20032019 -Petition: My case against Buhari, by Atiku

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18 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20, 2019 AS the nation gets ready for the supplementary elections scheduled for this Saturday, March 23, 2019, the eyes of Nigerians and the international community are still on the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to complete the work it started about a month ago: ensuring the emergence of governors and the remaining lawmakers in seven states through free, fair, credible and conclusive elections. Chairman of INEC, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, had announced the new date when the Returning Officers in Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Kano, Plateau and Sokoto States declared the governorship elections inconclusive because the number of cancelled votes were more than the margins of victory. The election in Rivers State was also suspended because of INEC must guarantee the supplementary polls widespread violence and shooting by soldiers and armed hoodlums aimed at hijacking the voting and collation of votes. The INEC should be mindful that it is going into these supplementary elections with serious question-marks hanging on its head. One of these is the seeming correlation between violence, cancelled votes and margins that lead to the inconclusivity ruling. We are gratified by the President’s open undertaking not to succumb to the alleged expectations of some of his party stalwarts to “change the results” in favour of their candidates. We hope he will keep to his words and allow the supreme will of the people of the seven states to prevail. We do not want anything to rupture the postelection peace we are enjoying so far. Our hopes are also buoyed by the INEC’s open declaration that it was not responsible for the alleged invasion of polling and collation centres by rogue elements in the military and security forces during the just-concluded elections. But we want the Commission to go beyond standing helplessly by while politicians use the nation’s agencies of coercion to rob the people of their freely-expressed choices. The INEC should speak out where such lawless behaviour manifests and refuse to make returns in such places just as it did by withholding Governor Rochas Okorocha’s certificate of return for the Orlu Senatorial seat when its officials disclosed they were made to declare him winner under duress. Political criminals must not be allowed to enjoy the proceeds of their crimes. By Banji Ojewale PROFESSOR Toyin Falola has put it most concisely: Pius Adesanmi is the man who leaves and lives. He argues that although Adesanmi is leaving the scene, still he lives. He’s gone, but he’s not done. He’s gone, but he’s still on. He’s dead, but not dusted. There is more to Falola’s dirge than the lyrical alliteration. There’s also more to the oxymoron of a departure that yet defies an exit. To capture or press a point, you must confront it with its alter ego. To prove Adesanmi ‘lives’ on, you challenge his death with the greater fact of what he has left behind that offers assurance of his being alive, as it were. You put the two opposite each other: Adesanmi’s death and his works and life that touched many he seems to have left orphaned. The point is that you resort to colourful and high language shrouded in rich imagery when paying tribute to momentous events or to a great personage, living or dead. Some of the all-time greats of the poetry we have known had those qualities: Christopher Okigbo’s Labyrinth, Wole Soyinka’s Abiku, Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, John Milton’s Paradise Lost, William Shakespeare’s sonnets, etc. But as I said, we must look beyond the language of homage and interrogate what it gave birth to in order to locate some lessons for our politicians and political office holders. Pius Adesanmi was only 47. Yet the encomiums he’s receiving would OPINION Pius Adesanmi: The human oxymoron politicians must learn from seem to be targeting a man with nine lives, or one in his 70s or 80s or more. For, in our clime we equate achievements with long life. We don’t believe we can deliver much in a short time. The politician seeking elective office wouldn’t plan and strive to achieve in four years all he promised during his campaign; he would scheme for an encore even in old age. He relies on effete constitutional legalism to insist it is his right to ‘fulfil all righteousness’ by opting for a second coming. He adds that, truly a term, no matter how long (5, 6 or 7), isn’t enough. If it is at all, shouldn’t he satisfy the constitution which clearly approves a two-term deal for the president and the governor along with their lieutenants? Should he who swore on oath to protect the document turn around to trash it? God forbid! Adesanmi is counselling them. He packed much in his short stay such that some commentators have wondered if he had a premonition of untimely death that pushed him into delivering a lot in little time. He wrote books and turned in well-researched newspaper articles that we all consumed week by week. These are (they still are living articles according to Falola and a host of others honouring Adesanmi) great pieces addressing national issues we shall be consulting as we collectively seek to salvage our beleaguered nation. As it was said of Wole Soyinka when the world first began to acknowledge his literary prowess, Adesanmi ‘riffled’ the English language and injected it with vernacular idioms that got critics alarmed at his unbridled temerity! So sometimes, right in the middle of a serious essay you’d find Adesanmi writing, “I was sitting down jejely”. Another: In the title of a column piece, he would shock you with “igbo re, ona re”. Somewhere else he would talk of ‘’babanla” or “agbalagba’’. He wasn’t afraid to go pidgin, in both symbolic and real attempt to demonstrate his identification with the hoi polloi. So if in some instances you felt class alienated because of Adesanmi’s Let Nigeria’s politicians learn from Pius Adesanmi that what we need from them isn’t their Methuselah life in office intimidating intellectual credentials, he would disrobe himself for easy reach. He told the story of how he once demystified a high class restaurant in Europe by taking a driver to lunch instead of asking him to stay in the car while Adesanmi enjoyed his meal, as others would. The waiters watched in horror as both gobbled their meal the African way. These are the type of the people the man touched with his love. It scarcely amazes one then concerning the torrent of tributes accompanying his exit. It also hardly surprises us that, on account of the great work to his credit in his short life, many refuse to accept Adesanmi is dead. How can he be dead, they fight back, when they see still him in the monuments of good work attributed to him by the high and the low? Our public office holders don’t need more than a term of four, or at most five years, to accomplish their goals for the people. We can conveniently amend the provision in the constitution to outlaw the two-term arrangement. Looking forward to a second coming and the battle to stop it not only breed the violence in our politics, but also they make our leaders unenterprising and unimaginative.They can’t sit down to work hard through sleepless nights in the interest of the people, knowing they have some eight years to play with. But we have many one-term leaders who did quite well, better indeed than longer-staying ones. In our continent, Nelson Mandela of South Africa excelled on just a single outing. In Nigeria, although a military ruler, Muritala Mohammed had a short stay; but his time was defined by a discipline not since duplicated. John Kennedy of the United States was killed in less than three years of his first term. His feat outshines those who finished their first and second terms. Let Nigeria’s politicians learn from Pius Adesanmi that what we need from them isn’t their Methuselah life in office. We are not interested in their barren longevity in power. We are for a brief stay that would be fruitful, flourishing and flowery, as it was with Pius Adesanmi, the one who ‘leaves but lives’! •Oyewale, a public affairs analyst wrote from Lagos
Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20 , 2019 — 19 L - R: The Associate Regional Manager, International Banking, Oddo BHF, Étienne Grangeat, the Director, International Banking, Oddo BHF, Alfred Idialu, Executive Director, Corporate Planning and Compliance, Unity Bank, Usman Abdulqadir, Director and Head of Compliance, Oddo BHF, Michaela Lorenz, Treasurer, Unity Bank, Sunny Bakwunye, Managing Director International Banking, Oddo BHF, Florian Witt during a meeting to deepen the relationship between the two banks at Oddo BHF’s offices in Frankfurt, Germany, recently. Bonny Light price hits $68.09, as Nigeria’s output declines By Udeme Akpan THE Federal Government’s 2019 budgetary estimates may still be sustained despite a significant cut in output as price of Bonny Light, Nigeria’s premium oil grade has risen to $68.09 per barrel in the global market, about $8.09 above the $60 budgeted benchmark. Yesterday’s prices also showed that prices of Brent, West Texas Intermediate, WTI and the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC basket of 15 crudes firmed up at $59.66, $66.90 and $66.91 respectively. The rise in the general price level was attributed to the increased efforts of OPEC and others to eliminate excess oil from the market. Meanwhile, Nigeria has cut its oil production by 400,000 barrels per day, bpd, from 2.2 million bpd produced in December 2018 to 1.9 million bpd CURRENCY SELLING US DOLLAR POUNDS EURO FRANC YEN CFA WAUA RENMINBI RIYAL SDR DANISH RAND $93.65 0.00 2,241.00 45.00 $12.78 -0.06 $67.83 0.29 $59.29 0.20 BUYING 305.95 306.45 306.95 405.9957 406.6592 407.3227 347.4674 348.0353 348.6031 305.7665 306.2662 306.7659 2.7435 2.7479 2.7524 0.5083 0.5183 0.5283 425.2986 425.9937 426.6887 45.5694 45.6443 45.7193 81.578 81.7113 81.8446 425.9742 426.6703 427.3665 46.5514 46.6275 46.7036 . 21.27 21.3048 21.3395 CBN Exchange rate as at 19/03/2019 in January 2019, in support of OPEC’s oil cut initiative. However, the organisation which raised hope that the market would witness increased stability in the market has called on all stakeholders to cooperate with OPEC. Speaking at the 13th Meeting of the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC), 18 March 2019, Baku, Azerbaijan, HE Manuel Salvador Quevedo Fernandez, Venezuela’s People’s Minister of Petroleum and President of the OPEC Conference said: “The JMMC has proven to be a collaborative, resilient and adaptable platform that has been able to help address imbalances in the market, and allow us to deliver on the objectives of the historic ‘Declaration of Cooperation’. “The OPEC Secretary General, HE Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo, and his able Secretariat team should also be greatly appreciated for their continued great support, not only to the Organization, but to all the nations in the ‘Declaration of Cooperation’. “We also need to recognize that we are living in a fast changing world of new energy realities; one where we need to continually evolve, enhances the gravitas of OPEC and this historic cooperation, and further our outreach to all stakeholders. “Looking back over the past two years or so, we should be proud of our joint efforts. Since the beginning of the historical cooperation for oil market stability in January 2017, participating countries to the ‘Declaration of Cooperation’ have consistently honoured their voluntary commitments and achieved remarkable success.” He said: “However, we need to recognize the ever-evolving nature of the market, and be ready to take the necessary actions so as to continue to fully support the objectives of the ‘Declaration’. This was evident in the unanimous decisions taken in December 2018 at the 175th Meeting of the Conference and the 5th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting to voluntary adjust production by a combined 1.2 million barrels a day throughout the first half of 2019. “It is evident that since the beginning of the year overall conformity levels to these new By Elizabeth Adegbesan & Cynthia Alo THE Pension Fund Assets rose by 15 percent to N8.6 trillion as at end December 2018 from N7.5 trillion recorded in the corresponding period of 2017. Vanguard analysis of the recent Pension Asset and Membership Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that in 2018, the Pension Fund Asset under Management stood at N8.6 billion. The data showed that the number of workers registered under the pension scheme rose by eight percent to 8,410,184 from 7,823,911 in 2017. However, the FGN Bonds has the highest weight percentage of 52. 49 percent of the total pension fund assets in 2018, but it recorded a decline of 1.32 basis point when compared to 53.81 percent recorded in 2017. The report stated: “The Pension Asset and RSA Membership Data fourth quarter of 2018 (Q4’18) reflected that 8,410,184 workers are registered under the pension scheme compared to 8,136,202 registered workers in Q2’18 while the Pension Fund “Asset under Management as at Q4 2018 stood at N8.6 trillion as against N8.3 trillion in voluntary production adjustments have improved and are expected to further advance in the coming months. It is vital that all participating countries remain steadfast in their focus on the full and timely implementation of the decisions taken in December 2018. “Moreover, we also need to be cognizant of how this vital ‘Declaration of Cooperation’ partnership evolves. The basic premise of further strengthening our cooperation with our non-OPEC partners within a Charter of Cooperation between oil producing countries was unanimously “endorsed in principle” by Ministers in December.” Pension assets rise by 15% to N8.6trn Q2’18. “FGN Bonds has the highest weight percentage of 52.49 percent of the total pension fund assets and closely followed by treasury bills with 19.37 percent weight and local money market securities with 8.21 percent weight while foreign money market securities have the least with 0.04 percent weight.” The Auditor-General for the Federation, Mr. Anthony M. Ayine, has identified years of weak auditing, especially in developing countries, as the root cause of poor appreciation of the value and importance of Supreme Audit Institutions (SAI) and their central role in the accountability cycle across the world. Ayine spoke when he presented a paper as one of the lead speakers at the just concluded ninth International Public Sector Conference organised by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), in Prague, Czech Republic. “Years of weak auditing cause the average citizen to be unaware of the value and importance of the SAI as an institu- NIBSS unveils measures to handle 600m PoS transactions By Babajide Komolafe THE Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIB- SS) yesterday, said it has begun to implement measures to facilitate upgrade of its system to handle 600 million Point of Sale (PoS) transactions in 2019. Acting Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer, NIBSS, Mr. Niyi Ajao, disclosed this yesterday while addressing the press on efforts to address recent upsurge in PoS transaction failure. He disclosed that the volume of PoS transactions doubled to 285 million, and it is expected to double again in 2019 to about 600 million transactions. He added that in a bid to ensure capacity to handle this increase NIBSS introduced measures to upgrade it’s system in anticipation of the growth. He said that the upsurge in the failure rate of PoS transactions was due to glitches that arose in the course of implementing the system upgrade, adding that NIBSS and stakeholders have however taken some measures to address the issue and facilitate the upgrade. He said: “ In 2018, we had 285 million POS transactions and that was the highest ever recorded in the country. “We are expecting that the figure will double in 2019 because we had half of 2018’s figure in 2017 and that was why we embarked on an upgrade of our systems. A system glitch happened in the course of trying to upgrade capacity and unfortunately for us, other players in value chain had issues around that period and that compounded the problem. “We started noticing the issues around December. The failure rate which was previously at 13% climbed to around 16%. Effective from March 22, POS transaction time-out period would be increased to 45 seconds from the present 15 seconds to reduce the failure rate. “Banks have also agreed to dedicate a particular period of the day to treating reversal complaints to clear the backlog.” Why Supreme Audit Institutions are not appreciated – Auditor-General tion that is central to the accountability cycle,” he declared. In his words, “there is a need for the citizens to participate more and become better aware of the role of the SAI.” Speaking on the principal challenges facing SAIs globally, Mr. Ayine said it was regrettable that “the INTOSAI Lima Declaration of 1977 on the prerequisites for the independent and effective functioning of SAI is yet to be well applied across many developing countries.” The Declaration of Lima, adopted by the IX International Congress of INTOSAI in Lima, Peru, in 1977, is considered to be the Magna Carta of government audit and defines the prerequisites for its independent and effective functioning.
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20032019 -Petition: My case against Buhari, by Atiku

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