Monday, July 9, 2018

Pension operators slash lump sum to 20%, retirees kick 

• Buhari 

We’ve evidence of 

politicians’ involvement 

in killings – Presidency 

Page 7 

The 

EKITI POLL 

• Police deploy 30,000 cops, two choppers 

• Elders reject military involvement 

• CNPP advises INEC on fair election 

Page 59 

– Page 37 

MONDAY, JULY 9, 2018 VOL 42 NO. 21,716 www.punchng.com 

The Punch Newspapers @mobilepunch @+Punchng1 N200 

We won’t donate land for 

ranching, say S’East govs 

Page 11 

• (1) Thai rescue team members walking inside a cave where 12 young footballers and their coach have been trapped. (2) An ambulance leaves the Tham Luang cave area after 

divers evacuated some of the 12 boys and their coach at the cave in Khun Nam Nang Non Forest Park in the Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai province of Thailand...on Sunday. Photos: AFP 

Four young Thai footballers rescued from cave – Page 61 

Crisis: APC 

drags Galadima, 

others to court 

Page 11 

Ex-Ondo deputy gov’s daughter 

found dead in boyfriend’s room 

• Xenophobia: S’African shoots Nigerian six times 

• Police nab man for defiling 11-year-old girl 

Pages 4 & 5 

• 

2019: PDP BoT, govs, 

NASS members, 

others meet today 

Page 12

2 MONDAY, JULY 9, 2018

Vox pop 

MONDAY, JULY 9, 2018 

3 

Will creation of state police improve security? 

•Sunday Ehindero (Ex- Inspector- 

General of Police, Federal Republic of 

Nigeria) 

We are not ripe for state police. We saw 

in the First and Second Republic how 

the police were used by political opponents 

and it was an instrument of terror at that 

time. Moreover, state police cannot deal 

with the challenge of terrorism. Imagine 

terrorism in a state; it needs federal force 

to deal with it. If you look at what we have 

now, we have policemen in every state; the 

governors have some control over the police. 

Look at Lagos State; is the governor not in 

control? The governors have control, but 

Absolutely! The answer is clear. The 

state police issue is a small conceptual 

issue in the larger discussion of devolution 

of power and restructuring. What it means 

is that in any management system, if you 

concentrate power in the hands of one 

person and you ignore the component parts, 

there is bound to be inefficiency. So, when 

you have a President of Nigeria sitting in 

Abuja and controlling the entire criminal 

justice system of Nigeria, it is simply 

impossible for him to cope. It doesn’t matter 

if it is Buhari. It could be any President. 

You cannot effectively check human 

behaviour with an Inspector-General of 

Police sitting in Abuja. It is not possible. 

The standard procedure is that policing 

is devolved along three areas: federal, 

state and local government. That is what 

happens in the United States and the United 

Kingdom. So, state police is important 

to make powers available to the federal 

policing authority and also the states so that 

you can effectively tackle crime, terrorism 

and whatever misdemeanor. It would also 

empower the governors to run their states 

more effectively. 

However, I will not advocate picking state 

police out of the whole number of matters 

that can be devolved from the federation. 

If you are talking about state police, it 

means those who accept it must also accept 

a major devolution of powers to the states. 

When you devolve power to the states, the 

problem of revenue generation and payment 

•Hector Ehiguina (Benin-based legal 

practitioner) 

they are saying the Inspector-General of 

Police should not be the one giving orders 

to state Commissioners of Police. But the 

constitution has made it that the governor 

can give orders to the CP. But if the CP feels 

the order is not in the interest of justice or 

rule of law, he could ask the governor to 

revert the order to the IG or the President. 

We have not looked at the issue of boundary 

disputes between states. Take for instance, if 

Osun and Ondos states have state police and 

they have boundary problem, of course, each 

would use its own police to justify its position 

and that is not in the interest of justice. I think 

we are not ripe really. When I heard Deputy 

Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, saying it 

is only in Nigeria that we have police in this 

form, I want to say that there is nowhere the 

federation has evolved as we have evolved. 

The police can only be effective when there 

is developed rapport between the Force and 

the community to the extent that they can 

give information on their own to the police. 

Also, something has to be done about the 

funding of the police. The Police Trust Fund 

they are talking about should be effective; the 

police shouldn’t go cap in hand begging for 

funds; no it shouldn’t be. There should be a 

demarcation between the duties of the police 

and that of the military. Internal security 

should be the responsibility of the police and 

they must be put in a situation where they can 

perform their duty. 

• Dr Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, 

(Ex-President, Nigerian Bar Association) 

of policemen would be made possible. The 

fear of governors misusing the police is the 

same you can direct at the federal police. 

After all, all Nigerian Presidents since 1999 

have abused the federal police. 

So, that is not an excuse to reject state 

police. The same way we must ensure 

that the President does not misuse the 

state police is the same way we ensure 

that governors do not misuse state police. 

All we need to do is to look at successful 

models. 

do not think that Nigeria, as a country, 

I has developed economically to have state 

police, when you take into consideration 

our political structure. When we get to a 

certain stage in our economic development, 

then we can say that we have got to the 

point of having state police. 

Recently, some policemen in Bornu State 

complained about non-payment of their 

allowances. If we decide to have police 

funded by state governments, funding will 

be an issue. 

We have states that have not paid their 

workers for 19 months. So, imagine adding 

state police to that. 

I think the Nigeria police have the 

capacity to quell any violence perpetrated 

in any part of the country. The IG knows 

what to do in the event of violence. 

have been one of the advocates of state 

I police for a long time. It is good that the 

National Assembly has now got on the matter 

to ensure that they give the enabling law 

speedy passage. The creation of state police 

is going to improve our security because the 

governors of states have been called the chief 

security officers, which has just been a name 

without the power for them to carry out the 

responsibility. 

The challenge I hear the people talk 

about, which is that the state police can be 

an instrument of oppression, to me is not 

sufficient enough to kill the idea. 

Look, there is no way it can be made a tool 

for oppressing the opposition. How many 

Nigerians presently have been taking the 

police to court? If anyone thinks his rights 

have been infringed on by the state police, 

he or she has the right to go to court and take 

civil action. 

Also, people talk about the 2019 elections 

and the dangers of having the state police. 

I want to say that we conduct elections just 

once in four years, but we deal with insecurity 

every day. 

Security will no doubt improve when we 

have the state police. With state police, the 

recruitment will generally come from the 

locals who know the terrain. 

They will not work as if they are excluded 

believe the creation of state police will 

I improve the security of each state in 

Nigeria. The state police, just like in many 

developed countries, will complement the 

federal police. The state police will be more 

at home with the indigenes of the state. 

Obviously, if you are going to train policemen 

to keep Offa safe, we are going to look for 

people who know the Offa terrain and who 

will be part of the security outfit as it does 

happen in developed countries such as the 

United States. You have the federal, state 

and even county police. The counties have 

their different law enforcement agents also. 

I believe that we are overdue for state 

police. It is really going to cut down the 

violence that we are experiencing. 

There should be a collaboration of 

all stakeholders to address the current 

insecurity in some parts of the country. 

Even communities should play their role 

in ensuring their safety. Just like in Offa, 

we have commenced the construction of 

mobile police barracks. The project is being 

funded by Offa indigenes and friends. 

On completion, the first phase of the 

project, which consists of about 15 blocks 

M 

y views on state police have been 

constant. It is an essential part of the 

restructuring we have been advocating. State 

• Senator Femi Okurounmu (Ex- 

Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee 

on National Conference) 

•Mike Ejiofor (Ex-Director, Department 

of State Services) 

from the Nigeria Police Force. They will work 

in synergy with the federal police. 

If we don’t have structures like the 

state police on the ground, it may even be 

horrible for the security situation during 

elections. I think the National Assembly 

should go on with the passage of state 

police into law. 

•Dr Funso Oladipo (Chairman, Offa 

Security Trust Fund) 

of two bedrooms with a total of 120 flats, 

will accommodate a reasonable number 

of riot police personnel. There will also be 

administrative blocks and other facilities. 

That is the type of collaboration and synergy 

that will improve security. 

police is one of the most crucial aspects of 

restructuring because without state police, 

you cannot call the governors the chief 

security officers of their states. There is no 

way you can call a governor the chief security 

officer of a state when he has no control over 

the police. 

He cannot even enforce the laws of the 

state house of assembly. If it is the wish of 

the President that laws passed by the state 

assembly should be disobeyed, the President 

can ask the police not to enforce the law and 

there is nothing the governor can do. So, 

state police is very essential for the proper 

maintenance of law and order in the country. 

It also prevents dictatorship at the centre 

because if you have the police being controlled 

by just one man, then he can misuse it and 

there is nothing anybody can do. In fact, 

that is what is happening right now. The 

Fulani herdsmen are killing people right, 

left and centre; they are not being arrested 

or prosecuted because the Inspector-General 

of Police has decided to look the other way. 

So, there is nothing anyone can do. 

Compiled by: Success Nwogu, Adelani Adepegba, Eniola Akinkuotu, 

Olaleye Aluko and Alexander Okere

4 

metro 


... City, Crime, Courts 08185225745, 08055126196 

Kidney failure: Patient 

• Adenike 

Ex-Ondo deputy gov’s 

daughter found dead 

in boyfriend’s room 

Peter Dada, Akure 

The daughter of Alhaji 

Lasisi Oluboyo, a 

former deputy governor 

of Ondo State, has allegedly 

been found dead in her 

boyfriend’s room. 

According to a source, 

Adenike Oluboyo was found 

dead in the room of her man, 

Adeyemi Alao, in the Oke Aro 

area of Akure, the Ondo State 

capital. 

Adenike was said to be 

a student of the Adekunle 

Ajasin University, Akungba 

Akoko, Ondo State. 

The source said the young 

woman had been declared 

missing for the past six days 

before her lifeless body was 

found under a bed in the room 

of the suspect. 

He said, “The young woman 

has been missing for some 

days, but no one knew that 

she was dead and her body 

was in her boyfriend’s house 

in Akure. 

“It was Adeyemi’s brother 

that entered the room where 

the lifeless body of the lady 

was kept and saw it under the 

bed. Adeyemi later reported 

the matter at a police station.” 

The source added that the 

boyfriend had been arrested 

by the state police command. 

Another source told our 

correspondent that there 

had been insinuation that the 

death of the former deputy 

governor’s daughter might be 

more than it seemed. 

When contacted on the 

matter, the Police Public 

Relations Officer in the state, 

Alao 

Mr Femi Joseph, confirmed 

the incident and said some 

suspects had been arrested in 

connection with the death of 

the undergraduate. 

He, however, did not 

mention if the deceased’s 

boyfriend was among the 

arrested suspects. 

“I can confirm to you that 

the incident happened and we 

have arrested some suspects, 

but the Commissioner of 

Police, Mr Gbenga Adeyanju, 

will address the press on the 

matter in the next 48 hours. 

I can’t say more than that for 

now,” Joseph added. 

Samson Folarin 

Kidney failure patient, 

Tochi Mbonu, is in a 

critical condition and 

may die if she does not get 

urgent help. 

This was revealed by her 

Indian doctor, Dr Anil Prasad 

Bhatt, of Jaypee Hospital, 

Chankyapuri, New Delhi, 

India. 

PUNCH Metro had 

reported that the 32-yearold 

graduate of the Benue 

State University became ill 

in 2014 after taking a wrong 

drug prescription from a 

pharmacy. 

She collapsed in a bank 

where she had gone to 

withdraw money and was 

subsequently admitted to a 

hospital after which she was 

diagnosed with kidney failure. 

After being on dialysis 

for one year in Nigeria, 

her family was introduced 

to a non-governmental 

organisation, Dignity for the 

Helpless Foundation, and 

an agreement was reached 

to raise N11m for a kidney 

transplant operation in an 

Indian hospital. 

The NGO was to take N5m, 

while Tochi would get N6m. 

However, the NGO, after 

promising to open a joint 

account with the victim’s 

family, allegedly opened the 

account without involving any 

member of her family. 

The victim’s mother, Ndidi, 

told our correspondent on 

the telephone that since they 

arrived India, Brown had only 

sent N1.4m to them, adding 

that he sent N30,000 every 

two weeks. 

Ndidi, a widow, said due 

to lack of funds, she had 

resorted to selling moin-moin 

• Tochi with her mother 

(a delicacy made from beans) 

to keep Tochi’s weekly dialysis 

going, pending when help 

would come the family’s way. 

S’African gunman shoots Nigerian six times 

Adelani Adepegba, 

Abuja 

An unidentified gunman 

has shot dead a 

Nigerian, Lawrence 

Ozumba, in Mpumalanga, 

South Africa. 

The assailant was said 

to have made his way into 

Ozumba’s compound on July 

6 and requested to see him 

after which he shot him six 

times resulting in his death. 

The Consulate General, 

Nigeria High Commission 

in South Africa condemned 

the incident and asked 

South African authorities to 

unravel the mystery behind 

the dastardly act. 

The Vice Consul, 

Information and Culture at 

the Embassy, David Abraham, 

said in a statement on Sunday 

that efforts should be made by 

the police and other relevant 

• Scene of a xenophobic attack 

agencies to apprehend the 

assailant and bring him to 

justice. 

He called on Nigerians in 

South Africa to cooperate 

with the police and judicial 

officers in their investigation 

and prosecution. 

Abraham said, “The 

ugly incident was said to 

have occurred at 10 Koppe, 

Photo: Family 

Brown, in his reaction, 

denied the allegations against 

Incorrect salaries: NSCDC 

Samuel Awoyinfa 

The Zonal Command, 

Zone F, of the Nigeria 

Security and Civil 

Defence Corps has said the 

personnel with improper 

documentation of their records 

are the ones complaining 

of not being remunerated 

according to their status in 

the Ogun State Command of 

Photo: File 

Middleburg, Mpumalanga, 

South Africa, on July 6, 2018. 

An eyewitness account has it 

that an unknown man made 

way into the compound of Mr 

Ozumba Tochukwu Lawrence 

and requested to see him. 

“On being told about his 

guest, he came out to meet 

him, and the man shot him 

six times. It is yet to be 

the corps. 

The Zonal Public Relations 

Officer, Kareem Olanrewaju, 

who said this, explained that 

the Zone F consisted five 

Southwest states of Ogun, 

Osun, Oyo, Ondo and Ekiti. 

He also disclosed those that 

complained of suffering the 

dichotomy between HND and 

BA/Bsc in the command were 

not being fair to the corps. 

established the reason behind 

the sad incident.” 

The consulate 

commiserated with the 

deceased’s family and the 

Nigerian community in 

South Africa and promised 

to continue to advance the 

welfare and security of 

Nigerians in the country. 

“We therefore call on all 

our nationals to remain calm 

and eschew violence, as we 

seek to obtain justice for the 

deceased and members of 

his family,” the mission said. 

In April, ThankGod 

Okoro, 30, from Ogbaku, in 

the Awgu Local Government 

Area of Enugu State, was 

killed by unidentified 

assailants who have yet to 

be arrested. 

Records show that over 117 

Nigerians have been killed in 

South Africa since February, 

2016. 

PUNCH Metro had reported 

on Friday that some operatives 

of the command complained 

that they were promoted since 

2015, but not remunerated on 

their current status. 

They also said those of them 

that had HND’s were not 

given equal treatment like 

their colleague with university 

degrees. 

But Olanrewaju said on 

Sunday that some personnel 

had not complied with directive 

for proper documentation 

of their qualifications and if 

that was not done, it would 

be difficult for such to get 

promoted or get remunerated. 

He also said some of the 

affected officers deliberately 

took promotional examination 

they were not qualified for, 

thus creating confusion. 

He said, “The welfare 

of officers and men of the 

NSCDC is very important 

under the stewardship of 

the Minister of Interior, 

Abdulrahman Dambazau, and 

the Commandant-General, Mr 

Abdulahi Gana-Muhammodu. 

“Those who are complaining 

of not being paid correct 

salaries and being victims 

of HND/Bsc dichotomy are 

being economical with the 

truth. 

“For those complaining of 

salary arrears; ask them if 

they followed the directive by 

the corps. Some have problem

A 

45-year- old man, Musibau 

Asinde, has been arrested by 

the Ogun police command for 

defiling an 11-year-old girl at Ibese, in 

the Yewa South Local Government 

Area. 

The state Police Public Relations 

Officer, DSP Abimbola Oyeyemi, said 

the suspect was arrested following a 

Police nab man for defiling 11-year-old girl 

Samuel Awoyinfa, Abeokuta 

complaint from one Risikat, the mother 

of the victim. 

It was learnt that the victim’s mother 

had told the police at the Ilaro division 

that she sent her daughter on an errand at 

about 7.30 pm on Thursday, adding that 

on her way she was lured with N100 by the 

suspect, who raped her in his house. 

Oyeyemi said the Divisional Police Officer 

of the Ilaro division, Opebiyi Sunday, led 

his men to the house of the suspect where 

he was arrested. 

The PPRO said, “The suspect confessed 

to the crime, but blamed it on the devil. The 

victim has been taken to the Ilaro General 

Hospital for medical attention. 


5 

“The Commissioner of Police, 

Ahmed Iliyasu, has ordered that the 

suspect be transferred to the Anti- 

Human Trafficking and Child Labour 

Unit of the State Criminal Investigation 

and Intelligence Department. 

“He equally advised parents to 

desist from sending their children out 

in the night.” 

in critical condition, says doctor 

his organisation and accused 

the victim’s family of greed. 

After the accusation and 

counter-accusation, Tochi’s 

health deteriorated as there 

was no further fund for her 

treatment in India. 

One of the doctors treating 

her in India, Bhatt, told 

our correspondent on the 

telephone that only an urgent 

kidney transplant could save 

her from death. 

“She has been on dialysis 

for the past three years and 

she is ripe for a transplant. 

She needs some money for 

kidney transplant. She can 

live for 20 to 40 years if the 

transplant is successful,” he 

added. 

A letter from the Indian 

hospital said she needed 

$16,000 (N5.7m) for the 

transplant. 

Tochi’s mother, Ndidi, 

said, “We don’t have any 

money again. We have spent 

up all we saved on house 

rent. Being foreigners, we 

are billed double for the price 

of anything. The NGO we 

asked to help us in Nigeria 

has disappointed us and we 

are suffering here now.” 

The victim, who spoke to 

our correspondent through 

Whatsapp chat having gone 

deaf due to the complications, 

said she was losing hope of 

living another day. 

“I have been in India 

for over three years now, 

undergoing dialysis twice in a 

week. It has not been an easy 

experience for us, considering 

the financial challenge and 

medical expenses. Right 

‘Smugglers, customs clash caused by 

desperate smugglers’ 

Sesan Olufowobi and 

Samuel Awoyinfa 

The Nigeria Customs 

Service, Ogun State 

Area Command, on 

Sunday said the Saturday 

pandemonium in Papalanto, 

in the Ewekoro Local 

Government Area as a result 

of a clash between customs 

officer and smugglers was 

caused by smugglers who 

were desperate to flout the 

law for selfish reasons. 

The Public Relations 

Officer of the command, Mr 

Abdullahi Maiwada, who did 

not make comment about 

a resident that died in the 

clash, said the law-breaking 

smugglers wanted to 

prevent the operatives from 

carrying out their duties and 

says affected officials ignored directives 

• NSCDC Commandant-General, Mr Abdullahi Muhammadu 

with the documentation of 

their credentials. Some 

of them submitted HND 

certificates without either 

NYSC discharge certificates or 

certificates of exemption. 

“It means the affected people 

are not properly captured, 

and there was no way they 

could get their allowances and 

salaries. 

“Issues not presented or 

known to the management 

cannot be treated in proxy. 

“Anyone with complaint 

can formalise it and forward 

it through their state 

commandants to the Assistant 

Commandant-General in the 

• One of the injured officers ; CG Customs, Col Hammed Ali (retd.) Photos: NCS, file 

subsequently resorted to 

attacking the customs men 

who had to fight back. 

Residents and motorists 

had to run for dear lives on 

Saturday when men of the 

customs and smugglers 

engaged one another in a 

shootout in the Papalanto 

Photo: File 

zones where it could be treated 

or moved to the Commandant 

now, the doctor is saying my 

creatinine is high. He also said 

I am overdue for a transplant. 

I am going through so much 

pain and I don’t wish to lose 

my life. 

General’s office if such couldn’t 

be treated at that level. 

“The corps has complied fully 

with Federal Government’s 

policy directives on HND/Bsc 

dichotomy. The policy put the 

two qualifications at par. 

“The issue of doubling the 

promotion for personnel 

whose promotion has been 

running its normal course is 

not tenable. 

“It will affect personnel 

who are covered or fall within 

the time frame. If you are 

employed in as 2007 for 

example and your promotion 

has been running its normal 

course; say you are on level 10, 

you are not affected. 

“However, if you are a HND 

holder at the point of entry and 

you are still on level seven as of 

the time of the policy directive, 

you are supposed to have been 

properly settled. 

“There are some who were 

“The donor we brought 

from Nigeria told my mother 

that he is no longer interested 

in the transplant because he 

has seen an Indian woman 

(to marry). What my mother 

employed the same year 

they bagged their HNDs 

without NYSC certificates or 

exemption letters; even if the 

policy captured them, they will 

not be considered because they 

have not served as required by 

the law.” 

For those who said they were 

with promotion letters and yet 

not getting correct salaries, 

the spokesman said he was 

not aware of anyone that was 

genuinely entitled to salary 

and had not been settled. 

He said, “The NSCDC 

circular, dated September 

25, 2017, is relevant here. 

The circular directed state 

commands to forward 

the list of those deserving 

promotion for confirmation 

and subsequent relevant 

payment. The list, the order 

said, should be submitted on 

or before 10am of Thursday, 

October 5, 2017.” 

gets from the moin-moin she 

sells is little, but she has to 

continue to fund my dialysis. 

I am on my knees, begging 

Nigerians to help me. I don’t 

want to die,” she said. 

end of the Lagos-Abeokuta 

Expressway. 

While some motorists 

drove recklessly to leave the 

battlefield, other abandoned 

their vehicles, causing 

gridlock for a few minutes. 

The clash left many 

vehicles damaged with a 

resident, who was said to be 

a commercial driver, dead. 

The smugglers were 

said to have resisted the 

operatives’ attempt to tow 

away a vehicle conveying 

27 bags of rice, which broke 

down at Papalanto. 

However, the state 

customs’ spokesman, 

Maiwada, said the 

customs operatives had 

made attempts to stop the 

smugglers’ convoy, adding 

that they (smugglers) 

refused to stop. 

He said the team had 

to call for reinforcement 

from the Ilaro office, adding 

that the reinforcement 

team was ambushed on 

the way, and one of the 

officers, Abdullahi Kuso, 

was abducted and hacked 

with machetes. 

Maiwada said, “Abdullahi 

Kuso, attached to NCS l, 

Ogun Command was later 

rescued by other officers of 

the command. 

“They further set ablaze 

customs patrol base at 

Papalanto, close Lafarge 

Cement Company.” 

He said full scale 

investigation was ongoing to 

fish out those who perpetuated 

“this barbaric, cruel and 

inhuman aggression.” 

“We therefore sound 

a note of warning to 

smugglers that Nigeria 

Customs Service, Ogun 

Command, will not relent in 

bringing to book economic 

criminals who violently 

engage officers at various 

approved duty posts,” 

Maiwada added. 

NURTW warns drivers against indiscriminate picking of passengers 

The National Union 

of Road Transport 

Workers, Sango-Ota 

chapter, Ogun State, on Sunday 

appealed to commercial drivers 

to desist from indiscriminate 

picking of passengers on roads. 

The Assistant Financial 

Secretary of the chapter, Mr 

Sikiru Adekunle, made the 

appeal in an interview with 

News Agency of Nigeria in 

Ota. 

He said that the appeal 

became necessary to prevent 

gridlock and reduce articulated 

vehicles ramming into other 

vehicles, as well as to check 

loss of lives. 

Adekunle stressed the need 

for drivers to ensure that 

their vehicles were properly 

maintained before embarking 

on any trip. 

He also implored drivers 

to obey traffic rules and 

regulations, as well as the 

traffic personnel on roads. 

Adekunle commended 

the efforts of Ogun State 

Traffic Compliance and 

Enforcement Corps (TRACE) 

for ensuring sanity and free 

flow of traffic in Sango-Ota 

and its environs. 

He warned motorists driving 

against traffic to desist from 

such act in order to save lives 

and property. 

“The vehicles driving against 

traffic should be impounded 

and the traffic enforcement 

agencies should make sure 

that such drivers are taken to 

psychiatric hospital, for mental 

test,” he said. 

Adekunle urged the Federal 

Government to rehabilitate bad 

roads in the state to prevent 

drivers driving against traffic.

6 MONDAY, JULY 9, 2018 

news 

photo 

•L-R: Associate Pastor, Daystar Christian Centre, Pastor Dele Agbogun; National President, Nigeria Society of 

Physiotherapy, Dr Rufai Ahmed; one of the book reviewers, Dr Ogechi Adeola; author, Mrs Bukola Ayinde; her mother, Mrs 

Betty Olokesusi; and author’s husband, Mr Lawrence Ayinde, during the public presentation of Bukola’s books in Lagos... on 

Sunday. Photo: Saheed Olugbon 

•L-R: Students of the Learning Centre, Maiduguri, Aisha Ibrahim; Baba Liman; Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN; 

Head of Administration and Strategy, North East Children’s Trust, Dupe Kila-Kafidipe; and Senior Special Assistant to the 

President on IDPs, Dr Mariam Masha, during the Vice President’s visit to the Learning Centre, a 1000-capacity school set up to 

cater for children orphaned by the conflicts in the North-East Nigeria, in Maiduguri... on Thursday. 

•L-R: Editor, Genevieve Magazine, Ms Sonia Irabor; media aide to the Vice President, Mr Laolu Akande; author, Mrs 

Betty Irabor; and her husband, Mr Soni Irabor, during the public presentation of a book, Dust to Dew, in Lagos... on 

Saturday. Photo: Goke Famadewa 

Lagos showcases 

opportunities, woos investors 

Samson Folarin 

The Lagos State 

Government has 

inaugurated a campaign to 

showcase opportunities in 

the state. 

The Special Adviser, Lagos 

State Office of Overseas Affairs 

and Investment, aka Lagos 

Global, Prof. Ademola Abass, 

said the state wanted to play 

up opportunities in Lagos 

with a view to turning the state 

into a desirable investment 

destination. 

A statement on Sunday said 

the special adviser spoke at 

a media inauguration of the 

campaign, tagged, ‘Lagos to 

the World.’ 

The event also featured the 

presentation of a book detailing 

investment opportunities in 

key sectors, including health 

and transport. 

Abass said, “Lagos to 

the World is an initiative 

of Governor Akinwunmi 

Ambode. We felt that all the 

government has been doing 

Sesan Olufowobi 


Government has urged 

senior workers in accounts 

departments in state offices 

to ensure fair procurement 

and payment processes and 

show transparency in the use 

of public funds. 

The Accountant General, 

Mrs Abimbola Umar, stated 

this at the second quarterly 

technical meeting organised 

by the state Treasury Office. 

She told directors/heads 

of finance and accounts 

departments in all the 

ministries, departments and 

agencies that the success 

story of Lagos in the area of 

effective management of its 

resources had put the state in 

an enviable position. 

“Therefore, I urge you to 

always strive for excellence 

through a deft management of 

resources,” she added. 

In a lecture titled, ‘Effective 

Sesan Olufowobi 

Lagos State Governor, 

Akinwunmi Ambode, has 

said the N500m given to 275 

Community Development 

Associations (CDAs) will 

transform communities in the 

state. 

The governor added that 

there was no doubt that the 

various self-help projects, 

ranging from streetlights and 

transformers to drainage 

channels and health centres, 

which would be constructed 

by the communities would 

complement government’s 

efforts. 

Ambode said his 

administration was committed 

to supporting CDAs in the 

initiation and implementation of 

community-based development 

projects. 

He said, “I must commend all 

CDAs for the various projects 

you have initiated and funded 

from levies and donations by 

in recent times, especially in 

terms of investment, should 

be made known to the world. 

“The world needs to know how 

Lagos has been improving 

in terms of infrastructural 

development, among others. 

“Most of these things are 

what attract investors, but the 

story is not being told. This 

initiative is to tell people how 

Lagos Global has been working 

to project Lagos in terms of 

investment opportunities. 

“Very little is known about 

Lagos State out there; it is 

high time we push Lagos 

narrative overseas. Today is 

about marketing Lagos and 

communicating investment 

opportunities in Lagos to 

investors both in Nigeria and 

outside the country.” 

The Commissioner for 

Commerce, Industry and 

Cooperatives, Mrs Olayinka 

Oladunjoye, said Lagos was 

ready for business, adding 

that a lot of incentives had 

been put in place to encourage 

investment. 

LASG seeks transparency 

in procurement process 

and Sustainable Procurement 

System in Lagos State, 

Partnering for Development,’ 

the General Manager, Lagos 

State Public Procurement 

Agency, Mr Fatai Onafowote, 

said professionals in the 

accounting field were expected 

to ensure good governance 

through transparency 

and inclusiveness, using 

a procurement system 

that supported the state 

development goals and 

engender public trust. 

“Finance and accounts 

officers, apart from carrying 

the procurement officers 

along, should consider the 

availability of funds for proper 

execution of projects,” he said. 

Onafowote also stated that 

the monitoring unit of the 

agency would soon commence 

visits to the sites of various 

ongoing capital projects to 

certify that they conformed to 

contractual agreements. 

‘N500m grant’ll transform communities’ 

members. 

“The decision to aid CDAs 

with N500m grant is based 

on the report gathered from 

monitoring of ongoing 

community projects, which 

showed that some projects are 

on the verge of being abandoned 

due to paucity of funds; the 

gesture is therefore compelling.” 

The state Chairman of the 

All Progressives Congress, 

Alhaji Tunde Balogun, urged 

the community leaders and 

residents to make judicious use 

of the funds. 

The Commissioner for Local 

Government and Community 

Affairs, Muslim Folami, said 

due to the all inclusive policy of 

the governor, the CDAs in the 

state had increased from 2,012 

to 3,935 in the last three years. 

The Special Adviser to the 

Governor on Communities 

and Communications, Akeem 

Sulaimon, said all government 

programmes would be driven 

by the needs of communities.

news 

Olusola Fabiyi,Olalekan Adetayo, 

Chukwudi Akasike, Friday Olokor, 

Ihuoma Chiedozie, Oladimeji Ramon, 

Peter Dada and Gbenga Odogun 

THE Presidency on Sunday said it was in possession 

of evidence to prove that some politicians were 

behind the killings allegedly being carried out by 

herdsmen in parts of the country. 

It said the unnamed politicians were using 

criminals to perpetuate the killings. 

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on 

Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said this in a 

statement in Abuja. 

Shehu however said climate change, especially 

the drying up of the Chad Basin, had also been 

compounding the problem. 

He said the climate change, which he described 

as an issue of global significance, had led to more 

pressure on the population in the North. 

The presidential spokesman however assured 

stakeholders that the government was determined to 

continue to work hard towards a long-term solution to 

the problem which he described as historical. 

Shehu also appealed to Nigerians and members of 

the international community to desist from spreading 

false information and inflammatory statements 

concerning the issue. 

He said the Federal Government, with the state 

governments, security agencies and international 

community should collaborate with a view to 

resolving the problem. 

The statement read, “The Presidency is appealing to 

all its citizens as well as members of the international 

community to refrain from spreading false stories 

and inflammatory statements concerning the recent 

herders-farmers’ clashes. 

“The Nigerian government is working closely with 

state governments and the security services – as well 

as international partners – in order to resolve this 

ongoing issue. 

“The clashes between herders and farmers are 

historical. The causes of these confrontations are 

varied and complex. 

“Climate change, specifically the drying up of 

the Chad Basin, has led to more pressure on the 

population in the North of Nigeria, which further 

compounded the problem. 

“As President Buhari indicated lately, there is 

evidence of involvement of some politicians using 

criminals to perpetuate the killings. 

“Climate change is an issue of global significance 

and the Nigerian government is determined to 

continue working closely with its neighbours in 

order to ensure that a long-term solution can be 

implemented. 

“The Federal Government makes no distinction 

amongst the population and works tirelessly to 

protect all Nigerian people. We are strongest as a 

nation when we are united and it is through unity 

that we will overcome this challenge.” 

HAVE A STORY FOR US? 

CONTACT: 

Politics: 08165625046 

politics@punchng.com; 

General News: 08034429013 

Online: 08033430804 

generalnews@punchng.com; 

Business: 07068835954 

business@punchng.com 

• We are guided by 

the principles of 

factual, balanced and 

fair reporting and 

commentaries. 

• We believe that these 

principles and ethical 

conduct are the basis 

of public trust and 

confidence. 

• We believe that a system 

of self regulation, 

through a professional 

code of ethics under an 

CODE OF ETHICS 

independent body would 

best serve the interest 

of the profession and 

society. 

• We subscribe to the 

Ombudsman mechanism 

established by the 

Newspaper Proprietors’ 

Association of Nigeria, 

supported by other 

stakeholders, to mediate 

complaints against the 

press on ethical conduct 

and recommend redress. 

MONDAY, JULY 9, 2018 7 

We’ve evidence of politicians’ involvement in killings – Presidency 

Claim is sign Presidency suffering from predefeat 

trauma – PDP 

But the Peoples Democratic Party in reacting to 

Presidency’s claim, said the All Progressives Congress 

was on the throes of death and that its panic-stricken 

leadership had resorted to fabrications and cheap 

blackmail against those leaving the party’s alleged 

sinking ship in droves. 

The PDP said that both the Presidency and the APC 

were suffering from what it described as “pre-defeat 

trauma ahead of the 2019 elections.” 

It said the APC, which it called shattered, and 

the Presidency, had become what it described as 

intensely nervous and chaotic over the soaring 

popularity of the PDP, adding that the ruling 

party was not comfortable with the desire of many 

Nigerians to join the former ruling party. 

The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr. 

Kola Ologbondiyan, said the PDP was not surprised 

“that the APC, out of frustration, has recourse to 

sponsoring of spurious publications filled with 

deceptions, fabrications and lies against the PDP.” 

He added, “The APC is particularly unsettled by the 

huge successes recorded by the Liyel Imoke-led PDP 

Contact and Integration Committee, in seamlessly 

galvanizing alliances among stakeholders across other 

parties, including those returning from the overtly 

dysfunctional and derelict APC. 

“The APC is further disconcerted by the spirit of 

accommodation, agreement and oneness of purpose 

that pervade the alliances among old, new and 

returning members of the PDP in our key structure 

across all the states of the federation, particularly in 

Sokoto, Kogi, Kwara and Kano states, where all new 

and returning members have been accorded very 

warm reception. 

“We know that the APC will stop at nothing in 

its sneaky efforts to cause confusion among our 

members, including suggesting that there are 

disagreements where none exists. 

“What the APC, in its depravity and desperation, 

has failed to note is that the PDP had, since its 

repositioning, made adequate arrangements, ahead 

of time, to accommodate all interests and alignments 

in this collective quest to rescue our nation from the 

misrule of President Muhammadu Buhari, come 

2019. 

Ologbondiyan called on the APC leaders and the 

Presidency to further accept the fact that their party “is 

now beleaguered with a demystified and unpopular 

presidential candidate and an unelected National 

Chairman who is overburdened by corruption 

allegations and as such can no longer produce a 

President that will be acceptable to majority of 

Nigerians.” 

FG must prosecute merchants of death in 

Nigeria, says Falana 

On his part, a human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi 

Falana (SAN), asked the Federal Government to 

fish out the killers and masterminds of the killings 

in some part of the country with a view to bringing 

them to justice. 

To this end, the legal practitioner said he had gone 

to court to sue the Attorney- General of the Federation 

and Minister for Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami and 

states’ attorneys general, in order for the court to 

compel them to prosecute all those behind the various 

killings in the country. 

Falana stated this while speaking with journalists 

at Elizade University, Ilara Mokin, Ondo State where 

he delivered a lecture. 

He said, “I already have a case in court seeking to 

compel the government to ensure that ranches are 

established around the country; happily now, the 

government has taken that decision. 

“But with respect to the killings, I am suing the 

Attorney General of the Federation and the state 

Attorneys General with a view to compelling them to 

prosecute all the merchants of death in our country. 

“Specifically, I want them (killers) charged 

with illegal possession of firearms because I have 

established that they have no licences to bear arms. 

We also want them charged with culpable homicide 

or murder, kidnapping, armed robbery and the like. 

“ Because if we do not address the impunity with 

which these killings are carried out, we will not 

get to the end of them. This is the essence of that 

case, to challenge the government to be alert to its 

responsibilities.” 

Meanwhile, the District Superintendent of Lokoja 

of The Apostolic Church, Pastor Issac Omohoro, has 

called on the President to reorganise the security 

architecture of the country as a way of putting an end 

to incessant killings in parts of the country. 

Omohoro was speaking on Sunday shortly after his 

investiture as the seventh District Superintendent of 

the church in Lokoja. 

He said that the call became necessary in view of 

the obvious failure of security agents to put a stop 

to the herdsmen/farmers’ clashes and the resultant 

harvest of deaths. 

Plateau killings IDP figure hits 11,515, death 

toll 233 – Report 

Meanwhile, the number of Internally Displaced 

Persons following the June 23 and 24 attacks on 

15 communities in Plateau State villages has risen 

to 11,515. 

An advocacy group, Stefanos Foundation, which 

gave the figure in its Fact-finding Report on Barkin- 

Ladi Attacks, 2018, said the 11, 515 IDPs were taking 

refuge in 13 locations in the state. 

According to the foundation, a total of 233 persons 

were killed in the two-day attacks carried out by 

suspected Fulani herdsmen, while “those that are 

badly injured are hospitalised in various medical 

centres in Jos, with their families left to struggle with 

the hospital bills.” 

The foundation, which said it received early 

warning messages from the various communities 

prior to the attacks and sent same to the government 

and security agencies, regretted that the attacks still 

took place. 

Stefanos Foundation, in its 14-page report, said its 

Needs Assessment team deployed in the crisis area, 

observed that the affected areas were insecure and 

vulnerable to further attacks. 

The fact-finding team, it said, gathered that “some 

of the communities attacked in the past have now 

been occupied by Fulani herdsmen.” 

“From their records, over 40 villages have now been 

completely deserted in the Barkin Ladi and Riyom 

Local Government Areas as a result of continuous 

attacks. 

“The locals, who are the inhabitants of these 

communities, have no hope of returning to their 

homes, rather, new houses belonging to the Fulani are 

now being sighted to be springing up in the deserted 

communities,” the foundation said. 

The 14-page document titled, “Report of June 23 

to 24 2018 attacks on 15 communities in the Barkin 

Ladi, Riyom, Bokkos and Mangu Local Government 

Areas of Plateau State, Nigeria,” was signed by the 

Programme Coordinator of SF, Mark Lipdo, and was 

obtained by The PUNCH on Sunday. 

The team led by the Administrator of SF, Abraham 

Hassan, included Franco Majok and Joel Vandaspek 

(both from CSI, USA), who were in the country for a 

visit at the time of the recent killings in the four LGAs. 

The report said, “Coordinated military-style attacks 

ravaged 15 communities in some LGAs of Plateau 

State from June 23 to June 24, 2018, which resulted 

to the death of 233 persons with many others injured 

and several properties destroyed while thousands of 

villagers were displaced.” 

The six-man team, during its fact-finding mission, 

met with the victims (survivors) where they are now 

taking refuge in about 13 locations. 

The report said, “These locations include CAC and 

ECWA in Bokkos, with 260 people; Geo-sciences 

complex in Anguldi, with 3, 061 people; Riyom 

Community Hall, with 300 people; RCC Fan, with 

382 people; ECWA Lawuru, with 452 people; and St. 

John Viani, Barkin Ladi, with 1, 552 people. 

“Others are COCIN RCC Heipang, with 3, 026 

people; LCC Ban, with 820 people; COCIN Gasa, 

with 800 people; Karos Barkin- Ladi, with 132 people; 

LCC Rampiang, Mangu with 400 people and Dorowa 

Soho Primary School, with 360 people, bringing the 

total number of displaced to about 11, 515 IDPs.” 

SF said its team spent some time talking with the 

victims to understand their stories and also prayed 

with them. 

The team, which was able to provide a token of 

cash gifts to support the victims in the interim for 

their feeding, Lipdo said, also planned to mobilise 

more support in the shortest possible time in order 

to assist the victims. 

Killings: MASSOB tells Igbo to boycott 2019 

polls 

However, the Movement for the Actualisation of 

the Sovereign State of Biafra urged the people of the 

South-East to boycott the 2019 elections as a result 

of the killings in some parts of the country. 

MASSOB also described the promise of an Igbo 

presidency in 2023 by the APC as ridiculous, adding 

that an age-long plot by the political class would 

make it impossible for an Igbo man to emerge as the 

President of Nigeria. 

The group’s National Director of Information, Mr. 

Sunday Okereafor, expressed dissatisfaction over the 

level of killings in the country, stating that the 2019 

elections would not stop the slaughtering of innocent 

Nigerians. 

Okereafor, who spoke with one of our 

correspondents in a telephone interview on Sunday, 

said that the politics of bitterness between the APC 

and the PDP would only increase the killings in the 

country. 

He said, “The Igbo should not go to vote in the 2019 

elections because of the killings in some parts of the 

country, especially Plateau and Benue. We don’t think 

the killings will stop now; you are going to see the PDP 

and the APC fighting each other.” 

On the claim by the APC that voting for Buhari in 

the 2019 presidential poll would guarantee the Igbo 

the position of the President in 2023, Okereafor 

pointed out that even Igbo politicians were aware of 

the long-term plan not to allow any person from Igbo 

extraction to occupy Aso Rock. 

He said, “Are we (Igbo) fools? Why would they 

want to deceive us with 2023 presidency? It (2023 

presidency) is not possible. After the civil war, the 

political class printed naira. The word ‘Naira’ means 

Never Allow Igbo Rule Again.” 

Ndigbo should accept Buhari’s Olive branch, 

says VON DG 

But the Director-General of the Voice of Nigeria, 

Mr. Osita Okechukwu, urged Ndigbo to accept 

the President’s promise to support an Igboman to 

become President, if the Igbo give him their votes 

in 2019. 

Buhari had, at a rally in Owerri, Imo State, last week, 

promised to support Ndigbo to produce the country’s 

President at the ‘right time’ if the Igbo voted for him 

in the next election. 

Speaking in Enugu on Sunday, Okechukwu, a 

chieftain of the APC, pleaded with Ndigbo to accept 

Buhari’s offer, which he described as an ‘Olive branch.’ 

Although Buhari did not specify the ‘right time,’ 

when he would back an Igboman to become 

President, the VON boss insisted that the said time 

was 2023. 

But he was quick to stress that it would all depend 

on Igbo support for Buhari in 2019. 

“The statement made by the SGF is a wake-up call 

and an Olive branch by President Buhari to Ndigbo. 

It means that if Ndigbo vote for Mr. President in 2019, 

the Presidency is for Ndigbo in 2023. 

“This is the most pragmatic and fastest route to the 

emergence of a Nigerian President of Igbo extraction 

and hence enlistment of Ndigbo into the mainstream 

of Nigeria’s political landscape. It will automatically 

end long years’ sulk of marginalisation and fully 

integrate our dear country,” he said. 

Buhari appears powerless to end killings – 

Anglican bishop 

Meanwhile, the Bishop of Diocese of Akure, 

Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Simeon 

Borokinni, has condemned the incessant killings by 

Fulani herdsmen in some parts of the country. 

He said, “The government appears either powerless 

to curb their activities or deliberately, purposely 

and intentionally indifferent. Why is dealing with 

the herdsmen a difficult task for the government? 

Government must disarm these murderous 

herdsmen. It should, therefore, not be allowed to 

degenerate any further in the interest of all.” 

Borokini stated this on Sunday in his charge at the 

3rd Session of the 12th Synod at St. Thomas’ Anglican 

Church, Akure, the Ondo State capital. The theme of 

the synod is, “Working towards perfection.” 

For more information, 

please contact: 

Office of the Ombudsman, 

Newspaper Proprietors’ 

Association of Nigeria 

8, Maryland Crescent, 

Maryland, Ikeja. Or e-mail: 

ngrombudsman@yahoo. 

com


banking 

personal 

With Nike Popoola 

09055512063 (sms only) 

Personalbanking@punchng.com 

Should you use a standing order? 

standing order is an automated method 

A of making payments, where a person 

or business instructs their bank to pay 

another person or business, a fixed amount 

of money at regular (fixed) intervals. The 

payer controls the standing order; they set it 

up themselves, and choose the amount and 

frequency, according to gocardless.com. 

Businesses who collect regular payments, 

including subscriptions and instalment 

payments, can do so via standing orders, 

though there are some drawbacks. 

In this guide, we will explain exactly 

how standing orders work, present the 

advantages (and disadvantages), and look at 

the alternatives. 

What is a standing order? 

A standing order is an automated method 

of making payments, where a person or 

business instructs their bank to pay another 

person or business a fixed amount of money 

at regular (fixed) intervals. The payer 

controls the standing order; they set it up 

themselves, and choose the amount and 

frequency. Standing orders are created to 

cover a set period of time (e.g. every month 

for a year), or until they are cancelled. 

Any person or company with a current 

account can set up a standing order, either 

online, over the phone or in person at a 

branch of their bank. 

A standing order is different to a 

direct debit payment. A standing order is 

essentially an instruction from the payer 

to their bank, telling their bank to ‘push’ 

funds to another person or organisation. In 

contrast, when you set up a direct debit, the 

person or organisation receiving payment 

asks permission from the payer to ‘pull’ funds 

from their account on a recurring basis. 

Some small businesses collect regular 

payments from customers by standing 

order. Receiving payment by standing order 

generally costs nothing, and, once the order is 

up and running, the business can rest assured 

that payments will be collecting automatically 

and on time. However there are drawbacks: a 

customer can change or cancel the payment 

without notifying you, so you will have to rely 

on them to get this part right. 

How does a standing order work? 

The first step in setting up a standing 

order requires the payer to contact their bank 

to request it. With some banks and building 

societies, standing orders can be set up online 

or over the phone. The payer then completes 

a standing order form (paper or online) and 

gives it to their bank. This will include details 

of the account number and sort code of the 

person or organisation being paid. 

Banks don’t usually charge anything to 

the payer or payee for setting up or using 

standing orders. It is important to keep in 

mind that customers can cancel a standing 

order at any time, or change the amount or 

payment date. Standing orders are created to 

cover a set period of time (e.g. every month 

for a year) or until they are cancelled. 

Standing orders: use cases 

People typically use standing orders for 

making regular payments, such as rent, 

mortgage, magazine subscriptions, monthly 

charity donations or making payments from 

a current account into a savings account. 

Standing orders are particularly useful for 

making regular payments from one individual 

to another, where direct debit would be a less 

straightforward option. 

What are the advantages of standing 

orders? 

•Usually free of charge for both payer and 

payee 

•Easy and quick for payer to set up 

•Useful for making recurring payments 

between private individuals (such as tenant 

to landlord) 

•Helps businesses to collect regular 

payments on time, once set up 

What are the disadvantages of 

standing orders? 

No payment notifications. This means it 

could potentially take a payee weeks to find 

out that a payment had failed (either because 

the payer cancelled it, or because their 

account lacked the necessary funds to cover 

the payment amount). If this happens, the 

payee will need to chase the payer to set up 

payment all over again. 

•Less flexibility: Changing the amount 

or date of a payment requires the payer to 

cancel the standing order and create a new 

one. 

Risk of late payment: Many businesses 

struggle to get customers to set up their 

standing order quickly, or to amend it as or 

when required. This brings back the risk of 

late payment, potentially causing cash flow 

problems for a business. 

•High admin: Businesses taking 

payments by standing order may end 

up constantly checking their bank to see 

if payment has arrived and manually 

updating accounts once it does. This is 

time and labour that could be better spent 

elsewhere. 

Standing orders for businesses 

This section will guide you through the fine 

details of using standing orders, including 

when to use them, how to get access, set up, 

change and cancel them, their timings, and a 

useful comparison chart with other recurring 

payment methods. There is even a handy 

quiz at the end, to help you decide if standing 

orders are right for your business. 

When to use a standing order 

For starters, think about how many 

customers you currently have. Standing 

orders are generally a good fit for small 

businesses, organisations or clubs with 

less than 25 customers, as a certain level of 

trust is helpful when using standing orders. 

Secondly, think about whether you trust 

your customers to set up and make their 

payments on time. If yes, then standing 

order could be a good option for you, as 

your customer does all the hard work in 

setting it up. 

And finally, deciding whether to use a 

standing order also depends on the types of 

payments you are most commonly taking. 

If most of your customers pay by regular, 

fixed payments, then either standing order 

or direct debit can be used. It is also possible 

to use either standing order or direct debit 

for taking one-off payments, although this 

is not how they are typically used. 

For variable payments, standing orders 

are less useful. They are not great for paying 

bills with variable amounts or frequencies 

such as utility bills or credit card debts or in 

industries where you may want to increase 

fees or upgrade subscriptions easily. 

Direct debit is a better fit here, as it 

is its highly flexible. You are in control, 

rather than the customer, so you can adjust 

the amount or frequency of payments 

whenever you need to (as long as you 

give your customer the required advance 

notice).


9


Gadget smart 

Understanding data roaming 

If you looked at your phone settings, you may have come 

across a setting called ‘data roaming’. Enabling it would 

bring a pop-up message saying that turning this option on 

may incur significant network charges. 

So, what is data roaming, and why would you enable it 

if it could incur these charges? 

Roaming 

Roaming is when your phone leaves the range of your 

network and loses its signal. This goes a little further than 

simply going into rural parts of the country; it means 

leaving the country altogether. When you are in a country 

that is out of range of your network provider’s territory, 

your phone is now roaming. Data roaming, therefore, is the 

act of getting data while outside of your network’s range. 

How data roaming works 

Let’s say you are a Nigerian and a customer of 9Mobile 

who provides you with a phone signal and 4G data. You 

feel like taking a holiday, so you decide to jet off to sunny 

Spain for a bit. While you are there, you would still like to 

catch up on your YouTube videos and podcasts while you 

are on the beach, so you take your phone with you. 

There is a problem, however; 9Mobile doesn’t have a 

presence in Spain. Therefore, if you left for Spain, you 

would be stuck without a phone signal. If you had an 

unlocked phone, you could exchange the SIM card with a 

Spanish provider to get data there. But what if your phone 

was locked to 9Mobile and you can’t change the SIM? 

In order to tackle this problem and help their customers 

get a signal no matter where they are, 9Mobile struck a deal 

with the Spanish network so that if any of their customers 

goes to Spain and wants to use 4G or make a call or text, 

the Spanish network would pick up the slack and give them 

a network signal, despite the fact that the customer is a 

9Mobile user. In return, 9Mobile will support any Spanish 

network customer coming from Spain. 

With Anna Okon 

09080019063 

aokon@punchng.com 

The result 

Now when you take that flight to Spain, you can use the 

Spanish network signal to get 4G; however, there is a good 

chance that additional charges for using a foreign network 

will come into play. 

To prevent itself from accidentally racking up a huge 

phone bill, your phone won’t automatically connect to the 

Spanish network when you arrive. You have to manually 

tell your phone to connect by enabling data roaming. Once 

done, you can now enjoy 4G abroad without changing 

SIM cards. 

When you arrive at Spain with roaming enabled, you 

wll see that your network provider’s name will change 

404 error 

404 Error Code is caused in one way or another by 

misconfigured system files in your windows operating 

system. 

It is a common website error message that indicates 

a webpage cannot be found. It may be produced when a 

user clicks an outdated (or ‘broken’) link or when a URL 

is typed incorrectly in a web browser’s address field. Some 

websites display custom 404 error pages, which may 

look similar to other pages on the site. Other websites 

simply display the web server’s default error message 

text, which typically begins with ‘Not Found’. Regardless 

of the appearance, a 404 error means the server is up 

and running, but the webpage or path to the webpage is 

not valid. 

So why call it a “404 error” instead of simply a “Missing 

Webpage Error?” The reason is that 404 is an error 

code produced by the Web server when it cannot find a 

webpage. This error code is recognised by search engines, 

which helps prevent search engine crawlers from indexing 

bad URLs. 404 errors can also be read by Web scripts and 

website monitoring tools, which can help webmasters 

to something like ‘España Móvil (9Mobile)’. This just 

means you are currently using España Móvil’s network as 

a 9Mobile customer. 

If you travelled with a friend and they used a different 

network, they may see a different Spanish name pop-up 

#Takeaway 

• Source:mywebspot 

locate and fix broken links. 

Other common Web server codes are 200, which means 

a webpage has been found, and 301, which indicates a file 

has moved to a new location. Like 404 errors, these status 

messages are not seen directly by users, but they are used 

by search engines and website monitoring software. 

There are two ways to fix 404 error: 

Advanced computer user solution (manual restore): 

• Start your computer and log on as an administrator. 

• Click the ‘Start’ button then select the following- All 

Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and then click 

System Restore. 

In the new window, select “Restore my computer to 

an earlier time” option and then click Next. 

Select the most recent system restore point from the 

“On this list, click a restore point” list, and then click Next. 

• Click Next on the confirmation window. 

• Restarts the computer when the restoration is finished. 

Novice computer user solution (completely automated): 

• Download (Error 404) repair utility. 

• Install program and click Scan button. 

• Click the Fix Errors button when scan is completed. 

•Restart your computer 

corresponding to the network their provider struck a deal 

with. 

Significant charges 

While roaming is very useful, it can come at a hefty 

additional cost to your base data and call rates. This is what 

the pop-up is warning you about when you enable data 

roaming. Different network providers will have different 

charges depending on which country you visit, so be sure to 

check up the stated charges on the website before travelling. 

In order to find these charges, you don’t have to find 

out what network you’ll be switching to when you arrive 

at your destination. Simply search for the one you use at 

home and look up their roaming charges, and it will apply 

when you go abroad, even after the network changes. Just 

be sure you select the correct country, as charges can differ 

depending on where you go. 

If you are lucky, you may find there are no roaming 

charges at all. For example, if you are in Europe, you will 

be pleased to know that the European Union scrapped 

roaming charges for travelling within its boundaries, so 

you can go from France to Italy without worrying about 

roaming costs at all. 

Effect on WiFi 

Roaming charges won’t affect any WiFi connections 

you access during your stay. If your hotel has WiFi, or you 

find a café with a hotspot, you can use that at its advertised 

cost (if any) without paying anything extra. Roaming only 

comes into play when you are using a cellular network 

(like 4G) abroad.

news 

John Alechenu and 

Eniola Akinkuotu 

The All Progressives 

Congress on Sunday said 

it would take legal actions 

against the National Chairman 

of the Reformed-APC, Alhaji 

Buba Galadima, and other 

members of the group. 

The National Legal Adviser 

of the Adams Oshiomholeled 

APC, Babatunde Ogala, 

disclosed this in a statement 

made available to The PUNCH 

via e-mail. 

He said this in reaction to 

the formation of the splinter 

group, R-APC. 

Aggrieved members of 

the New Peoples Democratic 

Party bloc and other aggrieved 

members of the ruling APC 

had on Thursday last week 

announced the formation of 

the R-APC. 

Ogala accused Galadima 

and other R-APC leaders of 

impersonation, fraudulent 

interpretation, conducts 

likely to breach public peace 

and breach of trademark and 

infringement of copyright. 

The APC also hinted 

possible arrest of leading 

members of the R-APC by 

security agencies. 

The legal adviser stated, 

“For the infringement so far 

committed by Mr Galadima 

and the odium he has brought 

upon the APC brand, we will be 

seeking civil redress against his 

person and that of his group. 

“With respect to the 

criminal aspect of his conduct, 

we will be notifying the 

appropriate authorities to do 

the needful.” 

According to Ogala, the 

press conference and statement 

issued by Galadima “were 

reminiscent of the televised 

military address issued after a 

successful execution of a coup 

d’état” which had become the 

order of the day before the 

return of democracy. 

Ogala accused the 

Saraki 

Success Nwogu, Ilorin 

The Speaker of the Kwara 

State House of Assembly, 

Dr Ali Ahmad, has said the 

Supreme Court judgement, 

which discharged and 

acquitted the Senate President, 

Dr Bukola Saraki, of false 

assets’ declaration and sundry 

charges preferred against him 

by the Federal Government, 

was a victory for democracy 

and the rule of law. 

In a statement on Sunday, 

Ahmad said the apex court 

affirmed what Kwara people 

had always believed that Saraki 

was completely innocent of all 

the charges that the Buhari 

administration had allegedly 

been slamming on him since 

2015. 

Ahmad said, “We were 

led to believe that Saraki was 

going through a fair, run-ofthe-mill 

trial superintended by 

people with integrity. It was a 

hoax. Valuable manhour and a 

stupendous amount of public 

funds were wasted on what the 

Supreme Court referred to as a 

“forensic somersault.” 

•L-R: Vice Principal, African Capital Alliance, Ladell Robbins; Head Strategy, Afriglobal, Neeraj Vaidya; Partner, 

Transaction Advisory Services, Ernst and Young Nigeria, Olufemi Alabi; Chief Financial Officer, Jotna Nigeria Limited, 

Debasis Roy; and Associate Director, Transaction Advisory Services, EY Nigeria, Damilola Aloba, at EY Nigeria’s 

Private Equity Breakfast session in Lagos ...on Thursday. Photo:Goke Famadewa 

Ihuoma Chiedozie, Enugu 

Governors of the South- 

East states rose from a 

meeting in Enugu on Sunday 

evening with a decision that no 

land would be made available 

for the establishment of cattle 

ranches in the zone. 

The meeting, which held at 

the Enugu State Government 

House, had the governors of 

Enugu (Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi), 

Ebonyi (Dave Umahi) in 

attendance, while Abia and 

Anambra were represented by 

the deputy governors. 

Imo State Governor, Rochas 

Okorocha, was absent and was 

not represented by his deputy. 

The President General 

of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief 

Nnia Nwodo, presented the 

association’s ‘template on 

restructuring’ to the governors 

at the meeting, which ended 

late on Sunday evening. 

Addressing journalists 

after the parley, the Chairman 

of the South-East Governors 

Forum, Umahi, disclosed that 

the governors had agreed that 

ranching would not be allowed 

in the zone. 


R-APC: APC drags Galadima, others to court 

Galadima-led R-APC of 

resorting to self-help instead of 

seeking legal redress. 

He said if members of 

the group felt strongly about 

events that took place during 

the recently concluded national 

convention of the APC, they 

should have approached the 

court. 

He noted that Galadima’s 

press release could be captured 

under three major issues, 

namely: 

“That the party’s convention 

was improperly conducted by 

the convention chairman as 

consensus candidates were 

only subjected to a ‘yes’ vote in 

alleged contravention of Article 

20 of the APC constitution. 

“That a group of delegates 

have come together 10 days 

after the successful conduct of 

the APC convention to, in their 

words, ‘take control and give 

legitimacy’ to APC now to be 

known as Reformed APC. 

“That R-APC, whose 

congresses and convention 

date has yet to be disclosed, 

already has the full 

complement of national 

executives, national working 

committee, state executives 

and local government officials 

in all 774 local government 

areas across the country.” 

Faulting Galadima, Ogala 

stated, “The question of 

elections within the APC is 

covered by Article 20 of the 

APC Constitution. Specifically, 

Section 20 (1) provides that 

all party posts prescribed or 

implied by this constitution 

shall be filled by democratically 

conducted elections at the 

respective national convention 

or congress; subject where 

possible to consensus.” 

In a veiled reference to 

alleged criminal breaches 

of the law on the part of the 

R-APC, Ogala maintained that 

the immediate consequence of 

Galadima’s action is that “he 

and his gang” had committed 

several criminal infractions 

against the APC. 

The legal adviser said 

by referring to himself as a 

national chairman, Galadima 

had committed the offence of 

impersonation. 

He said Galadima, 

knowingly made a statement 

which he knew to be untrue 

with the aim of deceiving 

Nigerians into abandoning the 

APC. 

The APC legal adviser 

further argued that the APC is 

a brand owned by members 

of the political party so 

registered and that by using 

the APC brand, the R-APC had 

infringed on the copyright of 

the APC and was thus liable. 

Ogala said the President 

Muhammadu Buhari-led APC 

administration was prepared 

to do all that was lawfully 

necessary to cleanse Nigeria’s 

political process of people who 

had become accustomed to 

brigandage and being unruly. 

In his reaction, the National 

Publicity Secretary of the 

R-APC, Mr Kassim Afegbua, 

said, “This long epistle to the 

Romans with a series of legal 

jargon is only food for the ears 

of their political buccaneers 

and economic predators. 

“This so-called legal adviser 

does not need to bog us with 

this long, windy and twisted 

legal logic; all he needs to 

do is to approach a court of 

competent jurisdiction and sue 

us. 

“As one of the beneficiaries 

of a convention, he needs to 

We won’t donate land for ranching — S’East govs 

Umahi explained that the 

reports that some South-East 

states had made land available 

for the establishment of 

ranches, based on a request by 

the Federal Government, were 

not true. 

The Ebonyi State Governor 

stressed that while the Federal 

Government had not asked 

for any land for ranches, the 

governors would not accede 

to such a request, should it be 

made. 

“No land in the South-East 

has been donated for ranching. 

We have not donated any land; 

we have not been asked to 

donate and we are not going to 

donate. 

“Ranching is not approved 

by the South-East governors 

in the South-East,” Umahi 

declared. 

The governors, in the same 

vein, condemned the recent 

killings in Plateau State, and 

demanded “justice for Plateau 

people.” 

The governors, however, 

raised the alarm over what 

they described as challenges 

posed by the movement of 

herdsmen in the South-East. 

They agreed to meet with 

heads of federal security 

agencies over the development. 

Reading from a 

communiqué adopted at 

the meeting, Umahi said, 

“The South-East Governors 

Forum commiserates with the 

Governor of Plateau State and 

the people of the state for the 

recent killings. 

“We condemn the killings 

and join other regions to 

demand justice for the Plateau 

people. 

“South-East governors have 

noticed increased challenges 

in the movement of herdsmen 

from one state and region to 

another with the resultant 

effect of massive destruction 

of farmlands with attendant 

clashes with farmers. 

“South-East governors 

have been spending huge 

funds in settling farmers 

whose farms and crops are 

destroyed – we, therefore, 

request an emergency 

meeting in the South-East 

with federal security chiefs, 

farmers and herdsmen to stop 

the movements and prevent 

clashes.” 

Following the presentation 

by Ohanaeze, the South- 

East governors restated their 

demand for restructuring. 

“Ndigbo’s Stand on 

Restructuring of Nigeria was 

presented to the South-East 

Governors Forum by the 

Ohanaeze President, based on 

the resolutions arising from the 

Awka enlarged Igbo meeting. 

“He (Ohanaeze President) 

also laid down the template 

for the governors. The Forum 

thanked Ohanaeze on a job well 

done and reiterated its earlier 

stand that restructuring is the 

only way forward for Nigeria. 

“The Forum also decided 

that the governors should take 

a studied look at the template 

of restructuring and will make 

its final stand clear by the next 

meeting of the Forum,” the 

communiqué said. 

The governors, at the 

meeting, observed that 

the ‘dispute’ between the 

governments of Anambra and 

Ebonyi states over the recent 

renaming of Abakiliki Street in 

Awka, Anambra State, was due 

to ‘communication gap which 

is already being closed.’ 

11 

impress his new economic 

predators that he too has all it 

takes to fit into the filthy lucre 

of the present arrangement.” 

R-APC meets today, 

decides next moves 

Meanwhile, R-APC will 

hold a crucial meeting in Abuja 

on Monday. 

A usually reliable source in 

the R-APC faction of the All 

Progressives Congress told 

one of our correspondents, 

in Abuja, on Sunday, that 

party leaders “are set to meet 

tomorrow (Monday) to take 

stock of the struggle” and forge 

a way forward. 

Asked if the recent 

Supreme Court decision which 

exonerated the President of 

the Senate, Bukola Saraki of 

corruption charges and the 

recent peace moves by the 

Adams Oshiomhole-led APC 

would help mend fences, the 

source said “No.” 

He said, “The recent 

court victory has more than 

anything else, served as a 

morale booster for us. It was 

not only a victory for Bukola 

Saraki; it was a victory for the 

rule of law and a vindication 

of our earlier position that he 

was being persecuted because 

the charges against him were 

politically motivated.” 

The source further said, 

“The court decision has 

strengthened our resolve to 

forge ahead.” 

He was non-committal 

when asked for specifics on 

issues to be discussed. 

He said, “For strategic 

reasons, we set the agenda 

for such meetings on the go, 

leaders table issues, we put 

them on a scale of importance 

and discuss. 

“You, however, can’t rule 

out discussions on our next 

step as a result of the Supreme 

Court judgment and peace 

moves by the other side.” 

Attempts to get a reaction 

from the National Chairman 

of the R-APC, Buba Galadima, 

were unsuccessful. Repeated 

calls to his mobile telephone 

number were neither picked 

nor returned. The number 

later became unreachable. A 

response to a text message sent 

to him on the subject was still 

being awaited as at the time of 

filing this report. 

But Galadima, during 

an interview on Kakaaki, 

a programme on Africa 

Independent Television, said 

the R-APC now had enough 

lawmakers in the National 

Assembly to impeach anybody. 

He, therefore, dismissed 

claims by the National 

Chairman of the APC, Mr 

Adams Oshiomhole, that the 

party would not lose sleep over 

the rebel faction. 

The R-APC Chairman said, 

“Those who say they would 

not lose sleep, why have they 

gone cap in hand, kneeling 

down before members of the 

National Assembly? I want to 

say that today, as I sit here if I 

give directives to the National 

Assembly to impeach anybody 

for a constitutional infraction, 

it would be done because I have 

the majority in the National 

Assembly.”


news 

2019: PDP BoT, govs, NASS members, others meet today 

Olusola Fabiyi, Abuja 

The National Chairman of 

the Peoples Democratic 

Party, Prince Uche Secondus, 

has summoned a meeting of 

the top hierarchy of the party 

to discuss demands by those 

planning to join the former 

ruling party before the 2019 

general elections. 

Those expected at the 

meeting, according to a notice 

circulated by the National 

Secretary of the party, Senator 

Umaru Tsauri, are the party’s 

presidential aspirants, all PDP 

governors, former governors, 

members and former members 

of the party in the National 

Assembly. 

Others are members of the 

Board of Trustees, PDP former 

Ministers Forum and all the 

37 state chairmen of the party, 

including the Federal Capital 

Territory, Abuja. 

The meeting, according 

to Tsauri, holds in Abuja on 

Monday (today) afternoon. 

Termed “crucial meeting “, 

our correspondent gathered 

that Secondus would use the 

occasion to explain the interim 

report of the party’s Contact 

Committee to the attendees. 

The committee, which is 

headed by a former Governor 

of Cross River State, Senator 

Liyel Imoke, was asked by the 

National Working Committee 

of the party to talk to 

aggrieved members of the All 

Progressives Congress and also 

liaise with former leaders in the 

country on how to wrest power 

from President Muhammadu 

Buhari in 2019. 

The committee was said 

to have met with former 

Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo 

and Goodluck Jonathan. 

Secondus told our 

correspondent that the Imoke 

committee had been working 

hard and that he would brief 

the party’s leadership “soon,” 

when asked last Saturday. 

Though details of the 

Monday meeting remained 

secret as of the time of 

filing this report on Sunday, 

investigations by our 

correspondent, however, 

revealed that Secondus would 

use the opportunity to brief 

the leaders of the party on the 

reconciliatory report by the 

Imoke committee. 

A top source in the party 

said that the demands by 

those expected to return to 

the party or join afresh from 

other political parties would be 

tabled for deliberation. 

The source said that 

majority of those aggrieved in 

the APC had agreed to return 

to the PDP but were said to 

have given some conditions. 

The source said, “The 

meeting on Monday afternoon 

will discuss the report of the 

Imoke committee and the 

demands of those who had 

agreed to return to us (PDP) or 

join us afresh. 

“These people want to 

extract some commitments 

from the PDP before coming. 

They are likely to have learnt 

from how they were treated in 

the APC as they were actually 

never accommodated and 

seen as crucial partners in the 

running of the party and the 

•L-R: Commercial, Political, Cultural and Press Attaché, German Consulate General, Lagos, Mr Sebastian Polzin; 

Special Adviser to the Governor on Overseas Affairs and Investment (Lagos Global), Prof Ademola Abass; and Economic 

Attache, Embassy of France in Nigeria, Mr Barthelemy Blanc, during the Office Of Overseas Affairs & Investment’s 

media launch of “Lagos to the World” in Lagos...on Friday. Photo: Lagos State Government 

Ade Adesomoju, Abuja 

The 

Attorney-General 

of the Federation and 

Minister of Justice, Mr. 

Abubakar Malami (SAN), 

has revealed that there are 

ongoing plea bargains with 

some politically-exposed 

persons who have been 

indicted and charged with 

various corruption-related 

offences. 

The PUNCH, on Sunday, 

•R-APC, others demand waivers, automatic tickets 

government they collectively 

formed. 

“So, they have tabled some 

demands which we will all 

discuss and agree on.” 

Asked if it would not be 

wrong to assure fresh members 

of positions before joining, the 

source said that negotiations 

were part of politics. 

“We all negotiate and 

agree on positions and 

offices. Besides, negotiation 

is a critical part of politics and 

life. So, their position is not 

strange, “the source added. 

It was learnt that some 

members of the National 

Assembly were rooting for 

automatic tickets from the 

party to contest in 2019. 

It was also gathered that 

some others were asking that 

they should be allowed to 

nominate their loyalists to 

join the members of the State 

Working Committees in their 

states and even at other levels. 

Adelani Adepegba, Abuja 

The Inspector-General of 

Police, Ibrahim Idris, has 

put all the State Command 

Commissioners of Police and 

their supervising Assistant 

Inspectors-General of Police 

and other police formations 

nationwide on red alert. 

The directive was sequel to 

the July 2 attack and killing 

of seven policemen at the 

Galadimawa Roundabout, 

Abuja by suspected bandits. 

The Force Public Relations 

Among those who were 

said to have agreed to return 

to the party is a former 

Governor of Kano State, 

Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, 

and the Governor of Sokoto 

State, Aminu Tambuwal. 

It was also gathered that 

the President of the Senate, 

Bukola Saraki, is being 

expected in the former ruling 

party. 

It was gathered that 

the meeting, which is an 

expanded caucus meeting, 

would also agree on waivers 

for the returnees to the party 

and its new members. 

Specifically, the PDP 

constitution says its new 

members are to spend six 

months before being allowed 

to contest any position. 

The Monday meeting, it 

was gathered, would empower 

the Secondus-led National 

Working Committee to grant 

new entrants automatic 

waivers to vie for any office of 

their choice in the party. 

Secondus told our 

correspondent that the party 

would grant the newcomers 

the waivers. 

PDP to Buhari: 

Publish beneficiaries 

of $322m repatriated 

fund 

Meanwhile, the PDP 

has called on President 

Buhari to list those that 

benefitted from the repatriated 

$322m. 

It also said that the 

government should make 

public, names and photographs 

of all those involved in the 

handling of the money. 

The party said President 

Buhari should do so to show 

his transparency as well as 

to enable Nigerians to know 

and see the faces of those 

superintending over the 

repatriated fund. 

The PDP, in a statement by its 

National Publicity Secretary, Mr. 

Kola Ologbondiyan, in Abuja on 

Sunday, challenged President 

Buhari to order the Attorney 

General of the Federation, Mr. 

Abubakar Malami (SAN ), as 

well, to make public, the APC 

interests and the owner of the 

consulting firm reported to 

have been paid billions of naira 

as consultancy fees for the 

“sharing” of the money, which 

he said did not pass through 

the constitutionally required 

approval of the National 

Assembly. 

He said, “President Buhari 

needs to note that Nigerians 

are utterly dismayed that 

having hitherto postured as 

a supporter of the ‘Talakawa’ 

and man of integrity, he has 

taken no steps against this 

bare-faced atrocity where 

over 90 per cent of supposed 

beneficiaries of the repatriated 

fund are phoney names 

supplied by fraudulent officials 

Plea bargains with accused politicians 

ongoing, await Buhari’s approval — AGF 

perused a Federal Ministry 

of Justice’s report presented 

by the AGF, stating that the 

ongoing negotiations were 

aimed at recovering “cash 

and properties worth billions 

of naira to the coffers of the 

Federal Government.” 

The minister said the 

negotiations had reached an 

advanced stage. 

Malami added that the 

finalisation of the plea 

bargains was awaiting 

President Muhammadu 

Buhari’s approval. 

This is contained in a 

report titled, ‘A Presentation 

on Specific Activities 

for Transforming the 

Administration of Justice and 

State Legal Affairs: Three- 

Year Activity Review of the 

Federal Ministry of Justice 

(2015 - 2018)’. 

The 50-page review which 

contains reports from the 

various departments of the 

Policemen killings: Be on red alert, IG orders CPs, AIGs 

Officer, Jimoh Moshood, in a 

statement in Abuja on Saturday, 

stated that though five suspects 

had been nabbed in connection 

with the killings, there is 

the need to beef up security 

throughout the country to 

enhance and ensure adequate 

security and protection of lives 

and properties. 

“To this end, the Assistant 

Inspectors-General of Police in 

charge of zonal commands and 

Commissioners of Police in 

State Commands are under the 

strict instructions of the IG to 

re-gird their crime prevention 

and control strategies. 

“They are to carry out a 

massive deployment of police 

personnel and logistics to 

strengthen security in their 

areas of responsibility and 

deal decisively with suspected 

criminal elements,” the 

statement explained. 

It added that attention 

would be paid to places of 

worship, schools, markets, 

recreation centres and other 

public spaces to forestall any 

untoward incident. 

Federal Ministry of Justice 

was “presented” by the AGF. 

It was signed by the 

minister in April but was 

distributed at one of the 

ministry’s events last week. 

The report disclosed 

that negotiations with 

politically exposed persons 

were ongoing as part of the 

ministry’s anti-corruption 

activities which were 

captured under a subtitle, 

“Key intervention areas”. 

The report did not name 

the politically-exposed 

persons the government was 

negotiating with but it stated 

that the persons were already 

facing prosecution. 

It said a memo had been 

sent to Buhari for his approval 

to finalise the negotiations, 

although it did not state when 

the memo was sent. 

The report did not give any 

timeline concerning the said 

ongoing negotiations but said 

it was being done in line with 

the relevant provisions of the 

Administration of Criminal 

Justice Act. 

of his government. 

“Nigerians are completely 

at a loss on why President 

Buhari always fail to take bold 

steps to expose and deal with 

corrupt and sharp practice 

by his appointees and leaders 

of his APC, even when such 

nefarious acts are directly 

against the underprivileged 

citizens already suffering the 

harsh economic realities of his 

administration. 

“Since this issue was 

raised and the PDP called 

for a legislative scrutiny, the 

Federal Government and the 

APC have kept mum, perhaps, 

thinking that by their silence, it 

will be swept under the carpet 

like others in the past.” 

NABTEB panel 

uncovers illegal 

recruitment of 

15 workers 

Olaleye Aluko, Abuja 

committee set up by the 

A dissolved Governing Board 

of the National Business and 

Technical Examinations Board 

to investigate malpractices 

said 15 workers were illegally 

recruited into the examination 

body between January and 

March 2018. 

The committee, in its report, 

said the alleged recruitment 

of the 15 workers “did not 

follow due process because 

the positions were neither 

advertised nor competed for as 

obtained in other institutions.” 

Our correspondent, 

who obtained a copy of the 

committee’s findings, had 

reported that the committee 

found out that NABTEB 

“awarded 42 contracts 

between February and March 

2018 worth N154, 813,000 

without going through due 

process.” 

The NABTEB Registrar, 

Prof Ifeoma Abanihe, 

however, in an official mail to 

the Chairman of the dissolved 

board, Prof Leonard Shilgba, 

had said the examination 

body gave out the contracts 

because “the commencement 

of the date of the examination 

was approaching and there 

was no more time to waste.” 

The Minister of State for 

Education, Prof Anthony 

Anwukah, who supervises 

the agency, had said in 

an interview with our 

correspondent that the 

Federal Government was 

investigating the allegations 

and crises rocking the 

examinations board. 

On Sunday, our 

correspondent gathered 

from the committee report 

that 15 workers were 

allegedly recruited without 

advertisement between 

January and March 2018. 

The committee report was 

signed by Dr Charles Osahon 

as the Chairman and Dr Titus 

Umoru as the secretary. 

The registrar, Prof 

Abanihe, could not be reached 

for comment on Sunday as her 

line rang out two times. 

A text message sent to her 

line also had yet to be replied 

to as of the time of filing this 

report.


13



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19


AM BUSINESS 

N578bn 

Facts have emerged how the National Assembly altered 

the 2018 budget with a total of 6,403 projects valued at 

N578.31bn 

... personal finance, small business, financial information 

Becoming a successful 

mobile app entrepreneur 

Ozioma Ubabukoh 

Given its ability 

to bring the world 

in your hands, it’s no 

wonder that mobile 

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According to Anirudh 

Challa, they are here to 

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only thing different about 

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Here are a few tips on 

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Focus on your 

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While you might have 

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This is a major reason 

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focus all your efforts on 

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Study the App Store 

rigorously 

Keep a keen eye on 

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While you might be 

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study the bad ones too. 

They tell you what ‘not’ to 

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and studying the trends 

regularly give you an idea 

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and which don’t through 

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Use Google Analytics 

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genuine reviews and 

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Invest well for great 

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As any mobile 

development 

professional would tell 

you, developing an app 

is not the be-all and 

end-all for a mobile app 

entrepreneur. Having 

a strong marketing 

strategy to promote the 

app across all mediums 

decides the fate of the 

mobile app. Not to forget 

the monetising planning 

you choose. Of app 

purchases, subscriptions, 

in-app purchases and 

freemiums, which kind 

of monetisation plan 

you offer your user also 

decides whether your 

mobile app is worth a 

million downloads or 

not. 

Offering a great 

feature/service will 

remain the key but if you 

do not offer it for free 

initially for the users 

to get a hang of it, your 

app has little chance of 

survival. So, it’s always 

advisable to keep the 

downloads free and 

charge for the more/ 

enhanced access to the 

said feature. 

The trend of 

becoming a mobile app 

entrepreneur has seen 

a sharp spike recently. 

But it’s the ones who 

understood the mobile 

space, kept up with the 

ever-growing digital 

trends and were willing 

to explore the market 

ruthlessly who made it 

big – be it the founders 

of Kwese iflix app, 

Kwese TV mobile app, 

Flutterwave or any 

other popular app. So, 

if you are an aspiring 

entrepreneur and 

mobile is your thing, you 

know what to do to make 

it big. 

ambusiness@punchng.com 

07053937947 

Why you should trade forex 

welcome my readers 

I back to this column. 

The topic above speaks 

of the risks being peddled 

about forex, but I have 

some reasons to allay 

your fears. 

In Nigeria, the hype 

and awareness about 

forex trading came in 

2006. You will agree 

with me that we lacked 

experienced traders and 

trainers then to guide 

prospective traders 

to success. There was 

no emphasis on risk 

management and profit 

management aspects 

of forex trading, thus, 

those who ventured into 

the trade lost so much 

money. 

Over 12 years after, 

the story has changed for 

good. Hence, the points 

below should rekindle 

your interest and 

ultimate investment or 

career interest in online 

forex trading. 

For 

traders’ 

confidence, I have stated 

below the developments 

over the years. First is 

the issue of brokers. Back 

then, no broker had an 

office in Nigeria. As of 

today, there are several 

of them on ground, which 

include: 

Uniglobemarkets – 

www.uniglobemarkets 

.com 

Instanforex – www. 

instanfxng.com 

Forextime – www. 

forextime.com 

The good news is 

that many have raised 

the awareness level and 

have imparted so much 

in training and technical 

knowledge of the market. 

Some years ago, training 

was very expensive and 

not even articulate. Most 

were hogwash one-day 

seminar. 

Today, many are 

providing training 

almost, if not, free and 

are painstakingly guiding 

and guarding trainees in 

the market. Many have 

opened trading training 

academies all over the 

country. 

In addition, they have 

provided employment 

to the populace and 

invested in our country. 

The advantage of funding 

in local currency, and 

even trading in local 

currency, is a plus. 

Gone are the days of 

compulsory domiciliary 

accounts and funding 

in foreign currency. 

It is now possible to 

credit deposits and issue 

withdrawals the same 

day as opposed to 72 

hours, or more, then. 

Secondly, most 

brokers provide 

continuous training and 

forums, either physically 

or online (webinar), to 

traders. Daily market 

analyses are given to 

traders to assist them 

in making decisions in 

trade. Entry levels for 

deposits have also been 

reduced to accommodate 

the economic reality. A 

trader can begin now 

with as little as $100 or 

the naira equivalent as 

opposed to about $1000 

in hard currency, which 

was the case 12 years ago. 

Technology has 

improved too. Only laptop 

and desktop computers 

could be used for trading 

then. Mobile trading on 

smartphones and tablets 

are now for traders and 

has made it easy for all 

comers. Internet access, 

the various networks and 

their speed have greatly 

improved for trading 

benefit. 

Many innovations, 

such as copy trade from 

top traders to ensure 

better profitability, 

currently trend in 

the market. Trading 

techniques and strategies 

are ubiquitous and 

available for prospective 

traders, though at a 

cost, but it portends 

opportunities in the 

market. 

Career opportunities 

have blossomed for 

trainers, traders, 

partners, representatives, 

consultants, analysts, 

marketers and sales 

Jennifer ’Kunle Adeyeri Abraham 

adefullhouse@yahoo.com 

08039391041 

personnel, operation 

personnel, signal service 

providers, and a couple 

of others. I must say 

here that I recently 

had the opportunity of 

recruiting for a local 

broker, Uniglobemarkets 

that is well interested in 

being entrenched in the 

Nigerian market. 

My weekly profitable 

analysis is back for your 

consumption. Take a bold 

step today to be your own 

boss. Work from home or 

trade while you are on the 

move. Open your trading 

account with the brokers 

listed above and get quality 

training from them or the 

one in your locality. 

The profitable days 

are here. Grab the 

opportunity and do not be 

left out. Should you need 

any further assistance, 

kindly reach me on my 

contact details as stated 

below: 

Market ANALYSIS 

FOR THE WEEK – JULY 

9-14, 2018 – (Entries 

and TP are at trader’s 

discretion. Money 

management is strictly 

advised. Liability is on 

the part of the trader, 

as this signal does not 

constitute an investment 

advice.) 

GBPUSD (UPTREND): 

ENTRY@1.3230.TP 1ST: 

1.3390; TP 2ND; 1.3445 

GBPCHF (UPTREND): 

ENTRY@1.3100.TP 1ST: 

1.3243; TP 2ND; 1.3265 

AUDUSD 

(UPTREND): 

ENTRY@0.7400. TP 1ST: 

0.7500; TP 2ND; 0.7565 

For further enquiries 

on your training and 

other services, call 

08039391041 or e-mail: 

adefullouse@gmail. 

com. Or visit our office 

at 2nd Floor, 67 Obafemi 

Awolowo Way, Ikeja, 

Lagos.


21

editorial 

NCC, protect consumers from TELCOS’ tyranny 


THE commencement of a directive by the 

telecommunications industry regulator that 

operators must roll over customers’ unused data is long 

overdue. New rules by the Nigerian Communications 

Commission last week require data service providers 

to roll over subscribers’ unused but pre-paid data 

onto the next data subscription. What remains is a 

rigorous enforcement of this and other rules and a 

greater commitment to consumer protection by the 

agency. 

Although long in coming, the rule seeks to address 

one of the many oppressive practices mobile network 

operators and other Telcos inflict on Nigerian 

subscribers. From June 26, however, operators and 

other providers must add a subscriber’s un-utilised 

data to his or her next subscription cycle. Hitherto, the 

country’s 103.15 million data users (as of May 2018, 

according to the NCC website), were often frustrated 

and short-changed by service providers: their unused 

data balance was forfeited as soon as the subscription 

validity period expired. Standard practice worldwide 

is to roll over unutilised data, but Telcos have been 

taking undue advantage of lax regulation and the 

yearning of Nigerians for voice and data services to 

rip them off. A N5m fine will henceforth be imposed 

on each subscriber whose data is not rolled over and 

N500,000 each day following the first default date. 

This is a fitting penalty for recalcitrant operators. 

But, welcome though it is, the country’s 103 million 

strong mobile internet users as of May this year, 

including smartphone users, are sceptical of the 

willingness of the NCC to walk its talk by rigidly 

enforcing compliance. 

Consumer complaints have not abated over 

the years; instead they have been mounting even 

as telephone and internet usage has been rising 

exponentially and operators roll out new value added 

services. 

From less than 500,000 combined active telephone 

lines, the mobile phone segment alone has risen 

exponentially from a few thousands in 2001 to hit 

244.8 million lines by May this year, according to the 

NCC, re-affirming Nigeria as seventh in the global 

ranking of countries with the largest number of 

mobile telephone users. The number of internet users 

in the country by July 2016 was put by Internet Live 

Stats at 46.1 per cent of the population. This rose to 

98.39 million users (50.2 per cent of the population) 

by December 2017, a report by Internet World Stats 

revealed. Teledensity, the number of active telephone 

subscribers per 100 inhabitants, at 116.09 by May, is 

one of the highest in the world. 

With the exponential rise in customer base and 

patronage, Nigerians deserve better services than 

they are presently receiving. Apart from the daylight 

robbery of not rolling over unused data that the NCC 

has now woken up to, consumers also complain of data 

and airtime depletion, unauthorised subscription 

and auto renewal to value added services they 

never subscribed to and refusal by the networks 

to terminate such unsolicited services even after 

opting out. Some of the services were mentioned 

at the NCC-brokered telecoms parliament. Some of 

the numbers mentioned include 30801 and 4100. 

Apart from poor service quality, the NCC should 

address complaints of consumer frustration over its 

2442 Do Not Disturb shortcode. Whereas its Legal 

and Regulatory Services Department, in May 2016, 

barred MNOs from sending out unauthorised text 

messages to subscribers, beginning July 1, 2016, with 

a N5 million fine for infraction and N500,000 per day 

for as long as the infraction lasts, many report being 

ignored when they use the DND. There were 13,880 

complaints of abuses by MNOs in the first quarter of 

2018, down from 17,247 complaints in Q4 2017. 

To be fair, since liberalisation in 2001, the 

telecoms sector has been a major investment draw 

into the country, hitting $70bn in 2017, $2bn higher 

than the $68bn of 2016. It contributed N1.54tn to 

Gross Domestic Product in Q2 2017, almost 10 per 

cent of the economy. It has been the second biggest 

magnet for foreign direct investment after the oil 

and gas sector and has impacted on other sectors as 

well. 

However, the regulator should be stern in the 

interest of the economy: consumers should not be 

deprived of disposable income that can be put to 

other uses through the abuses of service providers. 

We need to see more of an activist NCC that rightly 

came down hard on MTN in 2015 with an initial 

$5.2bn fine for issuing 5.2 million unregistered 

Subscriber Identification Modules. Countries 

jealously guard against security breaches, consumer 

privacy/rights infringement, violation of trade 

rules and financial scams, imposing heavy fines 

on offending Telcos. The European Union imposed 

€2.7bn on Google for search engine manipulation in 

2017, also fining Facebook, YouTube and Google in a 

separate action for allegedly facilitating hate speech. 

Here in Africa, Communication Authority of Kenya hit 

Safaricom, the country’s leading Telco, with a $2.6m 

fine for poor service delivery and Rwanda hit MTN 

with $8.5 million for violating rules on IT services. 

Merely rolling rules out will not do: the NCC should 

follow through with tough enforcement. It should start 

with its DND, which many have complained are either 

sparingly observed or not for long. The regulator 

should work out an effective mechanism to refund 

airtime and data to consumers logged on to and billed 

for services they never subscribed to. 

The NCC should continue to invest in cutting edge 

technology, human capacity and public enlightenment. 

Its role as a facilitator of Nigeria’s major sectoral 

success story demands that it should not drop its 

guard but enforce the rules and innovate to achieve 

national aspirations in the telecoms sector. 

LETTERS 

Letters meant for this page should not be 

more than 150 words long, and e-mailed to: 

punchlagos@punchng.com Such letters must 

contain writer’s full names (not initials) and 

address, and be typed double-space. Writers 

may no longer send letters in paper format. 

Toward a new 

security architecture 

for Nigeria 

The persistent killings and destruction of 

valuable property in Benue, Plateau and Kaduna 

States, as well as in other parts of Nigeria, by 

rampaging gunmen believed to be Fulani herdsmen 

calls for an urgent review of the current security 

architecture of this country. Horrified by the 

intensity of the violence that is currently sweeping 

across the country, Nigerians daily pray for a quick 

and effective solution to the mass murders. Also, 

they wonder when the killers, whose murderous 

activities recently claimed the lives of more than 

200 defenceless residents of some communities 

in Plateau State, will ever be apprehended and 

prosecuted. 

The situation definitely calls to question the 

delay on the part of President Muhammadu Buhari 

to assent to the bill for the establishment of the 

Vigilante Group of Nigeria, which has since been 

passed by the National Assembly. When will the 

President realise that the current policing system in 

the country has failed and it can no longer protect 

lives and property? 

What Nigeria needs is a strong and intelligencedriven 

community policing system, as enshrined 

in the bill. For emphasis, it is important to stress 

that policing in this context ought to be approached 

from a multi-level angle. When the Vigilante Group 

of Nigeria eventually begins to operate in the 774 

Local Government Areas in the country and the 36 

states of the federation, as well as in the Federal 

Capital Territory, alongside the Nigeria Police 

Force, internal security will be strengthened and 

the ongoing attacks on innocent and law-abiding 

Nigerians will be brought under control. 

If the members of the VGN in every community 

are well-trained, equipped with the necessary 

tools and motivated, they will form the first line of 

defence in our rural communities. Their presence 

will certainly prevent the situation where a group 

of marauders gain access into a community, kill the 

residents with impunity and get away with it. 

As the first to respond to acts of crime committed 

within a community, VGN operatives will be able 

to give adequate information and also gather 

intelligence that will be passed to the relevant 

security agencies for appropriate action. Since the 

operatives will live within the communities, it will 

be easier for them to identify strange faces and odd 

movements. 

Indeed, it will be in the best interest of the Federal 

Government to utilise the services of a proactive 

and intelligence-community policing system to fight 

crime at the grassroots, instead of the reactionary 

policing system that is presently in use now. A 

synergy between the VGN and the Nigeria Police, as 

well as other security agencies, will be quite effective 

in reducing the crime rate to an appreciable level. 

A situation where the government assigns the 

military to carry out internal security duties under 

a democratic government does not speak well of 

Nigeria. In fact, it ridicules the country before the 

international community. 

Just as the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammadu 

Sa’ad Abubakar III noted a few months ago, now 

is the time to review the security architecture of 

Nigeria. We call on President Buhari to assent to 

the bill, since it has the potential to put an end to 

the incessant killing of innocent Nigerians and to 

ensure the final defeat of the dreaded Boko Haram 

insurgents. 

Just as the members of the Civilian Joint Task 

Force has assisted in no small measure in the fight 

against the Boko Haram insurgents in the North- 

East, the operatives of the VGN will, no doubt, 

prove to be indispensable for the protection of rural 

communities from rampaging mass killers and land 

grabbers. 

•Otunba James Udoma sent this piece 

from Lagos


23



25


viewpoint 

The Constitution and 

Executive Order No.6 

Eze Onyekpere 

censoj@gmail.com; 08127235995 

The provisions of the Presidential Executive 

Order No. 6 of 2018 on the Preservation of 

Suspicious Assets Connected with Corruption 

and Other Relevant Offences, recently issued 

by President MuhammaduBuhari raises 

serious issues of constitutionalism, legality 

and due process of law. Nobody doubts the 

fact that corruption is a very serious threat to 

Nigeria’s development and the realisation of 

the human rights and fundamental freedoms 

of the majority of the population, especially 

in matters of economic, social and cultural 

rights. Indeed, there is a constitutional 

obligation in the Fundamental Objectives and 

Directive Principles of State Policy in S.15 (5) 

for the state to abolish corrupt practices and 

the abuse of power. 

The foundation for the challenges is the 

supremacy of the clause found in S.1 (3) 

of the Constitution, which declares that 

if any other law is inconsistent with the 

provisions of the constitution, the constitution 

prevails and such law shall to the extent of its 

inconsistency be voided. The constitution 

assigns legislative powers to the legislature 

while giving executive and judicial powers 

to the executive and judiciary respectively. 

Although a water tight separation of powers 

is impossible, the constitution guarantees 

separation of powers to the extent that no 

arm encroaches on the duties and powers 

of the other. The language of S.5 of the 

constitution defining executive powers of the 

Federation vests same in the President and 

his support crew, extends to the execution and 

maintenance of the constitution, all laws made 

by the National Assembly and to all matters 

with respect to which the latter has, for the 

time being, power to make laws. 

From the foregoing constitutional executive 

mandate, an executive order can only be 

issued to enforce already existing powers, 

duties and mandates under existing laws; 

to manage staff and resources of executive 

agencies for greater economy, efficiency, 

effectiveness and for the realisation of high 

level policy goals. Therefore, an executive 

order cannot be used by the executive to 

create new powers, duties or rights or expand 

existing ones beyond the mandate given by the 

legislature. Instances of previous executive 

orders will demonstrate this. The executive 

order on support to local content in public 

procurement was made pursuant to the 

fulfillment of the domestic preference section 

of the Public Procurement Act, 2007. Thus, 

there was an existing law which had made 

provision for local content and the executive 

order merely sharpened and clarified how 

it will be implemented.Further, executive 

orders cannot be used to encroach on the 

province of duties already guaranteed by the 

Constitution to another arm of government. 

Any such purported exercise of power under 

the two scenarios above will be ultra vires 

the executive and as such will be void to the 

extent of its inconsistency with existing laws 

and the Constitution. It is pertinent to note 

that in no part of the Constitution is the term 

“executive order” used and one could argue 

that executive orders are unknown to our 

jurisprudence. However, Nigeria seems to 

be copying this practice from the American 

presidential practice since our Constitution 

is modeled after theirs. It is as such conceded 

that there is nothing wrong if we adopt the 

practice in Nigeria. 

Executive order No.6, to the extent that it 

seeks to restrict dealings in suspicious assets 

subject to corruption related investigation 

or inquiries in order to preserve same 

in accordance with the rule of law and 

to guarantee and safeguard fundamental 

humanrights is a welcome development. 

Preservation of the subject matter of 

corruption, so that it is not dissipated is a 

good objective of criminal law 

jurisprudence. To the extent 

that it urges and encourages 

the Attorney General of the 

Federation to take steps through the judicial 

process to freeze and hold onto assets so that 

they are not dissipated is quite proactive of 

the President. Further, the extant practice 

where the state after investigations, goes exparte 

before a judge for a temporary freezing 

order and thereafter serves the suspect the 

ex-parte order, which invites the person to 

come and prove that he legally and legitimately 

acquired the property in question is still good 

practice. Although there may be arguments 

of reversing the presumption of innocence, 

it is still a good practice which has evolved 

from assets recovery jurisprudence across the 

world, especially when the assets far exceed the 

legally known sources of income of the suspect. 

Constitutionally, this can be justified as facts 

peculiarly within the knowledge of the suspect, 

being a particular fact which he has the burden 

of proving under the fair hearing rules. 

The power to determine which assets should 

be subject to temporary or final confiscation 

is a judicial power vested in the courts by S.6 

of the Constitution for the determination of 

the civil rights and obligations of the citizen. 

This is further reinforced by the provisions of 

the constitution which guarantees that in the 

determination of civil rights and obligations, 

fair trial by a court or tribunal established 

by law and constituted in such a manner to 

secure its independence and impartiality- the 

fair hearing rule. It is also supported by the 

constitutional right to property and freedom 

from expropriation without due process. 

Essentially,preservation of assets, subject 

matter of corruption must be done within the 

confines of the rule of law, through powers 

and duties conferred by already existing 

statues or through the orders of courts of 

competent jurisdiction. It cannot be achieved 

by an executive order as executive orders 

cannot be the basis for the creation of new 

rights, duties, powers and mandates. Also, no 

two cases are the same and in the absence of 

an enabling law, a schedule in an executive 

order cannot be the basis for the forfeiture of 

assets, whether temporary or otherwise. The 

order for temporary forfeiture or forfeiture 

pending the determination of the case is to be 

made on a case by case basis, after the court 

has duly examined the circumstances and the 

preliminary weighing of the available evidence. 

Creating a schedule in an executive order 

and listing the names of suspects or accused 

persons whose property the executive order 

purports to block or freeze is like placing 

the cart before the horse and as such, it is 

illegal, unconstitutional, null and void and an 

audacious attempt by the President using his 

Attorney-General to usurp judicial powers. 

For accused persons who are already before 

the Courts, the Attorney-General knows the 

appropriate application(s) to bring or file to 

achieve freezing or blocking. For suspects 

who have not been charged to court, there 

is also a known legal procedure which 

the Attorney-General can take to achieve 

freezing. 

In conclusion, the road to hell is paved with 

the best of intentions, with golden promises of 

achieving Eldorado. Accumulating incredible 

amount of powers in the Presidency is a 

sure recipe to dictatorship, anarchy and 

the collapse of democratic rule. There are 

clear cases of corrupt transactions where a 

prima facie case has been established and 

the administration refuses to prosecute. The 

grass cutting scandal of the former Secretary 

to the Government of the Federation is a case 

in point. And now, an arbitrary list of persons 

whose assets are to be forfeited! This is not the 

democracy we fought. Mr. President and the 

Attorney-General, there is one clear message 

for you: Go back to the courts and ask for 

forfeiture of assets to preserve the res on a 

case by case basis and let the courts decide. 


27


The 

special Edition 

WoRld Cup 

Russia 2018 


Ozil should quit 

German team, 

says father Page 30 

Racists starget 

Fernandinho 

after own goal 

Croatia’s Vida 

avoids ban over 

pro-Ukraine 

celebration 

Page 30 

Rakitic 

dreaming of 

going further 

than ’98 heroes 

Hierro 

resigns as 

Spain coach 

Page 36 Page 35 

Page 25


Mesut Ozil’s father said 

Sunday his son should quit 

Germany’s national squad after 

he was made a “scapegoat” for 

their shock first-round defeat at 

the World Cup. 

Ozil, 29, has come in for 

sharp criticism in Germany 

after the holders crashed out in 

Russia, finishing bottom of their 

group. 

Pressure had already been 

mounting on the Arsenal 

midfielder in the run-up 

to the tournament over a 

controversial photograph with 

Turkey President RecepTayyip 

Erdogan, which sparked 

questions about his loyalty to 

Germany. 

On Thursday, team boss 

Oliver Bierhoff suggested that 

perhaps Germany should have 

considered dropping Ozil, who 

has Turkish roots, after his 

failure to explain himself over 

the issue. 

But the midfielder’s father, 

Mustafa Ozil, in an interview 

with Bildam Sonntag, said: 

“This statement is insolent. In 

my opinion, it is aimed at saving 

one’s own skin.” 

Bierhoff had backtracked 

Thousands of cheering 

and flag-waving Russian 

fans thanked their disappointed 

players on Sunday after the host 

nation’s fairytale World Cup run 

came to a crushing end with a 

shootout loss to Croatia. 

Coach Stanislav Cherchesov 

led his team onto a stage to a 

heroes’ welcome in a Moscow 

fan zone on a sunny day that 

was meant to put a patriotic 

exclamation point on Russia’s 

ability to beat the odds. 

The long-suffering Russians 

entered the biggest event in sport 

as its lowest-ranked nation but 

Brazil’s surprise defeat in the 

World Cup has stunned fans 

in the Lebanese capital Beirut, 

where football supporters have 

long put their hopes in the Latin 

American side. 

“We are all Brazilian, we all 

love Brazil to death whatever 

happens,” said Ali, dressed in 

a skin-tight shirt, after seeing 

his heroes lose 2-1 to Belgium 

on Friday and crash out of the 

tournament in Russia. 

The 24-year-old watched the 

match in the Shiite outskirts of 

Beirut, where Brazilian flags hang 

from buildings and shop windows 

are filled with life-size posters of 

players. 

“A supporter who loves his 

team, it’s in victory but also in 

defeat,” said Ali, who works in 

deliveries for a multinational 

firm. 

Millions of Lebanese have 

emigrated to Brazil since the end 

of the 19th century -- including 

the family of Brazilian President 

Michel Temer -- ensuring 

enduring support when it comes 

to football. 

FIFA WORLD CUP RUSSIA 2018 June 14 – July 15 

Ozil should quit German 

team, says father 

•Ozil 

on Friday, saying that he “was 

wrong” to put Ozil under undue 

pressure. 

But German Football 

Federation 

chief 

ReinhardGrindel has now 

waded in, arguing that Ozil 

must go public. 

His failure to speak out 

“has disappointed many fans, 

because they have questions and 

expect answers”, Grindel told 

Kicker magazine in an interview 

to be published Monday. 

“They are rightly expecting 

this answer. That’s why it is 

absolutely clear to me that for 

his own interest, Mesut should 

speak out when he returns from 

his holidays.” 

Ozil senior defended his son 

for not clarifying his position 

publicly. 

“He no longer wants to 

explain himself, he no longer 

wants to have to defend himself 

all the time. He has been playing 

for nine years in the German 

team... including becoming 

world champions with the 

A-team. 

“He has contributed a lot for 

this country. It has always been: 

if we win, we win together. 

“But when we lose, we lose 

because of Ozil? He is now 

getting whistled at and made 

a scapegoat. I can understand 

if he feels insulted,” said the 

midfielder’s father. 

Mesut had agreed to have a 

photograph taken with Erdogan 

only out of “politeness” and it 

was never meant to be a political 

statement, he added. 

Calling his son’s treatment 

“unfair”, Ozil senior said “he 

needs to decide for himself. But 

if I were in his place, I’d say -- 

thanks a lot but that’s it.” 

Russia players find solace in fans 

ended up coming up just short 

of reaching their first World Cup 

semi-final in 52 years. 

They lost to Croatia 4-3 on 

penalties after extra-time ended 

with the sides deadlocked at 2-2 

in the Black Sea resort of Sochi 

on Saturday. 

“You were not the 12th 

player -- you were the 12th, 

13th, 14th, 15th and 16th 

players,” Cherchesov told the 

crowd gathered on a scenic hill 

overlooking Luzhniki Stadium. 

“We felt your support from 

the first second.” 

The national team has been 

Brazil’s defeat hits Lebanon 

HaydarBaddar, 38, installed a 

projector on his doorstep, which 

attracted dozens of fans for the tie 

with Belgium. 

Many in the male-majority 

crowd donned Brazil’s yellow 

jersey for the occasion, while 

families watched from their 

balconies as the sound of drums 

and vuvuzelas filled the narrow 

street. 

“Here in our part of town we 

see Brazil, the neighbourhoods 

and the streets of Brazil, and it’s 

like our home,” said Baddar, a 

shop owner with a neatly trimmed 

black beard. 

In Beirut’s southern 

neighbourhoods, “children 

play ball on the street. There’s 

no football ground -- when the 

evening comes, you see them 

playing everywhere,” he added. 

Brazil’s defeat by Belgium 

brings tears to the crowd, met with 

mocking wails from some women 

at the end of the street. Baddar opts 

for firing his pistol into the air. 

With residents enduring 

economic woes, inadequate public 

services and widespread social 

gaining followers and drawing 

increasing political attention 

from government leaders with 

every win. 

President Vladimir Putin 

has invited Cherchesov and his 

charges to the Kremlin and Prime 

Minister Dmitry Medvedev came 

down into the players’ locker 

room after the loss. 

The men in red themselves 

sounded inconsolable on 

Saturday. 

Their mood appeared to have 

brightened by the time they had 

returned to Moscow to greet their 

worshipping fans. 

inequality, football is a welcome 

distraction from daily hardships. 

“We’re in a country where 

the situation is bad. This 

neighbourhood is very poor,” said 

unemployed Hussein Mohamed. 

• Croatia players celebrating after beating hosts Russia 4-3 on penalties in their 2018 Wo 

Saturday. Photo: AFP 

Fernandinho target of racist in 

Brazilian 

midfielder 

Fernandinho and 

family members have been 

victims of racist insults 

on social media since his 

World Cup own goal on 

Friday, when Brazil was 

eliminated by Belgium in 

the quarterfinals of the 

World Cup in Russia. 

Several internet users 

STATISTICS 

•Brazil have been knocked out of the World Cup by a European 

side in each of the last four tournaments (against France in 2006, 

Netherlands in 2010, Germany in 2014 and Belgium in 2018). 

•Belgium have reached the semi-finals of the World Cup for 

the second time. Their first was in 1986 when they lost to eventual 

champions Argentina. 

•Croatia will be playing in only their second semi-finals. Their 

first was in 1998 in France, when they came third. 

•Saudi Arabia were the team with the fewest yellow cards in 

Russia 2018. They collected only one yellow card before their group 

stage exit. 

•Kevin De Bruyne was the 100th different player to score a goal 

at the 2018 World Cup. After the quarterfinals, 105 different players 

have scored at the tournament 

•205 yellow cards – with an average of 3.42 cards per match – 

have been issued so far. Four red cards – an average of 0.07 per 

match – have also been issued. 

•Uruguay’s Oscar Tabárez – 71 years and 104 days in the first 

game against Egypt, after Otto Rehhagel (71 years and 317 days at 

the 2010 World Cup), is the second oldest World Cup coach ever. 

• Senegal’s Aliou Cissé Senegal at 42 years and 87 days in the 

first game against Poland is the youngest coach at the tournament. 

referred to the Manchester 

City player as a “monkey,” 

while some even threatened 

to kill him after Brazil’s 2-1 

loss. 

The player’s wife, 

Rosa Glaucia, also found 

her Instagram account 

full of insults. “Your 

husband’s (screw up) 

ruined everything,” was 

one comment from guih_ 

nevetti. 

Fernandinho’s mother 

had to close her Instagram 

•Fernandinho 

account due to the heap of 

offensive comments on her 

profile. 

Shocked by the racist 

messages, dozens of 

internet users rushed to 

Fernandinho’sdefence on 

social networks. 

On the Mundo Negro 

site, which specialises in 

black culture, a message 

illustrated by a photo of 

Fernandinho underscored 

that “the defeat of Brazil and 

the own goal do not justify


31

32 MONDAY, JULY 9, 2018 33 

MONDAY, JULY 9, 2018



35 


rld Cup quarter-final clash at the Fisht Stadium in Sochi…on 

sults after own goal 

racism. Nothing justifies 

racism. We are with you 

Fernandinho.” 

On Friday night, TV Globo 

journalist Glenda Kozlowski 

wept in front of the cameras, 

talking about how distraught 

the player’s family was. 

In the match in Kazan, 

Fernandinho’s own goal in 

Croatia defender Domagoj 

Vida escaped a FIFA ban 

on Sunday after posting a clip 

dedicating his country’s victory 

over Russia in the World Cup 

quarter-final to Ukraine. 

Vida scored an extra-time 

goal and one of Croatia’s 

penalties in a 4-3 shootout win 

over the World Cup hosts in 

Sochi on Saturday. 

Croatia will play England in 

the semi-final on Wednesday 

and some Russian officials had 

called on the football governing 

body to take tough disciplinary 

measures against the Balkan 

team. 

The ponytailed 29-year-old 

shouted “Glory to Ukraine!” in a 

video posted by former Croatia 

international OgnjenVukojevic 

the 13th minute allowed 

Belgium to open the scoring. 

The 33-year-old had already 

been severely criticised four 

years ago, when he was 

hauled off at half-time on 

Brazil’s way to a humiliating 

7-1 loss to Germany in the 

semifinals of the 2014 World 

Cup. 

Belgium’s golden generation 

make their mark 

•Vida 

•Belgium players celebrating 

Croatia’s Vida avoids ban over pro-Ukraine celebration 

shortly after the match. 

Vida has just left Ukrainian 

club Dynamo Kyiv and 

Vukojevic also played for the 

club during his career. 

FIFA said it had studied the 

video and decided to issue a 

warning to Vida but will take no 

further measures. 

“We can confirm that FIFA’s 

disciplinary committee has 

sent a warning to the player 

Domagoj Vida due to his video 

statement,” a spokesperson told 

AFP. 

Vida told Russian media 

after the clip was made public 

that he had meant no offence. 

“I love Russian people,” Vida 

was quoted as saying. “It was 

just a joke.” 

“Glory to Ukraine!” was a 

Long touted as World 

Cup contenders thanks 

to an abundance of talent, 

Belgium claimed their biggest 

scalp ever in beating five-time 

winners Brazil to reach just 

their second semi-final. 

A ‘golden generation’ 

featuring Thibaut Courtois, 

Kevin De Bruyne, Eden 

Hazard and Romelu Lukaku 

exited tamely to Argentina 

four years ago and blew a 

huge chance at Euro 2016 

when on the kind side of the 

draw. 

Now in their prime, this 

group of players is unlikely 

to get a better opportunity 

to win a major international 

tournament than over the 

course of the next week, with 

France to come in the last 

four on Tuesday. 

Here, AFP Sports looks at 

Belgium’s rich resources in 

every area of the field. 

Courtois stands tall 

The giant Chelsea stopper 

needed every inch of his 6 feet 

6 inch (1.99 metre) frame 

to prevent Neymar hauling 

Brazil into extra-time with a 

stunning stoppage time save 

on Friday. 

“I know Neymar likes to 

curl it that way. I was ready 

and made a good save,” said 

Courtois. 

“I have been unfairly 

criticised a lot this year. 

Today I proved again who I 

am and why I am here.” 

Widely regarded as one of 

the world’s best goalkeepers, 

Courtois has won two Premier 

League titles with Chelsea 

and La Liga while on loan at 

Atletico Madrid, but his ninesave 

display against Brazil 

was one of his best yet on the 

big international stage. 

Last chance for ageing 

defence 

Trailblazers for a wave 

Fernando Hierro, who 

stood in as Spain coach 

when JulenLopetegui was 

sacked on the eve of the 

slogan of the former Soviet 

republic’s pro-EU revolution 

that toppled a Russian-backed 

president in 2014. 

The revolt was condemned as 

illegal by Moscow and sparked a 

crisis in relations between the 

two neighbouring states. 

of Belgian talent to make 

their way to the Premier 

League, Vincent Kompany 

and Thomas Vermaelen have 

battled back from years of 

injury problems just to make 

the squad at the age of 32. 

Before Toby Alderweireld’s 

own injury problems this 

season, he and Tottenham 

teammate Jan Vertonghen 

had been hailed as the Premier 

League’s best defensive 

partnership. 

However, Vertonghen, 31, 

and Alderweireld, 29, also do 

not have time on their side. 

The pace of KylianMbappe 

could cause problems in Saint 

Petersburg on Tuesday, but 

Belgium will not be short of 

experience at the back. 

Midfield maestros 

Coach Roberto Martinez 

had been criticised for not 

finding the right balance to 

get the best out of De Bruyne 

It was followed by Russia’s 

annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea 

peninsula and a pro-Kremlin 

separatist war in eastern 

Ukraine that has claimed more 

than 10,000 lives. 

Vukojevic added in the video: 

“This victory is for Dynamo 

(Kyiv) and for Ukraine! Croatia 

onwards!” 

The clip was picked up by 

Russian state media and drew 

condemnation from some 

officials. 

“Such actions should be 

punished,” parliament’s sports 

committee member Dmitry 

Svishchyov told the RIA Novosti 

state news agency. 

“Political, nationalist and 

racist slogans are not welcome 

at the World Cup.” 

early in the tournament, but 

the Spaniard’s bold tactical 

plan worked to perfection 

against Brazil. 

MarouaneFellaini took 

De Bruyne’s place in a deeplying 

midfield role to free up 

Manchester City’s player of 

the year to play much further 

forward and to devastating 

effect as he blasted home 

Belgium’s second of the night 

and his first of the tournament. 

Captain Eden Hazard has 

been consistently brilliant, 

scoring twice against Tunisia 

in the group stage, and 

providing the teasing cross 

from which Fellainiequalised 

in a thrilling comeback from 

2-0 down to beat Japan 3-2 in 

the last 16. 

As Belgium tired against 

waves of Brazilian attacks 

in the second half, Hazard 

carried his side up the field, 

winning free-kicks and 

relieving the pressure -- a sign 

Hierro resigns as Spain coach 

World Cup, will not continue 

in the role, the Spanish 

football federation said 

Sunday. 

Under the former Real 

Madrid and Spain defender, 

who had little previous 

coaching experience, 2010 

winners Spain lost on 

penalties to host nation 

Russia in the last 16. 

“After travelling many 

kilometres together, the 

Spanish Football Federation 

and Fernando Hierro 

have put an end to their 

relationship,” the federation 

said. 

Hierro declined to 

return to his previous 

job as the federation’s 

technical director and “will 

undertake new professional 

challenges”, the federation 

wrote. 

Spain were tipped 

among the favourites until 

Lopetegui caused chaos 

by announcing he would 

become Real Madrid’s new 

coach after the World Cup. 

The federation, fearing 

a split between players 

of his and this side’s growing 

maturity. 

Lukaku more than a 

goalscorer 

Still in the race for the 

Golden Boot behind Harry 

Kane, with Belgium now 

guaranteed two more 

matches, Romelu Lukaku 

has shown another side to his 

game so far in the knockout 

phase after scoring four times 

in the group stages. 

His superb run off the 

ball and dummy in the final 

seconds against Japan cleared 

the space for Thomas Meunier 

to tee up Nacer Chadli’s 

winner. 

Against Brazil, again it 

was Lukaku’s link-up play 

that proved decisive as he 

powered past Fernandinho 

and Paulinho on a rapid 

counter-attack before feeding 

De Bruyne to smash home 

from the edge of the area. 

•Hierro 

from Barcelona and Real, 

sacked Lopetegui two days 

before Spain’s opening game 

against Portugal. 

He described it as the 

saddest day of his life since 

the death of his mother. 

Andres Iniesta, the former 

Barcelona great who scored 

the winning goal in the 2010 

World Cup final, retired 

from the international team 

after the defeat to Russia.


Ivan Rakitic is hoping this 

Croatia team can go a step 

further after matching the 

country’s heroes of 1998 by 

making it to the semi-finals of 

the World Cup. 

Barcelona midfielder 

Rakitic scored the decisive 

spot-kick as Croatia beat 

Russia 4-3 on penalties after 

a dramatic quarter-final in 

Sochi on Saturday finished 2-2 

at the end of extra-time. 

“We worked so hard and 

gave everything we had to get 

through to the semis. I think 

for a country like Croatia it 

is impressive and we want 

to keep going further,” said 

Rakitic. 

“We want to enjoy this 

victory and not put more 

pressure on ourselves with 

what happened in 1998 -- 

what they did was impressive 

but we want to keep writing 

our own history and enjoy 

what we are doing which is 

very positive.” 

Croatia will play England 


Rakitic dreaming of going 

further than’98 heroes 

England 

midfielder 

Eric Dier has told ESPN 

Brasil he wants the team to 

inspire future generations 

after they reached a first 

World Cup semifinal since 

1990. 

A 2-0 win over Sweden 

in the quarterfinals on 

Saturday, secured by goals 

from Harry Maguire and 

Dele Alli, set up a meeting 

with Croatia in the last four. 

“It means a lot to us,” 

Tottenham player Dier, 

speaking in Portuguese to 

ESPN Brasil’s Francisco 

de Laurentiis, said. “This 

is only the third time that 

England have reached the 

semifinals, and the first 

time in 28 years. 

“I want this to be an 

inspiration for future 

generations of English 

footballers. I hope that, 

when they look at us, they 

know that everything is 

Russia’s 

most-capped 

player, Sergei Ignashevich, 

has announced his retirement 

after the hosts were eliminated 

from the World Cup by Croatia. 

Ignashevich, 38, who spent 

his club career in Russia, was 

a key member of his country’s 

run to the quarterfinals, playing 

in each of their five matches. 

He earned 127 caps, scoring 

nine goals, and holds the record 

for the most international 

appearances by any Russian 

player. 

“This was my last World 

Cup, my last tournament and 

the last match of my soccer 

career. If it wasn’t for the World 

Cup, I think I would have 

ended [my career] earlier,” 

Ignashevich said in a video on 

social media. 

•Rakitic 

in the last four in Moscow on 

Wednesday, as they aim to 

outdo the team of 20 years ago. 

Back then they lost to hosts 

France in the last four. 

“I hope we can outdo them. 

Their generation are more than 

heroes for us,” added Rakitic. 

Croatia came from 

behind in Sochi with Andrej 

Kramaric cancelling out Denis 

Cheryshev’s opener as the tie 

ended 1-1 after 90 minutes. 

Domagoj Vida then headed 

ZlatkoDalic’s side in front 

in extra time, only for Mario 

Fernandes to make it 2-2 in the 

115th minute. 

However, Rakitic ensured 

that Croatia prevailed in the 

shoot-out, their second in a 

row after beating Denmark on 

penalties in the last round. 

They must recover quickly 

from a draining night before 

facing England, who were 2-0 

winners over Sweden earlier on 

Saturday. 

“We enjoy playing against 

big teams as we showed against 

Argentina,” insisted defender 

DejanLovren. 

“England are one of the 

favourites to win the World 

Cup and you need to respect 

that, but we have nothing to 

lose. We will enjoy this game 

and hopefully we can make 

history.” 

Lovren added that he 

was confident right-back 

SimeVrsaljko would recover 

from the muscle injury that 

forced him off in extra-time 

against Russia. 

England heroics can inspire generations —Dier 

possible and that they can 

also go far.” 

Dier, who grew up in 

Portugal, said he had always 

dreamed of being called 

up by England but “never 

imagined what’s happening 

today.” 

But he stressed that, 

despite the elimination of 

a host of big names from 

the tournament in Russia, 

England would be taking 

nothing for granted. 

“All the matches here 

at the World Cup are very 

hard,” he said. “Since 

the beginning of the 

tournament, we’ve seen the 

big teams struggling against 

other teams that some 

considered to be weak. 

“However, there is no 

such thing as a weak team in 

a World Cup. There’s a lot of 

quality here, in every team. 

We experienced that against 

Sweden. It was a really tough 

Olivier Giroud has backed 

France to find a way past 

Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut 

Courtois in Tuesday’s World 

Cup semifinal in St Petersburg. 

Chelsea striker Giroud, 31, 

has yet to score in Russia but 

wants to end that run against 

Chelsea teammate Courtois. 

“Thibaut is difficult to beat 

and he has been very good at 

this World Cup,” he told a news 

Russia’s Ignashevich retires 

•Ignashevich 

“The World Cup was a 

strong motivation of me. I feel 

joy, a feeling of peace because I 

am ending on a high note. 

“I am playing at the World 

Cup. I am playing on a great 

team with a great coach, a real 

coach, and with players who 

give themselves fully to the 

game.” 

Ignashevich was one of the 

game. 

“Our great triumph is 

our unity. We have a really 

great bond between the 23 

players and the staff. We’re 

ready to fight for each other 

and we have a very strong 

mentality. 

“Everyone has been 

able to see this since the 

beginning of the World Cup, 

and now we expect to be 

here until the last day.” 

•England’s Jesse Lingard (back) vying with Sweden’s Viktor Claesson during their 

2018 World Cup quarter-final match at the Samara Arena in Samara … on Saturday. 

Photo: AFP 

Giroud targets goal against Courtois 

successful penalty takers in the 

4-3 shootout defeat to Croatia 

and was also on target from the 

spot when they beat Spain on 

penalties. 

“Anything can happen in 

soccer. But here no one was 

dissatisfied, not in the dressing 

room and not on the pitch,” he 

said. 

“I plan to receive a coaching 

license in December. I would 

like to become a coach, a good 

coach.” 

Midfielder Alexander 

Samedov, meanwhile, has said 

he is ending his international 

career. 

“I’ve decided that it’s time 

for me to go. This was my last 

match for the national team,” 

news agency TASS quoted the 

33-year-old as saying. 

conference on Sunday. 

“He has a strong defence in 

front of him, but I am sure we 

will be able to break through 

that wall. 

“I have scored a few goals 

against Thibaut [in training] at 

Chelsea, and I intend to do the 

same again on Tuesday.” 

Giroud praised Belgium 

skipper Eden Hazard, another 

Chelsea colleague, and France’s 

Kylian Mbappe as two of the 

best players he has worked with. 

“Eden and Kylian are both 

geniuses,” he said. “Kylian 

is more serious — he makes 

calls from deeper, so is more 

attacking than Eden. 

“That said, I have a special 

relationship with Eden at 

Chelsea — we need each other 

on the pitch. Eden is one of the 

three top players that I have 

played alongside during my 

career, but Kylian might be in 

that band too.” 

Giroud predicted a tight 

game against Belgium, saying he 

felt it would be “a 50-50 match.” 

“They have a great team, but 

we do too,” he said. “We have a 

big rivalry with Belgium — it is a 

derby, so this game will have an 

English feel to it. It is a special 

match. 

“They are third in the FIFA 

rankings and they possess a very 

•Giroud 

good generation of players. It 

will be even harder than the last 

few matches.” 

Mbappe told TF1 that France 

were “really proud” of their 

achievements so far, adding: 

“We know our own qualities. 

We need to get back to work 

to do the right things in the 

semifinal and allow ourselves 

to dream.” 

Meanwhile, defender 

Benjamin Pavard rejected 

the idea that France would be 

favourites. 

“Belgium are gaining 

momentum — they have great 

players, but we are sure of 

our qualities, and we have an 

exceptional squad that is very 

together,” he said. 

“It is going to be a very 

complicated match. However, 

we are scared of nobody. Our 

squad is exceptional. 

“We know that Belgium are 

a top team. We have played 

against (Lionel) Messi and 

(Luis) Suarez, though, so we are 

afraid of nobody — we will work 

to keep them out too. 

“People keep talking us up 

as favourites, but there are still 

four top teams left. Give it time 

— we will see after the Belgium 

match.” 

French coach Didier 

Deschamps, also speaking to 

TF1, warned: “Belgium have 

great potential in attack, they 

possess a generation of great 

quality. The Belgians are at the 

best European clubs, and they 

deserve their semifinal berth.”

punch 

financial 

Financial Market Watch 

…for the week ended July 6, 2018 

Equity market - Listed securities on NSE 

The equity segment of the Nigerian stock market succumbed to 

profit-taking activities and weak demand despite the kick-off of 

the pension multi-fund structure. Consequently, the NSE All-Share 

Index and market capitalisation depreciated by 1.71 per cent to close 

the past week at 37,625.59 and N13.630tn, respectively. With this, the 

NSE ASI has posted a negative return of 1.61 per cent year-to-date. 

In the same vein, most sectored gauges fell: the NSE Banking Index, 

NSE Consumer Goods Index, NSE Oil/Gas Index and NSE Industrial 

Index decreased by 0.07 per cent, 3.49 per cent, 2.87 per cent and 2.77 

per cent, respectively to close at 475.74 points, 895.36 points, 313.95 

points and 1,953 points, respectively; however, the NSE Insurance 

Index rose by 0.53 per cent to close at 151.23 points. 

This week, we expect the market to trade slightly sideways as 

investors, especially the Pension Fund Administrators, are likely to 

take advantage of the relatively discounted stock prices. 

NASD unlisted securities 

The NASD OTC Market garnered momentum in the past week 

as the NASD USI increased significantly by 1.72 per cent to close at 

662.89 points (as against the 651.69 points recorded in the previous 

week). Consequently, the market capitalisation increased by 1.72 per 

cent to close higher at 448.60bn compared to 441.02bn recorded in 

the previous week. 

Money market 

The OBB and overnight rates rose higher to 11.33 per cent and 12.92 

per cent, respectively. This came on the back of a squeeze in system 

liquidity as banks funded for their FX bids at a retail auction by the 

Central Bank of Nigeria. 

Outflows came by way of retail FX sales approximately N300bn and 

treasury bills primary auction worth N102.31bn. These were slightly 

moderated by inflows from refunds of the last auction of approximately 

N100bn and maturing treasury bills worth N409.15bn. 

We expect rates to remain slightly pressured at the beginning of 

the week as banks are expected to fund for another round of FX sales 

in the wholesale market, but moderate slightly on maturing treasury 

bills worth N313.56bn. 

Bonds market 

The bond market remained relatively flat with most activities still on 

the 2036s. There were, however, slight buying interests on the 2037s, 

which compressed yields marginally by a single basis point. 

We expect the market to remain relatively stable this week as market 

players have shown renewed buying interests at current levels. Our 

forward expectation for yields, however, remains slightly bearish due 

to continued EM selloffs, slightly higher year-end inflation expectations 

and expected increase in the level of FGN borrowings. 

Treasury bills market 

The T-bills market traded on a firmly bullish note with yields 

declining by an average of 30 basis points in the past week. This came 

on the back of excess inflows from T-bill maturities in the previous 

session, which spurred some buying interests in the market. 

In the week under review, the CBN auctioned treasury bills worth 

N102.31bn via the primary market. The stop rates for the auctioned 

T-bills moved in mixed directions across the tenor buckets: the 91-day 

stop rate moderated to 10 per cent (from 10.20 per cent), while 182-day 

stop rate was flat at 10.50 per cent; however, the 364-day stop rate rose 

to 11.51 per cent (from 11.50 per cent). 

We expect the market to remain slightly bullish this week as we 

anticipate that a resolution of the recent FAAC standoff will further 

moderate liquidity pressures in the system. This is, however, barring 

a renewal of OMO auctions by the CBN. 

Foreign exchange market 

The interbank rate remained stable at its previous rate of N305.70/$, 

with the CBN’s external reserves increasing by 0.36 per cent to 

$47.80bn from $47.63bn on the 13th of June. 

The NAFEX rate depreciated further by 0.09 per cent to another 

high of N362.58/$, last seen on August 14, 2017, when the market 

closed at N362.50/$. 

In the parallel market, cash rates appreciated by 40k to N359/$, 

while the transfer market rate remained stable at N363.50/$. 

In the past week, the CBN injected a total of $210m into the foreign 

exchange market, of which $100m was allocated to Wholesale (SMIS), 

$55m was allocated to Small and Medium-scale Enterprises, and $55m 

was sold for invisibles. 

We expect a relatively stable exchange rate at most market segments 

as the CBN continues its intervention coupled with increased dollar 

liquidity at the BDC segment. 

•Dr Bernard Ilori 

E-mail – woleilori@gmail.com 

Mobile: 09030004477 (SMS/WhatsApp only) 


Retirees kick as pension 

operators slash lump sum to 20% 

Many retirees under the 

Contributory Pension 

Scheme are daily expressing 

their displeasure over their 

inability to access at least 25 

per cent of the balance in their 

Retirement Savings Accounts, 

which is contrary to their 

expectation, investigation has 

revealed. 

Some retirees, who spoke 

to our correspondent on the 

development, threatened to 

take up their Pension Fund 

Administrators for introducing 

the initiative without making 

their intentions public for 

stakeholders to understand 

the implications. 

According to them, the prior 

information made available to 

them was that retirees could 

access either 50 per cent or at 

least 25 per cent of their RSA 

balance, even when it was 

uncommon to see the PFAs 

giving out 50 per cent. 

A retiree, Kayode Ibrahim, 

said he was disappointed when 

his PFAs denied him the 25 per 

cent lump sum payment, which 

he felt was his right. 

He stated, “I just retired 

and went to my PFA last week 

to process my pension, but 

they calculated my lump sum, 

which amounted to 20 per 

cent. I rejected that money and 

insisted that they must give me 

25 per cent minimum; they 

told me my monthly pensions 

will be lower than 50 per cent 

of my last salary if they should 

give me 25 per cent. 

“Yet, the amount they want 

to be paying me as monthly 

pension is just about 18 per 

cent of the last salary I got 

before I retired. If they cannot 

give me a monthly pension 

that is worth 50 per cent of 

my last salary, why should 

they not give me my 25 per 

cent lump sum?” 

Another retiree, James 

Egerue, who spoke with our 

correspondent, said that he 

retired early this year and went 

to his PFA to know how much 

he would be paid as lump sum. 

He said, “They agreed to 

give me 25 per cent, but I did 

not fill the form on time. When 

I went back recently, I got a 

rude shock as they said they 

would not give me 25 per cent 

lump sum anymore, but just 

20 per cent. 

“Even though they offered to 

pay higher monthly pensions 

than before, the increase is 

insignificant because they still 

want to be paying me monthly 

pension, which is just 20 per 

cent of my last salary. I will 

write a petition against them.” 

While the Part 1 Section 4(1) 

C old Pension Reform Act, 2004 

provided that 50 per cent of the 

annual remuneration should 

be considered in retirement 

iNSIDE 

A new template recently given to the Pension Fund Administrators 

by the National Pension Commission for the calculation of retirement 

benefits to Contributory Pension Scheme retirees has led to the 

reduction in lump sum being paid out and this is generating concerns 

among some pensioners, NIKE POPOOLA writes 

• Acting Director-General, PenCom, Aisha 

Dahir-Umar 

benefit computation, this 

provision was not mentioned 

in the amended PRA 2014. 

Part III Section 7(1) A of the 

2014 version of the law states, 

“A holder of a RSA shall upon 

retirement or attaining the 

age of 50 years, whichever 

is later, utilise the amount 

credited to his RSA for the 

following benefit: withdrawal 

of a lump sum from the total 

amount credited to his RSA 

provided that the amount left 

after the lump sum withdrawal 

or annuity for life in accordance 

with extant guidelines issue 

by the commission from time 

to time.” 

The major parameters used 

in the template to calculate 

the monthly pensions are the 

date of birth, RSA balance, last 

salary before retirement and 

gender of the retiree. 

Some operators, who spoke 

with our correspondent, said 

that the new template became 

imperative as the PFAs were 

overwhelmed by the number of 

retirees who regularly came to 

their offices to ask for another 

lump sum after exhausting 

the initial one they got at 

retirement, which is the only 

one allowed by law. 

From their observation, 

when retirees were given huge 

lump sums, they squandered 

the money within months and 

soon return to penury. 

“We feel is it better to give 

them little lump sums and 

bigger monthly pensions, 

because when they live long, 

we will be able to manage the 

funds better for them,” an 

operator said. 

But a retiree, Tunde 

Ekundayo, who faulted the 

defence of the operators, noted 

that it was wrong to categorise 

all retirees as frivolous 

spenders who could not be 

Insurance 

Insurance sector 

Homes & Property 

Engineers call 

needs to focus for integrity 

on financial test on Otedola 

inclusion 

Bridge 

– Hassan Pg. 43 Pg. 47 

• Adedeji 

prudent with money. 

“Many of us already have 

plans for the lump sum and 

when they just slash the money 

arbitrarily like that, it leaves us 

with little or nothing to do with 

the money,” he added. 

Last year, Senator Aliyu 

Wamako, representing Sokoto 

North Senatorial District in the 

National Assembly, sponsored 

a bill to amend the PRA 2014 

to permit retirees to withdraw 

a definite rate of 75 per cent of 

the value of their retirement 

savings upon retirement, 

leaving only 25 per cent to be 

spread over their expected 

years of retirement as periodic 

pension payment. 

The pension operators, who 

faulted the bill, had said it 

was doubtful if the 25 per 

cent balance in the retiree’s 

RSA after deduction of 75 

per cent lump sum would, if 

spread through the retiree’s 

expected lifespan, be adequate 

to reasonably cater for his/her 

livelihood in old age. 

The President, Pension 

Fund Operators Association 

of Nigeria, Mrs Ronke Adedeji, 

said the National Pension 

Commission introduced 

the new template for use 

effective May 15, 2018 as an 

improvement on the existing 

template. 

While explaining the 

characteristics of the new 

template, she stated, “Unlike 

the old template, the new 

programmed withdrawal 

template has factored in 

payment of arrears of pensions 

to retirees who did not access 

their benefits immediately 

after retirement. These retirees 

are paid pension arrears for 

the period between their 

retirement dates and the date 

they access their funds. 

“Minimum lump sum 

37 

payment has been reviewed 

from the initial 25 per cent 

to 20 per cent of the RSA 

balance, while the existing 

maximum of 50 per cent 

lump sum was repealed. The 

purpose of the reduction to 20 

per cent is to enable retirees 

with smaller funds to access 

more periodic pensions for 

long term sustenance rather 

than collecting a huge lump 

sum today at the expense of 

their future; while those with 

large sums can potentially 

access more than 50 per cent.” 

The PenOp boss added, 

“The new template contains 

salary structures of all Federal 

Government employees to 

further standardise benefits 

computation. The minimum 

of 50 per cent of the final 

annual total emolument has 

also been recaptured in the 

new programmed withdrawal 

template as 50 per cent of the 

total annual gross salary of 

retirees. This is to ensure that 

retirees have robust periodic 

pensions to cater for their 

needs at retirement. 

“The new template 

programmes retirees from 

a minimum age limit of 50 

years and above, while the 

maximum age limit of 65 

years that existed in the initial 

template has been removed. 

This allows older retirees to 

earn more lump sum/pension 

at retirement. 

“By and large, the new 

template has been put in 

place to bring about an 

improvement in the standard 

of living of every retiree. 

However, some perceive this 

change as unfavourable if 

there is a drop in their lump 

sum. We are confident that 

over time, retirees will come 

to appreciate this.”


capital 

market 

NSE daily activity summary (equities) 06/07/2018 

At a Glance 

Volume: 319.626 million Index: 37,625.59 

Value: N3.072bn Mkt cap: N13.629tn 

Deals: 4,084

usiness & 

economy 

Akinpelu Dada 

For their continued 

loyalty, the management 

of Dangote Cement Plc 

has announced cash and 

kind rewards and priority 

distributorship licences as 

soon as Dangote’s refinery 

project comes on stream 

next year for the cement 

distributors. 

The President, Dangote 

Group, Aliko Dangote, who 

made the pledge at an award 

event for the distributors 

in Lagos, thanked the loyal 

cement distributors for their 

faith in the company and 

assured them of consistent 

rewards as a form of 

motivation for their patronage 


Dangote dangles fuel marketing licences at cement distributors 

NGPTC posts 

N6.1bn profit, to 

deliver pipeline 

projects 

OkechukwuNnodim, 

Abuja 

The Group Managing 

Director, Nigerian National 

Petroleum Corporation, 

MaikantiBaru, has announced 

a profit after tax of N6.11bn for 

the Nigerian Gas Processing 

and Transportation Company, 

a subsidiary of the NNPC. 

He said the PAT was recorded 

in the NGPTC’s first year of 

operation under the new 

structure, which had seen the 

company refocuse solely on gas 

transportation. 

Baru also stated that the firm 

was primed to deliver its vision of 

being the natural gas processing 

and transportation company of 

choice in Nigeria. 

He stated these on the sidelines 

of the 2017 Annual General 

Meeting of the company, noting 

that the NNPC was relying on the 

NGPTC’s competence to deliver 

the 614-kilometre Ajaokuta- 

Kaduna-Kano gas pipeline 

project. 

According to the NNPC, 

the AKK pipeline project is to 

be constructed through third 

party contractor financing 

and construction model, with 

almost $3bn of foreign direct 

investment coming into the 

country. 

Baru said apart from the AKK 

project, the NGPTC was also 

putting together new pipelines 

like the OB3, projected to come 

into operation later in the year. 

The Chief Operating Officer, 

Gas and Power, who doubles as 

Chairman of the NGPTC Board, 

Saidu Mohammed, said the 

company would consolidate on 

its strength and grow bigger. 

The Managing Director, 

NGPTC, BabatundeBakare, said 

the 2017 AGM result mirrored 

the corporation’s resolve to align 

with the prime objective of the 

Federal Government to harness 

the nation’s gas resources for the 

overall benefit of the Nigerian 

economy. 

The NGPTC, formerly known 

as Nigerian Gas Company, is a 

fully-owned subsidiary of the 

NNPC. It was incorporated in 

1981 and commenced business 

in 1988. 

and loyalty to the brand. 

Dangote said, “This 

event today is significant 

for two reasons; first, it is in 

furtherance of our culture 

and practice to reward 

excellent performance by our 

customers. Secondly, it is also 

meant to build stronger and 

abiding value relationships. 

It is a night to say thank 

you for all your efforts in 

making Dangote Cement a 

household name in Nigeria 

and the number one preferred 

cement. 

“As soon as our new 

projects come on stream, 

the opportunity for priority 

distributorship will be 

available to you as reward for 

your loyalty. Thank you for 

your dedication and for being 

our support system.” 

The award ceremony was 

in recognition of the cement 

distributors’ long standing 

commitment, devotion, loyalty 

and valuable contributions to 

the sale of Dangote cement 

in 2017. 

Welcoming the distributors 

and other customers of 

the company to the award 

ceremony, the Group 

Managing Director and Chief 

Executive, Dangote Cement, 

Joe Makoju, said the company 

would forever be thankful to 

the distributors and all its 

customers for their loyalty 

and for making the public 

see the uniqueness of the 

Dangote cement brand. 

Makoju said the 

distributors must have seen 

that they had not made a 

mistake for deciding to do 

business with the company, 

and promised that the firm 

would continue to show 

appreciation to them and 

urged them to strive to sell 

more Dangote cement this 

year, with a promise that they 

would also be rewarded. 

He stated, “Our success 

story would not have been 

possible without you, our 

distributors, who work 

tirelessly to ensure that the 

product gets to our customers 

in every part of the country. 

We can never thank you 

enough! You have been an 

integral and vital part of our 

business over the years. 

“We are here to explore 

ways of further cementing our 

existing cordial relationship in 

order to create more value for 

all stakeholders. In fact, our 

ultimate desire is to create 

a win-win situation for our 

stakeholders at all levels down 

the value chain. This is in 

39 

line with the triple bottom 

line principle: people, planet 

and profits, which we have 

embraced here at the Dangote 

Group.” 

The overall best customer 

for the period, Mr Ifenchor 

Lawrence of Lafenax 

Company, lauded the 

management of Dangote 

Cement for giving back 

significantly to their loyal 

customer, adding that the 

gesture of Dangote Cement 

was unprecedented in the 

industry and pledged do more 

to sell the brand’s cement in 

order to maintain his first 

position.


business & 

economy 

FG gets business compliance certificate for national carrier 

Okechukwu Nnodim, 

Abuja 

The proposed national 

airline would be unveiled 

before the end of this year, 

the Federal Government 

announced on Sunday. 

It also stated that it 

had received the Outline 

Business Case Certificate of 

Compliance for the airline, 

adding that the project was 

Olalekan Adetayo, Abuja 

Vice 

President 

YemiOsinbajo is 

scheduled to lead a publicprivate 

sector collaborative 

investment roadshow to the 

United States. 

He will also be speaking 

to global industry leaders in 

information technology and 

entertainment at the Silicon 

Valley in San Francisco and 

Hollywood in Los Angeles, 

California from today 

(Monday) to Wednesday. 

The Senior Special 

Assistant to the Vice 

President on Media and 

Publicity, Mr Laolu Akande, 

disclosed these in a statement 

made available to journalists 

on Sunday. 

Akande said Osinbajo, 

who left Nigeria on Saturday 

for the US, would be joined 

on the investment roadshow 

by members of the recentlyinaugurated 

Advisory 

Group on Technology and 

Creativity, an integral part 

of the National Industrial 

Policy and Competitiveness 

Advisory Council. 

According to him, the 

roadshow is designed to 

showcase the continued 

improvement in Nigeria’s 

business environment to 

entrepreneurs, investors 

and business leaders in both 

American cities. 

Akande added that during 

the trip, Osinbajo would 

emphasise on a number of 

the present administration’s 

policies such as the doing 

business reforms, which 

he noted had improved the 

country’s ranking in the 

World Bank’s Ease of Doing 

Business Index 2017. 

He stated, “During the US 

trip, the Vice President will 

also visit the headquarters 

of some leading global 

technology companies. 

“There will also be 

sessions with investors, 

fund managers and large 

US technology companies 

as well as presentations 

by the Nigeria Investment 

Promotion Council, the Bank 

of Industry, and the Enabling 

Business Environment 

Secretariat. 

“Other aspects of the 

Vice President’s trip will be 

to showcase to the world 

the progress and strides in 

the country’s technology, 

innovation and creative 

space by Nigerian technology 

progressing adequately. 

The Minister of State 

for Aviation, Senator Hadi 

Sirika, disclosed this at the 

headquarters of the aviation 

ministry in Abuja while 

receiving the certificate of 

compliance from the Director- 

General of the Infrastructure 

Concession Regulatory 

Commission, Chidi Izuwah. 

Osinbajo leads investment 

roadshow in US 

…says airline to begin operation before year end 

start-ups and entertainment 

industry practitioners.” 

Sirika said the presentation 

of the certificate to the 

government was an official 

approval of the process 

through which the project had 

gone so far. 

He said there was no doubt 

that the issue of national 

carrier for Nigeria was very 

close to the hearts of both the 

government and the people, 

adding that this was why the 

government had taken the 

Public Private Partnership 

option with the belief that it 

was the only way to deliver an 

airline that would stand the 

test of time. 

The minister commended 

the efforts of the ICRC in 

ensuring that the national 

carrier project remained on 

track through the observation 

of all legal regulatory 

frameworks. 

Sirika also expressed 

satisfaction with the way 

the transaction advisers had 

carried out their assignments 

and gave an assurance that the 

national carrier that would be 

delivered would be world class 

in operation and management. 

He debunked claims that the 

national carrier would lead to 

the collapse of other airlines 

operating in the country. 

According to him, Nigeria, 

with a population of over 

180 million people with so 

many unserved routes, offers 

more than enough space for 

all serious airlines to operate 

profitably. 

In his address, Izuwah 

said the presentation of the 

certificate of compliance 

was an official green light to 

proceed with the procurement 

process. 

He stated that the 

commission, in granting the 

certificate, had reviewed the 

Project Structuring Report, 

also known as the Outline 

Business Case, in line with the 

ICRC Act of 2005. 

According to Izuwah, the 

certificate was granted on 

condition that the Federal 

Government was committed 

to leveraging private sector 

capital and expertise towards 

the establishment of the 

national carrier through the 

provision of a Viability Gap 

Funding for the project. 

He warned that any attempt 

to impose government 

control on the project would 

invalidate the certificate and 

the entire process.

usiness & 

economy 

Presidential council opens feedback 

kiosks at Lagos, Abuja airports 

Maureen Ihua-Maduenyi 

The Presidential Enabling 

Business Environment 

Council has opened PEBEC. 

Report kiosks at the Murtala 

Muhammed International 

Airport, Lagos and Nnamdi 

Azikiwe International Airport, 

Abuja. 

The Senior Special Assistant 

to the President on Industry, 

Trade and Investment and 

PEBEC Secretary, Dr Jumoke 

Oduwole, said the kiosks 

would serve as a self-service 

terminal, with customer service 

representatives to promote the 

PEBEC.Report app. 

She said the PEBEC.Report 

app was the council’s official 

public service website for 

complaints and feedback on 

the service delivery standards of 

select Ministries, Departments 

and Agencies, and was launched 

on June 25. 

According to the SSA, the 

PEBEC.Report kiosks have 

been placed in Lagos and Abuja 

international airports to promote 

the app and encourage the private 

sector to give feedback on their 

airport and travel experiences, 

and are also being scaled up to 

include more MDAs and provide 

wider coverage. 

“The app has been piloted 

with nine of the PEBEC priority 

MDAs, which are the Citizens and 

Business Department; Corporate 

Affairs Commission; Federal 

Airports Authority of Nigeria; 

National Agency for Food and 

Drugs Administration and 

Control; Nigeria Civil Aviation 

Authority; Nigeria Customs 

Service; Nigeria Police Force; 

Nigerian Ports Authority and 

MTN hasn’t 

filed application 

for IPO – SEC 

’Femi Asu 

The Securities and Exchange 

Commission on Sunday 

said it had not received any 

application from MTN Nigeria 

Limited regarding its proposed 

initial public offering. 

SEC, in response to recent 

media reports on the MTN IPO, 

said, “MTN Nigeria Limited, to 

the best of the commission’s 

knowledge, is a private company 

limited by shares. 

“As of the date of this 

circular, neither MTN Nigeria 

Limited nor any of its advisers/ 

representatives have filed 

any application with the SEC 

regarding the said IPO.” 

It said given that there 

was no application from MTN 

before it, there could not have 

been a request by the company 

or any of its representatives or 

advisers requiring any form of 

regulatory review. 

The statement read in part, 

“The commission welcomes 

filings aimed at deepening and 

broadening the capital market 

and stands ready to provide the 

necessary regulatory support. If 

MTN finally files a formal and 

complete application with the 

commission, it will be treated with 

the usual diligence and urgency 

that is applicable to all such filings.” 

Standards Organisation of 

Nigeria,” she said. 

Oduwole stated that the app 

was created to make it easy 

for anyone to resolve issues 

encountered when dealing with 

the MDAs; strengthen federal 

enforcement; service delivery 

and public protection efforts on 

a national level through filing of 

complaints; and to help identify 

trends as well as track the issues 

that matter to Nigerian citizens. 

She stated, “The app 

includes a feedback mechanism 

for the MDAs, which have 

assigned administrators to 

handle complaints according 

to pre-agreed service level 

agreements. All administrators 

have been trained in how to 

handle complaints and feedback 

from the app within a 72-hour 

timeline. On June 27, 2018, 

the Federal Executive Council 

also approved a directive on 

strict compliance by all MDAs 

to respond to complaints within 

72 hours. 

“This web-based application 

is to foster transparency and 

efficiency in furtherance to the 

Executive Order 001 signed 

on May 18, 2017 by the Vice 

President, Prof YemiOsinbajo, 

then acting President, to promote 

transparency and efficiency in 

the business environment.” 


41


money 

Policy inconsistency, others stifling investment —Experts 

Feyisayo Popoola 

Experts in the financial 

and economic space 

have said inconsistency 

in government policies 

and corruption are stifling 

investment in the country. 

The experts, who spoke in 

separate interviews with our 

correspondent, said there was 

no platform for capital inflows 

in Nigeria. 

The Head, Department of 

Finance, University of Lagos, 

Prof Rufus Olowe, said there 

was a need for government 

to create an enabling 

environment for investors to 

bring in money. 

He stated that the factors 

affecting investment in the 

country were unstable interest 

rate, inconsistency in policies, 

corruption and political 

uncertainty. 

According to him, one of 

the ways to attract investment 

is through the exchange rate 

policy. 

He said the exchange rate 

policy needed to be strong to 

make it easier for investors. 

“Anybody trying to invest in 

Nigeria wants the Return on 

Investment to be attractive. 

We must have a good foreign 

exchange rate policy that will 

be favourable to investors. 

We must also create a good 

political environment where 

there is no uncertainty, 

because this can create doubt 

and uncertainty for investors. 

Investors usually look out for 

certainty, and this is what can 

facilitate investment into the 

country,” he added. 

Olowe stated that the 

uncertainty in the country was 

due to corruption. 

According to him, the people 

involved in corruption are the 

powerful people in the society, 

which makes it hard to curb. 

He attributed the low foreign 

capital inflow into the country 

to the high level of corruption. 

Olowe said, “There is largescale 

corruption in Nigeria, 

and these are some of the 

things creating uncertainty 

and stifling investment in 

the country. The current 

government is trying to 

do something to curb the 

corruption level because 

corruption level is what 

translates into political issues. 

“The government should 

focus on reducing corruption 

to the barest minimum, 

because many politicians 

are not serving and ruling 

genuinely. They give fake 

polices to their people and only 

’Femi Asu 

Shareholders under 

the aegis of Proactive 

Shareholders Association of 

Nigeria have called for the 

release of the forensic audit 

report on Oando Plc. 

The National Coordinator 

of PROSAN, Mr. Taiwo 

Oderinde, in a statement 

on Sunday, accused the 

Minister of Finance, Kemi 

Adeosun, and the Acting 

enrich their pockets. Many 

of our leaders are unpatriotic 

and corrupt, and this has made 

many multilateral agencies 

to scrutinise our proposals 

thoroughly because of the level 

of corruption in the country.” 

He added that if there was 

transparency and integrity 

in everything, people would 

invest more in the country. 


Cowry Asset Management 

Limited, Johnson Chukwu, 

described government policies 

as necessary for orderly and 

rapid economic development. 

According to him, what 

the country suffers is lack of 

policy direction and lack of 

appropriate policy guidelines. 

He stated that the 

country’s slow development 

was due to the direction of 

government policies, adding 

that appropriate government 

policies and economic 

directions were needed for the 

’Femi Asu 

FBNQuest Merchant Bank, 

the merchant banking 

and asset management 

subsidiary of FBN Holdings 

Plc, has expanded a financial 

resource centre at the Lagos 

Business School–Pan Atlantic 

University. 

The bank said the initiative 

was in line with its commitment 

to support reputable 

educational establishments 

with strong business and 

finance faculties. 

private sector to come in and 

invest in any sector. 

He said, “If I were in 

government, I would focus on 

infrastructural development, 

human capital development, 

and internal security. It 

would take government a lot 

of years to get enough capital 

to build the infrastructure we 

need. It then means that a 

public-private partnership is 

needed to attract investment 

into the economy. Then 

an appropriate policy to 

encourage private investment 

would be followed.” 

A professor of Economics 

at the University of Lagos, 

Olufemi Saibu, described the 

attraction of capital inflow into 

the economy as a function of a 

credible government. 

He said if policies of 

government were credible and 

consistent, it would be easy for 

people to invest their resources 

in the country. 

It said the centre, called 

‘Bloomberg Room’, would 

enable students to get quick 

access to research tools, 

financial market data, analysis 

of banks, and other economic 

data to facilitate effective 

learning at tertiary level. 

The initiative, according to 

the merchant bank, commenced 

in 2014 with two terminals 

in the LBS library, and was 

expanded to 12 terminals due 

to demand. 

It said the expansion was also 

driven by the identified need to 

“The fact that the economy 

is going down will not drive 

investment inflow. Our interest 

rate must be competitive, and 

ROI must be comparable. If 

ROI is low, investment will be 

low,” Saibu stated. 

He said there should 

be checks and balances to 

enable people to know the 

processes, procedures, and 

relevant agencies, as well as 

the documents required for 

investment. 

He stated that if the 

Feyisayo Popoola 

Heritage Bank Plc 

says it plans to boost 

the capacity of the Small 

Medium Enterprises 

through its annual 

entrepreneurial reality 

show, tagged ‘The Next 

Titan’. 

equip more students and the 

library community with tools 

for knowledge in finance and 

research. 

The Managing Director/ 

Chief Executive Officer, 

FBNQuest Merchant Bank, 

Kayode Akinkugbe, said at a 

media briefing in Lagos on 

Thursday, “We are conscious 

of the role technology plays in 

providing people with access 

to information. We believe it 

is important to equip students 

with the right financial tools 

and research, and we want to 

processes were transparent and 

seamless, it would encourage 

people to invest, adding that 

government should streamline 

the process of investment in 

Nigeria by making the rules 

clear and well-established. 

Saibu said, “The political 

environment should also be 

stable, because it is a major 

determinant of the economic 

environment. There will be 

sluggishness in our capital 

inflow in the next few months 

because of the coming 

•L-R: Best National Distributor/Managing Director, Lafenax Nigeria Limited, Mr Onyemelukwe Ifenchor; Chairman, 

Dangote Cement Plc, Aliko Dangote; and Group Managing Director, Dangote Cement Plc, Mr Joseph Makoju, during 

the Dangote Cement Plc Distributors’ Awards and Gala Nite in Lagos... on Saturday. Photo: Saheed Olugbon 

FBNQuest expands LBS financial resource centre 

Shareholders demand forensic audit report on Oando 

Director-General, Securities 

and Exchange Commission, 

Mary Uduk, of sitting on the 

report. 

He said, “We are calling on 

the acting director-general of 

SEC to immediately release 

the report of the forensic audit 

conducted on the company 

since last year, although 

we believe the result will 

be compromised since they 

have failed to suspend the 

management of the company 

while the so-called forensic 

audit lasted. 

“The finance minister and 

the SEC DG have created 

substantial instability and lack 

of transparency in the capital 

market, and the attendant 

consequences are there for 

all to see. 

“These two high-ranking 

public officials are making 

a mockery of the present 

administration’s anticorruption 

drive by shielding 

The 

Divisional 

Head, 

Corporate 

Communications, 

Heritage Bank, Fela 

Ibidapo, while speaking 

at a press conference in 

Lagos on Saturday, said 

the fifth season of the 

entrepreneurial show had 

kicked off, according to a 

contribute meaningfully to 

that. 

“We started the initiative five 

years ago, and this expansion 

is something we were keen 

to deliver because we know 

that the impact at this stage 

of learning can be profound. 

Through the resource centre, 

we also provide access to our 

thought-leading FBNQuest 

Capital Research, which 

we believe will serve as an 

additional resource for the 

students.” 

The Dean, LBS, Dr Enase 

Okonedo, who highlighted 

the importance of the 

resource centre to students, 

said, “It fits perfectly with 

the school’s effort to provide 

global standard teaching and 

knowledge sourcing facilities. 

“The students’ experience is 

significantly enriched, and the 

benefit of added qualifications 

is a bonus. We are glad to 

have this partnership with 

the organisation, and the 

Bloomberg terminals have been 

impactful for the beneficiaries 

and the school in general.” 

elections. That is why I always 

say Nigeria is not ripe for a 

four-year election period. We 

need to find a way to create 

a longer and stable election 

period that will allow more 

time between elections. 

“We need to get hold of 

our political environment, 

economic policy environment 

as well as the returns people 

get on investment. Once these 

areas are taken care of, the 

flow will come and will be 

sustained.” 

Heritage Bank to boost SMEs’ growth 

the management of a publicly 

quoted company that has 

been indicted by an initial 

report of SEC for perpetrating 

illegalities in contravention of 

the Investment and Securities 

Act 2007.” 

Oderinde said the 2017 

full-year result of Oando was 

below expectation, adding that 

members of his association, 

who are shareholders of 

the company, had suffered 

substantial financial losses. 

statement on Sunday. 

Ibidapo assured the 

public that the bank 

would sustain its interest 

and sponsorship of the 

programme as its goal 

aligned with the corporate 

aspiration of the bank. 

“The management of the 

bank believes that banking 

is not only about how 

much money that can be 

made from customers, but 

also about adding value 

to individuals, groups, 

community and state,” he 

added. 

According to him, 

entrepreneurial show is 

an outstanding scheme 

that has stood out in the 

past four years and has 

immensely contributed to 

employment generation in 

Nigeria. 

Ibidapo said the 

programme aligned easily 

with the primary focus of 

the management of the 

bank to promote every 

laudable entrepreneurial 

idea meant to broaden 

economic horizon of the 

country for the benefit of 

citizens and other residents 

of Nigeria. 

“The Next Titan is 

strictly a Small and 

Medium Enterprisefocused 

banking initiative, 

and we are using the 

opportunity to enjoin 

people with laudable 

business ideas like those 

who participate in the 

annual programme to 

move forward. Heritage 

Bank will be ready at any 

time to support ideas like 

that,” he added. 

The Executive Producer, 

The Next Titan, Mide 

Kunle-Akinlaja, described 

the success stories of 

winners from the previous 

editions as phenomenal. 

He said being on national 

television, the show had 

positively impacted on 

young people and other 

viewers. 

“We are set for the 

new season, as we have 

already received thousands 

of entries from young 

aspiring entrepreneurs 

across Nigeria. This will 

give these young ambitious 

entrepreneurs another 

opportunity to showcase 

their business ideas and 

battle one another for a 

prize of N5m and a brandnew 

car to start their dream 

businesses,” he stated.


insurance 

Insurance sector needs to focus on financial inclusion – Hassan 

In this interview with NIKE POPOOLA, the Chairman, 

Planning Committee, National Insurance Conference, Mr Femi 

Hassan, speaks on why different groups in the insurance sector 

should work together to get more Nigerians to patronise it 

What does the future 

hold for the Nigerian 

insurance industry? 

The future is looking bright. 

The insurance industry desires 

to be among the top 20 by 

2020 as projected. But with 

the present state of things, this 

expectation may shift a little 

further while the industry tries 

to take advantage of the financial 

inclusion strategy that the 

whole financial services sector 

is keying into at the moment. 

This financial inclusion is going 

to help penetration into the 

rural segment of the population, 

which is where the number is. 

Insurance premium income 

needs to improve with increase 

in market penetration by 

insurance companies. So, I 

believe that by 2025, insurance 

industry in Nigeria would have 

taken its rightful position as 

projected, not in 2020. 

What are the main 

developments in the 

economy that can help to 

achieve this growth? 

From the angle of 

financial inclusion, the youth 

occupies about 70 per cent 

of the population. With the 

youth, technology would be 

‘brought to play’ because 

they are technology-driven. 

Similarly, recent government 

projects and policies have 

been towards economic 

improvement. An example 

is the new Lagos-Ibadan rail 

line. This rail line will provide 

opportunity for insurance 

companies because there 

will be travel insurance. The 

aviation industry may also 

provide another opportunity 

for insurance if the government 

invests in national carrier 

again as being planned. The 

government has been the 

catalyst for business growth 

and such efforts will bring about 

development in the insurance 

industry. 

How are new 

technologies and 

innovation impacting on 

•Hassan 

the sector’s operations? 

The industry has had new 

insurance companies come in 

with their own technology and 

better operational models. One 

company recently identified 

a way of encouraging clients 

in the form of an incentive. 

For example, if a client does 

not have claim for 12 months, 

such a client would be given a 

return premium as a gift, which 

is an incentive. So clients are 

induced when informed that 

without a claim for 24 months, 

a portion of the premium will 

be refunded. This way, other 

insurance companies will be 

emulating this better way of 

attracting clients rather than 

under-cutting prices. 

How has the Insurance 

Industry Consultative 

Council been able to impact 

on the sector since its 

inception? 

Since the conception of the 

Insurance Industry Consultative 

Council, it has held different 

national insurance conferences, 

and this year’s edition is the 

fourth of its series which is 

holding in Abuja. The IICC is 

the umbrella organisation for 

all insurance institutions in 

Nigeria. It is made up of the 

regulatory body for all insurance 

practice in Nigeria, National 

Insurance Commission; 

Chartered Insurance Institute 

of Nigeria; Nigerian Insurers 

Association; Nigerian Council 

of Registered Insurance 

Brokers; and loss adjusters, 

Institute of Loss Adjusters of 

Nigeria. The National Insurance 

Conference is one of those 

established channels aimed 

at fostering intellectual and 

professional development 

of insurance practitioners 

and further creating a 

platform for networking 

and exchange of ideas 

between industry operators 

and critical stakeholders in 

the nation’s economy. The 

2018 conference would also 

highlight the enabling roles 

of the insurance industry in 

achieving financial inclusion 

and by so doing, accelerate 

its contributions to Nigeria’s 

Gross Domestic Product. The 

fact that access to financial 

services is concentrated in 

urban areas has limited the 

people from the rural areas 

from contributing maximally 

to growth and development 

of the nation’s economy. The 

strategy recognises various 

stakeholders and apportions 

roles and responsibilities to 

them on the basis of their 

comparative advantage. 

Why is the IICC focusing 

on financial inclusion this 

year? 

The insurance industry, 

financial inclusion should be 

the pursuit of making insurance 

services accessible at affordable 

costs to all individuals and 

businesses irrespective of net 

worth and size, respectively. 

Financial inclusion will strive 

to address and proffer solutions 

to the constraints that exclude 

people from participating in the 

financial sector. 

There should also be 

cooperation among the brokers 

in order to avoid rate-cutting. 

Hence, with the involvement of 

the government, there should 

be development in brokerage 

firms. 

The theme of the conference 

this year, which is, ‘Insurance 

industry and financial inclusion’ 

is quite apt, in view of the 

policy direction of government 

towards including all segments 

Nigeria Liability Insurance Pool to explore higher risks 

Nike Popoola 

The Nigerian Liability 

Insurance Pool has 

said it is set to expand its 

insurance underwriting to 

more risky business. 

The Chairman, NLIP, Mr 

Edwin Igbiti, disclosed this 

during the company’s 8th 

annual general meeting in 

Lagos. 

He said, “In spite of the 

uncertainties that usually 

accompany election cycles in 

Nigeria, we believe the pool 

will be well positioned to 

weather the storm. However, 

the pool looks into 2018 

with positivity as it prepares 

to delve into new areas of 

focus among which are the 

emerging liability risks, such 

as oil and energy risks as well 

as forming a new parallel 

pool with new members.” 

Igbiti noted that 2017 

financial period was a 

successful year for the firm. 

Despite the harsh 

economic environment, he 

said that the NLIP recorded 

a profit of N238.9m which 

was 82.56 per cent higher 

than the 2016 figure. 

The chairman also said 

its gross premium rose by 13 

per cent to N922.7m in the 

year under review. 

In view of the 

performance of the pool 

in 2017, he said the board 

recommended N133.79k 

dividend per share of N1. 

He observed that in 2017, 

the insurance industry was 

faced with challenges which 

emanated from the lingering 

effects of the economic 

downturn which started in 

2016. 


effects of the recession, 

which manifested in various 

sectors as well made the 

renewal of most policy 

contracts to suffer major 

set back. 

However, towards the 

second and third quarters 

of the year, he said the 

economy grew for the first 

time in over a year especially 

in the second quarter. 

“Despite the ups and 

downs, the pool continues 

to engage in its areas of core 

operations and will engage in 

business opportunities that 

are being created through 

the emerging liability risks,” 

he said. 

of the society within the 

financial safety net. As of 2012, 

according to a survey by the 

Enhancing Financial Innovation 

and Access, about 39.7 per cent 

or 34.9 million adult Nigerians 

were excluded from financial 

services. So, in order to reduce 

the number of the excluded 

population, the Central Bank of 

Nigeria on behalf of the Federal 

Government launched the 

National Financial Inclusion 

Strategy in October 2012. The 

strategy focuses on interventions 

that will increase access to 

payments, savings, credit, 

remittances, pension, insurance 

under affordable terms and 

conditions. The overall aim is 

to empower people, promote 

savings, increase the level of 

investment by diverse economic 

groups, catalyse increased 

productivity, improve income, 

reduce poverty and promote a 

sound, safe, vibrant and stable 

financial system. 

43 

The theme bothering on 

financial inclusion was as a 

result of the realisation of the 

gap in insurance penetration in 

Nigeria given our population. 

If you look back, there has 

been clamour for insurance to 

deepen penetration and impact 

on the individual population 

particularly at the grass roots. 

This is also meant to increase 

investment in technology, 

which would help bring out the 

benefits in financial inclusion.


insurance 

Lagos paid N716.9bn to 169 retirees in June 

Stories: Nike Popoola 


Government has credited 

N716.951m to the Retirement 

Savings Accounts of 169 of its 

retirees under the Contributory 

Pension Scheme for the month 

of June. 

According to a statement, 

120 retirees from the State 

Universal Basic Education 

Board, seven from local 

governments and 42 from the 

mainstream public service 

benefited from the payment. 


Commissioner for 

Establishments, Training 

and Pensions, Dr Akintola, 

Benson, said during the bond 

presentation ceremony that 

more than N38bn had been 

expended on 9,214 retirees 

from the inception of the 

Lagos State Governor, Mr 

Akinwunmi’s administration. 

The Director-General, Lagos 

State Pension Commission, 

Mrs Folashade Onanuga, said 

the state government had 

continued to play a leadership 

role in the implementation of 

the CPS in Nigeria. 

She advised the retirees not 

to succumb to any pressure 

in the choice of annuity or 

programmed withdrawal 

benefit options for receipt of 

monthly pension. 

She also hinted that the 

government was considering 

the provision of some welfare 

programmes to give them 

comfort in retirement. 

Also, the state government 

through the commission said 

it had paid to beneficiaries of 15 

The Managing Director, Scib 

Nig & Co Limited, Mr Shola 

Tinubu, says that the company 

has been set up with a vision to 

build a world-class organisation 

founded on integrity, knowledge, 

professionalism and excellent 

service delivery. 

He said this during a press 

briefing on activities to mark the 

company’s 40th anniversary in 

Lagos, adding that that these 

values had upheld the company 

till date and remained the reason 

for its success. 

Tinubu said, “In terms of 

corporate virtues, I can boldly 

say that Scib has carved a niche 

for itself in the insurance broking 

profession, both locally and 

internationally. We have continued 

to build, through excellent 

team spirit and commitment of 

staff (both present and past), a 

company that could stand the 

test of rapid global competition 

in insurance and re-insurance 

broking, risk management and 

advisory services.” 

This vision, he said, had earned 

Scib several laurels, (including the 

best insurance broker in Nigeria 

2018 by the Lagos Chamber of 

deceased employees insurance 

benefit worth N40.227m. 

This benefit is designed by 

law to alleviate the immediate 

needs of family members of the 

deceased. 

Scib restates commitment to 

professionalism 

Commerce and Industry, and 

cemented significant strategic 

alliances with its overseas 

partners, and currently the AON 

representative in Nigeria. 

The managing director also 

said that Scib will also launch two 

books as part of the activities for 

the 40th anniversary in honour of 

the founder of the company, Olola 

Ogunlana. 

He disclosed that the titles of 

the books are “Out of the black 

pot” and “The selected tales.” 

He recalled that the broking 

firm was set up by the founder, 

Ogunlana, based on the principles 

of knowledge, integrity and good 

corporate governance. 

Tinubu said, “Buoying the 

vision on his robust experience as a 

first-class insurance manager and 

one of the foremost professionals 

at the time, having led as the first 

Nigerian chief executive officer 

of companies like Great Nigeria 

Insurance Company and NICON 

Insurance Plc, Olola Ogunlana, 

demonstrated strong will-power 

with which he pushed the dream 

forward, despite starting out with 

only one employee, the late Mr. 

Michael Ologun.”


45



47 

property 

homes & 

Engineers call for integrity test on Otedola Bridge 

Stories: Maureen 

Ihua-Maduenyi 

Structural 

and 

civil engineers in the 

country have called for a 

test to be carried out on the 

Otedola Bridge in Lagos 

to ascertain the effect the 

recent fire incident has on 

it. 

According to the 

engineers, a physical 

examination of the bridge 

will show if it requires 

attention and also help to 

forestall any danger it may 

pose to the commuting 

public. 

A former Chairman of 

the Nigerian Society of 

Engineers, Lagos Branch, 

Mr Olatunde Jaiyesinmi, 

said if the fire affected the 

bridge, the authorities 

concerned should not 

ignore the effect it could 

have on it. 

He said, “Fire is very 

powerful and the effect it 

may have on the bridge 

needs to be checked. When 

you subject anything to 

heat, especially something 

like that, if the concrete 

does not expand, it will 

transfer the heat to the 

reinforcement. When you 

heat reinforcement or 

iron, it becomes weak after 

a while and can be bent or 

broken. 

“It depends again on the 

intensity of the heat and if 

it really happened on the 

bridge. The heat and even 

the explosion can create 

problems for the bridge. 

Sometime ago, there was 

fire on one of the bridges in 

Ijora and one of the pillars 

was affected. It will be 

good for an integrity test 

to be done on the Otedola 

Bridge; if there is asphalt 

on it, part of it may even 

melt away over time if it 

was affected.” 

On June 28, a tanker 

laden with petrol exploded 

at the foot of the Otedola 

Bridge, a short link 

between Alausa, Ikeja and 

Berger area of Lagos. 

The subsequent inferno 

consumed 54 private 

and commercial vehicles 

driving behind the tanker 

and claimed about 10 lives. 

According to reports, a 

similar incident occurred 

on the same spot in 2010. 

The immediate past 

President of the Nigerian 

Institute of Structural 

Engineers, Mr Oreoluwa 

Fadayomi, said the first 

thing for the concerned 

stakeholders to do was to 

confirm if the explosion 

occurred on the bridge or 

after it. 

Fadayomi stated, “It is 

the inspection that will 

lead to recommendations 

on what should be done if 

there is damage. There are 

two issues, one can bother 

on design and the other 

can be on mechanical 

or any other kind of 

damage resulting from the 

incident. 

“If a building gets burnt, 

some of the elements may 

be affected, warranting a 

test to be carried out on 

it to check the strength; 

on the basis and intensity 

of the fire, there will be a 

need for a test to confirm 

whether the bridge is 

alright or needs any form 

of attention. But if there 

are no signs of damage, 

one may not have to 

worry; but with the gravity 

of the incident, a test may 

be necessary.” 

He said a team of 

structural and highway 

LASG begins Apapa cleaning, 

seals buildings for uncleanliness 


Government on 

Saturday commenced the 

cleaning of the Apapa area 

of the state. 

During the exercise, 

some buildings located 

on Egbaiyelo Street, 

around the Tin Can- 

Coconut axis of the Apapa- 

Oshodi Expressway, were 

sealed for unsanitary 

practices, ranging from 

open defecation to illegal 

dumping of refuse, among 

others. 

The Commissioner for 

the Environment, Mr 

Babatunde Durosinmi- 

Etti, said the state’s 

zero tolerance for 

environmental nuisance 

policy was still in force. 

In a statement signed 

by the Assistant Director, 

Public Affairs, Ministry 

of the Environment, 

Mukaila Sanusi, the 

commissioner was said 

to have warned residents 

who were in the habit of 

abusing the environment 

through different forms 

of infractions such 

as keeping unhealthy 

environment littered 

with all kinds of articles; 

converting open spaces to 

dump sites; erecting illegal 

stall extensions; and 

engaging in street trading, 

among others, to desist or 

face sanctions from the 

government. 

He said the government 

had the duty to promote 

the welfare of all residents 

by safeguarding the 

environment, adding 

that no responsible 

government would fold 

its arms and allow the 

reckless attitude of a few 

to compromise the wellbeing 

of everyone in the 

state. 

“We have no option than 

to act fast to nip this kind of 

unpleasant development 

in the bud if we must 

prevent the outbreak of 

epidemics in our state as 

dirty environment comes 

with serious hazards,” 

Durosinmi-Etti stated. 


ongoing beautification 

of Apapa, starting from 

Commercial Avenue and 

its environs, and the Tin 

Can-Coconut section 

of the Apapa-Oshodi 

Expressway, are parts of 

the government’s efforts 

to sanitise the Apapa 

neighbourhood. 

He said stakeholders, 

including the Nigerian 

Association of Road 

Transport Owners, plank 

sellers and local council 

development areas in 

the Tin Can-Coconut 

area, among others, 

supported the successful 

commencement of the 

cleaning intervention. 

He added that the state 

had also deployed facilities 

to rid the Tin Can-Coconut 

section of the expressway 

of refuse. 

engineers should inspect 

the bridge and see if there 

would be a need for more 

tests. 

“And if there is a need 

for further tests, fine, 

if not, then the bridge 

should be left alone. If 

nothing happened to the 

bridge, then it should 

be left alone; but if the 

incident took place on 

the bridge, then we need 

to know the magnitude. 

The other aspect that 

bothers on design can 

also be determined by the 

examination,” he added. 

According to a civil 

engineer, Robbie Owivry, 

a through test on the 

bridge should be done 

owing to the intensity of 

the fire. 

“Having been subjected 

to such an enormous 

impact of heat waves 

emanating from the fire, 

the natural thing to do is 

to subject the bridge to an 

integrity test to ascertain 

its fitness,” Owivry, who 

is the immediate Past 

Chairman, Lagos branch 

of the Nigerian Institution 

of Civil Engineers, stated. 

The Federal Controller 

of Works, Lagos, Mr 

Ademola Kuti, in a 

telephone interview 

with our correspondent, 

however, stated that a 

preliminary test had been 

carried out on the bridge. 

“We have done a 

preliminary test on the 

bridge, people should 

await the outcome of 

that exercise, but there 

will be a further test on 

it. That will be a more 

comprehensive test. 

However, a contractor, 

Julius Berger, is also on 

the road,” he added. 

The Chairman, 

Nigerian Institute of 

Mechanical Engineers, 

Lagos Chapter, Mr Segun 

Fadeyi, stated that last 

week, he led his executive 

team to the bridge and met 

a team from the Federal 

Ministry of Works, who 

gave an assurance that 

a comprehensive test 

as well as rehabilitation 

would be carried out. 

“Julius Berger is 

working on the road 

because the place is sloppy 

and the trailer carrying 

that load was overloaded. 

The capacity of the engine 

was lower than the load it 

was carrying, which led 

to the accident; but as we 

were told, Julius Berger 

wants to reconstruct the 

place and may resurface 

the bridge,” he added.


homes & 

property 

OGSG asks residents to clear 

weeds from properties 


The Ogun State 

Government has asked 

residents of the state to rid 

their properties of weeds as 

the rains intensify or face 

sanction. 

“Owners of properties 

across the state must ensure 

that their structures are not 

allowed to be overrun by weeds 

and anyone found wanting will 

be sanctioned appropriately,” 

the Commissioner for 

Environment, Mr Bolaji 

Oyeleye, was quoted to have 

said in a statement. 

Oyeleye added that 

owners or residents of bushy 

properties, who refused to 

clear them and keep the 

environment clean, could 

be sanctioned as provided 

for in Section 36 of the State 

Environmental Management 

(Miscellaneous) Provisions 

Law of 2004. 

He said owners and 

residents of properties close 

to highways across the state 

should also clear weeds on 

the spaces between their 

properties and the highways or 

other public roads, adding that 

this would improve visibility 

and help reduce frequent road 

accidents. 

“The state found this 

measure necessary to ensure 

that our environment is kept 

clean and not conducive for 

diseases to thrive or used as 

hideouts by hoodlums and 

criminally-minded people,” he 

stated. 

He said the government 

would not renege on its 

resolve and ongoing efforts 

at ensuring a safe and healthy 

environment for residents, 

and called for support and cooperation from all residents of the state.

homes & 

property 

‘Every Nigerian deserves a place to call home’ 

Maureen 

Ihua-Maduenyi 

The Managing Director of 

a real estate development 

firm, Kingbuilder Marketing 

Management Limited, Mr 

Babatope Aguntasolo, has said 

every Nigerian deserved to own 

a home. 

Aguntasolo stated this while 

unveiling the firm’s estates in 

Mowe, Ogun State, and Kuje, 

Abuja, which he said would be 

equipped with modern facilities 

and constant electricity supply. 

He stated, “The fact remains 

that every Nigerian deserves a 

place they can call home, one 

with adequate amenities that will 

make life comfortable for them 

and also guarantee safety. 

“Bearing in mind the 

enormous challenge of unstable 

electricity supply, Kingbuilder 

Marketing Management Limited, 

in partnership with other firms, 

has established a new housing 

scheme with 24 hours electricity 

supply at Mowe, Ogun State 

and Kuje, Abuja to serve as the 

solution.” 

He stated that erratic power 

supply remained a major 

drawback to the development of 

the country. 

“There has been incidences 

of casualties resulting from 

exposure to generator fumes and 

fire outbreaks due to hoarding 

of petrol in private residences,” 

Aguntasolo said. 


49 

According to him, apart from 

the state-of-the-art facilities 

available in the estates, occupants 

will enjoy basic amenities such 

as dedicated transformers, 

well-finished driveways and 

interlocked parking spaces, 

boreholes, well-channelled 

drainages, gated environment, 

good road network, street lights 

and overhead water reservoirs. 

He said, “The housing units 

are located at Mowe behind the 

Redeemed Christian Church 

of God camp ground and Kuje, 

Abuja and they are for the benefits 

of both Muslims and Christians. 

One unique thing about these 

housing schemes is that we allow 

for 12-month instalment payment 

with 20 per cent initial deposit 

and an opportunity to move in 

and pay the balance later.”


homes 

property 

Police have abandoned us, NITEL/Mtel Ikorodu estate residents lament 

Maureen 

Ihua-Maduenyi 

Residents of the NITEL/ 

Mtel Estate in Ikorodu, 

have accused the Lagos 

State Police Command of 

abandoning them by failing 

to provide protection for them 

from land grabbers, popularly 

known as omoniles, as ordered 

by the court. 

According to the residents, 

an Ikorodu High Court had 

ordered the Commissioner 

of Police in Lagos State to 

station on a permanent basis, a 

contingent of armed policemen 

in the estate to ensure that no 

construction activities goes 

on there as well as prevent 

intruders on the property. 

They added that the court, 

presided over by Justice Lawal 

Akapo, had also ordered the 

Area Commander, Area N, 

Ijede Command, being the 

nearest area command, to 

station armed policemen in 

the estate on a permanent 

basis to ensure law and order, 

and prevent further activities 

on the property pending the 

determination of case. 

“The court ordered the 

police to provide protection 

for residents but nothing 

has been done; it has been 

business as usual for the 

omoniles,” a resident told our 

correspondent. 

The PUNCH had about two 

months ago reported that 

residents of the NiteL/Mtel 

Estate had cried out for help 

following an alleged threat to 

their lives and properties by 

land grabbers. 

The residents had alleged that 

in the last two years, armed land 

grabbers had taken over the 

estate, selling plots of land yet 

to be developed by some of the 

allottees and generally making 

the area unsafe for them, while 

all efforts to get help from law 

enforcement agents had proved 

abortive. 

They said plots of land were 

allocated to them around 

2007, when NITEL went 

into liquidation, and Natcom 

Development and Investment 

Limited acquired the core 

‘Affordable housing should be about innovative products’ 

Maureen 

Ihua-Maduenyi 

Affordable housing 

should mean having 

access to innovative real estate 

products, which offer value 

for money, the Managing 

Director of PropertyMart, 

Deji Fasuwon, has said. 

Fasuwon said it should 

also be about delivering 

well-planned, secure and 

decent housing, where living 

standard would not only be 

enhanced, but where real 

estate investment would 

speedily appreciate. 

He stated, “Generally, 

when people think of 

affordable housing, they 

Property prices in key 

global cities drop 

Prices in key cities around 

the world are rising at their 

slowest rate since the third 

quarter of 2015, up by four per 

cent in the 12 months to March 

2018, down from 6.4 per cent a 

year ago, the latest index shows. 

According to Propertywire. 

com, the Indian city of Surat 

leads the annual rankings with 

a rise of 22 per cent over the 

12 month period, followed by 

Izmir in Turkey with a rise of 

16.5 per cent, Hong Kong up 

15.6 per cent and Vancouver up 

15.4 per cent. 

The global residential cities 

index from Knight Frank also 

shows that prices rose by 14.9 

per cent in Berlin, by 14.8 per 

cent in Rotterdam, by 14.4 

per cent in Budapest, by 14.1 

per cent in Hobart, Australia, 

and by 12.9 per cent in Seattle, 

which is the top performance in 

the United States. 

At the other end of the scale 

prices fell by 7.2 per cent in Abu 

Dhabi, by 7.1 per cent in Turin, 

by 6.6 per cent in Genoa, by 6.5 

per cent in Darwin, by 6.1 per 

cent in Moscow, by 4.9 per cent 

in Rio de Janeiro and in Oslo, by 

4.8 per cent in Delhi and Dubai, 

and by 4.5 per cent in Chennai. 

The index report points out 

that while a year ago 12 cities 

exceed 20 per cent growth per 

annum, this quarter only one 

city was in this category and 

this growth in the Indian city 

of Surat is largely due to an 

inordinately low base in the first 

quarter of 2017, caused by the 

unprecedented demonetisation 

of high value currency in the 

country. 

Overall, the data shows that 

Europe’s upward trajectory 

think about urban slums 

with rundown, cheap houses 

and apartments where people 

live without having to resort 

to homelessness. For us at 

PropertyMart, affordable 

housing means having access 

to innovative real estate 

products, which offer value 

for money, while delivering 

a well-planned, secure and 

decent housing. 

“Lekki is reputed to be 

the fastest growing corridor 

in Africa as it will soon be 

home to the biggest port, 

the biggest refinery, one of 

the most beautiful and ecofriendly 

airports in Africa 

and a free trade zone, which 

is already oversubscribed 

continues. Eleven of the top 20 

cities ranked by annual growth 

are in Europe with growth of 

14.9 per cent in Berlin, 14.8 

per cent in Rotterdam, 14.4 

per cent in Budapest, 12 per 

cent in Edinburgh, 11.8 per cent 

in Reykjavik, 11.7 per cent in 

Porto and 11.3 per cent in Sofia. 

A lack of supply has boosted 

prices in Seattle with growth of 

12.9 per cent with San Francisco 

recording growth of 11.2 per 

cent and Los Angeles up 8.1 per 

cent. In the US, despite three 

rate rises in the year to March 

2018 average prices across the 

15 cities included in the index 

increased by 6.8 per cent over 

the 12 month period. 

The comparable figure for the 

UK’s eight cities is 4.9 per cent 

with Edinburgh out in front 

and Aberdeen the weakest 

performer with pries down 

two per cent while London has 

also seen negative growth with 

prices down by 0.6 per cent. 

Southern Europe is 

increasingly polarised. 

Whilst Italian cities are wellrepresented 

at the foot of the 

table, Spanish and Portuguese 

cities are registering stronger 

growth. Porto, Malaga and 

Madrid all sit high in the 

rankings with annual growth 

of 11.7 per cent, 10.4 per cent 

and 10.3 per cent respectively. 

The report also reveals that 

divergent markets are evident 

not just at a regional level but 

at a country level as well. The 

10 countries with the largest 

gap between their strongest 

and weakest performing city is 

synonymous with a list of the 

world’s largest economies as 

all 10 occupy a seat at the G20. 

by future-oriented local 

and global businesses. To 

this end, there has been 

concerted efforts by the 

state government to provide 

road infrastructure around 

the corridor given that it is 

already a high traffic route, 

one that holds a significant 

economic benefit and 

potential to accommodate 

mass influx.” 

Fasuwon said the firm’s 

projected vision for its estate 

in the Lekki axis, Fairmont 

Estate, was to become a 

private living community for 

those who cherish serenity, 

splendour, space and security. 

“The estate is planned to 

avail residents a romance with 

nature and subscribers have a 

chance to live in customised 

homes,” he added. 

In a statement, Fasuwon 

explained that the firm was 

offering affordable land for 

sale with an innovative and 

accessible payment structure 

for the young and upwardly 

mobile looking for good and 

affordable value on the Lekki 

corridor, but who lacked the 

ability to put down bulk sum. 

He stated that the firm had 

concluded arrangements to 

end its special promotion 

offer for early subscribers to 

its Fairmont Lekki housing 

scheme, which would see 

the firm revert to the original 

price of land in the estate. 

Fasuwon added, “We 

are doing this because, we 

believe at PropertyMart 

that affordable housing that 

actually benefits a community 

is not cheap housing, but 

more about value for money. 

It’s housing that a person 

could pay for within their 

price range without going 

bankrupt, and feel safe and 

satisfied with. 

“We believe that an 

affordable house can be a 

dream villa and should be 

a place where you and your 

family can comfortably live 

happily and grow, hence 

our aggressive pursuit with 

Fairmont Lekki land sale.” 

telecommunications assets 

previously owned by NiteL/ 

Mtel. 

They added that several 

people got allocations, but in 

2015, a family came forward 

and instituted a legal action 

challenging the validity of sale 

to the allotees by the NiteL 

liquidator. 

The residents said following 

the suit, there had been 

breakdown of law and order, 

which had led to armed robbery 

attacks in the estate, which 

houses over 100 families. 

“There is still no security 

here; the omoniles have 

brought in armed people known 

as ‘ajagungbales’ to terrorise us 

and we live in fear. Up till now, 

construction is still going on, 

even on manholes and cable 

lines, and nobody is talking. It is 

as if the police have abandoned 

us to our fate,” a resident said. 

The residents had earlier 

alleged that they sent a petition 

to the Area Commander in 

Ijede but nothing was done. 

“We also wrote a petition to 

the Commissioner of Police 

and he sent the petition to 

the Deputy Commissioner of 

Police, Panti, but nothing has 

been done. Now, the court has 

even ordered them to provide 

protection and nothing is 

being done,” another resident 

lamented. 

The Public Relations Officer, 

Lagos State Police Command, 

Chike Oti, a Superintendent 

of Police, who spoke with 

our correspondent on the 

telephone, said he was not 

aware of any court injunction 

asking the police to guard the 

estate. 

“No order has been served 

on us to that effect. I am not 

aware of any order like that. 

If it exists, let them take it 

to the legal department for 

interpretation and action will 

be taken on it,” he said.

homes & 

property 

Novare invests $500m in malls development 

...set to unveil Abuja central mall 


Real estate investment 

firm, Novare Real Estate 

Africa, has so far invested over 

$500m in the development of 

malls in Nigeria. 

The firm made this known 

during the announcement 

of plans to unveil its fourth 

shopping mall, the Novare 

Central, Abuja, expected to 

be opened on July 19, with 

an exclusive ceremony a day 

before. 

According to the Chairman, 

Novare Real Estate Africa, Prof 

Fabian Ajogwu, the new mall 

is a mixed use centre, offering 

a combination of retail shops, 

restaurants and entertainment 

centres as well as office spaces 

to meet the demand for modern 

commercial infrastructure in 

the fast-growing Wuse area of 

Abuja. 

Ajogwu said the mall was 

developed through foreign 

direct investment of about 

$54m, and was the firm’s third 

in Abuja, coming after the 

Novare Gateway and Novare 

Apo malls. 

He stated, “With a mix 

of offices and shops, Novare 

Central is a welcome addition 

to the Abuja city landscape. The 

modern architectural dexterity 

and excellent location of Novare 

Central have attracted the 

attention of major retail brands, 

including Africa’s largest food 

retailer, Shoprite. 

“The other stores in the mall 

are PEP, Office Everything, 

Active Leisure, Time Keepers, 

Kilmanjaro and Miniso, while a 

growing number of established 

retail brands and big corporate 

organisations have also 

expressed their interest to 

take up spaces at the centre. 

The mall, which incorporates 

7,178 square metres of space 

on the ground floor, with 

A-grade offices occupying three 

floors, is strategically located 

within the Central Business 

District of Abuja, an area which 

continues to witness rapid 

development and home to 

various government agencies.” 

Ajogwu stated that the 

company’s investments were 

an indication of confidence in 

the Nigerian market, adding 

that over 5,000 jobs and several 

A 

property that is accurately 

valued is more likely to sell 

quickly in the current British 

housing market where activity 

is slowing, it is claimed. 

According to Propertywire. 

com, new figures from a 

independent estate agent form 

54 branches suggests that 

valuation is the key to avoid 

having to drop the asking price 

or accept an offer well below 

what is sought. 

The firm, Andrews, 

gathered information on sales 

indirect employment to local 

suppliers had been created 

with huge tax revenue for the 

government. 

According to him, the new 

mall will complement other 

commercial developments by 

the firm, including the Novare 

Gateway Mall in Abuja, with a 

second phase of 10,000 square 

metres to accommodate 33 

more shops being planned. 

One of the firm’s equity 

partners, Mr Derrick Roper, 

said the Novare Central 

development had support from 

the Abuja municipal authority, 

which saw the project as a 

significant contributor to the 

development of the area. 

He said the firm had plans 

to move to other cities within 

the country in the coming years. 

‘Accurate valuation is the key 

to selling homes’ 

from January to June 2018 

and found a clear pattern 

which showed that 70 per 

cent of completed sales either 

closely met or exceeded the 

asking price. 

It believes that at a 

time when more and more 

properties are selling for 

significantly less than the 

asking price and hanging 

around on the market for 

longer than in the past, the 

job of the valuer is even more 

important. 


51


homes & 

property 

Collective efforts critical to tackling erosion – NMGS 

‘Femi Asu 

The Nigerian Mining 

and Geosciences 

Society has said there is a 

need for concerted efforts 

to stem the growing tide 

of erosion in the coastal 

region of the country. 

The NMGS stated this 

at its annual lecture in 

Lagos, which focused on 

scaling erosion processes 

and their possible control 

measures in the coastal 

zone of the country. 

The Chairman, 

Distinguished 

Lectureship Programme, 

NMGS, Prof Olusola Ojo, 

said on the sidelines of 

the lecture, “Government 

needs to have data and 

information, and all the 

relevant agencies that are 

already in place need to 

be up and doing. Where 

are the areas that are 

liable to flooding and 

erosion? They need to 

know; they need to have 

data, process the data and 

make it available in such 

a way that Nigerians will 

understand. 

“There should be 

massive education on 

this issue of erosion, 

and everybody should 

be involved in tackling it 

because the destruction 

can be very massive. 

Today, our population 

is said to be about 

200 million; that can 

contribute to erosion if we 

don’t have the right way 

of living. Everywhere, 

you see people felling 

trees. That’s a major 

source of erosion.” 

The President, Global 

Institute for Sustainable 

Development, Advanced 

Analysis and Design, 

United States, Prof Hilary 

Inyang, who delivered the 

lecture, said, “Erosion 

constitutes a major 

ecological problem in 

the coastal region of 

Nigeria and leads to loss 

of farmland; deposition 

of sediments in pristine 

habitats, streams and 

ponds; destruction of 

houses, bridges and other 

structures; and spreading 

of contaminants.” 


coastal region of Nigeria 

comprises terrain of 

relatively low elevation 

with high rainfall 

intensity that provides 

high raindrop impact 

energy for erosion of 

exposed geo-materials. 

The professor of 

Geoenvironmental 

Engineering and Science 

and honorary professor, 

China University of 

Mining and Technology, 

said in addition to 

the sheet and gully 

erosion prevalent in the 

hinterland areas of the 

coast, shoreline erosion 

had ravaged many 

locations in the region. 

He stated, “Erosion 

rates in Nigeria range 

from 0.8 to 5.3 tonnes per 

hectare per year. Each 

year, Nigeria loses billions 

of naira in agricultural 

damages, environmental 

degradation, structural 

damages and human 

health problems (e.g. 

asthma and water qualityrelated 

diseases) that are 

directly and indirectly 

caused by erosion. 

“Furthermore, 

turbidity of streams and 

lakes in the region impose 

high costs on treatment of 

surface water resources 

for industrial and 

domestic applications. 

In many areas of the 

region, exposed soils 

do not exhibit adequate 

cohesive strength due 

to their mineralogical 

composition and textural 

characteristics to 

withstand stresses that 

are imposed on them.” 

According to Inyang, 

the exploitation of fissures 

and poor cementation in 

some soils make them 

particularly vulnerable to 

the development of deep 

gullies. 

He said, “In many 

areas, there are slope 

failures that progressively 

damage the terrain and 

exposed infrastructure. 

“Although a wide 

variety of stabilisation 

measures have been 

used in other countries 

to control erosion costeffectively, 

such measures 

are rarely implemented 

appropriately in Nigeria 

where most control 

measures basically rely on 

temporary stabilisation 

of the ground without 

adequate geotechnical 

analyses.” 

According to him, 

control measures 

include revegetation and 

forestation; surface water 

run-off reduction and 

control; and geotechnical 

stabilisation; covering 

slope stabilisation; 

gully repair; shoreline 

stabilisation; and 

physico-chemical 

stabilisation using 

cementitious and 

polymeric materials. 

Inyang stressed 

the need for technical 

guidance manuals to 

support field projects in 

the country.

information 

technology 

Nike Popoola 

The President, Nigeria 

Computer Society, Prof. 

Adesola Aderounmu, has 

said that there is a need 

for strategic action and 

cumulative practices to 


IT experts in search of new development strategies 

ensure that the country is 

competitive and prosperous 

through the development of 

information technology. 

He said this in Lagos during 

a press conference ahead of 

the annual conference of the 

NCS holding in Oyo State 

this month. 

“In line with our emphasis 

on innovation, we will be 

adopting various approaches 

through this gathering of 

the IT, academia, industry 

and top leaders to address 

challenges and highlight 

opportunities on how to use 

technology for sustainable 

development,” he said. 

While recognising the 

strategic and transformation 

role of the IT in the society, 

Aderounmu said the 

populace must be part of the 

digital revolution of Nigeria 

to unveil its immense 

potential. 


NCS has more than 20,000 

members, and that it is the 

umbrella body of all ICT 

professionals in Nigeria. 

For now, he added, the 

NCS has eight major interest 

groups. 

Aderounmu said 

the conference with the 

theme, ’Digital inclusion, 

opportunities, challenges 

and strategies’, would focus 

on important things such 

as poverty eradication and 

job creation in the rural 

economy, internet and 

broadband, e-agriculture, 

e-education, digital gender 

equality among others. 

He said that the IT 

experts would be focusing 

53 

on the development of tech 

start-up, SME and youth 

entrepreneurship, new 

technology for economic 

growth and diversification 

and digital literacy, among 

others. 

He also said that top 

government officials 

and other dignitaries 

and professionals from 

the international IT 

environment would attend 

the conference. 

The NCS, he added, would 

play a major role in national 

digital inclusion agreement 

through the conference. 

“The NCS organises the 

conference annually to drive 

change in the IT matters 

through government 

intervention, education and 

strategic intervention,” he 

said. 

•L-R: Managing Director, SafeTrust Mortgage Bank, Akintayo Oloko; Chairman, Board of Directors, SafeTrust Mortgage 

Bank, Ayodele Arogbo; Deputy Director, Other Financial Institutions Supervision Department, Central Bank of Nigeria, 

Ekpo Bassey-Duke; and Director, SafeTrust Mortgage Bank, Yinka Odeleye, during the bank’s 2018 Annual General Meeting 

in Lagos... recently. Photo: SafeTrust Mortgage Bank 

‘Nigerians yet to tap benefits of digital economy’ 


Information and 

Communication 

Technology experts have 

submitted that many 

Nigerians and African 

countries are still lagging 

behind in tapping the 

benefits and efficiencies 

of digital technologies to 

drive innovation, create job 

opportunities and achieve 

economic growth. 

They further stated that 

Nigeria’s digital economy 

was not growing due to 

inadequate base transceiver 

stations, insufficient fibre 

networks, long period of 

getting the right of way 

approval, extended time 

to market and investment 

returns. 

This was contained in 

a communique issued at 

the end of a conference on 

Africa-China Cooperation in 

Information Technology and 

Digital Economy: Prospects 

and Challenges, organised 

by the Nigeria Institute 

for International Affairs in 

Abuja. 

Despite the fact that the 

ICT impacts on critical 

sectors of the economy, 

particularly governance, 

commerce, banking, 

agriculture and health, the 

conference participants 

noted that Nigeria had 

continued to rank low in 

the global ICT development 

index, dropping from 137th 

position in 2016 to 143rd 

in 2017. 

The conference stated 

that information technology 

and digital economy had 

presented new opportunities 

for all sectors of the economy, 

adding that Africa could 

learn from China’s success 

in the area of global trade 

and the roles played by firms 

contributing to its GDP. 

It asked Nigeria and 

Africa to invest in the future 

through communication 

Huawei donates laptops, printers to schools 

Okechukwu Nnodim, 

Abuja 

Huawei Nigeria has 

donated laptops and 

printers to schools in Lagos 

State and the Federal 

Capital Territory 

According to the firm, 

the donations were in 

accordance with Huawei’s 

social responsibility to 

develop and contribute to 

local communities. 

It said in a statement 

that it was donating the 

technology devices in a bid 

to enable smarter learning 

among students in Nigerian 

schools. 

It said the donations 

were made across seven 

schools in Abuja and Lagos, 

covering schools located in 

Ajah, Mende, Ojodu, Kaura 

District and Wuse. 

The firm noted that 

the donation marked the 

continuation of Huawei’s 

support for the ICT 

development in Nigeria. 

“Since 2013, Huawei 

has trained thousands of 

Nigerian youths in the ICT 

under the ICT for Change 

Programme in alliance with 

the Federal Government 

of Nigeria,” it said in the 

statement issued in Abuja. 

The firm stated that 

recently, it refurbished and 

set up ICT centres in Lagos 

public schools in Victoria 

Island, including Wahab 

Folawiyo High School and 

Lagos State Polytechnic, 

Ikorodu, with computer 

systems, projectors and 

screens, internet access, and 

solar-powered inverters. 


Huawei Technologies 

Nigeria Limited, Mr. Li 

Beifang, was quoted as 

saying, “Huawei sees 

these donations as an 

opportunity to support the 

country’s initiative for the 

improvement of digital 

literacy among youths 

and within the Nigerian 

educational system. 

“Our vision and mission 

at Huawei is to bring digital 

to every person, home and 

organisation for a fullyconnected, 

intelligent 

world. Huawei is very 

conversant with the role of 

the ICT in education and 

child development. 

“Thus, these donations 

will help develop the 

necessary skills for the 21st 

century, while preparing 

these Nigerian children for 

the actualisation of a smart 

society.” 

infrastructure that would 

include government and 

private sector. 

The communique read, 

“Nigeria should leverage 

the ICT in its quest towards 

attaining sustainable 

development, especially in its 

human development capital 

and in all other sectors as 

being propagated in the 

diversification policy and 

Economic Recovery and 

Growth Plan of the current 

administration. 

“Infrastructural 

connectivity is the foundation 

of digital economy in 

the world of information 

technology, hence , the ICT 

must be properly harnessed 

optimally in order meet the 

UN Agenda 2030.” 

The conference further 

recommended industry 

collaboration in deploying 

fibre networks, and routing 

fibres along existing electrical 

or other public utility ducts 

to reduce network cost and 

improve efficiency. 

It noted that cybersecurity 

is a critical driver of economic 

development, adding that 

Nigeria should take the lead 

in entrenching the culture of 

cybersecurity. 

“African nations including 

Nigeria should participate 

in exchange of African 

students with China and the 

rest of the world to enable 

them to acquire the cutting 

edge technology; Nigerian 

government should establish 

specialised institutions for 

the study, training and 

research into the ICT-related 

programmes and equipment, 

especially software and 

hardware,” the communique 

stated.

54 


international 

business 

US-China trade war elevates risks to global economy 

The trade war that 

erupted Friday between 

the United States and 

China carries a major risk 

of escalation that could 

weaken investment, depress 

spending, unsettle financial 

markets and slow the global 

economy, according to the 

Associated Press. 

The opening shots 

were fired just after 

midnight, when the Trump 

administration imposed a 

25 per cent tariff on $34bn 

of imports from China, 

and Beijing promptly 

retaliated with duties on an 

equal amount of American 

products. It accused the US 

of igniting “the biggest trade 

war in economic history.” 

Because of this first round 

of hostilities, American 

businesses and, ultimately, 

consumers could end 

up paying more for such 

Chinese-made products as 

construction equipment 

and other machinery. And 

American suppliers of 

soybeans, pork and whiskey 

could lose their competitive 

edge in China. 

These initial tariffs are 

unlikely to inflict serious 

harm to the world’s two 

biggest economies. Gregory 

Daco, head of US economics 

at Oxford Economics, 

has calculated that they 

would pare growth in both 

countries by no more than 

0.2 per cent through 2020. 

But the conflict could soon 

escalate. President Donald 

Trump, who has boasted 

that winning a trade war is 

easy , has said he is prepared 

to impose tariffs on up to 

$550bn in Chinese imports 

— a figure that exceeds the 

$506bn in goods that China 

shipped to the US last year. 

Escalating tariffs are likely 

to slow business investment 

as companies wait to see 

whether the administration 

can reach a truce with 

Beijing. Some employers will 

probably put hiring on hold 

until the picture becomes 

clearer. The damage could 

risk undoing some of the 

economic benefits of last 

year’s tax cuts. 

“Trade disruption is 

the greatest threat to 

global growth,” said Dec 

Mullarkey, managing 

director of investment 

strategies at Sun Life 

Investment Management. 

“The direct effects will 

be amplified as business 

confidence drops and 

investment decisions are 

delayed. Markets are still 

hoping that the key players 

return to the negotiation 

table.” 

The root of the conflict is 

the Trump administration’s 

assertion that China has 

long used predatory tactics 

in a drive to supplant 

America’s technological 

supremacy. Those tactics 

include cyber-theft as well as 

forcing companies to hand 

over technology in exchange 

for access to China’s market. 

Trump’s tariffs are meant to 

press Beijing to change its 

ways 

The rift with China is the 

most consequential trade 

conflict the administration 

has provoked. But it’s hardly 

the only one. 

Trump is also sparring 

with the European Union 

over his threat to tax auto 

imports and with Canada 

and Mexico over his push to 

rewrite the North American 

trade pact. And he has 

subjected most of America’s 

trading partners to tariffs on 

steel and aluminum. 

Many caught in the 

initial line of fire — US 

farmers absorbing tariffs 

on their exports to China, 

for instance — are fearful. 

The price of soybeans has 

plunged 13 percent over 

the past month on fears 

that Chinese tariffs will cut 

off American farmers from 

China, which buys about 

60 percent of their soybean 

exports. 

“For soybean producers 

like me, this is a direct 

financial hit,” said Brent 

Bible, a soy and corn 

producer in Romney, 

Indiana. “These tariffs 

could mean the difference 

between a profit and a loss 

for an entire year’s worth 

of work out in the field, and 

that’s only in the near term.” 

Christine LoCascio, an 

executive at the Distilled 

said the US Committee on 

Foreign Investment in the 

United States had notified 

it that it does not have any 

outstanding security issues 

following an agreement 

with the US government 

to divest the Long Beach 

container terminal 

business to a third party. 

COSCO said ownership 

of the container terminal 

business will be transferred 

to a trust while a buyer is 

sought. 

There had been concerns 

the trade fight between 

Beijing and Washington 

might end up hampering 

major deals by US or 

Chinese firms seeking 

Spirits Council, said she 

fears China’s tariffs on US 

whiskey will “put the brakes 

on an American success 

story” of rising exports of 

US spirits. 

Even before the first 

shots, the prospect of a trade 

war was worrying investors. 

The Dow Jones industrial 

average has shed hundreds 

of points since June 11. But 

the risks are now priced into 

the market, and the Dow 

actually rose nearly 100 

points Friday to 24,456.48. 

China’s currency, the 

yuan, has dropped 3.5 per 

cent against the dollar 

over the past month, 

giving Chinese companies 

a price edge over their US 

competition. The drop 

might reflect a deliberate 

devaluation by Beijing 

to signal its “displeasure 

over the state of trade 

negotiations,” according to 

a report from the Institute 

of International Finance, a 

banking trade group. 

The 

Trump 

administration sought 

to limit the impact of the 

tariffs on US households by 

targeting Chinese industrial 

goods, not consumer 

products, for the first round 

of tariffs. 

But that step raises 

costs for US companies 

that rely on Chinese-made 

machinery or components. 

And it could force them 

to pass those higher 

costs on to their business 

customers and, eventually, 

to consumers. 

If you like Chick-fil-A 

sandwiches, for instance, 

you may feel the effects. 

Charlie Souhrada of the 

North American Food 

Equipment Manufacturers 

said the tariffs could raise 

the cost of a kind of pressure 

cooker Chick-fil-A uses. 

The administration has 

placed “these import taxes 

squarely on the shoulders 

of manufacturers and, by 

extension, consumers,” 

Souhrada said. 

One way the tariffs will 

squeeze farmers, landscapers 

and construction firms is by 

raising the price of excavators 

and loaders made by Bobcat, 

which uses attachments 

imported from China. US 

suppliers rarely make these 

attachments, so the company 

must import them. 

Jason Mayberry, 

Bobcat’s assistant general 

counsel, said in a filing 

submitted to the US Trade 

Representative’s office that 

the company would have 

to raise prices to offset the 

tariff. Bobcat’s raw material 

costs have also risen because 

of the administration’s steel 

and aluminum tariffs. 

• L–R: Norway’s Prime Minister Erna Solberg; and French President Emmanuel Macron, at a press conference on the 

Sovereign Health Funds programme to fight climate change, in Paris ... on Friday. Photo: AFP 

Twitter suspends over 70 million accounts in 

Inc suspended 

more than one million two months 

Twitter accounts a day in recent 

months to reduce the flow 

of misinformation on the 

platform, the Washington 

Post reported. 

Reuters sources quoted 

Washington Post as 

reporting that Twitter and 

other social media platforms 

such as Facebook Inc 

have been under scrutiny 

by US lawmakers and 

COSCO Shipping wins US security clearance for OOIL 

China’s COSCO Shipping 

Holdings said on 

Sunday a key United States 

review body has cleared its 

planned $6.3bn acquisition 

of shipping firm Orient 

Overseas International Ltd 

on security issues, Reuters 

has reported. 

COSCO said on June 30 

that all pre-conditions for 

the OOIL offer made last 

year had been met after 

receiving approval by the 

Chinese anti-monopoly 

regulator. It already has 

approvals from European 

and United States antimonopoly 

regulators. 

In a regulatory filing 

on Sunday the company 

regulatory approval. 

US and China on Friday 

implemented tariffs against 

each other’s goods, with 

no signs of a near-term 

resolution. 

COSCO’s acquisition of 

OOIL will see the Chinese 

shipping giant become 

the world’s third-largest 

container shipping line. 

The deal is the latest 

in a wave of mergers and 

acquisitions in global 

container shipping that 

has left the top six shipping 

lines controlling 63 per cent 

of the market and comes at 

a time when the industry 

is experiencing a recovery 

after a lengthy downturn. 

international regulators for 

doing too little to prevent 

the spread of false content. 

The companies have 

been taking steps such as 

deleting user accounts, 

introducing updates and 

actively monitoring content 

to help users avoid being a 

victim to fake content. 

Twitter suspended more 

than 70 million accounts 

in May and June, and the 

pace has continued in July, 

the Post reported on Friday, 

citing data it obtained. 

“It’s hard to believe that 

70 million accounts were 

affected when Twitter has 

only 336 million monthly 

active users (MAU),” 

Wedbush analyst Michael 

Pachter said. 

Twitter’s MAU is expected 

to grow nearly three per 

cent to 337.06 in the second 

quarter, according to 

Thomson Reuters. 

“My guess is that a large 

number of these suspended 

accounts were dormant ... it 

should have little impact on 

the company,” Pachter told 

Reuters. 

If the 70 million were 

mostly active accounts, the 

affected accounts would 

have been “screaming 

bloody murder”, added the 

analyst. 

According to a 

Washington Post source, 

however, the aggressive 

removal of unwanted 

accounts may result in a 

rare decline in the number 

of monthly users in the 

second quarter. 

“Due to technology and 

process improvements 

during the past year, we are 

now removing 214 percent 

more accounts for violating 

our spam policies on a yearon-year 

basis,” the company 

said in a blog post last 

month. 

In May, it identified 

and challenged more than 

9.9 million “potentially 

spammy” or automated 

accounts per week, 

compared with 6.4 million 

in December 2017. 

Shares of Twitter fell 

marginally to $46.50 after 

the bell on Friday. 

Deal for Weinstein Co. 

covers back pay for De Niro, 

Streep 

An agreement reached 

in the sale of Harvey 

Weinstein’s movie studio 

won’t leave Hollywood stars 

like Robert De Niro and 

Meryl Streep holding the 

bag. 

The Associated Press 

reported that Lantern 

Capital Partners said 

Friday it is agreed to make 

payments to unsecured 

creditors, such as actors 

seeking residuals, as part 

of a $289m Weinstein Co. 

acquisition it expects to 

close Friday. 

A judge must approve the 

deal. A Wednesday hearing 

is scheduled in Delaware. 

De Niro and Bradley 

Cooper say they’re each 

owed $940,706 for “Silver 

Linings Playbook.” Streep 

says she’s owed $168,611 for 

“August: Osage County.” 

The Weinstein Co. filed 

for bankruptcy protection 

in March amid fallout from 

sexual assault allegations 

against Weinstein. 

The movie mogul is 

due in court Monday for 

arraignment on charges 

alleging a sex crime against 

a third woman.


55


leisure 


57 

funky husband 

By Femora 

Puzzle No. 1820 

“Always and Forever” - Luther Vandross 

Don’t forget your lyrics 

Naughty by nature 

By Tayo Olujimi 

ACROSS 

5 And I know ______ “Will still be the same 

6 Cuz we got a life of ______ “That won’t ever 

change and 

7 Everyday love me your own ______ way - Melt all 

my heart away with a smile 

9 Ooh baby, I’ll always love you _____ 

No jokes 

By Neearo 

DOWN 

1 when I look at you - It’s something I can’t ____ - 

Just the things that you do 

2 If you get ______ - Call me and take - A second to 

give to me - That magic you make and 

3 Always and forever - Each _____ with you 

4 Is just like a _____ to me - That somehow came 

true, yeah 

7 Ever, ever, ever - There’ll always be _______ 

8 Take time to tell me you really care - And we’ll 

____ tomorrow together 

Solution to Thursday’s Puzzle 1819 

Solution to 

Thursday’s 

puzzle 

9 6 5 8 4 2 7 1 3 

4 3 

Today’s 

Puzzle 

8 2 7 1 3 9 4 6 5 

1 4 3 7 6 5 2 9 8 

6 9 1 5 7 3 8 2 4 

2 7 4 6 8 1 3 5 9 

3 5 8 2 9 4 6 7 1 

4 8 2 9 5 6 1 3 7 

7 1 9 3 2 8 5 4 6 

5 3 6 4 1 7 9 8 2 

7 

9 7 6 2 

6 7 9 

3 8 6 

1 2 

6 8 

8 5 1 3 

5 9 

How to play Sudoku 

Sudoku doesn’t require any special maths skills or 

calculations. It is a simple and fun game of logic — 

all that’s needed are brains and concentration. 

There is really only one rule to Sudoku: Fill in the game 

board so that the numbers 1 through 9 occur exactly once in 

each row, column, and 3x3 b 

ox. 

The numbers can appear in any order and diagonals 

are not considered. Your initial game board will consist 

of several numbers that are already placed. Those 

numbers cannot be changed. Your goal is to fill in 

the empty squares following the simple rule above.


news 

States owing salaries can’t finance state police – Transparency Int’l 

Olaleye Aluko, Abuja 

The Transparency 

International has said 

state governments owing 

salaries and failing in 

education and primary health 

care will not be able to finance 

the proposed state police. 

The Head of ti Nigeria, 

Musa Rafsanjani, who stated 

this on Sunday, said as good as 

the objectives of state police 

were, state governments must 

first be able to pay workers’ 

salaries, provide health 

care, manage primary and 

secondary education as well 

as other basics of human life, 

before the police institution 

could be committed to them. 

The Senate and the House 

of Representatives had last 

week Tuesday expressed 

their readiness to amend 

the constitution to make the 

state police legal in order to 

contain persistent killings 

in the country, declaring the 

country’s security system as a 

failed architecture. 

The House of 

Representatives had 

thereafter passed a resolution 

backing the establishment of 

the state police. 

The Speaker, Yakubu 

Dogara, had received a bill 

seeking to amend the 1999 

Constitution to accommodate 

state police. 

The Kwara, Abia, Osun, 

Ondo and Ogun state Houses 

of Assembly had also backed 

the National Assembly’s 

decision to initiate moves 

aimed at the creation of the 

state police, which was to 

stem the escalating killings 

in the country. 

But the TI Head, 

Rafsanjani, said on Sunday 

in an interview with our 

correspondent, that many 

state governments were 

presently unable to finance 

the state police, as they 

were still owing workers’ 

salaries and failing in primary 

education and health care. 

He added, “Secondly, in 

Ade Adesomoju, Abuja 

Two of the panels set up by 

the National Judicial Council 

to probe the allegations levelled 

against three judges by the 

Economic and Financial Crimes 

Commission have concluded 

the exercise in respect of two of 

the cases, The PUNCH learnt on 

Sunday. 

Multiple sources, including 

lawyers involved in the probes, 

told The PUNCH that the panels 

led by Justice Emmanuel Ayoola 

(retd.) and the Chief Judge of 

the Federal High Court, Justice 

Abdu Kafarati, had concluded 

their investigations of two of 

the judges. 

The third panel led by the 

Chief Judge of Borno State, 

Kashim Zanna, it was learnt, had 

yet to conclude. 

So far, our correspondent 

learnt that the panels had 

concluded investigations 

view of the actions of the 

state governments, most 

governors can personalise 

the state police and use them 

as an instrument to oppress 

Oladimeji Ramon 

Justice O.A. Obaseki- 

Osaghae of the National 

Industrial Court in Lagos has 

asked anti-graft agencies to 

probe alleged corrupt practices 

and mismanagement of funds at 

the Yaba College of Technology, 

Lagos. 

The judge said she could 

not shut her eyes to the scale 

of fraud allegedly perpetrated 

in the Federal Government’s 

polytechnic. 

She said recommending 

the probe of the institution’s 

management was the least she, 

as a member of the judiciary, 

could do to support the Federal 

Government’s ongoing war 

against corruption. 

Justice Obaseki-Osaghae, 

therefore, asked the Economic 

and Financial Crimes 

Commission; the Independent 

Corrupt Practices and other 

related offences Commission; 

concerning Justice Rita Ofili- 

Ajumogobia and Justice 

Hyeldzira Nganjiwa, of the Lagos 

and Yenagoa Divisions of the 

Federal High Court respectively. 

It is now left for the third panel 

to deal with the case against a 

judge of the Lagos Division of the 

Federal High Court and Justice 

Agbadu Fishim of the National 

Industrial Court. 

The three judges, according 

to the charges instituted against 

them, were accused of receiving 

gratification from lawyers in 

the course of discharging their 

judicial functions. 

Our correspondent learnt 

that the NJC’s hearing takes 

the format of court proceedings 

where both the petitioner and the 

judge accused were represented 

by lawyers and called witnesses. 

On the conclusion of the 

probes, the panels are expected to 

submit their reports containing 

their recommendations to the 

perceived opponents. So, we 

have to be very circumspect 

while putting the state police 

in our constitution. The state 

police should be some idea 

Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice 

Walter Onnoghen, who doubles 

as the Chairman of the NJC, 

who will convene a plenary of 

the council to deliberate on the 

reports, a source said. 

The NJC, which had its 

quarterly meeting in May this 

year, is expected to meet soon. 

But it is not certain when the 

next meeting would hold because 

the council’s activities usually 

slow down during the annual 

judges’ vacation which its 2018 

edition begins Monday. 

“But it cannot be ruled out that 

the council will meet during the 

vacation of judges to consider 

the reports of the panels that 

had concluded their probes,” a 

source said. 

The EFCC had reportedly sent 

petitions against three judges it 

was already prosecuting after 

the Lagos Division of the Court 

of Appeal delivered a December 

12, 2017 judgment prohibiting 

in our long-term, which will 

manifest when we are more 

mature in our political process. 

But presently, I am not sure 

the states are ready to take on 

• L-R: Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Mrs Aisha Abubakar; a former Director General, 

National Pension Commission, Mr Muhammad Ahmed; and Executive Director, Fate Foundation, Adenike Adeyemi, at 

the 4th Fate Foundation Policy Dialogue Series on Entrepreneurship in Abuja... on Thursday. Photo: Sam Adeko 

Judge asks EFCC, ICPC to probe alleged 

fraud at Yabatech 

as well as the police to, as a 

matter of urgency, probe the 

institution’s management. 

Justice Obaseki-Osaghae said 

any official of the institution 

found wanting at the end of 

the investigation should be 

prosecuted “so as to restore 

sanity, accountability and 

financial probity in the college.” 

The judge made the call while 

delivering judgment in a suit, 

marked NICN/LA/473/2015, 

filed by the Bursar of the 

institution, Olu Ibirogba, to 

challenge his dismissal by the 

school’s management on April 

30, 2015. 

The defendants in the 

suit were the Council of the 

Yaba College of Technology, 

the institution’s Rector, Dr 

Margaret Ladipo, and Registrar, 

Mrs. Biekoroma Amapakabo. 

In the judgment delivered on 

June 7, 2018, a copy of which 

our correspondent obtained, 

Justice Obaseki-Osaghae held, 

“I must state that from the 

bundle of evidence before 

the court during the trial of 

this matter, there is an urgent 

need for a forensic audit and 

investigation into the affairs 

and the allegations of corrupt 

practices and mismanagement 

of funds at the Federal 

Polytechnic, Yaba, otherwise 

known as Yaba College of 

Technology. 

“The Federal Government 

has waged a war against 

corruption and the judiciary 

must play its role in ensuring 

that the war against corruption 

succeeds. 

“In this regard, therefore, 

this court cannot shut its eyes 

to the allegations of corruption, 

mismanagement of funds and 

NJC concludes probe of EFCC’s petitions against two judges 

law enforcement agencies from 

investigating or prosecuting 

serving judges until they were 

disciplined by the council. 

Leke Baiyewu, Abuja 

The Committee on Public 

Accounts of the Senate has 

vowed to ensure proper utilisation 

of the $600m being spent by 

the Federal Government on the 

construction of four new airport 

terminals across the country. 

Chairman of the committee, 

Senator Matthew Urhoghide, 

stated this when he led members 

of the panel on an oversight visit 

to the new Nnamdi Azikiwe 

International Airport, Abuja 

terminal. 

Urhoghide urged the Ministry of 

Transportation and the contractor, 

China Civil Engineering and 

Construction Company, to submit 

relevant documents on the project 

the responsibility of the state 

police. I rather advocate that 

the way to improve security 

should be a proper financing 

of the police.” 

fraud. 

“By this judgment, the 

Economic and Financial Crimes 

Commission; the Independent 

Corrupt Practices and other 

related offences Commission 

and the Nigeria Police Force 

must, as a matter of urgency, 

commence investigations into 

the allegations of corruption and 

mismanagement of funds at the 

college to unravel the truth and 

the veracity of the allegations. 

“Officers of the Yaba College 

of Technology found wanting 

should be prosecuted so as to 

restore sanity, accountability and 

financial probity in the college.” 

The judge not only faulted 

and voided Ibirogba’s dismissal, 

but also ordered the defendants 

to pay him the sum of N20m 

“jointly and severally as 

punitive damages for the unjust 

termination of the claimant’s 

employment and deliberate 

attempt to subvert the course 

of justice.” 

Though Ibirogba had prayed 

the court to order the defendants 

to pay him N10m as the cost of 

fighting the legal battle, Justice 

Obaseki-Osaghae awarded 

N1m in his favour against the 

defendants. 

to the committee’s secretariat by 

Monday (today). He said this 

would enable the lawmakers 

to ascertain if the funds were 

judiciously utilised. 

The project is being funded 

with a $500m loan from China 

and an additional $100m 

counterpart fund from Nigeria. 

The $100m counterpart fund 

was obtained as a loan from the 

Debt Management Office at an 

interest rate of 5.37 per cent for 

the expansion of the terminals at 

the Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt 

and Kano airports. 

Urhoghide also noted that the 

panel would pay similar oversight 

visits to the three other airports 

before submitting its report to 

the Senate. 

Force doesn’t 

resolve crisis, 

says Ekweremadu 

Leke, Baiyewu, Abuja 

The Deputy President 

of the Senate, Ike 

Ekweremadu, has called for 

justice, dialogue and tolerance 

as key instruments for building 

peace at all levels of society. 

Ekweremadu said mankind 

was “besieged by a groundswell 

of intolerance, injustice, racial 

discrimination, and ethnic 

hatred, leading to violence, 

conflicts, extremism, terrorism, 

insurgency and all forms of 

restiveness.” 

The lawmaker spoke at the 

first procedural session of the 

International Parliament for 

Tolerance and Peace, which 

was launched in Valetta, Malta, 

at the weekend, according to a 

statement by his Special Adviser 

on Media, Uche Anichukwu, in 

Abuja on Sunday. 

Ekweremadu, appointed by 

the Global Council for Tolerance 

and Peace as a founding 

member of the IPTP and 

Nigeria’s representative at the 

parliament, urged governments 

to always employ dialogue, 

rather than force, in resolving 

issues. 

He recalled that the use of 

force to quell militancy in the 

Niger Delta failed until dialogue 

and amnesty were applied. 

Ekweremadu also recalled 

the controversial death of the 

spiritual leader of Boko Haram 

sect Mohammed Yusuf in 2009, 

which led to the ascendancy of 

a highly radical leadership that 

transformed the sect into a fullblown 

terrorist organisation. 

Ekweremadu said, “Dialogue, 

tolerance and soft power are 

not only capable of averting 

conflicts, they win the peace 

and win people over. Even when 

nations and societies resort to 

violence and military force, they 

ultimately end up around the 

table to agree to peace terms 

or sign the instruments of 

surrender. Besides, winning the 

war is not the same as winning 

the peace. 

“Importantly, whatever we 

do, we must bear in mind that 

justice is a bedrock and natural 

enabler of peace. Justice is so 

central to peace, security, and 

prosperity of the human society 

that the oath of office contained 

in most constitutions seek to 

ensure that leaders do justice to 

all manner of people.” 

Senate probes FG’s $600m spending on new airport terminals 

He said, “This committee came 

on oversight to establish value 

for money; the project that we 

have here in Abuja and three 

other airports, namely Kano, 

Port Harcourt and Lagos. We 

have come here to ascertain the 

expenditure of $100m which 

is counterpart funding that the 

Nigerian government entered into 

with China Exim Bank. This is the 

first airport we have visited. 

“We have asked for the technical 

details concerning this project visa-vis 

the funds that have been 

allocated to this project and the 

status of job completion. We have 

asked for the details concerning 

the design, bills of quantity and 

other details so that we will be able 

to ascertain that there is value for 

money in this project.”

news 

Ekiti election: Police deploy 30,000 personnel, two choppers, others 


The police have deployed 

30,000 operatives, two 

helicopters and 250 patrol 

vehicles, including five 

Armoured Personnel Carriers, 

for the July 14 governorship 

election in Ekiti State. 

The Force Public Relations 

Officer, acting DCP Jimoh 

Moshood, said in a statement 

in Abuja on Sunday that the 

security operation for the poll 

would be supervised by the 

Deputy Inspector-General of 

Police, Operations, Joshiak 

Habila, who would be assisted 

by an Assistant Inspector- 

General of Police, four 

Commissioners of Police, eight 

Deputy Commissioners of Police 

CNPP advises INEC 

Friday olokor, jos 

The Conference of Nigeria 

Political Parties on Sunday 

challenged the Independent 

National Electoral Commission 

and security agencies to 

ensure that the forthcoming 

governorship election in Ekiti 

State is free and fair. 

The body also called on Civil 

Society Organisations, media 

and election observers “to be 

extra-vigilant and expose all 

forms of rigging in other to save 

Nigeria’s democracy.” It said the 

outcome of Ekiti election would 

determine the confidence of 

voters in the conduct of the 2019 

general elections.” 

The CNPP, in a statement by its 

chairman and former governor of 

old Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe 

Musa, urged politicians in Ekiti 

State to “play by the rules of the 

game.” 

The CNPP said, “We must 

remind ourselves that the 

survival of democracy is vital at 

this time and for this to happen, 

all stakeholders must subject 

themselves to the ultimate will of 

the electorate. 

“Therefore, INEC, the media 

and all security agencies, as 

well as election observers for 

the forthcoming Ekiti State 

governorship election, must be 

vigilant. 

“We urge the electoral umpire 

to ensure that the outcome of 

the Ekiti State election reflects 

the virtues of fairness, good 

conscience, rule of law and 

credibility. 

“This will not only boost the 

confidence of the electorate in 

the Nigerian electoral process 

but also elevate the rating of the 

current leadership of INEC as 

the country prepares for the 2019 

general elections. 

“At no time in the history 

of the country have the young 

people shown eagerness to fully 

participate in the electoral process 

than now. It is the duty of INEC 

and the security agencies to 

reassure the voters that their 

votes are counted and also count 

in determining who leads them. 

“We equally appeal to 

politicians, especially the 

candidates in the Ekiti 

governorship election to play 

according to the rules and 

allow the electorate to choose 

who governs them without 

intimidation in an atmosphere 

of peace, devoid of any form of 

violence.” 

and 18 Assistant Commissioners 

of Police. 

He explained that each 

Senatorial district would be 

manned by a Commissioner of 

Police. 

“To ensure adequate security 

and safety of life and property 

before, during and after the 

elections, the IGP has approved 

the deployment of 30,000 police 

personnel in Ekiti State for the 

election. 

“Four policemen and two 

others from other security 

agencies will be on duty at each 

polling unit throughout the 

state. The Police Mobile Force,to 

be headed by a very senior 

officer, will provide security at 

the results collation centres,” the 

statement explained. 

The deployment, the police 

said, also included 10 Armoured 

Personnel vehicles, Police 

Mobile Force Units, Counter- 

Terrorism Unit, the Special 

Protection Unit, the Anti- 

Bomb Squad, conventional 

policemen, the Armament Unit, 

Force Criminal Intelligence and 

Investigation Department and 

the sniffer dogs section. 

The force stated that other 

security and safety agencies 

who are members of the Inter- 

Agency Consultative Committee 

on Election Security in the state 

would complement the Nigeria 

Police during the election. 

The police added that threat 

assessment had been carried 

out in the state and all identified 

flashpoints and trouble-prone 

areas had been addressed, 

stressing that it would deal with 

anyone or group “no matter how 

highly placed whose utterances 

or conduct are contrary to the 

electoral Act or that could incite 

disturbance of public peace, law 

and order before, during or after 

the election.” 

Moshood explained that 

special security identification 

tags would be worn by all the 

security personnel on election 

duty, insisting that no operative 

would be allowed to move to 

any other location during the 

election period other than where 

he was deployed. 

“As part of additional 

measures to guarantee a 

peaceful and credible election, 

the IGP will on July 9 attend a 

stakeholder and peace accord 

meeting of all the 35 political 

parties participating in the 

election and their candidates, 

election officials, observers and 

other accredited stakeholders 

in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State,” 

Moshood explained. 

He declared that security 

personnel attached to public 

office holders and politicians 

would not be allowed to follow 

their principals to the polling 

units or collation centres. 

“Commissioners of Police and 

their personnel in states close to 

Ekiti State, such as Ondo, Osun, 

Kwara, Kogi, Ogun, Edo and Oyo 

States have been directed by the 

IG to be on the red alert with 

their personnel. 

“Restriction of vehicular 

movement in and out of Ekiti 

State will commence from 

12-midnight of Friday, 13th July 

2018 till the end of the election. 

Travellers and other road users 

are advised to make use of 

alternative routes. However, 

those on essential duties on the 

genuine course will be granted 

passage,” the police said. 

•L-R: Secretary General, Igbimo Ure Ekiti, Sir Remi Omotoso; President, Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi; a former 

President, Nigerian Bar Association, Chief Wole Olanipekun(SAN); historian, Prof Banji Akintoye; and a former 

Managing Director, UAC of Nigeria Plc, Dr Ayo Ajayi, during a press conference towards peaceful conduct of the 

forthcoming governorship election in Ekiti State, in Lagos... on Sunday. Photo: Igbimo Ure Ekiti 

Keep military away, Ekiti elders tell Buhari 

Oladimeji Ramon 

The Igbimo Ure Ekiti, a 

consultative body of eminent 

elders and leaders of Ekiti 

State from within and outside 

Nigeria, have called on President 

Muhammadu Buhari to keep the 

military away from the July 14 

governorship election in Ekiti 

State. 

This was just as the elders 

condemned the desperation of 

the two leading political parties – 

the Peoples Democratic Party and 

the All Progressives Congress – to 

win the election at all costs. 

The IUE, which addressed 

a press conference in Lagos on 

Sunday, expressed concern 

about the atmosphere of tension 

being created in the Ekiti State 

ahead of the election, particularly 

as a result of shootings and use 

of hate speeches. 

In the text of the press 

conference jointly signed by its 

National President, Prince Julius 

Adelusi-Adeluyi, and General 

Secretary, Sir Remi Omotoso, 

the IUE said election not being 

a war; President Buhari should 

ensure that the military was not 

involved. 

The elders said, “With the 

palpable fear of the people 

within the state that the army 

may be used for this election, 

we call on Mr President and 

the Commander-in-Chief of 

the Armed Forces, President 

Muhammed Buhari, to ensure 

that men and women of the 

Nigerian Armed Forces are not 

involved in an electoral process 

that is totally, essentially and 

constitutionally a civil matter. 

“Election is not a war. The 

earlier we began to instil 

confidence in the ability and 

the capacity of the Nigeria 

Police Force together with 

other civil security agencies for 

the prevention and detection 

of crime, apprehension of 

offenders, protection of lives and 

properties, preservation of law 

Fayemi tackles Fayose on cattle colony claims 

Kamarudeen Ogundele, 

Ado Ekiti 

The Kayode Fayemi 

Campaign Organisation 

has accused Governor Ayodele 

Fayose of insincerity in his 

claim that the candidate of the 

All Progressives Congress, Dr 

Kayode Fayemi, plans to create 

cattle colonies across the state if 

he wins the July 14 poll. 

It accused Fayose of running 

a campaign of blackmail and lies 

instead of programmes to sell his 

candidate to voters. 

A statement by the Director, 

Media and Publicity of the 

Kayode Fayemi Campaign 

Ekiti Governorship Election 

Organisation, Wole Olujobi, 

accused Fayose of mischievously 

exploiting herdsmen’s crisis 

across the nation to paint 

Fayemi as a backer of herdsmen 

in their deadly attacks that had 

claimed hundreds of lives. 

“Fayose has been deceiving 

Ekiti people and indeed all 

Nigerians that Fayemi is 

a promoter of herdsmen’s 

activities and that he is ready 

to create cattle colonies as one 

of his principal programmes 

so that herdsmen can unleash 

terror on Ekiti people. 

“By this misrepresentation, 

Ekiti people will be unwilling to 

vote for Fayemi whereas Fayose 

himself in his Executive Bill he 

signed into the law last year had 

approved the creation of cattle 

colonies across the state to solve 

herdsmen’s crisis. 

“After Fayose signed the law 

establishing cattle colonies 

across the state, immediately 

he discovered that herdsmen 

crisis is a good point to nail 

Fayemi, he quickly lapsed into 

manipulating the alleged plan to 

create cattle colonies by the APC 

candidate to paint him black.” 

KFCO accused Fayose of 

running Ekiti State like a 

foreman at a construction site. 

and order and due enforcement of 

our laws and regulation including 

our electoral laws, regulations 

and guidelines, the better for our 

democracy.” 

Recalling that the governorship 

election and the re-run that 

followed between 2007 and 

2010 were characterised by 

killing, destruction of valuable 

assets and trepidation among 

Ekiti State residents, the Ekiti 

elders appealed to the political 

gladiators not to allow history to 

repeat itself. 

“No one will forget in 

a hurry, the Ido Osi tragedy, 

the Oye skirmishes, and the 

inconsistencies of Madam Ayoka 

Adebayo, the then Ekiti State 

Electoral Commissioner,” the 

IUE said. 

“As a people, we must learn 

from history. The failure to learn 

from history is the reason for 

repeating same mistakes. We 

wish to recall with pain and 

anguish the electoral crisis of 1983 

in the old Ondo State (comprising 

of the present Ondo State and 

Ekiti State) which occasioned loss 

of several lives and destruction 

of properties,” the elders added. 

Apart from Adelusi-Adeluyi 

and Omotosho, others present 

at the press conference were a 

Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief 

Wole Olanipekun, historian, Prof. 

Banji Akintoye and a former 

Managing Director, UAC, Dr. 

Ayo Ajayi. 


59 

Wema Bank job 

makes me best for 

gov – Omoyeni 


Ado Ekiti 

The 

Governorship 

Candidate of the Mega 

Party Candidate in Ekiti State, 

Mr. Bisi Omoyeni, has said 

his former position as the 

Group Managing Director of 

Wema Bank Plc makes him the 

best candidate in the July 14 

governorship election. 

He also revealed the reasons 

he resigned as the deputy 

governor of Ekiti State and 

returned to Wema Bank Plc as 

the Group Managing Director/ 

Chief Executive in December 

2005. 

Omoyeni was appointed the 

deputy governor by the then 

Governor Ayodele Fayose in 

2005. However, within three 

months in office as the deputy 

governor, he resigned to take 

up the Wema Bank top job. 

Speaking at a campaign rally 

in Ikole and Moba, Omoyeni 

said the Board of the Odua 

Investment Company, who 

was the major owner of Wema 

Bank Plc, appealed to him to 

return to the bank to serve 

the people of South-West and 

Nigeria instead of serving just 

the people of Ekiti as deputy 

governor. 

“A letter was written by the 

Board of Odua Investment 

Company Limited to Governor 

Fayose on December 5, 2005, 

seeking for my release as the 

deputy governor. The letter 

by the Odua Group says they 

identified my qualities and 

leadership ability and integrity 

as a former executive director 

of the bank,” he said. 

Ekiti teachers ask 

DSS to release 

colleagues 


Ado Ekiti 

Teachers in Ekiti State 

have told the Department 

of State Services to immediately 

release three teachers in its 

custody in the interest of peace. 

The three teachers were 

arrested while allegedly 

duplicating Permanent Voter 

Cards at Ola Oluwa Grammar 

School, Ilawe Road, Ado Ekiti. 

The teachers under the 

auspices of the Academic Staff 

Union of Secondary Schools 

also denied working for the 

governorship candidate of the 

All Progressives Congress, Dr 

Kayode Fayemi. 

The ASUSS Chairman, Sola 

Adigun, on Sunday, said the 

continued detention of the 

teachers was not in the best 

interest of the state, saying his 

colleagues were apolitical and 

should not be intimidated by 

any security agency. 

Adigun urged the people of 

the state to discountenance a 

statement in circulation that it 

was working for Fayemi. 

“The said statement, which 

could not be signed by the 

said faceless individuals for 

obvious display of cowardice, 

has been transmitted in the 

social media,” he noted.


world 

news 

Boris Johnson criticises British PM’s deal with EU 

Boris Johnson strongly 

criticised Theresa May’s 

plan for the UK’s future 

relationship with the EU 

before agreeing to back it at 

Friday’s cabinet meeting, BBC 

reports. 

The prime minister held the 

Brexit meeting at Chequers, 

where the cabinet agreed to 

support her favoured option. 

Johnson used colourful 

language as he made the 

argument May’s plan would 

leave the UK as a “vassal state”. 

Labour said May’s customs 

plan was a “fudge” and would 

soon “unravel”. 

At Friday’s summit, 

ministers signed up to a plan 

to create a free trade area for 

industrial and agricultural 

goods with the bloc, based on a 

“common rule book”. 

They also backed what 

could amount to a “combined 

customs territory”. 

Environment Secretary 

Michael Gove told the BBC 

on Sunday that the deal was a 

compromise that would lead to 

a “proper Brexit”. But he said 

the UK should be prepared to 

walk away if the EU was not 

willing to negotiate. 

At Friday’s get-together, 

Johnson told colleagues 

the plan could be a “serious 

inhibitor to free trade”, 

according to BBC political 

correspondent Nick Eardley. 

The foreign secretary 

S’Sudan 

reinstates 

former VP 

South Sudan’s former vice 

president Riek Machar will 

be reinstated in his position as 

part of a peace deal to end a 

near five-year-old war that has 

devastated Africa’s youngest 

nation, the presidency said on 

Sunday. 

According to a statement, 

the agreement was reached 

in talks held in Entebbe 

in Uganda, mediated by 

President Yoweri Miseveni 

and attended by South Sudan 

President Salva Kiir, Sudan’s 

Omar al-Bashir and Machar, 

Reuters reports. 

“After a 10-hour-long 

meeting, the parties agreed 

... there will be four vice 

presidents and Dr Riek Machar 

will be reinstated as first vice 

president,” the statement said. 

It added that although 

the government and the 

opposition had agreed to the 

proposal, “there will be more 

consultation to come up with 

the final decision”. 

South Sudan has been 

gripped by civil war since 2013, 

when a political disagreement 

between Kiir and Machar 

exploded into a military 

confrontation. 

The war has killed tens of 

thousands, uprooted about 

a quarter of the country’s 

population of 12 million and 

slashed oil production, on 

which its economy nearly 

wholly depends. 

The agreement on Machar’s 

position is part of new efforts 

mediated by regional leaders to 

find a peace agreement and end 

the war. A similar deal in 2015 

failed and conflict resumed. 

backed the proposals at 

Chequers despite claiming that 

defending the plans was like 

“polishing a turd”. 

An ally of the prime minister 

said Johnson’s comments were 

made in a humorous style, and 

after a dinner Johnson had 

then paid a rousing tribute to 

the prime minister. 

After ministers signed up to 

the deal late on Friday night, 

May said the time for ministers 

to air their concerns in public 

was over and collective cabinet 

responsibility had been reinstated. 

Friends of Johnson say he is 

staying in the cabinet to “make 

the argument for Brexiteers”. 

Gove said the plan 

“honoured” the 2016 

referendum vote as the 

UK would be outside EU 

institutions and structures, 

The North Korean Foreign 

Ministry on Saturday 

slammed two days of talks 

with visiting Secretary of State 

Mike Pompeo as “regrettable” 

and accused the United States 

of making “gangster-like’’ 

demands on denuclearization, 

USA Today reports. 

The statement said the 

U.S. betrayed the spirit of 

last month’s summit between 

President Donald Trump and 

North Korean leader Kim 

Jong Un by making such 

unilateral demands regarding 

“CVID,” or the complete, 

verifiable and irreversible 

denuclearization of North 

Korea. The spokesman for 

the ministry called the talks 

“really disappointing.” 

The outcome of the followup 

talks in Pyongyang was “very 

concerning” because it has led 

to a “dangerous phase that 

might rattle our willingness 

for denuclearization that had 

been firm,” according to the 

statement. 

“We expected that the 

U.S. side would come 

with productive measures 

conducive to building trust 

in line with the spirit of the 

North-U.S. summit and 

(we) considered providing 

something that would 

correspond to them,” the 

spokesman said, according 

to the South Korean news 

telling the BBC it “achieved all 

of the things we campaigned 

for”. 

Although the UK would 

sign up to EU rules on goods, 

he said the UK would have the 

“sovereign ability” to diverge 

where it wanted and that this 

autonomy would apply across 

a “a swathe of the economy”. 

Asked by the BBC’s Andrew 

Marr if the proposed deal was 

everything he had hoped for, 

Mr Gove replied: “No, but I am 

a realist” - adding that cabinet 

unity was important. 

If the EU did not show 

flexibility, the UK may have 

to “contemplate walking away 

without a deal”, he added. 

“No-one wants to walk away 

now because we are in the 

middle of a negotiation,” he said. 

“What we need to do is to be able 

to walk away in March 2019.” 

Tory Brexiteers are uneasy 

about many aspects of the plan, 

warning the UK will have to 

follow EU laws and European 

Court of Justice rulings and not 

be able to develop an “effective 

international trade policy”. 

Conservative MP Andrew 

Bridgen called the PM’s 

pledges a “a pretence and 

charade intended to dupe the 

electorate”. 

Writing in the Mail on 

Sunday, Mr Bridgen said the 

“time has come for a new 

[Conservative] leader” which 

he believes should be Brexiteer 

Jacob Rees-Mogg. 

Former Conservative leader 

Iain Duncan Smith told the 

Sunday Telegraph if the public 

perceive Mrs May’s plan as 

“continued membership” 

of the customs union and 

single market for goods, the 

government “will suffer the 

consequences at the next 

election”. 

But Mrs May told the 

Sunday Times: “The only 

challenge that needs to be 

made now is to the European 

Union to get serious about this, 

to come round the table and 

discuss it with us.” 

She said her plan was a 

“serious, workable proposal” 

and when people voted to 

leave the EU, “they wanted to 

take control of our money, our 

laws and our borders and that’s 

exactly what we will do”. 

Shadow Brexit secretary Sir 

Keir Starmer said proposals 

to avoid customs checks by 

differentiating between UK 

and EU-bound goods, in 

terms of what tariffs should 

be paid, were “a bureaucratic 

nightmare”. 

•US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (left), and Vietnam’s Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, 

at the party’s head office in Hanoi ...on Sunday. Photo: AFP 

N’Korea slams talks with Secretary of State, Pompeo 

agency, Yonhap. 

“However, the attitude 

and stance the United States 

showed in the first highlevel 

meeting (between the 

countries) was no doubt 

regrettable,” the spokesman 

said, according the The 

Associated Press. 

The statement, issued by 

an unnamed foreign ministry 

spokesman and carried by the 

official Korean Central News 

Agency, came hours after a 

second day of talks between 

Pompeo and senior North 

Korean officials. Both sides 

said they needed clarity on the 

parameters of an agreement 

to denuclearize the Korean 

Peninsula. 

The spokesman reiterated 

Pyongyang’s call for a 

“phased” and “synchronous” 

approach, saying that it 

would be the fastest way to 

denuclearize. 

“It would be the shortest 

path toward realization of the 

denuclearization of the Korean 

Peninsula to ... boldly break 

away from the failure-ridden 

methods of the past, push for 

whole new approaches and 

seek to resolve problems one 

by one based on trust and in 

a phased and synchronous 

principle,” he said. 

It was Pompeo’s third trip 

to Pyongyang since April and 

his first since last month’s 

historic summit between 

Trump and North Korean 

leader Kim Jong Un. Pompeo 

was meeting Kim Yong Chol, a 

senior ruling party official. 

Both men said they needed 

to “clarify” certain elements of 

their previous discussions, but 

provided no details. Pompeo 

left Pyongyang for Japan early 

Saturday afternoon but it 

wasn’t immediately clear if he 

met with Kim Jong Un, as had 

been expected. 

Before leaving Pyongyang, 

Pompeo told reporters that 

his talks with Kim Yong Chol 

had been “productive,” was 

carried out “in good faith” 

and had made “a great deal 

of progress” in some areas. 

He stressed, however, that 

“there’s still more work to be 

done” in other areas, much 

of which would be done by 

working groups that the two 

sides have set up to deal with 

specific issues. 

Unlike his previous visits, 

which have been one-day 

affairs, Pompeo spent the night 

at a government guest house in 

Pyongyang after a three-hour 

dinner with Kim Yong Chol, 

something the North Korean 

official alluded to in comments 

as they began their talks. 

“We did have very serious 

discussion on very important 

matters yesterday,” Kim Yong 

Chol said. “So, thinking about 

those discussions you might 

have not slept well last night.” 

Pompeo, who spoke with 

Trump, national security 

adviser John Bolton and 

White House chief of staff 

John Kelly by secure phone 

before starting Saturday’s 

session, replied that he “slept 

just fine.” He added that the 

Trump administration was 

committed to reaching a deal 

under which North Korea 

would denuclearize and realize 

economic benefits in return. 

Kim Yong Chol’s reference, 

inadvertent or not, recalled 

Trump’s tweet after his 

meeting with Kim Jong Un 

in Singapore that the two 

leaders had “largely solved” 

the nuclear issue: “President 

Obama said that North 

Korea was our biggest and 

most dangerous problem. No 

longer - sleep well tonight!” 

Kim Yong Chol later said 

that “there are things that 

I have to clarify” to which 

Pompeo responded that 

“there are things that I have to 

clarify as well.” 

There was no immediate 

explanation of what needed 

to be clarified but the two 

sides have been struggling 

to specify what exactly 

“denuclearization” would 

entail and how it could be 

verified to the satisfaction of 

the United States. 

“This has got fudge written 

all over it,” he told Andrew 

Marr. “She (Theresa May) has 

not met our demands. It is 

going to unravel and she will 

have to think again.” 

He urged Mrs May to put 

her customs proposals to a vote 

in Parliament in a week’s time, 

suggesting Labour’s alternative 

plan for a comprehensive 

customs union had the backing 

of the majority of MPs. 

The prime minister 

gathered her 26 cabinet 

ministers together at her 

country residence to resolve 

differences over the shape of 

the UK’s relations with the EU 

and break the current deadlock 

with the EU. 

The Observer reported that 

more than 100 entrepreneurs 

and business leaders 

regard Mrs May’s plan as 

“unworkable” and “costly and 

bureaucratic”. 

Turkey purges 

more workers 

Turkey has sacked 

another 18,000 state 

workers, in the latest purge 

triggered by a failed coup two 

years ago, BBC reports. 

Those dismissed 

include soldiers, police and 

academics. A TV channel and 

three newspapers have also 

been closed. 

Since the coup attempt 

the government has fired 

more than 125,000 people, 

introduced emergency rule 

and clamped down on the 

media and the opposition. 

The move comes as 

President Recep Tayyip 

Erdogan is preparing to be 

sworn in with sweeping new 

powers on Monday. 

He has promised to lift 

the state of emergency. 

Correspondents say the purge 

announced on Sunday could 

be the last before he does so. 

Last month President 

Erdogan was re-elected 

with 53% of the vote. He 

has presided over a strong 

economy and built up a solid 

support base. 

But he has also polarised 

opinion, cracking down on 

opponents and putting some 

160,000 people in jail. 

Under controversial 

constitutional changes 

approved by a referendum 

last year, parliament has been 

weakened and the post of 

prime minister abolished. 

The president will be able 

to appoint to ministers and 

vice-presidents and intervene 

in the legal system. 

Erdogan says his increased 

authority will empower him 

to address Turkey’s economic 

woes and defeat Kurdish rebels 

in the country’s south-east. 

His Islamist-rooted 

AKP party also controls 

parliament. 

The defeated opposition 

candidate in the presidential 

election, Muharrem Ince, said 

Turkey was now entering a 

dangerous period of “oneman 

rule”. 

Turkey’s Western allies 

have accused the president of 

using the July 2016 coup as 

an excuse to crack down on 

dissent.

sports 

Four young Thai footballers 

rescued from cave 

The operation to rescue 

12 boys and their 

football coach trapped 

in a cave in Thailand is 

progressing more quickly 

than expected, the man 

overseeing it has said. 

The boys, aged between 11 

and 16, and their 25-yearold 

coach were found by 

search teams earlier this 

month. 

On Sunday, rescuers said 

at least four of the boys had 

been brought to the surface, 

with some local reports 

suggesting that six had so 

far been rescued. 

The four have been safely 

Porto’s Agu rules out loan move 

Nigerian midfielder, 

Mikel Agu, has resolved 

to stay and fight for his spot 

at Portuguese giants FC 

Porto in the new season, 

Completesportsnigeria. 

com reports. 

The combative player, 

who has played away on loan 

in the last three seasons, 

insists that he wants to stay 

with his parent club and 

seize the opportunity when 

presented with one. 

“I don’t want to go on loan 

again. I’m staying at Porto 

•Agu 

Jurgen Klopp says he 

was impressed with Naby 

Keita’s Liverpool debut at 

Chester FC on Saturday, 

while he admitted Fabinho 

will need a bit more time to 

adjust to the team’s playing 

style. 

The midfield pair both 

played 45 minutes of 

Liverpool’s first preseason 

friendly of the summer – 

a 7-0 victory away at the 

National League North side. 

Fabinho, the €50m 

summer signing from 

Monaco, started the match 

before former RB Leipzig 

man Keita was introduced 

after half-time with the 

scoreline at 2-0. 

“It’s hard for them,” 

Klopp said of his two new 

admitted to hospital, with 

the first of them brought 

from the cave complex at 

17:40 local time. 

Teams of divers are 

helping the boys to navigate 

submerged passageways 

in the Tham Luang cave 

system. 

Reports said 90 divers, 40 

from Thailand helped by 50 

from other countries, were 

involved in the operation. 

The rescue operation has 

been paused because of 

diminishing oxygen levels 

in the cave, and its next 

stage will begin on Monday 

morning 

and, so far, I’ve resumed for 

pre-season and everything 

is going on fine. I will work 

very hard and take my 

chance when I get it,” Agu 

told CSN. 

Agu had previously played 

at Belgium’s Club Brugge, 

where he won the league 

title. He also had a stint 

at Rashidi Yekini’s former 

club, Vitoria Setubal, whom 

he helped to the semi-finals 

of the Taca da Liga before 

spending last season with 

Turkish Super Lig side 

Bursaspor where he played 

alongside Super Eagles 

teammates William Troost- 

Ekong and Shehu Abdullahi. 

The 25-year old is 

confident of his ability 

to fit in with the current 

Portuguese champions. 

He said: “I know I can 

make the grades and play 

with the team. I’ve been here 

before and I’ve also been 

training with the team since 

we resumed for pre-season, 

so I have an idea of what I 

need to do. 

If I continue to work as 

hard as I’m doing and I stay 

injury-free, I’m sure I have 

the quality to play here.” 

Klopp impressed with Keita debut 

midfielders. “You can see. 

We always measure the 

heart rates and if you don’t 

speak the language then you 

already have 100 when you 

only listen to me. So that’s 

how the first week is. But 

it’s all good. 

“(For) Fabinho today 

(Saturday) it was not too 

easy. How I said, it was not 

a good half and then it’s 

difficult to find him in the 

game. Naby felt much better 

in the second half. That’s 

how it is. 

“We know about the 

quality. We don’t test these 

boys. A few others have tests 

– the young lads need to 

show up in games like this, 

100 percent. They, for sure, 

have another two, three 


•Rescue workers pump water out of the Tham Luang Nang Non cave in Thailand as they search for the missing football 

team... on Sunday. Photo: Getty Images 

CAF ban Kenyan ref for life over bribery 

A 

Kenyan referee who 

had been chosen for 

the 2018 World Cup in 

Russia has been banned 

for life after accepting a 

•CAF boss, Ahmad Ahmad 

games to do so and then we 

will see.” 

Asked what he thought 

Fabinho and Keita would 

bring to Liverpool, Klopp 

continued, “You saw 

Naby comes from Leipzig 

and knows the football 

philosophy that’s a similar 

•Keita 

bribe, an African Football 

Confederation statement 

said Sunday. 

Marwa Range was 

dropped from the World 

Cup list after a media sting 

exposed him accepting a 

$6,000 (about 5,100 euros) 

bribe from a journalist 

posing as a Ghanaian 

football official. 

A terse CAF statement 

gave no details about what 

Range was expected to do 

in return for the cash. 

Range is the second 

major casualty of a series 

of stings by Ghanaian 

journalists, which led to 

one. 

“(He’s) very sharp in the 

challenges, very quick in 

mind in these situations 

of counter-pressing, [his] 

impulses look kind of 

natural, which is good. 

“Monaco played a 

completely different style, 

so Fabinho probably needs 

a few more days. That’s 

how it is. 

“But he’s a fantastic 

football player, a good 

passer, his challenges are 

good – a proper defensive 

midfielder with the option 

of being a No. 8 as well, his 

heading is good. 

“So if you want to be a 

part of our squad then you 

need to be good and these 

two boys are.” 

follow countryman Kwesi 

Nyantakyi resigning as CAF 

first vice-president over 

corruption. 

A total of 22 referees 

are affected by the CAF 

crackdown with Togolese 

Yanissou Bebou and 

Gambian Jallow Ebrima 

banned for 10 years each. 

Ivory Coast referee Denis 

Dembele, a regular on the 

African national team and 

FIFA Technical Study 

Group member, 

Emmanuel Amuneke, has 

urged Super Eagles coach 

Gernot Rohr to inject more 

creative midfielders in 

the team ahead of their 

2019 Africa Cup of Nations 

qualifier against Seychelles. 

The Eagles failed to make 

it out of the group stages of 

the World Cup for the third 

time in six appearances at 

the FIFA World Cup and 

Amuneke who is in the 

five-man FIFA Technical 

Study group revealed that 

the team missed out due to 

little details. 

Nigeria lost 2-0 to 

Croatia in their opening 

game but bounced back to 

beat Iceland to boost their 

chances of qualifying for 

the next round, that was 

truncated by their 2-1 loss 

to Argentina. 

“It was a good try. We 

were close, yet still far off,” 

61 

club fixtures circuit, got a 

six-year ban. 

A further seven 

match officials received 

suspensions ranging 

between two and five years, 

according to the statement. 

Another 11 referees – 10 

Ghanaians and one Liberian 

– have been provisionally 

banned pending appearances 

before a CAF disciplinary 

board on August 5. 

AFCON: Amuneke urges 

Rohr to use creative players 

•Rohr 

Amuneke told CSN. 

“We have seen some 

lapses and must correct 

them and inject fresh ideas 

to compete well against 

other teams that set up their 

team to nullify our threats. 

“There were lots 

of positives from the 

tournament on the part 

of the Super Eagles which 

they must build on just like 

the creative aspect and the 

attack.”


sports 

Eagles must qualify for 2019 

AFCON, says Abdullahi 

Super Eagles defender, 

Shehu Abdullahi, says the 

team must now fight hard 

to secure a place in the 2019 

Africa Cup of Nations in 

Cameroon after their early 

ouster from the 2018 FIFA 

World Cup in Russia, reports 

Completesportsnigeria. com. 

The Eagles have failed to 

qualify for the last two AFCONs 

despite their pedigree as one 

of the strongest teams on the 

continent. 

Gernot Rohr’s men already 

face a tough task in their bid 

to make it to Cameroon after 

losing their first qualifying 

fixture 2-0 at home against 

South Africa. 

The Bursaspor of Turkey 

defender reckons that the team 

must concentrate on reaching 

Cameroon after their exit from 

the 2018 World Cup in the first 

round. 

“It is important that we 

qualify for the next AFCON in 

Cameroon. We have not played 

in the competition for some 

time now and we can’t afford 

to miss the next one,” Abdullahi 

told CSN. 

“I believe we have a team 

that can get the job done 

despite all the odds. The teams 

in our group won’t hand us the 

ticket on a platter of gold, so we 

have to work very hard to beat 

them to it.” 

The three-time AFCON 

champions will face Seychelles 

in their qualifying game on 

September 7 in Victoria. 

Wimbledon: Federer, Serena 

target progress 

Roger Federer and Serena 

Williams will be expected 

to maintain their flawless 

progress at Wimbledon as the 

title favourites head into the 

fourth round looking to survive 

the tournament’s giant-killing 

carnage on Monday. 

Federer has been in 

imperious mood in pursuit of 

his ninth Wimbledon crown, 

while Williams is rounding into 

form just as the seven-time 

champion’s rivals have collapsed 

all around her. 

The status quo has been 

challenged like never before in 

the women’s singles, with nine 

of the top 10 seeds crashing out 

before the Wimbledon last 16 for 

the first time in the Open era. 

In the men’s draw, third 

seed Marin Cilic, fourth seed 

Alexander Zverev and sixth seed 

Grigor Dimitrov have all fallen. 

But it’s business was usual 

for Federer as the defending 

champion took his consecutive 

sets won at Wimbledon to 29 

in a third round dismissal of 

Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff. 

Federer’s 175th win from 200 

career grass-court matches saw 

him overtake Jimmy Connors as 

the most successful male player 

on the surface. 

Next, the Swiss star faces 

French 22nd seed Adrian 

Mannarino for a place in the 

quarter-finals. 

World number two Federer, 

eyeing a 21st Grand Slam title, 

has won all five of his previous 

meetings with Mannarino, a 

30-year-old journeyman who 

has never been past the last 16 

at a major. 

Although Federer is 

approaching peak form, he 

knows world number one Rafael 

Nadal — yet to drop a set in 

his first three matches — and 

three-time Wimbledon winner 

Novak Djokovic — playing his 

way back to his best this week 

— are lurking as potential final 

opponents. 

French Open champion 

Nadal, bidding for a first 

Wimbledon title since 2010, 

plays Czech world number 93 Jiri 

Vesely, while Djokovic takes on 

Russian world number 40 Karen 

Khachanov. 

“Novak and Rafa, all these 

guys are still in the draw,” 

Federer said. 

“At the end of the day I 

feel on our side not that much 

has happened. I know on the 

women’s side more so. 

“In the past it has made me 

nervous when I’ve seen bigger 

guys go out. 

“I feel like, ‘OK, it’s me next 

time’. I didn’t feel the effect this 

time.” 

Federer’s tie is one of 16 

fourth round matches across the 

men’s and women’s events in a 

frenetic day of action at the All 

England Club. 

Idris Adesina 

Nigerian-born New 

Zealand mixed martial 

artist Israel Adesanya on 

Saturday defeated American 

Brad Tavares by unanimous 

decision to win their Ultimate 

Fighting Championship 

welterweight fight in Las 

Vegas. 

•Super Eagles stars, Shehu Abdullahi (2nd left) and Ahmed Musa (2nd right) receiving 

the key of the TVS tricycle from Simba Group’s Branch Manager, Sunil Korde. Photo: TVS 

•Japan’s Kei Nishikori returns to Australia’s Nick Kyrgios during their men’s singles 

third round match of the 2018 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis 

Club in Wimbledon, London … on Saturday. Photo: AFP 


Adesanya beats Tavares in UFC welterweight fight 

The fight, which was his 

first headline fight in the UFC, 

saw the 28-year-old declared 

winner by the three judges 

after the fifth round. 

The judges scored the 

185-pound contest, which 

headlined The Ultimate 

Fighter: Undefeated Finale, 

50-45, 50-45 and 49-46 in 

favour of the Lagos-born 

fighter. 

The win takes his streak 

in the MMA to 14-0 and 3-0 

in the UFC. His first fight 

in the UFC was a knockout 

win over Rob Wilkinson in 

February before a unanimous 

win over Marvin Vettori in 

April. Tavares (17-5) is the 

first fighter in the UFC ranked 

higher than him. 

“All the pundits and experts 

said, ‘Is it too soon? He’s only 

had two fights in the UFC,’” 

Adesanya said after the fight. 

“Tavares is a tough dude. 

He’s got Ray Sefo, a New 

Zealand legend, in his corner. 

I’m only getting warmed up, 

I have yet to start. I hurt him 

twice and he adjusted very well 

at the beginning. But I was 

able to adjust as well. It was a 

good chess match. 

“I’m happy with the 

performance. Five rounds and 

my gas tank was on point. I got 

the reserve tank still ready to 

go another three rounds.” 

He said after three fights 

in the space of six months he 

wants to take some time to rest 

and return to the octagon to 

face the winner of the Uriah 

Hall/Paulo Costa bout at UFC 

226. 

TVS supports 

Shehu 

Abdullahi 

Foundation 

63 

The official tricycle and 

motorcycle partners 

of the Super Eagles TVS 

have thrown their weight 

behind Shehu Abdullahi’s 

initiative to support the 

less-privileged in the 

society through its recent 

donation of a tricycle to the 

foundation. 

The Eagles defender 

invited the public to 

a charity match to raise 

money for the Shehu 

Abdullahi Foundation 

at the Sokoto Township 

Stadium on Thursday. TVS 

was one of the sponsors of 

the event. 

The match, which 

attracted thousands 

of football fans and top 

dignitaries, saw Team 

Ahmed Musa (led by 

Leicester City’s Ahmed 

Musa) beat Team Shehu 

Abdullahi (led by Bursaspor 

of Turkey defender, Shehu 

Abdullahi)4-1. 

Musa had thrown the 

crowd into delirium when 

he scored two of the goals 

that gave his side victory 

over his fellow Eagles teammate. 

An elated Abdullahi 

tweeted after the match, 

“It’s nice, giving back to the 

society. I appreciate you all. 

It was a success. Thanks.” 

TVS also used the 

opportunity to put their 

branded Eagles products, 

particularly the tricycles 

and motorcycles on display. 

“I need some rest but I am 

waiting for whoever wins – 

especially Uriah Hall. He’s 

just cloud chasing, he keeps 

talking so we’ll see. But even 

if the Brazilian wins, I’ve 

been chewing erasers since I 

was a kid so it’s nothing new 

to me.” 

All three of Adesanya’s wins 

have come in 2018. A former 

professional kickboxer, he has 

12 career knockouts in MMA. 

Omeruo dismisses Gent move 

Super Eagles World Cup defender Kenneth Omeruo has 

dismissed rumours he will quit Chelsea to join Belgian 

club KAA Gent. 

“At the moment, I have not decided where I will be playing 

next season as I still need to speak to Chelsea, so any news 

right now about an agreement with any club is not true,” he 

told SCORENigeria 

“My agents are in talks with several clubs in the event my 

future lies away from Stamford Bridge.” 

Omeruo, who has yet to make a Premier League debut 

with Chelsea in his six years on the books of the London 

club, has expressed his desire to settle his future on a more 

permanent basis following several loan spells. 

His impressive performances in Russia only helped to 

increase interests from several clubs in Europe. 

“The truth is I am looking to settle down permanently 

after several loan moves, but no agreement has been reached 

with any club at the moment,” he said.

MONDAY, JULY 9, 2018 www.punchng.com 

Abacha’s repatriated loot: Matters arising 

Economic Renaissance by 

lesleba@lesleba.com 08052201997 

The actual amount stolen from Nigeria’s treasury between 

1993 and 1998 by former military dictator, Sani Abacha, 

may never be known. Nonetheless, Amnesty International, for 

example, has suggested that over $5bn of Abacha’s loot had 

been identified, even when speculations still persist that the 

audacious ‘shop-lift’ by the late Head-of-State and his associates 

is probably close to $10bn. There is no concise record of the 

recovered loot, unfortunately. However, Nigeria’s treasury may 

have been boosted with the return of well over $3bn since former 

President Olusegun Obasanjo initiated the international pursuit 

of Abacha’s loot in September 1999. 

Notably, Liechtenstein returned $227m in 2014, while 

Jersey reportedly released €149m by November 2003, with 

another tranche of €315m scheduled for December 2014; The 

Luxembourg authorities also announced that $630m was 

identified as part of the loot and frozen in eight bank accounts. 

Furthermore, the United States’ authorities had in August 2014 

also announced the seizure and return of $480m to Nigeria. With 

Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun’s confirmation, in April 11 2018, 

Switzerland will have fulfilled its pledge to return another $322m, 

in addition to the first tranche of $700m already confirmed as 

fully repatriated by December 2012. 

The Swiss authorities were obviously unhappy with the 

‘hazy manner’ the $700m loot, earlier repatriated, was spent. 

Consequently, the major pre-condition for drawing down the 

second tranche of $322m was that “it will be used to finance 

projects that will strengthen social security for the poorest 

sections of the Nigerian population”. 

Already, there are grumblings that the choice of beneficiaries 

of the loot will ultimately be arbitrary, sectional or inequitable. 

Besides, the wasteful manner in which such funds were applied, 

in the past, to uncoordinated, freewheeling and populist 

interventions, will certainly not inspire much hope that the 

repatriation of another sum of $322m will have a meaningful 

or enduring social impact. 

Furthermore, the process of repatriating the latest $322m 

Swiss loot may have, in fact, actually commenced in 2014 with 

the implicit pre-condition, according to a BBC December 5 2017 

report, that “the money will be paid in instalments, specifically 

to finance National social safety net projects, which have been 

agreed with the Nigerian Government and executed with regular 

audits under World Bank supervision.” 

According to the Head of the Swiss delegation, Ambassador 

Roberto Balzarretti, in the BBC report on the Agreement with 

Nigeria said, “If the first instalment is not properly accounted 

for, subsequent payments will be halted. This is to prevent the 

funds from being stolen again!” This means that, although the 

Nigerian Government appears to celebrate the reported return of 

the $322m, the modus operandi for disbursement was projected 

as payment in instalments. Although in May 2014 the Swiss 

authorities actually indicated that a total of N380m would be 

returned by July 2018, just over $322m was confirmed as actual 

net inflow. The difference of about $60m may have been incurred 

as “repatriation and management fees” to both Nigerian and 

foreign lawyers and the agents, who supervised the process. 

Expression 

Federer, Serena 

target progress at 

Wimbledon 

Henry Boyo 

However, if the Abacha loot was, conversely and diligently 

applied to create critical education, health and transport 

infrastructure since 2003, social welfare would probably 

have improved. Regrettably, also, the looted funds had been 

impounded in foreign custody for possibly more than 20 years 

without even a kobo interest payment. Consequently, we may 

speculate that the Swiss and other International financial 

outfits, which harboured funds 

stolen from Nigeria, may have 

also circuitously become 

Nigeria’s creditors from our 

government’s forays into the 

International debt market to 

finance fiscal deficits. 

The question, nonetheless, is 

whether or not the application 

of the repatriated loot has 

any enduring or meaningful 

social impact on the challenge 

of reducing the number of 

87million Nigerians who, 

according to a recent report 

from the Washington based, 

Brookings Institution, live in 

abject poverty(See “At last a 

world ‘trophy’ for Nigeria!” at 

www.betternigerianow.com). 

Instructively, if the payments from the $322m Swiss loot have 

already been made between 2014 and 2018, then, once again, 

the social impact of such cash injections has clearly not been 

noticeable. 

In essence, the agreement between the Swiss authorities and 

the Nigerian Government appears to have been rather predicated 

on the notion that occasional cash hand-outs to the poor would 

reduce poverty and provide social safety nets for almost 200 

million Nigerians. Arguably, the surest social safety net against 

deepening poverty anywhere still remains an opportunity for 

gainful employment with a realistic income. Invariably, with 

deepening poverty 

and a huge army of unemployed citizens, the repatriated 

Abacha loot may have failed so far to improve social security. 

The failure of public expectation from such ‘charitable’ cash 

injections is because, as long as the underlying monetary 

indices in the economy remain counterproductive and out of 

gear, quantum increases to government expenditure will not 

automatically propel economic growth or reduce poverty. For 

example, the obtuse model of annually increasing government 

spending when inflation is already well above best practice and 

rates below three per cent will not reduce poverty. It is equally 

implicit that, since it is not rational for anyone to lend money 

below the prevailing rate of inflation, the cost of borrowing to local 

industrialists and businesses will predictably remain higher than 

the inflation rate and therefore, increase the cost of production 

and make local output uncompetitive against cheaper imports. 

•A trader with a baby strapped on her back struggling to make ends meet in a traffic jam on the Lagos-Ibadan 

Expressway ... on Sunday. Photo: Olatunji Obasa 

P. 63 

Furthermore, higher inflation rates, driven by excess naira 

supply, will inevitably reduce consumer demand and compel 

industrial and business contraction, with serious consequences 

for employment and national income. Regrettably, therefore, 

the re-injection of Abacha’s loot and other similar fiscal and 

extra budgetary cash interventions to purportedly alleviate 

poverty may have ‘also inadvertently’ expanded money supply 

to fuel double-digit inflationary rates. Instructively, best practice 

implies that you do not quench the fire of inflation by pumping 

more money into a market, which the monetary authorities 

themselves readily characterise as persistently challenged by a 

burden of excess naira supply. 

Inexplicably, all administrations since 1999 have consistently 

projected annual fiscal deficits, which were usually funded by 

additional debt accumulation even when the accommodation 

of fortuitous cash interjections, such as the $322m Abacha loot, 

would have eliminated or possibly reduced the need to borrow 

at such oppressive rates for government debt. 

Curiously, however, over the years the approval of the National 

Assembly was never sought, as constitutionally mandated, before 

such returned loot and indeed, other accruals from the ‘illegal 

contraption’ of the “Excess Crude Account” were shared without 

regard to reducing the fiscal deficit by the Federal Executive and 

state governors. 

Nonetheless, it is deducible that the oppressive burden of 

surplus naira, spiraling inflation, dysfunctional economy and 

deepening mass poverty are clearly instigated by the Central 

Bank of Nigeria’s unusual direct substitution of naira allocations 

for all forex revenue, including repatriated loot, before sharing 

to the three tiers of government. Regrettably, the CBN’s sleight 

of hand goes unnoticed when it directly substitutes the naira, 

at its own unilaterally determined rate, for all foreign exchange 

denominated government income, including proceeds from 

crude oil sales. 

Here is the crux of the matter; invariably, if the CBN’s creation 

of fresh naira values for distributable foreign exchange inevitably 

increases the naira liquidity surplus that drives inflation, it 

follows, therefore, that the higher the foreign receipts, the higher 

will be the challenge of naira surplus liquidity and a serious 

abiding inflationary threat. 

Now the farcical part of this macabre drama is that the same 

CBN would, in response to the liquidity surfeit it created and the 

threat of an inflation spiral, step up and pay lenders, primarily 

money deposit banks, double-digit interest rates to borrow from 

them and sterilise the excess funds in order to reduce the systemic 

liquidity surplus and the inflationary threat, not minding that 

this will raise the cost of borrowing and domestic production and 

also, crowd out the expansion of the real sector. 

e-mail:yourviews@punchng.com 

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words (not abbreviations, please) to 08055923429 

with your full name and address. 

Salvo 

“It is only through restructuring that we can have 

equity and justice. Restructuring is the solution to all 

the challenges in this country, including corruption. 

Without restructuring, you are wasting time if you 

say you are fighting corruption” 

– Deputy National Publicity Secretary of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, 

Chuks Ibegbu 

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