti on Wednesday, said Fayemi's hurried announcement of some packages for workers and retirees two days to the May Day celebration won't avert rejection of the All Progressives Congress governorship candidate, Biodun Oyebanji, at the poll.

Oni said: "Governor Fayemi, who, again, missed this year's celebration to avoid being embarrassed by the workers

who are disenchanted by the unfulfilled promises to them, announced the package to dissuade the workers who had made up their minds to go with the leading opposition candidate, Asiwaju Oni. "The workers, who were poised for a showdown with the government, had planned to embarrass Fayemi, notwithstanding the last-minute carrots dangled to placate them, as they saw the development as rather too late and an effort in futility to convince them to support and vote for his anointed APC candidate.

"No worker or pensioner will sleep with empty stomach under me. We will deploy Ekiti resources to take care of their needs".

Oni promised to rescue Ekiti workers from poverty by giving financial backing to the 2017 and 2018 promotions, pay one year leave bonus out of the four years owed and pay all unpaid salaries.

"The 2021 May Day celebration was cancelled at the last minute, when it became obvious that the labour leaders couldn't convince the workers to back down their plan to embarrass the governor.

has abandoned you, but this is not true, that is not the true picture.

“It in that spirit of forgiveness of just ended Ramadan fast that we feel that we fixed the meeting to discuss and resolve the issues.

"As was captured in the communiqué issued at your last meeting with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the social apartheid the present strike is causing is leading to so many other problems that the earlier we sit down to solve it the better for the country.”

Speaking further, he said: "We want to let you know that whatever sins the Ministry had committed before should be forgiven. We have repented and we will not sin anymore. We want you to see us as partners in progress," he said.

In his responds, the President of SSANU, said he hoped that apology offered by the Minister came from his heart and that the government was sincere and ready to address the grievances of the workers.

Also, spokesman of the Joint Action Committee of SSANU and NASU, Mr. Adeyemi Peters said he hoped that the Ministry of Education was now ready to fulfil its own part of the bargain

by Implementing the agreement reached with the unions.

He thanked Ngige for all efforts to resolve the issues in dispute.

“We believe that if the Ministry of Education and other relevant government agencies do their own part, the matter will be resolved once and for all,” he added.

Peters blamed the government for being responsible for the current strike by refusing to act decisively on the demands of the workers.

He said the government forced the industrial action on the unions by ignoring all the warning letters and ultimatum issued by the union.

According to him, both unions were ready to go back to work as soon as federal government attends to the promises made to the unions in the last two years.

While welcoming the parties to the meeting, Ngige expressed optimism that with the presence of the Ministry of Education at the discussion, a lot of progress would be made and the strike called off for school to reopen.

Both SSANU and NASU have been on nationwide strike for almost one month over demands for Implementation of agreements

with the government.

The reconciliatory meeting later went into close door.

Meanwhile, ASUU has said a smarter way to preserve the future of Nigeria was for the federal government to provide funding for the education sector and sign a decent agreement with the union.

This, the university lecturers said would bring to an end their over two months old strike.

This is just as union said the attitude of the president and his appointees to the industrial action since it commenced over two months ago showed that they do not have the mind to liberate the poor children of the masses as well as give them quality education through committed funding.

The Chairman, University of Ibadan chapter of the union, Prof. Ayo Akinwole, in a statement yesterday, said funding the education sector remains the best way to shape the minds of youths to constructive development of the society, stating that government ought to see that more children are getting out of school and are useful pawns to youths fighting back against the society that neglected

them.

According to him, the union was concerned about the future of the country, saying, “it seems more money is being pumped into security for war entrepreneurs to become millionaires and billionaires without addressing the causes of insurgency and terrorism.”

ASUU had started the ongoing strike on February 14, 2022 to force government to implement outstanding 2009 agreements on revitalization funding, earned academic allowances, proliferation of universities and sign a re-negotiated agreement with the union.

While government has stopped payment of salaries to the striking lecturers, Akinwole said weaponising hunger would not make the union suspend the strike but be more energized, “to fight to have a country and a future for the children of the poor from the traders of collective patrimony in government.”

He said, “If those in government are smart, they should have seen evidences that pumping trillions of naira into fighting insecurity without getting result is a result of not doing the right thing.

APC MULLS DEAL WITH MULTITUDE OF PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFULS, CONSENSUS CANDIDATE LIKELY "So, we included a form so that aspirants, who decide at the right time to withdraw, will have that document to execute to evidence their withdrawal, consistent with the consensus model, assuming that becomes a must."

The party spokesperson said filling the withdrawal form was a decision to be made by the aspirant, not the party.

Morka added, "That's a decision that an individual makes. If you recall, during the convention, for those who decided to withdraw, they had to write personal letters expressing their decisions to withdraw "The form is a pro-format, nobody is required to fill it. It is only useful and relevant if an aspirant at some point makes a personal decision to withdraw. You will not just withdraw verbally,

you will be required to execute that and if you do execute it, it will be there in your form as part of your record.

“That was the purpose. It was just a normal inclusive sort of provision. Nobody is required to fill it now in advance. It is supposed to be left blank. It is only filled, when that individual has decided to withdraw at some point."

17 Presidential Hopefuls, 95 Govship Aspirants Obtain APC Nomination Forms Ahead of Tuesday's deadline, 17 presidential aspirants and 95 governorship hopefuls have so far purchased the expression of interest and nomination forms of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as of the close of work yesterday,

Thursday, May 5, 2022.

The ruling party had on Wednesday announced an extension for the sale of forms to allow new entrants to the race, especially, the presidential race, purchase forms.

National Organising Secretary, Sulaiman Arugugu, further informed THISDAY that some241 aspirants had also picked senate forms, while 821 aspirants had so far purchased the expression of interest and nomination forms for the House of Representatives.

According to him, about 1,505 aspirants were vying for the party's tickets in the 36 States House of Assembly.

As of yesterday, Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State; Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi; former Imo State governor, Senator Rochas Okorocha; Minister of State,

Education, Hon. Chukwuemeka Nwajuiba; former Governor of Lagos State, Senator Bola Tinubu and Uju Kennedy, the only female aspirants, have picked forms.

Others, who had also picked the form were Pastor Tunde Bakare, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; the youngest presidential aspirant, Nicholas Bello; Ekiti State Governor, Dr. John Kayode Fayemi; Minister of Transportation, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi; former Senate President, Senator Ken Nnamani and Minister of Labour and productivity, Dr. Chris Ngige and the Jigawa State Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Badaru.

However, while Nnamani, Bakare and Bello picked their forms by themselves at the International Conference Centre (ICC), Abuja, other aspirants had their forms picked for them by proxy.

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T H I S D AY ˾ FRIDAY MAY 6, 2022

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POLITICS

Group Politics Editor NSEOBONG OKON-EKONG Email: nseobong.okonekong@thisdaylive.com 08114495324 SMS ONLY

Osinbajo: Service Above Servitude Oluremi Kosoko states that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has a track record of excellence in public service that recommends for the presidency

I

n the staccato calendar of party politics, the party convention in the penultimate year of the presidential cycle sits at the apex of scheduled events. It may be clamorous, it may be cacophonous, it may be celebratory; all those depend on the state of cohabitation within the political party at the time. One thing is for sure, it is always climactic.

Party politics is a public cauldron in which ideas are debated and tested before the people.

All the noise and fury with which they assail us counts for naught however, if they cannot gain the keys to the castle. The opportunity to implement and execute their ideas is the golden fleece; without power, all politics is futile.

At the end of this month, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) will gather for their national conventions to select their respective presidential candidates. It is at these conventions that the two persons who will square off in February next year for the office of President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria will emerge.

The electorate at the national convention are the delegates. They reflect and represent a cross section of the national party, from the wards, the local governments, the states, the regions to the national. Some delegates are ex-officio, others are elected, and others still are nominated.

It is these men and women, in their thousands, that in an immediate sense hold the destiny of the nation in their hands. They are tasked with deciding who amongst the candidates presented to them would best serve the interests of their party, and consequently of the nation.

My thoughts here are focused primarily on the APC because it appears to me that in that particular contest, there is a stark choice between what has been and what could and should be.

On the one hand there is Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a patrician politician cast in yesterday’s mold – a shadowy past, dubious personal antecedents, avaricious, more money than he can explain, a trail of triumphs tinged with treachery, tentacles running far, wide and deep, and a larger than life sense of entitlement. So far, he has run a campaign that has offered little other than self-confessed unbridled ambition.

On the other hand, there is the sitting Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, a lawyer and an academic who, from his earliest forays into public service, has manifest a desire to rise above the politics of personality and the personal, and seek to engage in the realm of ideas and service. For his troubles he has been set upon by Asiwaju’s dogs of war with sharply abusive interventions that do not even begin to speak to policies. All this suggest that Osinbajo is more feared than might first be imagined.

Their apprehensions are well founded.

Because the delegates are predominantly professional politicians, for some, the relationship between Asiwaju and the VP will come into play. Dyed-in-the-wool politicians may adopt a narrow perspective, elevating the history of the relationship between the candidates beyond considerations of policy and the likelihood of good governance. Asiwaju’s henchmen have not missed an opportunity to allude to the Vice President’s alleged treachery. Their lack of boundaries was very much on display during the Paschal season when comparing the VP to Judas Iscariot.

And what precisely is the treachery to which they allude? That the National Leader, as Governor of Lagos, appointed Osinbajo Attorney-General of the state for two terms, and later supported the choice of Osinbajo as Vice President to Buhari in 2015. Following on from that, they assert that the VP, knowing that Asiwaju has long longed and lusted for the Presidency, should not have thrown his hat into the ring.

Beware ye the dog that does not bark. Seeing as the Tinubu media machine that has thrown everything and the kitchen sink at Osinbajo, has not offered a smoking gun evidencing a specific agreement or understanding, we can safely assume that Asiwaju never agreed

with Osinbajo that the latter would under no circumstances run for president.

Those that assert that Osinbajo’s service as a two-term AG, and Asiwaju’s subsequent lukewarm support for his appointment as vice president (because he himself was deemed not

fit for purpose), evidences a debt are positing that Osinbajo should submit himself to feudal bondage in perpetuity. The circumstances that our nation finds itself in require that the good of the country be the singular metric adopted by any seeking the highest office in the land.

Service above servitude!

Asiwaju’s unbridled greed and insatiable lust for power are red flags that must caution all patriots. His near-total hostile takeover of Lagos State and his refusal over more than two decades to loosen his stranglehold on the state’s revenues suggest the kind of ravenous appetite that, let loose on Abuja, would further eviscerate the nation’s coffers.

We must revisit that unfortunate and unwholesome trend wherein our politics amounts to little more than a system of financial brokerage, rendering the fortunes of the nation hostage to the highest bidder. We are more than this and must demand that our representatives be more than this.

Our politics must not be allowed to further descend into a game of turn-by-turn, in which one patrician politician after another mounts the dais and indulges his delusions at our expense.

We are all witness to the perdition that road leads to and must jointly declare enough is enough.

Professor Yemi Osinbajo is an avowed believer in the building of institutions as the bedrock of a democratic ethos; Asiwaju Tinubu on the other hand is totally wedded to the unwarranted belief that he as an individual is our road to redemption. How long can the people be expected to endure the ravages of the rule of men over the rule of law? There is an inevitability about the consequences that will follow.

Our nation can no longer subject itself to a brand of politician that upon gaining office morphs into a licensed profiteer. What we seek is a democracy that balances rights and responsibilities, and the example for that must be set from the very top. For those able to hold their noses and suffer the noxious odors emanating from Asiwaju’s stable, I commend their intestinal fortitude. For those that seek a better and renewed nation, I commend to them the sterling qualities of Professor Yemi Osinbajo.

Olawepo-Hashim and the Burden of a New Leadership for Nigeria Oluwasegun Abifarin presents businessman and All Progressives Congress chieftain, Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim as the best choice who can proudly the party’s flag to win the presidency

T

he cloud had gathered over the firmament of the University of Lagos, Akoka, Nigeria. The drumbeat of the anti-SAP uprising had sounded in Port Harcourt, Benin, Zaria, Ibadan, etc. And the “drummers” were in Akoka already. The stakes were high, while the odds were equally high against the protest on campus on that night.

The President of the University of Lagos Students Union, ULSU, then was a proschool and a pro-government leader who was opposed to the protest, despite the pressure mounted on him by the various departmental presidents, faculty presidents and the Halls of Residence Chairmen.

Twenty hours earlier, the Faculty of Arts Students Association, (FASA) had invited Femi Falana to speak at the FASA Week lecture on the implication of SAP on Education and Development in the Third World. Falana seized the opportunity with both hands and lectured the students on the implication of SAP on Education, Economy, Social Development and even Religion and Faith.

The charged atmosphere became intense for all to see that only a miracle could stop the protest, despite the efforts by the school and government to forestall it.

Lagos was Strategic to the Military Government as the seat of power was then Dodan Baracks in Obalende Lagos.

By the evening of 28th of May, officials of the National Association of Nigerian students, NANS became increasingly noticeable of campus. By about 7-00p.m, Ogaga Ifowodo from University of Benin, Gbenga Komolafe of the University of

Ibadan and the Senate President of NANS; and our own Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim of UNILAG Mass Communication Department and the PRO of NANS moved to the Quadrangle of Mariere Hall and spoke to the students who had gathered there on the need to join the protest.

I still recall the opening words of Olawepo quoting Frantz Fanon that “every generation out of relative obscurity discovers its mission fulfil or betray it.” The students became charged as the train moved to the nearby Jaja Hall, and later to Moremi, Fagunwa, Eni Njoku and Tinubu Halls. By the then the crowd had become huge as we moved to the main gate toward Elkanemi and Queen Amina Halls.

The Police and other security agencies, by this time had also upped their game. Police had barricaded the Akoka main gate in large numbers with tanks and other weapons.

The peculiarity of Unilag is that the main gate is the only sure way to town. The other

exits lead to the lagoon and dangerous swamps.

The only choice opened was to confront the Police and their tanks at the main gate.

From about 9.00 p.m till 5.00 a.m when the battle with the police raged, the voice of Olawepo kept ringing that SAP was evil and that we either betray or fulfill our mission to rescue our country. His words moved the armless students to action and to confront the armed police because the students believed in him and trust his leadership.

Before 6.00 a.m., the police were tired and students poured out to the streets toward Akoka-Bariga and Iwaya- Ikorodu road. In matter of hours, Lagos was on fire of protest, even though Olawepo and his colleagues paid dearly for it later.

It is incredible that student leaders of that era, like Olawepo had such influence that they could shut the country down for weeks and leave the military leaders with the only option of pleading for dialogue after series of repressive actions to crush protests would have failed to deter the activists.

When he was detained Under Decree 2, stories had it that representatives of the military made him offers including offer of a pathway to a foreign service career in exchange for support after his release which he declined.

-Abifarin is the Publisher/CEO, Newsroom Nigeria NOTE: Interested readers should continue in the online edition on www.thisdaylive.com

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Russian Invasion: Zelensky Requests Longer Mariupol Ceasefire

Russia pledged to observe a ceasefire Thursday in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, where its forces have controlled all but a steel plant complex where Ukrainian troops are holed up along with civilians the United Nations is working to evacuate.

Russia said its daytime ceasefire would continue again Friday and Saturday to facilitate more evacuations from the Azovstal site.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in an early morning address Thursday, said a long ceasefire was needed to evacuate the remaining civilians in Mariupol.

“It will take time simply to lift people out of those basements, out of those underground shelters. In the present conditions, we cannot use heavy equipment to clear the rubble away.

It all has to be done by hand,” he said.

In Washington, State Department spokesperson Ned Price expressed scepticism about Russia’s commitment to a ceasefire.

The United Nations said Wednesday that the more than 300 civilians evacuated from Mariupol, Manhush, Berdiansk, Tokmak and Vasylivka were receiving humanitarian assistance in Zaporizhzhia.

“While this second evacuation of civilians from areas in Mariupol and beyond is significant, much more must be done to make sure all civilians caught up in fighting can leave, in the direction they wish,” said Osnat Lubrani, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine.

At US Urging, Fiji Seizes Russian Oligarch’s Yacht Another Russian oligarch’s yacht was seized Thursday as part of efforts to punish Russia over its war in Ukraine.

At the request of the United States, Fijian officials took a $300 million yacht belonging to Suleiman Kerimov, the Justice Department said. Officials say the yacht is in Lautoka, Fiji.

Kerimov’s yacht, the Cayman Island-flagged Amadea, reportedly has been in Fiji since last month, arriving from Mexico. Defence lawyers claimed the vessel belonged to another oligarch.

Kerimov had already been sanctioned by the US in 2014 and 2018 for Russia’s activities in Syria and Ukraine. The European Union also sanctioned him.

In March, the US government announced a comprehensive effort to identify and seize the assets of wealthy Russians who have supported the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin as part of the response to Moscow’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine.

The initiative, led by the Justice Department, is called Task Force KleptoCapture.

US Attorney General Merrick Garland said Thursday in a statement there is “no hiding place for the assets of criminals who enable the Russian regime.” He also said, “The Justice Department will be relentless in our efforts to hold accountable those who facilitate the death and destruction we are witnessing in Ukraine.”

Russia Expels 7 Danish Embassy Staff Russia has announced the expulsion of seven people from the Danish Embassy in Moscow in response to a similar move announced by Copenhagen four weeks earlier.

“They must leave the country within two weeks,” the Foreign Ministry in Moscow said in a statement Thursday.

The move came exactly one month after Denmark expelled 15 employees from the Russian Embassy in Copenhagen, accusing them of being intelligence agents. Denmark said it wanted to send “a clear signal to Moscow that we will not accept that Russian intelligence officers are spying on Danish soil.”

In its statement Thursday, the Russian Foreign Ministry added it had also denied a visa to a diplomat at the Danish diplomatic mission, and that it “reserves the right to take additional retaliatory steps to the unfriendly actions of Copenhagen, which will be reported to the Danish side later.”

Hundreds of European nations and other Western allies have expelled Russian diplomats and embassy staff members since Moscow launched its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

Japan PM: Tokyo to Use Nuclear to Cut Russian Energy Dependence Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Thursday that it would use nuclear reactors to help reduce its own and other countries’ dependence on Russian energy.

have died without the pandemic.

“These sobering data not only point to the impact of the pandemic but also to the need for all countries to invest in more resilient health systems that can sustain essential health services during crises, including stronger health information systems,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general said in a press release.

“WHO is committed to working with all countries to strengthen their health information systems to generate better data for better decisions and better outcomes.”

WHO said 84 per cent of the deaths were “concentrated in South-East Asia, Europe, and the Americas.”

The death toll for men was higher than for women by 57 per cent to 43 per cent, WHO said. It was also higher for older people, it added.

Japan has become more reliant on Russian gas since shutting down nuclear reactors after the 2011 Fukushima disaster in which an earthquake and tsunami triggered a meltdown, devastating its north-eastern region.

But facing elections in July and rising energy prices that are squeezing voters’ budgets, Kishida said nuclear would be part of the country’s future energy policy.

He said Japan would address the “vulnerability of our own energy selfsufficiency” by broadening where it buys energy from, promoting renewables and using nuclear power to diversify its sources of generation.

“We will utilize nuclear reactors with safety assurances to contribute to the worldwide reduction of dependence on Russian energy,” Kishida told an audience in London’s financial district.

Queen to Miss Traditional Royal Garden Party Season Queen Elizabeth II will miss the traditional royal garden party season, where she would normally meet with hundreds of people on the grounds of her residences in London and Edinburgh, palace officials said Thursday.

The 96-year-old monarch will be represented instead by other family members, Buckingham Palace said in a statement.

Before the pandemic, the queen invited over 30,000 people each year to the gardens of Buckingham Palace or the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh. The guests, who have all served their community in different ways, have the opportunity to speak with the queen and other royal family members at the parties.

The parties were set to return for the first time in three years starting next week.

The monarch has missed several major events this year and has been carrying out online engagements instead. She spent a night in the hospital in October and only conducted light duties for several months on her doctors’ orders.

Taiwan Can’t Afford New US AntiSubmarine Helicopters Taiwan signalled Thursday that it had abandoned a plan to buy advanced new anti-submarine warfare helicopters from the United States, saying they were too expensive.

Taiwan had earlier said it was planning to buy 12 MH-60R anti-submarine helicopters made by Lockheed Martin Corp LMT.N unit Sikorsky, but Taiwanese media reported that the United States had rejected the sale as not being in line with the island’s needs.

Asked in parliament about recent changes to Taiwan’s purchases of new US weapons, Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng mentioned the helicopter case first.

“The price is too high, beyond the scope of our country’s ability,” he said.

Two other arms purchases have also been delayed — M109A6 Medium Self-Propelled Howitzer artillery systems and mobile Stinger anti-aircraft missiles.

The Raytheon Technologies’ RTX.N Stingers are in hot demand in Ukraine, where they have been used against Russian aircraft, but US supplies have shrunk and producing more of the anti-aircraft weapons faces significant hurdles.

Chiu said they had already signed the contract for the Stingers and paid for them, and they would press the United States to deliver them.

Survivor Found Almost 6 Days after China Building Collapse Rescuers in central China have pulled a woman alive from the rubble of a building that partially collapsed almost six days earlier, state media reported Thursday.

The unidentified woman is the 10th survivor of the disaster in the city of Changsha, in which at least five people have died and an unknown number, possibly dozens, are still missing.

She was rescued shortly after midnight on Thursday, about 132 hours after the rear of the six-story building suddenly caved in on April 29, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

The woman was conscious and advised rescuers on how to pull her out without causing further injury, Xinhua said. Teams had used dogs and hand tools as well as drones and electronic life detectors in the search.

All the survivors were reportedly in good condition after having been treated in a hospital. Intermittent rain showers in recent days may have increased their chances of survival without food or water.

At least nine people have been arrested in relation to the collapse of what Xinhua has described as a “self-built building,” including its owner, on suspicion of ignoring building codes or committing other violations.

Also held were three people in charge of design and construction and five others who allegedly gave a false safety assessment for a guest house on the building’s fourth to sixth floors.

COVID-19 Caused 14.9m Excess Deaths Globally: WHO The World Health Organization says the COVID-19 pandemic directly or indirectly caused 14.9 million deaths worldwide from January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2021.

The number is called excess mortality and represents the number of people who died versus the number that probably would

Beijing Residents Brace for COVID-19 Lockdown Unlike Shanghai, Beijing has yet to require that all its residents remain at home to contain the spread of COVID-19.

Nevertheless, many people in its Chaoyang district and elsewhere are preparing for that possibility.

On Wednesday, city officials closed 60 subway stations, more than 10% of Beijing’s vast system. They did not say when service would be resumed, according to ABC News.

Beijing, a city of 21 million people, has been on high alert for the spread of COVID-19, as restaurants and bars pivot to takeout, gyms close and schools suspend classes indefinitely, according to CNBC. People who live in “controlled” areas, neighbourhoods where cases have been discovered, have been told to stay in the city, and all residents must test for the virus three times throughout the week, according to ABC. Chinese authorities reported 5,489 cases nationwide on Wednesday, of which 4,982 were in Shanghai, which has been under a draconian lockdown for weeks.

Somali Presidential Election Set for May 15 Somali lawmakers have set May 15th as the date they will select the country’s next president.

The presidential election committee, which includes 17 members from both houses of parliament, met in Mogadishu on Thursday and agreed on the date for the election.

In a vote by a show of hands, the members of the committee chose lawmaker Abdiqani Ugas as the chairman of the Presidential Election Committee, and lawmaker Mohamed Kerow as its deputy chairman.

The committee decided to hold the election on May 15th, just two days prior to the deadline set by international donors to cut their funding unless a new Somali government is formed.

In a brief statement, the deputy speaker of the upper house, Ali Shacban, said that this marks a step forward in completing one of the last duties of parliament -- to elect the president.

He said, obviously, our agenda was to elect the committee overseeing the election of the president and to set the date for the election. In the end, he said, “God made it easier for us, and now you can see how well we did.”

The presidential election has been delayed for more than a year because of political disputes that dragged out the process of electing members of parliament.

Rights Groups Cite 338 Violations in El Salvador Arrests Five human rights groups reported Wednesday there had been complaints of at least 338 violations of human rights during El Salvador’s massive arrests of suspected gang members.

The five non-governmental organisations said the most frequently cited abuse was arbitrary arrest, as well as illegal searches of homes, injuries, robbery and the death of a detainee.

The majority of the cases involved young men between the ages of 18 and 30, according to the Cristosal Foundation.

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At Chatham House, Gbajabiamila says insecurity poses a big problem, writes JAMES AKADIRI

GBAJABIAMILA, INSECURITY AND THE 2023 ELECTIONS ,W·V MXVW DERXW QLQH PRQWKV WR WKH general elections in Nigeria and the Nigerian political space has begun buzzing. While political parties are wooing their members, politicians are at the drawing boards, preparing for battle.

In the past, elections in Nigeria have been good, bad and ugly. Some fault lines have LQFOXGHG YLROHQFH EDOORW VWX΀ QJ EDOORW snatching, political party shenanigans, use of court decisions to delay election outcomes,

and other types of electoral malpractices. But it is the aspiration of democracy to see that the electoral process is designed in a fair manner.

And the government has aimed to learn from its shortcomings and make each election better than the previous.

This yearning for better elections gave birth to the revised Electoral Act 2022 which was signed by President Muhamadu Buhari in )HEUXDU\ 1R GRXEW WKH ODZ ZRXOG FKDQJH the conduct of the electoral process and is expected to bring about more decent elections in the country. $QG DKHDG RI WKH )HEUXDU\ HOHFWLRQV the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Rt Hon )HPL *EDMDELDPLOD ZDV DW &KDWKDP +RXVH London recently where for nearly 90 minutes, he held his audience spellbound as he spoke RQ ¶1LJHULD·V HOHFWLRQV 6WUHQJWKHQLQJ HOHFWRUDO V\VWHPV· +LJKOLJKWLQJ HOHFWRUDO SURFHVVHV LQ GLͿ HUHQW SDUWV RI WKH ZRUOG *EDMDELDPLOD VDLG WKDW elections in even the best of democratic countries are not perfect. According to him, in Nigeria, lessons have been learnt over the years and electoral laws have been tweaked for better public faith in the process. The speaker VDLG WKDW LQ )HEUXDU\ WKH 1DWLRQDO $VVHPEO\ concluded work on the new electoral law which had be signed into law by the president. +H UHYHDOHG WKH DFW ZDV D MRLQW HͿ RUW RI WKH National Assembly and the executive.

He also noted major changes in the electoral law to include biometric voter accreditation and electronic transmission of results. This, he said, was to take advantage of technology to block loopholes that permitted voter fraud DQG EDOORW VWX΀ QJ DQG VQDWFKLQJ +H DOVR lamented that while some people wanted electronic voting, that provision was rejected because it would have been impracticable to achieve on a large scale. Nigeria has infrastructural challenges to enforce electronic voting. Indeed, he said that some countries like Sweden tried electronic voting but reverted to manual voting after. “‘There is evident progress from which we KDYH OHDUQW OHVVRQV µ VDLG *EDMDELDPLOD ZKLOH addressing the audience in the studio and those watching online. According to him, the elections in the county have gotten better since

1999. And for this, he praised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) which is responsible for conducting all elections except those at the local government level.

'XULQJ WKH JHQHUDO HOHFWLRQV 1LJHULDQV ZRXOG HOHFW D SUHVLGHQW 6HQDWRUV Members of the House of Representatives, 29 state governors and over 1, 000 state OHJLVODWRUV $QG ZKLOH *EDMDELDPLOD ZKR KDV spent 19 years at the House of Representatives, DQG D SULQFLSDO R΀ FHU IRU \HDUV VDLG WKDW the Electoral Act is well-suited for success RI WKH XSFRPLQJ HOHFWLRQV %XW KH LGHQWLÀ HG insecurity as a huge problem as the country journeys towards the general elections.

Arguing that balloting and collation of YRWHV LV KLQJHG RQ VHFXULW\ *EDMDELDPLOD WROG the audience that the North is riddled with religious bigots, terrorists and bandits while secessionists hold sway in the south, a situation which he says has made the “government to continue to invest scarce resources to address this security challenge.”

“The question of how to secure voters, SROOLQJ R΀ FLDOV DQG PDWHULDOV LQ SROOLQJ XQLWV LQ ORFDO JRYHUQPHQWV DFURVV WKH VWDWHV DPLG WKHVH PXOWLSOH and varied security challenges is the great XQDQVZHUHG TXHVWLRQ RI WKH JHQHUDO HOHFWLRQ µ *EDMDELDPLOD VDLG ´$QG LW LV QRW D rhetorical question or a matter of theoretical consideration.”

He related the recent attack of the INEC R΀ FLDOV LQ ,PR 6WDWH ZKHUH WKH DWWDFNHUV recorded a video and said that no election would take place there. He however assuaged the fears of the people that the government has made provisions to tackle such spurts of violence and provide “free, fair and credible election across the country.”

Reiterating the response of Donald Rumsfeld, the US Secretary of Defence, to D MRXUQDOLVW LQ *EDMDELDPLOD VDLG ´$OO our planning and preparations are based on things we know and areas where we recognise that there are gaps to our knowledge. The unknown presents the most danger and for which we are the least prepared. One area of concern where we can work together is the issue of voter apathy and voter participation.”

And on what he expects should be done to record success at the polls next year, *EDMDELDPLOD DGYRFDWHG FLWL]HQ SDUWLFLSDWLRQ in the voting process and the involvement of more women, young people and people living with disabilities.

He regretted the non-inclusion of the clause “mandating political parties to nominate candidates through direct primary elections that allowed all party members to be part of the decision-making process.” The process would have ensured the popular candidates emerged rather than some form of impositions by godfathers or select groups within the parties. The speaker also said he wished that Nigerians in Diaspora who contributed JUHDWO\ WR WKH FRXQWU\·V HFRQRP\ FRXOG KDYH voted but also spoke on the impracticality of such a provision. The speaker related stories of his travels and stops at Nigerian embassies across the world where the ambassadors told him that many Nigerians do not register their presence in the foreign countries they reside.

Apart from saying many countries also do not conduct diaspora voting, he also added that it would require a constitution amendment to provide for Diaspora voting.

Akadiri writes from Lagos

FRIDAY MAY 6, 2022

DANBALA DANJU argues that Nigeria is not giving education the priority it deserves

RE: A PRESIDENT TO SOLVE THE ASUU PUZZLE Disclaimer: let me declare upfront that I am an ASUU partisan and my encounter with your article of 1st May, 2022, titled “Wanted: A president to solve the ASUU puzzle” by Simon Kolawole provoked me to write this rejoinder, hopefully to immunize gullible people from your market fundamentalist premise, half-truths, misrepresentation of facts, erroneous conclusions and defend the just and patriotic struggles of ASUU. The thrust of your argument is the familiar tirade that public universities in Nigeria are too KHDY\ D À QDQFLDO EXUGHQ IRU WKH JRYHUQPHQW WR bear alone and therefore aspiring students must share the burden. Although you are not clear what percentage of the “burden” should be ERUQH E\ WKH DVSLULQJ VWXGHQWV LW·V FOHDU LW VKRXOG be a nonnegative number. You are also not clear, whether the burden sharing should be done in an instance or gradually over a period of time.

Admirably, you are charitable enough to argue that the sons and daughters of the poor should not be left behind due to their possible inability WR SD\ DQG VR \RX VXJJHVW D VWXGHQW·V ORDQ VFKHPH EH LQDXJXUDWHG DQG À QDQFHG SHUKDSV paradoxically, by the same government that lacks WKH VX΀ FLHQW IXQGV WR À QDQFH SXEOLF HGXFDWLRQ LQ WKH À UVW SODFH WKURXJK SHUKDSV ERUURZLQJ printing money, guarantying or other incentives for the private sector, and or philanthropic individuals and organisations, to operate such schemes. When students graduate and start work a corresponding mechanism should be in place to get them to pay back the loan.

You recommend, the adoption of similar VWXGHQW·V ORDQ VFKHPH DV FXUUHQWO\ LQ YRJXH LQ the USA and in the UK. Although there may be ORVVHV KHUH DQG WKHUH LQ JHQHUDO WKH À QDQFLDO burden on the government will be reduced or even eliminated and resources will be freed to address other pressing concerns. )LUVW WKH QRWLRQ RI XQLYHUVLW\ HGXFDWLRQ DV a commodity, that could be priced according to its scarcity value, hits a brick wall; conceptually, public goods, like education, health and LQIUDVWUXFWXUH VXͿ HU IURP WKH IDFW WKDW WKH FRVWV of their private provision far exceed their private PDUJLQDO EHQHÀ WV $FFXPXODWHG WKHRUHWLFDO and empirical evidence suggest that education is a public good, investment in which yields bountiful harvests for both the current and future generations. &RQWUDU\ WR \RXU FODLP VWXGHQW·V ORDQ VFKHPHV in the USA and the UK, far from levelling the grounds for the rich and the poor to compete HͿ HFWLYHO\ IXUWKHU H[DFHUEDWH WKH LQHTXDOLWLHV in access to education in those countries, and with serious consequences for social cohesion and growth. In the USA for example, even conservative analysts are more recently calling for an education system where “no one is left EHKLQGµ WR HQDEOH LW FRPSHWH HͿ HFWLYHO\ ZLWK China.

The privatisation of education in the UK, DORQJ ZLWK JUDGXDO LQWURGXFWLRQ RI VWXGHQW·V ORDQ VFKHPHV GLG QRW VLJQLÀ FDQWO\ LQFUHDVH WKH DFFHVV of the poor students to higher education while leaving scores of poor students and parents with massive debts. The lowering of entry standards to attract more foreign students into various degree programmes (often with little or no serious academic contents) largely lowered the quality of UK education. Many foreign students returned to their respective countries with colourful diplomas but with little or no prospects of employment. The privatisation of education, like the structural adjustment of yester years, is

one of the biggest scam in modern economic reforms.

Secondly, the implementation of the dubious privatisation exercises in Nigeria, and indeed elsewhere, had shattered the myth of WKH H΀ FLHQF\ RI WKH SULYDWH VHFWRU DQG IXUWKHU strengthens the resolve and intransigence of patriotic and progressive unions like ASUU and the National association of Nigeria

students to resist the further transfer of our commonwealth to the private sector in the QDPH RI ¶H΀ FLHQF\· )RU H[DPSOH GHVSLWH the ongoing haemorrhaging of the national treasury by the security agencies, no serious analyst would call for their privatisation. The call for a president that will end the public subsidies on university education amounts WR WKH ORVV RI FRQÀ GHQFH LQ WKH LQWHOOHFWXDO debate and a resort to the use of an autocrat, to “ride roughshod over the shoulders of ASUU and other progressive forces to end the era of government underwriting the entire budgets of public universities….” Well, note that even the tyrannical military regimes of Muhammadu Buhari, Ibrahim Babangida and Sani Abacha, could not cower ASUU and other patriotic Nigerians to the dictates of market fundamentalists.

7KLUGO\ DQG PRUH IXQGDPHQWDOO\ LW·V QRW clear how you arrived at the conclusion that the federal government does not have enough UHVRXUFHV WR À QDQFH SXEOLF XQLYHUVLWLHV )LUVW of all, our university system lacks a robust result management framework that links resources, institutions and processes with H[SHFWHG RXWFRPHV LQ GLͿ HUHQW SURJUDPPHV The regulator of the university system in Nigeria, the National universities commission (NUC) has not evolved to provide robust metrics that could rigorously quantify the adequacy or otherwise of the resources put LQ WKH V\VWHP )RU H[DPSOH WKH 18& KDV no explicit target student-teacher ratios for WKH GLͿ HUHQW SURJUDPPHV LQ 1LJHULD QRU what constitutes good quality teaching, nor does it categorise the various journals into higher, medium and lower impact journals so as to help evaluate the quality of the various research publications, nor does it have any structured support mechanisms for researchers in Nigeria. The NUC rather issues a descriptive progress report on what it calls “the state of university education in Nigeria” annually, which is far short of linking resources to programme objectives and robust measures of performance.

Danju was MD/ CEO, Bank of Agriculture and Currently University Professor of Economics, North Cyprus, Via Mersin 10, Turkey

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T H I S D AY FRIDAY MAY 6, 2022

ADEYINKA ADERINTO pays tribute to Adewole, former Minister of Health

CELEBRATING ISAAC ADEWOLE AT 68 He was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth but has great dreams of making positive impacts in the world. He would KDYH EHHQ LQ DQRWKHU ÀHOG VROYLQJ SUREOHPV but with the right counselling, he chose to stay within the professional fold of medicine where from scratch, he showed that though the beginning may seem tough, the future is bright with the right commitment to excellence. And with such commitment, he has pursued his career, touching home and abroad. He has brought glory not only unto

himself, his state, Osun state, his homeland, Ilesa but to Nigeria and the world. Through his brilliant performances, he has won several international fellowship, grants and honours LQ WKH ÀHOG RI KHDOWK DQG DGPLQLVWUDWLRQ ,Q 1978, he won the Glaxo Allenbury Prize for overall best performance in pediatrics. He was Provost, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan; Vice Chancellor, University of Ibadan and just as he was about leaving

The acronym of his name Isaac Folorunso Adewole (IFA) deifies him as an oracle, a man of mission and vision and the methodology to accomplish such tasks.

His path was in activism which makes him focus on the welfare of his staff everywhere he has worked R΀FH DIWHU VHUYLQJ KLV FRQVWLWXWLRQDO ÀYH \HDU WHUP WKH IHGHUDO JRYHUQPHQW LGHQWLÀHG excellence in him as President Muhammadu Buhari nominated him as one of his ministernominees to be screened by the National Assembly. He would later be put in his area of strength to head the Health Ministry where he revisited the primary health care system in the country and ensured that a Cancer Center was inaugurated as promised during his screening at the National Assembly. As Minister, he also ZRUNHG WR VLJQLÀFDQWO\ LPSURYH WKH KHDOWK RI women and girls, and by extension, the health of men through the Saving One Million Lives Programme. Ladies and Gentlemen, unto us, a son was born on May 5, 1954 in Ilesha. He was named Isaac Folorunso. Not even a diviner would have predicted the phenomenon that was born and how impactful he would be to

humanity. The boy of 1954 is now 68!

He attended Ilesa Grammar School, ZKHUH KH REWDLQHG D *UDGH RQH FHUWLÀFDWH with distinction in 1970 and Higher School &HUWLÀFDWH +6& LQ ,Q 2FWREHU KH enrolled at the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan; where he obtained an MBBS degree. On 1 October, 1997, he was promoted to the rank of a Professor of Medicine at the University of Ibadan.

How do we celebrate this phenomenon in a country with high unemployment and poverty rates? We cannot be held down by the poverty that is ravaging the land nor by the insecurity which has gripped everyone with fear. We need to celebrate those who do good unto humanity. This is why celebrating a highly cerebral scientist, accomplished administrator and role model to many people is perfectly in order. The month of 0D\ ZKLFK LV QXPEHU ÀYH V\PEROL]HV JUDFH which obviously has been with the Nigeria’s immediate past Minister of Health, Isaac Folorunso Adewole, as he continues to tower higher in accomplishments. Folorunsho can roughly be interpreted as the one who God watches over or secures. Little wonder, he has fought several battles and God has given him victories in all. It is not a mere coincidence that Professor Adewole is a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. His month of birth was named after the Roman goddess of fertility, Maia and it is a month loaded with success and love. Professor Adewole’s researches DQG VFLHQWLÀF EUHDNWKURXJKV DUH LQ WKH DUHDV of reproductive health and Oncology, and keeping the body healthy from diseases, particularly for women and girls.

I know the celebrant having worked with him as his Director of Special duties while he was the Vice chancellor at the University of Ibadan. In this capacity, I superintended the implementation of his strategic plans for the premier university. With all sense of modesty, Professor Adewole achieved more than ninety percent of his dreams.

The acronym of his name Isaac Folorunso $GHZROH ,)$ GHLÀHV KLP DV DQ RUDFOH D PDQ of mission and vision and the methodology to accomplish such tasks. His path was in activism which makes him focus on WKH ZHOIDUH RI KLV VWDͿ HYHU\ZKHUH KH KDV worked. As the 11th Vice Chancellor of the Premier University, University of Ibadan, Adewole’s tenure witnessed relative peace RFFDVLRQHG E\ KLV SURPSW DWWHQWLRQ WR VWDͿ ZHOIDUH VWDͿ UHFUXLWPHQW DQG KXPDQ FDSLWDO development. To his administration’s credit was the revitalization of University of Ibadan Teaching and Research Farm, establishment RI D +DWFKHU\ WKH 8, 0LFURÀQDQFH %DQN UI Water factory, UI Maternity center, the 33 kva power station, the National Institute for Maternal and Child Health, UI Research foundation, among several landmark academic and infrastructural projects. UI’s JOREDO UDQNLQJ DOVR LPSURYHG VLJQLÀFDQWO\ during his tenure. For all he has done, IFA has received awards both nationally and internationally from reputable organisations, professional associations and governments of countries. IFA, this is wishing you many happy returns, and renewed strength in the service of humanity.

Professor Aderinto is former Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic) of the University of Ibadan

Goodluck Jonathan should not overstretch his luck, writes IFEANYI MADUAKO

WHY JONATHAN SHOULD NOT RUN Lagos Lawyer, Mr Femi Falana SAN recently argued that former President Goodluck Jonathan is not eligible to contest for the presidency RI 1LJHULD DJDLQ KDYLQJ VSHQW ÀYH \HDUV DV president between 2010 and 2015. Falana premised his argument on a 2018 constitutional amendment which purportedly bars Jonathan from contesting because if he (Jonathan) becomes the president of Nigeria in 2023, he will spend a cumulative nine years as president whereas the amended constitutional provision on which Falana relied on limits the occupant of the position to two terms of eight years.

I am not conversant with the amended constitutional provision that Falana relied on but I dare say that Falana got his interpretation of that provision wrong. A law does not take a UHWURDFWLYH HͿHFW DQG WKH FRQVWLWXWLRQDO DPHQGPHQW GRHV QRW DͿHFW -RQDWKDQ ,W FDQ RQO\ DͿHFW D IUHVK SUHVLGHQW IURP WKH GDWH LW ZDV signed into law. What if Jonathan had won the 2015 presidential election, didn’t Falana know WKDW KH ZRXOG KDYH EHHQ LQ R΀FH IRU QLQH \HDUV by 2019?

The immediate past Governor of Yobe State, Senator Ibrahim Geidam was a governor for 11 years. He was a deputy governor in 2007 when KH ZDV HOHFWHG LQWR R΀FH ZLWK KLV WKHQ ERVV late Governor Mamman Bello Ali. When his boss died in early 2008, Alhaji Geidam became the governor of the state and completed the remaining three years left by his late boss. He contested twice for his own term in 2011 and ZKLFK KH ZRQ %\ WKH WLPH KH OHIW R΀FH LQ 2019, he had accumulated a cumulative 11 years as Governor of Yobe State against eight years which the constitution stipulates for a governor WR EH LQ R΀FH Therefore, against the foregoing background, -RQDWKDQ LV FRQVWLWXWLRQDOO\ TXDOLÀHG IRU DQRWKHU IRXU \HDUV LQ R΀FH DV SUHVLGHQW RI 1LJHULD %XW should Jonathan run again for the position? I do not think so for some of these reasons adduced below.

Dr. Jonathan has had his palm kernel cracked for him by the benevolent spirit as far as politics is concerned. President Jonathan is the only Nigerian who had tasted the four positions in the executive arm of government; the deputy governor, governor, vice president, and

the president as a result of the death of his then boss, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. Dr. -RQDWKDQ LV WKH ÀUVW DQG WKH RQO\ VLWWLQJ FLYLOLDQ president to concede defeat and handed over to his opponent after a presidential contest.

Dr. Jonathan demonstrated the true virtues of a God-fearing man by calling then General Buhari to congratulate him.

Perhaps that singular action saved thousands and millions of Nigerians from being killed as a result of bloodshed which the

then opposition had purportedly promised to unleash across the length and breadth of the land of Nigeria if they had lost the election.

Those who today derisively call President Jonathan a coward are ignorant of the fact that nobody knew who would have survived the stampede and catastrophe that would have been ensued across the land of Nigeria had Jonathan behaved like other African leaders who usually refuse to concede defeat.

Former President of the United States of America, Barack Obama also contributed to Jonathan’s loss of the presidency. Obama showed undue interest in the 2015 presidential election and surreptitiously worked for the then opposition against President Jonathan.

Who knows if Jonathan would have been given the Laurent-Gbagbo treatment if he had refused to vacate power?

6LQFH -RQDWKDQ OHIW R΀FH KH KDV EHHQ traversing Africa and the world on peace keeping mission. The world, especially Africa leaders have been venerating him for Jonathan has the right to the peaceful role he played in 2015. One still his personal ambition and wonders why those in charge of Nobel Award KDYH QRW GHHPHG LW ÀW WR FRQIHU WKH 1REHO fulfillment but he should Peace laureate on Jonathan because he truly place a higher premium on deserves it.

However, the rumour of Dr. Jonathan the ambition of the southern scheming to return to power is not advisable. part of Nigeria who would What is he coming back to do or what did want to retain the presidency he forget in Aso rock? One mistake Jonathan made while as president was that he failed for eight years from 2023 to utilize the position very well especially for the southern part of Nigeria. Perhaps he was hoping to do that on his second term which never came. Jonathan forgot that the president.

3UHVLGHQW -RQDWKDQ LV WKH ÀUVW PDQ DPRQJ WKH presidency of Nigeria with over 300 tribes is class of deputy governors of 1999 to become a not a walk in the park. governor in 2005. President Jonathan had wanted Jonathan should thank his creator for to retain his position as the governor of Bayelsa making him a great man and a member of the State in 2007 when divine providence catapulted minute elite club that had ruled Nigeria since The Presidency of Nigeria him to the position of the vice president of the independence.

Federal Republic of Nigeria. From the class of which Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi deputy governors of 1999, only three people Awolowo, Chief MKO Abiola, et al couldn’t ever reached the position of a governor. They are attain after repeated attempts in their lifetime 0DKPXG 6KLQNDÀ ,EUDKLP *DQGXMH DQG $OOL\X was what Jonathan achieved on a platter of Wammako of Zamfara, Kano and Sokoto States Gold. respectively.

Maduako, 'U -RQDWKDQ LV WKH ÀUVW DQG RQO\ writes from Owerri via democratically elected vice president to become ifeanyimaduako2017@gmail.com

4 26

T H I S D AY

FRIDAY MAY 6, 2022

EDITORIAL

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

THE PLIGHT OF NIGERIAN SCHOLARS ABROAD Government should live up to its responsibilities

T

he scramble for nominations into various R΀FHV HVSHFLDOO\ E\ VHUYLQJ SROLWLFDO R΀FH KROGHUV KDV XQGHUVFRUHG WKH YXOQHUDELOLW\ RI WKH V\VWHP DV PLQLVWHUV JRYHUQRUV DQG RWKHU R΀FH KROGHUV KDYH SUDFWLFDOO\ DEDQGRQHG WKHLU UHVSRQVLELOLWLHV 7KLV SHUKDSV H[SODLQV WKH LQVHQVLWLYLW\ WR WKH SOLJKW RI RXU VFKRODUV VWXG\LQJ LQ YDULRXV FRXQWULHV XQGHU WKH %LODWHUDO (GXFDWLRQ $JUHHPHQW 7KHVH FKLOGUHQ KDYH SUDFWLFDOO\ EHHQ DEDQGRQHG WR WKHLU IDWH E\ WKH IHGHUDO JRYHUQPHQW 1LJHULD KDV IRXU FDWHJRULHV RI VFKRODUVKLS DZDUGV QDPHO\ WKH Bilateral Education $JUHHPHQW %($ WKH &RPPRQZHDOWK WKH 1LJHULDQ DZDUGV DQG WKH 6XVWDLQDEOH 'HYHORSPHQW *RDOV 6'*V DZDUGV )RU DORQH WKH IHGHUDO JRYHUQPHQW FODLPHG LW H[SHQGHG 1 ELOOLRQ RQ VFKRODUVKLS DZDUGV 7KH breakdown for the 2020 BEA awards was as follows: 0RURFFR 5XVVLD +XQJDU\ 5RPDQLD DQG (J\SW ÀYH 7KH &RPPRQZHDOWK KDV VORWV ZKLOH WKH 1LJHULDQ DZDUGV DUH VORWV The countries with the BEA which commenced in LQFOXGH $OJHULD &KLQD &XED (J\SW +XQJDU\ -DSDQ 0H[LFR 0RURFFR 5RPDQLD 5XVVLD 6HUELD 6RXWK .RUHD 7XQLVLD 7XUNH\ DQG 8NUDLQH 7KH ÀHOGV RI VWXG\ DUH 1DWXUDO 6FLHQFHV 7HFKQRORJ\ (QJLQHHULQJ ,QIRUPDWLRQ 7HFKQRORJ\ 0HGLFLQH DQG 0HGLFLQH UHODWHG FRXUVHV 7KH VFKRODUVKLS DZDUGV OHDG WR ÀUVW GHJUHHV PDVWHU·V DQG 3K ' $OO WKH FRXQWULHV DUH QRQ (QJOLVK VSHDNLQJ VR WKH VFKRODUV DUH PDGH WR VWXG\ LQ WKH ODQJXDJH RI WKH FRXQWULHV H[FHSW +XQJDU\ 7KH DZDUG HQWLWOHV HDFK VFKRODU WR VXSSOHPHQWDWLRQ DOORZDQFHV RI SHU DQQXP WR DXJPHQW IHHGLQJ ORFDO WUDQVSRUW PDLQWHQDQFH HTXLSPHQW ERRNV ZDUP FORWKLQJ DOORZDQFHV RI SHU DQQXP DQG +HDOWK ,QVXUDQFH RI SHU DQQXP 7KH FRPPLWPHQW of the donor countries is limited to tuition fees and DFFRPPRGDWLRQ 8QGHU WKH DUUDQJHPHQW WKH 1LJHULDQ

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The situation is worse for those in Russia, who must contend with the rising cost of living in a nation facing severe economic sanctions over its war with Ukraine T H I S D AY EDITOR SHAKA MOMODU DEPUTY EDITORS WALE OLALEYE, OBINNA CHIMA MANAGING DIRECTOR ENIOLA BELLO DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR ISRAEL IWEGBU CHAIRMAN EDITORIAL BOARD OLUSEGUN ADENIYI EDITOR NATION’S CAPITAL IYOBOSA UWUGIAREN MANAGING EDITOR BOLAJI ADEBIYI THE OMBUDSMAN KAYODE KOMOLAFE

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T H I S D AY FRIDAYFriday MAY 6,May 2022 6, 2022 Vol 27. No 9888 TR

See page 28 RE: A PRESIDENT TO SOLVE THE ASUU PUZZLE DANBALA DANJU argues that Nigeria is not giving education the priority it deserves See page 28 CELEBRATING ISAAC ADEWOLE AT 68 ADEYINKA ADERINTO pays tribute to Adewole, former Minister of Health See page 29 WHY JONATHAN SHOULD NOT RUN Goodluck Jonathan should not overstretch his luck, writes IFEANYI MADUAKO

See page 29 EDITORIAL THE PLIGHT OF NIGERIAN SCHOLARS ABROAD

See page 30

& RE A S O

N

opinion@thisdaylive.com

www.thisdaylive.com

GBAJABIAMILA, INSECURITY AND THE 2023 ELECTIONS At Chatham House, Gbajabiamila says insecurity poses a big problem, writes JAMES AKADIRI

UT H

Political appointees that paid high nomination fees should explain their sources of funds, writes BOLAJI ADEBIYI

BUHARI’S MINISTERS AND THEIR MULTI-MILLION NAIRA NOMINATION FORMS Despite the public outcry against the exorbitant nomination forms of the dominant political parties, Abdullahi Adamu, a senator and national chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress, insisted earlier in the week that anyone who could not boast of N100 million in his account had no business wishing to govern Nigeria.

His arrogant response to a legitimate concern about the increasing closing of the political space to the vast majority of the people in a democratic dispensation should be the least worry of many Nigerians. The acquiescence by the political actors, many of whom are VHUYLQJ SXEOLF R΀ FHUV VKRXOG XQQHUYH the teaming electorate whose choices have been decisively circumscribed. ,W LV VLJQLÀ FDQW WKDW WKH FRPSODLQWV KDYH come from the media that has also yielded its platforms to the habitual social critics, calling for a substantial review of the fees. At the last count, 17 aspirants had purchased the N40 million presidential nomination forms of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party, translating to an N640 million windfall for the party.

The APC’s more expensive forms had attracted 15 aspirants, roughly N1 billion!

The total haul for the parties would be higher when the tally for the other positions including Senate, House of Representatives, governorship and Houses of Assembly is taken into consideration. According to THISDAY, the APC would have raised a princely N30 billion at the end of the nomination exercise. A hefty campaign war chest, the newspaper said. But this would come at a huge cost to the polity, the most important being the closure to the governance space of the otherwise sound and public-spirited people who have the concrete and relevant ideas to bail out the country from its prevailing cul-de-sac but do not have the cash to step forward.

Who are the people with the forms?

The same people who have brought the nation to its knees, particularly in the last seven years; people whose performance LQ R΀ FH SXW D FOHDU TXHVWLRQ PDUN RQ WKHLU capacity and integrity. In the APC, the OLQH XS LQFOXGHV À YH VHUYLQJ JRYHUQRUV seven former governors; three serving ministers, two of who were former governors; a serving vice-president and one person who has never held a public R΀ FH The PDP parades four serving governors; three former governors; one former president of the Senate; one former vice-president; one former board chairman and seven persons who have QRW KHOG SXEOLF R΀ FH EHIRUH There are three substantive issues to be interrogated: How the aspirants,

particularly those who have been in SXEOLF R΀ FH VLQFH FDPH DERXW WKH fees; why those of them in appointive positions have not stepped down in spite of Section 84 (12) of the Electoral Act 2022; and the value of their stewardship.

In its editorial, “Monetisation of Political Aspiration,” published on May 1, 2022, THISDAY went beyond querying the exorbitant fees, raising legitimate questions about the sources of the funds for the purchase of the forms. Stating WKDW WKH KXJH IHHV PLJKW RͿ HQG WKH ODZ RQ FDPSDLJQ À QDQFLQJ WKH QHZVSDSHU raised the more important issue of the import of the law, which is to forestall SXEOLF R΀ FLDOV IURP EHLQJ FDSWXUHG E\ shadowy interest groups. +DYLQJ UHJDUGV WR WKH R΀ FLDO SD\ RI WKHVH SXEOLF R΀ FHUV DVSLULQJ IRU WKH presidency of the nation, it is obvious that they could not on their own have raised the funds for the forms. The transparency of the sources of the funds, therefore, becomes imperative.

For instance, Rotimi Amaechi, minister of Transportation, has been in public R΀ FH VLQFH (OHFWHG DV D PHPEHU RI the Rivers State House of Assembly in KH VHUYHG DV VSHDNHU IRU WZR WHUPV In 2007 he became the state governor without being on the ballot, courtesy of a protest judgment of the Supreme Court that was trying to curb executive lawlessness. He won re-election in 2011 and after his second term, he became a minister in 2015, securing a second term LQ 1RZ KH ZDQWV WR EH SUHVLGHQW Chris Ngige, two-term Minister of

Who are the people with the forms? The same people who have brought the nation to its knees, particularly in the last seven years; people whose performance in office put a clear question mark on their capacity and integrity

Labour, has had a shorter spell than Amaechi. He came into the limelight in 2003 when his namesake, Chris Uba, sponsored his gubernatorial bid in Anambra State. He was elected on the platform of the PDP. Three years or so later, the Court of Appeal found that the votes with which he ascended to the governorship were stolen. Peter Obi of the All Progressives Grand Alliance was handed the price. But in 2007, Ngige without atoning for the 2003 votes theft became a senator and in 2015 became a minister.

How much were Amaechi’s and Ngige’s salaries in those years of public service? Could they have saved up N100 million? But it is fair to suggest that having EHHQ LQ SXEOLF R΀ FH IRU WKRVH \HDUV WKH\ would have made friends who should be able to raise the nomination fees for them. First, applying the campaign À QDQFH ODZ QR LQGLYLGXDO FDQ FRQWULEXWH more than N1 million. So, each of them would require 100 persons to contribute a million each. This is possible. However, should those philanthropists not be proud to be publicly listed for supporting their convictions? And should all other aspirants, in the spirit of transparency, not proudly exhibit the lists of their donors?

One of the reasons for Section 66 I RI WKH &RQVWLWXWLRQ DV DOWHUHG and Section 84 (12) of the Electoral Act ZKLFK UHTXLUH SXEOLF R΀ FHUV DQG political appointees to stand down before the general election and party primaries respectively, is to level the playing À HOG DQG GLVVXDGH SXEOLF R΀ FLDOV IURP WDNLQJ XQGXH DGYDQWDJH RI WKHLU R΀ FH Amaechi, Ngige, Emeka Nwajiuba, minister of state for Education; and Abubakar Malami, Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, have determined to defeat the spirit and letter of the law by refusing to stand down without explaining their obstinacy to the protesting public.

What public interest would have informed their decision to stay put ZKLOH Y\LQJ IRU KLJKHU SROLWLFDO R΀ FH" Nothing really. Meanwhile, their records of performance do not stand out. One could not secure a multi-billion US dollar commuter train; the other has not been able to resolve several labour disputes for seven years; yet another has been a disaster in terms of the quality of legal advice to the Muhammadu Buhari administration.

Adebiyi, the managing editor of THISDAY Newspapers, writes from bolaji.adebiyi@ thisdaylive.com

T H I S D AY ˾ FRIDAY, MAY 6, 2022

27

BUSINESSWORLD R A T E S MONEY MARKET

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

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MONTH-TO-DATE

– 1.31%

FG Urged to Reduce Multiple Charges, Enforce Regulation on Quality Within Ship Repair Industry Eromosele Abiodun and Oluchi Chibuzor For Nigeria to achieve its objective of halting the massive foreign exchange spent on ship repairs abroad and help shipyards industry achieve its potential, the government must enforce regulation on quality and multiple charges, fees inhibiting the growth of the sipping industry, stakeholders have said.

This, the stakeholders reasoned, would enable

indigenous firms to operate optimally and reinvest their profit in shipyards in the country.

Speaking at a virtual media roundtable monitored in Lagos yesterday, the Managing Director, Shipside Drydock, Sunday Esezobor, said that the government must know that the issue of multiple charges remains a critical concern to all players in the industry.

According to him,“You know we have a lot of regulatory charges; they have Nigerian

Ports Authority (NPA) pilotage charges, they have the Nigerian inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) road toll fees, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) fees, and several other regulatory fees.

If we continue to pay these charges, our shipyards will not develop to the point we want to get.

“We actually have been appealing to the government to reduce their regulatory fees, because shipyard owners

are also helping to create employment, reduce capital flight and other things that are critical to the economic development of this country.”

Furthermore, the f Shipside Drydock boss who revealed that 96 per cent of his staff members are Nigerians also urged the government to proactively enforce regulations regarding quality within the industry for safety concerns.

Shipside Drydock, he revealed, has a floating dock of 5000 metric tonnage, noting

that before their advent into the business people actually went to Ghana, Namibia, Senegal, other West African countries and some abroad for ship repairs.

He added, “Also, there is a need for the government to help enforce regulation to ensure quality. If somebody has a little water in his front he wants to carry out repairs and we know that the vessels that we work on are actually life threatening just like aviation business, if it is

not well done you might have some catastrophe at the end of the day.”

Esezobor revealed that since inception, Shipside Drydock has been able to deliver projects that have attracted more referrals stating that the repairs were carried out at its 5000 metric tonnage dockyard facility.

“We have done more than 400 vessels since commencement, which is a Continued on page 29

MILKEN INSTITUTE’S GLOBAL CONFERENCE…

L-R: Senior Director, Africa Investment Forum, African Development Bank (AfDB), Chinelo Anohu; Vice President/Treasurer, International Finance Corporation (IFC), John Gandolfo; CEO of Convergence, Joan Larrea; Special Advisor, Milken Institute, Hiromichi Mizuno, during a discussion on, “Financing the Sustainable Development Goals,” at the 25th Global Conference by the Milken Institute in Los Angeles, USA… recently

Customs Agents Condemn Imposition of 15% CET Levy on MotorVehicle by NCS Eromosele Abiodun Customs agents in the country have condemned the imposition of 15 per cent Common External Tariff (CET) levy on motor vehicles by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) stressing the levy contravenes the 2020 finance act and other domestic laws on duties and levies collection.

The agents in a petition to

President Muhammadu Buhari, the agents stated that as a result of the development, many vehicles are now abandoned at the port, accumulating demurrage and rents, which creates serious bottleneck to revenue collection and impediment to trade.

National President of the National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA), the umbrella

body of customs agents in Nigeria, Lucky Amiwero, in the petition, called on the federal government to quickly reverse the policy to save the trading community.

According to the agents, “We wish to bring to the attention of the federal government on the imposition of common External Tariff levy of 15 per cent on Motor vehicles that is not backed by any law or approved in the

Finance Act of 2020 and 2021 and not provided in any law of the land and assessed on Motor Vehicles by Nigeria Customs Service.

“There is no such thing as Common External Tariff levy of 15 per cent either on motor vehicles or goods, the only approval is on ECOWAS trade liberalization levy (ETLS) of 0.5%, the introduction of CET levy is strange to our

domestic law and the ECOWAS convention on Import duties and levies assessment and collection.”

They added, “the levy approved in the Finance Act 2020 approved for motor vehicles specifically state as follows: Amendment of the first Schedule to the Act is amended by inserting and replacing as the case may be the following duties and levies: Duty on Tractors (Heading 8701)

From 35 per cent to 5 per cent, duty on motor vehicles for the Transportation of more than ten persons (HS Heading 8702) From 35 per cent to 10 per cent, levy on motor vehicles for transportation of persons (Cars) (HS Headings 8703) from 35 per cent to 5 per cent and duty for motor vehicles for transportation of Goods (HS Continued on page 29

M A R K E T D ATA A S AT T H U R S D AY, M AY 5 , 2 0 2 2 BILLS

BONDS DESCRIPTION 12.75 27-APR2023 14.20 14-MAR2024 13.53 23-MAR2025 12.50 22-JAN2026 16.2884 17MAR-2027

Price

Yield

106.42 6.12 111.52 7.54 110.84 9.20 105.46 10.68 120.08 10.89

Change Updated Time (%) April 22, 1.15 2022 April 22, 0.05 2022 April 08, 0.00 2022 April 08, 0.00 2022 April 08, 0.31 2022

Discount

NTB 12May-22 NTB 9-Jun22 NTB 14-Jul22 NTB 11Aug-22

289,00 289,00 0.00

April 22, 2022

304,00 305,00 0.00

April 22, 2022

323,00 325,00 0.00

April 22, 2022

350,00 354,00 0.00

April 22, 2022

NTB 8-Sep22

348,00 353,00 -0.08

April 22, 2022

Yield

OTC F X F U T U R E S

C Ps

MATURITY

Change Updated Time (%)

MATURITY

Discount Yield

Change Updated Time (%)

UNCP CP VI 2-MAY-22 NEVE CP I 24-MAY-22 DANC CP II 25-MAY-22 TRBH CP V 26-JUL-22 FSDH CP VI 1-AUG-22

8.62

8.64

0.00

April 22, 2022

16.44

16.68 0.00

April 22, 2022

8.56

8.63

0.08

April 22, 2022

11.51

11.86 0.30

April 22, 2022

8.12

8.30

April 22, 2022

–0.01

CONTRACT TENOR Contract (MONTH) NGUS APR 27 1 2022 NGUS MAY 25 2 2022 NGUS JUN 29 3 2022 NGUS JUL 27 4 2022 NGUS AUG 31 5 2022

Current Rate ($/₦)

Updated Time

427.24

April 22, 2022

428.93

April 22, 2022

430.63

April 22, 2022

432.32

April 22, 2022

434.02

April 22, 2022

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BUSINESSWORLD

AIR WATCH

Foreign Pilots Eye US Jobs A I R Amid Employee Shortage Chinedu Eze with agency report US airlines said there are not enough US pilots available, so they are recruiting foreign pilots to get their operations back to capacity, according to a recent report by Simpleflying.

With major airlines blaming pilot shortages for canceled services, foreign pilots have sees this as an opportunity to pick up their stalled careers in the US United Airlines, American Airlines, Alaska Airlines and JetBluehave reported pilot shortages impacting their operations. With many US pilots not returning from furlough or leaving the industry during the pandemic, there are not enough to meet demand.

Report indicated that regional carriers are being hit especially hard, with mainline airlines poaching staff, luring them with higher salaries and attractive sign-on bonuses.

In March, regional carrier SkyWest Airlines, which operates flights for Delta Air Lines, American, and United, gave notice it was dropping 29 governmentsubsidized routes because of pilot

shortages.

The US Department of Transport (DOT) stepped in and issued an order blocking SkyWest from ending the flights until a replacement airline was in place.

Reuters has reported that US immigration lawyers are dealing with a surge in inquiries and visa applications from pilots based in countries where traffic is still recovering from pandemic lows.

In the US, Ana Barbara Schaffert, an attorney at AG Immigration Group, said that a widening supply-demand gap had created an unprecedented opportunity for experienced foreign pilots.

She added: “While the US has a major shortage, in the rest of the world pilots are out of jobs.”

According to the Reuters report, in recent months Schaffert has received more than 8,000 requests for consultations and is screening more than 2,000 resumes from pilots seeking to immigrate to the United States. This is nearly double the volume she was receiving prepandemic.

Other sources have said they are receiving inquiries from Australia,

Canada, Europe, Africa, and Asia.

Russian pilots with nowhere to go have also inquired about opportunities in the US. The idea of a pilot shortage is news to the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), the world’s largest pilot union with more than 61,000 members.

After a lively discussion in a December 2021 US Senate Commerce Committee hearing, the ALPA said: “There are more than enough airline pilots today, and efforts to raise supply problems are meant to roll back the training requirements that have resulted in an unprecedented period of domestic airline safety.”

It also said: “Year over year, the US is producing more pilots than can be hired by the airlines, with more than 1.5 certificated pilots relative to demand.”

Contrast that with the United Airlines statement that said the US can produce a maximum of 7,000 pilots per year, but the carriers need 13,000 this year and even more next year.

The reality is that some US airlines are currently recruiting foreign pilots because they can’t find what they need at home.

Lufthansa Unveils New Airbus A350 Business Class Lufthansa has a new business class seat, to complement its existing aircraft.

The recently christened ‘München’ Airbus A350-900, is a welcome addition to the German flag carrier’s fleet for customers traveling in the premium section of the cabin. All business class seats on the plane, initially destined for Phillippines Airlines, come with aisle access and increased shoulder space. Meanwhile, they are not the new product teased

by Lufthansa five years ago.

Simpleflying reported that on its long-haul fleet (excluding this latestA350), Lufthansa’s premium product consists of the Collins Aerospace Diamond seats in a 2-2-2 layout. While the upgraded Collins Aerospace Super Diamond has received a ton of accolades, its predecessor

is beginning to feel somewhat outdated. As such, Lufthansa has embarked on what CEO Karsten Spohr calls ‘one of the largest product modernization projects’ in the airline’s history.

The new ‘München’ A350 features 1-2-1 Thomson VantageXL seats that are 23-24 inches wide and convert into two-meter beds. While indeed an upgrade from the Diamond seat in many respects, they are not the new wonder seat / 220 cm lie-flat bed that Lufthansa first showed images of in 2017 (an announcement which caused SkyTrax to upgrade Lufthansa on a preemptive basis to a five-star carrier).

These are intended to launch with the introduction of the Boeing 777-9, of which the airline is an intended launch customer. The entry into service

of Boeing’s new flagship is more than a couple of years off, according to the manufacturer’s estimates.

However, Lufthansa has said it will introduce a ‘new top product’ across all of its travel classes (economy, premium economy, business, and first class) starting next year. Until then, those who want to try out Lufthansa’s new business class A350, registered as D-AIVC, will need to hop on a flight from its namesake city to Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver in Canada.

For premium economy, the modernisation means that the airline will install ZIMPrivacy fixed-shell seats, the same as offered by sister carrier SWISS. These will be installed on Lufthansa’s 19 Boeing 747-8 aircraft.

Qatar Airways Launches Voluntary Carbon Offset Programme Qatar Airways has launched a voluntary carbon offset programme for corporate customers.

The airline said this initiative would enable corporate and trade clients to offset their own carbon emissions via a dedicated web portal at any time before or after a flight.

The Qatar Airways voluntary carbon offset programme allows its corporate clients to offset or reduce the carbon emissions associated with their business travel, and empowers them to make sustainable choices. With this, companies work towards their sustainability goals while they collaborate with the global airline to advance their carbon neutrality goals.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, said: “Building a long-term sustainable aviation industry requires coordinated efforts, and businesses play an important role in building more environmentally friendly and more sustainable air travel.

We are happy to provide an

opportunity for our corporate clients to voluntarily offset the carbon footprint of corporate trips through recognised projects that help both communities and the environment, and encourage them to make carbon offsetting part of their carbon management plan. This further supports the Qatar Airways Group’s goal to strengthen our environmental sustainability efforts and enhances our leadership position in the aviation industry.”

Built on a partnership with the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA), the leading programme provides Qatar Airways’ customers a customised environmental solution with the assurance that the credits bought to offset these emissions are from projects delivering independently verified carbon reductions, as well as wider environmental and social benefits. This new programme reaffirms our industry’s ambition to reach our climate targets while we drive innovation and bring other social, environmental or economic benefits.

This new programme uses the

IATA industry best practice for calculating CO2 emissions, and it has been designed to simplify the process for our customers, offering them innovative solutions towards achieving their environmental commitments on climate change.

Initial emissions will be offset with a leading renewable energy project with additional verified projects to be included in the near future.

Since 2020, the Qatar Airways’ Voluntary Carbon Offsetting Programmehas been contributing with the Fatanpur Wind Farm project located in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, consisting of 54 wind turbines, which generate a combined output of 108 MW, and avoids 210,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per year. The support for the Fatanpur project not only reduces global carbon emissions, it also provides employment opportunities; delivers improved education through providing materials and expertise to nearby schools; and supports a mobile medical unit – enabling improved healthcare to the local community.

WATCH Passenger Traffic Recovery after COVID-19 Continues, Says IATA

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has announced passenger data for March 2022, revealing that the recovery of air travel continues.

It observed that the impacts from the conflict in Ukraine on air travel demand were quite limited overall while Omicron-related effects continued to be confined largely to Asian domestic markets.

IATA said the total traffic in March 2022 (measured in revenue passenger kilometers or RPKs) was up 76.0 per cent compared to March 2021. Although that was lower than the 115.9 per cent rise in February year-over-year demand, volumes in March were the closest to 2019 pre-pandemic levels, at 41 per cent below.

March 2022 domestic traffic was up 11.7 per centcompared to the year-ago period, far below the 59.4 per cent year-over-year improvement recorded in February. This largely was a result of the Omicron-related lockdowns in China.

March domestic RPKs were down23.2 per cent versus March 2019.

International RPKs rose 285.3 per cent versus March 2021, exceeding the 259.2 per cent gain experienced in February versus the year-earlier period. Most regions boosted their performance compared to the prior month, led by carriers in Europe. March 2022 international RPKs were down 51.9 per cent compared to the same month in 2019.

“With barriers to travel coming down in most places, we are seeing the long-expected surge in pent-up demand finally being realised.

Unfortunately, we are also seeing long delays at many airports with insufficient resources to handle the growing numbers. This must be addressed urgently to avoid frustrating consumer enthusiasm for air travel,” said IATA’s Director General, Willie Walsh.

On the international passenger markets, European carriers continued to lead the recovery, with March traffic rising 425.4 per cent versus March 2021, improved over the 384.6 per cent increase in February 2022 compared to the same month in 2021. The impact of the war in Ukraine has been relatively limited outside of traffic to/from Russia and countries neighboring the conflict. Capacity rose 224.5 per cent, and load factor climbed 27.8 percentage points to 72.7 per cent.

Asia-Pacific airlines had a 197.1 per cent rise in March traffic compared to March 2021, up over the 146.5 per cent gain registered in February 2022 versus February 2021. While China and Japan remain restrictive to foreign visitors, other countries are becoming more relaxed, including South Korea, New Zealand, Singapore, and Thailand. Capacity rose 70.7 per cent and the load factor was up 24.1 percentage points to 56.6 per cent, the lowest among regions.

Middle Eastern airlines’ traffic rose 245.8 per cent in March compared to March 2021, an improvement compared to the 218.2 per cent increase in February 2022, versus the same month in 2021. March capacity rose 96.6 per cent versus the year-ago period, and load factor climbed 31.1 percentage points to 72.1 per cent.

North American carriers experienced a 227.8 per centtraffic rise in March versus the 2021 period, slightly down on the 237.3 per cent rise in February 2022 over February 2021. Capacity

rose 91.9 per cent, and load factor climbed 31.2 percentage points to 75.4 per cent.

Latin American airlines’ March traffic rose 239.9 per cent compared to the same month in 2021, little changed from the 241.9 per cent increase in February 2022 compared to February 2021. The region benefitted from the end of bankruptcy procedures for some of the main carriers based there. March capacity rose 173.2 per centand load factor increased 15.8 percentage points to 80.3 per cent, which was the highest load factor among the regions for the 18th consecutive month.

African airlines had a 91.8 per cent rise in March RPKs versus a year ago, improved compared to the 70.8 per cent year-over-year increase recorded in February 2022 compared to the same month in 2021. Air travel demand is challenged by low vaccination rates on the continent as well as impacts from rising inflation.

March 2022 capacity was up 49.9 per cent and load factor climbed14.1 percentage points to 64.5 per cent.

Compared to 2019, March 2022 strong growth in most markers compared to a year ago, is helping passenger demand catch-up to 2019 levels. Total RPKs in March were down 41.3 per cent compared to March 2019, an improvement compared to the 45.5 per cent decline recorded in February versus the same month in 2019.

The domestic recovery continues to outpace that of international markets despite the setback in China.

“The ongoing recovery in air travel is excellent news for the global economy, for friends and families whose forced separations are being ended, and for the millions of people who depend on air transport for their livelihoods. Unfortunately, some government actions are emerging as key impediments to recovery. This is demonstrated most dramatically in the Netherlands.

Schiphol airport is being allowed by the regulator to repay itself on the back of airlines and consumers for COVID-19 losses with a 37 per cent hike in airport charges over the next three years. Simultaneously, the airport has asked airlines to cancel bookings and new sales this week, at huge inconvenience to passengers, claiming shortfalls in airport staffing, including government provided security functions. And the government itself is planning to increase passenger taxes by EUR400 million annually with the stated purpose of discouraging travel.

“Seeing the Dutch government work to dismantle connectivity, fail to provide critical airport operational resources and enable price gouging by its hub airport is a destructive triple whammy. These actions will cost jobs. They will hurt consumers who already struggling with price inflation. And they will deplete resources that airlines need to achieve their Net Zero sustainability commitment. The Dutch government has forgotten a key lesson from the COVID-19 crisis, which is that everyone’s quality of life, suffers without efficient air connectivity. It must reverse course, and others must not follow their terrible example. To secure the recovery and its economic and social benefits, the immediate priority is for governments to have plans in place to meet expected demand this summer. Many people have waited two years for a summer holiday – it should not be ruined through lack of preparation,” said Walsh.

T H I S D AY ˾ FRIDAY, MAY 6, 2022

29

BUSINESSWORLD

NEWS

AfICTA Calls for Collaboration to NCC Harps on Telecoms’ Achieve Africa’s Digital Transformation Infrastructure Protection to Improve Service Delivery Emma Okonji

The Chairman of Africa ICT Alliance (AfICTA), Mr. Thabo Mashegoane has called for collaboration, while urging industry players to continue closing the gap that exists between all sectors involved in delivering the information society.

He said the move would help to realise a digital Africa through knowledge sharing, trade facilitation, and cross-African advocacy.

This was contained in his recent goodwill message to mark the 10th anniversary of the African ICT body.

Mashegoane while appreciating all the stakeholders involved in AfICTA’s milestone of success, assured them that the concerned private sector-led alliance was committed to fulfilling the promise of the digital age for everyone in Africa by connecting African ICT players for increased intra-African trade and collaboration.

According to him, “It is with great joy, pride, and honour that we announce the 10th-anniversary

celebration of AfICTA - Africa ICT Alliance. AfICTA is a concerned private sector-led alliance. The alliance was founded in the year 2012 by six member nations including Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt, Kenya, Tunisia and the Gambia, led by Dr. Jimson Olufuye, the founder, Past Chairman, and the Chair of the Advisory Council.

“The first decade has passed with huge achievements and some challenges but the hard work, steadfast dedication, and unwavering support of all our members both founding and emerging ensured the growth of AfICTA. “Today, AfICTA has covered over 35 nations of Africa from the initial 6 pioneer members with about 300 registered ICT businesses (National Associations inclusive) across the continent.”

Mashegoane further said: “AfICTA, in line with its Constitution, has witnessed two impactful successive leadership tenures from Dr. Jimson Olufuye, the founder of AfICTA and CEO Kontemporary

Konsulting, from 2012 through 2018 to Hossam Elgamal, CEO of IKEN, from 2018-2020 and former Egyptian Cabinet member; and now Mr. Thabo Mashegoane, former President, Institute of IT Professionals of South Africa (formerly the Computer Society of South Africa) since 2020.”

AfICTA in its advocacy for prosperity and enabling environment for businesses in Africa has held nine consecutive summits in different member nations and from the past experiences and outcomes of the summits. AfICTA continues to close the gap that exists between all sectors that are involved in shaping the Internet and delivering the information society to the realisation of digital Africa through knowledge sharing, trade facilitation, and crossAfrican advocacy.

“In 2018, the strategy to further deepen engagement and fast-track the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 was conceived, and that birthed organizing quarterly regional focused eConferences and capacity

development seminars, discussing pertinent topics to each region in Africa and working with governments and other involved stakeholders in achieving the recommendations thereof”, Mashegoane added.

According to AfICTA Chairman, in the past 10 years, the alliance has added its impactful voice to Internet Public Policy discussions at the United Nations Commission on Science and Technology for Development through its Working Groups on Internet Governance Forum and Enhanced Cooperation.

“We have thus accomplished partnerships with several international bodies of like minds and we continue to build on such relationships. Some of the partners are the African Union, ICANN-BC, European Union, United Nation on Economic Commission for Africa, Asian-Oceania Computing Industry Organisation. AfICTA has indeed been identified as the leading digital business voice on the continent”, he further said.

James Sowole in Abeokuta The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has stressed the need for communities to protect telecoms infrastructure in order to improve service delivery across networks.

NCC said this at the maiden edition of the Village Square Dialogue on telecoms consumer conversation in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

In his opening remarks, the Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management at NCC, Mr. Adeleke Adewolu, called on communities in the state to assist in ensuring the protection of telecoms infrastructure and to preserve the capacity of telecoms infrastructure, to enable telecoms operators continue to provide consumers with life-supporting services.

“As we all know, telecoms services have long been recognised as the easiest and cheapest means of meeting critical socio-economic needs such as education, financial inclusion, economic empowerment and deepening social interactions. The infrastructure through which these services are provided are called the “infrastructure of infrastructures” because they enable the digitisation and seamless connectivity of all other socio-economic platforms, ”Adewolu

said.

In his presentation, the Director, Consumer Affairs Bureau at NCC, Mr. Efosa Idehen, spoke on the role of communities in the protection of telecoms infrastructure.

He advised communities to guard against destruction of telecoms infrastructure, through prompt notification of service providers on any ongoing road construction activities by companies or government agencies to avoid service disruption or interference in service.

He also advised communities to report cases of telecoms infrastructure vandalism to the nearest law enforcement agents such as the Police, and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), and to also share adequate information to family, friends, neighbours, in accordance with the information and materials provided by the NCC. The Director, Technical Standards and Network Integrity at NCC, Mr. Kunle Olorundare, who spoke about the benefits of protecting telecoms infrastructure, said it would improve financial services delivery like Internet Banking/Mobile Money/ Automated Teller Machine (ATM).

He said telecoms would continue to provide the backbone that powers the banking industry, if well protected.

Industry Stakeholders See Entertainment as Driver of Social Change Emma Okonji and Kayode Tokede

L-R: Home Clerk Christ Foundation Orphanage Home and Widows Outreach, Mr. Gideon Alayemie; Marketing Unit, Arik Air, Andrew Odion; Coordinator, Christ Foundation Orphanage Home and Widows Outreach, Mrs. Rita Agho and Paul Edeyokun of Arik Air during the presentation of food and sundry items to Christ Foundation Orphanage Home and Widows Outreach, Kuje, Abuja by the management of Arik Air in Abuja…recently

WomenPRIDE.Africa Gets Global Recognition Nosa Alekhuogie WomenPRIDE.Africa, a project initiated by Women in Technology (WITIN), has bagged global recognition from the United Nations.

WomenPRIDE.Africa was WSIS Prize 2022 runner-up. Out of 966 submitted projects, 360 were nominated for the online voting. More than 1.3 million votes were casted and WITIN’s Project - WomenPRIDE.Africa was among the top five most voted in Category 11 AL C7 E-employment.

The WSIS Prizes 2022 is

an exceptional international recognition of WSIS stakeholders as winners and champions for their excellence in supporting the implementation of WSIS outcomes, in particular the action lines supporting achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In a letter, which conveyed the UN recognition to WITIN, and signed by the Program Coordinator, Strategic Planning and Membership Department, International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Vladimir Stankovic, WITIN was congratulated.

According to the letter, “Following our public announcement of the WSIS Prizes 2022 Champion on the aforementioned website, we are reaching to you with brief summary of this year’s annual awards and invitation to celebrate your achievement together.

“Out of 966 submitted projects, 360 were nominated for the Online Voting, following a comprehensive review by the Expert Group.

We have reviewed more than 1.3 million votes cast and your project was among the top five most voted in your category. We

would like to congratulate you on this amazing achievement and to invite you to promote this global recognition.”

Responding to the award, WITIN Founder, Mrs. Martha Alade, said the recognition would give the body, immense visibility. “With our hashtag #WomenPRIDEdotAfrica trending for the first time, we saw people we have never met speaking up and acknowledging our efforts of two decades globally. This is motivating us enormously to work even harder, surpassing our target.

Also, it gives us a platform to reach out to more partners.”

Industry stakeholders who gathered at the ninth edition of the Nigerian Entertainment Conference (NECLive9), have stressed the importance of entertainment in driving social change in the Nigerian society.

Speaking at the hybrid conference, which held virtually and physically in Lagos at the weekend, the convener, Mr. Ayeni Adekunle said: “Nigeria has great talents in the entertainment industry who are doing the country proud, both at local and global levels. Nigerian music and films are celebrated globally. In order to further celebrate the Nigerian entertainment industry, we started the Nigeria Entertainment Conference (NECLive) in 2013 and today we are celebrating NECLive9, which is the ninth edition of the NECLive series. My dream is to see the Nigerian entertainment industry have measurable impact on the Nigerian economy, create more jobs and build more infrastructure in the country.”

The first keynote speaker, who is an advocate of the voiceless, Mr. Debo Adedayo, spoke on the theme: ‘Advocacy and Governance: How Best to use Entertainment to Drive Social Change.’

According to him, through drama, movies, music and film production, the Nigerian entertainment industry is educating Nigerians and the rest of the world, to bring about social change in the society.

“The artist, content developer,

actors and actresses, have a collective responsibility to drive social change in the society though their movies and music. We need social change that will redirect the vision of our youths and the entertainment industry has a great role to play in this area,” Adedayo said.

The second keynote speaker, who is the Executive Head, Content and Channels, West Africa at Multichoice, Dr. Busola Tejumola, applauded the Nigerian entertainment industry for driving social change and correcting societal ills, through music and film production.

According to her, “Nigeria is doing well in the area of local content development in the entertainment industry. We are exporting out contents through music, films and movies. According to the United Nations recent report, Nollywood is the second largest film industry in the world in terms of volume.”

She said: “At Multichoice, we are promoting the Nigerian culture by creating, developing and celebrating the Nigerian culture. We create contents from Big Brother Naija to Nigerian Idol to Real House Wives of Lagos. We also develop drama series that span the life circle of a year, including Reality Shows. We will continue to create and promote local content in the Nigerian entertainment industry. Through our African Magic Channels, we are able to create local contents, and aside creating local contents, we also develop talents that are making Nigerians proud

Trade Organization under the Agreement on Trade facilitation Agreement (ATF) which core principle is predictability, consistency and transparency

on trade information, fees and charges Imposed on in connection with importation and exportation, which create confusion and impediments, “he stated.

CUSTOMS AGENTS CONDEMN IMPOSITION OF 15% CET LEVY ON MOTOR VEHICLE BY NCS Heading 8704) From 35 per cent to 10 per cent.

The Finance Act, Amiwero stressed, provides for 5 per cent levy for motor vehicles adding

that there is no provision for CET levy of 15 per cent in either 2020 and 2021 Finance Act passed by the National Assembly and signed in to law.

“The shifting from National Automotive Council (NAC) levy of 15 per cent to Common External Tariff levy of 15 per cent, by the Nigeria Customs

Service contravenes the principle of World Customs Organization WCO, kyoto convention on the simplification and harmonization of Customs procedure , the World

FG URGED TO REDUCE MULTIPLE CHARGES, ENFORCE REGULATION ON QUALITY WITHIN SHIP REPAIR INDUSTRY major feat in six years and we could actually say we are one of the first that has done so much in this period, “he said.

Explaining more about what must be done to ensure the industry is sustained and

attracts market from other coastal countries, he stressed that Nigeria remains a good location for the market.

“So we are appealing that the regulatory fee and other fees that shipowners pay to come to shipyards and also the fees

that the shipyards also pay to regulators be reduced to the barest minimum. So that at least the little income that the yards will get they can reinvest and actually make the country better.

“The government should ensure that enforcement is

carryout 10 per cent, ensure that shipyards carrying out any repair has certification, “he said.

He praised the company’s board chairman who he said has done so much to reduce the stress shipowners go through

in Nigeria.

He said his company has invested heavily to reduce capital flight within their sector.

“Our state-of-the-art workshop is actually unparalleled. Several millions of dollars have been invested

in the equipment from different parts of the world.We actually have eight workshops for steel, mechanical work, carpentry and several other workshops that can stand any workshop in any part of the world, “Esezobor stated.

30

FRIDAY, MAY 6, 2022 ˾ T H I S D AY

BUSINESSWORLD

NEWS

L-R: Representative of the Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), and Executive Director, Marine & Operations, Onari Brown; Executive Secretary, Nigeria Shippers Council (NSC), Emmanuel Jime; Chief Operating Officer, Lekki Port, Lawrence Smith; Minister of Information & Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed and Chief Executive Officer, Lekki Port Lagos Free Trade Zone (LFTZ), Rougang Du during the working visit to Lekki Deep Sea Port project in Lagos… recently

NIPOST: Partnership with Transxor Technologies Will Digitalise Courier Operations Emma Okonji Amid fears that the technical partnership between Transxor Technology and the Courier/ Logistics Regulatory Department (CLRD) of the Nigerian Postal Services (NIPOST) will adversely affect revenue generation of licensed courier operators, the General Manager, CLRD, Mr. Gideon Oludotun Shonde, has said the partnership will further digitise courier and logistics operations in Nigeria.

Shonde who gave the clarification on Tuesday in Lagos during a roundtable meeting between CLRD, Transxor Technologies and the licensed courier operators, organised by CLRD, said there was need to sanitise the courier and logistics industry, hence the partnership with Transxor Technology

to digitise the industry and introduce digital measures to onboard independent single courier and logistics operators in the country.

Some of the measures put in place by Transxor Technology, are the introduction of a digital app for courier operators and the introduction of a flexible payment plan for independent single courier and logistics operators who are mainly riders.

The digital app called WEMUV, seeks to create an interactive dashboard for communication between the regulator, operators, and their customers and also to collect data of all courier and logistics operators across the country.

Unknown to CLRD, courier operators suddenly became enveloped in fears that the partnership would give room

for independent single courier operators to further usurp the business of licensed courier operators.

The Co-founder and COO of Transxor Technology, Mr. Ule Chimbo, said the partnership would help to address the challenges in the courier and logistics industry. “The app we introduced is to help us get the database of all courier and logistics operators in Lagos and across the country, which will help us to identify the challenges and deal with them. We are starting from a small building bloc by first identifying everybody that operates within the sector. By identifying them, we will be able to find out those that are involved in sharp practices and we will be able to address the issues,” Chimbo said.

9PSB, Others Advocate Stakeholder Collaboration for Financial Inclusion Emma Okonji The 9 Payment Service Bank (9PSB), which is Nigeria’s Payment Service Bank (PSB), has reiterated the need for collaboration among operators, players and regulators in the financial services sector.

It said such collaboration remained critical to boosting Nigeria’s financial inclusion drive.

The digital bank made the assertion alongside other industry players in the financial services sector at the third edition of The Industry Summit sponsored by 9PSB. Speaking at the event themed, “Financial Inclusion, Digital Payment and the Challenges of Banking the Unbanked”, the Head, Products and Innovation, 9PSB, Akeem Salam, said for effective financial inclusion to happen, there must be a concerted effort by all stakeholders in the sector to work together to improve ease of access to financial services.

According to him, “though Nigeria is beginning to witness a noticeable effort in the drive to bring on-board everyone into the financial ecosystem, inclusion is still grossly low, with about 40 per cent of the population either excluded or under-served.”

According to Salam, “There

is still so much to be done to close this gap and industry players need to find common ground to innovate and deploy strategies particularly around financial literacy and education.

At 9PSB, we are committed to partnerships and collaborations that create value and ease for users.”

The Chief Executive Officer, Financial Training Institution

Centre, (FITC), Chizor Malize, while delivering the keynote speech, called on operators to pay close attention to creating financial solutions that meet the needs of the critical mass for which financial inclusion matters.

She said: “Financial inclusion is the ability to deliver financial services at a cost-effective rate to the unbanked and the underbanked.”

2022 FT Ranking Links Business Success to PR Raheem Akingbolu The Financial Times, the UK’s most credible financial newspaper, has published a ranking of Africa’s Fastest Growing Companies on its website.

The ranking covers the period between 2017 and 2020, taking the pandemic into consideration and highlighting the companies which successfully adapted to the pandemic and continued to thrive despite it.

This is the first time in their history that the Financial Times is making a Fastest Growing Companies ranking for Africa, having previously done rankings for Europe, the UK, the Americas and Asia-Pacific. 21 Nigerian companies made the ranking out of 75 African companies enlisted.

Commenting on what this means for the public relations industry in Nigeria, the Principal PR Executive of Worktainment Limited, Obinna Inogbo, said: “Contrary to the limitations put on PR by many as just media relations, it is the art and social science of analysing trends, predicting their consequences, counselling organizational leaders and implementing programs of action which will serve both the organization’s and the public interest.

In the final quarter of 2021 we were aware the FT were compiling this list so we alerted our client Kawai to it and connected them with the FT because we felt they could make it based on their ethical behaviour, good corporate governance and stakeholder diversity.”

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BUSINESSWORLD

AVIATION

Making Nigerian Airports Viable With about 32 airports and counting, Nigeria may be one of the countries in Africa that have the highest number of airports, but most of the airports are not viable. Industry stakeholders are therefore proffering ways airports in Nigerian could be made viable and profitable, writes Chinedu Eze

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ne of the major challenges airports face in Nigeria is that many of them are not viable. Airport business is capital intensive and it takes whooping sum to maintain existing airports, because only few of them generate income that can be used to sustain their operations.

This is why many states that built airports in the past later handed them over to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigerian (FAAN) to manage. Many industry observers are of the view that the states that built these airports were not innovative to find ways to make the airports viable. They stated that in many parts of the world, airports are profitable because they are made host of many businesses, including hospitality facilities, enterprises, including shopping malls, and even discotheques. Recognising that the sterile areas of the airports are highly restricted, many other businesses can go on at other parts of an airport.

Recently the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Finchglow Travels and the former President of the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA), Mr. Bankole Bernard, spoke extensively on effective and profitable management of airports.

CONCESSION

One of the reasons why aviation workers opposed the concession of four major airports in Nigeria, which include Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt was because these airports are the most profitable; so the question arises, if these airports are given out to the private sector as concession, how will the other airports that are unviable be sustained?

Bernard said, “We have all been distracted with the concessioning of the four major airports in Nigeria that we consider to be viable and we have neglected other airports all in the name of the fact that they are not commercially viable and my question is: Where is the document that revealed to any of us that those airports are not commercially viable? Are we looking at revenues from passengers as the only means that make an airport commercially viable?”

The former NANTA President explained that so much could be done with airport terminals and so many businesses and other investments could be hosted in airport terminals.

“As a matter of fact, let me tell you that airport terminals are no longer what they used to be.

As a matter of fact, in some countries, they have turned their airports into a shopping mall – local and international where you can do and undo with a lot of things and that alone attracts passengers to ply such airport. So, if we have such a viable business outlook, why should we continue to say an airport is not commercially viable? There are quite a lot of things that we need to do and when we put those things in the right perspective, an airport becomes commercially viable.”

He argued that the federal government and the state government have not exploited the opportunities available to potentially maximiseopportunities offered by these airport facilities. For example, out of all the

airports in Nigeria, only the Asaba International Airport has been given out in concession for the private sector to develop. Other states have held on tightly to their airports while they lament perennially that they are not profitable.

When Bi-Courtney opened the Murtala Muhammed Domestic Airport Terminal (MMA2) in 2007, established under the concession arrangement of Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT), it was expected that both the federal and the state government would take a cue from that successful concession and hand over many of the airports to the private sector. But it took another 14 years before Delta state government successfully concessioned the Asaba airport.

“If you say airport is not commercially viable, why don’t you allow those that have interest in those airports to turn them around? I have always said it that government is not in a business of doing business. They are regulators.

They should stick to their strength, which is regulating, while we allow the business people to handle the business aspect of this.

Government can allow them to take some critical business decisions by allowing them to run the business the way it should be. I have been to some airports around the world and I will give you some instance.

“Do you know that the Baltimore/Washington International (BWI) Thurgood Marshall Airport in United States as small as it is, it is an active airport? It is active because they are building more shops and renovating the place so people can enjoy the airport.

Akure airport, for instance, had only one airline going there before, but now about three airlines go there. Are you still saying the traffic is still the way it was? Let me remind you at this point that Nigerians are constantly developing the culture of flying,” Bernard said.

RECOVERY

According to Bernard, statistics revealed that the recovery of travel in Nigeria is the highest in the world. He said the Nigerian figures indicated that the country is higher than the world and continent’s figures.

“But this is the same place where we have no money nor do we have a national carrier.

This tells you that there is a culture. We have developed the flying culture and the number keeps increasing by the day. If the number is increasing by the day, it means it is a viable market.

“They shouldn’t tell us our airports are not commercially viable. People like us that come in have even the opportunity to prove that these airports are viable. How do you make an airport viable when you only put on the generator when you have an aircraft approaching and the moment the aircraft lands, you put off the generator again? This will not be viable because you have lost communication, so even when

people show up and they can’t get electricity, they will probably stop,” he said.

The stakeholders noted that there are quite a lot of things that could be done to make nation’s airports commercially viable as long as there is a genuine interest and the facilities are given it to those that are passionate about the industry and not given to relatives and friends of political leaders to manage.

Travel expert and organiser of Akwaaba African Travel Market, Ambassador Ikechi Uko told THISDAY that airports can be profitable on their own, even when the aeronautical revenue is lean. He said that airports could be turned into tourist hub, businesses could be created around the airport, as aerotropolis, but when this is not done, airport environment could become residential area.

For example, many parts of the Lagos airport have been taken over by individuals and built private houses and it is difficult to recover those areas as airport premises.

“An area where businesses enterprises could be established in an airport environment could be turned to high quality real estate if such spaces are not quickly utilised to host business hubs, hotels.

“Many years ago, I made a proposal to build 13 hotels in the so-called unviable airports. An airport owner, whether state, federal government or individual can make his money by locating other businesses at the airport,” he said.

FEDERAL GOVERNMENTS AIRPORTS

The Chief Executive Officer of Finchglow Travels said both federal government and state government owned airports are still under the scrutiny and regulation of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), noting that if the authority does not give approval, no airport would operate and government is considered to be the same everywhere. So there should be no difference in practice or in expectation from the airports owned differently.

“If NCAA doesn’t give an approval, it can’t operate and government is the same anywhere in the world. It is just in this part of the world that we try to demarcate one from the other.

Since government is the same, it means the users of the airports must just see it as the same. In a state owned airports, are the state governments saying the airports are not commercially viable?

If they are saying same, then, let them give it out to a private sector that will run them effectively and efficiently that you will produce the kind of result that you like,” Bernard said.

He remarked that there are so many opportunities airport managers can make money from. For example, at the MMA2 at Lagos airport there are banks, eateries, gym, car parks, meters and greeters, communications companies, pharmacy and many others.

“If you give me the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos to run for one year, I will turn it around to the extent that I will triple the income that comes in. There are certain things that you will not joke with. How effective are the Wi-Fi within our airports? And it has to be free usage for everybody.

For everybody that logs in, I am capturing their data. With that alone, I can tell you what the traffic is at that airport.

“Then, the shops now become viable because they now have Internet to trace and monitor a lot of things. Look at the toilets, why will you get to a toilet and the whole place is in a mess? Water on the floor, yet somebody is being paid? We have to remove all manners of sentiments. Let the best man that can do the job do it. These are the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Those things are necessary,” he said.

CAR PARK

Many industry observers believe that FAAN has no maximise the benefits of car parks by building more car parks like the one at the international wing of the airports. They remarked that multi-story car parks maximsesspace and add value by protecting vehicles from sun and rain while charging for the services. In addition, ancillary services like car wash, maintenance services could be established through concession and these would add to more activities that earn revenue at the airport.

According to Bernard, there must be arrangement whereby cars are parked and the government is making money from it.

“The car parks are not properly managed. You don’t have to see anybody there giving out tickets and collecting money. When you travel abroad, you don’t see anybody at the car park. From the terminal, you have paid your toll. The Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras are there monitoring activities. Then can we say our airports are not viable? They are, but it is just our approach that we create around it. Then, we should stop this idea of do you know who I am? Who are you? We are all VIPs. If we all respect the law, we will make this country good for us and our generation yet to come,” he said.

According to FAAN sources, only few airports managed by the agency earn good revenue and the money earned by the Murtala MuhammedInternational Airport, Lagos is used to sustain other airports in the country. THISDAY learnt that non-aeronautical revenue sources are totally under developed in many airports in the country, especially those airports FAAN was forced to take over by the federal government.

Industry stakeholders blame lack of innovation and lack of creativity as the major reason why many airports in Nigeria are unviable.

Some retired FAAN officials posit that for FAAN to develop the airports under its management, it must be made autonomous and the meddlesomeness of government through the Ministry of Aviation must be stopped, but for now, FAAN is micromanaged by the Ministry of Aviation.

T H I S D AY ˾ FRIDAY, MAY 6, 2022

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BUSINESSWORLD

DEVELOPMENT

Strengthening Beneficial Ownership Policy to Block Leakages in Public Purse With an intent to curb corruption in Nigeria through the effective institutionalisation of the Beneficiary Ownership Transparency Register, the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, on behalf of the Accountability in Extractive Sector, cluster within the framework of the Strengthening Civic Advocacy and Local Engagement project being implemented by Palladium with funding from the United States Agency for International Development, recently organised a one day dialogue aimed at shaping advocacy for policy and legal reforms around beneficial ownership register. Sunday Ehigiator reports

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igeria occupies a special place in Africa and global affairs. It is Africa’s largest economy and 26 in the world, with a great potential to become a major player in the global economy through its human and natural endowments. However, as recognised by the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (2017-2020), this potential has remained relatively untapped over the years partly because of corruption and management of public finances, resulting in poor social and development indices.

President Muhammadu Buhari, during his swearing-in ceremony in 2015, promised Nigerians that the fight against corruption was a cardinal part of his administration. His commitment to a full-scale anticorruption agenda was accentuated in May 2016, when he attended the International Anti-Corruption Summit organised by the government of the United Kingdom.

It was on this global stage that he reaffirmed his commitment to strengthening anti-corruption reforms through implementing programs aimed at ‘exposing corruption; punishing the corrupt and providing to the victims of corruption; and, driving out the culture of corruption.

Following these commitments, the Federal Government sought to deepen institutional and policy reforms and this led to Nigeria joining the Open Government Partnership (OGP) in July 2016.

The OGP is an international multi-stakeholder initiative focused on improving transparency, accountability, citizen participation, and responsiveness to citizens through technology and innovation. It brings together government and civil society champions of reforms who recognise that government is likely to be more effective and credible when governance is open to public input and oversight.

At the national level, OGP introduces a domestic policy mechanism through which the government and civil society can have an ongoing dialogue. At the international level, it provides a global platform to

connect, empower and support domestic reformers committed to transforming any society through openness.

Despite these multilevel programs, the significant challenges in optimizing domestic resources, revenue mobilization for sustained development financing, have been occasioned by the obscurity of the true state of the country’s full public finance and resource management processes, which include undisclosed ownership of corporate entities, tax evasion, and avoidance.

In response to this, several initiatives and efforts have been introduced, including the institutionalisation of a beneficial ownership report by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) through the launch of the Opening Extractives Programme (OEP), a global five-year scheme to unveil the real owners of assets in Nigeria’s oil, gas and mining sectors, in November 2021.

Also is the enactment of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020 in August 2020, which provides for the establishment of a beneficial ownership register for all corporate entities in Nigeria by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC); and the signing of the Petroleum Industry Bill into law in August 2021 which provides a legal framework for the effective and efficient implementation and integration of open data reforms like the beneficial ownership transparency initiative.

However, while these efforts are commendable, it is worthy to note that the BO transparency register is not an end in itself but a means to an end, as its effectiveness towards accountability in the extractive sector is yet to achieve significant results.

It was against this backdrop that the CISLACled AES cluster with support from USAID on Thursday April 29th, 2022 organised one-day policy dialogue in Lagos which aim was

anchored upon the existence of and expectations from the effective implementation of the above frameworks to ascertain the status of progress in the implementation of the beneficial ownership transparency initiative in Nigeria.

In his address, CISLAC Executive Director, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani said while the efforts of NEITI are commendable for making efforts in establishing an extractive sector register, legitimate corporate businesses have an integral role to play in ensuring the effectiveness of the register.

According to him, “While legitimate corporate businesses have an integral role in national development, the involvement of Politically Exposed Persons (PEP) who conceal corruptly acquired wealth through the complex networks of companies deliberately created to hide their identities has further increased the risks they pose to non-fortified economies. The Siemens, Halliburton, and Malabu oil scandals, to cite a few high-profile cases, had a net impact on revenue leakages that were unbearable for the country’s finances and the citizens’ economic well-being.

“We were already facing some sanctions from the European Union for the nonexistence of anti-money laundering legislation; while we see and hear of prosecutions of individuals and entities involved in the Panama papers leaks and the Wiki-leaks among others, there seems to be no legal framework that enables the convictions of all that was involved from Nigeria.

“Aside from the fear of the international community, it is worthy of note here that concealing of the beneficial owners costs lives of our fellow countrymen as terrorists use international financial systems to sustain their operations.”

Rafsanjani noted that without transparent ownership of Nigerian and international companies operating within the Nigerian jurisdiction, Nigeria will not be able to stop the bleeding of cash through illicit financial outflows which are perpetually

on a geometric progressive increase year on year and cost the country about $17 billion annually.

He thereby expressed the belief that a collaborative partnership by relevant stakeholders in the beneficial ownership campaign will help give a voice to “this simple but strategic endeavour that will help curb corruption in our financial, procurement and other strategic sectors and contribute effectively to domestic revenue mobilisation for financing development of critical sectors of the economy.”

In brief remarks by other stakeholders at the event who pleaded anonymity, they further stressed the need for a strengthened and robust collaboration among all concerned stakeholders to ensure the complete institutionalisation of an open, effective, and free-for-all ‘Beneficiary Ownership (BO) Transparency Register’.

According to a source from the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), the lack of transparency on the part of business owners hampers investigation of corrupt practices, as most of them present invisible addresses that can’t be traced while some even put unborn children as directors or use their family names interchangeably. He, therefore, stressed stronger collaboration with the commission to help tackle the menace.

From the angle of the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS), it also revealed that some companies try to evade tax by not declaring their profit or even hiding their income tax under a pseudonym.

“Some don’t separate company tax from personal income which makes it difficult for the regulatory authority to regulate and monitor. And for the extractive sector where both foreigners and Nigerians are involved, it is still a problem dealing with leakages, as some elements still connive with them.”

The representative thereby concluded that to fight these battles and rid the country of corruption, all hands must be on deck, as it is a collective responsibility that if won will move the nation forward.

Griffith: How Leaders, Organisations Can Develop their Strategic Capability to Win London Business School trained Professor, Paul Griffith, in this interview shares insights into how leaders and their organisations could develop their strategic capability to win. He also explains why executives should attend TEXEM UK’s forthcoming programme on Strategic Leadership For Optimised Organisational Performance In An Era Of Uncertainty. He, Professor Roger Delves, Ambassador Charles Crawford and Professor Rodria Laline will help deliver the live sessions of this programme, which is slated to hold between the 21st of May and the 11th of June.

Why is Strategic Leadership important for organisations in challenging times? rganisational success depends on making the best choices available - this is the art and science of strategy determining the method for long-term success. More than ever in the 21st Century, understanding and charting the strategic choices for an organisation are fundamental to success. We live in the ‘exponential age’ where business rules are being rewritten, and all organisations need the rigour and creativity of strategic leaders to steer them to success. Of the top 10 most valuable businesses globally, only one is not an ‘exponential age’ company.

to be an effective strategic leader, you need to develop more conceptual skills. Those conceptual skills include having a holistic outlook and the capability to develop a vision and identify and quickly deploy resources to harness opportunities in the external environment. Also, they need to be conversant with the change in the role that is required as a strategic leader- I.e. operating at the central stage as when you lead an organisation compared to when you lead a division in which you lead from the wings.

For example, you can transition from being problem solvers to agenda setters through capacity development, such as TEXEM’s forthcoming programme and mentors.

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How could leaders and their organisations develop strategic capability?

The strategic capability of an organisation comes from its ability to understand the future business environment and imagine a creative roadmap to ‘win’. This requires leaders to develop their analytical and critical thinking skills, be able to ‘scan the external business horizon’ and make sense of it, craft a method to meet customers’ needs better than the competition and have the leadership skills to engage and inspire their people through this process of exploration and execution of strategy.

In addition, even governmental organisations need to offer superlative service delivery for every naira invested by the taxpayer; otherwise, they will be scrapped or merged-See Nigeria’s oil and gas regulatory landscape post-PIA! How can leaders spot, act on, and legitimise distant opportunities in turbulent times?

Leaders operating in the strategic domain need to be curious and constantly exploring the external business environment to spot the ‘weak signals’ of powerful new forces that will shape the world. Tapping into these weak signals early on allows for the organisation to experiment and consider the implications for their organisation - if appropriate, they can scale effectively to take advantage of these new forces ahead of their

How could leaders bridge the gap between creating a direction and effective strategy implementation?

The key to effective strategy implementation is ‘alignment’. The strategic goals will only be delivered if the organisation is aligned with the appropriate leadership capabilities, processes and systems, people skills, organisational structure, and culture. Remember the powerful adage credited to Peter Drucker that ‘Culture eats strategy for breakfast!’

Griffith competition.

How could functional managers become effective strategic leaders?

Strategy plays at every level in the organisation. The key opportunity for functional managers is to become adept at ‘translating strategy into action’ - taking the organisation’s big goals and interpreting them effectively in their functional area. However, operational managers might aspire to general management in which there is a move from implementation to developing strategy. Thus,

From your work in the public and private sector, what can strategic leaders learn from the covid19 crises?

Some observations are that strategic leaders have been: Clear on the purpose of their organisation- this has been the ‘touchstone’ for decision making, Able to let go of ‘old mental models’ and adapt/pivot to the new reality of the operating environment, Embrace a more innovative rather than mechanistic management approach.

Why should executives attend TEXEM, UK’s forthcoming programme?

Executives will engage in a powerful and engaging programme where they can develop

strategic capabilities through exposure to key theories and frameworks and experiential learning processes using TEXEM’s dynamic and impactful methodology. The TEXEM methodology comprises Games, Simulation, Group Discussion and Role Play. Other tools deployed by TEXEM to optimise the learning experience are Observation, Case studies, Panels, Self-Reflection and competition.

The TEXEM, UK’s programme on Strategic Leadership For Optimised Organisational Performance In An Era Of Uncertainty content is specifically tailored to help leaders in developing countries to turn challenges into opportunities.

This programme will also be delivered by world-class faculty who will share actionable insights that executives could apply directly to their organisation for immediate impact. The programme comprises self-study and live engaging sessions, which makes this programme flexible and suited for busy executives’ schedules.

Tell us about yourself Professor Paul Griffith is one of the world’s first Management Professor to lead a team that launched a rocket to space twenty years ago.

As Professor of Practice at Ashridge Executive Education at Hult International Business School, Paul works with hundreds of executives and organisations in strategy, innovation, digital transformation and customer-centricity.

He has led a range of custom programmes for national and global organisations in the private (including aerospace, financial services, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, retail, technology, telecoms, energy sectors) and public sector. Before joining the Ashridge team, he held leadership roles in product management, marketing, business development and corporate strategy for global enterprises, start-ups and turnaround businesses, including BT, FirstMark and was CMO at Datapoint.

In addition, Paul has extensive international experience leading cross-cultural teams and global programmes serving the enterprise and SME markets.

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WEEKLY MAGAZINE

NEWS METRO THISLIFE ART WEEKEND ENTERTAINMENT Group Features Editor: Chiemelie Ezeobi chiemelie.ezeobi@thisdaylive.com 07010510430

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COVER

Women in Tech, Information and the Spirit of Resilience In the spirit of the recently commemorated International Women’s Day, the Information Systems Audit and Control Association, Abuja Chapter saw the need to celebrate some incredible women. Rebecca Ejifoma, who profiled the first female Director, Currency Operations of the Nigerian apex Bank, CBN Priscilla Eleje; the Country Director for UK-Nigeria Hub, Adaeze Sokan; Group Lead, Digital and Innovation Support Groups at the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Mrs. Chiaka Ben-Obi; and the CEO, Millionaire House Wives,Temi Ajibewa, writes on the rare resilience and A game these four women in the technology and information industry are applying to remarkably ignite lasting change for other women

Priscilla Eleje

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lobally, women are recognised as a force of nature and rapid development. And everyday, more women are not only throwing their fears into the wind to break records but are also leading a life worth emulating.

Four of such women are the first female Director, Currency Operations of the Nigerian apex Bank, CBN Priscilla Eleje; the Country Director for UK-Nigeria Hub, Adaeze Sokan; Group Lead, Digital and Innovation Support Groups at the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mrs. Chiaka Ben-Obi; and the CEO, Millionaire House Wives, Temi Ajibewa.

These game changers were panelists at the recently held virtual General Meeting of the Information System and Audit Control Association (ISACA) Abuja Chapter in March, on the theme, “Breaking the Bias: Women, Workplace and the Fourth Industrial Revolution”. With Dooshima Dapo-Oyewole as the anchor, this came to light under the leadership of Mr. Emmanuel Omoke as the President, ISACA Abuja Chapter.

Priscilla Eleje: Director, CBN Currency Operations Eleje is the first female Director, Currency Operations of the Nigerian apex Bank, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). She was appointed as the substantive Director of Currency Operations Department, CBN in August 2018 following a period in acting capacity. This made her the first female to hold that position in the bank’s 59 years history and the first female to have her signature on the Naira note.

This appointment was said to have attracted accolades home and abroad, especially by several women bodies in Nigeria, most notably the National Council of Women Societies (NCWS) Nigeria. Eleje was inducted into the Nigerian Women Hall of Fame by the National Centre for Women Development on 12 June 2019.

Today, she is best classified as a resilient woman whose unique work style not only inspired participants at the meeting but also served as a wake up call for the up-and-coming generation of female leaders.

Recounting her career trajectory at the virtual meeting moderated by Dooshima Dapo-Oyewole, Eleje charged women worldwide to see themselves as competent and capable of effectively achieving their full potentials and handling any position including those which were hitherto exclusively handled by men.

She narrated, “I started my career in the bank as a young girl straight from school.

I really didn’t have an idea how I would end or what the future held,” adding that she was just like many young people out of school who needed a good job to get their lives off the ground. “But I’ve always believed in working hard, being passionate and committed to your goals irrespective of the challenges.”

The heavyweight achiever further conceded that it pays to put your best foot forward

Adaeze Sokan regardless of where you are posted.

She revealed that she had worked in offices many people, especially women, ordinarily would not want to work in and challenged people never to see any assignment or posting as punitive.

The Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Programme alumna admitted that these exposure enhanced her knowledge and competencies on the job and helped to equip her for the position of director currency when the post became vacant.

“Never fail to give your best,” she encouraged, “because at the end of it all, it is often to your advantage”. She admonished the women to aspire, be bold, confident and have very good knowledge about their jobs. “They should see themselves as capable of effectively discharging their responsibilities because self image is also very important”.

Adaeze Sokan: Country Director, UK-Nigeria Tech Hub When Sokan started off on her career path years ago, little did she know that her determination and sharpened tools would pave the way for her into becoming the Country Director for UK-Nigeria Tech Hub. This globally acclaimed position undeniably projects her as a perfect reflection of a female champion carving a niche for herself in the technology space.

The Obama Fellow currently advises the UK government on how to promote the digital economy and work with local partners in Nigeria to support them to create more impact in their tech space. UK-Nigeria Tech Hub is a digital access programme supported by the UK government to support the growth of the digital economy in Nigeria.

Although fulfilling, the tech expert expressed, “I didn’t have these as a plan or life goal. I know I wanted to get into a position to make a difference. But, I didn’t know it would be a tech hub or that I would work with the British government”. \However, her resolve to be ahead of the pack gave her an edge in her career path. “I did my best.

The sky was the limit. I started out as a volunteer, met my first boss where I was working as a personal assistant and that was where my tools were sharpened.”

According to Sokan, she didn’t rest on her laurels. She groomed her skills on how to be confident when speaking, how to write basic memos, communicate effectively, and engage different stakeholders.

At that point, she mastered the basis for building her career and that “helped

Chiaka Ben-Obi me get into tech”. She continued, “So I got a phone call from a renowned tech hub in Nigeria, looking for someone to manage its impact arm. I was called because somebody referred me, saying I’m good at getting things done”.

Sokan gleefully expressed that being teachable goes a long way in fuelling one’s success. “For me, it was being willing to learn and be mentored.”

Acknowledging that men mentored and raised her, she said “they taught me how to be confident to help me attain any height. I think that’s how I got to this height. For me, the journey is just starting”.

Indeed, Sokan has distinct interest in startup development and partnerships, policy, trade, digital economy and development cooperation for Africa’s development.

Chiaka Ben-Obi: Group Lead, FIRS Digital and Innovation Support Group Another distinguished personality making her name heard is Ben-Obi. She is passionately steering the affairs as the Group Lead, Digital and Innovation Support Group of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).

Part of her duty is superintending a couple of departments in FIRS with the responsibility of transforming FIRS to a digitalised organisation, in-line with current trends and taxation of the digital economy.

Sharing insights into her career journey, Ben-Obi told participants that she holds a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) degree in Political Science and Public Administration from University of Maiduguri, Nigeria; an MBA from University of Hull, United Kingdom; a Postgraduate Diploma in Information Systems Development from London Guildhall University, United Kingdom; and an alumnus of the Lagos Business School.

“I really wanted to be a diplomat as I was growing up,” she reminisced.

“Because I loved travelling, but my grandma wouldn’t have any of that.

She was more concerned that, “I can’t be or go into Foreign Service because no one will marry me”.

And fortunately for her, as a newbie out of the university, Ben-Obi knew where to job hunt. “When I graduated from university, I didn’t go looking for jobs in Foreign Affairs like I wanted. I started up with my usual admin jobs, got married and moved to the UK for my Post Graduate degrees.”

The FIRS digital boss joined the UK labour market in 1996/1997, during the millennium bug or Y2K panic. She found lots of opportunities in ICT. “Gradually, I was taking programming courses during my MBA. My getting into ICT was an accident of need. I needed a job and that was fast moving.

“On completion of my MBA, I started

Temi Ajibewa a Masters Programme in Information System Development. Since then, I have been in Tech in many capacities in the private sector, cutting across industries, before joining the public sector.

While highlighting that as her children were becoming teenagers, she needed to stay home more. Thus, she felt having a job in the public sector would give her the time she wanted to spend with the children at home. “I guess I was mistaken because FIRS then was going through modernisation.

“I was the Director, Modernisation Department, with the overall responsibility of delivering the modernisation agenda projects, aimed at transforming FIRS into a modern, efficient and effective tax administration agency. There were a lot of projects that kept me late in the office and most of them were automation and that’s where I have been in FIRS.” While wearing many caps effortlessly, the Group Lead painstakingly oversees more departments. “Business analysis and eBusiness, Project Management Office (Formerly Modernisation Department), ICT and Change Management are all under my purview.

Ben-Obi also agrees that most businesses are going digital, hence the need for FIRS to employ the same strategy. “If we are the Tax Authority with the responsibility to assess, collect and account for taxes from these business entities for the Federal Government of Nigeria, then we have to understand and key into what is happening in the digital economy.”

Temi Ajibewa: CEO, Millionaire House Wives Ajibewa, on the other-hand, is changing the narrative for house wives and women whose situations have forced them to bring home the bacon. The award-winning business coach, bestselling author, and founder of Ignites Africa among others recalls how she arrived at empowering such women.

“Self-actualisation and self-mastering are important. If you have a full idea of who you are, you’ll hardly allow anybody to mess up with you,” says Ajibewa.

While she contributes to activate positive change, moves communities forward and inspires unthinkable actions, the House Wives CEO challenged women. “I have about five mentors – all men,” she chuckled.

“I recently had a female mentor. I don’t see it like men dominate a space. I see everything as equal.

“That doesn’t mean I can’t empathise with other women who are supposedly forced to become home makers because they have to take care of the kids and become housewives. My work entails training and empowering them to start online businesses.”

Indeed, being confident, teachable, persistent, optimistic, passionate and purposeful are some of the attributes these leaders recommended to help other young women challenge the status quo.

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T H I S D AY ˾ ʹ, 2022

NEWS

SHAREit Ranks among Top 5 Global Media Sources Stories by Mary Nnah SHAREit Group, a global technology company, has been ranked number four media source globally in volume and power rankings in non-gaming categories and number seven in all categories on the In-App purchases (IAP) index, marking another growth milestone.

It has also ranked at number eight on the global retention index across all categories for driving huge volumes.

Besides these, SHAREit Group also jumped to higher rankings in gaming categories on the Retention and In-App purchases index globally.

The rankings were provided

by AppsFlyer, a marketing

measurement, and experience platform, which released the 14th edition of the performance index, featuring the top media sources in mobile advertising.

The company has also developed a lighter version, SHAREit Lite, a peer-to-peer file transfer mobile app, allowing users to share files, pictures, music, and more, with other devices without using an active internet or Bluetooth connection. Being one of the first app channel partners of Google Play, it also ensures secure application transfers with Peerto-Peer Offline App Sharing.

SHAREit Lite has taken its engagement with the young energetic population a notch higher through several offline initiatives, one of which is the

SHAREit Lite campus storm, in partnership with Boomplay where students displayed their singing talents to win rewards.

Besides the high-speed file sharing feature, SHAREit Lite also helps its users to save memory space on their devices by eliminating the need to download other tool apps.

The leading media publisher seeks to drive digital and financial inclusion in emerging markets like Africa and Southeast Asia by breaking down the barriers and providing access to the underserved.

Partner and Global VicePresident at SHAREit Group, Karam Malhotra, said, “As a leading media publisher driving in-app purchases for gaming and fintech brands in

the world, we are focused on growing the ecosystem and fueling the transformation of digital habits and lifestyle.”

“Mobile gaming and digital payments are two key trends to watch in the emerging markets around the globe and we are excited to propel these even further. Given the massive potential, we are working extensively with gaming apps and financial institutions to help them tap into the digital natives in the emerging markets,” he noted further.

SHAREit is also looking to integrate the advertising platform and global payment solutions to deliver a commercial advertising closed loop through its efficient and open systemic solutions.

MARY IKOKU JOINS HOUSE OF REPS RACE FOR AROCHUKWU/OHAFIA FEDERAL CONSTITUENCY

Ikoku Rebecca Ejifoma

L-r, Founder J.Room Curated, Jimi Adesanya_ South African Artist, Reggie Khumalo and Founder HourGlass Gallery_ Dozie Igweze at the event

Reggie Khumalo Battles Xenophobia, other Injustices through Art Renowned South African fine artist, motorbike adventurer, and philanthropist Reggie Khumalo has urged Africans to shun xenophobia and other inhumane activity practice that has threatened the unity, peace, and kindness shared among the blacks race.

He disclosed this during his first solo exhibition titled, “Mental Health” held between April 13th and 20th at the HourGlass Gallery, Lagos.

Khumalo encouraged all Africans to be liberated from the painful past and ushered in an Africa that radiates positivity and abundance.

He added that mental revolution is an awakening to the time when Africans were proud of who they were and the awakening of the potential of a different future.

“It’s a mental revolution and not physical. We are not fighting anyone with guns or anything like that, it’s a mental change.

The inspiration behind the exhibition is simple, it wants to see African people believing in themselves again”, he pointed out.

Khumalo artwork centres on the idea of social change, sharing stories from his travels and his passion for humanitarian work.

“I think it’s important that we crisscross the continent as Africans in order to share our cultures, and different points of view and to learn from one another so as to capture a time in history”, he noted.

This Alexandra-born artist firmly believes in working on the continent in order to foster the spirit of oneness.

“My art inspires my travel

and I generate income which I use to make a change wherever I can in order to inspire others to say where you are and what you’re doing is good enough to make a change. Also, I used proceeds from my paintings to impact society, especially kids from less privileged environments”, he said.

The figures in his paintings, mostly portraits, are interpretations of the faces he encounters along the way, often wearing local garb.

“We know people by how they dress so when you look at the images you know that this is where I’ve been. The clothing tells a story. I do capture the materials from some of the places that I’ve visited in my work.”

After the show in Nigeria, Khumalo has exhibitions

scheduled at the Frieze Art Fair in London, Munich, Germany, and New York where he is set to spend a year in residency at the Bishop Gallery.

Founder J.Room Curated, Jimi Adesanya, said: “I have been a keen follower of his journey and I am a proud collector of his pieces. His travels and the pieces they inspire are truly remarkable”.

Founder, BrownEyedBoy Art Pursuits, Tshepo Hlongwane, said the exhibition marked a reinforcement of West Africa and South Africa collaborations.

Founder HourGlass Gallery, Dozie Igweze commended Khumalo for being able to raise funds to help African charitable organisations and institutions, noting that collecting his art is not only an investment but also a vehicle for social change.

Niger-Delta Pageantry Strips Queen of Crown for Alleged Misconduct FONDCUPNigeria Limited and Ethel Women Initiative, organisers of the Face of Niger-Delta Cultural Pageant, (FONDCUP) has withdrawn the adornment decorated on Miss Grace Ekrakene, the second runner up of the pageant for the 2021/2022 edition over alleged gross misconduct.

Ekrakene was alleged to have used the organisation to take money from people and refused to show remorse when called to order.

In a statement made available

to THISDAY, the organisers of the event expressed regret for taking such an extreme action, which according to them, “had to be done in order to address the former queen’s excesses”.

The Manager of FONDCUP queens, Mr Anugboba Ehijiele in his statement said, “Due to her misconduct, her position and benefits as the 2nd Runner Up of Face Of Niger Delta Cultural Pageant for 2021/2022 is hereby withdrawn from her. She is no longer a crowned queen or a member of any sort of the

FONDCUP brand henceforth.”

The organisers explained that other friendly measures were used in an attempt to address the issue but didn’t yield any meaningful result, as Miss Grace Ekrakene did not pay attention to the various counsel to ensure that the moral values and cultural norms imbibed by the organisation be projected.

Also, the Convener of the cultural pageant, Miss Elizabeth Era, explained further that the FONDCUP Pageant was initiated to change the face of the

beauty pageant, as they aimed at effecting a positive change on societal values about pageantry and equally promote our cultural heritage and values.

Era added that the organisation provided the necessary resources and an enabling environment, where the young maidens had gained empowerment, and enlightenment and equally embraced the importance of having uniqueness, diverse cultural heritage and values, preaching peace and togetherness in the region.

Ahead of the 2023 general election, a philanthropist and public advocate, Mary Ikoku, has joined the House of Representatives race to represent Arochukwu/Ohafia Federal Constituency of Abia State.

Ikoku, the CEO of Access Media Limited and Founder of Emerge Women Development Initiative, obtained expression of interest and nomination forms under the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for the primaries in the next few weeks. The advocate said she was desirous of ensuring quality representation of her people. “My people have endured over 20 years of misrule and have remained without any visible developmental experience. Yet there have been those who have led the state in the past and present.

“Yet youths have remained without jobs, women are left to struggle while men have to go through rough paths to cater for their families.”

With her recent traditional title by the Ohafia community as ‘Nwanyi bu Ihe’, Ikoku assured the community of her readiness to show the way and put more smiles on their faces than she has done through her philanthropic programmes.

On why she threw her hat in the ring, the philanthropist highlighted, “Over the years, I have sat like many, on the side-lines of politics, just doing the little I can.

“I have come to realise by my various interactions and work withinmycommunityandindevelopmentinstitutions,thatthere is room to do and achieve much more that will positively impact on the people and our communities.”

According to her, it is her belief that to be solely satisfied with personal comfort in the midst of the retrogression is not only being selfish but grossly under-utilising the talents and abilities that God has given “Us to serve and contribute meaningfully to the development of our community and nation”. This personal philosophy, she continued, has greatly influenced and channelled herthoughtsandactions.Sheadded:“Myvisionandcommitment in this endeavour is for the people. Beyond politics, it is my passion to feel and understand the pulse of the people – our thoughts, expectations and understanding of the course set before us and the way forward.”

GROUP IMPLEMENTS SUCCESSION PLAN FOR GOVERNOR UDOM EMMANUEL To ensure the realisation of the completion agenda and succession plan of Governor Udom Emmanuel, the Lagos chapter of Maintain Peace Movement (MPM) has inaugurated the steering committee in 31 Local Government Areas units under it, with a charge to members to assiduously work and support Governor Udom Emmanuel agenda.

Inaugurating members of the committee on behalf of the National Council of the Movement in Lagos recently, the Coordinator, Otuekong Ubong Jackson, said the movement which was geared towards conscious efforts of sustaining peace and stability in Akwa Ibom in particular, support the governor’s completion agenda and succession plan in 2023, and mostly work, mobilise and ensure victory for the most preferred Governorship aspirants of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) in the State, Pastor Umo Eno, during the primaries and gubernatorial election.

He explained that the movement was built on a strong foundation, with the governor, the progenitor, preaching the gospel of peace, love, unity, social integration, and cohesion in the state, hence, the need to sustain and maintain it.

Jackson while advising members to be well co-ordinated, focused, united and contented with the movement, and be ready to work sincerely in support of Pastor Umo Eno’s political ambition, assured there would be no regret as God is involved in the project. In his welcome address, Chairman, Advisory Committee, Lagos chapter of the Movement, Elder Samuel Bassey, while congratulating the newly inaugurated steering committee members, said their inauguration was in fulfillment of a promise made during the inauguration of the executive officers of the Lagos chapter at the beginning of the year.

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T H I S D AY ˾ ʹ, 2022

POLSCOPE 2023 and The Thorny Path Ahead

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Canticles….

Even My Gateman Wants to be President

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clapping his hands like a tale bearer) Hey, truly wonders will never end, especially in this country.

What wonder have you seen

again?

It was the “consultation meeting” my gateman had with me last Friday.

Your gateman? You mean Abu? Yes-o! He calmly came to the office last Friday after the Jumat prayers and sough to have an audience with me. I had thought he was coming to remind me of his salary and the pending Sallah festival. But alas, it was none of that.

Abu, looking strangely comported said he had come to “consult” me. When I heard that word, I raised my head and looked him in the eye, asking again: consult?

And he nodded his head.

So what was the consultation about?

Abu said immediately after the Jumat prayers, his friends and allies pulled him to a corner and told him to join the presidential race. That they have been watching him and that he has all the attributes and characteristics of a president.

I asked him if he knew what he was saying. He nodded in affirmation.

I asked again if he meant being the president of all the National Association of Maiguards. He said no. That he is talking about being the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Buhari

oliticians are a wonderful people.

They see what we do not see, and hear what we do not hear. Were it not so, the struggle and fretting for the political space will not be as tense and tedious as it is today. The quest for power is an opium. It seizes the politicians and they dare any cloud,no matter how stormy it appears. They believe that soon as the cloud clears, they will be on the other side of bliss.Were it not so, why should a normal person be in this high-scale struggle to becomeNigeria’s President at a time when the nation is clearly broken and disabled?They are executive gamblers, hoping against hope, in entering the race, just in case it “clicks”. Many of them know they are not presidential materials. But it will be for ego brace up to aspire to become a President. Many others just want it to be part of their Curriculum Vitae, by way of being introduced as one of the also-rans in Nigerian presidential race.

P

There must be something we do not know which the platoon of presidential hopefuls are angling for. Isit just acquiring power for the sake of the title? At a time like this, what really should be the attraction of wanting to be Nigeria’s president, if the intent is genuinely for serviceto the nation?

It is true that Nigeria is such a great country with enormous resources and boundless prospects. But do many of the aspiring presidents know that the futureofNigeria is deeply mortgaged?

Do they know that the economyis largely runningon tax credit? Do they know that big corporate individuals and multi nationalsinthe country have been compelled to pay their five year taxes aheadof time so the Buhari administration can finance someof its running projects likeinfrastructure developments? Do they know some of the roads being built by the Buhari administration are being financed with tax credit?

Do they know that over 80 per cent of the Nigerian crude—the main stay of the economy is being stolen everyday and we have not been able to either catch the thievesor decide on how to even catch them? Do heyrealise how much we have borrowed fromn China and other countries? Do they know the weight of our local and foreign debts?

Do they realise that never before has Nigeria been as divided and polarized as we are today? Many of them are apostles of tribalism and ethnicism. A man like Gov Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State who also wants to be the President of Nigeria is the same man who had argued that Fulanis not only own everywhere in Nigeria, but that all Fulanis, whether they are in Nigeria or Mali, are entitled to the Nigerian commonwealth.

He was at the Channels TV the other day struggling to explain why and how every Fulani man is a Nigerian. Such Bunkum! He also wants to be the President of Nigeria.

In a nation filled with distrust and mutual suspicion, there is a great deal of work to

be done by whoever succeeds President Buhari. Mr President has done poorly in the task of uniting the country. In an attempt to protect and project his Fulani brothers, so many national values and practices have been subverted and the fault lines are now so very deep and pronounced. The hitherto unknown Miyetti Allah, association of cattle breeders suddenly became a major organization in Nigeria. They acted as the mouth piece of the Herders whilst the herders-farmers clashes lasted. And the government merely wrung its hand in ill-managed helplessness, with its rounds of tepid press statements that made little sense. Beyond the euphoria of craving for the number one seat and office in the country, lies the real task of rebuilding the nation.

It will neither be tea party nor a tik-tok joke.

There will be real work to bedone. The task of rebuilding the country will be enormous.

It was bad enough that Buhari failed many Nigerians. But it will be far worse if whoever succeeds him does not radically begin programmes and schemes that will redeem and rescue this nation from the precipice.

Already, many nay-sayers are predicting that Nigeria will collapse.

How many of the guys strutting for the presidency have half the requisite capacity to pull the nation out of the cesspit of decay, degeneration and disintegration?

What Nigeria will need beyond 2023 is a leader, not a politician. A leader who will be devoted to saving Nigeria, one who does not have to be politically correct in his actions.

A man or woman crazy in a way. Just an administrative surgeon, to redesign the Nigerian structure and system in such a way that we can begin to get the country back into shape and form. I am not certain which will be more severe: the post-Buhari damage or the post-war damage in Nigeria.

The comingleader should be ready to truly do battle with the ever-growing colony of corruption in the country.

Noneofthese many aspirants declaringhere and there for the presidency has been able to articulate in clear terms what they will do to solve the choking problems facing us: the inflation in the economy, the plague of insecurity and then the cancer called corruption. In between these issues lie all that are troubling us in this country For they who are able and willing to dole out N100 million or N50 million to buy presidential nomination form, they may not truly understand that there is huge hunger in the land.

Nigerians really need to hear what they will do to lighten their burdens. Beyond the rhetoric of political shenanigans, let them tell us how they will pull this nation back from the brinks. The task ahead is huge. Very huge. We cannot afford to elect another clone of Buhari in any form or guise.

I asked if he knew the financial implication of the gamble. He said his allies will raise the required N100 million to buy the APC presidential nomination form.

That some dance groups and trumpeters have also been arranged with some videographers in tow, to accompany him on Friday, that is today, to go and buy the form. He sounded collected and calm, beginning to behave like a presidential material already.

It was when he confirmed that “oga it is true “, that I remembered to close my mouth which had been wide open in the last three minutes.

So what did he say are his qualifications?

I asked him too. But launched into some syllogical arguments. He explained that he finished secondary school, even though he failed WAEC. He explained that the law did not say you must have certain number of credits or passes in WAEC exam before you can be president. He argued that many of the people who have already declared are people who have been crooks and arrested-and-released thieves before.

That many of them have had several cases with the EFCC, that some had stolen huge money (even in foreign currency) and hid samein some Government House, while others have running cases both inthe courts and with EFCC while a few others have actually gone to prison and managed to wangle their way out of prison and they are all now struggling to become the leader of the country. He said his allies have assured him that given his publicly known poor background, that the Nigerian electorate will trust him and vote for him instead of past leaders who not only stole the treasury blind, but neglected the poor when they got into power. He even cited the case of one of the aspirants – a sitting governor-- who was among the first two to collect the N100 million nomination form whereas the workers in his state were writhing in hunger and crying that they celebrated Sallah in empty stomach, even after fasting for 30 days.

You mean Abu is this politically enlightened?

I was shocked my brother. He went on to argue that even if he does not win at the end of the day, it will not be for the lack of courage to dare. But that his conscience would have been satisfied that he offered to serve. And that it will count for him some day.

Did he also say he will return to the gateman job if he fails to get the party ticket?

Again, I asked him and guess what he replied: we cross that bridge when we get there. I now asked him if it was not wiser

APC Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu

to plough the N100 million in a business that will change his fortune in life forever.

But he shocked me with his reply: “Life is a risk sir!”, he said, adding that his friends and association members would not have given him that huge amount for business, because there is huge prospect of experiencing parvenu when you go into politics and government service. (straining his right ear) …Prospect of experiencing ‘par-what’?

Parvenu—running into sudden huge wealth. It happens only in government. Or how do you think these politicians are able to raise N100 million as if it is N50,000!

Are you not shocked that the N100million bill, rather than deter unserious aspirants, have turned out to be a huge attraction to all kinds of aspirants—serious and unserious? Last Wednesday alone, five aspirants (Fayemi, Oshiomhole, Badaru, Bakare, Akpabio) joined the race. If and when all of them collect the form, the APC would have made over N500 million in one day.

Even Dangote is not even as resourceful or lucky. Can you just imagine how wealthy the APC will become at the end of the nomination exercise?

So how does Abu intend to attend to the delegates at the party primaries? Does he also have bullion van of U.S dollars?

He sounded so confident that since there are more poor people in Nigeria, and that since he is an alumnus of the Talakawa Academy of late Aminu Kano, he will surely be the darling of the electorate. He said his simple message is to restore the lost glory of Nigeria. That he will not join the maddening crowd of boastful aspirants to confuse the voters. That his knowledge of poverty will make him more sensitive to the needs of the ordinary people on the street, arguing that if thieves can have the prospect of being elected, then he twice has the chance of being elected, no matter how perverse the society has become.

But Abu is from the northern part of the country. Will another northerner succeed Buhari, the Baba of the north?

Abu said zoning is dead. He asked me if Yahaya Bello of Kogi, Atiku Abubakar, Aminu Tambuwal, Bukola Saraki, Bala Mohammed and now Mohamed Badaru are not from the north, and yet in the race? He said “you lose nothing tryingyour luck”.

How can he say zoning is dead? Zoning is alive and kicking. We cannot sacrifice it. Not at this point. It is too sensitive an issue to be trifled with. Tell Abu and his ilk that zoning is not dead. Tell him that already the Igbos are suggesting that they will seek nationality in another country if their zone is not allowed to produce the next president through a zoning arrangement.

All of that can and shall be worked out.

What holds me in stiches is that even my gateman wants to be the president.

Why not anyway? He is qualified. His people are solidly behind him. The more the merrier.

FRIDAY MAY 6, 2022 • T H I S D AY

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38

T H I S D AY ˾ ˜ MAY 6, 2022

BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

CBN to Upgrade eNaira to Include Bills Payment,Takes Campaign to Markets Nume Ekeghe In a bid to increase the use of its digital currency, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has stated that its Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), eNaira new upgrade will include bills payment.

This is also as the central bank has stepped up its campaign on the eNaira. Speaking at a sensitisation campaign on the eNaira at the Kairo market in Oshodi, Lagos in collaboration with Bizi Mobile, the Lagos Branch Controller at CBN, Bariboloka Koyor said the USSD code for the eNaira *997# has been launched to make the onboarding of more Nigerians much easier. He noted that the eNaira wallets will before the end of this month get an upgrade which will allow for the payment of bills such as cable TV and electricity bills payment as well as flight bookings via the app.

“Starting from next week, there is going to be an upgrade on the eNaira speed wallet app that will allow you to do transactions such as paying for DSTV or electric bills or even paying for flight tickets.

Also the USSD code *997# is out and it is just for more people to be aware of it and begin to use it.”

On the difference between the enaira and the internet banking services offered by banks, he said, “with the eNiara speed wallet, compared to the internet banking that many are used to it is fast and convenient and there is no charges.

“The enaira will be an instrument that will be used going forward by the government to disburse funds that they want to give to alleviate poverty. So the advantage is for people to onboard early. We decided to come today to sensitize the traders and businessmen around the market

today concerning the eNaira.

“This is a project that the CBN has rolled out nationwide to reach out to every Nigerian in terms of financial inclusion and in terms of efficiency reliability and safety of banking transactions so that we can do banking transactions very easily an safely and the people in Nigeria can enjoy the benefit of the eNaira.

“It is a new project and the people in the market are excited about the project and accepted it and we are taking the sensitization to every where in the country.

The e-naira is designed with the best Integrated Security Management procedure that will help to mitigate against fraud, so there won’t be any fraudulent transfers and no fraudulent alert and nobody can deceive you with e-naira transactions because it is foolproof, and we are working on it more and more.”

The MD/CEO Parallex Bank Limited, Mr Olufemi Bakre and the Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu during a courtesy visit by the management team of Parallex Bank to the Lagos State House, Marina, Lagos...recently

MARKET INDICATORS

‘Effective Risk Management Remains Central to Safe, Sound Banking System’ Nume Ekeghe The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC,) Mr. Hassan Bello has said that the Nigerian banking sector has remained resilient amidst global downturns as a result of the effective risk management practices inculcated in the sector.

Bello stated this yesterday at the NDIC retreat for the House of Representatives Committee on Insurance and Actuarial Matters, where they deliberate on, “Deposit Insurance in Nigeria: Restrategising for Tomorrow,” in Lagos.

Bello said: “The corporation encouraged prudent risk management practices in the insured institutions because effective risk

management remains central to safe and sound banking system.

The sustainable growth of any economy whether developing or developed would largely depend on the resilience and stability of its financial sector.

“As you are aware, financial stability is about resilience of financial system to stress, macroeconomic shocks, or problems at a specific institution or market, from disrupting the broader financial system. Maintenance of financial resilience therefore, requires preparation, in advance, through diligent planning, laws, robust policies and sound institutions to implement the laws and policies.”

Speaking, the committee chairman, Darlington Nwokochaalso

called for proactive measures against reactive measures to avert crisis in the banking sector.

Nwokocha said: “I think if we boost the confidence of customers, having the necessary approach in banking, and making sure we turndown every reactive tendency and turn up every proactive approach in addressing the hazardous issues in the banking sector and I think we would have a long way to go.”

He added that the main essesnce of this retreat is strategising on anything that has to do with banking and insurance in protecting depositors fund moving all through the insurance instrumentality to ensure that a whole lot of confidence is given a boost.

Access Bank Collaborates with FG to Rollout GEEP 2.0 Across Nigeria Nume Ekeghe Access Bank Plc is collaborating with the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development to roll out the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme GEEP 2.0 in all the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

Successful beneficiaries of GEEP 2.0 shall receive congratulatory and sensitization text messages in the coming days informing them of their qualification and re-emphasis that the empowerment program is a loan and not a grant.

A statement from the bank states: “All qualified benefi-

ciaries will soon receive their disbursement alerts after been fully enumerated. We wish to remind all qualified beneficiaries that this is a loan payable within 9months without interest.”

The Ministry is planning a rollout of the program nationwide, after which an enumeration exercise to capture beneficiaries’ biodata, will take place.

According to Ayodele Olojede, Group Head, Emerging Businesses, Access Bank Plc, “The bank remains committed to the growth and development of the micro, small and medium scale enterprises (MSMEs) as we understand their contribution to the economy in terms of GDP and Employment.

Our partnership with the Federal government to roll out the Government Enterprise and Empowerment business Programme GEEP 2.0 in all the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory is part of our commitment to address the primary factor small business owners face.”

In rolling out the Government Enterprise and Empowerment business Programme GEEP 2.0 loans, Special accounts will be opened for all beneficiaries for the disbursement of the loan and all beneficiaries are expected to complete physical enumeration at their various local government and an account opening form of Access Bank prior to disburse-

Adeosun Emerges President of Stockbrokers’ Institute The Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS) has announced a core finance professional, Mr Oluwole Adeosun as its new President and Chairman of the Governing Council.

With his election, at the Institute’s hybrid Annual General Meeting (AGM) today, Adeosun, the Institute’s former 1st Vice succeeded the erstwhile President, Mr Olatunde Amolegbe whose tenure was characterized by many laudable achievements.

Adeosun will be formerly decorated with the paraphernalia of office in a high profile event called investiture at a later date.

Under the new change of

baton, the Institute’s 2nd Vice President, Mr Oluropo Dada has emerged the 1st Vice President.

Adeosun, a Fellow of the Institute and multidimensional professional, brings on board over two decades of robust experience in the financial market.

A product of the prestigious Loyola College, Ibadan, he holds a B.Sc. (Hons) in Business Administration from the University of Ilorin in 1986 and capped it with Master’s Degree in Business Administration (MBA) and specialises in Finance and Banking from University of Lagos in 1993. Adeosun trained at Coopers and Lybrand

(Chartered Accountants) now PricewaterhouseCoopers and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in May 1991. He later qualified as a Chartered Stockbroker and Banker.

He has been a long-standing member of the Governing Council of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers since April 2013 and has served as the Institute’s First Vice President in 2020-2022 and Second Vice President from 2018 to 2020. He also served as a member of the Finance and General-Purpose Committee of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria and its Investment Subcommittee.

MONEY AND CREDIT STATISTICS

(MILLION NAIRA)

JANUARY 2021 Money Supply (M3)

38,779,455.43

-- CBN Bills Held by Money Holding Sectors

1,039,129.55

Money Supply (M2)

37,740,325.88

-- Quasi Money

21,779,302.69

-- Narrow Money (M1)

15,961,023.19

---- Currency Outside Banks

2,364,871.13

---- Demand Deposits

13,596,152.06

Net Foreign Assets (NFA)

7,414,275.50

Net Domestic Assets(NDA)

31,365,179.93

-- Net Domestic Credit (NDC)

42,916,586.63

---- Credit to Government (Net)

12,304,773.44

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

0.00

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

0.00

---- Credit to Private Sector (CPS)

30,611,813.19

--Other Assets Net

3,892,112.74

Reserve Money (Base Money

13,264,585.14

--Currency in Circulation

2,831,167.19

--Banks Reserves --Special Intervention Reserves

10,433,417.96 317,234.17

˾ ÙßÜÍÏ ̋

Money Market Indicators (in Percentage) Month

March 2018

Inter-Bank Call Rate

15.16

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

14.00

Treasury Bill Rate

11.84

Savings Deposit Rate

4.07

1 Month Deposit Rate

8.82

3 Months Deposit Rate

9.72

6 Months Deposit Rate

10.93

12 Months Deposit Rate

10.21

Prime Lending rate

17.35

Maximum Lending Rate

31.55

˾ ÙØÏÞËÜã ÙÖÓÍã ËÞÏ ̋ ͯͱϱ

OPEC DAILY BASKET PRICE AS AT FRIDAY APRIL 29, 2022

The price of OPEC basket of thirteen crudes stood at $105.33 a barrel on Wednesday, compared with $102.94 the previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations.

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

39

T H I S D AY ˾ ˜ ʹ˜ ͰͮͰͰ

Cedrus Africa Positions to Bridge Infrastructure Gap, Meet Investors’ Expectation Kayode Tokede Cedrus group Africa, yesterday said it is positioned to bridge infrastructure gaps in Africa, while delivering innovative financial advisory solutions to corporations, institutional investors and private clients across Africa and in the diaspora.

Speaking at a press conference in Lagos, the Group CEO & MD, Cedrus group Africa,

Mr. Olubusayo Adeniyi said the Pan-African financial and investment institution discovered that Africa has not been investing destination, stressing that the firm existed with the objective of using innovative solutions to attract investment to Africa.

He noted that the company in its one-year of existence has provided innovative solutions to both government, institutions, corporations and individuals.

P R I C E S MAIN BOARD

F O R DEALS

According to him, “We have also facilitated investment processes for African entities and investors.

“Take Nigeria for an example, there are so many opportunities but we are faced with infrastructural gaps ranging from the health sector, and other numerous needs of human beings.

“We existed to bridge these gaps and see how to bring resources together to meet the

S E C U R I T I E S MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

gaps and invest in individuals.”

He expressed that the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have a lot of potential to drive the country’s infrastructural development, stressing that Cedrus group Africa has seen opportunities in the SMEs sector.

“We are coming up with a product that is centred on bringing minds to discuss SMEs financing. Within our experience, most SMEs are doing very well

T R A D E D

VALUE TRADED ( N )

MAIN BOARD

A S

but lack the knowledge of what it takes to move to another level in order to play a critical role in the local economy and Africa at large. We have identified those deficiencies and are ready to bridge that gap”, he said.

Adeniyi disclosed that the firm aimed at unveiling Cedrus5000 Africa SMEs innovative products within the SMEs space in Africa, starting with Nigeria.

He explained further that

O F

0 5

the aim is to position SMEs to meet expectations of the global economy. He added that, “We have identified some companies and we are going to make the offer open to as many SMEs that want to partner in a move to develop that space.”

He also disclosed that the firm has secured a microfinance license to onboard interested SMEs into the Cedrus5000 Africa innovative product.

/ 0 5 / 2 0 2 2 DEALS

MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N)

40

T H I S D AY • FRIDAY, MAY 6, 2022

Friday, May 6, 2022

dŚŝƐĚĂLJ ĨƌŝŶǀĞƐƚ ϰϬ /ŶĚĞdž ŐĂŝŶĞĚ ϭ͘Ϯй Thisday Afrinvest 40 Index fell by 14bps The dŚŝƐĚĂLJ ĨƌŝŶǀĞƐƚ ϰϬ ƌŽƐĞ ϭ͘Ϯй ƚŽ Ϯ͕ϮϴϬ͘Ϯϴ ŝŶĚĞdž The dŚŝƐĚĂLJ ĨƌŝŶǀĞƐƚ ϰϬ /ŶĚĞdž ĚĞĐůŝŶĞĚ ďLJ ϭϰďƉƐ ƚŽ ƐĞƩůĞ

THISDAY AFRINVEST 40 INDEX

at 1,674.89 due to in sell-pressure on ZENITH (-0.6%), points duepoints to gains MTNN (+6.1%), AIRTELAF WAPCO (-1.3%), UBA (-0.7%).

These stocks cumula(+1.0%), and NBand (+10.0%). ƵŵƵůĂƟǀĞůLJ͕ ƚŚĞƐĞ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ

Fundamental Performance Metrics for THISDAY AFRINVEST 40 Index

ƟǀĞůLJ ĂĐĐŽƵŶƚ ĨŽƌ ϭϯ͘Ϯй͘ account for 49.7% of the index.

Current Price

Ticker

Bulls Extends Dominance... ASI up 1.4% ASI up 11bps as DANGCEM Gains 3.3%

THISDAY AFRINVEST 40

dŚĞ ĚŽŵĞƐƟĐ ĞƋƵŝƟĞƐ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ŵĂŝŶƚĂŝŶĞĚ ƉŽƐŝƟǀĞ WƌĞǀŝŽƵƐ

ĚĂLJ͕

ƉƌŝĐĞ

ƵƉƟĐŬ

ŝŶ

,KEz&>KhZ

momentum yesterday as the All-Share Index rose

2280.28

1 Airtel Africa PLC 2 MTN Nigeria Communications PLC

1.4% 50,835.95 points due buying in steredto ƉŽƐŝƟǀĞ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ŽŶ theto local bourseinterest as the All-

5 Zenith Bank PLC 6 Dangote Cement PLC 7 Nestle Nigeria PLC

MTNN (+1.0%),rose and NB (+10.0%).

Share (+6.1%), AIRTELAF index by ĐĐŽƌĚŝŶŐůLJ͕ zd points. ƌĞƚƵƌŶ ŽŶƐĞƋƵĞŶƚůLJ͕ ĂĚǀĂŶĐĞĚ zd ƚŽ ůŽƐƐ ϭϵ͘Ϭй 11bps to 39,550.36 ŝŵͲ

8 FBN Holdings Plc 9 Lafarge Africa PLC

proved to -1.8% while ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ĐĂƉŝƚĂůŝƐĂƟŽŶ ƌŽƐĞ ďLJ ;ƉƌĞǀŝŽƵƐůLJ ϭϳ͘ϯйͿ ǁŚŝůĞ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ĐĂƉŝƚĂůŝƐĂƟŽŶ ŝŶͲ

10 Access Holdings PLC 11 United Bank for Africa PLC

േϮϯ͘ϰďŶ ƚŽ േϮϬ͘ϲƚŶ͘ dƌĂĚŝŶŐ ĂĐƟǀŝƚLJ ǁĂƐ ŵŝdžĞĚ ĂƐ ǀŽůƵŵĞ creased ʬϯϴϮ͘ϱďŶ ƚŽ ʬϮϳ͘ϰƚŶ͘ dƌĂĚŝŶŐ ĂĐƟǀŝƚLJ ǁĂƐ

12 Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC 13 Nigerian Brew eries PLC

ƚƌĂĚĞĚ ĂƐ ĚĞĐůŝŶĞĚ ďLJ Ϯϭ͘ϲй ϭϭϬ͘ϴŵ ϯϬ͘ϵй ƵŶŝƚƐ ǁŚŝůĞ value ŵŝdžĞĚ ǀŽůƵŵĞ ƚƌĂĚĞĚ ƚŽ ĚŝƉƉĞĚ ƚŽ ϰϲϮ͘ϲŵ ƚƌĂĚĞĚ ƌŽƐĞ ďLJ ϴϴ͘ϱй ƚŽ േϯ͘ϭďŶ͘ The most traded stocks

units while value traded rose 38.7% to ʬ8.3bn.

14 SEPLAT Energy PLC 15 Ecobank Transnational Inc 16 International Brew eries PLC 17 Okomu Oil Palm PLC 18 Flour Mills of Nigeria PLC

by volume were dZ E^ KZW ;ϭϭ͘ϵŵ ƵŶŝƚƐͿ͕ & E, (11.1m ƵŶŝƚƐͿ͕ K E K ;ϳ͘ϯŵ ƵŶŝƚƐͿ ǁŚŝůĞ E ^d> ;േϮ͘ϮďŶͿ͕ BullishĂŶĚ Sector Performance

1.18%

ROE

23.0% 128.0%

15.0%

ROA

P/E

3.5%

1,400.00

1.0%

39.5%

46.6%

46.6%

227.50

6.1%

8.3%

15.5%

15.5%

105.6%

13.9%

74.25

0.0%

6.6%

10.7%

10.7%

19.1%

11.2%

23.50

-1.9%

5.2%

-9.6%

-9.6%

19.8%

3.2%

3 BUA Cement Plc 4 Guaranty Trust Holding Co PLC

(+9.8%), E' D ;нϯ͘ϯйͿ͕ ĂŶĚ & E, (+0.7%) bol-

Price Previous Price Current Change Price Change Weighting Index to Change YTD Date

5.7x

Dividend Earnings Yield Yield

P/BV

0.8x

5.9%

ot Applicable

1.3%

16.0%

14.4x

17.7x

5.7%

35.7x

6.7x

3.6%

2.8%

3.9x

0.8x

12.8%

25.8% 33.1%

7.0%

24.00

-0.6%

5.0%

-4.6%

-4.6%

20.6%

2.6%

3.0x

0.6x

12.9%

292.40

0.0%

4.4%

13.8%

13.8%

37.7%

16.4%

13.2x

4.8x

6.8%

7.6%

1,400.00

-2.8%

2.8%

-10.1%

-10.1%

112.8%

16.1%

24.3x

28.3x

3.6%

4.1%

11.90

0.0%

3.1%

4.4%

4.4%

8.4%

0.8%

7.0x

0.6x

3.8%

14.2%

27.00

1.7%

3.3%

12.7%

12.7%

15.5%

11.1%

7.3x

1.1x

7.4%

13.7%

9.65

0.5%

2.5%

3.8%

7.3%

8.05

0.0%

1.9%

0.0%

0.0%

15.6%

1.4%

2.3x

0.3x

12.4%

43.3%

36.45

0.0%

1.5%

1.3%

1.3%

15.6%

2.1%

7.7x

1.2x

8.3%

13.0% 3.4%

69.05

10.0%

1.9%

38.1%

38.1%

10.5%

3.9%

29.7x

3.0x

2.3%

1,200.00

0.0%

2.6%

84.6%

84.6%

7.5%

3.6%

12.4x

0.9x

3.5%

8.1%

12.50

4.2%

1.7%

43.7%

43.7%

18.4%

1.0%

2.7x

0.5x

5.3%

37.3%

6.15

9.8%

1.2%

24.2%

24.2%

-9.9%

-3.4%

170.00

5.1%

1.2%

19.7%

19.7%

43.6%

25.5%

8.9x

3.7x

4.7%

11.3%

19 Fidelity Bank PLC 20 AXA Mansard Insurance PLC

1.2x

-8.7%

33.10

0.0%

1.0%

16.8%

16.8%

15.9%

4.5%

5.1x

0.8x

5.0%

19.7%

3.60

-2.7%

0.8%

41.2%

41.2%

13.3%

1.2%

2.7x

0.3x

9.7%

36.5%

2.25

0.0%

0.5%

-3.0%

-3.0%

2.3%

0.7%

26.4x

0.6x

11.1%

3.8%

16.20

0.0%

Across sectors within our coverage, performance was

21 Dangote Sugar Refinery PLC 22 FCMB Group Plc

0.4%

-6.9%

-6.9%

16.7%

6.6%

8.7x

1.4x

6.2%

11.5%

3.53

-3.3%

0.5%

18.1%

18.1%

10.7%

1.1%

ďƵůůŝƐŚ ĂƐ ϰ ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ŝŶĐŚĞĚ ŚŝŐŚĞƌ ǁŚŝůĞ Ϯ ůŽƐƚ͘ dŚĞ AFR

23 United Capital PLC 24 Guinness Nigeria PLC

13.25

-1.5%

0.4%

33.8%

33.8%

110.00

10.0%

0.9%

182.1%

182.1%

-ICT and Consumer Goods ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ƌŽƐĞ ϯ͘ϯй ĂŶĚ Ϯ͘ϰй

25 Transnational Corp of Nigeria 26 Presco PLC

1.16

0.0%

0.3%

20.8%

20.8%

E' D ;േϭϰϱ͘ϬŵͿ͕ ĂŶĚ 'd K ;േϭϯϰ͘ϴŵͿ ůĞĚ ďLJ ǀĂůƵĞ͘

Bearish Sector Performance

17.8%

8.1%

16.4x

0.3x

5.6%

3.3x

11.3%

2.7x

0.4%

0.5x

1.7%

3.6x

0.6%

6.1%

170.00

7.8%

0.5%

93.6%

93.6%

ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ ĚƵĞ ƚŽ ƉƌŝĐĞ ĂƉƉƌĞĐŝĂƟŽŶ ŝŶ DdEE

27 NASCON Allied Industries PLC 28 AIICO Insurance PLC

13.00

0.0%

0.3%

-1.5%

-1.5%

18.5%

5.7%

13.1x

2.3x

3.1%

7.6%

0.80

6.7%

0.3%

14.3%

14.3%

14.0%

2.2%

31.7x

0.8x

2.5%

3.2%

;нϲ͘ϭйͿ͕ /Zd > & ;нϭ͘ϬйͿ͕ E ;нϭϬ͘ϬйͿ͕ ĂŶĚ 'h/EͲ

29 TotalEnergies Marketing Nigeri 30 Custodian and Allied Insurance

234.50

0.0%

0.2%

5.7%

5.7%

46.9%

8.1%

4.4x

1.7x

7.9%

22.8%

7.15

0.0%

0.2%

-9.5%

-9.5%

19.5%

5.5%

4.2x

0.8x

7.0%

23.8%

31 Vitafoam Nigeria PLC 32 Unilever Nigeria PLC

24.15

-3.4%

0.2%

7.3%

7.3%

50.3%

19.0%

4.5x

2.2x

6.2%

22.3%

13.95

-0.4%

0.1%

-3.8%

-3.8%

11.2%

6.9%

16.4x

1.2x

3.6%

6.1%

33 Julius Berger Nigeria PLC 34 Union Bank of Nigeria PLC

30.00

0.0%

0.2%

34.2%

34.2%

20.7%

2.5%

5.1x

1.0x

8.3%

19.8%

Across sectors under our coverage, performance was

bearish as 4 indices lost, 1 index gained ǁŚŝůĞ ƚŚĞ &Z-/ d

ŝŶĚĞdž ƌĞŵĂŝŶĞĚ ŇĂƚ͘ dŽƉƉŝŶŐ ƚŚĞ ůĂŐŐĂƌĚƐ ĂƌĞ ƚŚĞ ŽŶƐƵŵͲ

E ^^ ;нϭϬ͘ϬйͿ͘ ^ŝŵŝůĂƌůLJ͕ ƚŚĞ Insurance and Industrial er 'ŽŽĚƐ ĂŶĚ Insurance indices, down 4.6% and

Goods ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ĂĚǀĂŶĐĞĚ Ϭ͘ϵй ĂŶĚ Ϭ͘ϭй ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ ϭ͘Ϯй ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ ŽŶ ƚŚĞ ďĂĐŬ ŽĨ ƉƌŽĮƚ-ƚĂŬŝŶŐ ŝŶ E ^d> (ŽŶ ĂĐĐŽƵŶƚ ŽĨ ƉƌŝĐĞ ƌĂůůLJ ŝŶ // K ;нϲ͘ϳйͿ͕ KZE Z^d 9.1%), hE/> s Z (-3.5%), >/E< ^^hZ (-6.4%), ;нϭ͘ϴйͿ͕ t W K ;нϭ͘ϳйͿ͕ ĂŶĚ ƚŚĞ Kŝů Θ 'ĂƐ ĂŶĚ ĂŶŬͲ hd/y ;нϵ͘ϮйͿ͘ ŽŶͲ and D E^ Z (-Ϯ͘ϮйͿ͘ ^ŝŵŝůĂƌůLJ͕ ing indices by & Ϭ͘Ϯй ĂŶĚ ϮďƉƐ ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ ĚƵĞ ƚŽ ƐĞůůversely, thefellOil Gas and ĂŶŬŝŶŐ indices declined ŽīƐ ŝŶ K E K (-0.8%), E/d, (-Ϭ͘ϮйͿ͕ ĂŶĚ 'd K ;-Ϭ͘ϮйͿ͘ Ϭ͘ϱй ĂŶĚ Ϭ͘ϭй ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ͕ ĚƌŝǀĞŶ ďLJ ƉƌŽĮƚ-taking in

35 Oando PLC 36 Wema Bank PLC 37 NEM Insurance PLC 38 Sterling Bank PLC 39 Notore Chemical Industries Ltd 40 Transcorp Hotels Plc

ŽŶǀĞƌƐĞůLJ͕ ƚŚĞ /ŶĚƵƐƚƌŝĂů 'ŽŽĚƐ ŝŶĚĞdž ǁĂƐ ƚŚĞ ůŽŶĞ ŐĂŝŶͲ K E K ;-ϳ͘ϰйͿ͕ E/d, ;-Ϭ͘ϲйͿ͕ ĂŶĚ h E ;-1.6%). er,

up

1.8%

driven

by

price

apprecia-

ƟŽŶ in E' D (+3.3%).

Outlook

/ŶǀĞƐƚŽƌ ^ĞŶƟŵĞŶƚ ^ƚƌĞŶŐƚŚĞŶƐ improved to 0.18x from 0.07x in the previous session

ĂƐ ϯϮ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ĂĚǀĂŶĐĞĚ͕ ϮϮ ĚĞĐůŝŶĞĚ ǁŚŝůĞ ϱϲ ĐůŽƐĞĚ /ŶǀĞƐƚŽƌƐ ƐĞŶƟŵĞŶƚ͕ ĂƐ ŵĞĂƐƵƌĞĚ ďLJ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ďƌĞĂĚƚŚ ;ĂĚǀĂŶĐĞͬĚĞĐůŝŶĞ ƌĂƟŽͿ͕ the ƐƚƌĞŶŐƚŚĞŶĞĚ͕ ƐĞƩůŝŶŐ 1.6x ŇĂƚ͘ Today, we expect market to gain mildlyĂƚdrivĨƌŽŵ ϭ͘ϯdž ƌĞĐŽƌĚĞĚ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ůĂƐƚ ƚƌĂĚŝŶŐ ƐĞƐƐŝŽŶ ĂƐ Ϯϰ stocks ĞŶ ďLJ ƐƵƐƚĂŝŶĞĚ ƉŽƐŝƟǀĞ ŝŶǀĞƐƚŽƌ ƐĞŶƟŵĞŶƚ͘ advanced while 15 stocks declined. MRS (+9.9%), MAY-

T ic k er C A D B UR Y

STOCK (-4.8%) led losers. Previous day, we expect the ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ƐĞŶƟŵĞŶƚ ƚŽ ƌĞŵĂŝŶ ŵŝdžĞĚ͕ ĂƐ earnings season gradually winds up.

5.1%

5.1%

6.1%

0.7%

9.8x

0.7x

10.2%

18.8%

18.8%

14.5%

2.6%

2.3x

0.3x

44.2%

3.64

-5.5%

0.0%

405.6%

405.6%

15.6%

0.9%

13.5x

1.9x

6.6%

7.4%

4.03

0.0%

0.1%

-10.4%

-10.4%

21.5%

12.8%

4.2x

0.9x

5.5%

24.0%

1.9x

0.3x

6.4%

51.3%

1.57

1.3%

0.1%

4.0%

4.0%

9.9%

0.9%

62.50

0.0%

0.1%

0.0%

0.0%

-28.3%

-6.1%

4.50

-9.1%

0.0%

-16.4%

-16.4%

2.4x

-9.5%

0.7x

1.6%

T o p 10 T r a d e s b y V o l u m e

P ric e

P ric e C hg %

T ic k er

Vo lum e

P ric e C hg %

9.35

10.0%

FCM B

504.0

0.3%

10.0%

T R A N SC OR P

36.2

1.7%

25.1

0.0%

0.22

T R A N SEXP R

0.89

9.9%

CA P

21.90

9.8%

FB NH

17.0

0.8%

9.1%

A IIC O

16.6

5.7%

15.6

1.7%

SEP LA T

1200.00

C H IP LC

0.63

8.6%

ET I

UP D C

1.04

8.3%

GT C O

11.7

0.0%

C UST OD IA N

7.15

8.3%

UB A

11.1

0.6%

M EYER

3.00

6.8%

A C C ESSC OR P

11.0

0.5%

A IIC O

0.74

5.7%

OA N D O

10.1

-0.8%

T o p 10 T r a d e s b y V a l u e

T o p 10 L o s e r s T ic k er C H A M P ION

P ric e 2.30

P ric e C hg %

T ic k er

Value

-6.9%

FCM B

1764.2

P ric e C hg % 0.3%

573.3

0.9%

F T N C OC OA

0.37

-5.1%

M TNN

LIN KA SSUR E

0.49

-3.9%

SEP LA T

557.2

9.1%

409.9

5.1%

C OUR T VILLE

0.51

-3.8%

GUIN N ESS

F ID ELIT YB K

3.62

-3.5%

GT C O

282.1

0.0%

207.7

0.0%

R T B R ISC OE

0.56

-3.4%

NB

ET ER N A

6.50

-3.3%

FB NH

201.8

0.8%

-2.2%

N EST LE

188.0

0.0%

-2.0%

ET I

187.1

1.7%

-1.2%

A C C ESSC OR P

109.0

0.5%

M A YB A KER UN IT YB N K M A N SA R D

Afrinvest West Africa Limited

0.1% 0.1%

H ON YF LOUR

BAKER (+9.8%), and HONYFLOUR (+9.8%) led gainers while ABCTRANS (-8.3%), LASACO (-6.7%), and LIVE-

-1.6% -7.4%

T o p 10 G a i n e r s

M ULT IVER SE

Investor ƐĞŶƟŵĞŶƚ͕ ĂƐ ŵĞĂƐƵƌĞĚ ďLJ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ďƌĞĂĚƚŚ͕

6.20 5.25

4.40 0.49 2.55

Brokerage

Asset Management

Investment Research

Adedoyin Allen | aallen@afrinvest.com

Robert Omotunde | romotunde@afrinvest.com

Abiodun Keripe | AKeripe@afrinvest.com

Taiwo Ogundipe | togundipe@afrinvest.com

Christopher Omoh | comoh@afrinvest.com

Damilare Asimiyu | dasimiyu@afrinvest.com

41

FRIDAY, MAY 6, 2022 • T H I S D AY

MARKET NEWS A Mutual fund (Unit Trust) is an investment vehicle managed by a SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) registered Fund Manager.

Investors with similar objectives buy units of the Fund so that the Fund Manager can buy securities that willl generate their desired return.

An ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) is a type of fund which owns the assets (shares of stock, bonds, oil futures, gold bars, foreign currency, etc.) and divides ownership of those assets into shares. Investors can buy these ‘shares’ on the

floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

A REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) is an investment vehicle that allows both small and large investors to part-own real estate ventures (eg.

Offices, Houses, Hospitals) in proportion to their investments. The assets are divided into shares that are traded on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

GUIDE TO DATA: Date: All fund prices are quoted in Naira as at 04May-2022, unless otherwise stated.

Offer price: The price at which units of a trust or ETF are bought by investors.

Bid Price: The price at which Investors redeem (sell) units of a trust or ETF. Yield/Total Return: Denotes the total return an investor would have earned on his investment. Money Market Funds report Yield while others report Year- to-date Total Return.

NAV: Is value per share of the real estate assets held by a REIT on a specific date.

DAILY PRICE LIST FOR MUTUAL FUNDS, REITS and ETFS MUTUAL FUNDS / UNIT TRUSTS AFRINVEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD aaml@afrinvest.com Web: www.afrinvest.com; Tel: +234 818 885 6757 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Afrinvest Equity Fund N/A N/A N/A Afrinvest Plutus Fund N/A N/A N/A Nigeria International Debt Fund N/A N/A N/A Afrinvest Dollar Fund N/A N/A N/A AIICO CAPITAL LTD ammf@aiicocapital.com Web: www.aiicocapital.com, Tel: +234-1-2792974 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AIICO Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 8.58% AIICO Balanced Fund 3.65 3.71 3.02% ANCHORIA ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED info@anchoriaam.com Web:www.anchoriaam.com, Tel: 08166830267; 08036814510; 08028419180 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Anchoria Money Market N/A N/A N/A Anchoria Equity Fund N/A N/A N/A Anchoria Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A info@anchoriaam.com ARM INVESTMENT MANAGERS LTD enquiries@arminvestmentcenter.com Web: www.arm.com.ng; Tel: 0700 CALLARM (0700 225 5276) Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn ARM Aggressive Growth Fund 22.15 22.82 9.21% ARM Discovery Balanced Fund 499.95 515.02 10.81% ARM Ethical Fund 42.27 43.55 8.51% ARM Eurobond Fund ($) 1.06 1.06 -1.89% ARM Fixed Income Fund 1.03 1.04 2.20% ARM Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 N/A AVA GLOBAL ASSET MANAGERS LIMITED info@avacapitalgroup.com Web: www.avacapitalgroup.com; Tel 08069294653 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AVA GAM Fixed Income Dollar Fund 105.03 105.03 7.90% AVA GAM Fixed Income Dollar Naira 1,101.62 1,101.62 10.16% AXA MANSARD INVESTMENTS LIMITED investmentcare@axamansard.com Web: www.axamansard.com; Tel: +2341-4488482 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AXA Mansard Equity Income Fund N/A N/A N/A AXA Mansard Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A CAPITAL EXPRESS ASSET AND TRUST LIMITED info@capitalexpressassetandtrust.com Web: www.capitalexpressassetandtrust.com; Tel: +234 803 307 5048 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn CEAT Fixed Income Fund 2.11 2.11 7.07% Capital Express Balanced Fund(Formerly: Union Trustees Mixed Fund) 2.36 2.41 24.42% CAPITALTRUST INVESTMENTS AND ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED halalfif@capitaltrustnigeria.com Web: www.capitaltrustnigeria.com; Tel: 08061458806 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Capitaltrust Halal Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A CARDINALSTONE ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED mutualfunds@cardinalstone.com Web: www.cardinalstoneassetmanagement.com; Tel: +234 (1) 710 0433 4 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn CardinalStone Fixed Income Alpha Fund N/A N/A N/A CHAPELHILL DENHAM MANAGEMENT LTD investmentmanagement@chapelhilldenham.com Web: www.chapelhilldenham.com, Tel: +234 461 0691 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Chapelhill Denham Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 6.85% Paramount Equity Fund 20 20.38 14.72% Women's Investment Fund 152.46 154.28 7.34% CORDROS ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmgtteam@cordros.com Web: www.cordros.com, Tel: 019036947 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Cordros Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A Cordros Milestone Fund N/A N/A N/A Cordros Dollar Fund ($) N/A N/A N/A CORONATION ASSETS MANAGEMENT investment@coronationam.com Web:www.coronationam.com, Tel: 012366215 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coronation Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A Coronation Balanced Fund N/A N/A N/A Coronation Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A EDC FUNDS MANAGEMENT LIMITED mutualfundng@ecobank.com Web: www.ecobank.com Tel: 012265281 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class A 100.00 100.00 4.49% EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class B 1,000,000.00 1,000,000.00 5.41% EDC Nigeria Fixed Income Fund 1,150.36 1,160.50 -1.34% EMERGING AFRICA ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmanagement@emergingafricafroup.com Web:www.emergingafricagroup.com/emerging-africa-asset-management-limited/, Tel: 08039492594 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Emerging Africa Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A Emerging Africa Bond Fund N/A N/A N/A Emerging Africa Balanced Diversity Fund N/A N/A N/A Emerging Africa Eurobond Fund N/A N/A N/A FBNQUEST ASSETS MANAGEMENT LIMITED invest@fbnquest.com Web: www.fbnquest.com/asset-management; Tel: +234-81 0082 0082 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn FBN Bond Fund 1446.34 1446.34 10.27% FBN Balanced Fund 193.77 195.14 10.56% FBN Halal Fund 119.22 119.22 9.20% FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 6.24% FBN Dollar Fund (Retail) 123.57 123.57 4.62% FBN Nigeria Smart Beta Equity Fund 168.79 171.03 10.89% FCMB ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED fcmbamhelpdesk@fcmb.com Web: www.fcmbassetmanagement.com; Tel: +234 1 462 2596 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Legacy Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 5.33% Legacy Debt Fund 3.98 3.98 -0.56% Legacy Equity Fund 1.91 1.95 9.88% Legacy USD Bond Fund 1.22 1.22 1.28% FSDH ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD coralfunds@fsdhgroup.com Web: www.fsdhaml.com; Tel: 01-270 4884-5; 01-280 9740-1 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn

Coral Balanced Fund Coral Income Fund Coral Money Market Fund

4,158.09 3,541.86 100.00

4,224.71 3,541.86 100.00

20.52% 6.24% 6.01%

FSDH Dollar Fund 1.10 1.10 3.61% INVESTMENT ONE FUNDS MANAGEMENT LTD enquiries@investment-one.com Web: www.investment-one.com; Tel: +234 812 992 1045,+234 1 448 8888 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Abacus Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 4.64% Vantage Balanced Fund 2.98 3.04 4.21% Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 4.50% Kedari Investment Fund (KIF) 139.92 139.92 2.11% Vantage Equity Income Fund (VEIF) - June Year End 1.27 1.31 0.78% Vantage Dollar Fund (VDF) - June Year End 1.08 1.08 4.14% LOTUS CAPITAL LTD fincon@lotuscapitallimited.com Web: www.lotuscapitallimited.com; Tel: +234 1-291 4626 / +234 1-291 4624 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Lotus Halal Investment Fund N/A N/A N/A Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A MERISTEM WEALTH MANAGEMENT LTD info@meristemwealth.com Web: http://www.meristemwealth.com/funds/ ; Tel: +234 1-4488260 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Meristem Equity Market Fund 13.08 13.15 10.84% Meristem Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 8.21% NORRENBERGER INVESTMENT AND CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LIMITED enquiries@norrenberger.com Web: www.norrenberger.com, Tel: +234 (0) 908 781 2026 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Norrenberger Islamic Fund (NIF) 101.18 101.18 5.08% Norrenberger Money Market Fund (NMMF) 100.00 100.00 8.81% PAC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD info@pacassetmanagement.com Web: www.pacassetmanagement.com/mutualfunds; Tel: +234 1 271 8632 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn PACAM Balanced Fund 1.72 1.74 6.85% PACAM Fixed Income Fund 11.71 11.72 4.70% PACAM Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 6.17% PACAM Equity Fund 1.54 1.55 8.79% PACAM EuroBond Fund 116.11 118.89 0.90% SCM CAPITAL LIMITED info@scmcapitalng.com Web: www.scmcapitalng.com; Tel: +234 1-280 2226,+234 1- 280 2227 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn SCM Capital Frontier Fund 133.72 136.55 6.38% SFS CAPITAL NIGERIA LTD investments@sfsnigeria.com Web: www.sfsnigeria.com, Tel: +234 (01) 2801400 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn SFS Fixed Income Fund 1.02 1.02 9.25% STANBIC IBTC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD assetmanagement@stanbicibtc.com Web: www.stanbicibtcassetmanagement.com; Tel: +234 1 280 1266; 0700 MUTUALFUNDS Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Stanbic IBTC Balanced Fund N/A N/A N/A Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund N/A N/A N/A Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund N/A N/A N/A Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund N/A N/A N/A Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund N/A N/A N/A Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund N/A N/A N/A Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund (USD) N/A N/A N/A Stanbic IBTC Shariah Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A Stanbic IBTC Enhanced Short-Term Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A UNITED CAPITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD unitedcapitalplcgroup.com Web: www.unitedcapitalplcgroup.com; Tel: +234 01-6317876 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn United Capital Equity Fund 0.99 1.01 6.28% United Capital Balanced Fund 1.44 1.46 5.73% United Capital Wealth for Women Fund 1.18 1.19 8.25% United Capital Sukuk Fund 1.10 1.10 2.53% United Capital Fixed Income Fund 2.00 2.00 2.29% United Capital Eurobond Fund 124.33 124.33 1.80% United Capital Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 5.58% QUANTUM ZENITH ASSET MANAGEMENT & INVESTMENTS LTD service@quantumzenithasset.com.ng Web: www.quantumzenith.com.ng; Tel: +234 1-2784219 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Zenith Balanced Strategy Fund 13.88 14.01 5.26% Zenith ESG Impact Fund 16.18 16.37 10.78% Zenith Income Fund 22.54 22.54 2.35% Zenith Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 5.44% VETIVA FUND MANAGERS LTD funds@vetiva.com Web: www.vetiva.com; Tel: +234 1 453 0697 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Vetiva Banking Exchange Traded Fund 4.26 4.36 6.03% Vetiva Consumer Goods Exchange Traded Fund 6.33 6.43 8.35% Vetiva Griffin 30 Exchange Traded Fund 19.38 19.58 9.53% Vetiva Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 5.23% Vetiva Industrial Goods Exchange Traded Fund 22.40 22.60 12.05% Vetiva S&P Nigeria Sovereign Bond Exchange Traded Fund 166.34 168.34 5.40%

REITS NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

122.16 53.16

1.62% 0.82%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

14.54 141.98 111.57 22.79 23.24

14.64 145.45 113.98 22.89 23.34

4.06% 7.85% 7.65% 0.00% 0.00%

NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

107.55

12.10%

Fund Name SFS REIT Union Homes REIT

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS Fund Name Lotus Halal Equity Exchange Traded Fund SIAML Pension ETF 40 Stanbic IBTC ETF 30 Fund MERGROWTH ETF MERVALUE ETF

INFRASTRUCTURE FUND Fund Name Chapel Hill Denham Nigeria Infrastructure Debt Fund

The value of investments and the income from them may fall as well as rise. Past performance is a guide and not an indication of future returns. Fund prices published in this edition are also available on each fund manager’s website and FMAN’s website at www.fman.com.ng. Fund prices are supplied by the operator of the relevant fund and are published for information purposes only.

42

T H I S D AY • FRIDAY, MAY 6, 2022

NEWSXTRA

GROUND BREAKING CEREMONY FOR THE PROPOSED KATCHEY COMPLEX...

L-R: The Most Rev. Emmanuel Egbunu; Pastor Itua Ighodalo; Miss Amina Isa; CEO, Katchey Company Ltd, Mrs Kate Isa; Wife of Ogun State governor, Mrs Bamidele Abiodun; Minister of Trade, Industry and Investment, Otunba Niyi Adebayo; Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun; Chairman, Katchey Company Ltd, Mr. Abdulrazaq Isa and Keynote Speaker, Dr. Ije Jidenma during the ground breaking ceremony of the proposed Katchey Complex in Magboro, Ogun State...yesterday

2023: Osinbajo, Nnamani, Bakare, Amaechi Pick N100m APC Presidential Forms Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja Ahead of the May 30 Presidential primary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), frontline presidential runners like Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Ameachi, former President of the Senate, Ken

Nnamani and a former running mate to President Muhammadu Buhari, Pastor Tunde Bakare, yesterday, in Abuja picked their presidential forms.

While Nnamani and Bakare were at the International Conference Centre to pick their forms, Amaechi, Osinbajo sent representatives.

Price of Jet Fuel Rises Further, Hurting Airlines Chinedu Eze Many Nigerian airlines were shocked yesterday when they were informed by oil marketers that aviation fuel had risen from N500 per litre to N680 per litre.

Owing to this, airline operators have expressed fear that their operations would be squeezed due to high cost of the product, which is now over 60 per cent of their cost of operation.

The marketers published the new prices as follows: Lagos, N600 per litre, Abuja, N650 per litre and Kano N680 per litre.

But the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) which is billed to meet today, hinted that airlines might not pass the high cost of aviation fuel to their customers, but could decide to take the matter to government.

A top official of one of the airlines told THISDAY that despite the resolution reached by industry stakeholders in March, that the price of fuel be pegged at N500, pending the determination of a substantive uniform price, the fuel marketers decided to increase the price to N680.

The official told THISDAY that willy-nilly some airlines might not be able to meet up with the price increase because many of them are still recovering from the very low passenger traffic in the first quarter of 2022, adding that the services of many of the domestic carriers would be impacted negatively and many airlines might have no choice than to shut down as they threatened to do in March because they would not be able to cope with the high cost of operations.

The Head of Communication of Dana Air, Kingsley Ezenwa told THISDAY that AON would be

meeting today to deliberate over the increase.

He, however, expressed optimism that the airlines would not pass the increase to their customers but would reach out to government and marketers for the downward review of the new prices.

“For now we have not taken any decision. We just find a way to engage the marketers and the government on the ways to solve this problem. We don’t want to push it to the flying public. Everything will continue normally. There is yet no official statement but the impact on our operations will be too much to bear and that is more reason why airlines want to engage government and marketers to find ways to resolve this. It is a big issue.

AON needs to step action and engage the government. We want everybody to fly,” Ezenwa said.

During one of the meetings held in March at the instance of the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation, the AON threatened to shut down operations over the nonavailability of aviation fuel for their airplanes, as fuel marketers gave reasons why they hiked the pieces.

AON had told the lawmakers then that due to the increase in price of fuel and its unavailability, its members won’t be able to sustain their operations and condemned the marketers for refusing to disclose the actual amount they buy aviation fuel per litre.

Currently the base fare of 45 minutes to a one-hour flight is N50, 000, which air travellers described as exorbitant, prompting many tavellers to shun the airports and there are indications that any increase to that base fare would further reduce passenger traffic at the airports.

Addressing journalists after obtaining the form, Coordinator of Osinbajo Support Groups and lawmaker representing Kano South in the Senate, Senator Kabiru Gaya said, he was not worried about the growing number of presidential aspirants, who have indicated interest to contest for president in 2023.

"Democracy is a game of numbers, every aspirant that is contesting is qualified, but we are saying that, we should look along the line and see who's the best material and I'm sure if we put them together, all of them together, they will pick Osinbajo as candidate," he said.

On zoning, Gaya noted that the North through Buhari has served two terms and as such, power should rotate to the South.

"We have served for the president in this country for eight years under the leadership of president Muhammadu Buhari, therefore, the presidency should go to the South and that is why we said the best person to handle this matter is somebody, who has been in the system, if he's sworn-in today at the Eagles square, by tomorrow morning he can pick up, because he's already in the system," he said.

Bakare, on his part, said his agenda for the nation was very simple and would be premised on four pillars, which included peace, prosperity, progress and Possibilities.

He said on those four pillars, Nigeria would be rebuilt and the hope of many citizens would be rekindled, adding: "We are all going to join hands to make it happen. No other nation will fix our nation, it will take Nigerians from all walks of life, within and without and those in the diaspora to join hands together to build our nation."

Also addressing the growing numbers of southern aspirants,

he said God rules in the affairs of men and he gives power to whoever He pleases.

His words: "A southerner is a Nigerian, a northerner is a Nigerian. We trust God that the best, the fittest and the most competent will emerge and the one who truly loves our people especially, the poor will rise to fix our nation.

“Many people run in a race but only one person will wear the crown. There is only one seat; whoever wins, the rest of us must rise to support him to rebuild Nigeria, East, West, North or South, Nigeria is our country."

Buhari: I'm Impressed with Umahi's Performance Benjamin Nworie in Abakaliki President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday said he was impressed with the performance of Ebonyi State Governor, Engr. David Umahi.

The president has commissioned several projects constructed by the Umahi administration in the governor’s hometown Uburu, Ohaozara Local Government Area of the state.

The projects included the King David University of Medical Sciences; the university's teaching

hospital, the twin flyover and dual carriage way which passes through the university to Mpu in Enugu State, among others.

Buhari also commended the governor for ensuring the projects were of high quality.

"I thank you also for associating the federal government with the construction of the projects and though I am not an engineer, I can see with my eyes "Buhari noted that he was impressed with the governor's performance, noting that the project looks like one that

would last.

Umahi during the commissioning, appealed to the federal government to take over the university's teaching hospital because it was beyond the scope of any state to manage.

"I had earlier pleaded with the president to approve the takeover and he said that we should go and celebrate and we have been celebrating since then.

The governor said the hospital would solve the challenges of medical tourism confronting the country because it has the best

of facilities that can be found anywhere in the world.

"It has a heart surgery department, the best Magnetic Resonance Image (MRI) facilities, among others,” he added.

He thanked the president for his numerous assistance towards the realisation of the King David University of Medical Sciences, noting that the edifice was three years old.

"It was constructed through direct labour by our people and the 700 metres twin-flyover which passes through the university cost N2 billion.

Transcorp Delivers Strong Q1 Performance as Profit Leaps by 147% Transnational Corporation Plc (Transcorp Group) has reported significant and impressive returns in all its major financial indices for the first quarter ended March 31, 2022.

The company’s unaudited results filed with the Nigeria Exchange Limited (NGX) showed that the conglomerate with interests in the power, hospitality, and energy sectors recorded a profit after tax of N5 billion, rising significantly by 147 per cent, up from the N2 billion recorded in March 2021; while profit before tax which stood at N2.5 billion in March last year, gained 129 per cent to N5.7 billion in the same period under consideration.

A further look at the results showed that revenue increased by 28 per cent from N24.4 billion at the end of the first quarter of 2021, to N31.4 billion as at March 2022, while operating income followed the same pattern as it grew by 45 per cent to N10 billion, up from the N6.9 billion reported the previous year.

An increase in expenses such as inventories, prepayments, trade and other receivables, however, did not dampen the Group’s total assets which rose to N417 billion in the period under review, up from the N416 billion recorded at the end of the 2021 financial year; just as its shareholders’ funds also rose by three per cent to N151 billion,

up from N146.3 billion.

Transcorp’s President/Group Chief Executive Officer, Owen Omogiafo, who was excited at what she described as a great start to a rewarding year, expressed satisfaction with the performance for the first quarter 2022, and noted that the result is in line with the group’s strategy.

She stated “This laudable performance was achieved as a result of the improved activities across all our businesses. We are excited with the results for the first quarter of 2022; delivering 28 per cent rise in revenue and 129 per cent rise in profit before tax and we are confident in the strategic direction for the Group

as it underlines the success of our long-term objectives of diversifying revenues and accessing new business opportunities to deliver superior values to all our stakeholders."

Omogiafo re-emphasised the brand's commitment towards producing long-term value and sustainable impact, adding that already, this had been evident from the results churned out by the business in the full year 2021, and Q1 2022, despite the unstable operating environment., “We will continue to work diligently as we remain wellpositioned to provide significant value for our stakeholders,” she added.

43

T H I S D AY • FRIDAY, MAY 6, 2022

NEWSXTRA

IS HE THE NO. 16?

L–R: Serving Overseer, Citadel Global Community Church, Pastor Tunde Bakare; his wife, Layide; and the National Organising Secretary, All Progressives Congress, Alhaji Suleiman Argungu, during the purchase of nomination form for the APC presidential primary by Bakare in Abuja…yesterday

PDP Ticket: Anyim, Hayatu-Deen Intensify Campaigns, Meet Zamfara, Kogi Delegates Chuks Okocha in Abuja Counting down to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential convention this month, a former secretary to the government of the federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim and an economist and investment banker, Mohammad Hayatu-Deen, have intensified their campaigns, meeting delegates from different parts of the country.

While Anyim met with delegates from Kogi and Zamfara States in furtherance of his consultations, Hayatu-Deen engaged the party's members of the House of Representatives, during which he pledged that he had the capacity to rescue and

reform Nigeria Anyim, at the meeting with Zamfara PDP delegates in Abuja, promised to prioritise the security of lives and property as well as economic development if elected president in 2023, even as he explained that the senseless killings in Zamfara and other states of the federation were not only worrisome but heart-wrenching.

“The 2023 election is not like any other election. What Nigerians need is a unified and peaceful nation. We need a Nigeria of equal opportunity for all across board.

With the right leadership, Zamfara State with all of its abundant natural resources will be the richest state in Nigeria.

“An average of 20 People

Suit against PDP's Presidential Primary Stalls as Ndukwe Seeks Time to Respond Alex Enumah in Abuja Hearing in the suit seeking to stop the primary election of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), yesterday, stalled at the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court.

Justice Donatus Okorowo of the Federal High Court, Abuja, had last week adjourned the suit with an order on the PDP to appear before it to show cause why the primary slated for May 28, should not be stopped.

An aggrieved member of the PDP and one time Deputy Speaker of the Abia State House of Assembly, Mr. Cosmas Ndukwe, had sued the PDP over its planned primary, which he claimed violated its Constitution.

Ndukwe, also brought an application for an order of injunction restraining the PDP from proceeding with the primary election pending the hearing and determination of his suit challenging the position of the party on the issue of zoning the party’s presidential ticket.

In the suit marked: FHC/ ABJ/CS/508/2022 are the PDP, National Chairman of the party, Dr Iyorchia Atu, Senator Samuel Anyanwu and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as 1st to fourth respondents respectively.

Rather than grant the request, the judge ordered that the PDP

appear before it on May 5 and show cause why the court should not accede to the plaintiff’s demand.

When the matter was called, counsel to Ndukwe, Chief Paul Erokoro, SAN, told the court that he was just served late Wednesday with the response of the PDP and as such would be needing time to reply the PDP and subsequently asked the court for a short adjournment.

Responding, PDP's lawyer, Mr Mahmud Magaji, SAN, said he was not opposed to the request for adjournment and the judge accordingly adjourned to May 10, for the PDP to appear before it to show cause why its May 28 presidential primary election should not be stopped.

Meanwhile, the PDP in a Notice of Preliminary Objection filed last Friday by Magaji, challenged the jurisdiction of the court to summon it over an issue it claimed bordered on its internal affairs.

According to the party, the subject matter of the case, which bordered on whether to zone its presidential ticket to any part of the country, was not an issue that the court had the mandate to decide.

The party, therefore, asked the court to strike out the suit for want of jurisdiction and also dismiss it for being “statutebarred”.

are killed in Zamfara daily, this cannot continue, the life of every Nigerian matters. For me, as an aspirant, wherever I have worked, peace steps in; wherever I step in there, is equity and fairness. I will make sure that the security of lives and property returns not only to Zamfara State but the whole of Nigeria,” he said.

Hayatu-Deen, while speaking to PDP House of Representatives caucus, said he has the strength and capacity to rescue Nigeria

and reform it.

"With my motivation, my background, experience, and as somebody with a proven track record of transformation, I will go in and unlock that switch, turn it on again, and take this country to the stratosphere. Nigerians are phenomenal people.

“The entrepreneurial energy that flows through the veins of Nigeria, is unparalleled. I can only compare to the United States, because the human intelligence

in this country is unbelievable.

"But there are barriers that are holding us back. I will roll back the frontiers of government and give expression and hope to the Nigerian private sector, represented by small, medium, large scale industries, to actually come in and play the rightful part by incentivizing them and removing all manual controls and obstacles.”

In his response, Minority Leader, Ndudi Elumelu, urged

Hayatu-Deen not to relent in his efforts to rescue and reform Nigeria.

"I want to plead that you will continue in that strive. Nigerians are waiting for us, they're calling on us to come and rescue or rebuild Nigeria. Well, we can only do that if we also put ourselves in a position that Nigerians hope to see us, to rescue them and bring them back to where our founding fathers had wished that we should be," he said.

Diri: South Needs North to Actualise Presidency Bala Mohammed tasks other aspirants on humility Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, has said no region could produce the president of the country without the support of other regions.

Specifically, he stated that the demand of the southern governors that the presidency be zoned to the South could not be achieved without the support of the North and vice versa.

Diri spoke yesterday, when a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential aspirant and Governor of Bauchi State, Senator Bala Mohammed, visited him at the Government House, Yenagoa.

The Bayelsa governor urged PDP members to collectively work for the success of the party in next year’s presidential election.

Diri noted that as an opposition party, what should be paramount was how to wrest power from the ruling party, which he said had lost grip of governance in all aspects.

While restating call for the PDP to zone the presidency to the South, Diri stressed the need for political offices to be rotated among different parts of the country to ensure equity, fairness and justice as exemplified by the PDP in its last national convention.

He urged his Bauchi counterpart to speak on issues about the party and how to better the lot of Nigerians, saying the world and Nigerians were looking up to the PDP to salvage the country

from total collapse occasioned by the bad governance of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

"Nigeria is waiting for PDP. Our party must be united and support whoever emerges. Even in our quest for a southern president, we need the north. We have to court the north, speak with the north and whoever that God so appoints to be the president. You are one person this state has taken as our own. You have the goodwill of your people in Bayelsa State.

“But let us all caution ourselves that we are in opposition. It appears some of us still do not understand that fact. We should be talking about we and not necessarily I. At the end of the day, the final decider is God. If

God decides it won’t be a president from the south, we cannot run away from that decision. We will stand by our party and work with that person.

"I am one person that has said so much about our party's offices to be rotational. That is what we did in the convention where we zoned offices. That is for fairness, justice and equity. I like to restate and re-emphasise that we need to be at the centre.

Nigeria is falling apart and we need to rescue the country. The world is looking up to PDP for Nigeria to work again,” he said.

Earlier, Mohammed had advised other PDP aspirants to be humble in the quest to get support for their presidential ambition.

OPEC+ LEAVES OIL SUPPLY PLAN UNCHANGED, BOOSTS JUNE PRODUCTION BY 432,000BPD since one of the key members of the alliance, Russia, invaded Ukraine.

Although OPEC has been under severe pressure from the United States and its allies to ramp up production as energy prices continue to skyrocket, however, this month’s decision could be justified due to slowing oil demand in China and a chance that crude losses from Russian supply could pile up.

A short statement after the meeting, stated that following the conclusion of the 28th OPEC and non-OPEC ministerial meeting, it was noted that continuing oil market fundamentals and the consensus on the outlook pointed to a balanced market.

It further noted the continuing effects of geopolitical factors and issues related to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

The participating countries

therefore agreed to: “Reconfirm the production adjustment plan and the monthly production adjustment mechanism approved at the 19th OPEC and non-OPEC ministerial meeting and the decision to adjust upward the monthly overall production by 0.432 mb/d for the month of June 2022.”

The group also resolved to: “Reiterate the critical importance of adhering to full conformity and to the compensation mechanism, taking advantage of the extension of the compensation period until the end of June 2022.”

Furthermore, it noted that compensation plans should be submitted in accordance with the statement of previous ministerial meetings, and therefore fixed its next conference for June, 2, 2022 to decide July’s production volume.

Meanwhile, Shell yesterday reported soaring first-quarter net profit as surging oil prices offset a

sizeable charge which was earlier linked to its Russia exit.

Profit after tax leapt 26 per cent to $7.1 billion (6.7 billion euros) from a year earlier, Shell said in a statement, while underlying earnings spiked almost three-fold to a quarterly record of $9.1 billion.

But while other oil companies and countries producing the commodity are cashing out, Nigeria continues on a borrowing spree, since it’s executive body in the country’s hydrocarbons space, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) keeps paying petrol subsidies and is unable to increase production as a result of ageing infrastructure, oil theft and general inefficiency.

In addition, Shell noted that revenues rallied 51 per cent to $84.2 billion in the first three months of the year.

"The war in Ukraine is first and foremost a human tragedy,

but it has also caused significant disruption to global energy markets and has shown that secure, reliable and affordable energy simply cannot be taken for granted," noted Shell’s Chief Executive, Ben van Beurden.

The London-listed group last month announced that it would take a hit of between $4 billion and $5 billion in the first quarter as a result of impairment from assets and additional charges relating to its exit from its Russian operations.

Shell announced in late February that it would sell its stakes in all joint ventures with Russian state energy giant Gazprom after the Kremlin launched its assault on Ukraine.

It then decided in March to withdraw from Russian gas and oil in line with UK government policy, but has meanwhile begun the second tranche of its $8.5 billion share buyback.

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NEWS

2023: Ask Amaechi, Ngige, Malami Others to Resign Now, Zenith Labour Party Tells Buhari Chuks Okocha in Abuja The Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) yesterday asked President Muhammadu Buhari to direct his cabinet and other appointees contesting elective positions in the 2023 to immediately resign.

ZLP, at its National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting added that it was immoral for the appointees to remain in the office while seeking elective offices.

The opposition party also criticized the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for charging exorbitant nomination fees, adding that it would serve as an incentive for those who eventually assume office to steal.

The National Chairman, ZLP, Dan Nwanyanwu, who presided over the meeting, said it was sad that president has remained silent over the refusal of his ministers and other appointees seeking office to resign from office.

Nwanyanwu said: “The NEC condemns the president’s

silence on the appointees in the government who are seeking elective offices. It is absurd. It has not happened in our history.

It raises a morality question and

ZLP believes that there should be moral content in politics.

President Muhammadu Buhari this is not right.

“The NEC therefore calls on

the president to direct all those who have indicated interest to run to resign immediately. It shouldn’t be happening under his watch.

“This is not right. It should not be accepted by you. Act as we know you to direct them to resign their position and go contest the positions they

want. This is the position of most Nigerians. It is not right and we should not allow it to be a part of our political culture.”

THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT…

L-R: Programme Staff, Civil Society Scaling up Nutrition in Nigeria, (SC-SUNN), Mr. Kunle Ishola; Administrative Officer, Mr. Victor Onyeka; Editor Nations Capital, THISDAY, Mr. Iyobosa Uwugiaren;CommunicationsOfficer,SC-SUNN,Mrs.LilianOkaforandMr.AmbroseEvhoesor,duringadvocacyvisitbySC-UNN toTHISDAYofficeinAbuja…yesterday KINGSLEY ADEBOYE

Gov Yahaya Sues for Calm as Youth ASUU, Jega Identify Questionable Nigeria Social Contract, Clash Claims Three in Gombe Poor Economy as Bane of Protracted Insecurity Segun Awofadeji inGombe

Gombe State Governor, Alhaji Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, has called for calm in the wake of a clash that ensued between two factions of youths which claimed three lives during Sallah Durbar procession by a group of horse riders through Jekadafari in the state capital yesterday evening.

The governor, while condemning the senseless act, commiserated with families of those who lost their loved ones, and prayed for quick recovery of those injured.

According to a statement issued by Ismaila Uba Misilli,

the director-general Press Affairs,Government House in Gombe, which was made available to journalists yesterday, the governor directed security agencies to carry out a thorough investigation and bring to book perpetrators of the heinous act.

He said: “We condemn in strong terms this unfortunate situation and commiserate with the affected families. We also urge all aggrieved persons and residents to remain calm and allow justice to run its due course, as efforts are underway by security agencies to ensure that those liable for the crime are brought to book.

Be United to Take over Delta, 'DÀQRQH 8UJHV $3& 0HPEHUV Sylvester Idowu inWarri

A chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC) and Delta Central senatorial aspirant, Chief Ede Dafinone, has called on members of the party in Delta State to remain united and work for the party’s victory in the 2023 elections.

He maintained yesterday that the chance to take over the state has never been brighter than now.

Dafinone, who spoke during his visit to APC leaders in Ethiope East, Okpe and Uvwie Local Government Areas in the state in continuation of his consultations

over his ambition to represent Delta Central in the Senate, said though the Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege, has done enough to convince Deltans to vote for the party at the next elections, members must put in more work to actualise the dream.

According to him, “In the last election, the party was fictionalised, and we were not united, but today, under the Deputy Senate President, Omo-Agege, our party is not only united, we are ready to take over Government House in the state, but to do that successfully, it will need our collective efforts.”

(VWDWH 6XUYH\RUV 6WUDWHJLVH WR 5HGXFH %XLOGLQJ &ROODSVH LQ 1LJHULD Blessing Ibunge inPort Harcourt The Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) has said it has developed strategic efforts to reduce the incessant building collapse in the country.

The President of the Institution, Emmanuel Okas Wike, revealed this yesterday in Port Harcourt, Rivers State in his speech to mark the group’s ‘Valuation Day’.

Wike said the programme was aimed at unlocking the wealth of the country and taming incessant building collapse.

He explained that the valuation is not just one of the core competencies of NIESV, but noted that it is central to real estate development and national economic wealth and development.

According to Wike, “Valuation is the determination of the economic worth of assets in all its ramifications. Financial institution, corporate organisations, government and private individuals make critical monetary commitments and decisions on valuation reports.

Seriki Adinoyi in Jos

Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has identified questionable Nigeria Social contract as a major cause of insecurity, ASUU also said the country’s legal foundation is shaky, its democratic credential weak, susceptible to partisan and commercial misappropriation.

For this reason, the union said Nigerian state does not command the trust of the people.

This is even as former National Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and prochancellor of the University of Jos, Prof. Attahiru Jega has observed that poor economy and youth unemployment are serious contributory factors.

ASUU’s position was declared at a public lecture titled: ‘Exploring Radical Remedies for the Root of Pervasive Insecurity in Contemporary Nigeria’ delivered at the university by

the union’s trustee and past ASUU Chairman, Professor Asisi Asobie.

Asobie said that the relegation of Nigeria universities to the background by the government, which has resulted in persistent strike actions by lecturers, has made the citadel of learning unable to produce necessary research to combat insecurity in the country.

He said: “Furthermore, the Nigeria state has not yet earned the monopoly of the legitimacy

of the possession, control, and use of the instruments of coercion in the society.”

“Moreover, the Nigeria state lacks relative autonomy; its dominant class, an alliance of indigenous middlemen or communisation agents and foreign merchants and speculative investors is not independent of social groups and heir parochial interests, and criminal activities. It is therefore unable to enforce the law of the land against criminality.”

Protesters Storm APC Secretariat, Insist Jonathan Project ‘ll Push Party out of Power Adedayo AkinwaleinAbuja A group of protesters under the aegis of North-South Patriotic Coalition (ANSPAC) yestderday stormed the national secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) warning that the rumoured drafting of former President Goodluck Jonathan to the party would not work and would also push APC out of power.

The group, in a letter titled, “The

Destructive Potential of a Goodluck Jonathan Presidential Candidacy for the APC”, addressed to the National Chairman of the party, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, was submitted by its Chairman, Mr. Toyin Rahim.

The group noted that the rumour has been around for some time now that the former president was being wooed by some power players within the APC to join the party and fly its presidential ticket

for the 2023 election. It stressed that what began as a mere rumour seems to be gathering momentum so close to the presidential primary of the party.

The group pointed out that one of the most telling negative implications of such an action was that the APC does not have anyone of electoral value who could win election for except it smuggles in a former president that the party defeated seven years ago for his

glaring incompetence.

The group stressed that in APC today, there were presidential aspirants with credible pedigrees and humongous electoral value and capacity, insisting that it was not only unnecessary to smuggle Jonathan into the party, it was also self-indicting and APC’s performance in office have been worse than an administration that Nigerians thoroughly rejected in 2015.

FG Reaffirms Commitment to Private Sector Investment in Healthcare and right environment that (HICON) would respond to fortifying our resolve not only to Gilbert Ekugbe The federal government yesterday restated its commitment to supporting the Organised Private Sector’s (OPS’) investments in the nation’s healthcare sector.

The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, explained that the present administration will continue to provide the necessary policy framework

would stimulate local and foreign investments in Nigeria’s healthcare sector.

He stated this at the inauguration of Katchey Analytical Laboratories in Ikeja and groundbreaking of the proposed Katchey Complex in Magboro Area of Ogun State.

According to him, the ongoing development policy framework for the creation of the Health Industries Corporation of Nigeria

the challenges of the health sector, noting that the overall mandate of the policy framework is to ensure availability and affordability of health care in Nigeria.

He assured Katchey and the investing public that federal government’s diversification drive in the health sector will go a long way in reducing health problems in the country.

“My presence here is a sign of

support you, but also to assure you that my office remains open for further engagements with you as you expand your frontiers in the health care sector,” he said.

He commended Katchey’s investment drive, saying that the groundbreaking will mark the beginning of the collaboration and partnership between the government and the company towards sustainable development growth in the health industry.

Despite Manpower Shortage, Katsina Disengages Voluntary Health Workers Francis Sardauna in Katsina The Katsina State Government has disengaged and banned voluntary health workers from rendering services to its health facilities across the 34 local government areas of the state despite shortage of manpower.

In a statement by the Director, Administration and Supplies of the State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dikko Bala

K-Sauri, accused the volunteers of extortion and other forms of misconduct.

K-Sauri, said: “Sequel to the reports of extortion and other forms of misconducts allegedly being perpetrated by some voluntary workers in our facilities across the 34 LGAs in the state.

“I am directed to inform you that the services of volunteers have been abolished with immediate effect. Consequent

upon, all volunteers have been disengaged and banned from rendering any service in our facilities.”

Speaking on the shortage of manpower, the Executive Secretary of the Agency, Dr. Shamsudeen Yahaya, said the state has a substantial number of permanent health workers and 3,400 casual staff manning its facilities.

He explained that the

government had recruited additional 300 midwives and senior community health extension workers to tackle issues of pregnancy delivery and postpartum.

Yahaya added that the state government had approved the recruitment of 217 state indigenes under the primary healthcare development agency to effectively manage primary healthcare centers.

FRIDAY MAY 6, 2022 ˾ T H I S D AY

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Nigeria’s Security Not Negotiable, Says Chief of Army Staff Unveils residences for officers in Kebbi, Sokoto Ismail Adebayo ÓØ ÓÜØÓØ̋ ÏÌÌÓ ËØÎ Onuminya Innocent in Sokoto TThe Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt General Farouk Yahaya, has stated

that the security of the country is not negotiable, as the army is committed to providing the needed security for Nigeria and its citizens.

The army chief, during the inauguration of 153 set of renovated

blocks of housing units for junior officers at the 223 Battalion, Dakkarawa barracks in Zuru, while on a routine operational tour, said the army would continue in its effort to make the country and its citizens

Anyim: Problem of Insecurity, Poverty ‘ll Continue if Good Leader is Not Elected in 2023

Chuks Okocha ÓØ ÌßÔË

A frontline People Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Aspirant, Sen. Pius Anyim Pius Anyim, yesterday said that the problem of poverty and insecurity would persist the right leader is not elected for the position of president in 2023.

Anyim, who is a former President of the Senate stated this when he met with the PDP delegates from Zamfara State on Thursday in Abuja.

Anyim said that Nigerians knows what they want at this period, which includes more unified, safe and secure and, prosperous country where every citizen has legitimate source of living and equal opportunity for all.

Anyim, who decried the number of person dying in Zamfara on daily basis because of insecurity, said that if elected as president, he would work to return peace and prosperity to Zamafara and Nigeria.

He said that with the right leadership and right economy management, Zamafara with its endowed natural resources should

be the richest state in Nigeria.

“Today, you all know my history and pedigree. You all know that wherever I work or step in; peace, stability, growth and prosperity, equity and fairness return there.

“All I am asking for is that 2023 is not going to be like other elections, we are trying to recruit a leader that will recue Nigeria. It is not just an ordinary election.

“If we don’t recruit the right leader, life will continue to be meaningless. We will continue to be poor in the midst of plenty. I ask you for one thing let us partner to rescue Nigeria.

“If you ask me, in this partnership what is the need for Zamafara? I will tell you that one, I will make sure that security and respect for human lives return to Zamafara.

“I will make sure that natural resources in Zamfara is manage for the benefits of Zamfara people and Nigeria. I will make sure that Zamafara become the richest state in Nigeria.”

Anyim urged the party delegates from the state to partner with him in his ambition to rescue Nigeria

from it present challenges, including insecurity and poverty.

The former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, said it was time for the delegates to be careful not to be deceived at this period.

Addressing delegates and international partners yesterday in Lagos, Sulaiman-Ibrahim, stated that the move, marks the start of a new phase of inter-institutional engagement in the development of the long-awaited stand-alone domestication.

She added that the KC is a pioneering instrument, the first legally binding instrument on IDPs, and is a standard-setting international instrument of regional scope on how to provide protection and assistance as well as durable solutions for IDPs throughout the continent of Africa.

She noted that the domestication

Wale Igbintade A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos yesterday sentenced a former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Labour and Productivity, Dr. Clement Illoh, to 12 years imprisonment on a three-count charge bordering on non-declaration of assets.

Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo of the Ikeja Special Offences Court had on October 3, 2019 convicted Illoh and sentenced him to five years imprisonment for N14.1million fraud.

However, in his latest trial, Justice Babs Kuewunmi again convicted Illoh

would address the unique characteristics of internal displacement in African countries, while also providing a clearer and stronger legal basis for the protection of internally displaced persons (IDPs).

She said: “It provides an appropriate legal framework for the protection and assistance of IDPs. It is geared towards ending internal displacements by addressing the root causes, providing durable solutions, and enhancing or addressing gaps where no legal instrument protects the housing, land, and property (HLP) rights of the vulnerable IDP.”

2023: PDP Chieftain Decries Increasing Number of Presidential Aspirants Sylvester Idowu A Chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and former Delta State Gubernatorial aspirant, Chief Sunny Onuesoke, has decried the proliferation of presidential aspirants in 2023 general election by the different political parties.

Onuesoke, who spoke to newsmen at Asaba International Airport, Asaba, Delta State yesterday, said he is disturbed by the way all ‘Dicks, Toms and Harries’ are declaring their intentions to contest for the office of

the President of Nigeria, wondering if the office of the president has now become a joke.

“I know people will say this is democracy, the more the contestants the better for the choice of a capable candidate. I disagree with the above insinuation. The presidency of Nigeria is a serious business. Nigeria is the largest black nation in the world and definitely not every joker should be declaring for the presidency of the country. Some persons that can’t even win their wards are declaring for the presidency. How did we get to this

sorry path?”, he asked.

He said presently, there are a total of over 65 presidential aspirants across all the political parties, stressing that majority of them have no chance in serious countries to be town mayors.

“I think this is the highest number of political aspirants we have ever had in the history of the country. Every clown believes he can be president of Nigeria. The presidency of Nigeria is now a joke. At this rate, many artisans will declare for the presidency soon after all you just need a primary six certificate to be president of the country.

15 Killed, Three Others Missing as Canoe Capsizes in Katsina Community Francis Sardauna ÓØ ËÞÝÓØË

No fewer than 15 people were killed on Wednesday night when a canoe carrying 21 passengers capsized while crossing Sabke Dam in Mai’Adua Local Government Area of Katsina State.

The incident, which occurred at about 8:30pm, claimed the lives of eight children and seven adults while the paddler of the canoe and two other passengers have been declared missing.

The victims, who are indigenes of Tsabo village in Mai’Adua Local Government Area of the state, were returning from Bariya village in Mashi local government area of the state after paying Sallah homepage to their relatives.

The State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Gambo Isah, who confirmed the incident to THISDAY yesterday, said three persons have been rescued by policemen in collaboration with fishermen in the community.

for renovation in an effort to make life comfortable for the families of the troops.

He said: “We have noticed the porous nature of the barracks, and we will fence the vulnerable parts of the barracks. We also noticed water shortage, so we will provide water for them too.”

The army chief enjoined families of the troops to maintain the renovated apartments for their comfort.

Earlier in his speech, Brigadier General, O S. Obot (GOC) said since 1975 that the Dakkarawa barracks in Zuru was established, it has never witnessed the renovation it is currently undergoing under the

leadership of General Yahaya.

He said: “The ongoing renovation efforts in the barracks are in furtherance of the commitment of the chief of army staff to improve on the welfare of soldiers in the country.”

The GOC said the transformational efforts of the chief of army staff are commendable because it’s helping in the improvement of the troops’ welfare.

While in Zuru, the COAS visited the Emir of Zuru, Alhaji Muhammadu Sank Sami Gomo II. He said he was in the palace to pay his respect and honour to the emir for his efforts in peace initiatives in the country.

Non-assets Declaration: Again, Court Sends Ex-Perm Sec, Illoh, to 12 years Imprisonment

Domestication of Kampala Convention ‘ll Protect Internally Displaced Persons, Says Sulaiman-Ibrahim The Federal Commissioner, National Commission for Refugees Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), Hon Imaan SulaimanIbrahim, has described the on-going workshop of domestication of the African Union Convention on Internally Displaced Persons (Kampala Convention) as a worthwhile initiative.

According to the Commissioner, Article 3 (2) of the Kampala Convention(KC) provides that state parties should incorporate, that is domesticate the KC into its domestic laws by enacting or amending relevant legislation.

safe at all time.

He said the army has embarked on the renovation of 153 blocks of housing units in the barracks to make the families of the troops in different operational theatres in the country comfortable.

According to him, “Many of our troops are in different operational theatres, so their families deserve to be supported so that they can be gingered.

“All we are doing to support families of our personnel at different operational theatre are made possible by the support we get from President Muhammadu Buhari.”

Yahaya added that another set of 12 blocks have been identified

He reiterated that frantic efforts were ongoing by police operatives and other security personnel in the area to rescue the paddler of the canoe and the two other missing passengers.

He said: “We received a distress call yesterday (Wednesday) that a canoe carrying a yet-to-be identified number of passengers on board from Ungwar Bariya village of Mashi LGA to Tsabo village in Mai’Adua LGA after Sallah visitation while crossing back home capsized.

after he changed his, “not guilty” plea to “guilty,” four years after the prosecution closed its case.

The judge held “I have given due attention to the allocutus of the defendant. However, the court will not fail to perform its duty in accordance with the provisions of the law.

“Consequently, the defendant is hereby sentenced to four years in each of each counts and same shall run concurrently from the 10th of October 2019.”

The judge also ordered the forfeiture of the sum of N97,300,613.44, $139,575.50 and £10,121.52 respectively to the

federal government of Nigeria being proceeds of unlawful activities.

Illoh was prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a threecount charge.

In the first count, EFCC prosecutor, Rotimi Oyedepo told the court that the defendant on April 19, 2016, in Lagos, failed to make full disclosure of assets to the tune of N97.3 million, an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 27 Sub-section 3c of the EFCC Establishment Act of 2004.

In the second count, he was accused of failing to disclose the sum of $139,575, while in the third

count he failed to disclose assets of £10,121.00 respectively.

However, when the matter came up yesterday, Illoh made changed his plea and pleaded guilty following an intensive cross-examination from EFCC counsel Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo.

The prosecutor revealed that Illoh received funds to the tune of N65million from SURE P project contractors to his personal First Bank account number 3033750243.

In the middle of proceedings, defence counsel Mr. T.S. Awana sought the court’s permission to confer with his client, following which he applied for the defendant to change his plea.

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UK Makes U-turn, Recognises IPOB as Terrorist Group Excluded from Asylum The Government of the United Kingdom(UK) has made a u-turn on its treatment of members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), recognising Nigeria’s classification of the group as a terrorist organisation.

According to the The Cable, in a May 2022 update of its asylum policy, the UK government excluded members of the group from seeking refuge in England.

TheCable had reported in April 2021 that the UK was planning to grant asylum to persecuted members of the separatist group, as part of its refugee policy published at the time.

The policy, at the time, was for asylum to be granted to “persecuted” members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), and the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB)”.

The UKVI, a division of the Home Office, directed its decision makers to consider if a person “who actively and openly supports IPOB is likely to be at risk of arrest and detention, and ill-treatment

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly known and addressed as BANKOLE BOSEDE BIDEMI OMOLABAKE, now wish to be known and addressed as IBIDAPO BOSEDE BIDEMI. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as OLANIYAN MOJISOLA DORCAS, now wish to be known and addressed as OKEDUNWON MOJISOLA DORCAS. All former documents remain valid. Kings University, Odeomu, Osun State and general public take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as SARAH OLUWATISEYITAN OYEFESO, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS SARAH OLUWATISEYITAN OBADINA. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

I formerly known as MISS. IGBINOVIA ESTHER OSASERE now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. UWUGIAREN ESTHER OSASERE. All former documents remain valid. Authority concerned and general public should please take note.

which is likely to amount to persecution.”

If the person can prove persecution, then the IPOB member or supporter could be granted asylum.

A few days after the policy notes were published, the UK government took it down, following complaints from the Nigerian government.

In July 2021, an updated policy on asylum was seen

by TheCable, with no clear mention of IPOB, but more emphasis on Nigerians fleeing Boko Haram’s onslaught.

The UK said at the time that it would offer protection to “women, LGBTI persons and non-indigenes” who “may face additional discrimination which prevents them from being able to access effective protection”.

The UK government said Nigerians could now claim asylum in the UK if they face “fear of persecution and/or serious harm by members of Boko Haram because of” their “actual or perceived opposition to the group”.

However, in its May

2022 policy update seen by TheCable, UKVI referred to IPOB as a terrorist organisation to be excluded from its asylum

programme over alleged links to violence in the south-east.

“IPOB is proscribed as a terrorist group by the Nigerian

government, and members of the group and its paramilitary wing – the Eastern Security Network (created in December

2020) – have reportedly committed human rights violations in Nigeria,” UKVI said in its policy notes.

WELL DESERVED PROMOTION…

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial aspirant in Abia State, Mayor Lucky Igbokwe, decorating Vincent Okoche, one of the mobile police officers attached to him, who was promoted to the rank of an Inspector by the Nigerian Police Force in Umuahia...recently

2023: Ohanaeze Insists on Presidency, Not Vice-President

Amby Uneze in Owerri

The Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, a foremost Southeast socio-political group, has reiterated her resolve to ensure that the presidency of Nigeria comes to

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly known and addressed as SARAH OLUWATISEYITAN OYEFESO, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS SARAH OLUWATISEYITAN OBADINA. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as MISS ADEOLA NIKE CATHERINE, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS SALAMI NIKE CATHERINE. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as OLALEYE ELIZABETH OLAWUMI, now wish to be known and addressed as SMART ELIZABETH OLAWUMI. All former documents remain valid. General public should take

I Formerly known and addressed as MISS ADETUNJI RASHIDAT OLABISI now wish to be known and address as MRS. RASHIDAT OLABISI OGUNTOLALAGUDA. All old documents remain valid, the general public should please take note.

I, KAREEM SHUKURAT TEMITOPE, am the same person as KAREEM TEMITOPE as it has been captured in some of my documents and bank details, now I want to add SHUKURAT. Henceforth, I am now bearing KAREEM SHUKURAT TEMITOPE. All former documents remain valid, the general public should please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as PATIENCE ISAH, now wish to be known and addressed as PATIENCE YUNANA MADAKI. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

7KLV LV WR FRQ¿UP WKH QDPH LQ VRPH of my documents were wrongly spelt as MOMOH OSHIOKPEKHE E. and ABUBAKHAR ESHIOKPEKHE MOMOH. But the correct spelling of my names are: ABUBAKAR ESHIOKPEKHA MOMOH. The general public should please take note.

the South East in 2023 for reasons of justice, equity and fairness.

This decision, among others, was a major issue reached on Thursday in Enugu at the crucial Ohanaeze Imeobi meeting held at the National Secretariat of the body.

Among the issues discussed were the need for all Ndigbo residing in any part of the country and of voting age (18) to seize the ongoing voter registration exercise by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and enlist for the 2023 election.

The group also pleaded with President Muhammadu Buhari to release the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kalu, who is currently facing terrorism charges at the Federal High Court, Abuja.

In a communique issued at the end of the meeting, the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Ambassador George Obiozor, regretted the insecurity that is currently rocking the zone in particular, and Nigeria in general especially, the sit-athome, which has crippled both the lives and economy of the

South East.

On the clamour for an Igbo to be elected President of Nigeria, Obiozor said, “It’s morally and historically justifiable. It is a project every Igbo must commit him or herself.

“To this end, Ohanaeze Ndigbo has made contacts with several Nigerian leaders with respect to the right of the South East to produce a President for the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

All the double dealings about zoning and rotation of power is an orchestrated conspiracy to deprive the South East of the

right to produce a president.

“I want to assure all of you that hard as they may try, they will surely fail. Ours is a right and just cause. I wish to use this opportunity to encourage all the Presidential aspirants from the South East to remain focused, tenacious and optimistic.

“In fact, we are fully committed to the resolution by the Southern and Middle Belt Leadership Forum (SMBLF) that no Southerner, in fact a South Easterner for that matter, should denigrate himself or herself with the position of a Vice President.

PTAD: Defunct PHCN Retirees Not Entitled to 33% Pension Increment James Emejo in Abuja

The Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) yesterday clarified that retired staff of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) are not entitled to the pension increment of 33 per cent by the federal government.

“This is because PHCN pensioners were already on

a special salary structure before the pension review for pensioners who while in service were on one of the harmonised salary structures of the federal public service,” the directorate said in a statement made available to THISDAY. The clarification came against the backdrop of growing agitation by some group of PHCN pensioners known as concerned PHCN Pensioners,

who alleged that PTAD had colluded with some “powerful individuals” to deprive them of the pension increment as approved by the federal government in 2010.

PTAD further claimed that the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission, which is responsible for policy statement on emoluments including pensions had directed via a letter of approval Ref:

SWC/S/04/S.542/26 of 26th September 2014, that the former PHCN workers are not entitled to the increment in question.

PTAD, however, assured that President Muhammadu Buhari remained committed to the welfare of pensioners and has consistently demonstrated this by approving the payment of outstanding pension arrears and regular payment of monthly pensions.

Ekpoudom Joins A’Ibom North West Senatorial Race of democracy to the people of the people well.

Akwa Ibom State and Nigeria Okon Bassey in Uyo Deputy Inspector General of police, DIG Udom Ekpoudom (rtd) has joined the Senatorial race of Akwa Ibom North West (Ikot Ekpene) Senatorial District for the 2023 general elections under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Speaking at the official inauguration of his campaign office in Ikot Ekpene, he assured the people of bringing dividends

the Senatorial district.

He promised to focus on security, education, mass transportation, roads and infrastructure, housing, health, environment, agriculture, economic, social, youth and women development.

Ekpoudom said he would use his wealth of experience in leadership to galvanize the Senatorial district and assured of his commitment in representing

“In the past, I have been blessed

by God to serve as a Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) and served the good people of this nation creditably well.

“Hence, my varied experience in private and public life has imbued me with requisite insights, experiences and networking of relationships adequate to provide a leadership that will galvanize our dear senatorial district to achieve her manifest destiny in

at large.

“Recall, on the 6th February, 2022, stakeholders in Ikot Ekpene senatorial district adopted me as a sole senatorial aspirant and I am responding to that call for service.

“By this, I know you have placed me on position of responsibility and authority but be rest assured that I will not fail the people of Ikot Ekpene senatorial district in the challenge ahead.”

Ila Varsity: We’re Ready for Take-off, Says Oyetola

Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo

Osun State Governor, Adegboyega Oyetola has made it cleared that the State is fully ready for the smooth take-off of the recently approved Federal University of Health and Medical Sciences, Ila-Orangun in Ila Local Government Area of the State.

He disclosed that as part of efforts to ensure that academic

activities commence at the institution in September, 2022, the State government had since approved for use, part of facilities at the College of Education in lla as temporary site of the specialised University.

Oyetola revealed that the government had also approved land for the citing of the University’s permanent site, adding that the survey of the

land would be soon completed.

He made this know when he received the technical team from the Federal Ministry of Education, who are in Osun to kick-start process for the establishment of the University. The team informed the Governor of the FG’s determination to ensure the institution takes off by September.

Responding, Oyetola said

the state government was prepared to support FG’s efforts to actualise the dream of establishing the specialised university which he said, would enhance healthcare delivery in the State and also complement his administration’s efforts to revitalise the health sector.

He therefore, commended President Muhammadu Buhari for considering Osun worthy of having the institution.

47

FRIDAY, MAY 6˜ ͺ͸ͺͺ ˾ T H I S D AY

FRIDAYSPORTS

Group Sports Editor: Duro Ikhazuagbe Email: duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com

0811 181 3083 SMS ONLY

Cyriel Dessers (right) led Feyenoord to a historic Europa Conference League final last night after playing a goalless draw with Marseille. Feyenoord progressed based on their 3-2 victory from the first leg with Dessers scoring two of their goals

Dessers Powers Feyenoord into Historic Europa Conference League Final Aribo, Balogun, Bassey also in action as Rangers book Europa League final ticket Duro Ikhazuagbe Super Eagles forward, Cyriel Dessers, was in action as Feyenoord held Marseille to a goalless and qualify for their first ever final of the Europa Conference League last night.

Feyenoord advanced into the final 3-2 on aggregate.

Dessers was in action for 90 minutes as Feyenoord held on to secure qualification for the final.

They will now face Serie A side Roma who defeated Leicester City 1-0 thanks to Tammy Abraham’s goal.

Super Eagles stars Kelechi Iheanacho and Ademola Lookman were in action for Leicester.

The former Chelsea forward scored the only goal in the 11th minute to send Jose Mourinho’s side 2-1 on aggregate.

Iheanacho came on before the start of the second half while Lookman was replaced by Daniel

Amartey.

The final will be played on 25 May 2022 at the Arena Kombëtare in Tirana, Albania.

Elsewhere, Super Eagles trio

of Joe Aribo, Calvin Bassey and Leon Balogun were in action as Rangers 3-1 (3-2 aggregate) to book the final ticket of the Europa League against Eintracht

Frankfurt .

Rangers swept aside RB Leipzig on an emotionally charged and memorable night at Ibrox.

Guardiola: Man City Must Process the Defeat in Bernabeu

Pep Guardiola insisted yesterday that Manchester City must "process" their remarkable Champions League semi-final loss to Real Madrid and "come back" as they look to defend their Premier League title.

City had a final spot snatched away from them in Spain as Real scored twice in stoppage time and again in extra time to come back from two goals down.

They lead Liverpool by a point in the league and face Newcastle on Sunday.

"It is tough for us, I cannot

deny," Guardiola said of Wednesday's loss.

"We were so close to the Champions League final.

"Now we need to process that and come back, with our people at home and in the last four games we have."

In one of the finest knockout ties in Champions League history, City looked to be emerging victorious after Riyad Mahrez's goal gave them a 5-3 lead in the tie.

But two goals from substitute Rodrygo in stoppage time for a Real side who had previously not

had a shot on target levelled it up before Karim Benzema's penalty won it for the Spanish side in extra time.

"In the first half we did not have (the) game, we were not good enough. But we did not suffer much," Guardiola told BT Sport.

"After we scored the goal we were better. We found our tempo and our game and the players were comfortable. It is not like in the last 10 minutes they attack and attack and you suffer. It didn't happen,” recalled the Barcelona legend.

Nigeria Police Grants Request for Okpekpe Race Security Coverage Organisers of the historic 8th Okpekpe international 10km road race have been assured of adequate security coverage for the World Athletics Elite Label race scheduled to hold in Okpekpe, Edo State on Saturday May 28, 2022.

Zack Amodu, the race director reveals that the Nigeria Police has granted request by Pamodzi Sports Marketing, organisers of the the race designated, through its label status as one of the leading road races around the world for a total security coverage of the event.

The Nigeria Police conveyed its approval via a letter dated March 24, 2022 and signed by CP Idowu Owohunwa, principal staff officer

to the Inspector general of Police.

“The Okpekpe race organisers have always worked closely with the Nigeria Police to ensure the safety of our runners and spectators,” said Amodu who revealed measures that have been mapped out to ensure safety of runners and spectators come May 28in Okpekpe. ''Police and medical units will be stationed at the start and the finish line as well as along the race course.

No spectators will be allowed in the immediate finish line area,' he stated adding that runners will not be permitted to linger or wait for another runner in the finish line area. ''There will be a designated area for spectators to view the finish line

as only runners, accredited race officials and medical personnel will be allowed within the start and finish areas,” Amodu added. ''While we request that runners and spectators remain alert and report abandoned bags/suspicious object to race officials and EOD of the Nigeria police force, members of the the press will also be required to present Photo ID and must always wear their accreditation tags before access to restricted areas, in addition to their bags and equipment being subjected to inspection.'' ''The safety and security of runners, volunteers, spectators, staff of Pamodzi Sports Marketing, Edo State government officials, Athletics

Federation of Nigeria officials, our sponsors as well as officials of the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development remains our highest priority. ''We are delighted the Nigeria Police has, once again granted our request and can assure those who will be around and in Okpekpe on race day of their safety as well as providing adequate security patrol along Benin-Auchi Road.

Amodu is confident of another hitch-free event on May 28, assuring that Pamodzi Sports Marketing, Edo state governemnt and the AFN have the capacity and experience to ensure everything goes well on race day.

Trailing 1-0 from the first leg, Rangers turned the semi-final on its head within 25 minutes through goals from James Tavernier and Glen Kamara.

Christopher Nkunku's 32nd goal of the season levelled the tie again before John Lundstram shook Ibrox with 10 minutes left after sweeping home.

Ruger Delights Fans in Enugu as Real Madrid Win Dramatic Night UEFA Champions League nights are always fun-filled with Heineken and for fans in Enugu, they had one they would remember for a long time to come as they celebrated Real Madrid’s remarkable qualification for the 2022 final ahead of Manchester City.

Fans of both clubs, football lovers and consumers of Heineken were treated to the best of entertainment

by Heineken's UEFA Champions League train which passed the night at Villa Toscana Hotel in Enugu after they had toured different parts of the country to thrill football fans and customers alike.

But contrary to other nights, Wednesday was totally different as Rodrygo's late brace within two minutes stretched the game into extra time after Riyad Mahrez had put Manchester City in front.

The game was finally turned in favour of Madrid as Karim Benzema netted a penalty in extra time to ensure the chase for an astonishing 14th UEFA Champions League title remains on course for Los Blancos.

On a night that threw up a mix of fulfilment and disappointment, it was the fans that went home with an early champion's crown courtesy of Heineken.

One of the country’s most sought after talented afro-beat stars, Ruger crowned the night for the fans with his energetic live performance that saw fans rocking to his hit songs.

Ruger gave the fans a full dose of

HEINEKEN UCL NIGHT entertainment at its best alongside hype-man Shody who was the event's host.

DJ Chase, the crowd controller, was also at his best as his turntables were busy all night with different tunes that rented the air after a breath-taking 120 minutes of football action.

The bragging and bantering rights earned by Real Madrid fans after the final whistle did not stop Man City fans and consumers of Heineken from winning different Heineken merchandise as they answered questions like - who won the first corner kick, what team had the first free-kick, who received the first yellow card asked during the half time break and before the start of extra time.

One of the winners, Alex, a Real Madrid fan who won a play station pad, football boot and jersey lauded the Heineken "Cheers to all fans" initiative saying the memories of the event would last forever.

"This is unbelievable. Fans, friends, and family coming together to watch and support our clubs while sharing bottles of Heineken and still have fun while answering questions, winning branded gifts, and the DJ giving us hits, this is magical and unforgettable. Big ups to Heineken for the initiative, big ups to them" the delighted fan stated.

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MISSILE Southern, M/Belt Leaders to Abdullahi, NEF “It is rather unfortunate and absurd that Ango Abdullahi and his Northern Elders Forum would make such a twaddle. Are they now ready to dissolve the country? What has happened that zoning, which has been a sine qua non in the nation’s political progression, has now become a dead and buried issue, in the irrational contemplations of Ango Abdullahi and his co-travellers?”” –SMBLF Leaders, berating the Northern elders for their now anti-zoning stance.

MAGNUSONYIBE GUEST COLUMNIST

Unwholesome Resort to Consensus for Producing Candidates for 2023 Elections

D

espite the huddle placed on the path of political actors via section 84 clause (9) in Electoral Act 2022, which demands that for a consensus process of election in political parties to be deemed legitimate, it must be consented to in writing by all the registered candidates contesting for that office: the resort to consensus methodology in the recruitment of our political leaders has become the most preferred process of producing candidates for the 2022/23 general elections in our politically beleaguered country.

In some cases, there are breaches of the provision in Section 84 clause (9) of the Electoral Act 2022 which requires that for a consensus candidate to be accepted as legitimate, all the candidates vying for the same office, and who have signified interest by paying for and obtaining the party’s nomination forms, must have put down in writing their acceptance to step down for the consensus candidate and A VOTING EXERCISE, even if symbolically, has to be conducted.

Hitherto ‘elders’ of the party, willy-nilly, dictated who is crowned as a consensus candidate, and it was often done without recourse to the other contestants who had not been chosen.

And in most cases, the ‘chosen’ one is the highest bidder or the fellow who presented the highest filthy lucre to the so-called leaders of the party.

That element of dictatorship, made consensus methodology, a selection process rather than an election process that it ought to be.

Real political party election in a democratic system, presupposes that there would be horse-trading and jostling for delegates that would cast their votes in favor of the preferred candidates of the members of the party who are the delegates or registered, not just a few elders intent on illegally appropriating the rights of fellow members of the party.

It is worrying that oftentimes, votes are not cast when a consensus process has been adopted. Rather candidates emerge by fiat.

That is a breach of the electoral law of our country which is sanctionable.

Therefore it is surprising and curious that, such an aberration is being claimed to be the case with March 26, 2022, APC convention which was allegedly conducted via a consensus process without the voting aspect -a prerequisite for the conferment of legitimacy on the exercise.

As such, it is a ground for litigation with a view to declaring the ruling party’s convention illegal, null and void if and when the allegation is tested in court to determine if indeed the APC met the minimum requirement of section 84, clause (9) of the electoral law 2022.

In the event that it is proven that voting never took place during the convention where a consensus option was exercised, as it is being alleged, it would be in violation of the Electoral Act 2022 and a negation of a cardinal principle in a functional democracy of which voting is an intrinsic part of the general process that is grounded in the majority-wins-the-votes mantra which is a foundational bulwark and fulcrum of democracy.

As we all are well aware, a truly democratic process is characterized by the wooing of delegates by the candidates contesting for public offices who must market, sell or pitch their manifestos to the voters with a view to persuading them to cast their votes in their favor in order to emerge as winners.

Against the backdrop of the scenario described above, it is trite to state that the resort to consensus option which is bereft of any of the protocols outlined earlier, as conditions precedent, is suboptimal since it falls short of the legal requirement for the process of consensus to be said to have been fully consummated.

Striped of those politicking adornments, in the opinion of purists and defenders of democracy,

APC Chairman, Adamu

PDP Chairman, Ayu

of which l am one, consensus candidacy in more ways than one, devalues and denigrates democracy.

That is simply because the atmosphere for disaffection amongst politicians to thrive evolves when the other interested candidates in public offices being contested are prevented from testing their mettle to win votes at the polls based on the strength of their plans and programs of development for the progress and betterment of the electorate.

It needs to be emphasized that consensus candidacy institutionalizes zoning and promotes prebendal considerations which attenuate the value or dilute the potency of democracy.

Unarguably, the imposition of candidates via consensus is responsible for the preponderance of political party-related cases in courts which is a manifestation of the feeling of disenfranchisement by victim politicians of that unwholesome process of recruiting leaders.

To be clear, while one is not making a case for the total elimination of consensus candidacy in politics in our beloved Nigeria, the point being made is that in an ideal situation, resort to consensus is an exception rather than the rule.

Unfortunately, the adoption of consensus for producing candidates for political office contestation in the current political dispensation in our dear country is tending towards reaching an epidemic proportion.

The assertion above is validated by the fact that before the APC leveraged consensus in conducting its primaries on 26 March, 2022, the main opposition party, PDP had also deployed the consensus method for the conduct of its party’s convention held on 30-31 October 2021.

To put in perspective the unwholesomeness of the consensus option of producing political office seekers by parties, let us take a critical look at the main opposition party, PDP which currently has a motley crowd of fourteen (14) men and women who have declared interest in the presidency by purchasing the nomination forms.

The current push for the adoption of a consensus process for choosing the party’s presidential flag bearer driven by the former senate president, Bukola Saraki, would likely not augur well for the party as it could trigger combustion and conflagration of the party, if adopted simply because the candidates to be weeded out may feel short-changed since they were denied the opportunity to slug it out at the polls, which is the ideal requirement for a leadership recruitment process to be adjudged as being fair and democratic.

The susceptibility of consensus process to being

divisive is accentuated by the fact that the candidates that have literally thrown their hats into the ring are men and women of high caliber who are either political, corporate, or media/civil society advocacy juggernauts. They range from heavyweight and battle-tested leaders like ex Vice President Atiku Abubakar who is a veteran of about 6 presidential contests to the former senate president, Bukola Saraki, Sokoto state governor, Aminu Tambuwal -both of whom contested the last presidential primaries in 2019 on the platform of the PDP. In the list of the noncareer politicians who also contested in 2019, but on the platform of fringe political parties are Dele Momodu and Omoyele Sowore, both of whom are media entrepreneurs, as well as civil and political rights advocates.

The first time contenders for the presidency like ex-secretary to the government of the federation, who is also an ex senate president,Anyim Pius Anyim, Bauchi state governor, Bala Mohamed, Sam Ohuanbunwa, a pharmacist, and Mohammed Hayatu-Deen an ex-banker, are also featured in the burgeoning ranks of presidential candidates in the PDP fold.

Bringing up the rear is a physician from the USA, Nwachukwu Anakwenze, and the only female in the male dominated list, Olivia Diana Teriela.

Considering the caliber of the aforementioned candidates, how can a consensus process be an efficacious methodology for producing a flag bearer that would be considered acceptable,given the high quality and standard of the contestants (not timid by any measure) highlighted above, who will be denied the ticket? Plainly put, would fellow contestants see the consensus candidate as being deserving of the victory, and therefore inspire committed follower-ship after the order of the 2019 presidential contest which Atiku Abubakar won, and a fellow contender, Bukola Saraki graciously became the Director-General for his campaign?

That is exactly the reason the consensus initiative being driven by about half of the contenders for the presidency, of which the party primaries for candidates in the general elections scheduled for next month May 28 , is currently facing severe headwinds.

Having elevated democracy from being a mere selection process (which is actually subterfuge by another name) to the real election process (a basic tenet of democracy) via electoral reforms (evidenced by the use of electric accreditation and voting methods -BVN etc) started by president Umaru Yar’dua of blessed memory before he passed away in 2010 and now consolidated by

president Buhari; why should democracy be allowed to suffer a reversal of fortunes through the resort to mainly consensus process as opposed to indirect and direct primaries?

In light of the fact that both the main opposition party PDP and the ruling party at the center APC, have exhibited an uncanny penchant for tilting more towards consensus, is it not safe to conclude that the architects of the initial electoral reform bill 2020/21 which was vetoed by president Buhari had anticipated that having consensus as an option would be very alluring to politicians and could therefore be used to debase and possibly thwart the democratic process that was on the ascendancy in our country, hence it was not recommended?

Instead, the only direct primary was proposed in the original bill presented for presidential assent, as a hedge against the current situation whereby consensus appears to be the favorite option being adopted.

Before, going into the nitty-gritty, perhaps, it would help in putting the issue in a better perspective, by examining the dictionary meaning of consensus which is somehow a merger of two words Con and Census.

According to the Oxford dictionary, Con-is to persuade (someone) to do or believe something by lying to them, and Census-is an official count or survey, especially of a population.

So, a combination of con and census make up the word consensus.

From the description above, it is easy to identify an element of fraud in the word consensus.

That probably underscores the propensity with which some politicians prefer that process of producing candidates for public office elections to direct or indirect primary options.

In a nutshell, it is the Con aspect of the Census of opinion that explains the popularity of consensus type of primaries which is subject to manipulation by vested interests who had hitherto engaged in fraudulent election practices via ballot box snatching and stuffing; writing of results with hijacked sensitive and critical election result sheets before elections are conducted ; and abduction of election umpires such as returning officers who are placed under duress to append their signatures to the fake results , sometimes at gunpoint, to subvert the will of voters.

The foregoing perfidious acts were the hallmarks of previous electioneering processes and the factors responsible for the mooring of Nigeria’s political ship in shallow waters, instead of sailing in the ocean of political evolution, as it should, after over sixty (60) years of independence continuous practice of a democratic system of governance, back-to-back since 1999.

But following the recent improvements in the process of political leadership recruitment, arising from the reform of the electoral process that was last reviewed in 2010, culminating in the electoral act 2022, as reflected by the introduction of technologically driven electronic elements in voters’ accreditation and voting processes, such as the reliance on BVN, BVAS and electronic transmission of results from polling units to Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC database, the aforementioned vices that enabled rigging that negatively impacted election outcomes have been effectively eliminated.

And, just as the benefits of the positive values in the electoral reforms are about to be reaped, the process that is the most amenable to manipulation, which is election the consensus process, instead of direct or indirect primaries, is currently the most attractive to politicians for exploitation with magnetic force and in a manner that bees are attracted to honey, butterflies to nectar and monkeys to banana.

NOTE: Read the full piece in the online edition on www.thisdaylive.com

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