Minister-designate Nyesom Wike met on Tuesday with the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Ganduje.

Wike met with Ganduje at his residence in Abuja.

This was disclosed on Twitter by Wike’s close associate, @TopboyChriss, who tweeted: “Nyesom Wike today visited the National Chairman of APC, Alhaji Umar Ganduje, at his residence in Abuja.”

A few weeks ago, President Bola Tinubu nominated Wike as one of his ministers.

Two weeks ago, Wike was screened and cleared by the Senate for the ministerial position.

Wike, a former governor of Rivers State, is a member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

During the presidential election, Wike refused to work with PDP’s candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

He opted to work for Tinubu during the presidential election.

The national leadership of the Labour Party has demanded an apology and gratitude from Lamidi Apapa and his faction of the party to former presidential candidate Peter Obi.

The demand comes after an appeal court in Edo State upheld Julius Abure as the legitimate national chairman of the party, effectively quashing Apapa’s claim to the position.

Speaking on behalf of the Labour Party, national spokesperson Tanko Yunusa, emphasized the pivotal role played by Peter Obi in elevating the party’s stature and securing significant victories in both national and state elections during the February 25, 2023, general election.

The Labour Party, once considered a minor player on the political stage, emerged as of the country’s major political parties after Peter Obi joined its fold and ran for the presidential election on its platform, with several candidates clinching victories that defied expectations.

Yunusa said although Apapa’s faction of the party constituted itself an opposition to the party’s progress, there was room for reconciliation if they were willing to turn a leaf.

“The political party is still open for them to come in and of course, this is a disciplined political party. They should come in and apologize for the mistakes that they’ve made and then we would know how to deal with their issues according to the Constitution of the party,” he said.

Yunusa further elaborated that the party’s leadership believed it was only fitting for Lamidi Apapa and his faction to express gratitude to Obi for his immense contribution to the party’s emergence as key player in Nigeria’s political terrain.

“But if they stay on the other side, remember they only have Peter Gregory Obi and Datti Baba-Ahmed to give gratitude to because if these particular individuals have not joined the party, I wonder where they would have been, I wonder if the party would have been, I wonder if the party would have been able to win all of these seats (national and state assemblies) that I just mentioned.

“So, for us, it is in moving forward, no retreat, no surrender. We will keep on moving until we emancipate the Nigerian people from the shackles of poverty and get Nigeria on the right path. We believe that a new Nigeria is possible under Peter Obi and Abure,” he said.

Yunusu stress that the LP leadership expects Apapa to recognize and acknowledge the debt of gratitude owed to Mr. Obi for his commitment to the party’s success.

His call for an apology is in response to the court ruling affirming Julius Abure’s leadership of the party.

But in its earlier reaction, Apapa’s faction said the Edo court judgment only ruled on Aburi’s suspension.

The faction’s spokesman, Abayomi Arabambi, insisted that the Abuja High Court’s restraining order that recognised Apapa as acting national chairman remains in force.

“Our party attention was drawn to misleading information that has been peddled around by some criminal elements loyal to the police-indicted former National Chairman of Labour Party Mr Julius Abure. Labour Party wishes to state categorically that our complaint in the appeal filed before the court of appeal bothered on his suspension as a member in Article 19(2)A of our party constitution which the three justices of the court of appeal did not take cognisance of and refused to make findings on.

“We are aware of the capacity of Peter Obi and Abure Julius to tamper with court proceedings and documents as evidence in the forgery perpetrated in Abuja FCT high court where the signature and seal of judges were forged by Abure Julius and which he boasted yesterday in Lagos with Peter Obi that nobody in Nigeria can probe or arraigned him in court and three others indicted by the police.

“Surprisingly, the same Abure has a pending appeal in the Supreme Court against this same set of justice which has been filed and served on us to arrest today’s judgment. But since they know it may not fly in the face of the law, Abure resorted to his trademark by engaging the services of unscrupulous elements in the Edo state high court to tamper with the records transmitted. What we don’t know is if Abure has now become the Chief Judge of Edo state to be able to commit any crime and get away with it

“The said missing document is in the transmitted copy with our lawyer and duly paid for, but unfortunately this singular criminal act that aided Julius Abure today at the court of appeal was the reason the three justices base their judgment on the suspension of Julius Abure,” said Arabambi.

After much tussling, FBN Holdings Plc has held its 11th Annual General Meeting (AGM) with a considerable number of shareholders approving the payment of a 50 Kobo dividend and the raising of N150 billion in capital through a rights issue.

The yearly gathering was held virtually and coordinated by the Chairman of FBN Holdings Plc, Mr Ahmad Abdullahi.

At the meeting held on Tuesday, August 15, 2023, shareholders elected Mr Femi Otedola and Mr Samson Oyewale Ariyibi into the board of the group.

Speaking at the event, Mrs Bisi Bakare, a shareholder, commended the board and management of FBN Holdings Plc for paying a 50 Kobo dividend to shareholders.

She also welcomed the new board members, especially Mr Otedola, and made a case for an improvement in the gender diversity of the board and management.

She also lauded the Financial Holding Company for significantly increasing its gross earnings in the 2022 financial year.

The external auditor KPMG, represented by Mr Kabir Okunlola, stated that the financials of FBN Holdings Plc, as of December 31, 2022, represented a true and fair view of the company’s separate and consolidated financial position.

Mr Umar Farouk, the Chairman of the Statutory Audit Committee, in his statement, said the internal control mechanism was effectively monitored, and there was clear satisfaction with the level of insider-related parties’ compliance with the regulatory provisions of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

He also commended FBN Holdings Plc for its impressive H1, 2023 financial result and called for a hybrid format for future AGMs.

He also asked how the planned capital raising of N150 billion will reposition the financial holding company to be more viable and increase dividend payments in the future.

In his remarks, Mr Patrick Ajudua, a shareholder, expressed delight that First Bank, a subsidiary of FBN Holdings Plc, increased its customer base from 36 million to 41 million in the year 2022.

He also acknowledged that the bank’s non-performing loans dropped from 6.1 per cent to 4.3 per cent and commended the board for the dividend of 50 kobo.

Responding to observations and questions from the shareholders, Mr Nnamdi Okonkwo, the Group Managing Director of FBN Holdings Plc, said the Holdco had a track record in dividend payment and has been increasing it over the years.

He assured FBN Holdings Plc was committed to meeting the 35 per cent affirmative action for gender inclusion in the board and management. In the area of service delivery, he said the financial group has developed customer service improvement projects that will create value by leveraging innovation and technology.

Speaking on the N150 billion capital raise, the GMD said, “We are raising capital to brace up for the Basel III requirement, strengthen our balance sheet position, take advantage of business opportunities that can bring more profit and build a strong capital base.”

Business Post gathered that about 1,679 out of 1,700 shareholders voted to approve the N150 billion FBN Holdings Plc capital raising, which is 98.76 per cent of the votes counted.

Similarly, a total of 1,684 shareholders of the 1,702, which is 98.94 per cent, voted in favour of the resolution to approve the 50 Kobo dividend payment.

Military chiefs from the West African bloc ECOWAS will meet in Ghana this week to discuss possible intervention in Niger, military and political sources in the region said Tuesday.

The meeting on Thursday and Friday — originally scheduled for last weekend but then postponed — came after ECOWAS leaders last week approved deployment of a “standby force to restore constitutional order” in Niger, whose president was toppled on July 26.

Their summit, held in the Nigerian capital Abuja last Thursday, also reaffirmed the bloc’s preference for a diplomatic outcome.

President Mohamed Bazoum’s election in 2021 was a landmark in Niger’s history, ushering in the country’s first peaceful transfer of power since independence from France in 1960.

His ousting unleashed a shock wave around West Africa, where Mali and Burkina Faso — likewise battered by a jihadist insurgency — have also suffered military takeovers.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) gave Niger’s military rulers a one-week ultimatum on July 30 to restore Bazoum or face the potential use of force, but the deadline expired without action.

Analysts say military intervention would be operationally risky and politically hazardous, given divisions within ECOWAS ranks and domestic criticism.

– Defiance and diplomacy –

Niger’s military regime has sent mixed signals since the crisis erupted.

At the weekend, the coup leaders said they were open to a diplomatic push after their chief, General Abdourahamane Tiani, met with Nigerian religious mediators.

Those talks came after the ECOWAS military meeting in Ghana was postponed for “technical reasons”.

But on Sunday night, Niger’s rulers declared they had gathered sufficient evidence to prosecute Bazoum for “high treason and undermining internal and external security”.

The legal threat was angrily condemned by ECOWAS, which lashed it as a contradiction of the regime’s “reported willingness” to explore peaceful means. Washington said it was “incredibly dismayed”.

The row overshadowed talks under African Union (AU) auspices that began on Monday in Addis Ababa, bringing together representatives from the regime and ECOWAS.

Russian President Vladimir Putin called for a “peaceful political and diplomatic” resolution to the crisis in a phone call with Mali’s junta leader, Assimi Goita, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.

Mali has cemented an alliance with Moscow since its coup in 2020, acquiring Russian planes and helicopters and bringing in paramilitaries that the West says are Wagner mercenaries.

– Poor and unstable –

A landlocked nation in the heart of the arid Sahel, Niger is one of the world’s poorest and most turbulent countries.

Bazoum, 63, survived two attempted coups before being ousted, in the fifth putsch in the country’s history.

His ousting deals a huge blow to French and US strategy in the Sahel.

France refocused its anti-jihadist operations on Niger after withdrawing from Mali and Burkina Faso last year following a bust-up with their juntas.

International concern is mounting for the state of Bazoum, his wife and son, who have been held at the president’s official residence since the coup.

AFP

According to PDP candidate David Aderinokun for the Ogun Central Senatorial District, N2 million is too little for a senator in Nigeria to receive as a vacation allowance.

This was mentioned by Aderinokun on Tuesday in a post made using his verified X handle.

“The $2 million that was given to senators is not a big deal,” he said. Even a senator would find it inadequate. What can a family guy buy with $2,000? Why do we make a big deal out of it.

“But they ought not to have made it widely known. Making it public is a little inconsiderate to Nigerians’ plight, he continued.

Recall that the Senate President Godwill Akpabio, during a special plenary session of the screening and confirmation of President Bola Tinubu’s ministerial nominees, had informed the senators that the Clerk to the National Assembly (CNA), Magaji Tambuwal, had wired money into their individual bank accounts in order to enjoy their annual holiday.

Akpabio had said, “In order to enable all of us to enjoy our holidays, a token has been sent to our various accounts by the Clerk of the National Assembly…,”
The Senate President’s statement met with interruptions from the senators, who were apparently dissatisfied with Akpabio’s public disclosure.

Akpabio, however, took a pause as he withdrew the statement, while he rephrased the information.
“In order to enjoy your holidays, the Senate President has sent prayers to your mailboxes to assist you to go on a safe journey and return,” Akpabio said in the alternative to calm down frayed nerves.

Hon Tajudeen Abbas, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, has explained why it is difficult to tackle corruption in Nigeria.

The Speaker made this known while speaking at an event held by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission on Policy Dialogue on Corruption, Social Norms and Behavioural Change in Abuja on Tuesday.

According to the lawmaker, the high level of corruption within the corridors of power has greatly slowed down the country’s ability to reach its full potential.

He noted that this is because certain factors such as behaviours, norms, attitudes, expectations, weak governance structures, lack of transparency have perpetually contributed immensely to the subsistence of corruption in Nigeria.

He said, “Despite this recognition, certain corruption-inducing behaviours, norms, attitudes, and expectations persist within our society, thereby, enabling and perpetuating acts of corruption.

“Corruption in Nigeria has been fuelled by various factors, including weak governance structures, lack of transparency and accountability, poverty, and cultural acceptance of corrupt practices.

“While we have laws, policies and institutions to tackle corruption, it is my considered opinion that corruption continues to fester owing to prevailing societal attitudes towards wealth, fame, power and success regardless of how they are obtained.

“The behavioural and social norms approach in tackling corruption is akin to cutting off the root of an evil tree than trimming its branches. After all, prevention is better than cure.

”It follows, therefore, that addressing corruption requires not only legal and institutional reforms but also a transformation of social norms and behaviours.”

Thanks to my pledge to seize the first opportunity to personally deliver a signed copy of the recently launched Appeal by the above Prisoner of Conscience, Mubarak Bala, to President, I have been bombarded by both local and international Human Rights organisations, with inquiries about the outcome. I regret to state that some media have completely misreported this, and I have yet to meet the current tenant of Aso Rock.

I must however exploit this opportunity to call on all those who participated in the August 5^h launch of the document as well as well-wishers of Mubarak Bala to continue and indeed intensify their efforts, through whatever avenues, to secure the release of this unjustly persecuted youth whose only crime was to insist on his freedom of thought and belief, and its expression.

There should be no let-up until this symbol of our times is restored to full freedom and human dignity

Wole SOYINKA

The management of the National Assembly on Tuesday reacted to the controversial “enjoyment allowance” paid to Senators and members of the House of Representatives before they embarked on a long recess last week Monday.

In a statement made available to journalists on Tuesday, the Secretary, of Research and Information, Dr. Ali Umoru, said the said payment to the lawmakers in the upper and lower legislative chambers was mischaracterised, describing such as unfortunate, given that the money is part of their statutory running cost of offices.

The statement read: “The attention of the Management of the National Assembly has been drawn to the persistent mischaracterization and misunderstanding of the payment of N2,000,000.00 (two million naira) allowance to each Senator.

“It should be noted that the two million Naira is part of the running cost of the office of each Senator as provided for in the 2023 budget.

“The allocation for running costs is not a new development; it has been standard practice. These funds are utilized to facilitate various activities that directly contribute to effective representation, legislative activities and other initiatives aimed at serving the interests of the people.

“For the avoidance of doubt and for emphasis, the said allowances were budgeted for in the 2023 Appropriation Act as part of the running cost of the office of each Senator of the 10th Assembly.

“The allowances are, therefore, an entitlement and not a privilege or largesse distributed to the Senators. However, given the wrong impression the subject matter has created, it has become imperative to make this clarification and put the records straight.

“The National Assembly remains committed to transparency and accountability in the management of public funds. We appreciate the continued support and understanding of the Nigerian people as we work together to uphold the principles of democracy and good governance.”

[DailyPost]

Oil marketers, on Monday, said the foreign exchange crisis in Nigeria and the recent implementation of a 7.5 per cent Value Added Tax on Automotive Gas Oil, popularly called diesel, had pushed up the cost of the commodity to between N900 and N950/litre in many states.

The development has made local manufacturers say that the situation may lead to the closure of some factories and job losses.

Speaking under the aegis of the Natural Oil and Gas Suppliers Association of Nigeria at a press briefing in Abuja, the marketers explained that their inability to access the United States dollars was impeding their ability to import diesel.

The National President, NOGASA, Benneth Korie, told journalists that the cost of diesel was around N650/litre before the Federal Government introduced a 7.5 per cent VAT on the commodity.

On June 20, 2023, The PUNCH reported that the Federal Government had commenced the implementation of the payment of 7.5 per cent VAT on diesel.

Officials of the Nigeria Customs Service and Federal Inland Revenue Service had confirmed this in Abuja, stressing that AGO was not exempted from the payment of VAT based on the VAT Modification Order 2021.

Speaking at the press briefing on Monday, the NOGASA president said, “Diesel price is now approaching N900 to N950/litre depending on where you are buying it from. Before the introduction of VAT on diesel by the FIRS, diesel was around N650/litre.

“This increase in price is also due to the scarcity of the dollars. The government has to intervene in this dollar situation. All bank CEOs, Central Bank of Nigeria and others must meet to address this dollar issue. The way it is going, it will destroy a lot of things for us if it is not controlled.”

Korie also called on President Bola Tinubu to get Nigeria’s refineries working. He said the pressure by marketers and other importers on dollars would reduce when Nigeria’s refineries start to pump out refined products.

“Our refineries were built by human beings and can be fixed by human beings. I believe Nigerian engineers can fix these refineries, instead of us depending on imports. This is not sustainable.

“We are pilling pressure on the very limited dollars in the country by importing petroleum products and other commodities. But once our refineries start working, this pressure will drastically reduce. The government has to fix our refineries,” he stated.

The NOGASA president also decried the state of Nigerian roads, as he gave an instance with the Port Harcourt-Warri road, stressing that about 500 tankers were currently trapped on that road due to its abysmal nature.

“For two weeks now our tankers have been on that road; you can’t cross it. Our roads are bad, our trucks trapped on the Warri-Abuja road for two weeks, our drivers are kidnapped, killes, while others suffer.

“Some of the roads are blocked. If the government does not fix those roads, then petroleum products will stop coming to Abuja and other locations across the country,” Korie stated.

Manufacturers lament hike

Meanwhile, reacting on the development, the Director-General of the Nigerian Textile Manufacturers Association, Hamma Kwajaffa, said several textile manufacturers were contemplating to shut down their  operations owing to rising costs, largely caused by skyrocketing energy costs.

The DG said textile manufacturers could not afford to buy diesel at the projected price of _

He said, “Many are contemplating closing for now. We can’t meet up with that kind of amount. We have less than 24 textiles today, those who are working are contemplating closure. They have been pushed to the wall. These businesses are not in charity. They have to break even.

In the same vein, the Chief Executive Officer of Coleman Technical Industries Limited, George Onafowokan said increased diesel costs implied increased cost of production for the company.

He urged the government to find lasting solutions to the constant increase in diesel costs.

Onafowokan said, “Whenever the price of diesel goes up, it makes everybody’s cost go up. Logistics costs will go up for everybody, power costs will go up if diesel sells at N950.

“We are all in crisis. For most businesses in Nigeria, especially manufacturers, we are taking hits day in day out and sincerely, the government needs to do better not only in giving palliatives to the people, but for the businesses that are employing them, especially manufacturers.”

[Punch]

The Federal Government has applied to withdraw the ‘illegal possession of firearms’ case it filed against the suspended Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, at the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos.

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) at the Federal Ministry of Justice, Mohammed Abubakar told Justice Nicholas Oweibo that the application followed the result of further investigations made by the government.

Justice Oweibo adjourned till Thursday, August 17, 2023 to rule on the application.

He said one of the charges accused Emefiele of “conferring unlawful advantages”.

[Vanguard]