11022019

Stock investors 

defy political 

tension, turn 

bullish 

INSIDE 

Conduct 

credible, fair 

election 

that’ll be 

globally 

8 

accepted, UN 

tells Nigeria 

$43.33M DEBT: 

Court warns NCC, others 

against sale of 9Mobile 8 

CCT Trial: I made my money 

legitimately, Onnoghen 

insists 

•Why I won’t respond to query 

against me — CCT boss 

9 10 

General 

David 

12 

Ejoor 

dies at 87 

VOL. 26: NO. 63741 MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2019 

Buhari, Atiku war over 

alleged vote-buying 

•Looters threatening election with vote-buying — Buhari 

•PDP plotting to launch fake news campaign —APC 13 

•Buhari’s comment self-indicting – Atiku 

•His Presidency reeks of graft – PDP 

PDP IN KANO... 

SEE STORY 

ON PAGE 5 

BUHARI IN LAGOS... 

From Left: Jim Ovia, Chairman of Zenith Bank Plc; Chief Mrs Nike 

Akande, former Minister of Industry and President Muhammadu Buhari, 

during an interactive session between president Buhari and members of 

the organised private sector in Lagos, weekend. More pix on Page 14. 

Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic 

Party, PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, at the party's 

mega rally in Kano State, yesterday. More pix on 

Page 14. 

No 

elections 

in Zamfara 

without 

APC 

— Yari 8 

Leah Sharibu 

not dead, 

says Lai 

Mohammed 

•Mother pleads 

with Buhari to 

secure her 

release 

COLUMNISTS OWEI LAKEMFA 33 SOBOWALE HENRY BOYO 

11 

31 32 

Mr & Mrs

2 — Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2019

VANGUARD, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2019—3


Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2019—5 

POCKET CARTOON 

APC/PDP clash—Properties destroyed at the scene of the confrontation between the supporters of the 

ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, at Deidei, Abuja weekend. 

Photo: Abayomi Adeshida. 

Buhari, Atiku war over 

alleged vote-buying 

By Clifford Ndujihe 

& Johnbosco 

Agbakwuru 

ABUJA —AHEAD of 

the February 16 

presidential election, 

President Muhammadu 

Buhari has raised the alarm 

of alleged fresh threats to 

the election through votebuying 

by those he said 

looted the treasury in the 

past. 

The general election in 

the country is starting on 

Saturday February 16 with 

the presidential and 

National Assembly 

elections. 

But President Buhari said 

reliable evidence gathered 

by the Economic and 

Financial Crimes 

Commission, EFCC, 

revealed that those who had 

looted Nigeria’s treasury, 

now with huge resources at 

their disposal, were 

planning to undermine the 

credibility of the election 

through vote buying. 

The president also said it 

has not been easy journey 

for over three years 

Nigerians gave him the 

mandate to pilot the affairs 

of the country. 

However, the Campaign 

team of the Peoples 

Democratic Party, PDP, 

Presidential candidate, 

Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, said 

President Buhari’s alarm of 

vote-buying amounted to 

self-indictment because 

only those in power now 

have the capacity to buy 

votes. 

Also the PDP said the 

Buhari Presidency reeked 

of corruption and could not 

be said to be fighting graft. 

In a statement he 

personally signed 

yesterday, the President 

urged Nigerians to 

participate massively in the 

forthcoming presidential 

election. 

What Buhari said 

Buhari said: “By way of 

their looting, the corrupt 

have powerful resources at 

their disposal, and they will 

use them. For when you 

fight corruption, you can be 

sure it will fight back. 

“It even threatens to 

undermine February’s poll 

and – by extension – our 

democracy. The Economic 

and Financial Crimes 

Commission has raised 

concerns over laundered 

money being funneled into 

vote-buying.” 

The President promised 

to end corruption in the 

country if given another 

mandate of four years and 

also promised to follow due 

process in ensuring that the 

fight against corruption was 

fought to the end, despite 

the resistance from those 

involved in graft. 

He explained that 

following due process in the 

fight against corruption was 

necessary to ensure that 

allegations never took the 

place of evidence 

President Buhari, who 

noted that a policy that does 

not have fighting corruption 

at its core was destined to 

fail, said: Victory over 

corruption is difficult but not 

impossible. We must not 

flounder in our resolve. 

‘’I know many Nigerians 

would like to see faster 

action. So do I. But so too 

must we follow due process 

and exercise restraint, 

ensuring allegation never 

takes the place of 

evidence.” 

President Buhari noted 

that those who have 

criticised 

his 

administration’s anticorruption 

drive were 

those who opposed its 

mission. 

“There is no doubt that 

this administration has 

changed the way we tackle 

corruption. Concrete 

progress has been made, 

but there is still much to do. 

“The battle against graft 

must be the base on which 

we secure the country, 

build our economy, provide 

decent infrastructure and 

educate the next 

generation,’’ he said. 

He said in the last three 

and a half years, he has 

tried to judiciously exercise 

the trust vested in him to 

combat the problems of 

corruption, insecurity and 

an inequitable economy, 

with corruption standing 

above the other two 

programmes. 

The President further said 

that while the government 

pursues the anti-corruption 

war, those involved in it 

continue to device new 

means of evading the law. 

He said: “Once the 

enablers are let in – as they 

have been in the past – the 

greed of those they collude 

with grows. But as I have 

intensified our war on 

corruption, so we have 

found that corruption 

innovates to resist the law. 

“This is not the sole 

domain of those Nigerians, 

but the international 

corruption industry, the 

unsavoury fellow-traveler 

of globalisation. 

“Corruption corrodes the 

trust on which the idea of 

community is founded, 

because one rule for the few 

and another for everyone 

else is unacceptable to 

anyone working honestly.” 

Doors closed 

against corruption 

Continues on Page 48 

By Bose Adelaja, Ebun Sessou, Yinka 

Latona, Sophia Ogu & 

Chiamaka Uba 

Can endorsement of Buhari, Atiku influence your vote? (4) 

ENDORSEMENTS do 

not mean that the 

candidates are the best but 

they are our feasible options 

at the moment. I will 

vote for Atiku Abubakar, 

who has shown a better understanding 

of leadership 

than Buhari. The APC leaders 

who are marketing Buhari 

know that it is difficult 

to market him because of 

his obvious failure. Anyone 

who endorses Buhari is on 

his own because Buhari 

knows that Nigerians do 

not want him anymore. 

Mr. 

Rufus 

Obomenfo,Worker 

I 

didn’t give anyone the 

right to endorse Buhari 

and Atiku on my behalf. 

Those, who have endorsed 

them, do not represent 

my interest. They are 

after what they will get 

from the national purse 

because I am sure they 

don’t have followers. Those 

who have endorsed did 

that for themselves, not for 

me. I know I will not vote 

for anyone who has 

brought misery to this 

country. I will vote according 

to my conscience. 

Mr. Samuel Uche, Student 

WITH due respect to 

our leaders who endorsed 

Buhari and Atiku, I 

will state here that their actions 

have no impact on 

who I will vote for. My vote 

is my weapon against bad 

governance and anything 

that may destroy the future 

of this country. I belong to 

the new generation and it 

would be disastrous if I 

take a decision that would 

further dim the prospects 

of young Nigerians. 

Mr. Keneth Okonkwo, 

Worker 

PEOPLE should not 

condemn our elders 

for endorsing Buhari and 

Atiku because it is normal 

to endorse candidates. 

What some people seem to 

forget is that these leaders 

have followers, who look 

up to them. Therefore, it 

would amount to immaturity 

to say that their endorsements 

will not influence 

prospective voters. As 

for me, I will vote based on 

my assessment of the candidates. 

Mr. Japhet Omene, Analyst 

THIS election is about 

the future of this country 

not about Atiku and Buhari. 

Nigeria is bigger and 

more important than both 

of them. I get disturbed 

when people forget about 

the issues and keep talking 

about the two candidates. 

Why are they not talking 

about the price of garri, 

rice, yam, vehicle spare 

parts and other items in 

Nigeria? I want a President 

who would reverse the standard 

of living to how it was 

before May 29, 2015. 

Mr. Chukwuma Tony, 

Mechanic 

NIGERIANS should 

forget about who 

endorsed who and use 

their PVCs to make a fundamental 

statement next 

Saturday. It would not be 

a bad action if I vote according 

to what my elders 

want. The elders 

who have endorsed the 

candidates are men of 

wisdom who saw tomorrow. 

I am wishing Nigerians 

the best and I am 

sure the best will emerge 

on Saturday. God bless 

Nigeria. 

Mr. Chukwuka Morka, 

Businessman

8—VANGUARD, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2019 

MASTERCLASS 

SESSION: From 

left, Lecturer, 

Nottingham Business 

School, and Founder 

of Been-There-Done- 

That Hub (BTDT 

Hub), Dr. Dipo 

Awojide; Head, 

Marketing and 

Communications, 

Stanbic IBTC, Mrs. 

Bridget Oyefeso- 

Odusami; and Group 

Chief Executive, 

Stanbic IBTC 

Holdings Plc, Mr. 

Yinka Sanni, during 

Stanbic IBTC’s 

Masterclass Session 

on 'Money 

Management Tips For 

Your Enterprise' at the 

Social Media Week, 

in Lagos. Photo: Joe 

Akintola, Photo-Editor. 

Conduct credible, fair election that'll 

be globally accepted, UN tells Nigeria 

•Don’t be messengers of hate speech, fake news — Lai Mohammed 

•Electoral violence, dent on our democracy —IGP 

By Emmanuel 

Elebeke 

ABUJA — UNITED 

Nations, weekend, 

challenged the Federal 

Government and all 

stakeholders in the upcoming 

general elections to work 

harder at ensuring that the 

outcome of the exercise was 

acceptable to all and sundry. 

UN Special Representative 

of Secretary-General for West 

Africa and the Sahel, 

Mohammed Ibn Chambers, 

gave the charge at a national 

workshop on broadcast media 

coverage of 2019 general 

elections with the theme: Fake 

News, Hate Speech, Vote and 

PVC Buying, in Abuja. 

Chambers, who was 

represented by Takwa 

Zebulun, said Nigeria, as the 

big brother that had played a 

stabilising role in many parts 

of Africa and consolidating 

their democracies, should be 

able to conduct a credible and 

fair election that would be 

globally accepted. 

According to him, Nigeria 

occupies a strategic position 

in West Africa, the African 

continent, and, indeed, 

globally and, therefore, 

expected to deliver credible, 

peaceful and fair elections in 

2019 in a manner that 

improves upon the 

performance of the 2015 

elections. 

He said: “I want to assure 

you that our engagements are 

solely complementing what 

INEC and relevant 

institutions and stakeholders 

are already doing to further 

mobilise Nigerians as well as 

the international community 

to contribute towards violent 

free, hitch free elections that 

will symbolise global best 

practice. 

“The issues on the agenda 

on the sanctity of the 2019 

general elections cannot be 

over stated. This state level 

workshop seeks to reinforce 

and complement the capacity 

of the key actor to prevent, 

manage and resolve possible 

election-related disputes 

peacefully." 

He urged stakeholders to 

ensure that the outcome of the 

general elections before, 

during and after the polls will 

be clothed in the acceptable 

tenets of a free, fair, credible 

and peaceful process. 

Don’t be 

messengers of hate 

speech, fake news 

— Minister 

In his remarks, Minister of 

Information and Culture, 

represented by the Permanent 

Secretary, Deaconess Grace 

Ekpe, charged broadcasters 

not to allow enemies of state 

use them to broadcast hate 

speech and fake news, and 

stressed the need to observe 

the broadcasting code. 

He said: “It is important 

broadcasters begin to observe 

the broadcasting code and 

relevant clauses related to the 

conduct of political 

broadcasting. This is essential 

to avoid sanctions being 

meted out by the appropriate 

government agencies against 

broadcast organisations who 

violates the rules in the 

broadcast code. 

‘’The media, especially the 

social media, must use their 

platforms to join hands with 

government to curb the 

menace of fake news and hate 

speech in all ramifications. 

Government is concerned 

about the notorious 

prominence of fake news in 

the public space. 

‘’This is not good for our 

country because the 

broadcast sector plays a major 

role in providing not just 

information about elections 

but also giving objective 

analysis of the process.” 

Earlier in his welcome 

speech, Director-General of 

National Broadcasting 

Commission, Dr. Modibbo 

Kawu, said the gathering was 

the finale of a nation-wide 

effort, which commenced last 

year when a team of Nigerian 

researchers was 

commissioned to do an indepth 

study of the place of 

hate and dangerous speech 

in the 2015 general elections. 

“Today’s gathering in 

Abuja, is the final one, timed 

to bring critical stakeholders 

together on the eve of the 

2019 general elections. The 

work we have done over the 

past three years with our 

licensees on the dangers 

associated with hate and 

dangerous speech was 

consciously done to help us 

have a broadcast culture that 

assists with the deepening of 

the democratic culture in our 

country. 

Electoral violence, 

dent on our 

democracy —IGP 

In his goodwill message, 

acting Inspector General of 

Police, Mohammed Adamu, 

represented by CP Kenneth 

Ebrimson, described electoral 

violence as a dent on the 

nation’s democracy and 

charged all players to play 

according to the rules. 

The police boss said hate 

speech and fake news had 

gone a long way to heat up 

the polity, where people 

deliberately tried to spread 

unfounded news to cause 

panic, situations that are 

likely to breach peace and 

maintained that all 

stakeholders must join hands 

to check them in the coming 

elections. 

No elections in Zamfara without APC 

candidates —Yari 

G OVERNOR 

Abdulaziz Yari of 

Zamfara State has warned 

that the forthcoming general 

elections may not hold in the 

state, if the names of All 

Progressives Congress, 

APC, candidates were not on 

the ballot. 

Yari, who spoke at a rally in 

Gusau, weekend, said: 

“There is no way elections 

will be conducted in Zamfara 

State without APC 

candidates, despite Zamfara 

High Court judgment, which 

confirmed that APC 

conducted primaries in the 

state. 

“All our actions are based 

on Zamfara High Court 

order. We are, therefore, 

advising Independent 

National Electoral 

Commission, INEC, to obey 

the order and include the 

names of Zamfara APC 

candidates list submitted to 

the commission. 

The governor said it would 

be a huge mistake and threat 

to national security for INEC 

to bar Zamfara APC 

candidates from contesting 

during the elections in the 

state. 

Despite the governor’s 

threat, INEC has maintained 

its position that APC would 

not be fielding candidates in 

this month’s general 

elections in Zamfara State. 

INEC’s National 

Commissioner and 

Chairman, Information and 

Voter Education Committee, 

Dr Festus Okoye, said APC 

in Zamfara would be 

excluded from the exercise, 

despite recent court 

judgments, which it 

described as conflicting and 

misleading. 

$43.33m debt: Court warns 

CBN, NCC, others against 

sale of 9Mobile 

By Ikechukwu 

Nnochiri 

ABUJA—THE Abuja 

Division of the Federal 

High Court has warned the 

Central Bank of Nigeria, 

CBN; Nigerian 

Telecommunication 

Commission, NCC, and 

others involved in the 

transaction for the sale of 

d i s t r e s s e d 

telecommunications firm, 

Etisalat (9mobile), to suspend 

further action on the deal 

pending the determination of 

legal issues raised by 

aggrieved shareholders of 

the company. 

The warning was contained 

in a notice of disobedience 

form (Form 48), signed by 

trial Justice Binta Nyako, who 

is presiding over a suit filed 

by dissatisfied shareholders 

of the defunct Etisalat. 

Justice Nyako had on 

October 10, 2018, ordered all 

the parties to maintain status 

quo, pending hearing and 

determination of the suit 

marked FHC/ABJ/CR/288/ 

2018. 

The plaintiffs—Afdin 

Ventures Limited and Dirbia 

Nigeria Limited — who 

claimed to be major investors 

in Etisalat, told the court that 

they were left out in the firm’s 

decision making process, 

even as they demanded a 

refund of their invested funds 

estimated at $43,330,950. 

Cited as defendants in the 

suit were Karlington 

Telecommunications Ltd, 

P r e m i u m 

Telecommunications 

Holdings NV, First Bank of 

Nigeria Plc, CBN, Etisalat 

International Nigeria Ltd and 

NCC. 

Justice Nyako had after she 

had listened to an ex-parte 

motion the plaintiffs filed 

through their lawyer, Mr. 

Mahmud Magaji, SAN, for 

interim injunctions, held that 

the “defendants ought to be 

heard.” 

Keeping Nigeria united, 

peaceful during polls a 

priority— Catholic bishops 

By Luminous 

Jannamike 

ABUJA — CATHOLIC 

Bishops Conference of 

Nigeria, CBCN, has tasked 

Nigerians to ensure the 

country remains united and 

peaceful during the 

forthcoming general 

elections and beyond. 

The clerics also directed all 

faithful across Nigeria to fast 

and pray for three days, this 

week, to avert crises during 

the polls 

The directive was issued in 

a statement jointly signed by 

Archbishop Augustine 

Akubeze and Bishop 

Camillus Umoh, the CBCN 

President and Secretary 

respectively, weekend. 

The bishops said: “The 

general elections are by the 

corner. Expectedly, there is 

a lot of anxiety. These elections 

should, therefore, be 

for us a time for sober reflection 

on our future as a 

people. 

“We should further reflect 

on how to keep our country 

and our people united and 

peaceful. With the resources 

available to us as a country, 

we can achieve this. The 

world is looking up to us and 

expecting much from us. 

“We appeal to the security 

agencies and INEC to rise 

to their duties and 

responsibilities to ensure that 

we have peaceful, free, fair 

and credible elections. 

“We nevertheless reiterate 

that the primary 

responsibility for this lies with 

the government. We urge the 

relevant bodies to put our 

nation before any other 

consideration. 

Drunken security man sets 

INEC office ablaze 

By Marie- 

Therese Nanlong 

JOS — About six days to 

the presidential election, 

office of Independent 


Commission, INEC, in 

Qua’an Pan Local 

Government Area of Plateau 

State has been razed by fire. 

The incident, Vanguard 

learned, happened on 

Saturday night. It was 

learned that the incident has 

caused major setback, which 

could affect the coming 

election, if not urgently 

addressed. 

The commission’s Head of 

Media, Publicity and Voters 

Education, Osaretin 

Imahiyereobo, who 

confirmed the incident in a 

statement, yesterday, said the 

fire was caused by a drunken 

security man. 

“A drunken security man 

was said to have caused the 

fire outbreak. The office is 

completely burnt with all its 

contents, including ballot 

boxes, generator sets that 

have been serviced and filled 

with fuel, cubicles, newly 

printed electronic and 

manual voters register, 

uncollected permanent voter 

cards, PVCs, materials for the 

preparations of RAC and 

other materials yet to be 

identified,” he said.

VANGUARD, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2019—9 

Banditry: Royal fathers know those 

behind killings —Buhari 

By Johnbosco 

Agbakwuru 

A BUJA—PRESIDENT 

Muhammadu Buhari, 

yesterday, in Gusau, Zamfara 

State, charged traditional 

rulers to do more in curbing 

banditry and kidnapping in 

their communities, saying he 

felt disappointed that people 

close to some of them were 

found to have a hand in such 

criminality. 

Buhari in a statement by his 

Senior Special Assistant on 

Media and Publicity, Malam 

Garba Shehu, also explained 

the reason behind the heavy 

security presence in the area, 

which he said was not good 

news. 

He, however, noted that the 

heavy security presence was 

necessary because the 

environment must be 

protected. 

Speaking at a meeting with 

royal fathers at Government 

House, as part of the ongoing 

campaigns, the President 

expressed the determination 

of his administration to 

defend the country from 

criminals and insurgents. 

“We are determined to 

defend the nation and its 

people. We are disappointed 

with some of the things going 

on. You are responsible for the 

security of your 

neighbourhood. Being close 

to your people, you know 

them. You are still relevant. I 

am sorry this has extended 

to some of your families," he 

said. 

Referring to the 

deployment of a large 

number of security personnel 

in the state, Buhari said 

security was also the 

business of traditional rulers 

and not that of the police and 

other security agencies alone. 

“More security is not good 

news, but we must do 

something to secure our 

environment,” he noted. 

The President commended 

the gallantry of the security 

agencies in battling 

kidnapping and banditry, 

saying: “You know what we 

have achieved. 

‘’You had one who styled 

himself as Buharin Daji (the 

Buhari of the forests), 

claiming to be in charge and 

not I at the centre. He is no 

more, and by my surviving 

him, you now know who is 

stronger.” 

Buhari said he was 

contesting this election as his 

fifth and the last, because as 

he noted, “a second term is 

what the constitution allows, 

and I will not abuse the 

constitution.” 

He thanked the royal 

fathers for their support and 

appealed o them to back his 

re-election. 

The Chairman of the 

council of traditional rulers 

and Emir of Anka, Alhaji 

Attahiru Ahmed and 

GovernorAbdulaziz Yari 

praised the efforts of the 

President in changing the 

unwanted security situation 

in the state. 

Onnoghen: Why I won’t 

respond to query issued 

against me —CCT boss 

By Ikechukwu 

Nnochiri 

ABUJA—Chairman of 

Code of Conduct 

Tribunal, CCT, Mr. Danladi 

Umar, has challenged the 

powers of any organ of the 

judiciary to query his actions 

with respect to the ongoing 

trial of the suspended Chief 

Justice of Nigeria, CJN, 

Justice Walter Onnoghen. 

Umar, who is presiding 

over the three-member 

tribunal handling the sixcount 

charge the Federal 

Government slammed 

against Onnoghen, said he 

was only answerable to the 

Presidency. 

He, therefore, snubbed a 

query the Federal Judicial 

Service Commission, FJSC, 

issued to get his reaction to a 

petition accusing him of 

engaging in reckless abuse 

of judicial powers. 

It will be recalled that 

National Judicial Council, 

NJC, had on January 29, 

disclosed that it forwarded a 

petition that a group on the 

platform of Centre for Justice 

and Peace Initiative, lodged 

against the CCT boss, to the 

FJSC. 

The group alleged that 

Umar, abused the judicial 

process by granting an exparte 

order for Justice 

Onnoghen, who has not 

been convicted, to be 

removed from office. 

Upon receiving the petition, 

FJSC directed the CCT boss 

to respond to allegations 

against him. 

Meanwhile, in his 

response dated February 6, 

2019, and marked CCT/HQ/ 

FJSC/S/01, Umar contended 

that neither the FJSC nor the 

NJC has the constitutional 

powers to query his actions. 

Insisting that he is not a 

judicial officer, Umar said he 

could only be called to account 

by President Buhari. 

He stressed that unlike 

judicial officers, members of 

the CCT, at the time of their 

inauguration, take official 

oaths and not judicial oaths. 

According to him, “With 

regard to the prayer of the 

petitioner for an appropriate 

sanction against the 

chairman, it is important to 

note that the chairman and 

members of the tribunal, not 

being judicial officers, are not 

constitutionally subject to any 

disciplinary proceedings by 

either the National Judicial 

Council or the Federal 

Judicial Service Commission 

but the Presidency." 

“The petitioner alleged that 

judicial oaths were breached 

and that the National Judicial 

Council should consider 

appropriate sanctions. It is to 

be noted that the chairman 

and members of the Code of 

Conduct Tribunal are not 

judicial officers." 

Clinton, others to monitor 

Buhari, Atiku sign new pact 

to accept polls result 

By Emmanuel 

Aziken, Political 

Editor 

FORMER President Bill 

Clinton of United States is 

to watch over a second peace 

pact to be signed between 


Buhari, the presidential 

candidate of All Progressives 

Congress, APC, and his 

Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, 

rival, Atiku Abubakar, on 

Wednesday. 

A statement by National 

Peace Committee, which is 

facilitating the agreement, 

also acknowledged the role of 

the Kofi Annan Foundation in 

the effort towards the peace 

project. 

Besides President Clinton, 

Secretary-General of 

Commonwealth, Baroness 

Patricia Scotland, will also be 

present at the agreement 

ceremony to build confidence 

and win the commitment of 

the two major candidates to 

accept the result of the 

election. 

The agreement would be the 

second after the initial one 

signed last December by the 

two men and some other 

major candidates. 

A statement by head of the 

secretariat of National Peace 

Committee, Fr. Atta Barkindo, 

read: “The National Peace 

Committee, mindful of the 

importance of peaceful 

elections and non-violent 

transfer of power has engaged 

various stakeholders in 

preparation for the 2019 

General Elections. 

“The NPC is grateful to Kofi 

Annan Foundation for 

supporting this process, and, 

after 2015, again supporting 

free and fair elections in 

Nigeria. 

“The NPC has engaged 

Independent National 

Electoral Commission, INEC, 

security services, 91 registered 

parties, the media and civil 

society organisations. 

“Considering some of the 

challenges, the committee 

organised the first signing of 

National Peace Accord on 11th 

December, 2018 to support 

peaceful campaigns and 

political rallies. 

“The Committee, led by 

former Nigerian Head of State 

General Abdulsalami 

Abubakar, has organised the 

2nd signing of the National 

Peace Accord, which would be 

held on Wednesday, February 

13, 2019 at 10 am at the Abuja 

International Conference 

Centre. 

“These are aimed at 

committing stakeholders to 

accepting the outcome of the 

vote, as long as it is announced 

by INEC, the body 

empowered by law and is 

adjudged to be free, fair and 

credible. 

“To this end, it is pleased to 

announce that it has invited 

Bill Clinton, 42nd President 

of the United States of America 

and Baroness Patricia 

Scotland, Secretary General of 

the Commonwealth, to visit 

Nigeria from February 12-13, 

2019, ahead of the Nigerian 

presidential elections. 

“Both ex-President Clinton 

and Baroness Scotland will 

deliver goodwill messages at 

the signing ceremony of the 

National Peace Accord, which 

will hold at Abuja 

International Conference 

Centre on February 13.” 

Polls: Akinyemi expresses 

fears, warns against violence 

FORMER Foreign Affairs 

Minister, Prof. Bolaji 

Akinyemi, has expressed 

fears that the general 

elections could engender 

violence, following the 

tensions that currently 

envelops the country. 

Akinyemi, who was also a 

member of the of Electoral 

Reform Committee and 2014 

National Conference, also in 

a statement, yesterday, 

warned political leaders in 

the country not to gravitate 

Nigeria towards the 

Venezuelan example, which 

has thrown the Latin America 

country into chaos. 

He said: ‘’I write as a former 

member of the Electoral 

Reform Committee, as the 

former Deputy Chairman of 

the 2014 National 

Conference, as a former 

Foreign Minister and as the 

originator of the Peace Process 

before the 2015 Presidential 

elections. 

‘’Since I have been monitoring 

elections in Nigeria, 

I cannot remember any 

elections that filled me with 

so much dread and trepidation 

as these forthcoming 

elections. Not even the riotous 

1965 federal elections. 

And we all know what that 

led to. 

‘’Therefore, I appeal to 

political leaders to call on their 

supporters to eschew 

violence and any 

undemocratic behaviour 

during these elections. We 

should avoid hate speech not 

just now but in our political 

system. 

‘’Political leaders should 

commit themselves publicly 

and loudly to free, fair and 

transparent elections. 

"This is the time for our 

leaders to commit themselves 

and their supporters to 

accepting the result of the 

elections if the results reflect 

the true wishes and intentions 

of the voters."

10 — VANGUARD, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2019 

INEC, Agbaje trade words 

over seizing of non-indigenes’ 

PVCs in Lagos 

•We're too busy for such — INEC 

By Dapo Akinrefon 

& Yinka Ajayi 

LAGOS—THE Jimi 

Agbaje Campaign 

Organisation, JACO, 

yesterday, accused 

officials of the 


Electoral Commission, 

INEC, of allegedly 

colluding with the All 


APC, to disenfranchise 

non-indigenes resident in 

Lagos. 

JACO alleged that INEC 

personnel, acting the 

script, were undertaking 

discriminatory 

distribution of PVCs by 

withholding the cards of 

non-indigenes largely 

suspected of being 

unsympathetic to ruling 

party. 

But in a swift reaction, 

INEC dismissed the 

allegations saying it does 

not have time to engage 

in such method. 

Although the 

organisation 

commended INEC for 

extending the collection 

of PVCs to Monday, it said 

that the extension would 

make no meaning should 

officials themselves 

become a stumbling 

block to an identified set 

of voters. 

Describing the trend as 

immoral, illegal and 

xenophobic, JACO 

demanded that the 

commission should wade 

into the matter, restore 

normalcy and bring 

perpetrating officials to 

book. 

A statement by JACO’s 

Director of Media and 

Publicity, Mr. Felix 

Oboagwina, said the 

organisation was daily 

inundated with reports 

from aggrieved members 

of the public, alarmed 

that non-indigenes living 

in local governments 

where the People’s 


may enjoy massive 

support were being 

denied their PVCs by 

INEC personnel. 

The statement reads: 

“These unscrupulous 

INEC workers deny cards 

to potential and duly 

registered voters whose 

names do not sound 

Yoruba or Hausa. Our 

fear is that at the end of 

the day, these unclaimed 

PVCs will be used to do 

proxy-voting for APC or 

end up in the lagoon or 

refuse dump.” 

“We are witnessing a 

x e n o p h o b i c , 

discriminatory and 

dangerous move by 

these INEC officials. They 

have embarked on a 

voyage of illegality. The 

Nigerian Constitution 

says that no one should 

be discriminated against 

on the basis of sex, status 

or tribe. But these 

x e n o p h o b i c , 

discriminatory and 

nepotistic officials have 

undertaken to violate 

these provisions against 

their own good 

conscience and against 

the Electoral Act and the 

Nigerian Constitution. 

“However, whenever 

they show up like other 

people to collect their 

PVCs, the officials take a 

look at the names on their 

PVCs, and where they are 

neither Yoruba nor Hausa 

names; they are told that 

their cards did not come 

with the pile being 

distributed at the time. 

“We are not comfortable 

with the situation,” the 

statement said. “It appears 

like part of a grand plan 

by these officials to ensure 

APC falsely has a good 

result in their areas by all 

means.” 

We’re too busy for 

such—INEC 

Reacting to the 

allegations, INEC 

challenged Mr. Agbaje to 

show proof of the 

allegations. 

Spokesperson of the 

Commission in Lagos, Mr. 

Femi Akinbiyi berated 

the PDP candidate saying: 

“It is not true. When do 

we have such time to 

separate indigenes and 

non indigenes? We are 

too busy for such. 

Newsmen can verify it 

themselves.” 

STRENGTHENING 

PUBLIC-PRIVATE 

PARTNERSHIPS: Alhaji 

Aliyu Dangote (left) and 

Inspector General of 

Police, IGP Mohammed 

Adamu during a 

courtesy visit by the 

business mogul on the 

IGP at Force 

Headquarters Abuja 

CCT TRIAL: I made my money 

legitimately, Onnoghen insists 

•Says huge deposits were from agricode, forex, estacodes 

•NJC reconvenes today, decides petition against him, Ag. CJN 

By Ikechukwu 

Nnochiri & Henry 

Ojelu 

A National BUJA—THE 

Judicial 

Council, NJC, will today, 

reconvene to determine the 

appropriate action it would 

take with respect to 

corruption allegations 

against the suspended 

Chief Justice of Nigeria, 

CJN, Justice Walter 

Onnoghen. 

The Council, had on 

January 29, directed 

Justice Onnoghen who was 

suspended from office on 

January 25 by President 

Muhammadu Buhari, to 

within seven days, 

respond to a petition that 

was lodged against him by 

one Zikhrillahi Ibrahim of 

Resource Centre for 

Human Rights and Civil 

Education. 

Onnoghen was 

specifically asked to 

defend the allegation that 

he acquired funds and 

properties, way beyond 

his legitimate earnings. 

Similarly, the NJC also 

directed the acting CJN, 

Justice 

Tanko 

Muhammad, to explain 

why disciplinary action 

should not be taken against 

him for submitting himself 

to be sworn-in by 

President Buhari, as 

Onnoghen’s replacement. 

Onnoghen, who is facing 

a six-count charge before 

the Code of Conduct 

Tribunal, CCT, has insisted 

that he legitimately earned 

“huge funds” allegedly 

traced to five separate 

bank accounts that were 

linked to him. 

Onnnoghen said: “The 

deposits made into my US 

Dollar account No. 

87000106250 with STD. 

Chartered Bank amounting 

to $10,000 at different 

intervals of June 28, 2011 

were sourced partly from 

my reserve and saving from 

my estacodes, including 

medical expenses. 

“The same applies to my 

deposit of July 28, 2011, 

of $10,000 twice. It is 

important to state that 

prior to my opening the US 

dollar account, I had 

foreign currency, which I 

kept at home, due to the 

fact that there existed a 

government that 

proscribed the operation 

of foreign currency 

account by public officers 

including judicial officers. 

“It was when I got to 

know that the policy had 

changed that I had to open 

the said account. Upon 

opening the account, I was 

made to understand that I 

cannot pay in more than 

$10,000 at a time and per 

payment slip. I cannot 

remember the total 

amount I had on reserve 

at the time, but it spread 

from my practice days as a 

private legal practitioner 

from 1979 to 1989. 

“Some of the deposits are 

a result of forex trading, 

AGRICODE, and other 

investment returns were 

from proceeds of my 

investments into them. 

The withdrawals in the 

account are partly to pay 

children’s fees, upkeep 

abroad and further 

investments. My British 

pound and euro accounts 

with Chartered Standard 

Bank are savings 

accounts. 

“In the January 1, 2019 

document, the suspended 

jurist, who wrote his 

statement on January 11, 

2019, between 12:30pm to 

1: 45pm added: “I, Walter 

S. N. Onnoghen, of the 

Supreme Court of Nigeria, 

hereby, voluntarily depose 

to the statement averred 

herein, knowing that 

whatever I write or state 

may be tendered against 

me as evidence in court. 

“I also volunteer to state 

that the statement was not 

taken in evidence from me 

under duress but after the 

administering officer had 

explained and made 

known the details of the 

allegations against me.” 

In response to 

allegations of nondeclaration 

of his assets, 

justice Onnoghen said: 

“My asset declaration for 

numbers. SCN000014 

and SCN.0000 5 were 

declared on the same day, 

December 14, 2016 

because I forgot to make a 

declaration of May 2005 

of my assets after the 

expiration of my 2005 

declaration in 2009. 

“Following my 

appointment as acting 

chief justice of Nigeria in 

November 2016, the need 

to declare my asset anew 

made me to realise the 

mistake and then did the 

declarations to cover the 

period in default. 

“I did not include my 

Standard Chartered Bank 

Account in SCN. 000014 

because I believed they 

were not opened during 

the period covered by the 

declaration. 

“I did not make a fresh 

declaration of asset after 

my substantive 

appointment as CJN 

because I was under the 

impression that my SCN. 

000015 was to cover the 

period of four years; 

which includes my leave 

as CJN.” Meanwhile, 

the Abuja Division of the 

Court of Appeal will on 

Tuesday, commence 

hearing on the appeal 

that Justice Onnoghen 

lodged to challenge his 

trial before the CCT. 

The Justice Danladi 

Umar-led tribunal earlier 

directed the suspended 

CJN to ensure that he 

appeared before it on 

Wednesday to enter his 

plea to the charge the 

federal government 

entered against him. 

Muslim lawyers fault 

NJC’s query to Ag. CJN 

Meanwhile, the Muslim 

Lawyers Association of 

Nigeria, MULAN, has 

faulted the decision of the 

National Judicial Council, 

NJC to query the acting 

Chief Justice of Nigeria, 

CJN, Justice Tanko 

Muhammad. 

In a statement signed by 

its President, Prof F.A.R. 

Adeleke and Secretary, 

Ismaila Alaasa, the 

association said: "Our 

source of worry is not that 

the NJC lacks power to 

take such a step where 

there is a genuine reason 

for same. However, we feel 

that NJC being a 

composition of seasoned 

jurists and lawyers ought 

to have realized that such 

reference to the Acting 

CJN is utterly unnecessary 

and uncalled for in view of 

the constitutional 

provision contained in 

Section 231 (4) of the 

Constitution of the Federal 

Republic of Nigeria 1999 

which granted the 

President the requisite 

power. 

“We also note that the 

President has acted 

appropriately in view of 

the circumstances that 

led to the swearing in of 

the Ag CJN especially as 

a court order which has 

not been set aside, binds 

all persons affected by it 

even if any person 

believes it to be void.”

VANGUARD, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2019 — 11 

THANK YOU 

SIR: Former 

governor of 

Ogun State, 

A r e m o 

Olusegun 

Osoba (left) 

thanking 

President 

Muhammadu 

Buhari for 

reviving 

r a i l w a y 

services in 

Ogun State 

during Osoba's 

review of a 

book on his 

administration 

(in which the 

R a i l w a y 

featured), at 

the Banquet 

H a l l , 

Presidential 

Villa, Abuja. 

Leah Sharibu not dead — LAI MOHAMMED 

A 

B U J A — 

MINISTER of 

Information and Culture, 

Lai Mohammed, yesterday, 

described as “absolute fake 

news” the reports that the 

abducted Dapchi 

schoolgirl, Leah Sharibu, 

has died in captivity. 

“It’s absolutely fake news. 

There is nothing like that,” 

the minister was quoted by 

his spokesperson as saying 

at a press briefing in Ilorin, 

Kwara State, on Sunday. 

Miss Sharibu was 

abducted alongside over 

100 other female students 

from their secondary school 

in Dapchi, Yobe State in 

March 2018. 

All the girls who survived 

the kidnap were freed by 

the Boko Haram except 

Miss Sharibu who 

reportedly refused to 

denounce her Christian 

faith. 

She has since been in the 

custody of the terror group 

despite repeated pledges 

POLLS: Agbekoya backs Buhari for second term 

By Dapo Akinrefon 

L National AGOS—THE 

Executive 

Council of Agbekoya 

Farmers’ Society, weekend, 

threw its weight behind 


Buhari’s re-election. 

Speaking with Vanguard 

by President Muhammadu 

Buhari and the Federal 

Government to ensure her 

freedom. 

In the statement by Mr 

Mohamamed’s 

spokeperson, Segun 

Adeyemi, the minister 

claimed the reported death 

of Miss Sharibu’s death, 

few days to the presidential 

election, is a ploy by the 

political opposition to 

tarnish the image of the 

administration and exploit 

primordial sentiments 

ahead of the polls. 

“I think it’s part of the 

opposition’s strategies to 

throw everything at the 

administration and at the 

president. I think every day 

they are realising the 

hopelessness of their 

position. 

“Everyday they are 

amazed by the support Mr. 

President is receiving from 

every part of the country 

and they have decided that 

they are going to spread 

after its National Executive 

Council meeting in Lagos, 

President General of 

Agbekoya Farmers Society, 

Aare Kamorudeen Okikiola 

Aremu said it is supporting 

President Buhari for his 

achievement in the 

agricultural sector which he 

said has assisted farmers. 

falsehood, inflame passion 

and make this election a 

Muslim-Christian affair or 

North-South affair, but 

people are not listening to 

them,” Mr Mohammed 

said. 

The minister did not , 

however, say if the 

government had any recent 

intelligence to confirm Miss 

Sharibu is alive or where 

she is being held. 

Speaking on the 

Monday’s presidential 

campaign rally in Ilorin, Mr 

Mohammed was quoted as 

saying the All Progressives 

Congress (APC) has put 

everything in place to 

ensure that the visit of 

President Buhari is a huge 

success. 

“The party has been 

meeting in the last couple 

of days to ensure that the 

president’s visit is very 

successful. We have 

watched the rallies in 

many parts of the country 

and we want to assure Mr. 

He also dismissed media 

reports that Agbekoya has 

endorsed Presidential 

candidate of the Peoples 


Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. 

Aare Aremu said: “The 

National Executive Council 

of Agbekoya Farmers 

Society have endorsed 

Apapa gridlock: Akiolu wants permanent 

solution to tanker menace 

By Monsuru 

Olowoopejo 

LAGOS—THE Oba of 

Lagos, Oba Riliwanu 

Akiolu, has urged 


Buhari, to proffer solutions 

to the Apapa gridlock. 

Akiolu, who presented 

Buhari with a Quran and 

prayed for him, listed the 

gridlock within the ports 

among the catalog of 

request made to the 

President. 

On his victory, the 

monarch argued that 

Buhari’s integrity and his 

doggedness to deliver 

above his promises has 

earned him more respects 

than before among Nigeria. 

Akiolu gave the assurance 

yesterday when Buhari and 

his campaign team paid 

him a courtesy visit in his 

palace in continuation of the 

presidential rallies ahead of 

the Feb. 16 election. 

Akiolu said: “Give Buhari 

another chance and you 

will see how Nigeria will 

move forward. We should 

not go back to the past again. 

Now that you are here, Isha 

Allau, on February 16, God 

will open the way for you. 

The best will happen to you.” 

He said that a catalogue 

of requests, including 

mass transit and pressing 

issues on the Apapa ports, 

and they had all been 

committed into writing. 

In his response, Buhari 

said: “I appreciate all you 

have said and I assure you 

that I will continue to do my 

best. 

“The promise we made 

through our party in 2015, 

our country needs to be 

secured and properly 

managed. 

“If there is no security, we 

cannot do anything no 

matter your resources. We 

thank God our efforts have 

brought some fruits.'' 

President that our rally in 

terms of numbers, quality 

of people, entertainment 

and colour will rank among 

the best,” the minister said. 

He said the crowd that 

will come out to receive the 

president will be organic as 

the party does not engage 

in renting crowds. 

The Minister appealed to 

security agencies to create 

a level playing field for all 

the contestants in the 

election to allow the people 

to freely exercise their 

franchise. He said those 

involved in legitimate 

activities have nothing to 

fear. 

He also described the 

protest in some circles over 

the redeployment of police 

commissioners across the 

country as the handiwork 

of the opposition, which, 

he alleged, is working to 

discredit the police and 

the Independent 


Commission, INEC. 


Buhari for the 2019 

Presidential election, 

“There is no any better 

candidate than President 

Muhammadu Buhari 

because of his 

achievement. Since he 

came on board in 2015, the 

agricultural development 

nationwide is enough for 

him to have our support 

in the coming election. 

Any information against 

this is untrue and void and 

should be disregarded. 

The impact of Asiwaju 

Bola Tinubu on Yoruba 

nation cannot be derailed, 

and nothing can change 

the decision of Agbekoya 

Farmers Society on 


Buhari. 

“The forthcoming election 

will be strictly monitored 

from the polling booth to 

INEC office. We are also 

warning that any society or 

group of people that have 

intention to manipulate 

the results should desist 

from the act because 

anybody caught would 

be severely dealt with.” 

Osoba lauds Buhari over 

reactivation of railway 

services in Ogun 

By Daud Olatunji 

A F BEOKUTA— 

O R M E R 

Governor of Ogun State, 

Chief Olusegun Osoba, 

yesterday, commended 


Buhari for reviving 

railway services which 

had 

gone 

moribund many years 

ago. 

The former governor 

thanked the President for 

restoring the lost glory of 

the train services which he 

said started in 1906. 

In a statement, Osoba 

said the revival of the 

service as epitomized by 

the test-run from Lagos to 

Abeokuta on Friday was 

most pleasing to him. 

The statement reads: “I 

told the President on 

Friday at the Banquet 

Hall at the Villa when I 

reviewed a book on his 

administration in which 

the Railway featured, how 

emotional and nostalgic I 

feel about the reactivation. 

“I presented a picture of 

myself taken 61 years ago 

on the steps of a coach in 

Lafenwa on one of my 

trips for holiday from 

Osogbo to Abeokuta. 

“I also reminded the 

President that he 

(President) had told him 

before the he used to 

travel to Ifo to see his 

uncle by rail.” 

Chief Osoba expressed 

his happiness that what he 

enjoyed then by 

travelling from Lagos to 

Abeokuta and Osogbo 

was being reactivated in 

his lifetime. 

He said the reactivation 

will soon get to Ibadan 

and would boost the 

economic activities of the 

axis and would further 

ease movement of goods. 

Group commends INEC for 

extending PVC collection date 

By Henry Ojelu 

LAGOS—A civil society 

group, The Progressive 

Impact Organisation for 

Community Development, 

PROMORG, has 

commended the 



INEC, for extending the 

collection date of Permanent 

Voters Card, PVC. 

PRIMORG’s Executive 

Director, Okhiria 

Agbonsuremi, in a 

statement, said that from its 

observation of PVC 

collection, the enthusiasm 

by prospective voters in 

several states to pick up 

their PVC is indicative of the 

high prospects of a high 

turnout in the pending 

elections. 

He said: “Progressive 

Impact Organization for 

Community Development 

(PRIMORG as part of its 

Voter Education and 

Sensitization Program 

deployed observers between 

23rd and 30th of January to 

observe the collection 

exercise of the Permanent 

Voter Card, PVC by 

Nigerians at the Six Area 

Councils in the FCT, Abuja. 

“There was massive 

turnout at the collection 

centres observed except at 

Kubwa village 11 LEA 

Primary school, Kwali and 

Abuja council area where 

the turnmout was 

abysmally low. 

PRIMORG observers 

also reported that that the 

distribution of PVC was no 

longer done at the ward 

level, in some area councils 

as at the time observed but 

moved to INEC office in 

Kwali and Abaji Area 

Councils in FCT.” 

The group said there is a 

need for adequate security 

in the collection centres to 

forestall any break down of 

law and order. 

It also noted that INEC 

needs to create more 

collection centres so as to 

lessen the stress witnessed 

by Nigerians as in the case 

with the collection of PVC. 

Any vote not for Buhari is a 

waste — GEN BAJOWA 

A 

K U R E — 

CHAIRMAN of 

Legacy Forum, a unit of 

the Buhari support 

organization, 

Major-General Olu 

Bajowa (retd) has said 

that any vote not for 


Buhari’s re-election will 

be a waste in the February 

16 election. 

Bajowa said this at 

Igbotako during a 

stakeholders’ meeting of 

the All Progressives 

congress, APC, across 

the 13 wards of Okitipupa 

Local Government of 

Ondo State. 

The meeting was in furtherance 

of Gen. Bajowa’s 

bid to ensure massive grassroots 

votes are garnered for 

President Buhari, who is 

seeking a second term in 

office in the February 16 

election. 

Bajowa said: “My advice 

is that people should not 

sell their votes as vote 

buying and selling amount 

to trading off peoples’ 

future and that of their 

children. 

“On the day of the 

election, the electorate 

should vote and not fight 

but guard their votes 

jealously.”

12—VANGUARD, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2019 

Former Army chief, General 

David Ejoor dies at 87 

By Jimitota 

Onoyume & 

Festus Ahon 

M AJOR-GENERAL 

David Ejoor is dead. 

He was 87 years old. 

Born on January 10, 1932, 

family sources said he died 

about 6 p.m., yesterday. 

He is the first Nigerian 

Commandant of the 

Nigerian Defence 

Academy. 

David Ejoor was the 

governor of the Mid- 

Western State of Nigeria, 

during the Biafra Civil War. 

He then served as Chief 

of Army Staff from January 

1971 to July 1975. 

Your votes will make the 

difference, Wike tells Christians 

GOVERNOR Nyesom 

Wike of Rivers State 

has called on Christians to 

troop out and vote during 

the forthcoming elections, 

because their votes will 

make the difference. 

Speaking during a 

Special Combined Sunday 

Worship Service at the 

Deeper Life Camp Ground, 

Rumudara, Port Harcourt, 

yesterday, Governor Wike 

said Nigerian Christians 

could no longer stand aloof 

while the country slid into 

destruction. 

He said that Christians 

should not believe the false 

propaganda that they 

cannot influence the 

outcome of political contests 

in the country. 

“You must vote during the 

forthcoming elections. If 

you don’t vote and a bad 

leader emerges, you are 

part of those that brought 

He was from Ovu in 

Ethiope East LGA of Delta 

State. He was at a time 

President of the Urhobo 

Progress Union, UPU. He 

was conferred with two 

national honours, Order of 

the Federal Republic, OFR 

and Grand Commander of 

the Niger, GCON. 

• Late Maj-Gen Ejoor 

(retd) 

that bad leadership. Your 

vote can make the 

difference. So go ahead 

and vote to effect a positive 

change,” he said. 

The governor said all 

Christians had witnessed 

first-hand, the failures of 

the last four years of the 

Federal Government 

which had destroyed the 

economy, engendered 

unemployment, insecurity 

and dictatorial tendencies. 

He said: “Please pray for 

this state. Pray against 

those plotting electoral 

violence in this state. Pray 

for the state to have 

peaceful and credible 

polls. Those plotting evil 

shall be disappointed." 

In his remarks , State 

Head of Deeper Life 

Church, Pastor Chike 

Onwuasunya said: "Truly, 

Governor Wike is Mr 

Project as his projects are 

visible." 

COOP to FG, Shell: Ogoni 

people tired of agitation, ready 

for dialogue 

By Davies 

Iheamnachor 

PORT HARCOURT: The 

Conscience of Ogoni 

People, COOP, has said 

that the Ogoni people do 

not want to adopt agitation 

to drive home their 

demands to the Federal 

Government and the Shell 

Petroleum Development 

Company, adding that they 

are ready for dialogue. 

The group, however, 

called on the FG and Shell 

to engage stakeholders in 

Ogoni in dialogue to 

resolve issues affecting 

people of the area and 

ensure development. 

It also called on the 

Federal Government to 

reinstate Mr. Derek Mene 

as Director of Finance and 

Administration in Niger 

Delta Development 

Commission, NDDC, 

within five days, adding 

that failure would be 

"tantamount to 

undermining the struggle 

of the Ogoni people." 

POLLS: Let no blood be spilled, clerics tell Buhari 

By Ochuko 

Akuopha 

O LEH—CLERGY 

Forum for Peace and 

Development in Niger 

Delta, CFPDND, has urged 


Buhari to put necessary 

mechanisms in motion to 

ensure that no blood was 

spilled to install any 

candidate in the 


election. 

CFPDND, in a statement 

by the Chairman of its 

Advisory Council, Rt. Rev 

Diamond Emuobor, noted 

that all lives in Nigeria by 

virtue of Buhari’s “Position 

today are entrusted into his 

hands by God. 

“In the event of anyone 

losing his life on account of 

the election, he should be 

ready to account to God, the 

reason for such person’s 

death. 

“This advice also goes to 

all party candidates. They 

should not take their lives 

to be more worthy thanthe 

lives of others. In the event 

of any followers of theirs 

losing his or her life on 

account of the election, 

such blood would be 

required from their hands.” 

He charged security 

agents to be wary of 

partisanship and “be 

professional in their 

conducts as those to vote 

and be voted for are all 

Nigerians whom they 

swore to protect.” 

PANDEF begins to sensitise S-South 

electorate to vote Atiku 

•We're not part of PANDEF’s decision 

on Atiku —Itsekiri group 

By Chioma 

Onuegbu & 

Jimitota Onyume 

UYO—WITH less than 

one week to the 

February 16 Presidential 

election, the Pan Niger 

Delta Forum, PANDEF, has 

begun to sensitise electorate 

in the six states of South 

South to vote for the 

presidential candidate of 

the People’s Democratic 

Party PDP, Alhaji Atiku 

Abubakar. 

This is as a prominent 

Itsekiri group, Itsekiri 

Progress Club, IPC, said it 

was not part of any decision 

by PANDEF to support 

Atiku in the coming general 

election. 

Flagging off the South 

South sensitisation 

campaign yesterday in Uyo 

Akwa Ibom State capital, 

National Chairman of 

PANDEF and former 

military administrator of the 

state, Air Commodore 

Idongesit Nkanga (retd), 

said this followed the 

decision of the Nigerian 

Elders and Leaders Forum. 

Nkanga said: “Because 

the presidential election is 

barely one week from today 

a decision was now taken 

that we go back to our 

zones and get the chapters 

of PANDEF to go round to 

sensitise the people and 

give them direction as to 

what we want them to do 

in the election of Saturday, 

and even subsequent one. 

“We support Atiku 

Abubakar of the PDP 

because he will make 

restructuring of this country 

to be actualised. And as 

members of PANDEF, we 

believe that votes will count 

so that restructuring will 

take place. It is in the 

interest, and welfare of the 

people of Niger Delta." 

Chairman Akwa Ibom 

State chapter of PANDEF, 

Senator Etang Umoeyo 

said: “We promise to 

spread the message across 

to the grassroots that we 

are supporting Atiku 

Abubakar because of what 

he has in store for us, that 

he is the man coming to 

restore what had been 

there before military took 

over power." 

We're not part of 

PANDEF’s decision 

on Atiku —Itsekiri 

group 

Meanwhile, the Itsekiri 

Progress Club, IPC, has 

insisted it was not part of 

any decision by PANDEF 

to support Atiku in the 

coming general election. 

The group in a statement 

yesterday in Warri, Delta 

State by its Chairman, 

Mr Gbesimi Akperi said 

it was not invited to any 

forum where the decision 

was reached, adding that 

PANDEF should not be 

used to front the interest of 

some individuals as that 

of the various ethnic groups 

in the region. 

He said, “Our attention 

has been drawn news 

publication on PANDEF 

supporting Atiku Abubakar. 

As the name implies, this 

is an Itsekiri Club, of the 

Itsekiri Nationality from the 

Niger-Delta. This Club as 

a member of PANDEF is not 

aware of, was not consulted 

and was not involved in 

any decision to adopt any 

Presidential candidate in 

the 2019 Presidential 

election." 

Bayelsa inaugurates commission of inquiry 

into activities of oil surveillance contractors 

By Samuel 

Oyadongha 

Y ENAGOA— 

BAYELSA State 

governor, Mr Seriake 

Dickson has inaugurated a 

Commission of Inquiry into 

activities of surveillance 

contractors with the former 

Chief Judge of the state, 

Justice Margaret 

Akpomiemie, as its 

Chairman. 

Other members of the 

Commission which has 21 

days to submit report of its 

findings and make 

n e c e s s a r y 

recommendations to the 

government include, 

Whoknows Tiger, Anthony 

Obrike, Christiana Okafor 

and Ebikake Ebikipah 

while Dele Dele is to serve 

as its counsel. 

Dickson in a statement by 

his Special Adviser on 

Media Relations, Mr. 

Fidelis Soriwei, weekend, 

decried the activities of 

certain persons and 

corporate entities hiding 

under surveillance 

contracts to perpetrate 

heinous acts. 

He said, “From 2015 till 

now, we have noticed, 

read, heard and seen the 

activities of certain persons 

and corporate entities who 

say they are surveillance 

contractors operating and 

DONATION: From 

left, Temitope 

Iluyemi, Director of 

G o v e r n m e n t 

Relations P&G Sub 

Sahara Africa; Dr. 

O g o c h u k w u 

O f o e g b u n e , 

Principal, Federal 

Science & Technology 

College; Adil Farhat, 

MD, P&G Nigeria; 

and Dr. Bawa-Allah 

representing the 

President of the 

Nigerian Academy of 

Engineering, Prof. 

Fola Lasisi at the 

donation and 

handover ceremony 

held at Federal 

Science 

and 

Technology College, 

Yaba, Lagos. 

reporting to people this 

state does not know but are 

operating here. 

“No one knows what they 

are doing, who are they 

reporting to, what is the 

scope of their engagement 

by the oil companies and 

their services and indeed 

how properly they are 

being supervised even by 

the security agencies 

themselves. 

“This state has primary 

interest in the stability and 

peace of our communities. 

This state is concerned 

about claims and reports of 

the infractions on the rights 

of our people, reports and 

claims of communities 

being distabilised."


El-Zakzaky: No corps member died in Shi’ite protest — NYSC 

By Luminous 

Jannamike 

ABUJA —NATIONAL 

Youth Service Corps, 

NYSC, has said no corps 

member was reported dead 

during a recent protest by 

members of Islamic 

Movement of Nigeria, IMN, 

also known as Shi’ites, over 

the continued detention of 

their leader, Ibraheem El- 

Zakzaky. 

Director, Press and Public 

Relations of the scheme, 

Mrs Adenike Aderemi, 

stated this, yesterday, while 

reacting to reports that corps 

members protested the 

extra-judicial killing of their 

colleague, one Mustapha 

Ingawa, during a 

demonstration by Shi’ites in 

Abuja. 

She stated that the said 

corps members were 

unknown to the scheme 

and could not have 

operated under the 

authority of the NYSC. 

A press release signed by 

Aderemi read in part: “In 

view of this development, 

the management of NYSC 

scheme has painstakingly 

checked the above name 

(Mustapha Ingawa) and 

found out that as at date, 

there is no deceased corps 

member with that name in 

NYSC data base. 

“In addition, as a foremost 

government youth 

organisation that primarily 

focuses on discipline, 

patriotism and nationalism, 

corps members are not to 

engage in any form of 

demonstration. This is in 

line with the provisions of 

NYSC by-laws, which guide 

the conduct of every corps 

member. 

“Corps members have 

approved channels of 

communication through 

which they seek redress. 

NYSC also wishes to state 

that by its records, no corps 

member was reported dead 

as a result of the said protest. 

“Consequently, NYSC 

management wishes to use 

this medium to draw the 

attention of members of the 

public and ex-corps 

members that it is unlawful 

to impersonate the service 

corps by the use of NYSC 

uniform in any official or 

unofficial gathering." 

Why we dumped Buhari for Atiku 

—Northern Stakeholders Forum 

By Abdulmumin 

Murtala 

KANO— NORTHERN 

Stakeholders Forum, 

NSF, has given reasons 

why it dumped President 

Muhammadu Buhari and 

chose Atiku Abubakar, 


Peoples Democratic Party, 

PDP, for Saturday's 

presidential election. 

Speaking recently at a 

zonal town hall meeting at 

Mambayya House in Kano, 

Aminu Adam, Director, 

Action and Mobilisation of 

the group, said they opted 

for Atiku Abubakar because 

Buhari had disappointed 

Nigerians. 

According to him, the 

group supported Buhari in 

2015 when there was so 

much yearning and 

agitation for credible leader 

who would move northern 

Nigeria forward. 

He added that they were 

among the youths, who 

orchestrated a protest in 

United States of America, 

when they suspected 

rigging by PDP in 2015 

elections, which apparently 

showed Buhari had an 

edge over Dr Goodluck 

Jonathan, calling on 

international communities 

to pay attention to the polls 

to ensure Buhari’s success. 

He, however, said when 

Buhari came to power, they 

realised that he had failed 

to fulfill his campaign 

promises, especially in the 

area of fighting corruption, 

economy and security. 

He said: “In 2015, we 

fully supported Buhari 

because we believed he 

was the only person to 

move northern Nigeria 

forward. This is because we 

see that north is lagging 

behind in terms of 

development. 

“Ironically, when Buhari 

came to power, we realised 

that he even prefers south 

to the north that gave him 

unprecedented votes. 

Buhari has failed to fulfil 

his campaign promises, 

especially in the areas of 

economy, corruption and 

security. 

“Look at how killings are 

becoming the order of the 

day. People of Zamfara 

have turned to refugees as 

a result of incessant killings. 

Likewise Katsina, Kaduna, 

Taraba, Benue states and 

other places. 

“That is why we have now 

decided to try Atiku 

Abubakar because we 

believe in his integrity and 

compassion for the masses. 

We also believe in his 

ability to perform better 

than Buhari.” 

In his remarks, special 

guest at the occasion, Alhaji 

Nastura Nasir Sharif, said 

Buhari is not a man of his 

words. 

According to Sharif, 

Buhari claimed to have 

fought corruption, but it was 

later proved that the 

crusade is selective and he 

surrounds himself with 

corrupt politicians who 

have cases at Economic 

and Financial Crimes 

Commission, EFCC. 

He said with the current 

critical situation that 

northern Nigeria had found 

itself since 1999, supporting 

Atiku Abubakar is the 

answer, as according to 

him, he would perform 

better than Buhari due to 

his antecedents. 

BRIEFING: Governor AbdulAzeez Yari of Zamfara State (left) and 

Attorney-General of Zamfara State, Bello Umar, during press 

conference on legality of President Muhammadu Buhari going to 

the state for campaign, yesterday, at Government House, Gussau, 

on Saturday. 

KWADEF sensitises voters ahead of elections 

ILORIN—AS this year's 

elections enter a crucial 

bend, Kwara Development 

Foundation, KWADEF, has 

advised voters to take 

advantage of the polls to 

exercise their constitutional 

right to elect their leaders of 

choice through the ballot box. 

KWADEF, a nongovernment 

organisation, 

which embarked on voters’ 

sensitisation programme in 

Ilorin, the Kwara State 

capital on Saturday, 

enjoined voters to eschew 

violence and not to allow 

themselves to be used 

negatively by politicians 

during the polls. 

The voters who expressed 

their readiness for the polls, 

advised the group to 

intensify the enlightenment 

programme to “open the 

eyes of the people’. 

In a post-event press 

conference, Dr. Kolawole 

Afolabi, President of the 

group, explained that the 

group remains non-partisan 

with non-partisan interest. 

He said as the nation 

moves to perform the next 

election ritual, the group has 

decided to step forward and 

work towards enacting a 

focused development 

paradigm for mobilising the 

collective strength of the 

people of Kwara to achieve 

sustainable socio-economic 

growth. 

According to him, 

KWADEF is seeking a nonpartisan 

roadmap to restore 

deliberate thinking, 

planning and acting 

together to restore the glory 

of Kwara State. He 

maintained that the exercise 

was the beginning of a series 

of intervention programmes 

that would spread over a 

long period of time. 

Elections: Adamu begs 

monarchs, religious 

leaders to pray for peace 

By David Odama 

LAFIA— FORMER 

governor of 

Nasarawa State, Senator 

Abdullahi Adamu, 

yesterday, appleded for 

the intervention of 

traditional rulers for the 

successful conduct of the 

forth coming general 

election in the country 

through prayers. 

Adamu, who was at the 

Palace of Sarkin Karshi, 

Dr. Sani Muhammed 

Bako III, the palaces of 

Sarkin Uke, Alhaji 

Ahmed Abdullahi 

Hassan the Yakanajie of 

Uke and Guruku, Alhaji 

Jibrin Waziri to seek their 

royal blessings, called on 

the monarchs to 

intervene on the conduct 

of the presidential and 

other elections by 

praying to God. 

According to him, this 

is in view of what he 

described as "unpleasant 

attitude of some 

desperate politicians to 

truncate the election 

process." 

“For the successful conduct 

of the forthcoming 

elections, the country 

needs intervention of the 

monarchs and religious 

leaders,” Adamu said. 

He reiterated his 

personal commitment in 

providing qualitative 

representation for the 

benefit of his 

constituents, if elected 

senator in the 

forthcoming elections 

His words: “I am here 

to solicit your blessings 

and votes. Please help 

and pray for the country. 

Vote wisely. Protect your 

PVCs and ensure that 

you vote President 

Muhammadu Buhari 

and all APC candidates 

at all levels in the 


elections. 

“I will sponsor bills 

and contribute to 

legislation that will 

benefit my constituents, 

strengthen democracy 

and add value to 

governance." 

We haven’t adopted Buhari —Benue SDP 

gov candidate 

By Peter Duru 

M AKURDI—BENUE 

State governorship 

candidate of Social 

Democratic Party, SDP, Mr. 

Hinga Biam, has said the 

state leadership of the party 

was yet to sanction the 

adoption of President 

APC Campaign alerts on 

plot by PDP to launch 

fake news campaign 

By Olayinka Ajayi 

THE Muhammadu 

Buhari Presidential 

Campaign yesterday alleged 

a plot by the Peoples 

Democratic Party, 

PDP to inundate the media 

with fake news ahead 

of Saturday’s presidential 

election. 

A statement issued by 

the spokesman of the APC 

Campaign, Mr. Festus 

Keyamo said the controversy 

over the death of 

Leah Sharibu was a script 

weaved by the PDP as 

part of the fake news campaign. 

He said: “Two of 

such fake news in the series 

have already been 

released through their 

proxies and nameless individuals. 

The first is an 

audio clip of a supposed 

“nurse” of President 

Muhammadu Buhari telling 

voters that the President 

is sick and cannot 

govern for another four 

Muhammadu Buhari as its 

presidential candidate in 

the coming general 

election. 

National Working 

Committee, NWC, of SDP 

had, last weekend, adopted 

Buhari as its preferred 

candidate in the coming 

presidential election, a 

decision that left a few party 

years. 

“We understand that a 

Nigerian girl whose real 

name is Sandra and who 

used a fake British accent 

did the said recording 

somewhere in Maitama 

in a house belonging to a 

PDP chieftain. Security 

operatives are already on 

her trail. The second fake 

news released is on the 

purported death of Leah 

Sharibu. This is a lie from 

the pit of hell as the Federal 

Government’s effort 

to set her free has reached 

an advanced stage. 

“The other fake news 

lined up for the next few 

days by the PDP and 

Atiku’s handlers would 

consist of similar doctored 

audios, videos and fake 

news with no link to credible 

news sites. 

“Our advice to the leadership 

of the PDP is that 

Nigeria must not burn 

because of their selfish 

ambition. 

faithful bewildered and 

furious. 

Biam, who spoke, 

yesterday, shortly after 

meeting with leadership of 

the party in the 23 local 

government areas of the 

state in Makurdi said: “We 

are awaiting the decision of 

the leadership of the party 

in the state.


APC PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN IN LAGOS STATE 

The All Progressives Congress, APC, Presidential Campaign rally train berthed in Lagos, on Saturday. 

From right; President Muhammadu Buhari; Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos 

State; Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and APC governorship candidate in Lagos State, 

Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu. 

APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu dancing to 

the admiration of party faithful. 

(LEFT): Party 

supporters at 

the rally. 

(RIGHT): Senator 

Oluremi 

Tinubu receiving 

the flag as 

the Lagos Central 

Senatorial 

candidate of 

the party. 

PDP PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN IN KANO STATE 

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Presidential Campaign rally was in Kano State weekend. 

(RIGHT): 

P D P 

presidential 

candidate, 

A t i k u 

Abubakar 

arriving the 

K a n o 

Airport. 

From left: Engr. Abba K. Yusuf, PDP governorship candidate in Kano State; Mr. 

Peter Obi, PDP vice presidential candidate; Senator Bukola Saraki, Senate President; 

Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate, PDP; Emir of Kano, Muhammadu 

Sanusi II; Prince Uche Secondus, PDP National Chairman and Senator Rabiu 

Kwankwaso, during the PDP's team visit to the Emir of Kano Palace. 

(LEFT & 

RIGHT) 

PDP Supporters 

waiting for 

the campaign 

team 

in Kano


Polls: Why PDP will lose in S-East —Ngige 

...says Obi has no influence in S-East 

By Omeiza Ajayi 

ABUJA—MINISTER of 

Labour and 

Employment, Dr. Chris 

Ngige has said the All 


APC, would not allow a 

repeat of its fate in the 2015 

general elections where he 

alleged, results were 

concocted by the Peoples 

Democratic Party, PDP. 

Ngige, who spoke with 

some journalists at his 

Abuja residence said 

inspite of the vice 


the PDP coming from the 

zone, the party would lose 

Army warns Ndigbo against confrontation 

with soldiers ...won’t attach soldiers to individuals 

By Emeka Mamah 

E NUGU—THE 

Nigerian Army has 

warned youths and other 

individuals against 

confronting soldiers on 

Operation Python Dance 

111 (Egwueke 111) in the 

southeast geopolitical 

zone. 

The army spoke against 

the backdrop of reports that 

soldiers shot three members 

of the Indigenous People of 

Biafra, IPOB, killing one 

instantly and injuring two 

others in Aba, Abia State, 

following alleged 

confrontation with troops of 

the 144’Battalion as they 

tried to stop the pasting of 

alleged inciting materials 

against the Federal 

Government. 

These were contained in 

a statement titled “Re: 

Python Dance: blood bath 

in Aba as soldiers storm 

market, open fire over 

Biafra referendum 

posters.” 

The statement was 

signed by the Deputy 

the polls as it no longer 

controls the security 

architecture of the country. 

“Yes, the PDP has a Vice 

Presidential candidate 

from my zone and I can tell 

you that it won’t be easy for 

them. Politics and winning 

of election are all about 

calculation and strategic 

positioning and measured 

steps towards a direction. 

Two things are happening. 

In 2015 election, there was 

no voting in most of the 

South-East and South- 

South states, votes were 

allocated; the card reader 

hadn’t become functional; 

it was just new and it can 

Director of Public Relations, 

82 Division of the Nigerian 

Arny, Col Sagir Musa. He 

said that although, two 

soldiers on duty fired 

warning shots into the air, 

nobody was wounded or 

killed during the incident, 

adding that six IPOB 

members arrested were 

handed over to the police 

for further investigations. 

“The Division wishes to 

state that although there 

was an incident involving 

144 Battalion patrol team 

with some traders at Asa - 

Nnentu Spare Parts’ 

Market, in Ugwunagbo 

Local Government Area of 

Abia State, at no time was 

anybody shot at, wounded 

or killed as lopsidedly 

noted and therefore 

wrongly reported by the 

medium," the army stated. 

The statement continued: 

"However, six members of 

proscribed Indigenous 

People of Biafra, IPOB, 

were arrested and handed 

over to the Nigerian Police, 

Abia State Command. 

“The Division hereby 

sounds strong warning to 

be tampered with and at the 

end of the day, most votes 

were allocated. 

“So, Muhammadu 

Buhari was allocated 

18,000 votes in the entire 

Anambra state; is it 

possible? My local 

government alone, Idemili 

South had 80,000 

registered voters; Idemili 

North, 200,000 registered 

voters and you are talking 

about 280,000 votes.So, they 

were allocated votes. Even 

if they want to allocate 

votes, they can’t do it now 

because they are not in 

charge of police and army 

like that time." 

any individual or group to 

desist from confronting 

troops on legitimate duty. 

Nigerian Army personnel 

will not tolerate violent 

secessionist agitation, are 

apolitical, neutral, 

professional and 

responsive in the discharge 

of our constitutional roles in 

line with the vision and 

policy directive of the Chief 

of Army Staff, Lieutenant 

General Tukur Yusuf 

Buratai. 

“Members of the public 

are please requested to 

disregard the wrongful 

publication as there has not 

been genuine report of any 

major fracas, rights abuses, 

shooting, wounding or 

killing of anybody by 

soldiers since the 

commencement of exercise 

EGWU EKE 111." 

Army won’t attach 

soldiers to 

individuals 

Meantime, the 82 

Division of the Nigerian 

Arny has said that no soldier 

is attached to any politician 

in the South East 

Peter Obi has no 

influence in S-East 

“Secondly, the vice 


the PDP is former governor 

Peter Obi, my successor in 

Anambra State. I can tell 

you that those who are 

praising Obi are the elites 

looking for one thing or the 

other. If anything, Peter Obi 

has no influence in South 

East apart from Anambra 

even in Anambra Central 

Senatorial district, we are 

going to battle him in there. 

Presently, I can tell you that 

in Anambra State, Obi and 

I will struggle for the votes. 

We are not going to be 

pushed down like we were 

the last time.” 

CAMPAIGN: Enugu State Governor and governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic 

Party, PDP, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (2nd right) with the state Chairman of the party, Augustine 

Nnamani (right); Chairman of Udenu Local Government Area, Frank Ugwu (2nd left); and 

the State Secretary, PDP Campaign Organisation, Ikeje Asogwa, during his door-to-door 

campaign at Obollo Afor Market, Udenu LGA, yesterday. 

geopolitical zone, to 

harrass political opponents 

as being claimed by 

mischief makers. 

Spokesman of the 

Division, Col Sagir Musa, 

made this known in a 

statement, yesterday in 

Enugu. 

Musa was reacting to 

reports that dozens of 

soldiers were attached to a 

prominent politician in Abia 

State, whom he is using to 

allegedly instigate violence 

in the state. 

“For emphasis, the 

Division under the 

command of Major 

General Abubakar Sadiq 

Maikobi has so far, 

adequately, emphatically 

and consistently made it 

clear to the entire personnel 

of the Nigerian Arny and 

the citizens of our great 

nation that army personnel 

are apolitical, neutral and 

totally insulated from any 

form of politics, political 

party leanings and or 

attachment to any 

politician, before, during 

and after the 2019 general 

elections," he stated. 

Onu’s kinsmen, members of 

APC, others defect to PDP 

By Peter Okutu 

A BAKALIKI— 

SUPPORTERS and 

members of the All 


APC, in Ebonyi State, 

weekend defected to the 


PDP. 

The state chapter of 

PDP witnessed the 

defection of hundreds of 

supporters of the leader 

of APC in the state, Dr. 

Ogbonnya Onu at his 

home town, Uburu in 

Ohaozara Local 

Government Area of the 

state. 

Onu, the Minister of 

Science and Technology 

hails from the same 

Uburu village with 

Umahi. The APC 

members who defected 

were led by Chief Okorie 

Onu, kinsman of the 

Science and Technology 

Minister, Onu. 

The event was at Uburu 

in Ohaozara local 

government council of the 

state on the occasion of 

grand finale of campaign 

rallies of the Divine 

Mandate Organisation of 

the PDP candidates for the 

2019 general elections in 

Ebonyi State. 

The defectors explained 

that they had to join Umahi, 

their immediate kinsman 

contesting for the 

governorship to ensure 

that he continues the 

infrastructural 

development of the state 

and their community. 

They included brother to 

the former Minister of 

Health, Professor 

Onyebuchi Chukwu, who 

lost to Umahi in 2015; Chief 

Austin Chukwu of the 

Labour Party, LP; 

governorship aspirant of 

Social Democratic Party, 

SDP and Dr Austin Nweze. 

APC has proven Buhari's unfit 

—Udeogaranya 

By Ebun Sessou 

FORMER 

APC 

Presidential 

aspirant, Chief Charles 

Udeogaranya has joined 

the league of opponents 

who think President 

Muhammadu Buhari is 

not fit to continue as 

Nigeria’s president. 

In a statement issued 

yesterday in Lagos, 

Udeogaranya said: ‘’It 

was a very sad moment 

and sorrowful when the 

APC family denied our 

dear President 

Muhammadu Buhari the 

singular task of handing 

party flags to the party 

flagbearers in the 

forthcoming elections in a 

two-third empty Teslim 

Balogun small sized 

stadium in Lagos. 

“It is a denial that attests 

to a deep profound 

confirmation to the 

suspecting public that APC 

has finally accepted its 

grievous mistake in 

imposing on the party a 

presidential candidate who 

they cannot allow to 

perform the simplest task of 

handing their party flags to 

the party flagbearers and 

yet, APC wants you to vote 

in such a candidate to run 

Nigeria and run our lives, 

which from all ramifications 

is a more herculean task." 

We've no problem with Atiku's 

presidential ambition —IPOB 

By Chimaobi 

Nwaiwu 

N NEWI—LEADER 

of the Indigenous 

People Biafra, IPOB, 

and Director of Radio 

Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, 

yesterday said he had 

no problem with Alhaji 

Atiku Abubakar's 

presidential ambition in 

Nigeria. 

Kanu also said his 

reference of the Peoples 


presidential candidate 

in the forthcoming 

Nigeria’s election, 

Alhaji Atiku in his radio 

broadcast, had nothing 

to do with his suitability 

to contest the office of 

the presidency of 

Nigeria. 

IPOB in a statement 

by its Media and 

Publicity Secretary, 

Emma Powerful, quoted 

Kanu as saying: “Let me 

make it very clear that 

my reference to Alhaji 

Atiku Abubakar being 

born a Camerounian has 

nothing to do with his 

suitability to contest the 

office of the presidency of 

Nigeria because that is the 

business of Nigerians, I am 

a Biafran. 

“I was merely referencing 

the 1961 referendum that 

brought his part of 

Adamawa into Nigeria as 

a valid example that 

referendum is not an alien 

concept in Nigeria. 

“Allow me also to state for 

the umpteenth time that our 

boycott of election has 

nothing to do with All 


APC, or Peoples 

Democratic Party, PDP. It is 

all about the destiny of a 

nation called Biafra. 

“Whoever advised PDP 

hierarchy to launch the 

orchestrated campaign of 

calumny against me and 

my family has done them a 

disservice because we are 

IPOB, we do not lose media 

wars no matter how long it 

takes."

16—Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2019 

GRAND FINALE: From left— Jonah Adam, Divisional CEO , Industry Vertical Solutions, Interswitch; Henry 

Umunna, first runner-up, InterswitchSPAK 1.0; Mitchell Elegbe, GMD/Founder, Interswitch; Akachukwu Anumudu, 

winner of InterswitchSPAK 1.0; Cherry Eromosele, Group Chief Product and Marketing Officer, Interswitch; 

Onyedikachi Kanu, second runner-up, InterswitchSPAK and Steven Adebunmi, Representative of Acting Registrar/ 

Chief Executive, National Examinations Council, NECO, at the grand finale of the competition held in Lagos. 

Polls: Africa looking up to you for leadership, 

UN tells Nigeria 

By Emmanuel 

Elebeke 

A Nations BUJA—United 

Secretary in 

Nigeria, Mohammed 

Chambers yesterday 

challenged the Nigerian 

government and all 

stakeholders in the general 

elections to work harder at 

ensuring that the outcome 

of the exercise before, 

during and after the polls 

will be clothed in the 

globally acceptable tenets of 

a free, fair, credible and 

peaceful process. 

The envoy gave the 

charge at the National 

Workshop on Broadcast 

Media Coverage of the 

2019 General Elections 

with the theme: Fake News, 

Hate Speech, Vote and 

PVC Buying’’ held at the 

weekend in Abuja. 

Chambers, who was 

represented at the occasion 

by Takwa Zebulun said 

Nigeria as the big brother 

that has played a 

stabilizing role in many 

parts of Africa and 

consolidating their 

democracies should be able 

to conduct a credible and 

fair election that would be 

globally accepted. 


Nigeria occupies a strategic 

position in West Africa, the 

African continent, and 

indeed globally and 

therefore expected to 

deliver, credible, peaceful 

and fair elections in 2019 

in a manner that improves 

upon the performance of the 

2015 elections. 

His words, ‘‘I want to 

assure you that our 

engagements are solely 

complementing what INEC 

and relevant institutions 

and stakeholders are 

already doing to further 

mobilize Nigerians as well 

as the international 

community to contribute 

towards violence free, hitch 

free elections that will 

symbolize global best 

practice. 

‘‘The issues on the 

agenda on the sanctity of 

the 2019 general elections 

cannot be over stated. The 

damage done to the citizen 

democracy when we buy 

and sell votes and distort 

information is available. 

‘‘This state level workshop 

seeks to reinforce and 

complement the capacity of 

the key actor to prevent, 

manage and resolve 

possible lection related 

disputes peacefully. We are 

planning similar 

engagements in other states 

By Elizabeth 

Uwandu 

LAGOS—THE National 

Chairman of Non 

indigenes Cultural 

Association and President 

of Africans in Diaspora, 

Comrade Peter Anigbogu 

has called on all its 

members nation wide to 

ensure they collect their 

Permanent Voters Cards, 

PVCs, and vote a 

PDP not prepared for election —Okaeben 

By Alemma Aliu 

BENIN CITY—THE 

candidate of the All 


APC, for Oredo West 

constituency in the state 

House of Assmebly, Chris 

Okaeben yesterday denied 

allegation by the opposition 


PDP, that he has been 

diverting Permanent Voters 

Cards, PVCs, said to have 

been destroyed by flood to 

supporters of the APC to 

vote against the PDP in 

coming elections. 

Okaeben also said 

actions of the PDP was an 

indication that the party 

was not ready for election 

knowing that it would lose 

just as he threatened legal 

action against the party 

and some leaders of the 

party. 

He said: “The PDP 

doesn’t have supporters 

and they don’t have any 

means of winning election 

again, they are using all 

these lies to lure states 

controlled by PDP to get 

financial support from 

SMEs coalition flags off cluster 

campaign for Buhari's re-election 

ASABA—A Small and 

Medium Enterprises, 

SME, Network organisation 

under the auspices of SME 

Coalition for Buhari has 

flagged off cluster to cluster 

re-election sensitisation for the 

second term bid of President 

Buhari ahead of February 16, 

election. 

The National Coordinator 

and convener of the group, 

considered as hot spots 

as part our preventive and 

preemptive initiatives for 

peaceful elections.’’ 

He urged stakeholders to 

ensure that the outcome of 

the general elections 

before, during and after the 

polls will be clothed in the 

acceptable tenets of a free, 

fair, credible and peaceful 

process. 

Comrade Henry 

O g o c h u k w u 

(OGBUCHA) told 

newsmen that the Buhari/ 

Osinbajo ticket is the best 

choice that can resolve the 

issues facing Small and 

Medium Enterprises in 

Nigeria. He said Buhari 

remain the most credible to 

serve the interest of SMEs 

across the 36 states of the 

He reiterated the need for 

all stakeholders to shun all 

forms of discourse that could 

ignite tensions and 

violence. 

On UN message, he said 

every effort by both 

politicians and the 

electorate must be geared 

towards making Nigeria 

the overall winner after 

elections. 

Collect your PVCs, vote detribalised 

leader, Anigbogu charges peers 

detribalised leader who 

would protect their 

interests wherever they 

reside in the country. 

Anigbogu who stated 

this in Lagos weekend, 

also used the occasion to 

commend the 



INEC, on the extension of 

the window for the 

collection of the Permanent 

Voter Card till today when 

the process would end 

nationwide. 

He said: “Let us 

endeavour to perform our 

civic responsibilty by 

collecting our voters cards 

to be able to elect leaders 

who recognise us and 

appreciate us. A leader who 

does not believe in 

marginalisation. A leader 

who can carry you along 

and even give you 

appointment.” 

them, but unfortunately they 

have forgotten that those 

states have their election 

coming up too. 

“It is clear that they are 

not ready for elections but 

willing to cause commotion 

with a view to creating 

impression before the 

international community 

that they are being 

intimidated and harassed. 

“They do not have the 

money to pay their agents 

in Edo. They are relying on 

River and Akwa Ibom state 

governments." 

federation including the FCT. 

The tradermoni, SME clinics 

across the geopolitical zones 

are testimonies of the 

achievements of the present 

administration. 

According to Ogochukwu, 

the group is set to deliver 

more than five million votes 

in addition to five million 

SME operators already 

sensitised in the past months. 

Oil exporters have not fully recovered 

from 2014 shock — IMF 

*Cautions against ‘white elephant projects’ 

OIL exporters have not fully recovered from the 

dramatic oil price shock of 2014, Christine Lagarde, 

Managing Director, International Monetary Fund, 

IMF, said on Saturday, and cautioned against spending 

money on “white elephant projects”. 

“With revenues down, fiscal deficits are only slowly 

declining, despite significant reforms on both the 

spending and revenue sides, including the introduction 

of VAT and excise taxes,” Lagarde said at a conference 

in Dubai. 

“This has led to a sharp increase in public debt, 

from 13 percent of GDP in 2013 to 33 percent in 2018.” 

Lagarde said the uncertainty in the growth outlook 

for oil exporters also reflected moves by countries to 

shift rapidly toward renewable energy over the new 

few decades, in line with the Paris climate change 

pact. 

Pound traders favour Option Bets with 

less than 50 days to Brexit 

AT the Bank of England’s first meeting of the 

year, Governor Mark Carney, tapped into the 

Brexit conundrum facing pound traders, saying that 

the currency’s next move is likely to be a big one. 

Sterling has pulled back this month to hover below 

$1.30 after rallying in January as no solution is yet in 

sight to avoid Britain crashing out of the European 

Union in less than 50 days. A resolution could move 

the currency as much as 20 percent in either direction, 

with traders unwilling to put money on the line 

when the chances of no deal are roughly as likely as a 

deal, according to Commerzbank AG. 

The economic “fog of Brexit”, as cited by Carney 

penultimate week, may be reflected in manufacturing 

and gross domestic product data on Monday. Investors 

will then focus on the political debate, with 

the government due to present a Brexit motion to 

Parliament Thursday even though Prime Minister, 

Theresa May hasn’t won concessions from Brussels 

so far to persuade lawmakers to back her deal. Sterling 

is “probably the worst currency to trade at the 

moment,” said Thu Lan Nguyen, a foreign-exchange 

strategist at Commerzbank. “The probabilities of a 

no-deal Brexit and a deal are very close to each other, 

so we will definitely get a large move once there is a 

decision for either one.” 

S&P 500 Rally Hits a Wall as Earnings 

Estimates Are Fading Fast 

AFTER lurching into Christmas, U.S. stocks had 

staged an almost uninterrupted rebound in 2019 

before hitting a wall last week and ending virtually 

flat. It happened against a worrisome backdrop in 

which skeptical analysts have cut estimates for firstquarter 

profit growth below zero for the first time in 

three years. 

“We’ve had a big rally, people are confident that 

recession fears were overblown, the Fed is more dovish 

than expected,” Alec Young, managing director of 

global markets research at FTSE Russell, said by 

phone. “It’s a back-end loaded year, which people 

don’t like to see because everyone knows that analysts 

revise the numbers down as the year goes on. 

That’s unnerving.” 

Right now, according to analysts, S&P 500 income 

will fall in the first quarter, then inch higher in the 

second and third. 

Zambia plans $500m bond to pay power 

bills, supplier say 

ZAMBIA and its state-owned power company are 

planning a $500 million bond programme in part 

to settle arrears to independent electricity providers, 

according to one of the companies owed. 

The bond programme will be done in two tranches, 

the first of which could be in the next two months, 

said G.R.K. Prasad, director at Nava Bharat Ventures 

Ltd., the Indian company that operates a coal-fired 

power plant in Zambia. Zesco Ltd., the state-owned 

electricity supplier that the plant supplies, owes Nava 

Bharat $169 million, he said weekend on a call with 

investors. 

Zesco spokeswoman, Hazel Zulu, didn’t respond 

to an email and a call seeking comment neither did 

Energy Minister, Matthew Nkhuwa, when contacted 

outside normal business hours, nor finance ministry 

spokesman, Chileshe Kandeta. “We are told that 

it’s in very advanced stage by the government and 

the local utility,” Prasad said of the bond programme.


18 — Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2019 

THE overwhelming importance of 

estimated electricity billing, otherwise 

known as “crazy bills”, was 

demonstrated recently when a bill 

sponsored by the Majority Leader of 

the House of Representatives, Hon. 

Femi Gbajabiamila, received the 

unanimous support of lawmakers 

across party lines at its third reading 

in the House of Representatives. It is 

now on the way to the Senate for 

further legislative input. 

Known as The Electricity Power 

Reform Act (Amendment Bill) 2018, it 

prohibits estimated billing by the 

Power Distribution Companies, 

DISCOS. 

It mandates them to provide 

consumers with meters within 30 days 

of extending their services to them, 

failing which fines of between 

N500,000 to one million naira are 

prescribed, or a six-month jail term 

or both. It also protects the consumers 

from arbitrary disconnection. 

The original intention of privatising 

the downstream of the power sector 

War against energy crazy bills 

for more efficient service provision 

almost five years ago, rather than 

being a dream come true, has resulted 

to nightmares for hapless consumers. 

The service providers have proved 

their incompetence and lack of 

financial capacity to re-enact the 

revolution in the telecom sector which 

had prompted the sale of the assets 

of the defunct Power Holding 

Company of Nigeria, PHCN, to 

private investors. 

The DISCOS have continued the 

inefficiency, impunity, callousness, 

corruption and predatory reflexes of 

the defunct PCHN. They deliberately 

foot-drag in the provision of meters. 

Instead, they prefer to issue baseless 

crazy bills even when they fail to 

deliver the electricity. 

It is unfortunate that the industry 

regulator, the Nigerian Electricity 

Regulatory Agency, NERC, which had 

failed to respond to the distress calls 

of exploited consumers, has taken up 

the battle against this customer 

protection Bill. 

NERC appears more interested in 

protecting the interests of the power 

service providers. 

We must make it abundantly clear 

that there will be no electricity without 

the service providers and paying 

consumers. 

Both sides deserve adequate 

protection. The only sensible and just 

way of carrying both sides along is to 

ensure that every power consumer is 

metered as soon as they become 

customers. 

Anyone who steals power must be 

punished according to the law, and no 

power provider should issue bills 

except through metering. 

This is the work of government 

regulators which the NERC and other 

authorities have failed to do, leaving 

the consumers at the mercy of corrupt 

and incompetent power companies and 

their often cruel staff. 

We call on the National Assembly, 

NERC and other concerned bodies to 

close ranks and end estimated billing 

in the power industry. 

Every power consumer has the right 

to be metered; they also have an 

obligation to pay their bills promptly 

to enable the power companies survive 

and thrive. 

Perhaps, it is time to comprehensively 

reassess the power sector and address 

all concerns hampering its growth. 

OPINION 

Interrogating ethnic syndicates and political endorsement 

By Charles Onunaiju 

IN the run-up to the Presidential 

election on February 16, ethnic syndicates 

acting in the names but certainly not on behalf 

of our ethnic nationalities, are on the political 

prowl. Their newest game in town is political 

endorsements. 

What some reports called “leaders and elders 

of all geopolitical zones,” gathered recently to 

endorse the presidential candidate of the 

opposition party, the People’s Democratic Party, 

PDP, Alhaji Abubakar Atiku, as their choice. 

While no one would challenge the ‘leaders and 

elders,’ for their choice, it is certainly beyond 

them to do so on behalf of any ethnic nationality 

in Nigeria, since there is no mechanism by 

which they are established as being in 

representation or consultation with any ethnic 

nationality group. 

Beyond the nebulous status of the ‘leaders 

and elders,’ which is clearly deficient in both 

representation and consultation, the politics 

of endorsement is past its time, especially in 

the era when votes are reckoned to count. In 

the past ignominious era of vote allocations, 

the perceptions of geo-political support and 

endorsement could attract block vote 

allocations, translating automatically to 

electoral advantage and prospective victory. 

But this is certainly not anymore. Any politician 

relying on group endorsement and support 

certainly has not accommodated himself or 

herself to the sea-change of electoral politics 

brought by the revolutionary and gamechanging 

“permanent voter’s card, PVC. The 

simple implication of the PVC and the 

consequence that vote counts, is that political 

middleman-ship is as obsolete as multiple 

voting by proxy, when voters cards are bought, 

hoarded and issued to paid agents to vote as 

many times as it was possible then, and group 

political endorsement does the magic of 

covering up and rationalising brazenly stolen 

polls and other electoral infractions. 

While issues in electoral politics here are not 

yet sharp and clearly discernible, electoral 

success in the ballot is now certainly based on 

direct appeal to voters than engaging ethnic 

syndicates or other political middlemen. 

The new confidence of the individual voter 

that his or her vote counts and that he or she, 

therefore, has some measure of influence in 

the electoral outcomes, makes the voter all the 

more independent against past practice where 

the feelings of helplessness impels the voter to 

dissolve into identity group. 

All these, does not mean that the electoral 

process has reached an Eldorado and is no 

longer beyond manipulations and distortions, 

but it has certainly reached a critical mileage 

beyond the previously electoral sham of votes 

allocation and other backhand deals, 

surreptitiously reached, even before elections 

are held. In the era when voting was actually a 

ritual meant to give a veneer of legitimacy to 

election results written behind the back of 

voters, electoral politics is essentially bargains 

among influential ethnic and religious groups 

and even front organisations of political 

entrepreneurs, but certainly, not anymore in 

the strict sense. 

However, nothing in this analysis suggests 

that organised groups lack influence on the 

political and even electoral choice of voters, 

but such influence rests on the extent to which 

such groups articulate issues voters are 

discernibly interested and which have 

reasonably direct impacts on their wellbeing. 

But the way voters are influenced by groups is 

by articulating issues of their concerns and 

not by railroading by the excessive 

brinkmanship of political endorsement. 

The perception that political endorsements 

are chiefly transactional, involving cash 

payments or political IOUs to be paid off in 

political appointments and contract awards, 

means that the era of the new found 

confidence of the voter can actually 

boomerang, especially if the voter feels that 

his or her votes are being traded behind his or 

her back. 

The fact is that political endorsement can 

Ethnic nationalities are in 

themselves epitomes of 

diverse political interests and 

views and no ethnic 

nationality can claim to 

represent a specific political 

tendency 

actually be counter-productive, especially 

when done by ethnic syndicates fronting the 

name of ethnic nationality which was neither 

consulted nor has delegated any group 

through any verifiable mechanism of 

democratic consultation to act on its behalf. 

Ethnic nationalities are in themselves, 

epitomes of diverse political interests and 

views and no ethnic nationality can claim to 

represent a specific political tendency. Only 

ethnic syndicates acting in the name and guise 

of specific political tendency can make a 

partisan choice of political endorsement but 

the actual problem confronting ethnic 

syndicate is that through the political fraud 

of false claims, conflates their obvious partisan 

choice with the generality of the ethnic 

nationality that they merely act in its name. 

Despite short-term gains in terms of financial 

gratifications or other promissory political 

notes, such ethnic syndicate invokes on itself 

definitive political perdition which comes with 

increasing irrelevance and eventual extinction. 

As Nigeria matures in electoral politics, there 

are discernible critical consensus that is 

emerging which includes that any political 

bargaining forged at the back of the voters are 

likely to be voided at the ballot box, meaning 

that all issues of critical political concerns must 

be directly communicated to the voter on which 

he or she takes a stand with the PVC. The 

improved electoral transparency is 

emboldening the voter that he or she could 

actually take a hard knock on political 

impostors purporting to act on the voter’s 

behalf. 

However, while hardcore political party 

members and supporters spread across all 

ethnic nationalities are more likely to treat 

political endorsements with either enthusiasm 

or disdain, the generality of the free-floating 

voters, far more numerous in number are likely 

to treat endorsement as affronts to their sense 

of political judgments, which are ever maturing 

with the passage of time and improvement in 

the electoral process. 

The old style of electoral politics, including 

political endorsement, may not simply vanish, 

but their viability as critical inputs to electoral 

success leave much to be desired in any scientific 

interrogation of our contemporary politics. 

Symbolism of group political endorsement 

might inflate political ego, but critical changes 

in the contemporary political process make ego 

tripping an unworthy act, totally deficient of 

any electoral value. 

•Mr. Onunaiju, writes from Utako, Abuja.

Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2019 — 19 

CBN to combat N1.6trn excess liquidity in February 

amidst rising business confidence 

•Foreign investors invade financial markets with $1.2 billion in January 

By Babajide Komolafe 

THE Central Bank of Niger 

ia, CBN, is set to intensify 

its liquidity mop up efforts to 

deal with excess liquidity 

of N1.6 trillion expected in the 

interbank money market this 

month, amidst rising business 

confidence over improved macroeconomic 

conditions during 

the month. 

The Business Expectation Survey 

conducted by the apex bank 

in January shows increased optimism 

in the economy, with 

overall Confidence Index, CI, 

for February rising to 62.1 

percent from 25.9 percent for 

January. 

“Respondents were optimistic 

of better economic conditions as 

their expectations on the growth 

of the economy rose steadily in 

the short run with an index of 

35.5, 42.7 and 56.4 points for the 

current month, next six months 

and next twelve months respectively,” 

the CBN said. 

However, while businesses 

expect further appreciation of 

the naira this month, they also 

anticipate further increase in interest 

rates. “Majority of the respondent 

firms expect the naira 

to appreciate in the current, next 

and the next twelve months respectively 

as their confidence indices 

stood at 23.0, 31.9 and 

44.6 points. 

“Respondent firms expect borrowing 

rates to rise in current, 

next and the next twelve 

months as the confidence indices 

stood at 20.0, 6.7 and 7.6 

points, respectively.” 

Continues on page 21 

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2019 

By Peter Egwuatu 

THE equity market 

returned to positive 

territory gaining 2.92 percent 

Week on Week, WoW, as 

investors ignored the risks 

associated with the forth 

coming general elections to 

buy stocks with strong 

fundamentals across the 

sectors. 

However, Financial 

Vanguard gathered that the 

sustained investors rally is not 

unconnected to positive 

expectation of the 2018 

corporate earnings. 

Consequently, investment 

analysts that have been 

predicting continued bearish 

trend citing political 

uncertainties, have now 

switched to positive 

sentiments. 

Bullish 

performance 

Analysts at Cowry Asset 

Management Limited, said: 

“This week, we expect the 

Nigerian equities market to 

be bullish as investors, with 

the significant naira votes 

witnessed in recent trading 

week, may have decided to 

take position in the equities 

market ahead of the 

Presidential election.” 

Corroborating, analysts at 

Afrinvest Research said, 

“Following the bullish 

performance last week, we 

expect sell pressures in 

subsequent sessions leading 

to the elections.” 

But, analysts at a Lagos 

Stock investors defy 

political tension, 

turn bullish 

•Market gains 2.92% 

•Analysts reverse projection 

based investment firm, 

Cordros Capital said: 

“Looking ahead, we continue 

to guide investors to trade 

cautiously amidst brewing 

political jitters ahead 2019 

elections, and the absence of 

a positive market trigger. 

However, we believe positive 

macroeconomic fundamentals 

will drive recovery postelection.” 

Positive market performance 

in the market has been driven 

by bargain hunters with 

increased activity from both 

local and foreign players. 

Analysts at Nairametrics say 

they “expect the positive 

trend to persist amid 

sustained interest on select 


Buhari 

Atiku Abubakar, PDP 

Presidential Candidate 

stocks even as investors 

position to take advantage of 

a possible postelection 

rally. ” 

This week was a strongly 

positive one on the Nigerian 

Stock Exchange, NSE, as the 

All-Share Index gained 2.92 

percent. The All Share Index 

opened at 30,636.36 basis 

points and closed at 31,529.92 

basis points up 893.56 basis 

points. 53 equities appreciated 

Continues on Page 20 

C 

M 

Y 

K 

FG should adjust budget 

benchmark for crude oil price 

— FSDH Merchant Bank 

22 

Equities rebound as 

investors gain N334bn 

We shall stimulate 

competition to moderate 

23 lending rates 

--- DBN Boss 

30


FINANCIAL VANGUARD 

Continues from Page 19 

in price during the week, 

higher than 16 in the previous 

week. 21 equities depreciated 

in price, lower than 50 equities 

of the previous week, while 94 

equities remained 

unchanged, lower than 102 

equities recorded in the 

preceding week. 

Stock Watch -Top Gainers 

Regency Alliance 

Insurance Plc 

Regency Alliance Insurance 

Plc was the best performing 

stock last week, appreciating 

by 19.05 percent. The stock 

opened at N0.21 and closed 

at N0.25, up N0.04. Year to 

date, the stock is up 19.05 

percent. 

During the week, the 

company had given notice of 

a board meeting where its 

2018 full year results and a 

possible dividend and bonus 

will be discussed. 

Dangote Flour Mills 

Dangote Flour Mills Plc was 

the second best performing 

stock last week, gaining 18 

percent in four out of five 

sessions. The stock gained 

eight percent in a single 

trading last Friday to close 

at N6.85, trading at its 

highest price since March 

2018. 

Dangote Flour Mills opened 

the week at N5.80 and closed 

COVER 

Food prices rise in January on price discount reversal—Reports 

By Nkiruka Nnorom 

WORLD food prices 

recorded an increase 

last month compared to the 

previous month in December, 

2018, reports by United 

Nation’s food agency, Food and 

Agriculture Organization, FAO, 

and a Securities and Exchange 

Commission, SEC, registered 

investment banking firm, Arm 

Securities, have shown. 

On the domestic front, the 

Arm Securities’ retail price 

tracker - Pentad Urban Retail 

Price (PURP) index, showed 

that there was a modest pace 

of price increase of 0.42 percent 

month-on-month (MoM) to 

111.3 points in January against 

0.45 percent MoM in 

December. Price pressure 

remained more evident in the 

commodities and consumer 

basket. 

On the international front, 

FAO stated that the increase in 

food prices during the month 

was buoyed by a rebound in 

dairy prices and stronger 

showings for vegetable oils 

and sugar. 

In the report, titled, “Prices 

Take an Inch Back - Pentad 

Urban Retail Price Tracker”, 

Arm Securities noted that price 

pressure was more evident in 

the commodities and consumer 

basket, with the increase in the 

latter driven largely by reversal 

of price discounts following 

weeks of discount sales. 

“On other fronts, prices were 

lower across the brewery and 

oil & gas sectors. 

Brewery 

basket 

In the consumer basket, 

average prices increased by 2.2 

percent MoM largely due to 

reversal of price discounts 

following weeks of discount 

sales. 

Elsewhere, we noted 

increases in price of Close Up 

(+8.1%) and Dangote Pasta 

(+4.6%) which was not linked 

to any reversal of price 

discounts. Current price of 

Close Up now match the price 

of its closest competitor, Oral B. 

On the other hand, the 

increase in price of Dangote 

pasta now places it at a 

premium to Honeywell and 

Golden penny pasta. 

“Prices in the brewery basket 

moderated slightly by 0.10 

percent MoM as competition 

remained stiff in the sector. 

Price moderation was more 

evident in Goldberg (-1.2% 

MoM) and Satzenbrau (-0.6% 

MoM). 

Average price in the 

commodities basket remained 

elevated over January with 

prices rising by 0.57 percent 

MoM. Importantly, palm oil 

prices extended its rally into 

the month following festive 

period induced price hike. 

“Nonetheless, prices are 

almost 10 percent lower 

compared to same period in 

the prior year. In a different 

trend, average price of rice 

moderated over January. 

Despite incessant floods, 

bumpy harvest continued to 

support crop production and 

supply during the period,” the 

firm said in the report. 

The report further noted that 

prices in the oil & gas sector 

moderated over January with 

average prices down by 0.78 

percent MoM largely on the 

back of lower cooking gas price 

(-2.3% MoM), adding that the 

rise was largely due to 

increased domestic and foreign 

supply. 

Prices in the cement sector, 

according to the report, 

increased by 1.0 percent 

MoM following a decline in 

the previous month and 

increased demand for 

cements by consumers. 

Rebound in dairy price 

propelled food prices – FAO 

FAO’s food price index, which 

measures monthly changes for 

a basket of cereals, oilseeds, 

dairy products, meat and sugar, 

averaged 164.8 points last 

month, against 161.8, in 

December. 

Nonetheless, FAO explained 

that despite the rise, the index 

was still 2.2 percent below its 

Stock investors defy political tension, turn bullish 

Mary Uduk, Ag DG, SEC 

at N6.85, up N1.05 or 18.1 

percent. Year-to-Date. 

Guaranty Trust Bank Plc 

Guaranty Trust Bank Plc 

appreciated by 14.69 percent 

during the week. The stock 


at N38.65, up N4.95. Year to 

date, the stock is up 12.19 

percent. 

McNichols Plc 

McNichols Plc opened the 

week at N0.36 and closed at 

N0.41, up N0.05 or 13.89 

percent. Year to date, the stock 

is down 12.77 percent. 

AIICO Insurance Plc 

AIICO Insurance Plc 

appreciated by 12.50 percent 

Retail price trends for commodoties 

January 2018 level. 

The FAO dairy price index 

jumped 7.2 percent from 

December’s value, ending 

seven months of declines. FAO 

said limited export supplies 

from Europe, caused by strong 

internal demand, was the main 

driving force behind the 

increase. 

FAO’s vegetable oil price 

index rose 4.3 percent from the 

previous month, while its sugar 

index rose 1.3 percent and its 

cereal index made marginal 

gains on December. The meat 

price index was largely 

unchanged. 

FAO lifted its latest world 

cereal production forecast for 

this week. The stock opened 

at N0.64 and closed at N0.72, 

up N0.08. Year to date, the 

stock is up 14.29 percent. 

University Press Plc 

University Press Plc also 

gained 12.50 percent this 

week. The stock opened at 

N2.08 and closed at N2.34, up 

N0.26. Year to date, the stock 

is up 7.34 percent. 

ABC Transport Plc 

ABC Transport Plc 

maintains a top 10 spot for the 

second week in a row. The 

stock gained 11.11 

percent, opening at N0.36 

and closing at N0.40, up 

N0.04. Year to date, the stock 

Oscar Onyeama, CEO, NSE 

2018 to 2.611 billion tonnes, 

slightly higher than the 

December reading, reflecting 

upward revisions for maize, 

wheat and rice. 

“Much of the projected 

growth is associated with 

expected increases in Europe, 

where beneficial weather has 

so far shored up yield 

prospects while also sowings 

are forecast to expand, largely 

driven by attractive prices,” 

FAO said. 

Despite the rise in the latest 

projections, global cereal 

production is still expected to 

remain 1.8 percent below the 

record high of 2017. 

is up 37.93 percent. 

Cutix Plc 

Cutix Plc gained 11.11 

percent last week. The stock 


at N2, up N0.20. Year to date, 

the stock is up 21.95 percent. 

Eterna Plc 

Eterna Plc opened the week 

at N4.25 and closed at N4.70, 

up N0.45 or 10.59 percent. 

Year to date, the stock is flat. 

Beta Glass Plc 

Beta Glass Plc rounds up the 

top 10 gainers for the week. 

The stock opened at N60 and 

closed at N66, up N6 or 10 

percent. Year to date, the stock 

is down 3.37 percent.



CBN to combat N1.6trn excess liquidity in 

February amidst rising business confidence 


The outlook on higher 

borrowing rates is in line 

with projection of higher 

interest rate (yield) on 

treasury bills this month as 

the CBN intensify its liquidity 

mop up to contend 

with excess liquidity 

of N1.6 trillion and sustain 

attractiveness of the 

nation’s financial market 

to foreign investors. 

Making this projection 

in the company’s outlook 

for February, analysts at 

Lagos based FSDH Merchant 

bank, said: “A total 

inflow of about N2.33 trillion 

will hit the money 

market from the various 

maturing government securities 

and Federal Accounts 

Allocation Committee, 

FAAC, in February 

2019. We estimate a total 

outflow of approximately 

N644bn from the various 

sources, leading to a net 

inflow of about N1.6 trillion. 

FSDH Research expects 

the market to remain 

relatively liquid in 

February 2019. This may 

continue to necessitate the 

issuance of OMO to mopup 

the liquidity in the system. 

“FSDH Research believes 

the yields on the 

Nigeria Treasury Bills, 

NTBs, may increase further, 

particularly on the 

long end from the current 

levels. NTB yields are 

likely to be influenced 

largely by the level of liquidity 

in the banking 

system, the short-term 

borrowing needs of the 

government, the need to 

maintain price stability 

and election considerations.” 

Meanwhile cost of 

funds is expected to fall 

slightly this week in 

response to inflow of 

N783.3 billion from 

maturing TBs. 

Last week, cost of funds 

rose sharply as the CBN 

issued secondary market 

(Open Market Operations, 

OMO) TBs to mop 

up N644 billion from the 

market. The outflow cancelled 

out the impact of 

N315 billion inflow from 

maturing TBs causing average 

short term interest 

rate to rise by 758 basis 

points (bpts). 

Data from FMDQ 

showed that interest rate 

on Collateralised (Open 

Buy Back, OBB) lending 

rose by 760 btps to 18.67 

percent last week from 

11.07 percent the previous 

week. Similarly, interest 

rate on Overnight lending 

rose by 756 bpts to 

19.42 percent last week 

from 11.86 percent the 

previous week. 

While the apex bank is 

expected to step up issuance 

of OMO bills to mop 

up the anticipated inflow 

of N783.3 billion this 

week, analysts at Cowry 

Assets Management 

Limited expect improved 

liquidity conditions 

and moderation in 

cost of funds during the 

week. 

“In the new week, T-bills 

worth N783.33 billion will 

mature via the primary 

and secondary markets 

which will more than offset 

T-bills worth N153.38 

billion to be auctioned by 

CBN via the primary 

market; viz: 91-day bills 

worth N3.38 billion, 182- 

day bills worth N10 

billion and 364-day bills 

worth N140 billion. 

Hence, we expect liquidity 

ease in the financial 

system to be sustained 

with resultant moderation 

in interbank rates,” 

they said. 

Foreign investors invade 

financial markets 

with $1.2 billion in 

January 

Foreign Portfolio Investment 

through the Investors 

and Exporters 

(I&E) window shot by 

187 percent to $1.32 

billion in January, the 

highest in nine 

months, from $460 million 

in December. The 

upsurge was driven by 

quest for higher yields 

by foreign investors in 

emerging markets, following 

the decision of 

the United States Federal 

Reserves to halt its interest 

rate hike. 

Consequently, FPIs accounted 

for 51.34 percent 

of total I&E inflows 

in January, up from 

17.22 percent in 

December. Meanwhile 

the CBN increased its 

weekly dollar injection 

through the interbank 

foreign exchange market 

to $489.13 million last 

week. 

In addition to the regular 

weekly injection of 

$210 million on Tuesdays, 

the CBN injected 

$279.13 million on Friday 

as well as CYN46.92 

million through the 

Retail Secondary Market 

Exchange rates 

Interbank Lending Rates 

Intervention Sales 

(SMIS). 

Confirming the additional 

injection, CBN’s 

Director, Corporate 

Communications Department, 

Isaac Okorafor 

said: “Figures of the 

sales consummated on 

Friday, February 8, 2019 

revealed that the sum of 

$279, 128,518.66 was injected 

to meet requests 

of customers in the agricultural, 

airlines, 

petroleum products and 

raw materials and 

machinery sectors. The 

sum 

of 

CNY46,924,114.04 was 

for payment of Renminbi-denominated 

Letters 

of Credit for agriculture 

as well as raw materials”, 

he added. 

While expressing the 

satisfaction of the 

Bank’s management at 

the stability in the 

different segments of 

the foreign exchange 

market, Okorafor attributed 

the level of stability 

to the Bank’s transparency 

in foreign exchange 

transactions. 

Reflecting the impact 

of the increased dollar 

injection, the naira appreciated 

in the parallel 

market and in the I&E 

window last week. 

According to 

naijabdcs.com, the live 

exchange rate platform 

of the Association of Bureaux 

de change 

Operators of Nigeria 

(ABCON), the parallel 

market exchange 

rate fell to N358 per 

dollar last week from 

N360 per dollar the 

previous week, 

indicating N2 appreciation 

for the naira. 

In the I&E window the 

naira appreciated by 98 

kobo as the indicative 

exchange rate dropped 

to N361.73 per dollar 

last week from N362.71 

per dollar the previous 

week.



By Babajide Komolafe 

FSDH Merchant Bank 

has advised the federal 

government to adjust 

the $60 per barrel budget 

benchmark for crude oil price, 

in view of forecast of lower 

crude oil price in 2019. 

The bank also called for strategies 

to guard the economy 

against decline in crude oil export 

and to build strong structure 

for non oil export. 

The bank made these calls in 

its monthly economic and financial 

outlook titled: “Global 

Developments in January Positive 

for Nigeria. How Sustainable?” 

Speaking at the media presentation 

of the outlook, Head 

of Research, FSDH Merchant 

bank, Mr. Ayo Akinwunmi noted 

that Nigeria’s 

economy benefited 

from development in the global 

economy which prompted 

rise in crude oil price and 

increased foreign portfolio investment 

(FPI) inflow resulting 

to accretion to the nation’s external 

reserves and appreciation 

of the naira during the 

month. 

He however noted that these 

developments were temporary 

and the country needs to prepare 

for the realities ahead. 

He said: “The International 

Monetary Fund (IMF) revised 

downwards its global economic 

growth forecast for 2019 and 

2020 citing the negative effects 

of US – China tariff increases, 

new automobile fuel emission 

standards in Germany, sovereign 

and financial risks in Italy 

and weak market sentiments 

in Turkey. Consequently, the 

IMF has revised downwards 

its global growth forecast for 

2019 and 2020 from the fore- 

African Export-Import 

Bank (Afreximbank) said 

it hopes to attract $4 billion foreign 

direct investment (FDI) 

inflow into Africa through its 

Fund for Export Development 

in Africa (FEDA). 

Prof. Benedict Oramah, President 

of the Bank disclosed this 

while speaking in Tunis during 

the opening of the Financing 

Investment and Trade in Africa 

conference organized by the 

Tunisia-Africa Business Council. 

He said that Afreximbank’s 

vision was to leverage $1 billion 

in support of FEDA's mission 

and to catalyze four times 

that amount in FDI in five years. 

He explained that the kind of 

equity funding currently available 

in Africa was not appropriate 

for turning the continent into 

the trade hub which it needed 

to become in order to achieve 

desired growth, saying that 

FEDA would ensure that investors’ 

investments were protected 

under the immunities and 

privileges available to Afreximbank 

and that the investments 

enjoyed tax privileges 

and incentives. 

Oramah described development 

finance institutions as 

market failure institutions that 

existed to complement what 

FG should adjust budget 

benchmark for crude oil price 

— FSDH Merchant Bank 

cast in October 2018 to 3.5 

percent and 3.6 percent respectively. 

“The expected slow growth in 

the global economy also supports 

the FSDH Research view 

that crude oil price may not rally 

strong in 2019. Therefore, 

Nigeria needs to develop strategies 

to guard against a possible 

drop in crude oil exports. 

FSDH Research noted the possible 

implications of the foregoing 

may be pressure on the 

exchange rate resulting in a 

movement towards N390 per 

dollar, increase in the yields on 

M 

e r g e r 

partners, Diamond and 

Access bank, have set aside 

delightful offers to reward loyal 

customers this valentine season. 

Customers will be rewarded 

with loyalty points, cash-back, 

free websites for SMEs, giveaways 

and lots more by simply 

carrying out one or more banking 

transactions or using the 

banks’ services from February 

1 to February 28, 2019. 

According to Robert Giles, 

Head, Retail Banking, Diamond 

Bank: “As we come together 

to be stronger, we are 

using the ‘season of love’ to 

show our customers that we are 

here for them to help achieve 

their goals. We don’t take our 

customers' trust and loyalty for 

granted and on this valentine, 

we will really show how much 

we care. The bank will reward 

customers who subscribe to 

Xclusive Plus, reactivate their 

fixed income securities and 

high inflation rate. The FGN 

may also limit foreign borrowing 

in the short-term. 

“Crude oil price recovered in 

January 2019 compared with 

the position as at close of December 

2018. This provides 

some temporary fiscal relief in 

Nigeria. Despite the increase, 

FSDH Research believes Nigeria 

needs to adjust the Budget 

benchmark. It also needs to 

build a strong structure for nonoil 

exports. 

“Crude oil price is forecasted 

to be lower in 2019 compared 

with 2018, mostly as a result of 

expected oversupply in the face 

of a weak demand occasioned 

by fragile global economic 

growth. According to secondary 

data available from OPEC’s 

report for the month of January 

2019, the daily crude oil 

production in Nigeria increased 

by 0.63 percent to 

1.75million barrels per day 

(mb/d) in December 2018, from 

1.74mb/d in November. This is 

above the production quota 

from OPEC of 1.685mb/d but 

below the benchmark in the 

2019 budget of 2.30 mb/d.” 

From left: Sir Roland Abonta (President MESV/Board member); Sir Nweke Umezuruike Chairman, 

ESVARBON); Mr. Ahmed Kuru, Managing Director, Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AM- 

CON); Mr. Aminu Ismail, Executive Director, AMCON; Mr. Victor Alonge, Board Member, Estate 

Surveyors and Valuers Registration Board of Nigeria (ESVARBON); Dr. Eberechukwu Uneze, 

Executive Director, AMCON and Mr. Joshua Ikioda, Group Head, Resolution, AMCON in a group 

photograph when ESVARBON team visited AMCON to present the “Green Book” to the Management 

of AMCON in Abuja 

Afreximbank targets $4bn FDI with Export Development Fund 

markets were unable to offer or 

that begin to create markets, 

explaining that, as a result, 

Afreximbank’s interventions 

were based on the philosophy 

of bringing additionality, rather 

than displacing commercial 

banks. 

Valentine: Diamond, Access banks to reward 

customers' loyalty 

accounts by updating BVN, 

grow their balances or do more 

transactions on the mobile app 

or our USSD channel *426#. 

“We are also demonstrating 

our commitment to closing the 

financial inclusion gap by giving 

cash rewards for setting up 

and funding Diamond Y’ello accounts. 

We are giving away 

thousands of Gem points and 

helping small businesses set 

up their own website for free.” 

Reiterating Giles’ statement, 

Victor Etuokwu, Executive Director, 

Personal Banking, Access 

Bank, said: “the rewards 

to our customers this season of 

love is simply our own way of 

saying thank you to our combined 

customers at Access and 

Diamond banks for banking 

with us and welcoming them 

to the new opportunities as we 

merge to serve them better. 

Customers and delivering real 

benefits are at the heart of our 

decision to create one of Niger- 

Afreximbank was making it 

possible for financing to come 

into Africa, he said. The Bank 

had just expanded its guarantee 

offering to make it more accessible 

to companies coming into 

Africa, including through its Intra-African 

Investment Guarantee 

Facility. It had also introduced 

Mansa, a customer due 

diligence platform, which will 

help to address the challenge 

of many African countries not 

being able to access trade finance 

due to high compliance 

cost. 

ia’s leading banks. The products 

and services that Diamond 

Bank customers enjoy, including 

its commitment to digital 

innovation will continue unchanged 

and will be backed by 

Access Bank’s own commitment 

to customers, financial inclusion 

and sustainability. 

“In the spirit of the season, 

we will reward every customer 

who spend a minimum of using 

their Access/Diamond 

cards at least three times a 

week on Access Bank and Diamond 

Bank POS terminals. We 

will also reward the first 200 

customers to perform funds 

transfer or bill payment on 

*901/ *426# daily with airtime 

too. Access bank savings account 

customers will receive 

free airtime when they fund 

their accounts and 10,000 

R.E.A.L points will be awarded 

to 1000 new customers when 

they subscribe to the R.E.A.L 

platform.” 

Stanbic IBTC 

reiterates 

support for 

Nigeria 

—China relations 

Stanbic IBTC, a mem 

ber of Standard Bank 

Group, has said it is 

pleased to join the Chinese 

community in Nigeria and 

other well wishers to celebrate 

the Chinese New 

Year, the year of the pig. 

The company stated that 

the Chinese community in 

Nigeria has become a very 

important part of the Stanbic 

IBTC business ecosystem 

as well as that of the 

country’s socio-economic 

and cultural heritage and 

is proud to support the 

community as it ushered in 

its new year. “The staff and 

management of Stanbic 

IBTC wish to congratulate 

the Chinese community as 

it celebrates its New Year, 

the year of the pig. You 

have become a very important 

part of Nigeria and the 

Stanbic IBTC family and 

we are proud to join you to 

welcome the new Chinese 

year,” Chief Executive, 

Stanbic IBTC Holdings 

PLC, Mr. Yinka Sanni, 

said. 

China’s trade relations 

with Nigeria have grown 

considerably over the 

years. Today, China is one 

of Nigeria’s biggest trade 

partners, with a trade balance 

in the region of $8 billion 

in 2018, even as the 

Chinese and the Nigerian 

governments have expressed 

their commitment 

to deepen trade relations 

between the two countries. 

The recent $2.5 billion currency 

swap agreement between 

Nigeria and China 

to ease trade between the 

two nations underpins the 

commitment to strengthen 

bilateral trade between the 

two nations. 

According to Sanni, the 

China Nigeria relationship 

is more significant for Stanbic 

IBTC. There exists a 

strategic institutional relationship 

involving ICBC, 

Standard Bank and Stanbic 

IBTC, which can be leveraged 

to provide stronger 

trade and business ties between 

Nigeria and China. 

ICBC, the world’s largest 

bank, holds a 20 percent 

stake in Standard Bank 

while Standard Bank has 

about 65 percent stake in 

Stanbic IBTC. “The relationship 

presents a huge 

leverage in Africa-China 

trade ties and has resulted 

in various initiatives across 

Africa, ranging from Renminbi 

trading, to Africa- 

China business centres, 

and landmark deals,” Sanni, 

said.


Equities rebound as investors gain N334bn 

By Peter Egwuatu & 

Nkiruka Nnorom 

ACTIVITIES on the 

equities market 

rebounded last week despite 

jitters in the political 

environment with investors 

recording N334 billion gains on 

their investment. 

Specifically, at the close of 

trading on Friday, the equities 

capitalisation rose to N11.758 

trillion as against N11.424 

trillion in the previous week, 

representing 2.92 percent 

increase. Similarly, the All 

Share Index, ASI, the major 

equity indicator, moved up by 

2.92 percent to settle at 

31,529.92 points, leading to 

reversal of outlook for the 

equities by capital market 

operators. Majority of the 

operators are of the view that 

the market would sustain the 

rebound this week, while 

others advised investors to 

tread cautiously. 

Analysis of sectorial activities 

showed that the NSE Banking 

Index, NSE Insurance Index, 

NSE Consumer Goods Index 

and NSE Oil/Gas Index closed 

in positive territory as they 

increased by 8.10 percent, 4.00 

percent, 4.10 percent and 2.54 

percent to 428.72 points, 

126.86 points, 725.31 points 

and 286.18 points respectively. 

However, NSE Industrial 

Index moderated by 0.66 

percent to 1,262.09 points. 

Elsewhere, activity in the 

equities market increased as 

transaction volumes and Naira 

votes rose significantly by 30.42 

percent and 81.79 percent to 

1.89 billion shares and N26.88 

billion; however, total deals 

marginally fell by 0.54 percent 

to19, 213 deals. 

A total turnover of 1.894 

billion shares worth N26.884 

billion in 19,213 deals were 

traded last week by investors 

Finance minister seeks coordinated green climate platform to 

move economy 


AS part of measures to 

move the economy forward, 

the Minister of Finance, 

Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, has called 

for a coordinated green climate 

finance platform. 

The minister made her position 

known at the closing session 

of the UK-Nigeria Climate 

Finance Accelerator, CFA, workshop 

held at the Zonal office 

of the Securities and Exchange 

Commission, SEC, in Lagos. 

Ahmed, represented by Mr. 

Israel Igwe, Director, Economic 

Research and Policy, Ministry of 

Finance, said there was need for 

a coordinated green climate 

finance platform like the CFA in 

the economy. According to her, 

the CFA programme is an 

innovative concept that would 

on the floor of the Exchange in 

contrast to a total of 1.452 billion 

shares valued at N14.788 

billion that exchanged hands 

penultimate week in 19,318 

deals. The financial services 

industry (measured by volume) 

led the activity chart with 1.498 

billion shares valued at 

N19.724 billion traded in 

12,581 deals; thus contributing 

79.10 percent and 73.37 percent 

to the total equity turnover 

aid government’s developing 

approach of the “Ease of Doing 

Business”. 

In his presentation, Mr. Chris 

Dodwell, Director, Climate 

Change and Clean Growth 

Ricardo Energy, called on stakeholders 

in the financial sector to 

collaborate towards financing 

developmental projects. 

Dodwell said that CFA was an 

innovative international initiative 

supported by the UK Government 

and other international 

donors including Nigeria, 

Colombia and Mexico. 

According to him, its aim is to 

accelerate the transformation of 

countries’ Nationally Determined 

Contributions, NDCs, 

into bankable projects to attract 

investment from the private sector. 

He added that CFA was a 

powerful example of creating a 


volume and value respectively. 

The consumer goods industry 

followed with 144.426 million 

shares worth N4.552 billion in 

2,484 deals. The third place 

was conglomerates industry 

with a turnover of 143.320 

million shares worth N220.050 

million in 998 deals. Trading in 

the top three equities namely, 

United Bank for Africa Plc, 

Zenith Bank Plc and FBN 

Holdings Plc (measured by 

productive dialogue between 

financiers and policymakers, focused 

on scalable opportunities. 

“The CFA progresses financing 

proposals for identified 

projects while ensuring Technical 

Assistance is provided to 

policymakers across ministries 

so that planning for delivery of 

the NDC is better aligned with 

available capital from local and 

international markets. For its actualisation 

and success, there is 

need for dialogue and collaboration 

among policymakers, governments, 

project developers 

and financial experts,” Dodwell 

said. 

Contributing, Mr Kyari Bukar, 

former Chairman, Nigeria Economic 

Summit Group (NESG), 

said the CFA programme was 

the kind of investment initiative 

the country currently needed to 

boost its investment portfolios for 

enhanced economic growth. 

Bukar said the initiative would 

help to diversify investment 

portfolio of the banking sector 

and also transform the capital 

market. “There is a driven 

finance community that is 

growing in the Nigerian 

economy, which needs to be 

identified and developed. With 

the much-valued support of the 

Nigeria Economic Summit 

Group, since October 2018, we 

have been engaging with private 

sector companies interested in 

undertaking ambitious low carbon 

development projects.” 

FMDQ set to enhance retail 

investors' participation 

By Nkiruka Nnorom 

FMDQ OTC Securities 

Exchange said it will focus 

on increasing retail investors’ 

participation in the fixed 

income OTC market as well 

as deepen product offering in 

2019. 

The Exchange revealed this 

in its January Newsletter, saying 

that it would ensure that 

the Dealing Member Specialists 

(DMS) market becomes 

fully operational within the 

year. 

Recall that following its longtime 

agenda to foster market 

integration, improve network 

effects and promote liquidity 

in the Nigerian financial markets, 

FMDQ launched a new 

market - DMS Market - last 

year to enable stockbrokers 

trade fixed income securities 

with banks in the debt capital 

market. 

The market development initiative 

comes on the back of the 

fragmentation identified in the 

Nigerian fixed income market 

and provides seamless integration 

of the fixed income interbank 

market, generates additional 

liquidity to the Nigerian 

fixed income market and serve 

as an avenue for effective and 

efficient retail participation in 

this market, the Exchange said 

volume) accounted for 791.318 

million shares worth N10.817 

billion in 5,046 deals, 

contributing 41.79 percent and 

40.23n percent to the total 

equity turnover volume and 

value respectively. 

53 equities appreciated in 

price during the week, higher 

than 16 in the previous week, 

while 21 equities depreciated 

in price, lower than 50 equities 

of the previous week, while 94 

equities remained unchanged 

lower 102 equities recorded in 

the preceding week. 

at that time. 

As part of its product offering, 

the Exchange said it would expand 

the derivatives market by 

introducing new derivatives 

products into the market. 

The Exchange said: “Having 

delivered value-adding initiatives 

and solutions in line with 

its 2018 strategic focus - market 

diversification, FMDQ, leveraging 

on the effective support and 

collaboration of its stakeholders 

remains committed to continue 

working assiduously, in 2019, to 

deliver innovative and key market 

development initiatives, including 

but not limited to introduction 

of new derivatives products 

to the financial market landscape 

and expansion of the Nigerian 

derivatives market.” 

It added that there would be 

activation of new products such 

as repurchase agreement (Repo) 

with collateral management service 

full operationalisation of the 

DMS market to further enhance 

market integration and retail participation 

in the fixed income 

markets as well as infrastructure/ 

housing development, 

sustainable finance development, 

development and launch 

of new/co-branded indices and 

financial market education and 

capacity building for its stakeholders 

through FMDQ Academy






After keying into e-dividend, we still get dividend warrants — Shareholders 


The Chairperson, Pragmatic 

Shareholders Association of 

Nigeria, PSAN, Mrs Bisi Bakare 

Some of our shareholders still get 

dividend warrants from Registrars after 

they have mandated to the e-dividend 

platform. Even I, an active player in the 

capital market that has also keyed into this 

e-dividend platform still get dividend 

warrants after several months that I have 

registered all my shares in the e-dividend 

platform. The regulators should keep 

monitoring the registrars because some of 

them are understaffed and lack some facilities 

that would facilitate the processing of this e- 

dividend. 

The e-dividend, no doubt is good initiatives 

that would help to eradicate or reduce to 

the barest minimum the incidence of 

unclaimed dividend. Unclaimed dividend as 

you may know is an undesirable element of 

the Nigerian capital market which denies 

shareholders the gains of participating in the 

capital market. It denies the economy access 

to the huge amount of money which should 

have accrued to shareholders and would have 

gone into circulation to oil the wheel of the 

economy. 


Stock market to recover N2trn loss post-election – Shareholder 

Mr Patrick Ajudua, National Chairman, New Dimension 

Shareholders Association, NDSA in this interview spoke on the 

stock market performance in 2018 and the outlook for 2019 and 

some of the things that government should do top attract foreign 

investors. 

Excerpts: 

By Perter Egwuatu 

HOW do you see the 

performance of the 

stock market in 2018? 

The stock market performed 

poorly in the year 2018 as 

investors lost close to N2 trillion 

worth of their investment. This 

was mainly caused by political 

tension, uncertainty and jittery 

of foreign investors that 

dominates the market, leading 

to capital flight. Also, 

governments’ activities and 

insecurity in the country also 

played their parts to bring the 

market to a bearish situation. 

What is your expectation of 

the stock market this year? 

We as shareholders are 

expecting that the market will 

bounce back once the polity is 

stable. Once, we as a country 

get it politically right, it is our 

hope that the market will correct 

itself. There are many 

opportunities in the market but 

the fiscal and monetary policies 

are also not helping matter. The 

listed companies’ performance 

The political 

atmosphere will 

basically determine 

the direction of the 

economy as foreign 

investors are 

seriously waiting to 

come back to the 

country 

depends on the macroeconomic 

environment. So we expect the 

government to churn out policies 

that will be productive to the 

economy and the market in 

particular. 

Do you thick companies can 

still declare dividend to 

Mr Owolabi Peter, 

Chairman Integrated 

Supreme Shareholders 

Association of Nigeria 

Some of our shareholders 

have complained of 

receiving dividend warrants 

even after they have migrated 

to the e-dividend platform. 

Although, since I have 

registered all my shares I no 

longer get dividend warrants. 

Once dividend is declared by 

any of the companies that I 

have stake it is paid to my 

account. 

But to some of our 

shareholders that still get 

dividend warrants they need 

to still visit their registrars 

and make formal complaints. 

In addition, the regulator 

should carry out oversight 

supervision to see that all 

registrars key into this 

initiative. 

•Patrick Ajudua 

shareholders for the 2018 

financial year given the 

performance of the economy? 

We believe that companies 

will declare profits though it 

The National Co-ordinator, 

Proactive Shareholders 

Association of Nigeria, 

PSAN, Mr Oderinde Taiwo 

It still surprise me that registrars 

still send dividend warrants to 

shareholders when they have 

already registered for the e- 

dividend. 

This shows that some of the 

registrars are not even serious with 

the e-dividend initiative. The 

regulators in our market have a big 

role to play here by ensuring that 

defaulted entity is sanctioned. As a 

shareholder group, we educate our 

people of the need to participate in 

the ongoing e-dividend registration. 

e-dividend if properly executed 

will ensure that we no longer 

have further unclaimed dividend. 

Also, companies should be made to 

publish names of unclaimed 

dividend in their annual report as 

done by some of them. 

might not be as high as 

expected. Most companies that 

have dividend policy will still 

declare dividend. We expect 

the economy to pick up after the 

first quarter. The political 

The Chairman, 

Progressive Shareholders 

Association of Nigeria, 

PSAN, Mr Boniface 

Okezie 

I 

have said it time without 

number that some of these 

registrars are not well equipped. 

As a leader of a shareholder 

group I am also affected. I also 

get some dividend warrants even 

when I have registered all my 

shares in the e-dividend platform. 

The Securities and Exchange 

Commission, SEC is not doing 

enough in terms of supervision 

and monitoring. Are you telling 

me that they have not been 

reading the complaints of 

shareholders? SEC is also not 

active as a regulator, when you 

come to issue of investor 

protection; we are not been 

protected in our investment 

especially when decisions taken 

by some other regulators that 

affect the shareholders without 

their own inputs. 

atmosphere will basically 

determine the direction of the 

economy as foreign investors 

are seriously waiting to come 

back to the country. 

What is your take on illegal 

capital market operators and 

your advice to investors? 

Investors who patronize them 

are doing so as a result of greed 

and what I regard as difficult 

economic circumstance we have 

found ourselves in this country. 

Some investors also patronize 

them because they still see 

them as only means of survival 

and in fact short cut to survival 

and according them the only 

means of meeting the financial 

obligations as a result of 

economic problems. 

But we are saying that it is 

better we hold on for the sake 

of tomorrow. My advice is that 

once bitten twice shy. They 

should desist from patronizing 

them rather they should 

patronize those operators who 

are incorporated in Nigeria and 

registered with the regulators. 

It is only way that the 

perpetrators of this act could be 

sued for breach of trust and 

contractually failure.



30—Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2019 


We shall stimulate 

competition to 

moderate lending rates 

--- DBN Boss 

The Managing Director, Development Bank 

of Nigeria (DBN), Tony Okpanachi, spoke 

to our Group Business Editor, EMEKA ANAETO, 

on various issues in development financing in 

Nigeria now driven by DBN. 

Excerpts 

DEVELOPMENT Bank of 

Nigeria (DBN), sometime 

last year, conducted a 

monitoring and evaluation 

exercise over its funded 

businesses. What were the 

findings? 

Well, as part of the findings 

from our M&E exercise 

(Monitoring & Evaluation), 

there where instances the endborrowers 

appeared not to benefit 

from our key distinguishing 

features of the DBN loans which 

is longer tenure. Consider this 

example, an end-borrower would 

request for five years tenure to 

their respective Participating 

Financial Institution (PFI). 

However, in some instances the 

PFI would communicate three 

years to the end-borrower. 

Secondly, we witnessed issues 

around pricing. What I mean by 

that is the overall expectation is 

that the DBN loans should be 

single digits. The funding of DBN 

is a combination of debt and 

equity. As you know, the debt 

component must be repaid. 

Crucially, the macroeconomic 

environment is not necessarily 

ripe for that type of pricing to 

enable the bank ensure 

sustainability in the long-run. 

Macroeconomic 

environment 

In spite of that, we have been 

engaging the PFI’s to moderate 

their pricing through moral 

suasion to pass on favorable rates 

to the end-borrowers. 

Nevertheless, we expect the 

issues around pricing will 

moderate to some extent as the 

macroeconomic environment 

improves on the one hand, and 

a sense of competition is created 

by publishing rates offered by the 

different PFIs on our website. 

Thirdly, in some cases we have 

witnessed that the (PFIs) did not 

communicate to the endborrowers 

that the funds 

originated from DBN which 

doesn’t create the awareness the 

bank needs to penetrate the 

market effectively. In a nutshell, 

these were some of the 

challenges we faced. But in terms 

of funds utilization, we have seen 

some of it used for project 

expansion, while others for 

working capital and acquisition 

of new machineries. In fact, one 

of the end-borrowers in the 

transportation sector used it to 

acquire more buses and 

vehicles. 

Specifically, this end-borrower 

manages the public 

transportation line for the state. 

In other words, a public/private 

partnership arrangement. So, 

the end-borrower used our 

funding to get more vehicles to 

put on the road. 

In the end, the objective 

for the bank is emphasis on 

longer tenure. Considering 

the underlying difference 

between DBN funds and 

that of commercial banks 

or should I say PFI’s in 

general is that commercial banks 

don’t necessarily have the 

appetite to give longer tenure 

while DBN funds specifically 

aims to provide up to 10 years 

with a moratorium to enable the 

MSME’s grow. 

Other issues that we 

experienced were in fact out of 

the banks control. Consider a 

typical MSME in the country, 

even with the right funding in 

place, these individuals still face 

the same problems as you and I. 

What I mean by that is the overall 

operating environment in terms 

of infrastructure in the country. 

Some MSME’s face issues 

around power supply, while 

others face issues around poor 

road network. So, by the time they 

have factored all these issues 

and cost of funding, the cost of 

production is much higher. 

So, all these and other 

experiences we have seen play 

out in our M&E exercise. To 

ensure we are playing our part 

as a development institution, in 

our own advocacy campaign, we 

convey these issues of concern 

to the relevant authorities to let 

them know that, yes, it is a larger 

macro issue, but we need to 

begin to have deliberate efforts 

to address them. 

From what you said, is 

possible there is a 

misrepresentation, or a breach 

of trust in the tripartite 

arrangement, especially in the 

case where your facility is for 

five years tenure, stated 

somewhere in your documents, 

but it is delivered to the end 

borrower at three years. Do you 

have any redress for this? 

Off course we took on the 

financial institutions on that. I 

believe the explanations 

provided to us was that, yes, they 

have the board approval to 

Tony Okpanachi 

provide five years tenure, but 

they gave the end-borrowers 

three years so that the borrower 

does not have a relaxed 

disposition regarding 

repayment. Nevertheless, what 

we as a bank are insisting is that 

transparency which is part of our 

core values here at DBN should 

be conveyed. 

Are the PFIs so free in pricing 

or is the pricing so loose that 

whatever they give to the end 

borrower that is it? 

No, pricing is not necessarily 

loose because the PFI’’s do 

Our expectations 

are that we raise 

more funds from 

other impact 

investors and of 

course, 

development 

partners who may 

be interested 

communicate to us the rates they 

lend at. So, in situations where 

rates are elevated, we open 

dialogue with the PFI to look for 

ways to encourage them to 

reduce the rates to the endborrower. 

Especially, key sectors 

that we are trying to encourage 

more funding. 

Now, in the long run, we intend 

on creating competition amongst 

the on-boarded PFI’s by 

displaying the rates on our 

website. In my view, this is a way 

of ensuring transparency on the 

one hand, and also allowing 

competition to aid us in 

pushing rates down in 

aggregate terms. In this 

scenario, any prospective endborrower 

will know which bank 

is offering which rate, and 

which bank to approach for a 

loan. That is ultimately what we 

want to 

achieve, by that time, we 

would have gotten so 

many more financial 

institutions on 

board 

and then we can say, look, for 

transparency, everybody should 

see rates across the various PFI’s 

and now each prospective endborrower 

have multiple options 

to choose. 

Is there a way you track what 

is known as hidden charges in 

credit offer letters of banks? 

Yes, we see everything. For 

instance, in the pilot M&E the 

end-borrowers furnish the offer 

letter to enable us to validate our 

baseline information received 

from the PFI’s. To be sure, we 

don’t dictate rates to the PFI’s as 

such, we don’t peg them on rate 

offerings. However, the issue of 

transparency cannot be over 

emphasized hence, our rationale 

for data validation. 

But offer letters don’t say it 

all? 

In recent years, the Central 

Bank consumer protection 

department has tidied that up. 

So, those issues that used to be 

pervasive in those days are no 

longer rampant because once a 

customer reports that there has 

been a breach or any such thing, 

the Central Bank, in some 

instances, asks the bank to 

refund. So, the consumer 

protection department has truly 

stepped up their game in this 

area. Banks are much more 

careful because the repercussion 

of non-compliance is 

pernicious. 

With the N1.3 to N2.3 trillion 

funding gaps in the Nigerian 

economy, what do you think is 

available to fill the gap? 

In Nigeria as a whole, all the 

funding of the DFI’s 

(Development Finance 

Institutions) together, is not up 

to N1trillion. So, the larger part 

of the money in terms of deposits 

are with commercial banks. To 

fund the MSME segment, you 

need funding from the 

commercial banks, Micro 

Finance Banks, and other 

intervention funds to name a few 

to fund various sectors of the 

economy in order to spur 

economic growth. Hence, the 

need for collaboration. Funds 

from commercial banks are 

typically higher rates and shorter 

tenure when compared to the 

funds from the development 

banks which are more 

concessionary in nature or longer 

tenured. In the end, the different 

sources of funding are available 

to meet the different needs of 

customers operating in different 

sectors at different points in time. 

To provide clarity, when a 

business begins operations the 

need is different, and as it 

matures, the need changes as 

well. 

What is DBN’s target share in 

that credit market? 

Ultimately, as we continue to 

grow, we believe that we should 

be able to, at least, get between 5 

to 10 percent of that segment 

because we are not deposit 

takers. But beyond that, our credit 

guarantees which we are going 

to provide, and even our long 

term tenured funds should be a 

catalyst for more lending from 

other institutions. 

De-risking 

the segment 

Our aim is to be the catalyst for 

other financial institutions to be 

encouraged to lend to MSMEs 

(micro, small and medium 

enterprises) which in my humble 

opinion is more than just availing 

funds. Other mandates of DBN 

include de-risking the segment 

as a whole which leaves no doubt 

in my mind that banks in general 

will find this segment more 

attractive. In the end, creating 

multiple avenues for MSME 

operators to access funds. 

How is DBN funded, that is 

sources of the funds you are 

lending and what is the size? 

The total commitment we have 

from our development partners 

is USD1.3 billion. Our partners 

that provide debt to the bank 

include the World Bank, the 

African Development Bank, the 

German Development Bank and 

AFD which is the French 

development bank. 

Meanwhile equity 

shareholders of the bank include 

the Federal Government of 

Nigeria, European Investment 

Bank, and African Development 

Bank. 

Then going forward, what 

is the future like at DBN? 

The future for DBN is bright! 

We are currently in our second 

year of full operations. As we 

approach our fifth year of 

operations, that would be 

considered a critical stage for us 

because we intend on going out 

to the market to raise more 

capital. Our expectations are that 

we raise more funds from other 

impact investors and of course, 

development partners who may 

be interested. Furthermore, if 

market conditions permit, we 

may also raise more funds 

through issuance of bonds.


‘To be or not to be?’ That is the 

question for voters on Saturday 


History does not repeat itself; man 

does —Professor Barbara Tuchmann 

THE Harvard Professor and 

expert on 13th and 14th century 

Europe, one of whose books I read 

only after finishing the VANGUARD 

BOOK OF QUOTATIONS, VBQ, left 

several historical insights from which 

Nigerian leaders and their advisers, 

as well as My Fellow Countrymen/ 

women would benefit if only we read 

history – or anything else for that 

matter.” 

But, George Santayana, 1863-1952 

did not escape my attention in 1967 

in Boston University Library. “Those 

who do not remember the past are 

condemned to repeat it.” That was 

what Santayana told the world. It is a 

message routinely ignored by 

successive Nigerian governments. 

They operate as if the world, or at least, 

Nigeria, began the day they were 

elected. Nigerians, especially the 

partisan members of political parties 

as well as most opinion leaders 

indulge them. For many of us, it is a 

situation of selective remembering 

and selective forgetting. We evade the 

truth whenever it does not serve our 

political interests even if fellow 

Nigerians suffer greatly as a result. 

Consequently, Nigeria is today the 

poorest nation on earth and one of 

the three for which hope is dimming 

that they will ever recover. Who is to 

blame? Start with the military. 

Unelected, and ever fearful of being 

deposed by coup, they spent a 

disproportionate percentage of our 

resources on self-protection and not 

enough on building the foundations 

for strong and sustainable growth 

which would have made it possible to 

escape the poverty trap in which we 

now find ourselves. The only time the 

Nigerian economy grew at more than 

four per cent per annum was under 

General Gowon (1966-1975) and it 

was not domestic aggregate increase 

in productivity that made that feat 

possible. It was the astronomic rise in 

the price of crude oil. Since then, no 

military government had been able 

to produce three per cent annual 

growth of Gross Domestic Product, 

GDP. In fact, the two recessions the 

nation ever experienced were under 

the military regime of General 

Muhammadu Buhari (1984) and 

civilian President Muhammadu 

Buhari (2016). 

We were also not better served by 

civilians. 

The years (2012-2014) GDP grew 

at over four per cent, mainly under 

Jonathan, coincided with the period 

when crude oil prices reached its peak. 

The economic policies of the Federal 

Government had nothing to do with 

it. If anything the massive and almost 

lunatic corruption at the time made it 

impossible for that government to lay 

the foundations for strong economic 

growth in a world in which crude no 

longer held sway. 

For every folly of their (governments), 

(Nigerians) feel the lash —Horace 65- 

8 BC (amended) (VBQ p 61). 

Most Nigerians, not being 

economists, only feel the lashes – 

hunger, poor infrastructure, 

inadequate health services, education 

sector preparing our kids for the 

nineteenth century, increasing 

insecurity and all the tragedies 

associated with deepening poverty. 

Every economist, if he is honest and 

professional, also suffers from the 

whip. Unlike others, however, he 

knows well in advance that the blows 

are coming and the reasons why. 

Anywhere else in the world, citizens 

listen to the non-partisan economists 

who have proved to be consistently 

correct with their predictions. 

Companies invite them for 

discussions when planning for the 

future; investors consult them. 

Nigerians do none of this. My Fellow 

Citizens actually believe governments 

while gleefully forgetting that “Every 

government is run by liars and nothing 

they say should be believed.” (I.F. 

Stone, VBQ, p 80). It is almost 

axiomatic that the only time 

governments tell the truth is when it is 

Those who do not 

remember the past 

are condemned to 

repeat it; that was 

what Santayana 

told the world. It is 

a message 

routinely ignored 

by successive 

Nigerian 

governments 

favourable. Anything else runs the 

gamut of half-truths to total 

falsehood. 

Two examples would serve to 

illustrate the points made here – one 

from the past and another from events 

in 2018. During YarÁdua/Jonathan 

administrations, millions of naira and 

precious time were wasted promoting 

VISION 2020. As a guest lecturer at 

the Government College, Ughelli, 

Old Boys Association annual 

meeting, I told the audience to forget 

it. Nothing like that would happen. 

But, Jonathan’s government still clung 

to that fiction until he left office in 

2015. 

Three separate articles were 

published on this page last year 

predicting that investors on the 

Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, were 

in for a severe beating. A friend and 

investor called and accused me of 

being “a prophet of doom”. He did 

not believe the forecasts. I asked him 

to call back in October. He called in 

August after losing millions of naira. 

He lost more by December 31. 

One common characteristic of 

these two incidents is the refusal of 

Nigerians to act on the advice of 

independent public analysts instead 

of government and its agencies. The 

Director-General of the NSE can 

never declare that a crash is 

imminent; he will be sacked 

immediately. Only independent 

economists and financial experts can 

do that. We are the watch dogs of 

society. Another friend who took the 

advice and sold most of his shares 

asked me how we cope with being 

regularly ignored. My reply was 

simple. Prophets are accustomed to 

being ignored until the disaster 

occurs. 

This brings me to the reason for 

writing this article today. On Saturday, 

Nigerians will go to the polls to elect 

a President. A major reason for 

electing presidents all over the world 

is always their ability to manage the 

economy and improve on the welfare 

of their citizens. No known instance 

can be found in the last thirty years in 

a democracy where a government 

which has demonstrated 

incompetence in economic 

management was re-elected in a free 

and fair election. The ruling party, the 

All Progressives Congress, APC, has 

wracked up the worst economic 

performance of any previous 

government in three and a half years. 

Even 2019 has already been declared 

a disaster by the International 

Monetary Fund, IMF, and other 

global institutions – whose forecasts 

have proved more accurate than the 

false and rosy estimates which the 

Buhari administration projected for 

2016, 2017 and 2018. There is no 

reason to believe that the Federal 

Government will spring a pleasant 

surprise by growing the GDP at four 

per cent this year. There is nothing in 

the 2019 Budget to warrant that 

optimism. Instead, it is a safe bet that, 

just as this government to deliver on 

the promises of the last three budgets, 

it will most probably fail again in 

2019. By December 2019 all 

Nigerians will receive is another 

round of excuses. 

The gang that cannot shoot 

straight 

Obviously, anybody wanting 

Nigeria to reverse the downward trend 

into poverty will have to vote for 

another political party. Buhari/ 

Osinbajo team simply doesn’t know 

how to manage an economy for rapid 

growth and can never learn. Osinbajo 

as the head of the Economic 

Management Team is the classic 

example of putting a square peg in a 

round hole. He is a total misfit. The 

Ministers on the team have also not 

made up for the short-comings of the 

Vice President. American columnist, 

Mike Royko, with the CHICAGO 

SUN TIMES in a book titled GANG 

THAT CANNOT SHOOT straight 

ridiculed the US Mafia with that bestseller 

by pointing out that the 

hoodlums missed their targets most 

of the time and then turned around to 

either lie about it or offer excuses for 

failure. Buhari/Osinbajo team had 

missed on so many targets that – out 

of shame – all they do now is to go 

about lying and offering excuses. 

Bear that in mind when you vote on 

Saturday. If you re-elect them you 

have no right to complain about the 

disaster which will follow. 


By Providence Emmanuel 

THE National Association of 

Microfinance Banks, 

NAMB, has called for a full 

implementation of the National 

Microfinance Policy, NMP, in the 

application of intervention funds. 

Meanwhile, the association has 

asked the Central Bank of Nigeria, 

CBN and Bankers Committee to 

reconsider its decision to establish 

a microfinance bank in collaboration 

with the NIPOST, saying it is not in 

the best interest of the subsector. 

Making this call in a statement 

issued last week, NAMB said it 

reviewed the decision of the 

Bankers Committee and the CBN 

to set up a National Microfinance 

Bank, NMB, in collaboration with 

Nigerian Postal Service and 

observed that it runs counterproductive 

to the salient objectives 

of the NMP, Regulatory and 

Supervisory Framework for Nigeria 

as well as the objectives of the 

National Financial Inclusion 

Strategy. 

Recall that the CBN had, in 

December 2018, proposed to 

establish the NMB due to poor 

disbursement of intervention funds 

to MSMEs, high interest rates 

charged by existing MfBs and the 

need to revamp moribund postal 

MfBs push for implementation of NMP in intervention 

funds •Kick against National MfB 

services system. 

To this end, NAMB, which 

delayed in making its position 

known to the media on the 

proposed NMB, said that the CBN/ 

Bankers Committee should utilize 

existing touch points and offices of 

existing MfBs which meet 

approved criteria to disburse its 

intervention funds including, but 

not limited to the Agri-Business, 

Small and Medium Enterprises 

Investment Scheme, ACGSMEIS 

as well as Micro, Small and 

Medium Enterprises Development 

Fund, MSMEDF, among others. 

The association added that equity 

funds for the planned NMB should 

be channelled to support the 

NAMB initiative for a private sector 

led Microfinance Development 

Company Ltd to manage a 

Microfinance Development Fund 

as provided for in the NMP. 

They stated: “This would be a 

sector-based source of wholesale 

funding and refinancing for the 

microfinance subsector. “The CBN/ 

Bankers Committee should 

consider a super agent banking 

license to NIPOST. NAMB is 

willing to partner with NIPOST as 

a super-agent for delivery of 

financial services across the 774 local 

government areas. There is need 

for an urgent engagement and 

dialogue between NAMB and the 

This would be a 

sector-based source 

of wholesale funding 

and refinancing for 

the microfinance 

subsector 

Bankers Committee to consider 

modalities and options for optimal 

utilization of the various intervention 

funds, particularly, the ACGSMEIS 

Fund by MfBs and effective 

linkage between the commercial 

banks on the one hand, and MfBs 

on the other for the purpose of onlending. 

“We believe that the Bankers 

Committee is driven by a strong 

commitment to improve financial 

inclusion across the country; so 

equally does NAMB and its 

MICRO FINANCE 

constituent MfBs. A strong 

collaboration is truly needed to 

sustain financial inclusion growth 

in Nigeria.” 

The association continued while 

explaining that issues involved in 

poor disbursement from the 

intervention funds are obvious to 

all stakeholders and are indeed not 

intractable. It said that effective 

engagement of all stakeholders is 

required to effectively address them, 

saying: “Attractive as the idea of a 

new national MfB may appear, it 

is not likely to outpace the 

performance of existing MfB with 

extensive footprint and long history 

of community engagement in every 

nook and cranny across the country. 

“The objective of furthering 

financial inclusion and support for 

MSMEs can best be actualized by 

these numerous MfBs with 

adequate engagement and 

support. We strongly believe that 

MfBs in the country will outperform 

all financial inclusion targets if all 

intervention funds and indeed 

other wholesale funds are made 

very accessible to them at all levels. 

“The relative high interest rates 

in the Nigerian microfinance 

market stem from first, the 

incontrovertible fact of the expensive 

nature of delivering little bits of 

financial services. A N5billion big 

ticket transaction to one customer 

by a commercial bank is certainly 

less expensive than a MfB making 

the same amount of loan to 

thousands of micro-enterprises at 

N200,000 per transaction. 

“Second, is the near absence of 

affordable and sustainable sources 

of re-financing facility against what 

obtains in every other nation, where 

microfinance has blossomed and 

supported micro, small and 

medium enterprises. For the reason 

of several factors in the Nigerian 

economy, the cost of access to 

foreign re-financing funds here (for 

an example hedging cost) is much 

higher than what obtains in most 

other countries in Africa. 

“We very much call for an urgent 

engagement and dialogue between 

NAMB and the Bankers 

Committee to consider modalities 

and options for: optimal utilization 

of the various intervention funds, 

particularly, the ACGSMEIS fund 

by MfB and effective linkage 

between the commercial banks on 

the one hand, and MfBs on the 

other for the purpose of onlending.”


(08052201997) 

THE subject of the 

narrative, in this column, 

last week, was the $7bn which 

Festus Odoko, former CBN 

Corporate Affairs Director, 

confirmed had been deposited 

with 14 Nigerian banks in 

October 2006. It is not clear how 

many banks, actually, 

succeeded in raising the 

mandatory capital base of 

N25bn, and the additional 

N35bn steep threshold, 

required to manage part of 

Nigeria’s foreign reserves; 

nevertheless, on hindsight, 

CBN may have quietly 

dropped this clearly ambitious 

requirement, so as to pursue its 

declared agenda. 

Regrettably, despite several 

promptings in repeat 

publications of the above title 

by this writer since 2006, CBN 

management, remained 

inexplicably, taciturn to any 

request to confirm status of 

the $7bn placed with Nigerian 

banks, without collateral, 

equity participation or 

profitable return after 13 

years! 

Lately, however, 

the Chairman of the Special 

Presidential Panel for 

Recovery of Public 

Property, Mr. Okoi Obono- 

Obla, noted in a NAN report, 

in Abuja, on September 7, 

2018, that these banks have 

not repaid the $7bn to 

government’s treasury “after 

13 years.” 

Curiously, according to the 

Panel’s Chairman, “when we 

enquired from CBN, the state 

of that money, the banks told 

us that the money was 

‘dashed’ to them.” 

Consequently, upon the 

Presidential Panel’s request, 

the EFCC ultimately, 

invited Dr.Obadiah 

Mailafia, a former CBN 

Deputy Governor, to shed 

light on the controversial $7bn 

‘gift’ to banks, when Soludo 

was CBN Governor in 

Where is $7bn CBN placed with 

14 Banks? 

2006. It is a story of how 

hapless Nigerians may have 

been insensitively betrayed, 

when CBN dashed $7bn of 

scarce forex to 14 banks, even 

when CBN and same 

government were already 

neck deep in debt to these 

bankers.” 

Below is Mailafia’s 

testimony, 

which 

was published in 

BusinessDay edition of 24/1/ 

2019. Please read on. 

“In early October of 2006 

the then Governor of the 

CBN, Prof. Chukwuma 

Soludo brought a proposal to 

the Board to the effect that he 

wanted 14 of our commercial 

banks to take part in the 

management of our external 

reserves in partnership with 

foreign banking associates. 

He explained that it was 

rather unfair that only external 

custodians such as J. P. 

Morgan, Goldman Sachs and 

others were having a piece of 

the action. 

At the time, we were feeling 

rather triumphal. The banking 

reforms had been a success. We 

had managed to reach a deal 

with the Paris Club of 

international creditors. The 

economy was booming. Our 

foreign reserves had grown 

from a lowly US$10 billion in 

2004 to an impressive US$38 

billion in 2006... We had just 

launched the FSS2020 project 

which aimed to position our 

country as the financial hub of 

the continent by 2020.” 

“As I recall, there was a lively 

debate on the matter. On the 

face of it, it seemed a good idea 

to allow our banks to have 

experience of managing our 

external reserves as a means 

of socialisation into the 

complex world of financial 

engineering and global 

financial markets. I had a 

modicum of doubt, but, alas, 

could not voice it. The professor 

was a Mister Know-All with an 

ego of the Order of Lucifer. The 

Curse of Mephistopheles.” 

“Moreover, he always 

brandished his closeness with 

Aso Villa to neutralise any 

dissent. There was a 

whispering campaign about 

me being “the black sheep” 

that would not play ball...” 

“At the end of the day, the 

When we 

enquired from 

CBN, the state 

of that money, 

the banks told 

us that the 

money was 

‘dashed’ to 

them 

majority carried the day with 

regard to local participation in 

foreign reserves management. 

I must emphasize–for the 

avoidance of doubt–that at no 

stage did anyone get even the 

remotest impression that it was 

meant to be a loan, bailout or 

forbearance.” 

“Of course, it would be 

another matter entirely if the 

banks, as an afterthought— 

after more than a decade– 

would now prefer to give a 

different interpretation to that 

financial deal. This should be 

confirmed from the archival 

records of the CBN. The 

banks had a mandate as fund 

managers of the US$7 billion 

that was distributed to them; 

of which principal and interest 

were to be returned within the 

agreed tenor. But I was not 

privy to those details.” 

“On 26 March 2007, while 

busy at my desk in the early 

afternoon, news came on 

national radio that I had 

ceased to be Deputy Governor 

and had been moved to the 

presidency to a 419 position 

as Special Adviser to the 

President on Political Economy. 

I resigned myself to the will 

of God. I had worked alone in 

the office up to midnight of 31st 

December struggling to meet 

the IMF liquidity targets set for 

us under the Special Support 

Instrument. 

Unfortunately my colleagues 

deliberately sabotaged me. 

That may have explained my 

unceremonious departure. I 

later got to know that late 

President Umaru Yar’Adua, 

having studied my dossier, had 

instructed that I be reinstated 

immediately. 

Unfortunately, that same 

week he went into coma, never 

to recover. His presidential 

directive was never obeyed.” 

“I mention these events in 

order to explain that, from 

October 2006 when the 

reserves were allocated to 14 

banks, up to the time I left in 

March 2007, was only slightly 

over 5 months. The 

Directorate for Economic Policy 

which I headed is the most 

important function of any 

central bank, but it is the one 

Directorate where we do not 

handle money. We work with 

computable models for 

monetary policy while 

undertaking research and 

statistical-analytical work to 

drive economic development.” 

“I was therefore surprised 

when, two weeks ago, a friend 

in the security services sent 

me a circular emanating from 

the Villa in which my name 

had been included on a list of 

30 people slammed with a 

travel ban under Executive 

Order No. 6. Dated 11 

December 2018. I managed to 

trace their office to a 

sprawling nondescript 

building in the outskirts of 

Asokoro. 

There, I met a squadron of 

investigators who gleefully 

welcomed me as a new captive. 

I was detained for questioning 

for the whole day and had to 

fill wads upon wads of paper 

about a “missing US$7 billion 

dollars” during my time at 

CBN...” 

“Without prejudice to the 

ongoing investigations, my 

position is that whatever 

monies that were given to 

banks to be managed on 

behalf of CBN, must be 

returned with principal and 

interest. 

I feel duty (bound) to share 

with the panel all that I know 

about this case. But I will first 

affirm my legal rights to be 

treated above board as a 

witness rather than suspect.” 

COMMENT: Ultimately, 

however, even if there is no 

criminality in the $7bn gift to 

banks, there is clearly a good 

case, if refund is not feasible, 

for converting the $7bn, plus 

compounded interest, to 

significant equity in the 

respective banks. 

SAVE THE NAIRA, SAVE 

NIGERIANS!!! 


SON destroys N8m substandard products in Kano 

By Elizabeth Adegbesan 

OVER eight million Naira 

worth of substandard 

products have been destroyed 

by the Standards Organisation 

of Nigeria (SON) at Yankatsari 

Yangongon in Kano, in its 

ongoing efforts aimed at 

stopping trade in substandard 

goods in Nigeria. 

The details of the substandard 

and life-endangering products 

include, 83 bags of 25kg 

expired foreign rice, 257 bags 

of substandard mosquito coil, 

190 cartons of fake Dorco brand 

of shaving sticks, 96 rolls of 

fake NOCACO electrical 

cables, Six (6) bags of 

substandard fertilizers, 146 

trays of substandard 

Automobile Break Fluid, and 

Seven Vails of empty sacks of 

rice. 

The SON Regional 

Coordinator North West, Alhaji 

Abba Adamu Bauchi and the 

Kano/Jigawa States 

Coordinator, Alhaji Yunusa 

Muhammed, coordinated the 

exercise. 

Briefing reporters before the 

destruction exercise, 

Muhammed disclosed that 

patriotic Nigerians, including 

genuine manufacturers and 

consumers assisted in locating 

and confiscating the 

substandard products through 

provision of classified 

information. 

In addition, SON market 

surveillance activities and the 

cooperation of market 

associations like the Singer 

market and Kano Electrical 

Dealers Association (KEDA), 

provided other avenues to the 

substandard products, he said. 

He acknowledged their 

cooperation and collaboration 

as well as those of security and 

sister regulatory agencies in 

apprehending the lifeendangering 

and substandard 

products. 

According to him, necessary 

laboratory tests and analysis 

were carried out on all the 

products to ascertain and 

confirm their quality status as 

being substandard and life 

endangering, while necessary 

approvals have been secured 

to destroy the items in line with 

the provisions of the SON Act 

14 of 2015. 

Muhammed reiterated the 

SON’s continued commitment 

to the fight against the 

circulation of substandard and 

life endangering products, 

stressing that the purveyors 

should either quit or be ready 

to face the full wrath of the law, 

through prosecution. 

The exercise was witnessed 

by the Vice-Chairman, 

Dawakin Kudu Local 

ECONOMY 

Government, Yakubu Musa, 

Muhammed Baba Ahmad and 

Ado Uba of the Kano State 

Ministries of Environment and 

Commerce respectively, 

representatives of sister 

regulatory and security 

agencies as well as the media. 

Representatives of the 

agencies at the destruction 

exercise were Hamza Abubakar 

of the Nigeria Customs Service 

(NCS), Kano/Jigawa 

Command; Mukhtar Abdullahi 

of the Department of State 

Services (DSS); CSP Salihu 

Daiyabu, Nigeria Police, Kano 

State Command; and Umar 

Abdullahi of Nigerian 

Environmental Standards 

Regulatory Agency 

(NESREA).


Send Opinions & Letters to: 

opinions1234@yahoo.com 

The CJN need not be a judge 

IN Nigeria, law has become 

the most dominant profession 

because many lawyers have managed 

to portray themselves as the 

only ‘learned’ people, and denigrated 

professions like estate 

management. Many lawyers are 

stupendously wealthy because 

they are able to compromise 

standards at the expense of their 

profession. They have succeeded 

so well that when a ‘change’ government 

berthed in May, 2015, 

not only were the vice-president 

and powerful chief of staff, lawyers, 

but 10 of the 36 ministers 

appointed were lawyers. They 

were ministers in foreign affairs, 

communication, information, 

sports, labour, women, petroleum, 

planning, and of course justice. In 

fact, until today, one of them runs 

the hybrid ministry of power, 

works and housing. 

So when the Buhari administration 

moved against the Chief Justice 

of Nigeria, CJN, violating all 

processes and procedures, 

abridging the fundamental right 

to fair hearing, and bulldozing 

through the constitution; it was 

not for lack of enough legal 

minds in government. All that was 

necessary to invade the pinnacle 

of justice in the country, was to 

find a pliant lawyer, sitting in an 

inferior court, and working to the 

answer provided by the Presidency 

which desperately wanted the 

CJN out of power. We may yet 

witness the spectacle of the CJN 

being brought to a tribunal in 

handcuffs. It will be easy for some 

to sing: Hurrah to the masses! The 

chief justice is going to jail!! The 

law is an ass!!! But if the CJN can 

be convicted by an inferior court 

and suspended without even his 

plea being taken, then the rest of 

us cannot be safe. If chicks eat the 

entrails of cocks, what will they 

not do to cockroaches? 

So, somehow, the ‘legal sense’ 

of many lawyers has caught up 

with the entire judicial system endangering 

it and the country. Given 

the hierarchical culture that 

has been built into the judicial 

system, an over anxious, uninspiring, 

dour gentleman takes over, 

not for manifest competence, but 

because he is the ‘most senior’. 

How do you elevate a person 

based on seniority without considering 

character, competence 

and suitability? 

It is apposite to ask; must the 

most senior automatically take 

over? The simple answer is no! 

And like lawyers are wont to say, 

there are precedents. Justice 

Darnley Arthur Alexander, a naturalised 

Nigerian who was in 

1957 invited from St Lucia by the 

late sage, Chief Obafemi 

Awolowo, had seniors in the Supreme 

Court when he was made 

the CJN in 1975. The authorities 

then claimed they were interested 

in a CJN that could best sanitise 

the system not one who had 

I think we will have a 

more independent 

judiciary if the CJN is 

appointed not by the 

President, but by the 

National Judicial 

Council subject to 

confirmation by the 

Senate 

marked time on the bench moving 

steps higher with every vacancy. 

Justice in the country cannot 

necessarily be served only if we 

have gerontocrats shuffling their 

feet in the halls of the Supreme 

Court with the baggage they may 

carry. In fact, I think we will have 

a more independent judiciary if 

the CJN is appointed not by the 

President, but by the National 

Judicial Council subject to confirmation 

by the Senate. 

Those who cry that CJN Walter 

Onnoghen should resign to save 

the image of the judiciary, are 

merely looking for a sacrificial 

lamb; a face-saving mechanism 

which will allow the judiciary run 

in the old way. In truth, what is 

required are not palliatives, but a 

rethink of the entire justice system; 

making the temple of justice 

a sacred place that will also fence 

off hawks that want to feast on it. 

A beginning might be to seek for 

a CJN outside the Supreme Court 

and the entire bench. Can you imagine 

the late Alao Aka-Bashourun 

or Gani Fawehinmi being 

CJN? They would have swept all 

the cobwebs away, sanitised the 

system and restored the confidence 

of the populace in the judiciary. 

I am sure we have such principled 

people in our country. Except 

for age, Mrs. Hairat Aderinsola 

Balogun, the first female Life 

Bencher would have fitted the bill 

perfectly. Back in 1986, as Attorney-General 

of Lagos State, she 

compelled the military rulers to 

obey the courts in the Ojukwu 

case. When as a member of the 

Transition to Civil Rule Tribunal 

she realised that no justice will be 

served, she resigned in protest. 

When the Council of Legal Education 

decided to sell the premises 

of the Law School in Lagos, she 

took it head-on in a legal battle 

and succeeded in preserving the 

structures; the Lagos Campus 

continues to run to this day. 

Thinking outside the box as she 

is wont to do, is part of what we 

need. For instance, she thinks that 

law graduates going to the one 

year practical law school programme 

is unnecessary; where 

else will a law graduate acquire 

practical experience but in chambers 

and the courts? Her position 

is that the law graduate should 

serve one or two years in a law 

chamber and take a prescribed 

examination set by the Legal 

Council of Education just as accountants 

take the examinations 

of the Institute of Chartered Accountants 

of Nigeria. This will 

produce better new wigs and save 

the country the huge resources 

expended in running the current 

half a dozen campuses in the country. 

Principled and great legal 

minds like Mrs. Balogun or Mrs. 

Funke Adekoya, SAN, will be far 

better as CJN than quota system 

Supreme Court bureaucrats waiting 

for their turn and being willing 

tools of politicians who want 

to exercise unconstitutional control 

over an independent arm of 

government. 

A non-judge becoming CJN has 

precedents. One of the most famous 

and effective CJNs in Nigerian 

history is Professor Taslim 

Olawale Elias, QC, LLD, CFR, 

GCON. Called to the Bar in 1947 

and earning a Ph.D. from the University 

of London two years later, 

Elias was a lecturer in Manchester 

University, professor of political 

science, University of Delhi 

and legal adviser to the National 

Council of Nigeria and Cameroons, 

NCNC, one of the leading 

political parties in the country. 

He became Attorney- General 

and Commissioner of Justice 

in 1960 and was from 1966, Professor 

and Dean of Law, University 

of Lagos before his appointment 

as CJN in 1972. He was so 

well respected that the United 

Nations in October, 1975 appointed 

him into the International 

Court of Justice, ICJ, rising in 

1979 to become the Court’s Vice- 

President, and in 1982, its President. 

So Elias was never a judge 

before being appointed CJN. 

Also, Article 229 (3) of the Constitution 

states: “A person shall not 

be qualified to hold the office of 

Chief Justice of Nigeria or of a 

Justice of the Supreme Court, unless 

he is qualified to practice as 

a legal practitioner in Nigeria 

and has been so qualified for a 

period of not less than 15 years.” 

That simply means a non-judge 

can be CJN. I rest my case.






The Courts and Politics: A Poisonous 

Relationship 

By Ladipo Adamolekun 

Apolity that seeks judicial 

answers to political 

questions runs the risk of undermining 

its judiciary while 

simultaneously perpetuating 

the underdevelopment of its 

political process. 

Following Nigeria’s most 

rigged (“do or die”) elections 

of 2007, political contestation 

shifted to the courts with hundreds 

of cases taken to election 

tribunals, including Muhammadu 

Buhari’s challenge 

of the results of the presidential 

elections. It was in that 

context that I made the observation 

cited above in “The 

courts and politics” published 

in the Vanguard (November 

7th 2007). On the eve of the 

third election cycle after that 

observation was made, it is 

saddening that we have continued 

to take the risk of undermining 

the judiciary by 

seeking judicial answers to 

political questions. 

Relationship between 

the courts and politics in 

Nigeria 

And our political process has 

remained largely underdeveloped. 

Indeed, the relationship 

between the courts and politics 

in Nigeria has become 

poisonous. 

Though electoral contestations 

taken to Election Tribunals 

were significantly fewer 

in 2011 and 2015 than was the 

case in 2007 - thanks to a maturing 


Electoral Commission (INEC) 

and the introduction of Permanent 

Voters Cards and Card 

Readers in 2015 - most of the 

post-election cases taken to the 

courts would still fall into the 

category of seeking judicial 

answers to political questions. 

And then, there have been the 

innovations of seeking judicial 

answers to intra-party conflicts: 

the political controversy 

within the ruling All Progressives 

Congress (APC) over the 

election of the Senate President 

in the 8th National Assembly 

(abandoned after a 

political “settlement”) and the 

intra-party conflict within the 

Peoples Democratic Party 

(PDP) that was only resolved 

at the level of the Supreme 

Court after the interventions of 

High Courts and an Appeal 

Court barely one year to 2019 

elections. 

Judicial answers to political 

questions 

In the aftermath of the numerous 

verdicts at the various 

court levels – Election Tribunals, 

Courts of Appeal and 

Supreme Court – following the 

2007 election cycle, two interventions 

illustrate the challenge 

of seeking judicial answers 

to political questions. 

First, a former Chief Justice, 

Alfa Belgore, gave the following 

counsel with respect to a 

significant number of appeals 

from the Election Tribunals 

pending before the Courts of 

Appeal: “There is no justice in 

technicalities …If you don’t 

want a dictatorship that will 

lead to anarchy and destroy 

everything you hope for, the 

judiciary must be up to its responsibility” 

(The Nation, 

April 10th 

2007). 

Second and more specific 

was the Supreme Court’s observation 

after voiding the candidature 

of the presumed winner 

of the governorship election 

in Rivers State in 2007 and 

“awarding” victory to “disqualified” 

candidate Rotimi Amaechi: 

“The political parties in 

Nigeria are the creation of the 

constitution; they therefore 

have an important stake in flying 

high and loftily the banner 

of the rule of law. In this 

case, the PDP did not live up 

to that standard. It did everything 

possible to subvert the 

rule of law …hold the court 

before the general public as 

supine and irrelevant. Sadly, 

the Independent National 

Electoral Commission (INEC) 

…also did the same.” In plain 

terms, the apex court identified 

political parties and 

INEC as sick governance institutions. 

Again, in June/July 2016, 

there was a flashback to the 

Rotimi Amaechi case in Abia 

State. The case involved incumbent 

Governor Ikpeazu 

and “Governor-elect” Ogah 

(armed with INEC’s certificate 

of return), due to contradictory 

verdicts by a federal High 

Court in Abuja and a High 

Court in Abia State. The contestation 

was over who was 

PDP’s valid candidate in 2015 

governorship election. As was 

the case in 2007, the courts got 

involved in validating candidate 

selection for election. 

(Governor Ikpeazu triumphed 

while Ogah’s “certificate of 

return” became worthless). 

The sickness of political 

parties 

Adamolekun 

There is urgent 

need to amend the 

1999 Constitution 

to remove provisions 

that make political 

parties “the 

creation of the constitution”, 

thereby 

limiting the involvement 

of 

courts in the political 

process to issues 

that would be similar 

to those found in 

democracies 

world-wide 

litical actors were still asking 

courts to determine whether or 

not they would be candidates. 

Mercifully, 14 pre-election appeals 

relating to candidates 

seeking to contest the 2019 

elections were struck out on 

January 23rd at the Supreme 

Court because they were no 

longer valid following the expiration 

of 60-day constitutional 

time limit (see The Nation, 

January 24th 2019). 

Judiciary is undermined 

Based on reports in the print 

media, the loss of credibility 

of the judiciary since 2007 is 

linked, to a considerable extent, 

to the corrupt practices 

associated with the activities 

of the courts in handling election 

petitions, beginning from 

Election Tribunals through 

High Courts and Federal Appeals 

Courts to the Supreme 

Court. The humongous 

amounts of money found at 

the residences of two Supreme 

Court judges and three High 

Court judges charged with 

corruption in late 2016 are 

widely presumed to be partly 

loots collected during their 

handling of election petitions. 

Given the corrupt practices 

(proven and alleged) that 

have been associated with 

post-election contestations 

from the level of Election Tribunals 

to the Supreme Court, 

Fast forward to the 2019 election 

cycle, beginning from the 

build-up during the second 

half of 2018. The sickness of 

political parties that was 

flagged by the Supreme Court 

in the 2007 case had worsened 

during the following decade 

as the courts were dragged 

into the selection of candidates 

for governorship and National 

Assembly (NASS) elections 

by a significant number of political 

actors in the two major 

parties, APC and PDP. And in 

the Social Democratic Party 

(SDP) – one of the so-called 

“alternative” parties – it was 

the selection of its presidential 

candidate. All this constitutes 

strong evidence of weak 

internal democratic processes 

within the political parties. 

By early February – barely 

two weeks to the presidential 

and NASS elections and less 

than one month to the governorship 

elections - some poit 

is very likely that varying 

degrees of corrupt practices 

have occurred during the involvement 

of courts in the contestations 

over candidate selection 

for the 2019 election 

cycle. 

Above all, evidence of a judiciary 

undermined is provided 

by the on-going debate on 

the suspension of Chief Justice 

WSN Onnoghen. On the 

one hand, president Buhari 

claims to have based his decision 

on the “order” he received 

from the Code of Conduct 

Tribunal. On the other 

hand, anticipatory linkage of 

the president’s action to possible 

post-election contestation 

that would end up at the Supreme 

Court is a widespread 

viewpoint in the print media 

and it is shared by many national 

and several international 

observers of electoral politics 

in Nigeria. 

Underdeveloped political 

process 

Chief Justice WSN Onnoghen 

saga also points up a worrisome 

dimension of the country’s 

political underdevelopment. 

Following what could be 

called an Executive versus Judiciary 

problem, the leadership 

of the Senate (atop the 

Legislative arm) filed a suit 

before the Supreme Court to 

challenge the president’s suspension 

of the CJN. Thus, 

over a few days in early February, 

all three arms of government 

were literally at war: 

Executive v Judiciary and Legislative 

v Executive. This evidence 

of unhealthy key governance 

institutions is a pointer 

to the underdevelopment of 

the country’s political process. 

The extensive involvement of 

courts in the country’s political 

process is almost certainly 

linked to the following assertion 

of a Supreme Court justice 

that was cited earlier: “political 

parties in Nigeria are 

the creation of the constitution”. 

Although Nigeria’s 

presidential system of government 

was modelled on that of 

the United States, it departs 

significantly from it with respect 

to numerous constitutional 

provisions on political 

parties in contrast to the US 

constitution that does not 

mention political parties. 

There is urgent need to amend 

the 1999 Constitution to remove 

provisions that make 

political parties “the creation 

of the constitution”, thereby 

limiting the involvement of 

courts in the political process 

to issues that would be similar 

to those found in democracies 

world-wide. The unique 

extensive provisions on political 

parties in our 1999 Constitution 

constitute bad practice 

that should be abandoned. 

Furthermore, I would argue 

that the country’s weak party 

system that has persisted since 

1999 is the major explanatory 

factor for the underdevelopment 

of the political process. 

The following two remedial 

measures (slightly edited) 

were highlighted in an earlier 

essay on the subject in this 

series, “Understanding Nigeria’s 

Weak Party System” (Vanguard, 

March 16th & 21st 

2018). 

Unenforceability of the 

constitutional provisions 

1. A radical pruning of the 

provisions on political parties 

in the 1999 Constitution as 

contained in Part III, D – Political 

Parties (Articles 221 – 

229). All matters that fall more 

appropriately in the domain of 

law should be removed, thereby 

avoiding the tedious procedures 

for amending constitutional 

provisions. And I added 

that the unenforceability of 

the constitutional provisions 

on democratic practices within 

parties as well as on transparency 

and accountability in 

party finance further underscore 

the need to expunge 

them. 

2. The involvement of independent 

candidates in elections 

that Uwais Commission 

sensibly recommended in 2007 

- which I strongly support - 

has the potential to increase 

the number of politicians for 

whom politics is a vocation for 

service; they will live for politics 

unlike the current majority 

of politicians who live off 

politics: for them politics is a 

business where you make 

mind-bogglingly returns. Specifically, 

independent candidates 

are very likely to add a 

focus on ideas and principles 

into political competition that 

has been largely lacking since 

1999. This is a remedial measure 

that could make a difference 

in the outcomes of electoral 

competitions at the levels 

of local government councils 

and state houses of Assembly 

in the short term. And 

within a decade or so, we 

could have independent candidates 

in the National Assembly. 

*Professor Ladipo Adamolekun 

writes from Iju, Akure 

North, Ondo State.


APC best gifts to Lagosians: 

Sanwo-Olu/Hamzat 

VIDENTLY, Lagos 

Eis far blessed with 

its array of competent 

leaders than vast economic 

potentials and opportunities. 

If economic 

prospects make a place 

great, what do we say of 

countries located on the 

mouth of Atlantic Ocean 

but without economic 

prosperities as Lagos, 

which is just one State in 

Nigeria? 

This is the reason it matters 

who becomes the Governor 

of Lagos State; and 

this fact known to Lagosians, 

the 2019 governorship 

race is worth the attention 

and discourse. After 

all, Lagos State election 

does not only determine the 

State of Lagos but Nigeria 

as a whole. 

The symbolic status of 

Lagos State, Nigeria’s 

model, is beyond any form 

of sentiments. Lagosians 

are well informed and not 

weak. They want leader 

that can whither the complexity 

of governing mega 

society and deliver good 

governance without excuses; 

they want leader that can 

assure of greater future and 

lead through it. Lagsosians 

want candidate with clear 

manifestos for sustainable 

governance, not sheer rhetoric 

against personalities or 

people. 

Dispassionate and 

strong candidate 

Sanwo-Olu/Hamzat 

Lagosians want a candidate 

that is dispassionate 

and strong. The 2019 election 

market has presented 

options before the people, 

a freedom-laced choice. A 

Babajide Sanwo-Olu telling 

the public how he intends 

to drive the state from the 

stand point of his 5-pillar 

mantra on one side, and 

someone with ‘one man 

Lagos’ hymn as campaign 

manifesto. The choice is 

before intelligent and ingenious 

electorates, and I 

trust Lagosians when it 

comes to smart choice at the 

poll. 

APC led government in 

Lagos State has never disappointed 

Lagosians; rather, 

there is more to be grateful 

to the party for. When 

the terrific politicians under 

the PDP government 

seized Nigerian nation in 

1999 and began to upturn 

our good democratic destiny, 

sharing out our commonwealth 

to few, squandering 

our God-given 

enormous resources and 

placing underserving opportunists 

before innocent 

Nigerians, snatching and 

dragging all States by force 

into penury, Lagos State 

stood, with credit to good 

leadership under the then 

AD/ACN. 

APC’s Sanwo-Olu and 

Hamzat combination is an 

indication that the party is 

always putting Lagosians 

first. It is worth saying that 

Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s 

profile and track records in 

government is a propeller 

to fast track governance of 

a very demanding Lagos of 

today. 

Indisputably, Sanwo-Olu 

of APC has not only displayed 

an impressive profile 

in private and public 

service, he has demonstrated 

ability to work the talk 

in every media space lately. 

A former Commissioner 

for Economic Planning and 

Budget, Commissioner for 

Commerce and Industry, 

Commissioner for Establishment, 

Training and Pensions 

and Managing Director 

of the Lagos State Property 

Development Corporation 

spanning through 

three successive administrations 

of Governors Bola 

Ahmed Tinubu, Raji Fashola 

and Akinwunmi Ambode 

successively, Sanwo- 

Olu is APC’s best gift to 

Lagosians in the recent 

time. 

Practically speaking, Sanwo-Olu 

kick-started the process 

that resulted in collective 

bargaining review of 

salaries, and timely payment 

of wages and allowances 

in collaboration with 

the Head of Lagos State 

Civil Service, 

It is pertinent 

and save for 

Lagosians to 

vote for Sanwo-Olu 

and of 

course the 

APC candidates 

to ensure 

stability of the 

polity... 

While serving in government, 

he set-up the Lagos 

State Security Trust Fund; 

initiated new projects in 

conjunction with government 

agencies in Environment. 

His efforts in the 

Transportation sector gave 

birth to what is known today 

as LAGBUS while same 

on Commerce resulted to 

the popular Lekki Free 

Trade Zone, among others 

The running mate of Babajide 

Sanwo-Olu is another 

great achiever in the 

State with vast records of 

accomplishments. Hamzat 

implemented Electronic 

Document Management 

Systems (EDMS) across 

various agencies in the 

state civil service including 

Lands Bureau, Pension Directorate 

and automation of 

the Certificate of Occupancy 

Process. He supervised 

the going live, maintenance, 

operation and upgrade 

of the Enterprise 

Resource Planning Software 

(Oracle Business 

Suite). 

With the implementation 

of e-Health in thirteen General 

Hospitals across the 

State, Hamzat could be superficially 

said to have 

boosted the State’s health 

system with technological 

innovation. He was Commissioner 

for Science and 

Technology for two successive 

administrations in Lagos 

State. As 

Commissioner 

for Works and 

Infrastructure 

under Fashola’s 

administration, 

his impacts in 

the BRF government 

boosted 

infrastructural 

achievements 

that Fashola’s administration 

was renowned 

for till today. 

These are just few of 

many lofty records of Dr 

Obafemi Hamzat. What 

better team can Lagosians 

have at the seat of 

government in 2019? 

If there is any competent 

challenger, such person 

should come up with 

better profile and 

achievements in leadership 

and governance, 

and dwell less on emotional 

unruliness that 

works not on the psychic 

of good people of Lagos 

State. 

The good governance 

enjoyed by Lagosians is 

a product of continuity, 

harmony, dedication 

and commitments 

founded on the sweats 

of true leaders who never 

allowed Lagos to be 

marred by PDP’s reckless 

16 years. Giving 

Lagos State to a politically 

inexperienced contender 

equals to offering 

a viable platform for 

looters and selfish politicians 

to re-group and 

begin to wax stronger at 

the detriment of the nation; 

giving Lagos to 

PDP amounts to making 

their candidate a patron 

that will revamp a dying 

party, bringing corrupt 

politicians together 

to thrive on Lagos 

State’s tax payers’ money. 

Models of best 

economies 

While we continue to 

look at models of best 

economies around the 

world to advance growth 

for Lagos State, reverse 

gear can never be an 

option. We have been a 

consistent State and a 

people. The PDP candidate 

has unending fear 

around freedom issue in 

a very free society; he 

will never be a good 

Governor that can allay 

fears of 22 million people 

of today’s Lagos and 

give hope for their cherished 

futures. 

It is pertinent and 

save for Lagosians to 

vote for Sanwo-Olu and 

of course the APC candidates 

to ensure stability 

of the polity, consistence, 

continuity and 

consolidation of the 

good governance being 

delivered by the party 

across board. This is the 

only way Nigeria can enjoy 

steady growth and 

development without interrupting 

a steadily 

growing economy and 

the entire system. 

Comrade Olusesan 

Daini, Director Media and 

Publicity, Babajide Olusola 

Sawo-Olu, BOS, ICG, 

Lagos, Nigeria. 

Warri Federal Constituency: 

Probing the dynamics, narratives 

By Dr. Frederick 

Pessu 

THE 2019 election is 

around the corner and 

the people of Warri Federal 

Constituency have an opportunity 

to decide and shape the 

direction of progress of her 

people for the next four years. 

This is going to be an 

important next four years in 

our political evolution and 

relevance in the ethnic coalition 

called Nigeria. We have 

become compelled by the immense 

pressure of collective 

responsibility to push for a 

better deal for the people of 

Warri Federal constituency. 

The strategic relevance of 

Warri Federal Constituency; 

both economically and sociopolitically 

within the Nigerian 

political space must at this 

point in time in our history be 

skilfully and intelligently leveraged 

for the benefit of our 

people first and 

then the Nigerian state at 

large. We can therefore 

not afford to be cowed by 

any form of political 

posturing and immoralbravado 

that is hell bent 

on hijacking the future of our 

people. This is the time for us 

to arise and defend our 

political identity as a 

people. We must remember 

who we are as a people and 

our historic economic and 

political bearing. We must 

now be reminded as a people 

that history will judge us 

all and our children and 

grandchildren will be the 

jury. 

Interest of the people 

must remain holy 

To the political leadership in 

Warri Federal constituency, 

politics as we have 

known it is always in the interest 

of the people and not just 

in the interest of the elite. We 

cannot just change a working 

system with a system that 

has trails of corrupt tendencies, 

promulgation of violence, 

and arrogant display of ineptitude 

and gross mismanagement 

of public funds. The interest 

of the people must remain 

holy in this coming 

election. This election is too 

important to take such risk 

considering the political dynamics 

of Delta state and Nigeria. 

This is a clarion call to 

the leaders in Itsekiri, Ijaw 

and Urhobo of Warri Federal 

constituency. We are all looking 

up to you as leaders to 

make selfless decisions in the 

interest of all, including the 

interest of your children and 

grandchildren. This is the time 

to stand for what is right and 

not what is safe. There is no 

better time for this. To the people; 

the women, the old and the 

young, I will also love to encourage 

you to know this truth 

that…. “The human voice 

cannot be tamed, especially 

when it is telling the truth. Even 

in its faintest whisper, it is louder 

than the shelling of a war 

grenade”…. Do not be cowed. 

Let the antecedents of each aspirants 

speak for themselves 

because the group campaign 

cannot be used to deceive us to 

believe that all the aspirants 

under one political party under 

a supposed 5/5 or 6/6 

slogan have the same capacit 

y 

to represent us successfully, 

especially representing Warri 

Federal Constituency at the 

Federal House of 

Representative . Besides 5/5 

or 6/6 = 1 and therefore every 

aspirant needs to show why 

they are the better 

candidates. This is not the 

time for unintelligent and obnoxious 

rhetoric. Let their individual 

antecedents speak for 

themselves. 

In our recent publication 

online on the 10th(https:// 

www.vanguardngr. com/2019/ 

01/warri-federal- constituencywhy-we-must-send- 

our-bestlegislator-to-the- 

house/) and in 

print on the 13th of January 

in the Vanguard 

newspaper, we did gave clear 

reasons why the candidates 

of our choice is Honourable 

Daniel Oritsegbubemi 

Reyenieju(DOR) of the Social 

Democratic Party (SDP) in the 

February 16th Federal House 

of Representative Election. In 

the referred publication we 

Do not be cowed, 

let 

the antecedents 

of each aspirants 

speak 

for themselves 

tried to clearly highlight his 

innumerable track record of 

legacy projects as a member 

representing Warri 

Federal constituency in 

Federal House of 

Representative. Of course, 

there are other 

aspirants across various political 

parties in running for the 

Warri Federal Constituency 

seat at the National assembly 

who have held prominent and 

important positions and serve 

the public in various capacities; 

in community trust, government 

ministries and as 

a Commissioner in Delta 

State Oil Producing Community 

Development 

Commission (DESOPADEC). 

The latter appointment has a 

strategic mandate to drive 

sustainable development 

and intervention to oil producing 

communities in Warri 

F e d e r a l 

Constituency ravaged by oil 

and gas exploration. We would 

love to review their track record 

of service in all capacities. 

We challenge them and their 

surrogates to sell their 

l e g a c i e s t o 

the Itsekiri people and the 

people of Warri Federal Constituency. 

Some of us already 

have some records of their antecedents 

but we would have 

loved to be proven wrong. 

In the February 

16th election, the indigenes of 

Warri 

Federal 

Constituency must reject any 

form of unchecked 

cronyism in our politics!. We 

must reject mediocrity in the 

leadership of our people!. We 

must reject docility and never 

reinforce failure!. We must 

reject any form of political 

rascality!. We must reject all 

who can comfortably trade 

off the interest of their people, 

community, and ethnic 

group for their selfish political 

ambition. We must also 

reject their enablers. In 2019, 

we must protect the politics of 

essence. It is important to note 

that the member representing 

Warri Federal Constituency 

is one (1) out of 360 other 

members of House of representative 

and one (1) out of 

469 Federal legislators. This 

means you need to display 

high impact lobbying skills 

and intelligent communication 

to be able to convince the 

institutions of the state to site 

legacy projects in Warri Federal 

Constituency. This place 

is not for noise making and 

docility. It is for service to 

the Itsekiri people and people 

of Warri Federal Constituency. 

We therefore ask that 

other aspirants provide 

strong evidences to show why 

they are the better candidate 

than the incumbent. 

It is important to reiterate 

t h a t f l a g r a n t 

philanthropism is not a virtue 

that qualifies a candidate 

for a position of service.With 

all due respect, any 

political surrogate that 

campaigns on and/ 

or celebrates philanthropism 

as a political capital must have 

been severely starved and is 

being led by the gluttony of his 

belly. How were these 

m o n i e s f o r 

philanthropism gotten? Are 

these monies supposedly 

meant for the itsekiris? And 

the people of Warri Federal 

Constituency? Where are the 

projects initiated and completed 

by some of these aspirants 

while they held sway 

as commissioner in DESO- 

PADEC? 

Philanthropism cannot 

be sustained for all 

They should show us so we 

can see and say aye, they are 

better placed to 

replace Honourable 

Daniel Reyenieju in the 

g r e e n 

chamber. Itsekiri and 

indigenes of Warri Federal 

Constituency must be asking 

these questions everyday leading 

up to the election. We 

should all remember that philanthropism 

cannot be sustained 

for all of us for the next 

four years. If it must be sustained, 

then the means (monies) 

to achieve this must be 

questioned as well. After this 

election a lot of us voters will 

remain impoverished while 

the elite will continue to 

milk our common 

wealth. This has been perfectly 

captioned in the eternal 

words of Chief 

Obafemi Awolowo… “The 

pursuit of wealth is not a bad 

thing in itself because without 

the food and comforts which 

wealth provides, life will be 

penurious and drab. But always 

remember that any 

wealth accumulated on a selfish 

basis, at the expense of the 

state in defiance of social justice 

helps to create a disorganised 

society in which everybody 

will eat everybody and 

no one can be safe”… Chief 

Obafemi Awolowo. My dear 

fellow constituents, these 

words have never been truer 

today. We cannot be pushing 

for change in the enslavement 

mentality of our constituents 

and still be bought by the currencies 

of the slave masters. 

Dr. Frederick Pessu a lecturer, 

writes from the UK




US, Russia present rival UN draft resolutions 

on Venezuela 

THE United States 

has presented a draft 

resolution on Venezuela to 

the United Nations Security 

Council, triggering a Russian 

counterproposal. 

The US draft resolution 

calls for international aid deliveries 

and presidential elections 

in Venezuela while 

stressing “deep concern with 

the violence and excessive 

use of force by Venezuelan 

security forces against unarmed, 

peaceful protesters”. 

The US expresses “full support 

for the National Assembly 

as the only democratically 

elected institution in Venezuela”, 

said a copy of the 

text obtained by AFP news 

agency. 

In response, Moscow 

came up with an alternative 

resolution, expressing its 

concern for Venezuela’s territorial 

integrity and political 

independence. 

The Russian draft criticises 

any “attempts to intervene in 

matters which are essentially 

within the domestic jurisdiction 

of Venezuela”. 

The US is sponsoring a 

campaign for international 

recognition of Venezuelan 

opposition leader and head 

of the country’s elected legislative 

body Juan Guaido 

over President Nicolas 

*As self-declared President vows to open aid routes 

Maduro. 

Last month, Guaido declared 

himself the interim 

head of state. 

While no date has yet been 

set for a vote on the American 

draft, negotiations are 

ongoing. 

Showing its support for 

President Maduro’s regime, 

Russia will likely use 

its veto power to block the US 

resolution, according to diplomats. 

Meanwhile, Colonel 

Ruben Paz Jimenez, deputy 

of the Directorate of the Military 

Hospital in Maracaibo, 

announced his support for 

Guaido. 

In a video shared on social 

media on Sunday, the military 

leader said “90 percent” 

of his colleagues in the 

armed forces are unhappy 

and urged fellow troops to 

allow humanitarian aid into 

Venezuela. 

A week ago, an Air Force 

general also switched sides, 

saying he was backing 

Guaido. 

Humanitarian aid sent by 

the US recently arrived in the 

Colombian city of Cucuta on 

the border with Venezuela. 

“Venezuela won’t allow 

the spectacle of fake humanitarian 

aid because we’re no 

one’s beggars,” said Maduro. 

“Venezuela is not suffering 

the humanitarian crisis fabricated 

by Washington over 

the last four years to justify 

intervening in our country.” 

He blamed the shortage 

of food and medicine on US 

sanctions, which mostly target 

regime individuals as 

well as state oil company PD- 

VSA. 

“Liberate the money that 

has been blocked and sequestered,” 

said Maduro. 

“This is a macabre game. We 

squeeze them by the neck 

and make them ask for 

crumbs.” 

He said the aid offer was 

“a message of humiliation for 

the people”. 

On Friday, Guaido said he 

was ready to take any necessary 

measures, including authorising 

a US military intervention, 

to force Maduro 

from power and alleviate the 

humanitarian crisis. 

Saudi rejects UN probe into Khashoggi killing 

SAUDI Arabia does 

not need a UN or 

international investigation 

into the murder of 

journalist Jamal 

Khashoggi because 

its "competent legal system" 

can handle the matter, 

said its minister of 

state for foreign affairs. 

Adel 

al- 

Jubeir told the US TV 

programme Face the 

Nation on Sunday that 

the October 2 slaying of 

the journalist inside the 

Saudi consulate in Turkey 

was "a massive tragedy" 

and denied it was 

sanctioned by Saudi 

Arabia's leadership. 

US intelligence agencies 

concluded the killing 

would almost certainly 

have needed the 

approval of the kingdom's 

de-facto ruler, 

C r o w n 

Prince Mohammed bin 

Salman (MBS). In December 

US senators 

backed a measure accusing 

MBS of ordering 

Khashoggi's murder. 

"The crown prince had 

nothing to do with this," 

Jubeir said. "There was 

no order given to murder 

Jamal Khashoggi 

and the whole country is 

shocked by this. 

"It was a mistake. It 

was committed by officials 

of the Saudi government 

acting outside 

their scope of authority. 

The king ordered an investigation," 

said Jubeir. 

Eleven suspects have 

been indicted and referred 

to trial in Saudi 

Arabia with five facing 

the death penalty. The 

proceedings have not 

been public. 

Agnes Callamard, 

the UN special rapporteur 

on extra-judicial 

executions, carried out a 

week-long inquiry in 

Turkey into the 

Khashoggi killing and 

concluded in preliminary 

findings it was "a 

brutal and premeditated 

killing, planned and perpetrated 

by officials of 

the state of Saudi Arabia". 

Her final report is due 

in June. 

Callamard said Saudi 

Arabia also "seriously 

undermined" Turkey's 

efforts to investigate 

Khashoggi's killing at 

its Istanbul consulate. 

Mass protest in Madrid 

over Catalonia talks 

TENS of thousands 

gathered in Madrid 

for a protest by right-wing 

parties opposed to a 

Spanish government plan 

to ease tension in the 

Catalonia region. 

The centre-right Popular 

Party (PP) and 

Ciudadanos (Citizens) 

say Prime Minister Pedro 

Sánchez’s plan to appoint 

an intermediary for talks 

with separatists amounts 

to treason. 

The separatists have rejected 

the offer - they want 

a new independence vote. 

Like the right, the ruling 

Socialists also oppose 

Catalan independence. 

Far-right groups including 

the Vox party are 

also present at the protest, 

held under the slogan 

“For a united Spain. 

Elections now!” 

Protesters filled the 

Spanish capital’s Colon 

Square and nearby 

streets, many of them 

chanting “long live 

Spain”. Police put the total 

number of demonstrators 

at 45,000. 

They say the government’s 

offer to separatists 

to hold round table 

talks and appoint a special 

rapporteur amounts 

to a capitulation and 

they want elections 

scheduled for 2020 

brought forward One 

protester, Mabel Campuzano, 

told Reuters 

news agency that Mr 

Sánchez was “betraying 

Spain and we think that 

Spaniards don’t deserve 

him as the president of 

the government”. 

In a speech, PP leader 

Pablo Casado denounced 

Mr Sánchez’s 

policies as “Socialist surrender” 

and “deals under 

the table”, Efe news 

agency reports. 

Afghan President offers Taliban 

local office 

AFGHAN President 

Ashraf Ghani on 

Sunday offered the Taliban 

the possibility of 

opening an office in Afghanistan 

but the proposal 

was swiftly spurned by 

the group that is determined 

to keep his government 

out of accelerating 

peace talks. 

Ghani has expressed 

alarm at the Taliban shutting 

his administration 

out of negotiations with 

the United States as well 

as recent Moscow talks 

with Afghan opposition 

politicians, and repeated 

earlier offers to give the 

group a secure official 

address to aid any future 

diplomacy between the 

two sides. 

“If the Taliban want an 

office, I will give it to 

them in Kabul, Nangarhar 

or Kandahar by tomorrow,” 

Ghani said 

while visiting the province 

of Nangarhar, a hotbed 

of insurgent violence 

on the border with 

Pakistan. 

“We will bring a lasting 

and honourable 

peace to the country,” he 

said. 

Nangarhar is a stronghold 

of the Taliban, the 

hardline Islamist movement 

that now controls 

or contests districts 

across nearly half the 

country, more than 17 

years since they were 

toppled from power. 

Bouteflika seeks fifth term as 

Algeria’s President 

ALGERIA’s 81-yearold 

President Abdelaziz 

Bouteflika will 

seek a fifth term in 

April’s elections, he announced 

in a message 

published by state media. 

Mr Bouteflika has been 

in office for 20 years but 

has rarely been seen in 

public since he had a 

stroke in 2013. 

He insisted his “unwavering 

desire” to serve 

Algeria allowed him to 

“transcend the constraints 

of health concerns”. 

Critics say this makes 

it difficult for him to carry 

out his duties. 

He is confined to a 

wheelchair and has cancelled 

recent official 

meetings. 

Mr Bouteflika’s last 

meeting with a senior 

foreign official was during 

a visit by German 

Chancellor Angela Merkel 

in September. An 

earlier meeting with her 

had been cancelled. 

Egypt’s el- Sisi elected new 

chairman of African Union 

EGYPT’s President 

Abdel Fattah el-Sisi 

has been elected chairman 

of the African Union at 

the continental body’s 

summit in Ethiopia. 

Also at the African 

Union meeting Sunday, a 

statue of Ethiopia’s last 

emperor was unveiled. Afterward 

a scuffle erupted 

between security guards 

for some African leaders 

and African Union 

guards, causing a delay 

in the entry procession of 

the heads of state into the 

main meeting. 

El-Sisi addressed the 

summit after being elected 

the new chairman, saying 

he would focus on security 

on the African continent.


44 —VANGUARD, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2019 

OSA MBONU-AMADI 

08070524223 

osaamadi@yahoo.com 

FILM REVIEW 

Tyson versus Holyfield fight as 

metaphor for Nigeria’s election 

…no champion is forever 

“Discovery is seeing what everybody else has seen, and thinking 

what nobody else has thought” – Albert Szent-Györgyi von 

Nagyrápolt (1893-1986), founder of Vitamin C 

By Osa Mbonu, 

Arts Editor 

Historically, there have 

been good efforts by 

sports administrators to 

keep sports and politics as 

far apart as possible. Yet, 

besides the increasing cases 

of politicisation of sports 

in modern times, sports and 

politics have proved to have 

natural close affinities: both 

have to do with contests. In 

sports, as in politics, there 

are winners and losers; 

there are champions who 

wear the crowns, belts, titles, 

stay in offices or positions. 

The maxim in sports that 

“No champion is forever,” 

has the same meaning with 

the maxim in politics, 

“Power is transient.” Between 

these two maxims, 

sportsmen and women have 

been able to come to terms 

and adapt better to their 

own maxim than politicians 

and their supporters. No 

wonder politicians are usually 

enjoined to adopt attitudes 

of good sportsmanship. 

Politicians, especially in 

this part of the world, once 

they gain political power, 

despise the truism that 

“power is transient.” They 

do everything legitimately 

and illegitimately, to try to 

stay in office ‘till death do 

them part.’ When incumbent 

politicians or political 

parties lose elections, it is 

good for democracy and for 

the people in a multi-party 

system. Conversely, when 

one man or one political 

party clings onto power, it 

breeds dictatorship and the 

people are worse for it. 

The fight between Mike 

Tyson and Evander Holyfield 

for the World Boxing 

Association heavyweight 

championship on November 

9, 1996 at the MGM 

Grand Garden Arena in Paradise, 

Nevada, and the second 

fight which took place 

on June 28, 1997 could be 

viewed from the prism of 

Nigerian politics especially 

between PDP and APC 

from February 2015 till 

date. 

In the first fight, Tyson 

was defending for the first 

time the WBA title he had 

won from Bruce Seldon on 

September 7, 1996, and it 

was the first fight pitting 

the two boxers against each 

other. The ‘INEC’ of that 

fight was a referee named 

Mitch Halpern. 

Before Tyson won the 

WBA from Bruce Seldon on 

September 7, 1996, James 

Douglas had handed Tyson 

the first defeat of his career 

at the Tokyo Dome on February 

11, 1990. Then Holyfield 

in turn challenged 

James Douglas, said to be 

grossly out of shape, and 

took the title from him in his 

first defence, on a thirdround 

knockout. 

“As the rounds passed, 

Tyson was unable to adjust, 

and found himself being 

thoroughly outboxed,” 

wrote an analyst. “In the 

fifth round, Tyson landed a 

fierce combination, his best 

of the match, and Holyfield 

did not stagger. In the sixth 

round of the fight, a headbutt 

from Holyfield (judged 

to be accidental by the referee) 

opened a cut over Tyson’s 

left eye, and Tyson 

also suffered a knockdown, 

as Holyfield caught him 

with a left hook to the 

chest…with 15 seconds left 

in the seventh round, Tyson 

lunged at Holyfield as 

Holyfield came forward, 

resulting in a hard clash of 

heads. Tyson cried out in 

pain and his knees buckled, 

but again, the referee 

judged the headbutt to be 

unintentional.” 

At the end of the tenth 

round, a punch from Holyfield 

sent Tyson staggering 

across the ring. Holyfield 

chased him into the ropes 

and landed a series of devastating 

blows. By the 

sound of the bell, Tyson was 

out on his feet and defenseless, 

but his corner allowed 

him out for the eleventh. 

Holyfield quickly landed 

another brutal extended 

combination, sending Tyson 

back into the ropes. 

The referee had to stop the 

fight, giving Holyfield one 

of the most famous upset 

*Atiku versus Buhari, Courtesy, INEMAC 

victories in the history of 

boxing. 

At the post-fight press conference, 

Tyson was to say to 

Holyfield: “Thank you very 

much. I have the greatest 

respect for you.” 

A rematch initially tagged 

“The Sound and the Fury” 

and later infamously referred 

to as “The Bite 

Fight” was scheduled on 

June 28, 1997. It was called 

“The Bite Fight” because 

after Holyfield had beaten 

Tyson to a pulp, Tyson bit off 

part of Holyfield’s ear 

which led to Tyson’s disqualification 

from the 

match and loss of his boxing 

licensce. 

Holyfield had surprised 

Tyson by controlling the 

contest and knocked him 

down in the sixth round. 

At 32 seconds into the second 

round, Holyfield unintentionally 

head-butted Tyson, 

opening a large cut 

over the latter’s right eye. 

Tyson began the third 

round with a furious attack. 

With forty seconds remaining 

in the round, Holyfield 

got Tyson in a clinch, and 

Tyson rolled his head above 

Holyfield’s shoulder and 

bit Holyfield on his right 

ear, spitting out the piece of 

ear onto the ring floor. 

During another round, Tyson 

bit Holyfield’s ear 

again, this time on the left. 

When the second bite was 

discovered, the referee 

stopped the fight. Tyson 

was disqualified, giving 

victory to Holyfield. 

Holyfield later told journalists 

that Tyson bit his 

ears because he knew he 

was going to get knocked 

out; that he chose to lose 

through disqualification 

than to be beaten like that. 

No champion reigns forever. 

Mohammed Ali, one of 

the greatest boxers that 

ever lived was also at one 

time beaten. So it is too in 

politics. In advanced democracies 

like the United 

States, contest for political 

power has been a dog-dog 

play between the Republicans 

and Democrats – one 

Why the arts are important in education 

I 

wasn't always the best 

at math and science. I 

tried hard, but they just 

weren't my thing. Still 

aren't. For a long time, I 

thought that meant I wasn't 

smart. That's what school 

seemed to teach: smart people 

were good at math and 

science. It wasn't until I discovered 

art - music and 

drawing - that I finally 

found something at which 

I could excel. Still, I was left 

to wonder, does art matter 

as much as math and science? 

The answer to me is: 

YES! Arts education is important 

for at least two reasons: 

(1) arts education 

helps students to see the 

many different types of geniuses 

there are, and (2) 

seeing these different examples 

of intelligence validates 

their own unique talents 

and abilities. 

We likely have all heard 

that Albert Einstein, Marie 

Curie and Isaac Newton 

are timeless geniuses. And 

that's true. They dramatically 

changed the way people 

see, interact with and 

•Otunba Segun Runsewe, Director-General, National Council for Arts 

and Culture, with school children during the 2018 Abuja International Arts 

& Craft. PHOTO: Osa Mbonu 

understand the world 

around them. Arts education 

can help students see 

that Pablo Picasso, Amadeus 

Mozart and Isadora 

Duncan are also geniuses. 

They too dramatically 

changed the way people 

see, interact with and understand 

the world around 

them. Picasso changed the 

way people viewed art. It 

didn't have to be perfect to 

be art. Mozart was a child 

prodigy. His work influenced 

the work of others - 

and continues to do so. And 

Duncan revolutionised the 

way people express themselves 

through dance. Einstein, 

Curie and Newton 

couldn't do the things that 

Picasso, Mozart and Duncan 

did (and vice versa). 

But both kinds of genius are 

important and work hand in 

hand. 

Secondly, arts education 

helps validate everyone's 

unique kinds of genius. Let 

me share a personal experience. 

Last year, I was explaining 

to a fellow student 

that I would be ending my 

senior year taking algebra 

2, not pre-calculus. And this 

student looked at me like I 

was falling short. It was 

painful to be judged that 

way. He didn't understand 

that I can look at sheet music 

and find all the inverted 

chords. I can draw a picture 

using elements of art and 

principles of design. I just 

didn't feel like my kind of 

intelligence was appreciated. 

I'm sure my experience 

isn't unique. How many future 

artistic geniuses didn't 

pursue art because a bad 

experience in math made 

them feel like they weren't 

smart. I can imagine there 

have been quite a few. 

dog falls for the other in an 

election and the other falls 

for the one in another 

through largely free and 

fair election. That way, politicians 

become wary of the 

people, knowing that they 

will be voted out in the next 

election if they did not perform 

well. This is one of the 

secrets to the political advancement 

and economic 

prosperity of western democracies. 

The country took the first 

step ever in that journey of 

political advancement in 

2015 when Nigerians, for 

the first time in history, voted 

an incumbent president 

(PDP) out of power. To his 

credit, the former president, 

in a show of magnanimity 

and sportsmanship, conceded 

the defeat with one of the 

greatest political statements 

ever made by a Nigerian 

leader: “My ambition is not 

worth the blood of any Nigerian.” 

Former President Jonathan 

did not take to violence 

and bloodshed like Mike 

Tyson, whether during or 

after the election, neither 

did he contest the result in 

the electoral tribunal. This 

is a legacy worth preserving 

by Nigerians. 

As the country goes to the 

polls this week, it is important 

that the title holder 

approach the contest with 

the understanding that no 

champion reigns forever; 

that even his defeat by the 

opposition will translate to 

the political advancement of 

his country which he claims 

to love. To bite off the opponent’s 

ears and throw the 

entire country into unnecessary 

violence just to continue 

to be in office will be 

graver sin than the corruption 

of which he has serially 

accused the opposition. 

It is also important that 

champions recognise when 

they are spent mentally and 

physically and quit when 

the ovation is loudest. It is 

not necessary for them to 

wait to be knocked out of 

the ring, or manipulate the 

process in order to hang on 

to power. Even if one is given 

the privilege of being a 

life champion, one should 

remember that one day, 

death will knock at one’s 

door.


OSA MBONU-AMADI 

08070524223 

osaamadi@yahoo.com 

By SADIQ Abdulsalam Adeiza 

POETRY 

REPUBLIC OF 

SENTIMENTS 

Shaper a knife 

Wiser the wife 

Political in any advice 

Coming from a vice 

Like remnants of Nigerian jollof rice 

Scattered youths not knowing her 

right 

Other room without light 

Alot of women can’t even write 

Woo men to vote your fight 

For years still no flight 

Religion minds her business 

Death as her inevitable witness. 

Sick leave, composary for a rich 

While away, Sir, boko killed many to 

no reach 

Presidents wife feminist at its peak 

Presidents vice treasure in a miss 

fit 

Republic of sentiments 

We have no house but lots of cement. 

HABIB AKEWUSOLA is a creative 

writing trainer 

Creative writing: Skulls and Bullets 

Everything is black, pitch 

black. Struggling to breathe 

under the weight of this hood 

over my head; Moments ago I 

was grabbed, tied, gagged, 

hooded and thrown into a van. 

My heart is racing, pounding 

hard on the walls of my chest 

like pestle on mortar. Questions 

are jettisoning in and out 

of my mind like buzzing bees. 

Who are my captors? What do 

they want? 

"Calm down!" I order myself. 

"Calm down and think." I take 

a deep, hot breath, forcing my 

galloping heart to slow. The van 

hits a bump, falling sideways, 

my skin touch something 

warm, something that shrinks 

away, someone! I listen closely 

to hear indistinct sounds 

which I suspect are coming 

from behind gags and hoods 

too. 

"Don't go and join cultists in 

the university o!" Mama's voice 

from three years ago suddenly 

comes ringing, unannounced 

and clear like a church bell in 

my mind; I try to push it aside. 

"God please get me out of this;" 

prayers gushed out my lips, 

and then stop, last Sunday we 

robbed a church, God couldn't 

possibly be that nice. 

The van soon stops moving. 

Faint noise seems to be coming 

from outside the vehicle. 

The back door opens, ushering 

in a gush of fresh air. Footsteps 

of someone climb into the van. 

A powerful arm drags me up 

and shoves me roughly, my 

heart jumps to my throat; I fell 

on a cold, hard surface. The 

arm drags me again, its hard 

nails biting into my underarm, 

since they took away my shoes, 

stones poke the soles of my feet 

like a thousand needles, and 

still, I stagger after my captor. 

Finally, we stop, I’m pushed to 

my knees. 

I remain like this for what 

seems like eternity when finally 

the hood is yanked off my 

head. Blinking my eyes, trying 

to adjust them to my new environment, 

I am in an open clearing, 

faint stars in the night sky 

reminds me it's about 11p.m, 

the scenery is illuminated by a 

fire burning not far away. 

To my right, two people are 

on their knees too, someone familiar… 

Babyface. Fear is visibly 

etched on his face, beside 

him is Jagger, I turn left and 

the whole crew is here, on our 

knees, tied up and gagged. 

Feeling a wash of unabashed 

relief, misery does love company. 

But then I notice we were 

not all here. Where is Ake? 

The first feeling as I see the flag 

is confusion, then fear. Black flag 

with a red skull in a circle is ours 

- The skull men. The flag is hoisted 

on a branch of a small tree 

not far away from us. Is this a 

summoning from our superiors? 

Some figures start to troop into 

view, dressed in our fraternal 

garb of black robes on black trousers, 

I recognise some among 

them and they are indeed members 

of our cult, they stand in two 

rows of nines behind a large 

stone before us. From the solemn 

looks on their faces, I know something 

is gravely wrong. 

I try to think, who screwed up 

among us? Did one of us go after 

a superior's girl? Our last mission 

at the bank went so well, 

what could it be? Ake will know 

exactly what was going on, why 

isn't he here? 

I feel him before I even see him 

- Venom, our Commando; the 

chirping crickets fall as quiet as 

death and the fire seem to stop 

to crackle as Venom came and 

sat on the stone before us. I have 

seen the Commando only once 

before, on the night of our crew's 

initiation into the cult, the night 

all eight of us became sworn foot 

soldiers of the skull men. I still 

shudder at the thought of his 

cold hands on mine pushing the 

cup of blood into my lips and his 

whispery voice saying "drink". 

The man himself was rather 

unimpressive but tales of his 

feats on campus cult realm are 

legendary. Some say he is half 

mad, some say he's a genius, others 

say he's a mad genius. 

Venom sits bare-chested, his 

robe tied around his waist, staring 

at us from behind hornrimmed 

glasses, he is now 

flanked by two of his deputies; a 

huge man they call Mr. and another 

called Mosquito. 

Mosquito, a tiny man true to 

his name soon steps into the light. 

"Brethren!" he says as he takes 

a sweeping look at the seven of 

us before turning to face the others. 

"Who are we?" he asked 

"Skull men!" they chorused 

"Who are we?" 

"Skull men!" 

"Stones and sticks" 

"May break our bones!" 

"But the skull" 

"Shall never sing!" 

Our cult mantra echoes into the 

still night causing the ground beneath 

me to reverberate a little 

upon its recital. 

"Bring him out" Mosquito orders 

and two members soon drag 

someone into the light. It was 

Ake, the red flaming dreadlocks 

gave him away instantly, it was 

Ake but he lay still on the floor, 

head hanging lopsidedly from 

his neck, snapped, lifeless, dead. 

Urine rushes from my bladder 

and burns the tip of my penis. I 

feel a pressing urge to keel over 

and vomit, I cannot shake the 

foreboding that Ake is not the 

only one that is going to end this 

night dead. 

Venom who has been sitting 

still all this while gets up and 

pulls a gun from Mr.'s belt, he 

cocks it and stares at it like one 

would a lover. 

"One of you…" he begins in that 

sick, chilling voice, waving the 

gun at the seven of us as he paces 

"…saw it fit to murder your 

crew member, breaking one of 

our sacred rules and you all connived 

to cover it up." 

What! That is a lie! I want to 

shout but I keep mute behind my 

gag, beside me Babyface is trembling 

so bad I think he will fall. 

Or is it true? Maybe the others 

did do it without me knowing, 

besides it will make sense to exclude 

me; I was after all the closest 

to Ake. 

"So, One question," Venom continues 

slowing his pace and 

walking to the furthest person to 

my left - Jango, he pulls the gag 

from his mouth "Who Killed Ake?" 

he asks pointing the gun at Jango's 

midsection 

"I swear boss I don't know, 

walai! I sw…" a loud BANG cuts 

short the rest of his statement, 

and even from where I kneel I 

can see my shock mirrored in his 

eyes as he falls to the floor, dead. 

A few hot drops of my sweat and 

Jango's blood falls on my boxer 

shorts. Venom moves to the next 

person, T.Y. "Who killed Ake?" his 

voice smooth as if in song, like 

he did not just murder someone 

in cold blood "Ehn… ehn…" T.Y. 

rambles and then BANG. The 

blast of the shot knocks him back 

a distance, his limp body landing 

with a dull thud. 

Two more, then my turn, that is 

NCAC charges Nigerians on 

peaceful 2019 elections 

Critical stakeholders and 

indeed all Nigerians, 

have been encouraged to 

embrace the long tested culture 

of peace during and after 

the conduct of the 2019 

general elections. 

This admonition was given 

by relevant stakeholders who 

converged at the headquarters 

of the National Council 

for Arts and Culture, NCAC, 

in Abuja to preach the message 

of peace as Nigeria prepares 

for 2019 general elections. 

Leading the call for peace, 

Director-General, NCAC, 

Otunba Segun Runsewe 

charged everyone to maintain 

the culture of peace and 

brotherliness that Nigerians 

have been known for from 

time immemorial. 

Runsewe gave the advice 

while addressing major interested 

parties like the Independent 

National Electoral Commission, 

National Council of 

Women Society, National Youth 

Council, traditional leaders, 

NGOs, the media, security 

agencies and the international 

community. 

Speaking further, Runsewe 

appealed to other agencies to 

join the NCAC as it enjoins all 

Nigerians especially the 

youths, to remain peaceful as 

the country goes into an election 

year noting that Nigerians 

have always been peace-loving 

people irrespective of ethnic or 

political leanings. 

Also adding his voice to the 

call for peace was the chairman 

of the occasion, Maj-Gen I. B. 

M. Haruna (rtd) who reminded 

all I can think, what will I say? 

Who killed Ake? Was there even 

a right answer? At this point, Babyface 

is crying, I envy him; I 

am too scared to cry. My eyes 

fall on Ake's corpse, imploring 

him to get up and tell us who 

killed him, but then skulls never 

sing. 

I see blood clinging to the hair 

on Venom's chest, gleaming in 

the firelight like red glitters - He 

is now standing before Caleb. 

"Who killed Ake?" voice calm 

like still water. 

"Longe did it! Longe killed 

him," Caleb explodes as soon as 

his gag comes off nodding at 

Longe beside me whose protests 

are suppressed by his. I cannot 

help but think that Caleb is only 

just looking for a way out. 

Venom pauses as if to ruminate 

over this piece of information, he 

looks from Caleb to Longe and 

back again, then he points the 

gun away from Caleb to Longe 

and BANG! 

The noise from the shot is near 

deafening and I flinch as blood 

from the now collapsed Longe 

splatters on my cheek. 

"Untie them," Venom says with 

a sigh as if disappointed. 

I cannot believe my ears, is it 

really over? Longe really killed 

Ake? I am not going to die? Mr. 

unties Caleb completely and 

props him up to his feet. Mr. is 

now behind me untying my 

hands when Venom raises his 

hand commanding him to stop, 

my heart drops. "Do you know 

who I hate more than a traitor?" 

Venom asks Caleb whose mouth 

is slightly hung open like a door 

ajar. 

BANG! A jolt of shock seizes 

me, Caleb stands still for a full 

second before falling face flat. 

I am shivering now as Venom 

turns Caleb's dead body over with 

one foot and pulls the trigger 

again, sending a bullet right 

through his forehead before answering 

his own question "A 

coward" 

"So" he says turning to me his 

lips curled in a snide smile "Who 

killed Ake?" 

*Sadiq Abdulsalam Adeiza is 

serving in Kwara State. He is a 

member, Creative Writing 

SAED, NYSC. 

everyone that the peace accord 

for 2015 elections has 

also been adopted for 2019 

and should be adhered to by 

all players. 

He extolled the NCAC for 

leading the call for peace, 

agreeing that peace is a major 

part of Nigeria's culture even 

from historical perspective. 

On his part, the Executive 

Director, News, of the Nigerian 

Television Authority, 

Baba Barau, expressed his 

delight with the NCAC for 

fulfilling its mandate with a 

timely initiative like the 

peace program, affirming that 

Nigerians from all divides 

will continue to coexist in 

harmony notwithstanding the 

outcome of the 2019 elections. 

The Peace Program with the 

theme: Building a culture of 

peace towards 2019 elections, 

was organised at the instance 

of NCAC with the aim of 

sensitising Nigerians on the 

need to maintain peace 

before, during and after the 

elections.


OGBINAKA 

I, formerly known as Miss 

Sharon Okeoghene 

Ogbinaka, now wish to be 

addressed as Mrs. Sharon 

Okeoghene Eruotor. All 

former documents 

remain valid. General 

public please take note. 

OSHIN 

I, formerly known as Oshin 

Ayinke Adenike, now wish 

to be known as Miss Abiola 

Ayinke Adenike. All former 

documents remain valid. 

General public please take 

note. 

ULOKOR 

The names, Oluoko David, 

Ulokor David and Ulokor 

Oritsegbemi David, refer to 

one and the same person, 

but now wish to be known 

as Uluoko David 

Oritsegbemi. All former 



note. 

ANIEKAN 

This is to confirm that the 

name, Aniekan Francis and 

Udohnssea Aniekan 

Francis belong to me. I now 

wish to be known as 

Udohnsseh Aniekan 

Francis. All former 



note. 

CLEMENT 

I, formerly known as 

Kuro Clement, now 

wish to be known as Kuro 

Frank. All former 


General public please 

take note. 

UGBOMA 

OLOWU 

I, formerly known as Olowu 

Oriyomi Monsurat, now 

wish to be known as Mrs. 

Ogunlolu Oriyomi 

Monsurat. All former 



note. 

ODION 

This is to confirm that the 

names, Omorodion Chris 

Olumayowa, Odion Chris 

Olumayowa and Ajidagba 

Chris Olumayowa refer to 

one and the same person 

but now wish to be known 

as Ajidagba Chris 

Olumayowa. All former 



note. 

OKEREGHA 


Elohor Tessy Okeregha, 

now wish to be known as 

Mrs Elohor Tessy Lucky 

Alamudo. All former 



note. 

EWOHON 


Ewohon Onyeka, now 


Whiskey Onyeka. All 

former documents remain 

valid. General public 

please take note. 

BULUS 

I, formerly known as Bulus 

Victor, now wish to be 

known as Bitrus Victor. All 




UHUANGHO 

We, formerly known as Uhuangho James, Uhuangho 

Efe, Uhuangho Shedrack Osazee, Uhuangho Mesharck 

Orobosa and Uhuangho Paul Eseosa, now wish to be 

known, as Sunday James, Sunday Efe, Sunday 

Shedrack Osazee, Sunday Mesharck Orobosa and 

Sunday Paul Eseosa. All former documents bearing our 

former surname Uhuangho remains valid. General 

public should please take note. 


Francisca Ejima Ugboma, now 


Francisca Ejima Ugboma Force. 

All former documents remain 

valid. PAL Pension, UBA, 

Diamond Bank, Wema Bank and 

the General public please take 

note. 

BANKOLE 


Mojisola Abiodun Bankole, 


Mojisola Abiodun 

Akinola. All former 



note. 

AJIKOLU 


Olajoke Folaitan Ajikolu, 


Mrs. 

Olajoke 

Folaitan Akanle. All 




UWAJEJ 

I, formerly known and 

addressed as Oritsemisan 

Uwajej, now wish to be 

known as Jeremiah Misan 

Uwajeh. All former 


Banks and the general 


AFUBERA 


Afubera Nkiruka 

Chidimma, now wish to be 

known as Mrs. 

Onwuasoanya Nkiruka 

Chidimma. All former 



note. 

ADEWUYI 


Jumoke Victoria Adewuyi, 


Mrs. Jumoke Victoria 

Olupeka. All former 



note. 

CHARLES 

This is to certify that the 

names, Ibeh Ujuh 

Maryqueeneth and Ibeh- 

Charles Ujuh M refer to 

one and same person, but 

now wish to be known and 

addressed as Ibeh Ujuh 

Maryqueeneth. All former 



note. 

ADEDOKUN 


Adedokun Adejumoke 

Oluwamayowa,, now 

wish to be addressed as 

Akure Adejumoke 

Oluwamayowa. All 

former documents 



JOSEPH 

I, formerly known as Joseph 

Nnanke Florence, now 

wish to be known as Eyo 

Nnanke Florence. All 


valid. First bank Plc. and 

the general public please 

take note. 

FAWOLE 


Fawole Mistura, now wish 

to be known and addressed 

as Mrs. Sogunle Mistura. 

All former documents 



EWHAREKUKO 


Ewharekuko Onome 

Naomi, now wish to be 

known as Atseyiwku 

Onome Naomi. All former 



note. 

AUSTINE 


Iheanacho Austine, now 

wish to be addressed as 

Iheanacho Augustine Gift. 




OGBU 


addressed as Miss Ogbu 

Benedeth Nnenna now 

wish to be known and 

addressed as Mrs. Asonye 

Benedeth Nnenna. All 




MISLORE 


addressed as Miss Joy 

Mislore, now wish to be 

know and addressed as 

Mrs Joy M. Brisibe. all 


valid. general public please 

take note. 

DORSU 


addressed as Dorsu 

Oritsetseyisan, now wish to 

be known as Adeleye 

Oritsetseyisan Esther. All 




UTUETU 

I, frormerly known as Miss 

Okemena Judith Utuetu, 


Mrs. Okemena Judith Oji. 




VOTE 


Vote Ogheneochuko 

Wealth, now wish to be 

known as Mrs. Dennis- 

Vote Ogheneochuko 

Wealth. All former 



note. 

EVOR 


addressed as Miss Evor 

Ajiroghene Regina, now 


Idama Ajiroghene 

Regina. All former 


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take note. 

AKOWE 

I, formerly known as Mary 

Akowe, now wish to be 

known and addressed as 

Imoudu Mary Omonigho. 




IGWENWANNE 


Igwenwanne Afra Gift, 


addressed as Mrs. Akonu 

Afra Gift. All former 



note. 

NMADNAGU 


Nmadnagu Amaka 

Cynthia, now wish to be 

known 

as 

Ikpadenmaduagu Amaka 

Cynthia. All former 



note. 

ALBERT 


Catherine Tirevi Albert, 


Mrs. Catherine Tirevi 

Famous. All former 



note. 

IGBO 


addressed as Miss Igbo 

Uchechukwu Blessing now 

wish to be known and 

addressed as Mrs. Anazie 

Uchechukwu Blessing . All 


valid. NYSC, banks and the 

general public please take 

note. 

IJEZIE 


Njideka Ogonna Ijezie, now wish 

to be known as Mrs. Njideka 

Johnson Opigo. All former 

documents remain valid. Bowen 

University, Federal Polytechnic, 

Oko, Ladoke Akintola University 

of Technology, Ogbomoso and 

the general public please take 

note. 

FIYEGHA 


Fiyegha Glamour, now 

wish to be known as 

Blackman Glamour. All 




NNOCHIRI 


Nnochiri Ruth Chidinma, 


Collins Alexandra 

Chimdinma. All former 



note. 

AKPOJEVWE 


Ruona Mercy Akpojevwe, 


Mrs. Ruona Mercy Robert. 


remain valid. Banks and 

the general public please 

take note. 

RACHEAL 


Racheal Oluwabusayo 

Shonowo, now wish to be 

known as Mrs. Hasimat 

Oluwabusayo Oyinloye. All 


valid. general public 


OBOLOKO 

I, formerly known as Mercy 

Oboloko, now wish to be 

known as Mercy Ukavwe. 


remain valid. Local Govt 

Service Commission, 

Asaba, Local Govt Council 

and the general public 


EFURHIEVWE 


Efurhievwe Oberhiri, now 

wish to be known as Dainel 

Oberhiri Destiny. All 




EDITH 

I, formerly known as Koffi 

Ebimobere E. and Koffi 

Ebimobere Edith, now 

wish to be known as Koffi 

Ebimobere Angel. All 


valid. General public please 

take note. 

CHIAMAKA 

I, formerly known as Miss Cynthia 

Chiamaka Amih, now wish to be 

known as Mrs. Cynthia Chiamaka 

Amih Chimezie. All former 

documents remain valid. Imo 

Ministry of Justice, First City 

Monument Bank, Ecobank, First 

Bank and the general public 


ONYEGBULA 


addressed as Miss 

Onyegbula Chizoma Faith, 


addressed as Mrs. Udoka 

Chizoma Faith. All former 



note. 

FIYEGHA 


Fiyegha Larry, now wish to 

be known as Blackman 

Larry. All former documents 



PRESEN 


Ayetomai Jesusbaby 

Presen, now wish to be 

known as Miss 

Oghenewiro Deborah Iruo- 

Oghene Jesusbaby. All 


valid. General public please 

take note. 

ARUY 

UYA 


Aruya Evaomoh Mercy, 


Mrs. Jerry-Edun Evaomoh 

Mercy. All former 


Banks and the general 


THIS SPACE 

IS FOR SALE 

We demand 

apology from 

Ohanaeze for 

disrespecting 

Zik —Ebo 

By Vincent Ujumadu 

A 

WKA—APEX Igbo 

socio-cultural organisation, 

Ohanaeze Ndigbo, 

has come under criticism 

from kinsman of the late 

first President of Nigeria, 

Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe for 

allegedly disrespecting 

the late Owelle of Onitsha 

by choosing to endorse a 

candidate of a political 

party on day the Zik’s 

mausoleum was commissioned. 

Melville Ebo, who is the 

Executive Director of the 

Federal Mortgage Bank of 

Nigeria, insisted that 

Ohanaeze should apologise 

to Ndigbo for showing 

such a disrespect. 

He said the action of a 

section of the leadership 

of Ohanaeze had buttressed 

the insinuation in 

some quarters that 

Ohanaeze had become a 

part of the Peoples Democratic 

Party PDP, alleging 

that the President-General 

of Ohaneze, Chief 

Nnia Nwodo used the endorsement 

of PDP to get 

at President Muhammadu 

Buhari, who he said, chose 

the late Dr Chuba 

Okadigbo as his running 

mate in 2003 instead of 

him. 

177 gets 

empowerment 

from Amnesty 

SUCCOUR has come 

the way of residents of 

impacted communities 

during the Niger Delta 

crises as the Presidential 

Amnesty Programme distributed 

various items 

such as starter packs to 

the people as part of its 

empowerment programme. 

The exercise which involved 

thousands of recipients 

drawn from various 

communities in Rivers, 

Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, Cross 

Rivers, Imo, Ondo, Akwa 

Ibom and Abia states, 

commenced in Warri, 

Delta state, weekend. 

No fewer than 177 persons 

profiled from various 

communities for each of 

the 20 distribution centres 

across states in the Niger 

Delta received items for 

various trade areas which 

included welding equipment, 

tailoring, catering, 

deep freezers, and generating 

sets of different 

sizes. 

Special Adviser to the 

President on Niger Delta 

and Coordinator, Amnesty 

Programme, Prof. Charles 

Dokubo, while officially 

flagging off the empowerment 

programme in 

Abonnema, Akuku-Toru 

Local Government Area of 

Rivers State, yesterday, 

said the gesture was a 

show of President 

Muhammadu Buhari’s 

love for people of the oilrich 

region.


CONFAB: From left; Group Head, Agric Finance, Heritage Bank, Gbenga 

Awe; Executive Director, Infrastructure Business Unit, Inlaks,Tope Dare; founder/ 

CEO, Cash Your Passion, Africa, Lynda Omerekpe; President, Unique Women 

in Agriculture Cluster Initiative, Bridget Okonofua; and founder/CEO, SoFresh 

NG, Olagoke Balogun, during the Agro Money Conference in Lagos. 

PAP: Mr Abugu Warefade, beneficiary of the starter packs materials distributed by 

the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) in Warri, in the bid to create awareness 

in the impacted communities across the Niger Delta states shows off his materials. 

The programme with recipients from Rivers, Bayelsa, Cross River, Edo, Delta, Imo, 

Ondo, Akwa Ibom and Abia states, commenced in Warri, Delta State, weekend. 

Aisha Buhari, 

Atiku, Remi 

Tinubu, others, 

bag U.S-based 

foundation 

awards 

A 

United States-based 

non-governmental 

organisation, Annmom 

Foundation, has 

nominated former Vice 

President and the 


the Peoples Democratic 

Party, PDP, Alhaji Atiku 

Abubakar, for awards in 

recognition of his success 

in administration and 

politics. 

In a statement made 

available to the press in 

Atlanta, Georgia, the 

Nigerian - American 

founder of the Foundation, 

Ms. Ann Ehigiator, said the 

former President was 

chosen as winner of that 

award category after 

painstaking efforts through 

the vehicle of logic by a 

college of human 

development experts 

drawn from five countries 

of Europe, America and 

Africa. 

Others in that category 

are: the wife of the Nigerian 

President, Mrs Aisha 

Buhari, the governors of 

Delta and Rivers states, Dr 

Ifeanyi Okowa and 

Nyesom Wike respectively. 

The second category of 

the award winners held on 

December 28, 2018 was 

Award of Excellence in 

human capital 

development. The 

Nigerian winners of this 

category includes: 

Governors of Kano and 

Kaduna states: Mallam 

Nasir El-rufai and 

Muhammadu Ganduje 

respectively. 

Also on the list of the 

winners are: Mrs Doris 

Uboh and Senator Oluremi 

Tinubu, both chieftains of 

the All Progressives 

Congress, APC. 

Uboh, Delta North 

senatorial candidate of 

APC won the award of 

Strong Woman In Politics 

while Senator Tinubu won 

the Annmom Foundation 

Mother of the Year Award.


EXHAUSTED —A woman suffering from heat and exhaustion being carried 

out of the Teslim Balogun Stadium, in Lagos, during the political campaign 

rally of the the All progressives Congress (APC), weekend. Photo: APC. 

Buhari, Atiku war over alleged vote-buying 


— Buhari 

President Buhari also 

said the government has 

succeeded in closing the 

doors at fraudulent persons 

who were yet desperate to 

open the gates of corruption 

with the intention of looting 

the national treasury. 

“We have repatriated 

hundreds of millions of 

dollars stashed away in 

foreign banks. These funds 

have been transparently 

deployed on infrastructural 

projects and used to 

directly empower the 

poorest in the society. 

“More is still to come from 

our international partners 

in France, the United 

Kingdom and the United 

States of America. Yet the 

hundreds of billions taken 

out of the country for the 

best part of this century 

promise more. 

“We have secured high 

profile convictions, but 

greater cases remain. 

Lawyers table endless 

objections to obstruct court 

proceedings, whilst their 

clients hope it lasts until a 

‘friendly’ President is voted 

into office. 

“We must continue to 

tighten the legal 

framework and ensure the 

authorities have the 

investigative powers at their 

disposal to secure 

sentences. Only then will 

we begin to neutralise the 

advantages the corrupt 

have.” 

It hasn’t been easy 

journey for me— 

Buhari 

President Buhari has said 

that it has not been easy 

journey for over threes 

Nigerians gave him the 

mandate to pilot the affairs 

of the country. 

He said he has not taken 

the support for granted and 

has promised to continue to 

protect the interest of the 

people and deliver on his 

mandate. 

In a video message to 

Nigerians titled, “We will 

continue to work to protect 

your interest and deliver 

our mandate”, he requested 

for more support in the 

February 16 presidential 

election. 

He said: “It’s been over 

three years since you gave 

me the mandate to oversee 

the affairs of our dear 

country. 

“It’s not been an easy 

journey but with sincerity 

of purpose, perseverance, 

dedication and most 

importantly support from 

individuals like you, we 

have made great progress. 

“Some of these 

achievements are visible for 

everyone to see, some are 

still in the works. 

“I hereby humbly ask for 

your support again in the 

coming election to enable 

us to move to the next 

level and consolidate on 

the successes recorded in 

making our country a better 

place. 

“I don’t take your support 

for granted. We will 

continue to work to protect 

your interest and deliver 

our mandate.” 

Buhari’s comment 

self-indicting 

– Atiku Campaign 

Reacting to President 

Buhari’s allegation of 

threats to the polls via votebuying 

by looters, Mr. Akin 

Osuntokun, spokesman of 

the Atiku Abubakar 

Campaign, said: "Unless it 

is another moment of his 

characteristic cognitive 

failure, then that statement 

has to amount to a case of 

self-indictment. 

"Realistically speaking, 

who are those in the 

vantage position in Nigeria 

today to commit the 

malfeasance he is alluding 

to? 

"If this President has any 

self-awareness, he would 

not have accepted Adams 

Oshiomhole as the leader 

of his campaign for reelection. 

If any decent 

person is accused with the 

kind of weighty and 

corroborative allegations 

levelled against 

Oshiomhole, he would 

have sued the accuser for 

defamation of characterrather 

than hiding and 

wishing away the 

allegations. 

"There is even a 

monument to corruption 

visible from any part of 

Nigeria erected by this man 

in his village. Yet this is the 

company in which our anticorruption 

President revels 

in. 

"Is this not the same 

President who went to Kano 

to raise the hands of 

Ganduje in solidarity? And 

you remember the 

laughable cover-up the 

President was pushing for 

an alleged crime caught on 

video. 

"He was actually 

suggesting that the video 

recording was manipulated 

by ‘technology’. Only God 

knows whether this is 

another signpost of another 

evil scheme they are 

planning to unleash. 

"I hope he saw the Atiku 

By Emmanuel 

Aziken, Political 

Editor and 

Abdulmumin 

Murtala 

KANO—Kano, the 

hotbed of Northern 

politics was turned into 

play, yesterday, after the 


PDP, presidential 

candidate, Atiku Abubakar 

turned out for a mega rally 

in the ancient city. 

Kano had always been in 

in support of Muhammadu 

Buhari, who had won the 

state with massive margins 

even defeating locals from 

the state. 

However, yesterday’s 

rally which was signposted 

by the defection of the 

immediate past governor of 

the state, Senator Rabiu 

Kwankwaso from the APC 

to the PDP has now 

projected Kano as a state 

which could be hotly 

disputed. 

Though suggestions that 

someone could contest 

Kano with Buhari could be 

seen as a fairy tale, the 

reality after yesterday was 

that Buhari might face a 

heated challenge the state. 

campaign rally in Kano 

today (yesterday) in 

Buhari’s supposed 

stronghold? Does that 

suggest a candidate or 

party in need of buying 

votes? On the contrary, you 

witnessed the fiasco of 

Buhari’s campaign rally in 

Lagos yesterday 

(Saturday). That should tell 

you who will find the need 

to purchase votes." 

Your Presidency 

reeks of corruption, 

PDP tells Buhari 

The PDP in a statement 

by its National Publicity 

Secretary, Mr. Kola 

Ologbondiyan, said 

President Buhari has failed 

his integrity test and has no 

moral rectitude to 

pontificate on corruption, 

his administration having 

been entangled in 

corruption. 

The party said if there is 

any person whose activities 

of corruption have become 

a threat to the coming 

election, it is President 

Buhari, who it alleged is 

financing his campaign 

with looted funds, while 

surrounding himself with 

politicians indicted for 

corruption. 

The statement read in 

part: "The PDP, out of 

respect for the Office of the 

President of Federal 

Republic of Nigeria, had 

severally refrained from 

calling out President 

Buhari on his various 

indictments for corruption 

even during his era as a 

military ruler. 

"A clear reading of Mr. 

President’s statement today 

(yesterday) shows that he 

is not yet aware that 

Nigerians have decoded 

his mastery of concealment 

of corruption in his 

Presidency and are no 

longer interested in his 

failed self-acclaimed fight 

against corruption. 

"President Buhari 

presides over the most 

corrupt and incompetent 

administration in the 

history of our nation, for 

which Nigerians are very 

eager to go to the polls on 

Saturday to vote him out of 

office. 

"If Mr. President were to 

be aware, he would have 

discovered that his entire 

surrounding reeks of 

moral, institutional and 

integrity corruption. But 

since he has consistently 

claimed not to be aware of 

anything around him, it is 

imperative to let him know 

that the fish in his pond is 

rotten from the head. 

"Clinical examples can be 

drawn from his campaign 

council. Nigerians are 

aware that not a few 

members of this council 

have been indicted on 

malfeasance bordering on 

corruption 

"Is it not strange therefore 

that President Buhari who 

wants Nigerians to perceive 

his administration as 

fighting corruption, will cast 

a net into the ocean and 

bring out only corrupt 

people to run his 

campaign? 

‘’The truth is that 

Nigerians have seen more 

than enough of the fake 

fight against corruption and 

have come to a conclusion 

that President Buhari is 

merely paying lip service 

to this fight. He has no 

intention to do it and even 

if he had the opportunity 

to govern perpetually, he 

will never fight corruption.’’ 

FG saves $550m 

from eliminating 

ghost workers 

Buhari speaking on 

ghost workers said: “More 

ghost workers must be 

removed from government 

payroll (almost $550 million 

has been saved from 

identifying phantom 

employees). More can be 

recovered through our 

whistle-blower policy ($370 

million has been returned 

since its launch in 2016). 

More is still to come. But, 

together, we shall prevail 

over corruption. 

“This is the problem of 

corruption writ large. It 

illustrates how it lurks in all 

and every crevice of public 

life, manipulating due 

process in pursuit of selfpreservation 

and 

perpetuation; protecting 

personal political and 

economic interests at the 

expense of the common 

good. 

“Indeed, those who have 

criticised 

my 

administration’s anticorruption 

drive are those 

who oppose its mission. 

And though their lawyers 

may craft expensive alibis, 

they cannot escape that 

which binds them together: 

a raft of documents and 

barely legal (some clearly 

illegal) mechanisms – 

whether that be the 

Panama Papers, US 

Congress reports, shell 

companies or offshore bank 

accounts,’’ the President 

stated. 

He said the choice before 

voters on Saturday would 

be whether to continue on 

the path of his government 

which has laid the 

foundation for fighting 

corruption or revert to the 

past old days. 

Presidency: Kwankwaso changes Kano game 

Reflective of the new 

power permutations on the 

ground, Atiku and his 

entourage including the 

national chairman, Prince 

Uche Secondus had 

arrived Kano donning the 

Kwankwasiya cap that is 

signature for followers of the 

former governor. 

That was to show that 

Kano PDP belonged to 

Kwankwaso and to reap the 

votes; the PDP presidential 

candidate had toe the line 

of the philosophy as 

espoused by the former 

governor. 

Before Kwankwanso’s 

defection, the PDP which 

was in the hands of Ibrahim 

Shekarau seen as inactive. 

The party did not contest 

the local government 

election that took place in 

2016. 

However, that began to 

change after Kwankwanso 

came to the party last year. 

An alignment with 

Shekarau did not work as 

the later did not consider it 

proper that Kwankwaso 

was gifted with 51% of the 

structure. 

Shekarau was also in 

some sections, accused of 

joining the APC by some 

PDP members to save his 

neck from the EFCC on 

charges of alleged 

corruption while the APC 

used him as the candidate 

to contest for Sen 

Kwankwaso’s Senate seat 

of the Kano Central. 

Corruption has also 

emerged as an issue in 

Kano following the video 

recording of the governor 

allegedly accepting wads 

of dollar cash as bribes from 

some unnamed contractors 

with the state government, 

which he denied. 

After Kwankwaso 

defected to the PDP, many 

serving APC political office 

holders and associates of 

the former governor, 

including the then 

incumbent deputy 

governor of the state, Prof. 

Hafiz Abubakar moved 

with Kwankwaso to the 

PDP. 

Given the bad blood that 

had emerged between 

Kwankwaso and Ganduje, 

the coming battle has 

largely been constructed to 

be a personality battle 

between Kwankwaso and 

Ganduje. For some, the 

collateral benefits or 

damage could then impair 

or harm the two major 

presidential candidates, 

Buhari and Atiku. 

A major threat to 

Kwankwaso’s ascendancy 

in the PDP was the issue of 

the governorship 

candidate. The emergence 

of Abba Kabir Yusuf, a scion 

of Kwankwaso, as the 

anointed gubernatorial 

candidate of the PDP led to 

mutterings here and there 

in the state as some 

stakeholders, especially 

those who had positioned 

themselves prior to 

Kwankwaso’s emergence 

felt betrayed. 

Although the 

Kwankwasiyya lost some 

followers because of the 

emergence of the 

governorship candidate, 

the party has now been 

able to find a balance as 

was reflected by what party 

officials were noting as the 

success of yesterday’s rally. 

Senator Kwankwaso has 

used his political prowess 

to bring the PDP back to life 

in Kano and is also 

struggling to induce a 

generational change in the 

leadership of the state with 

his anointed candidate 

Yusuf, who is seen as closer 

to the youths.

VANGUARD, MONDAY FEBRUARY 11, 2019 — 49 

By Emmanuel Aziken 

Political Editor & Clifford 

Ndujihe 

With 

Nigerians 

storming many of the 

campaign venues of 

the leading presidential 

candidates, concern that the 

enthusiasm may be misplaced 

has come to the fore in the 

face of progressive decline in 

voter turnout over the last 

four election cycles. 

Voter turnout for a general 

election reached its lowest 

ebb in 2015 when 43.65 per 

cent of the 68.8 million 

registered voters turned out 

to vote. In 2011, the 

percentage turnout was 53.7 

per cent, 57.7per cent in 2007 

and a peak of 69.1per cent in 

2003. 

The progressive decline was 

of concern to civil society 

activists at the weekend with 

few showing any optimism of 

an increase despite 

assurances to the contrary 

earlier given by the chairman 

of the Independent National 

Electoral Commission, INEC, 

Prof. Mahmood Yakubu. 

Yakubu’s confidence may 

have flowed from the 

significant increase in the 

country’s electoral register. 

Samson Itodo, head of the 

Youth Initiative for Advocacy, 

Growth & Advancement, 

YIAGA, told Vanguard at the 

weekend that voting has 

become a very expensive 

venture for many ordinary 

Nigerians that they simply 

overlook the effort. 

“It is difficult and expensive 

to be a voter in Nigeria. First, 

you must show up to register, 

then show up to collect your 

Permanent Voter's Card and 

then show up to vote. 

“We expect citizens to show 

up three times to exercise 

their franchise. Studies have 

shown that the more we 

complicate the voting process, 

the more we increase apathy. 

Voting should be simplified 

and interesting to encourage 

citizens to vote.” 

The difficulties associated 

with voting is one that many 

Nigerians simply decide to 

avoid and hence, the first 

•INEC Chairman, Prof. 

Mahmood Yakubu 

Voter Apathy 

As a Threat 

•After the most rigorous voter registration exercise in Nigerian history that saw the 

electoral register swell by 22 per cent, there are suggestions that the recent gains of 

the Continuous Voter Registration, CVR, exercise may not stem the progressive 

slide in voter turnout that sank to its lowest in 2015 at 43 per cent. 

barrier to the exercise of the 

democratic franchise. 

Mr. Abiodun Akinosi, an 

•Itodo 

Otta, Ogun State-based 

private driver is one of such 

who will not be having a say 

in who becomes the next 

president of Nigeria or 

governor of his native Ogun 

State. 

He told Vanguard that he 

could not register to vote. 

“I went to the registration 

centre at the local government 

headquarters twice but on 

both occasions, the queue was 

damn too long,” he said. 

He added that further efforts 

were not possible on account 

of his working condition 

given that he has to 

always be with his boss.” 

Besides the 

challenges of the 

logistics, Awal 

Rafsanjani, executive 

director of the Civil 

Society Legislative 

and Advocacy 

Centre, CISLAC 

also pointed at other barriers 

that have worsened the 

apathy. 


electoral fraud, 

violence and 

undemocratic 

processes are 

responsible for 

voters’ apathy 

in Nigeria. 

“After the 

2015 elections, 

Nigerians 

expected 

President 

•Rafsanjani 

Buhari and his party, APC, 

to ensure electoral 

transparency and deal with 

electoral impunity but 

unfortunately, neither his 

party nor his government 

initiated any positive 

electoral reform that would 

encourage Nigerians to 

participate in our electoral 

process.” 

One of such acts expected 

of President Buhari to 

promote transparency of the 

electoral process was the 

Electoral Act Amendment 

Bill which the president 

turned down four times from 

the National Assembly. 

The National Assembly 

which had initially shown 

enthusiasm to push forward 

the amendment, however, 

failed to do so as partisan 

political considerations 

overwhelmed the process in 

the last quarter of last year. 

Mr. Rafsanjani also 

pointed out the level of 

violence, an issue that was 

aptly showcased by the 

killings that followed the 

2011 election in many 

parts of the north. 

He also cited the 

issue of accountability. 

“Many voters don’t 

want to vote because of 

the absence of political 

accountability by the 

elected politicians,” 

an issue he said was 

fuelled by the 

imposition of 

candidates 

by political 

parties 

forcing 

m a n y 

voters to 

stay away 

f r o m 

voting. 

Itodo 

gave verve 

to the issue. According to 

him: “The decrease in the 

level of voter turnout during 

elections is largely attributed 

to the failure of political 

leadership to deliver 

development to the people. 

“Despite going through 

hardships to exercise their 

right to vote, sometimes 

voters don’t get the desired 

outcome from their 

investment in election. It is 

discouraging when leaders 

are voted and they shut the 

same people that voted them 

in power out of governance. 

“Secondly, the do-or-die 

nature of our politics and the 

desperation of politicians to 

get power is another issue. 

This desperation in the quest 

for power has led to violence, 

intimidation and electoral 

heist. 

“In fact, it increased the 

temperament of politics in 

Nigeria, making elections 

look like war and not a civil 

affair. This pathology of 

electoral contests is a turnoff 

for most voters. Voters are 

concerned about their 

security and so if voting 

stations become hotbeds or 

theatre of violence, they have 

no option but to stay away.” 

On how the apathy can be 

reversed, he said: “Increased 

voter and political education. 

Citizens need to appreciate 

The do-or-die 

nature of our 

politics and the 

desperation of 

politicians to get 

power is another 

issue. This 

desperation in 

the quest for 

power has led to 

violence, 

intimidation and 

electoral heist 

the value and implication of 

voting at elections. To do this, 

government, civil society, 

academic and media will 

require increased investment 

in voter mobilisation. 

“Democratic institutions 

should function properly so 

they can deliver on their 

mandate. For instance, if the 

security agencies uphold nonpartisanship, 

patriotism and 

professionalism in their 

management of election 

security operations or INEC 

conducts free and fair 

election, citizens will be 

confident that their votes will 

count and turn up to vote.” 

The unprecedented 14.5 

million voters added to the 

electoral register is believed 

to have been fuelled by the 

determination of Nigerians to 

put forward their preferences 

on who governs them in their 

respective constituencies.

50 — VANGUARD, MONDAY FEBRUARY 11, 2019 

From Polling Unit to Prison: 

The fate of any troublesome voter 


ABUJA: The Bill for an 

Act to establish the Nigerian 

Electoral Offences 

Commission and the Bill for 

an Act to establish the 

Electoral Offences Tribunal 

were two legislative efforts at 

sanitizing the electoral space, 

but like everything meant for 

the advancement of the 

Nigerian nation, they never 

saw the light of day. 

The first bill contains a long 

list of electoral offences 

touching on several issues that 

would otherwise have passed 

as little infractions, but since 

it has not come to fruition, 

there are other actions that are 

viewed as serious infractions 

with grave legal 

consequences. 

While law-abiding 

Nigerians would be casting 

their ballots this Saturday or 

perhaps staying at home, 

there are those who may want 

to be on the other side of the 

law. Since ignorance is not an 

excuse in law, it is pertinent 

to know that there is a thin line 

between your Polling Unit and 

the Prisons, or perhaps, a 

Police Cell. 

Here are some of the things 

you need to know. 

-Presenting someone else’s 

Permanent Voter's Card, 

PVC for voting may lead to 

prosecution. This is in accordance 

with section 12(b) 

which provides that “Any 

person who presents the 

PVC of another person with 

an intention to use it to vote, 

shall not be allowed to vote 

and may be liable to arrest 

and prosecution.” 

-Mandatory Pasting of 

Form EC60E. The Regulations 

and Guidelines provides 

that at the close of poll 

and after sorting and 

counting and recording of 

votes, the Presiding Officers 

shall post the completed 

Publication of Result Poster 

EC60(E) at the Polling Unit. 

-Not pasting of Form EC60 

(E) is electoral offence in line 

with Section 123 of the Electoral 

Act, 2010(as amended). 

Electoral officials must beware. 

-A voter is free to remain 

within the vicinity of a Polling 

Unit after voting. This is 

in accordance with section 

20(d) of the Regulations and 

Guidelines which provides 

that; “After casting his/her 

ballot, the voter is free to 

remain within the vicinity of 

the Polling Unit to witness the 

sorting and counting of votes 

and the announcement of 

results, provided he/she is 

orderly. In other words, be 

disorderly and lose the right 

to sleep at home for the 

night or some days. 

The Nigeria Police Force is 

the lead security agency 

when it comes to elections. 

The police in 2015 issued a 

list of electoral offences. 

Some of them might appear 

controversial though. 

The offences, according to 

the police are casting of vote 

twice or more; announcing 

false election result; 

stopping any other person 

from voting and revealing 

information on the ballot 

paper of another person. 

Other offences are canvassing 

for votes at the 

polling unit, shouting 

slogans of a political party 

at the polling unit; being 

armed with guns, sticks, 

stones or any other 

dangerous weapons at a 

polling unit. 

As usual, the police has 

warned that loitering or 

walking about in a polling 

unit is an offence, as well as 

using siren at a polling 

unit. Snatching or 

destroying ballot boxes or 

card readers, holding 

public meetings during 

election hours on election 

day, wearing or carrying 

badge or poster of a 

political party and inflicting 

or threatening to inflict 

injury on any person or 

persons at a polling unit are 

all electoral offences. 

On election day, try to 

stay within the ambit of the 

law if you must not end up 

moving from your polling 

unit to prison. 


ABUJA: The Independent Na 

tion-al Electoral Commission, 

INEC, has carried out most of the 

tasks it set before itself ahead of the 

general elections and would this 

Saturday, go into the conduct of the 

actual elections. 

Here are some of the things you 

need to know. 

The 7-step Voting Procedure 

The seven-step voting procedure as 

outlined by INEC for Saturday’s Polls 

are not substantially different from 

those used in recently conducted 

isolated or off-season elections. 

The steps as stated by INEC are: 

Step 1: 

As a voter, upon arrival at the 

polling unit, you are expected to join 

the queue and present yourself to the 

INEC official (APO111) at the polling 

unit who will determine whether you 

are at the correct polling unit and 

check if the photograph on the 

Permanent Voter's Card, PVC matches 

your face. If satisfied, he/she will 

direct you to the next INEC official 

(APO1). 

Step 2: 

The official (APO1) will then 

request for your PVC to confirm that 

Nigeria’s General Elections: 

Points to note 

secret. 

your card is genuine as well as your 

details, using the smart card reader. 

He/she will ask you to place your 

finger on the card reader to confirm 

You will stain your 

appropriate finger 

for the election with 

the ink provided 

then use your 

stained finger to 

mark the space or 

box provided on the 

ballot paper for your 

preferred candidate/ 

party; roll the 

marked ballot paper 

(in the manner the 

PO gave to you) 

that the PVC belongs to you. The 

card reader will contain the name, 

photograph and finger prints of all 

those who registered in their polling 

unit. 

Step 3: 

You will then meet the next official 

(APO11) who will request for your 

PVC to confirm that your name and 

details are in the voters' register. Your 

name will be ticked and your PVC 

returned to you. He/she will then apply 

indelible ink to the cuticle of your 

appropriate finger for that election to 

show that you have been accredited 

to vote. (If your name is not found on 

the register, you will not be allowed 

to vote). 

Step 4: 

The Presiding Officer, PO stamps, 

signs and endorses the date at the 

back of the Ballot Paper. The PO will 

roll the ballot paper inwardly with 

the printed side inwards and give to 

you. He/she will then direct you to 

the voting cubicle where you vote in 

Step 5: 

You will stain your appropriate finger 

for the election with the ink provided 

then use your stained finger 

to mark the space or box provided 

on the ballot paper for your preferred 

candidate/party. Roll the marked 

ballot paper (in the manner the PO 

gave to you). 

Step 6: 

The next step will be to leave the 

voting cubicle and drop the ballot 

paper in the ballot box in full view 

of people at the polling unit. 

Step 7: 

You will then leave the polling unit 

or wait if you so choose in an 

orderly and peaceful manner to 

work the process up to declaration 

of results. 

N.B. The result of each polling 

unit shall be pasted at the unit for 

everyone to see.

VANGUARD, MONDAY FEBRUARY 11, 2019 — 51 

Yesterday's 

"unbelievable" crowd 

that attended Atiku 

Abubakar's campaign rally 

in Kano, a state whose 

votes had always been 

seen as the birthright of 

Muhammadu Buhari may 

signpost significant 

undercurrents in the 

politics of the North's most 

radical state 

By Emmanuel Aziken, 

Political Editor and 

Abdulmumin Murtala, Kano 

Kano, the hotbed of Northern 

politics was turned into 

play yesterday after the 

Peoples Democratic Party, PDP 

presidential candidate, Atiku 

Abubakar turned out what has 

been dubbed as an 

unbelievable crowd at a mega 

rally in the ancient city. 

That comparisons were being 

made with the crowd pulled by 

the ruling All Progressives 

Congress, APC has now put the 

PDP as a factor to be reckoned 

with in this weekend's 

presidential election. 

Kano until now had always 

been in the pocket of 

Muhammadu Buhari. He had 

won the state with massive 

margins even defeating locals 

from the state. 

However, yesterday's rally 

which was signposted by the 

defection of the immediate 

past governor of the state, 

Senator Rabiu Kwankwanso 

from the APC to the PDP has 

now projected Kano as a state 

which could to the amazement 

of the Buhari campaign be 

hotly disputed. 

Though suggestions that 

someone could contest Kano 

with Buhari could be seen as a 

fairy tale, the reality after 

yesterday was that Buhari 

might no longer be guaranteed 

the massive margins he had 

won in the state. 

Reflective of the new power 

permutations on the ground, 

Atiku and his entourage 

including the national 

chairman, Prince Uche 

Secondus had arrived Kano 

By Alemma-Ozioruva Aliu 

BENIN CITY – BARELY one week 

to the Presidential and National 

Assembly elections, campaigns by 

political parties in Edo State have 

reached a high point; from the major 

political parties to the minor ones, all 

exuding confidence that they would 

create upsets by dethroning the ruling 

All Progressives Congress, APC. 

The parties have been involved in 

accusation and counter-accusation 

which has over the years become part 

of the country’s political culture. 

But this is not the best of time for 

many candidates of the APC as many 

of them have been complaining of 

the paucity of funds. 

There have been complaints of zero 

funding from the party unlike it used 

to be in the past, the candidates are 

the ones providing funds for 

themselves and this has created 

uneasy calm among them. 

The situation got worse recently 

when a House of Representatives 

candidate was battling to raise 

N40,000 to renew one of his billboard 

advertorials. 

“It has been tough for us; nobody 

has gotten one naira as support from 

our party, quote me,” one of the candidates 

complained to Vanguard a few 

days ago. 

Another candidate contesting for 

one of the seats in the state House of 

Presidency: Kwankwanso 

makes Kano game 

donning the Kwankwansiya 

cap that is signature for 

followers of the former governor. 

That was to show that Kano 

PDP belonged to Kwankwanso 

and to reap the votes; the PDP 

presidential candidate had to 

kowtow to the philosophy as 

espoused by the former 

governor. 

Indeed, 

before 

Kwankwanso's defection, the 

PDP which was in the hands of 

Ibrahim Shekarau was 

practically lifeless. The party 

did not contest the local 

government election that took 

place in 2016 and had been 

reduced to sporadic eruptions. 

However, that began to 

change after Kwankwanso 

came to the party last year. An 

alignment with Shekarau did 

not work as the later did not 

consider it proper that 

Kwankwanso was gifted with 

APC’s austerity campaign in Edo 

•It is paying us - Idahosa 

Assembly gave the same complaint; 

“We have never had this kind of 

experience before, it is like we are 

orphans. We are the ones sourcing for 

the monies we are using for the campaigns. 

We are the ones mobilising 

members for the rallies. We are 

worried and we are waiting for the 

governor.” 

But the state secretary of the party, 

Lawrence Okah told Vanguard that 

every member of the party is 

providing funding. “There is nobody 

that is not using money to campaign, 

I am supporting a candidate and I am 

using my money to campaign, so everybody 

is part of the party, there is 

no specific money kept aside for 

election; it is the people that make 

up the party, we are all trying and we 

are doing our best.” 

However, a chieftain of the party, 

Honourable Charles Idahosa told 

Vanguard that the party has adopted 

a new strategy for the campaign and 

that he remained confident that APC 

would win the polls. 

“We are very ready. What a lot of 

people don’t understand is that we are 

doing it in a different style, a lot of 

people have asked me whether we 

Buhari in Kano 

YEAR % 

2015 89% 

2011 61% 

51% of the structure. 

Shekarau was also in some 

sections, accused of joining the 

APC by some PDP members to 

save his neck from the EFCC on 

charges of corruption while the 

APC used him as the candidate 

to contest for Sen Kwankwaso's 

Senate seat of the Kano Central. 

Corruption has also emerged 

as an issue in Kano following 

the video recording of the 

governor allegedly accepting 

wads of dollar cash as bribes 

from some unnamed 

contractors with the state 

government. 

After Kwankwanso defected 

to the PDP, many serving APC 

•Adams Oshiomhole 

are campaigning, I say we are 

campaigning; it is a completely new 

concept that we are putting together 

from the national to state, so we are 

working and campaigning but I am 

not going to disclose the strategy we 

are using so that our opponents, 

especially the PDP, don’t pick it up 

but I can tell you that we are ready for 

the elections. We are working on our 

campaigns, we are working across 

political office holders and 

associates of the former 

governor, including the then 

incumbent deputy governor of 

the state, Prof. Hafiz Abubakar 

moved with Kwankwanso to the 

PDP. 

Given the bad blood that had 

emerged 

between 

Kwankwanso and Ganduje, the 

coming battle has largely been 

constructed to be a personality 

battle between Kwankwanso 

and Ganduje. For some, the 

collateral benefits or damage 

could then impair or harm the 

two major presidential 

candidates, Buhari and Atiku. 

A major threat to 

Kwankwanso's ascendancy in 

the PDP was the issue of the 

governorship candidate. The 

emergence of Abba Kabir Yusuf, 

a scion of Kwankwanso, as the 

anointed gubernatorial 

candidate of the PDP led to 

the state and come May 29, Buhari 

will continue, that I can tell you. 

“What I will advise is that we 

should eschew violence and ensure 

a peaceful election because it is not 

business as usual, but our campaigns 

are issued-based and as far as I am 

concerned, the election of 2019 is 

based on character, it is based on integrity.” 

Describing the crowd that has 

been present in the campaigns of 

President Muhammadu Buhari and 

the APC, Idahosa said: “It is the 

greatest ever in this country. I have 

never seen anything like that. I am a 

member of the Presidential Council 

in Edo State. What we saw in Benin 

last week beat our expectations. Look 

at Jos and Warri. The way people 

want to see him, we have won the 

election.” 

He disagrees on complaints that 

Governor Godwin Obaseki was not 

doing enough to motivate political 

leaders to work for the party, Idahosa 

said: “Obaseki’s style is different, and 

we are happy. We, the political leaders, 

are not getting the bounty harvest 

we used to get but we have to face 

reality. The survival of the party is paramount. 

You saw the crowd at Garrick 

when the president visited the 

mutterings here and there in 

the state as some stakeholders, 

especially those who had 

positioned themselves prior to 

Kwankwanso's emergence felt 

betrayed. 

Although the Kwankwasiyya 

lost some followers because of 

the emergence of the 

governorship candidate, the 

party has now been able to find 

a balance as was reflected by 

what party officials were noting 

as the success of yesterday's 

rally. 

Senator Kwankwaso has used 

his political prowess to bring the 

PDP back to life in Kano and is 

also struggling to induce a 

generational change in the 

leadership of the state with his 

anointed candidate Yusuf, who 

is seen as closer to the youth 

generation. 

Ganduje had promised to 

deliver 5.4 million votes to 

Buhari, something that was at 

one time seen as unrealistic. 

After yesterday's "unbelievable" 

crowd at the Atiku rally, that 

idea is now clearly 

unbelievable. 

state; it is due to how the general 

public perceives Obaseki. It is not the 

common man that is complaining. 

“Can you remember how the Kings 

Square used to look like? The era of 

impunity, the era of thuggery is over, 

and a lot of people are happy. A few 

people were harvesting our common 

good and becoming billionaires 

overnight. 

“The ordinary man is with Obaseki. 

The civil servants are happy; he is constructing 

roads and building infrastructure 

across the state. He is 

preparing Edo for the future. It is high 

time those of us politicians that are 

shouting key into the vision. We 

should stop all the complaints. 

“Obaseki recently gave out 

contracts for schools renovation, and 

we are happy. He promised that in two 

years, he would open up and he has 

given out contracts on over 300 

schools. In Uhunmwonde, for instance, 

we have eight renovations of 

schools, primary health, and others so, 

at the end of the day, we are happy. 

We are campaigning, and we are 

working. The other day, PDP was 

shouting that we are not campaigning 

because we have changed our 

tactics. We did that rally because the 

president was coming, but in all our 

villages, we are moving from unit to 

unit we are doing unit campaign, so 

everything is fine.”


YOUR LUCK TODAY 

By Joshua Adeyemo Phone 08056180139 

SAGITTARIUS; Here is a day when things are 

meant to go according to your plans and record 

success. Yong-at-heart may be in for a romantic day. 

You just have to take the initiative. 

CAPRICORN; This is your day; although there 

will be some challenges within your base of operation, 

eventual success will be yours. Be more family 

minded. 

AQUARIUS; Even if friends have failed to live up 

to expectation in the recent days you will need to 

leave the past behind you and forge ahead. Lovers 

are fairly favoured. 

PISCES; Recent challenges notwithstanding 

pleasant surprises are possible. The more financially 

ambitious you are today the better for your cause. 

ARIES; Better opportunities indicated for those of 

you willing to be as self assertive as possible, and it 

could turn out to be a happy day to be remembered 

by real lovers. 

TAURUS; Although you will need to keep your 

secrets for the next few days that is not to say you 

should not pursue your financial interest. Take care 

of your health. 

GEMINI; Don’t wait till tomorrow before you make 

an important move because good luck and success 

are closer to you today than you image. Be hopeful. 

CANCER; Tomorrow will prove more rewarding 

financially but you will have good opportunity to do 

things rightly within your working arena. Be loving. 

LEO; Some of you who are travelling purposely for 

love are in for rewarding day. All of you will need to 

take your social life more seriously. 

L E I S U R E 

TAKE HEART — ELLA RANDLE 

“If we want to see our rainbows, we have to stand a little 

rain.” -Take Heart Quotes.- 

Life can be challenging but it’s a choice to get up after a fall and 

start to walk a mile in your shoes everyday and make something 

beautiful of the moments we have been given, because 

that’s the only way one can begin to understand what it means 

to walk mile in someone’s else shoes. Every day comes with a 

chance to learn and grow. 

- Ella Randle 

TERROR MUDA in “Never say goodbye” 

SAYINGS OF 

OUR PEOPLE 

There are many 

colorful flowers 

on the path of 

life, but the prettiest 

have the 

sharpest thorns. 

~African Proverb 

By Kola Fayemi 

VIRGO; Professional advice may be needed over 

your finances but if you are sure of what you are 

doing you can go ahead. Be more family minded; 

DUDU in “ROLLING HOT” By A.O. OLAIDE 

LIBRA; Unusual co-operation may come your way 

today but if you are carried away by this the whole 

thing may change tomorrow. Respect your spouse. 

SCORPIO; Better than yesterday. Happenings 

within your working arena will not give you cause to 

worry but situation may change tomorrow. Your finance 

are favoured. 

ASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLING 

ASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLING 

Send your date and place of birth th to the Astr 

trological 

Counselling, P.M.B 100 

007, 7, Apapa, Lagos 

What should I expect? 

Dear Joshua, 

Kindly tell me what the first Quarter of the new year 

(February to April 2019) does have for me, because I 

must take some important decision during the said 

period. 

Emanuel, Lagos. 

Dear Emanuel, 

Although you did not tell me exactly what you want 

to do, your immediate future looks progressive as given 

here-under. 

This is a major period of the year when things will go 

according to your plans. Certainly money will come in 

and needed opportunity to advance along your career 

line will present itself. Your good influential friends 

will not have option than to assist you to the betterment 

of your cause. If you so wish, you can consider 

distant/foreign journey now and rightly expect success. 

But you will need to beware of short journey you don’t 

plan properly. 

The last three weeks of the period will bring you 

minor challenges via partnership affairs. However 

generally speaking the whole of the period will prove 

highly successful for you. The more spiritual you are 

the better. 

Another fortunate period is here when you will be 

given new powers both at work and in other areas of 

your life. Re-organization along your career line and/ 

or promotion indicated for you. Your mind is crystal 

cleared while your new ideas will lead to brilliant success 

if put to practice. Although you may have minor 

accident you will be in better control of your life. 

Another positive period is here. Your luck will shine. 

Major or good progress will be made, especially 

through MONEY The major challenge here is some 

people are willing to move you out of where you are 

now to plant their stooge on one hand, on the other 

hand you may be forced or voluntarily embark on short 

distance journey capable to bring you disappointment. 

The last two weeks will bring more challenges at the 

same time they will make you VICTORIOUS in many 

ways. 

VIRGINIA 

HOME & ABROAD 

dadadekola@yahoo.com 

By Lawrence Akapa


Chelsea fans call for 

Sarri's sack 

H 

A S H T A G 

#SarriOut 

flooded social media after 

Chelsea were drubbed 

6-0 yesterday by 

Manchester City. 

Blues fans demanded 

their coach to be sacked 

following the dismaying 

result - coming less than 

two weeks after the 

embarrassing 4-0 to 

Bournemouth. 

One fan wrote: "If Sarri 

is still a manager at 

Chelsea by Monday we 

might as well sell the 

club for £100." 

While another added: 

"Sarri is clueless. 

Jorginho and Alonso are 

disasters. Higuain is 

another figure head." 

A third wrote: "This is 

the worst half have seen 

as a Chelsea fan for over 

10 years." 

And a fourth added: "If 

this isn't the nail in the 

coffin for Sarri at 

Chelsea I don't know 

what is. The guy has no 

plan B whatsoever. I 

can't back the man 

anymore." 

Sarri faced the wrath 

of Chelsea supporters 

before the game after 

it 

was 

revealed wantaway 

Callum Hudson-Odoi 

was left out of squad. 

Sarri has turned Chelsea into 

Arsenal – Carragher 

•Dazed Sarri 

CAF U20 Nations Cup: 

Aigbogun plots victory 

encore against Mali 

Flying Eagles coach, 

Paul Aigbogun is 

plotting strategies that will 

help get victory for the 

second time in three 

months against Mali, as he 

aims to win Wednesday’s 

semi-final at the African U- 

20 Cup of Nations in Niger 

Republic. 

It would be recalled that 

both sides also met in the 

semi-finals of the 2018 West 

African Football Union 

(WAFU) U-20 Cup of 

Nations in Lome, Togo, 

which the Flying Eagles 

won 1-0. 

Aigbogun said he is sure 

of an encore, as he seeks a 

place in Sunday’s final of 

the 2019 U20 AFCON, at 

the expense of the side that 

romped past West Coast 

rivals, Ghana to end as 

runners-up in Group B. 

Nigeria, who finished top 

•Aigbogun 

of Group A with seven 

points (courtesy two 

victories and a draw) have 

already booked a ticket to 

the 2019 FIFA U-20 World 

Cup in Poland, but will seek 

to add flavour to their feat 

by winning an eighth U20 

AFCON title. 

Should they beat Mali 

this midweek, starting at 

4:30pm in Niamey, the 

Flying Eagles may end up 

in the final against 

Senegal, who won Group B 

with nine points from three 

matches after they 

pounded Burkina Faso 4-1 

in Maradi and face South 

Africa in the second 

semifinal on Wednesday. 

The Black Satellites of 

Ghana failed to qualify 

for the 2019 FIFA U-20 World 

Cup after losing their final 

group game at the Total U-20 

Africa Cup of Nations in 

Niger at the weekend. 

The former world 

champions were beaten 1-0 

by the Eagles of Mali at the 

Stade Général Seyni 

Kountché, Niamey. 

The result also means the 

former African champions 

will take no part in the semifinals 

of the U-20 Africa Cup 

of Nations. 

Mali won the match thanks 

to a second-half strike by 

Hadji Drame. The Satellites 

MAURIZIO SARRI has "turned Chelsea into 

Arsenal", according to Jamie Carragher. 

The Blues endured a horror first half at the 

Etihad yesterday, going 6-0 down in a devastating 

display. 

Chelsea have failed to win or even score a goal 

away from home in 2019, having lost to both 

the Gunners 2-0 and Bournemouth 4-0. 

And in the midst of another dreadful 

performance on the road, Carragher took a swipe 

at both the Blues and Arsenal in incredible 

manner. 

Speaking at half-time, the Liverpool legend said: 

"City have been outstanding. 

"I've said Chelsea have been a disgrace at times 

this season, especially against Arsenal and 

Bournemouth. 

"This is as bad as anything they’ve done. 

Looking at Sarri, the worst thing I can say is that 

he's turned Chelsea into Arsenal. 

"They are getting battered in big games 

because they are too weak. You could never say 

that about Chelsea in the past." 

Champions League: 

Solskjaer warns PSG 

New gaffer Ole Gunnar 

Solskjaer believes 

Manchester United have 

gone from no-hopers to 

Champions League 

contenders — in just 55 days. 

And the stand-in boss 

-reckons anything is 

possible for his stars as they 

prepare to face a Paris Saint- 

Germain without Neymar at 

Old Trafford on Tuesday. 

United were in the slough 

of despond under Jose 

Mourinho when the draw 

was made on December 17 

– the day before the 

tarnished Special One was 

sacked. 

Now, after 10 wins out of 

the first 11 games Solskjaer’s 

been in charge, the 

Norwegian -insists United 

can beat anyone – including 

-star-studded French 

-champions PSG. 

“United’s tradition and 

-history in Europe will 

always be mentioned,” he 

said. “But we are 

-performing well and, 

hopefully, after this last-16 

round of teams, the fans can 

talk about us as a challenger. 

Ghana fail to qualify for FIFA U-20 

World Cup 

huffed and puffed but could 

not grab the equaliser which 

would have been enough to 

see them through. 

Mali have thus booked 

•Satellites 

•Sarri 

their place at the World Cup 

and also qualify for the 

AFCON semi-finals, joining 

Nigeria, Senegal and South 

Africa. 

Aguero scores 

hat-trick as City 

blow away Chelsea 

Man City 6-0 Chelsea 

Sergio Aguero scored his second hat-trick in the space 

of a week as Manchester City thumped Chelsea 6- 

0 in yesterday's Premier League clash at the Etihad 

Stadium. 

The Argentina international scored two of City's four goals 

in the opening 25 minutes and then rounded off his 11th 

Prem treble before the hour, equalling Alan Sherer's longstanding 

record for the number of hat-tricks. 

It took a little under four minutes for City to make the 

breakthrough, catching their opponents out with a quick 

free kick. 

Kevin De Bruyne released Bernardo Silva down the 

right and the Portuguese's cutback deflected off David 

Luiz into the path of an unmarked Raheem Sterling, who 

thumped the ball past Kepa Arrizabalaga from 10 yards. 

Then, shortly after being guilty of a miss of the season 

contender when failing to convert from three yards at the 

back post, Sergio Aguero guided the ball past Kepa from 

20 yards further back. 

Chelsea were again the victims of their own downfall for 

City's third as Luiz half-cleared the ball to Ross Barkley, 

who headed it back to where it came from. 

Aguero pounced and sent a first-time shot past a stranded 

Kepa to all but seal the points for the champions with less 

than a quarter of the game played. 

The fourth goal would arrive soon after, again following 

some sloppy defending as Aguero and Sterling 

exchanged passes in the box, before Antonio 

Rudiger cleared the ball to Ilkay Gundogan to curl the 

ball into the net from outside the box. 

Having conceded four goals in the first half of a Premier 

League match for the first time since December 1999, 

Chelsea finally started to grow into the contest, though 

that was mainly because City allowed them to do so. 

Ederson produced a couple of saves to keep out Pedro, 

the first of which came with the Spaniard through on goal 

after being played in by Gonzalo Higuain, before then 

getting a hand to Higuain's long-ranger to keep his clean 

sheet intact. 

Aguero struck the crossbar with a header, but he made 

no mistake from the penalty spot after Cesar 

Azpilicuetahacked down Sterling to score his landmark 

hat-trick. 

There would be a sixth goal before the end, though, with 

Sterling converting Oleksandr Zinchenko's left-sided 

cross in the final 10 minutes - a goal that sends the wellbeaten 

visitors below Arsenal into sixth place on goal 

difference. 

•City 

NBBF rolls out 2019 

programme of activities 

The Tijjani Umar led Nigeria Basketball Federation, 

NBBF Saturday held a one day Consultative 

Meeting at its Abuja secretarait with a cross section 

of stakeholders from around the country in 

attendance. 

After exhaustive deliberations, the meeting, 

according to a press statement from its Media Unit, 

adopted a bouquet of programmes the federation 

plans to implement in 2019. 

The statement said that to usher in the 2019 season, 

the NBBF plans to organise the season opening 

Stakeholders Consultative Forum, an avenue where 

the stakeholders review activities of the previous year 

as well as discuss other technical matters. 

Also on the card for the NBBF, the statement 

disclosed, are the organisation of a new pre-season 

men and women's league, the 2019 Kwese Premier 

League as well as a revamped and innovative 

National Women's League.


Omeruo sparkles 

as Leganes thrash 

Real Betis 3-0 

Chelsea 

loanee 

Kenneth Omeruo 

was in action for 90 

minutes yesterday as 

his La Liga side 

Leganes thrashed ten 

man Real Betis 3-0 at 

their Estadio Municipal 

Butarque. 

Omeruo, playing in 

his 16th league game of 

the campaign, was also 

booked, a yellow card 

in the 53rd minute 

which was his third of 

the season in the 

Spanish top flight. 

Leganes’ goals were 

all scored by Morocco 

international Youssef 

En-Nesyri who became 

the first Leganes player 

to score a hat-trick in 

the the Spanish 

Goals from Davinson 

Sanchez, Christian 

Eriksen and Heung-Min 

Son saw Tottenham close 

the gap on leaders 

Liverpool with a 3-1 win 

over Leicester at Wembley 

on Super Sunday. 

Sanchez’s first Premier 

League goal - an 

instinctive diving header - 

put the hosts ahead in the 

33rd minute to hand Spurs 

the initiative. 

Jamie Vardy came off the 

bench in the second half 

and saw his penalty saved 

by Hugo Lloris with his 

first touch (60), shortly 

topflight. 

According to 

stats by 

Whoscored, 

Omeruo had 

33 touches 

of the ball, 

won one 

aerial duel, 

completed 

one dribble, 

made one 

tackle, one 

interception 

and had a 

game-high 

seven clearances 

against Real Bestis. 

The win takes CD 

Leganes up to the 11th 

place in the table with 

29 points. They travel to 

Real Sociedad in their 

next fixture. 

Spurs title hopes alive 

Tottenham 3-1 Leicester 

•Spurs 

before Christian Eriksen 

made it 2-0 from outside 

the box in the 63rd 

minute. 

Vardy did pull a 

goal back for Claude 

Puel’s side in the 76th 

minute as he met 

Ricardo Pereira’s 

goalmouth cross, but 

Son sealed the victory 

in injury time (90+1) 

after capitalising on a 

Wilfred Ndidi slip to 

keep Mauricio 

Pochettino’s side 

within reach of the 

Premier League’s 

top two. 

David de Gea 

refuses to budge on 

£350,000-a-week 

David de Gea is locked in a 

contract stand-off with 

Manchester United over extending 

his current deal at Old Trafford. 

The Red Devils’ No 1 is 

demanding £350,000-a-week wages 

to commit his peak years to the club. 

The 28-year-old has been the 

subject of heavy interest from Real 

Madrid, having failed to agree to 

new terms in recent years. 

De Gea currently earns £200,000- 

a-week but feels he should be up 

alongside the likes of Alexis 

Sanchez in becoming one of the 

club’s top earners. 

United are reportedly reluctant to 

give into De Gea’s demands but are 

confident that they can meet a 

compromise with the Spain 

international. 

•Omeruo 

•Awoniyi 

Awoniyi plans 

a bigger club 

to fast-track 

work permit 

Taiwo Awoniyi has 

revealed he plans 

to move to a big club in 

Europe in the coming 

season so as to fast 

track his application 

for a work permit that 

will enable him play 

for Liverpool in the 

Premier League. 

The Nigeria U23 

striker has played on 

loan since he joined up 

with Liverpool three 

seasons ago. 

He is currently on 

loan at Belgian club 

Royal Excel Mouscron, 

but he has said the plan 

is now for him to play 

at a top club next 

season so that his work 

permit in Britain could 

come through and 

could finally go on to 

feature for Liverpool. 

He was asked by 

what will happen at the 

end of this season. 

“Then I have to go to 

a club of higher level, 

that is what Liverpool 

want, so that I can 

obtain my work permit 

for England,” he 

replied. 

He has scored two 

goals and provided an 

assist for Mouscron 

since he joined them on 

loan from another 

Belgian club KAA 

Gent last month. 

PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN star Edinson Cavani is 

‘definitely’ out for next week’s Champions League 

round of 16 tie against Manchester United after suffering 

a thigh injury. 

And the Uruguayan’s camp fear he might even miss 

the second leg of the clash - while Neymar is also 

unavailable to face the Red Devils. 

The 31-year-old striker was hauled off the pitch at halftime 

against Bordeux on Saturday - having scored the 

winning goal from the spot earlier during the game. 

PSG chief Thomas Tuchel said it would be “difficult” 

for Cavani to play against the Red Devils on Tuesday night 

- and now it appears he will also be missing defender 

Thomas Meunier with concussion. 

Oshoala scores on her 

debut for Barcelona 

Super Falcons star Asisat Oshoala has scored on 

her debut for Barcelona Femení after just joining 

on loan from Chinese side Dalian Quanjian F.C. 

In the first game for her new club, Oshoala scored 

Barcelona Femení’s fourth goal in their 4-0 win away 

at Rayo Vallecano in a Primera División game 

yesterday. 

It was basically her first touch of the game after she 

came on as a 62nd substitute for Alexia Putellas. 

It took her just 15 seconds to race into the Vallecano 

box to get on the end of a long ball before finishing 

past Rayo Vallecano goalkeeper. 

The 24-year-old was making her first appearance 

for Barcelona Femení after she was left out from the 

squad that beat Albacete 3-1 on Sunday, February 3. 

The win takes them within three points from leaders 

Atletico Madrid. 

She will look to continue her good start when 

Barcelona host Sporting Heluva on Wednesday, 

February 13. 

Barcelona Femení are in a two-horse race for the 

Primera División with current back to back 

champions Atletico Madrid. 

•Oshoala 

Salah’s new look 

Liverpool fans may do a double-take the next 

time their heroes run out onto the pitch, 

when a clean-shaven and considerably 

younger looking Mohamed Salah takes up his 

position up front. 

The Egyptian maestro has opted to mark the 

Reds’ return to the top of the Premier League 

table by shaving off his trademark beard. 

Fans will be hoping his mercurial football 

powers don’t wane as a result, as Jurgen 

Klopp’s bid to remain top of the pile and keep 

rivals Manchester City at bay. 

•Salah 

Cavani out of Man Utd Champions game 

•Cavani


Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2019 

TODAY’S PUZZLE 

Sudoku 

FRIDAY’S ANSWER 

TODAY’S CROSSWORD 

QUICK CROSSWORD 

THURSDAY’S SOLUTION 

How to Play Sudoku 

Place a number (1-9) in each blank cell. (No line can have two 

of the same number). 

Each row (nine lines from left to right), column, (also nine 

lines from top to bottom) and 3 X 3 block within a bold block 

(nine blocks) contains number from 1 through 9. This means 

that no number can appear twice in any block, column or row. 

No mathematics is involved – no adding, subtraction, division or 

multiplication, just plain logic and your imagination. 

Across 

1 Plant from which linen is 

made (4) 

3 Matrimony (8) 

9 Non-professional (7) 

10 Ski slope (5) 

11 In that place (5) 

12 Slumbering (6) 

14 Maxim (6) 

16 Gentle wind (6) 

19 Fully developed (6) 

21 Venomous snake (5) 

24 Preliminary period (3-2) 

25 Alleviate (7) 

26 Stubbornly persistent (8) 

27 Small island (4) 

Down 

1 Flute player (8) 

2 Stop sleeping (5) 

4 Aviator (6) 

5 Drive back (5) 

6 Severely simple (7) 

7 Always (4) 

8 Sea between Greece and 

Turkey (6) 

13 Bring back (8) 

15 Pined (7) 

17 Actually (6) 

18 Rue (6) 

20 Higher (5) 

22 Sediment (5) 

23 Jason’s ship (4) 

Printed and Published by VANGUARD MEDIA LIMITED, Vanguard Avenue, Kirikiri-Canal, P.M.B.1007, Apapa. Phone: Newsroom: 018773962. Deputy Editor: 01-4548355. Advert Hotline: 

08027767834; 01-4544821. Abuja office: 7, Dambata Close, Area 7, Garki, 09-2921024. Ikeja office: 73, Awolowo Way. V.I. Office: Murplus Plaza, 27, Sanusi Fafunwa Street. Asaba: 21, Anwai 

Road. Benin City: 4E, Arusa Street. Port Harcourt: 50, Ikwerre Road; Warri: 102, Efurun-Sapele Road. Advert: advertproduction@yahoo.com; E-mail: editor@vanguardngr.com, 

news@vanguardngr.com, letters@vanguardngr.com. Website: www.vanguardngr.com (ISSN 0794-652X) Editor: EZE ANABA. Phone: 01-4548355. All correspondence to P.M.B. 1007, Apapa Lagos.

11022019

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