17102019 - FG cuts travels, estacodes for ministers, other officials

10 — VANGUARD, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2019
PRESENTATION—Governor Kayode Fayemi (4th left)with the elderly beneficiaries at the re-launching
of the Social Security for Elderly Citizens of the state in Ado-Ekiti, yesterday.
N45BN BUS PURCHASE: We acted on
Ambode’s exco approval — Lagos A-G
By Ebun Sessou
LAGOS—THE Lagos
State Accountant-
General, Mrs. Shukrat
Umar, has disclosed that the
State Treasury Office acted
on the Akinwunmi
Ambode’s exco's approval
in the N45 billion bus
purchase.
She said this before the
House committee probing
the activities of the last
administration led by
Ambode.
Her claim was contrary to
the allegation by the former
Commissioner for
Economic Planning and
Budget, Mr. Olusegun
Banjo who also appeared
before the House
Committee, on Tuesday,
that Mr. Ambode indeed
signed the purchase of the
820 mass transit buses
worth N45 billion without
proper approval.
Umar said: “The State
Treasury Office acted on
Exco’s approval. The buses
were in line with Exco’s
approval. I would not know
whether the Paris Refund
Club was discussed or
not.”
Meanwhile, the Lagos
State House of Assembly
has threatened to issue the
warrant of arrest against
the former governor for
failing to appear before the
House committee probing
the activities of the last
administration.
Addressing a plenary
session after the committee
submitted its reports, the
Speaker, Mr. Mudashiru
Obasa, said the House
would proceed to invite the
former governor through a
newspaper publication or
face warrant of arrest if he
fails to appear again before
Access Bank hits over N1bn
in digital lending daily
By Nkiruka Nnorom
L AGOS—ACCESS
Bank’s expanded
digital lending portfolio,
which gives Nigerians
quick and 24/7 access to
funds for emergencies
without any collateral, has
hit N1 billion daily in loan
value.
Executive Director, Retail
Banking, Access Bank Plc,
Victor Etuokwu, said: “We
are at the forefront of digital
lending across the
continent. This is a
deliberate choice we made
when we introduced the
first USSD based digital
lending product in Nigeria
based on our deep
understanding of our
operating environment. In
the past two years, we have
disbursed over N3.5 million
loans to individuals. We
acknowledge it is no mean
feat when compared to
where the market is coming
from, but this is still a
scratch in the overall
potential of this market.
“This year alone, we have
disbursed over N45 billion
in over two million
disbursements to
individuals and have
recently witnessed a spike
in our volumes hitting
N1billion daily. This
achievement and our focus
on retail lending reiterate
our commitment to
democratize access to
financial services
leveraging digital
technology.”
Also speaking, Head,
Digital Banking Business
Development, Access
Bank, Chinedu Onuoha,
said: “Our objective is to
ensure that there is a digital
loan product for every adult
Nigerian, who has proven
means of livelihood
because we know that
every individual at one
point or another requires
some form of financial
support."
the House to defend the
controversial purchase of
820 mass transit buses
worth N45bn.
Also absent were the
immediate past
NAFDAC to shut bakeries over
illegal, unhygienic practices
By Chioma Obinna,
Chinelo Azike &
Olaide Jejelola
LAGOS—THE National
Agency for Food and
Drug Administration and
Control, NAFDAC,
yesterday, threatened a
nationwide clampdown on
producers of bread and
other confectioneries over
what it described as ‘illegal
and unhygienic’ practices
against food safety
standards.
The Agency noted that
despite the ban on the use
of potassium bromate in
baking, many Nigerian
bakers have continued the
nefarious act at the
detriment of the health of
Nigerians.
Similarly, the agency also
issued a three-week
ultimatum to bakers to
comply with its guidelines
or risk being shut down.
The Director-General of
NAFDAC, Professor
Christianah Adeyeye, who
handed down the warning
in Lagos, announced that
the agency has begun an
awareness seminar across
the six geopolitical zones of
the country as a build-up to
the nationwide clampdown
exercise.
The Director-General,
who spoke at a One-Day
workshop for Bread
Producers on Bread
Quality and Safety
Standards, said
surveillance activities
revealed a lack of
commitment by most bakers
to good hygiene practices.
Represented by the
Commissioner for Finance,
Mr. Akinyemi Ashade and
a former Commissioner for
Special Duties, Oladejo
Seye.
Director, Food Safety and
Applied Nutrition, Mr.
Sherif Olagunju, the
NAFDAC boss said most of
the bakeries are infested
with rats.
Adeyeye said: “We know
how dangerous these rats
can be. Again, some of
them now put few tablets of
potassium bromate in their
pockets even when you
come for an inspection you
will not find them because
they hide them in their
homes and come with few
tablets in their pockets. This
has necessitated the need
for the agency to collaborate
with good hygiene
practices through frequent
workshops and grassroots
sensitisation activities. The
illegal use of dough
improvers like potassium
bromate, a potential
carcinogen in bread has
been of food safety concern.
Urging bakers to
understand the safety
standards and adhere to
them, she said: “Bread
quality intervention
strategy will ensure that all
bread producing facilities
would produce safe bread
for the Nigeria populace
because the effective
protection of over 167
million Nigeria public
against cancer requires a
preventive management
approach.”
Also, she said: “Another
thing we discovered is, if
somebody is going to make
like four or five batches of
bread, he may decide to add
potassium bromate to like
two or three batches and
when supplying he will
mix them up."
Jim Ovia’s school acquires
AIS property in Lagos
By Adesina Wahab
LAGOS—THE James
Hope College, Agbor in
Delta State, owned by the
founder of Zenith Bank,
Mr. Jim Ovia, yesterday,
acquired the Lagos
property of American
International School, AIS,
for an undisclosed amount.
The signing ceremony of
the deal took place in Lagos
where Governor Babajide
Sanwo-Olu, promised that
his administration would
always support the
facilitation of business deals
that would improve the
economy of the state.
Speaking on why James
Hope College decided to
establish a branch of the
school in Lagos, Ovia noted
that whatever resonates
with the people of Lagos is
always accepted
nationwide.
He said: “If you are in
Lagos, you are taking care
of at least 50 percent of the
population of Nigeria one
way or the other. The
population is there and
whatever resonates with the
people here is regarded as
being accepted all over the
country.
”Also, within the six years
that we have run James
Hope College in Agbor, we
have made a great impact
that I want us to replicate
across the country. I have a
deep passion for education
and if you come to my office,
the two prominent logos
you would see are those of
Zenith Bank and James
Hope College.
”Education is the main
key. Our first set of
graduating students got
100 percent in the last
WAEC. Moreover, I believe
in giving back to society
Ex-judge, firm, drag NAFDAC
to court over banned chemical
By Innocent Anaba
L AGOS—JUSTICE
Olamide Oloyede, a
retired judge in Osun State
and Virtues Unlimited
Restorative Justice
Initiative, VURJI, have
dragged the National
Agency for Food and Drug
Administration and
Control, NAFDAC and
eight others before a
Federal High Court sitting
in Lagos, over alleged
importation of a banned
chemical, methyl bromide
into the country.
Other defendants in the
suit are: National
Environmental Standards
and Regulations
Enforcement Agency,
Nigeria Customs Service,
Federal Ministry of Health,
Ministry of Environment,
the Ministry of Agriculture
and the Ministry of
Justice.
Justice Oloyede, who
retired from the Osun State
judiciary and VURJI are
asking the court to compel
the defendants to
investigate, identify and
destroy any methyl
bromide, an odorless,
and the Jim Ovia
Foundation gave not less
than 40 percent of our
students’ scholarships.
”By the grace of God,
when the Lagos school
starts by September next
year, at least 40 percent of
the students will be given
scholarships as well.”
Sanwo-Olu lauds Ovia
In his remarks, Governor
Sanwo-Olu said Ovia had
been a supporter of his
administration.
He said Lagos has over
1,057 primary schools and
over 657 secondary schools
and that the state
government would soon
begin a mass renovation of
the schools, starting with
about 300.
”In the light of the above,
I am calling on other
public-spirited individuals
like Mr. Ovia to support our
efforts at repositioning
education in the state,” he
said.
Also, the former Vice-
Chancellor of the University
of Lagos, UNILAG, Prof.
Oyewusi Ibidapo-Obe,
commended the vision of
Ovia in setting up the
school and his Foundation
through which he assists
the needy.
The representative of the
American Ambassador to
Nigeria, Ms. Carol Cox,
expressed the hope that the
agreement would be the
beginning of a fruitful
relationship between the
Embassy and James Hope
Schools.
The Principal of James
Hope School, Mr. Abraham
Swart, said the about N9
billion so far committed to
the school by Ovia was
already yielding fruits.
(See photos on page 14)
colorless gas used to control
pests in agriculture which
has a serious negative effect
on humans and the
environment.
They also urged the court
to declare that the alleged
importation of the banned
chemical substance into
Nigeria by a Lagos-based
company, Toon
Consolidated Company
Limited according to the
license issued by the
Nigeria Agricultural
Quarantine Services,
NAQS and without the
permission of NAFDAC is
unlawful and illegal.
In an affidavit in support
of the suit deposed to by the
retired judge, she claimed
that the agro-chemical had
been banned in Nigeria
because it was dangerous
to human health and
caused environmental
hazards by depleting the
ozone layer.
The VURJI coordinator
also averred that methyl
bromide, when used as a
fumigant and pesticide,
exposes humans to severe
injuries, including lung
damage because it is
highly toxic.