Former Kaduna Central lawmaker, Shehu Sani has reacted to the newly signed 2023 Student Loan Act.

Naija News recalls that President Bola Tinubu had signed the bill into law on Monday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, as part of measures to boost educational access and delivery at the tertiary level.

The bill was passed by the 9th National Assembly but assented to by Tinubu.

A senior aide to the President, Dele Alake explained that the act will ensure indigent students access the loans to further their education.

According to Alake, the loan initiative was part of what Tinubu promised during his electioneering campaigns.

“Today, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has just signed the Student Loan Act. This is just in fulfilment of his promise during the electioneering campaigns, where he promised that students would access loans to go to school,” he said.

Reacting to the development via his verified Twitter account, Sani insisted that tying down student with loans is unconscionable.

He argued that most of those occupying positions of power were once beneficiaries of free education and scholarships.

He wrote, “Most of those occupying the positions of power and authority were beneficiaries of free education and free scholarships.Tying down students with loans is unconscionable.Let’s not forget that We are still a developing country.”

The student loan bill signed into law on Monday by President Bola Tinubu came with some benefits for the beneficiaries that Nigerians should know.

The students loan act signed into law will enable indigent students to access federal government loans to fund their educational pursuits or career.

The bill was signed into law today after passing a second reading at the House of Representatives on May 25, 2023.

What Nigerians must know about the student loan bill:

• The Act provides an interest-free loan for indigent students in which beneficiaries will only pay back the exact amount they collect.
• The Act offers loans for poor students seeking higher education in public universities, polytechnics and colleges of education in the country.
• The Act enables all indigent students to have equal rights to access the loan without any form of discrimination arising from gender, religion, tribe, position or disability of any kind.
• The Act stipulates that the loan shall be granted to indigent students only for the payment of tuition fees.
• The Act states that there shall be the creation of a Nigerian Education Bank with the aim to offer education for all Nigerians in matters pertaining to loans.

Ekiti-based chef, Adeparusi Dammy, has broken the 100-hour cooking record of celebrity chef, Hilda Baci, while on a 120-hour cook-a-thon challenge to emerge a holder of Guinness World Records.

Naija News reports that Dammy, who has cooked several meals including eba, beans with corn, amala, pounded yam, and rice on Monday night hit 100 hours in her determination to set a new record.

The video shared online captured her supporters and kitchen assistant jubilating over the new feat.

However, Adeparusi has been under backlash following the cook-a-thon challenge barely a few weeks after Hilda Baci’s unofficial 100-hour.

Tête de reliquaire, Fang, Gabon, late 19th century

Private Collection of Hélène Leloup, Sotheby’s, Paris, 21 June

Estimate: around €4m

The Fang people of Gabon, Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea historically believed that ancestral relics hold great spiritual power. After the death of significant elders, their skulls were conserved in cylindrical bark containers and guarded by carved wooden heads or figures, such as this example. The fibres of this “Fang byeri” sculpture have been impregnated with a bituminous sludge to give it a black patina. Its hairstyle, with braids and incisions, as well the Adam’s apple, confirm that it depicts a male ancestor figure. Described by scholars as a leading example of 19th-century African statuary, it has been exhibited at the Musée du quai Branly in Paris numerous times, and had its image reproduced most notably for an exhibition at the Centre de la Vieille Charité, Marseille, in 1992. While Western colonisers used the Fang obsession with dead bodies to paint them as violent and backwards, justifying their enslavement and subjugation, this aspect of their culture and the art it produced also provided huge inspiration for European avant-garde artists of the 20th century. The latter was the focus of the prolific dealer of African art, Hélène Leloup, who was the first female dealer in the category when she opened her Paris gallery in 1956. She acquired this work from Helena Rubinstein, herself one of the most prominent collectors of “arts negres”, as the category was termed when she was actively buying. This work leads the first sale of Leloup’s private collection; a second volume of this sale will take place at Sotheby’s New York in 2024.

Raoul Dufy, La baie de Sainte-Adresse (1906)

Alain Delon: 60 Years of Passion, Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr, Paris, 22 June

Estimate: €600,000-€800,000

This Fauvist depiction of the French coast, by Raoul Dufy (1877-1953), comes to the block from the collection of the French actor and sex symbol Alain Delon. Delon won critical acclaim both in France and around the world for now-classic films such as Le Samouraï (1967) and The Leopard (1963). The landscape in La baie de Sainte-Adresse (the bay of Sainte-Adresse) was also a longstanding source of inspiration for Monet, who painted the tiny Normandy commune at least 14 times. Dufy painted this area of France repeatedly, and an abstract version of the same beachscape sold for £187,500 at Christie’s Paris in 2020. Of all his variations on this theme, this painting is the “most accomplished”, says Arnaud Cornette de Saint Cyr, the chief executive of Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr. Delon’s collection has been built up over 60 years, beginning with the purchase of his first painting in London at the age of 24. This cross-category and cross-period offering of sculptures and drawings includes works by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot and Eugène Delacroix. The total collection, comprising 81 lots, is estimated to sell for between €4m and €5m.

Alberto Giacometti, Tête de Diego au col roulé (1951)

Face Off, Sotheby’s London, 27 June

Estimate: £4m-£6m

Depicting arguably Giacometti’s most enduring sitter, his brother Diego, this sculpture is one of around a dozen examples of a painted bronze by the artist to have ever appeared at auction. It was previously in the collection of Adrien Maeght, who acquired it directly from the artist. Maeght is the chair of the Fondation Maeght in France, established by his art dealer and publisher parents Aimé and Marguerite Maeght, who helped to shape the careers of 20th-century titans such as Giacometti and Picasso, artists who, in turn, helped to create the foundation. The sculpture was also formerly owned by Jan Krugier, a Polish-born Swiss collector who was one of the most prominent dealers of the last century. Stylistically, the catalogue entry notes, it “epitomises the transition within Giacometti’s style after the Second World War from elongated, stick-like figures towards more naturalistic and substantive depictions of human form”. Here Diego is shown wearing a thick roll-neck jumper, reflecting the studio’s ascetic conditions and also the artist’s renewed sense of realism. This work is included in the inaugural Face Off auction at Sotheby’s London, a curated evening sale focusing on portraiture from antiquity to the present day.

Wisteria table lamp, Tiffany Studios (around 1903)

The Ann & Gordon Getty Collection: Temple of Wings, Christie’s, New York, 14 June

Estimate: $400,000-$600,000

The second instalment of the Ann & Gordon Getty Collection, focused on 19th- and 20th-century furniture and design from the couple’s Greco-Roman-inspired Berkeley Hills home, the Temple of Wings, comes after a first instalment last year that totalled $150m. Included in the three-part sale is this lamp from Tiffany Studios. The market for Tiffany’s work has seen “upward momentum for the past eight to ten years”, says Victoria Tudor, specialist and head of sale at Christie’s. The world’s most expensive Tiffany lamp sold for $3.3m at Christie’s in 2018. While it is unlikely to break any auction records, the Wisteria model—designed by Clara Driscoll—is a notable example of early-20th-century decorative art by a woman artist, many of whom were overlooked in their time.

Alexej von Jawlensky, Mädchen mit Zopf (1910)

Evening sale, Ketterer Kunst, Munich, 9 June

Estimate: €3.5m-€4.5m

Mädchen mit Zopf (girl with braid) by the Russian painter Alexej von Jawlensky was last sold in 2007 at Christie’s New York for $5.1m against an estimate of $3.8m-$4.5m. It is now offered at roughly the same price range, when adjusted for inflation, suggesting a softening of Jawlensky’s market, for which the $18.6m auction record was made in 2008; no sale from the past five years has made the artist’s top 20 prices at auction. Nevertheless, this oil painting, executed on “thin cardboard”, bears a significant provenance. Most notably it comes from the collection of Clemens Weiler, who wrote the first biography on Jawlenksy. Moreover, it was created in Jawlensky’s most in-demand period, between 1908 and 1911, when he was a pivotal member of Der Blaue Reiter (the blue rider), the artist group formed in Munich that was a founding strand of the German Expressionist movement.

[theartnewspaper]

Barring any last-minute change, 469 federal lawmakers will, today, elect four presiding officers of the 10th National Assembly.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has issued a proclamation letter for the inauguration of the 10th National Assembly in line with the 1999 Constitution.

In the Red Chamber, 109 senators will pick The Senate president and deputy Senate president; while 360 House of Representatives members will elect the House Speaker and deputy speaker.

The race for the Senate presidency and speaker’s seat has been intense, with major contenders intensifying campaigns a few days to the inauguration.

The two contenders for the Senate Presidency are former governor of Akwa Ibom State, Senator Godswill Akpabio and former governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari.

President Tinubu and the APC leadership have picked the duo of Akpabio and Senator Jibrin Barau (Kano North) as preferred candidates for Senate president and deputy, respectively.

Senator Orji Uzor Kalu from Abia State dropped his bid for the Senate presidency and formed an alliance with Yari to contest for the deputy Senate president’s position.

The camps of Akpabio and Yari are each claiming to have secured the support of a majority of senators to win the Senate presidency.

In the House of Representatives, the front runners are Tajudeen Abbas (Kaduna), the party’s preferred candidate and Ahmed Wase (Plateau), the immediate former deputy speaker.

Abbas and Benjamin Kalu are favoured by APC for speaker and deputy respectively.

Others still in the speakership race are Aminu Sani Jaji (APC, Zamfara), Sada Soli Jibia (Katsina) and Miriam Onuoha (Anambra).

Access Bank has unveiled two new consumer credit cards: the Access Bank American Express Gold Card and the Metal Platinum Card.

These are the first American Express cards to be issued in Nigeria and West Africa.

By launching these cards, Access Bank has improved its overall offering to its retail and private bank customers, who can now enjoy the membership rewards loyalty programme and a wide range of travel and lifestyle benefits.

Speaking at the launch in Lagos, Herbert Wigwe, Group Managing Director, Access Holdings, said the cards will be available by request and invitation and customers who have signified interest will begin to enjoy the usage immediately.

He said, “We do have a wide network and with this partnership, AMEX will have 60 million customers supporting this partnership. It is a massive endorsement for us to work with AMEX in this partnership.

Roosevelt Ogbonna, Managing Director and CEO of Access Bank, said: “The launch of American Express Cards in Nigeria is another milestone in the continued development of a vibrant and fast-growing payments industry. Customers want more than transactions; they want real value.

“With American Express, we can provide valuable card benefits, strong loyalty rewards, and a real reason to use electronic payments instead of cash. By diversifying our services to facilitate payments, we can connect more consumers to the SMEs and retail businesses across the country who we know are the engine of economic growth.”

The suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Godwin Emefiele will no doubt remain indelible in the minds of Nigerians, perhaps for bad or good reasons.

From June 2014 to June 9th 2023, when Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration suspended him, Emefiele oversaw Nigeria’s monetary policies, by extension, the economy.

However, economic experts have rated Emefiele low in achieving the critical objectives of the CBN.

CBN’s primary objective is to ensure economic and price stability; issue legal tender currency in Nigeria; maintain external reserves to safeguard the international value of the legal tender currency; promote a sound financial system in Nigeria; and act as Banker and provide economic and financial advice to the Federal Government.

Rising inflation

Under Emefiele’s watch, Nigeria’s Consumer Price Index, known as the inflation rate, increased by 241 per cent, the highest compared to his predecessor Sarah Alabi who had 3 per cent during her short stay as CBN governor.

It is on record that Emefiele’s tenure has the worst inflation rate since 1999. For instance, during Joseph Sanusi’s reign from May 29th 1999, to 2004, inflation increased by 80 per cent, and Charles Suludo’s reign from May 29th 2004, to 2009, had an inflation rate of 68 per cent. Meanwhile, during the Sanusi Muhammed Sanusi regime, from June 3rd 2009 to 2014, inflation rate increased 62 per cent.

Despite consistent hikes in the Monetary Policy Rate to tackle inflation, Nigeria’s inflation continued to rise under Emefiele’s supervision. While May’s inflation figure is yet to be released, the Country’s April inflation is 22.22 per cent, and interest is 18.5 per cent.

Naira depreciation

DAILY POST reports that Multiple exchange rates were a major setback for Emefiele’s administration. Nigeria witnessed a dual exchange rate regime. The Official and black market rates are also known as the parallel markets. Based on the parallel market rate, the Naira depreciated from N167.2 in 2014 to N765 to the US dollar.

Legal Tender Management

An analysis of Nigeria’s legal tender management under Emefiele’s reign as CBN governor showed that Demand Deposits stood at N5,884,873 but increased to N20,498,1143; Credit to the Private sector increased from N16,927,983 to N44,100, 132. Meanwhile, Currency in Circulation decreased from N1,496,742 to N2,379,072.

Emefiele’s naira redesign policy which led to the scarcity of the country’s currency in the first half of 2023, has been heavily criticised for inflicting pain on Nigerians.

Capital Imported to Nigeria

From 2014 to 2016, capital imported to Nigeria dropped from $21 billion to $5 billion. Meanwhile, there was an increase from $12 billion in 20217 to $24 billion in 2019. But the imported capital dropped from $10 billion in 2020 to $5 billion in 2022.

Emefiele’s political involvement

Emefiele will go down in the annals of history as the most politically involved CBN governor.

Recall during the build-up to the primary of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Emefiele obtained a nomination form in a bid to contest the Presidential election. After falling out of favour, Emefiele returned to the apex bank.

However, his decision to mix politics with handling the country’s apex bank has been heavily criticised by Nigerians.

Speaking with DAILY POST on Monday, an Accounting and Financial Development Don at Leads University Ibadan, Prof Godwin Oyedotun, said Emefiele had failed in key monetary policies.

He noted that Emefiele could have done better in his approach to curbing inflation, foreign exchange administration, interest rate regime and the poor implementation of the Naira redesign policy. According to him, one biggest mistake of Emefiele is his involvement in politics.

He added that apart from suspending Emefiele, heads of other agencies instrumental to the economic progress of the Country should be reviewed.

He said, “The truth is that Godwin Emefiele’s regime as CBN governor was a disaster. Nobody in the history of Nigeria had governed the apex bank the way he did. When you try some monetary policies that are not working, you drop them and listen to the people.

“However, Emefiele never did this. History has shown CBN’s measures to cut down inflation have failed. Nigeria’s economic problem has defiled all economic theories; hence, an unconventional approach is needed to end the challenges. When Prices go up in Nigeria, it hardly declines.

“I wonder why Bola Ahmed Tinubu will ask the immediate deputy to continue acting as CBN governor. All the deputies are supposed to be suspended together with Emefiele because it was their regime.

“It is high time we allowed people who are not biassed to any commercial bank to be CBN Governor. When a CBN governor is laced with political influence and godfatherism, the result is what we have seen under Emefiele.”

Also, the Chief Executive Officer of SD & D Capital Management, Mr Idakolo Gbolade, said the suspension of Emefiele had been long overdue following his injurious handling of Nigeria’s Economy.

He stated that key policies of Emefiele hurt the country’s economy and Nigerians.

Gbolade claimed that Emefiele is the worst CBN governor in the history of Nigeria.

He added that Tinubu’s government must kick the ground running by immediately implementing its key economic policy of trust.

“The suspension of the former CBN governor is expected at this time if the new government wants to move swiftly with its policies which were necessitated by the dangerous handling of our economy by the former CBN Governor. Mr Emefiele’s policies benefited the rich and hurt our economy and the people of Nigeria.

“The former CBN Governor administered our economy without listening to reason, and the Economy bled under his watch. Despite all his efforts to tame inflation which failed, he still went ahead to engineer the Naira redesign policy, which was poorly implemented.

“The former CBN Governor was the worst CBN Governor and the most politicised in Nigeria’s history.

“Tinubu’s administration needs to start implementing his policy trust as announced in its inaugural speech by ensuring that after subsidy removal, far-reaching measures are taken to provide adequate palliative to the populace.

“The exchange rate policy should also be immediately implemented so that there would be exchange rate convergence to stop profiteering and the continuous weakening of the Naira.

“We have seen that the economy has started responding positively to the new administration’s policy direction, and if more proactive measures are taken, then Nigeria could be on the road to recovery”, he stated.

[DailyPost]

Following the signing into law Student Loan Bill by the Bola Tinubu-led administration, an aide to the President, Dele Alake has said anyone convicted of any drug-related offense or fraud would not be allowed to access the loan.

Recall that during his campaign, President Tinubu expressed his commitment to advancing education and nurturing the potential of the youth. Speaking at the British Royal Institute in London, he emphasized the importance of young people as the nation’s most valuable asset.

Alake was quoted to have made the submission Monday in company of other close aides of the president, including Tunde Rahman, Abdulaziz Abdulaziz as well as the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, David Adejoh.

“A student can be disqualified from accessing loan if:

“1. He is proven to have defaulted in respect of any previous loan granted by any organisation.

“2. He has been found guilty of exam malpractice by any school authority.

“3. He’s convicted of felony or any office involving dishonesty or fraud.

“4. He has been convicted of drug offenses
“5. Any of his parents has defaulted in respect of student’s loan or any loan granted to him or her,” Alake was quoted as saying.

The Governor of the central bank of Nigeria has just been suspended and immediately arrested and detained by the agents of the state security services (SSS). According to rumors making around the corner, the governor was arrested on ten allegations which include the following;

1. Funding of unknown gunmen, ESN and IPOB,

2. Mismanagement of Nigeria’s Social Investment program (NIRSAL) and the anchor Borrowers scheme,

3.  Illegal economic crimes of National security dimension,

4. Money Laundering,

5. Unwholesome activities through proxy,

6. Round Tripping,

7. Conferment of financial benefits to self and others,

8. Threat to national security,

9. criminal conspiracy to divert government resources and

10. Terrorism funding.

No doubt that Mr Emefiele’s hate and ordeal started with the naira notes redesign policy which coincidentally happened in the heat of political campaigns and this made some agents of the APC allege that it was his ploy to scuttle the campaign and backstage the electoral success of President Tinubu. It took court action to stop him from going on with that policy.

For the sake of legal argument, the issue that this suspension of the governor has posed again as it posed in 2014 when it first happened is whether the President can outrightly and unilaterally sack or suspend the governor of the central bank of Nigeria. According to S. 11(2)(f) of the CBN Act, 2007, the president can only sack the governor of the CBN if the sack was approved by a 2/3 majority of the Senate. This procedure was enshrined as a way of making the governor somehow independent of the Presidency so that he can execute his jobs without the fear of being outrightly or unilaterally sacked by the president anytime he wishes or wills.

Although there is an existing federal High Court judgment which tends to be the current authority on this matter; “whether the president has the power to sack or suspend the governor of the central bank unilaterally without recourse or approval from the senate”; Sanusi Lamido Sanusi v. President of federal republic of Nigeria & Ors.

Recall that this same thing playing out today played out in 2014 when the then governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi had a fallout with the then president Goodluck Jonathan, the president suspended him and also arrested and seized his International passport.  Sanusi Lamido Sanusi decided to go to court to enforce his rights and also hinging on the provisions of S 11(2(f) of the CBN act stating that the president has no such power to unilaterally remove or suspend him. The court held that although the president cannot remove the CBN Governor unilaterally as provided in S 11 of the CBN act, the president can exercise disciplinary control over the governor which includes suspension.

This matter was never appealed by the then governor hence this is the current rule on the matter; ie, although the president cannot unilaterally remove or sack the CBN governor as provided in s 11 of the CBN act, the president can lawfully exercise some disciplinary action over the governor by suspending him.

Stan Alieke, Esq is a legal practitioner.

The Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba, has directed police commissioner Olanrewaju Oladimeji in Ogun to investigate Governor Dapo Abiodun over allegations that he loaded N5 billion on bank-linked vouchers to buy votes in the March 18 gubernatorial poll.

The directive followed a petition to the police chief by Ladi Adebutu, the Peoples Democratic Party’s governorship candidate in Ogun, alleging that Mr Abiodun and the APC bought votes and perpetrated electoral violence and intimidation of voters.

Mr Adebutu, who spoke through his lawyer Ehi Uwaifoh, also accused Mr Abiodun of using N5 billion to induce voters with pre-loaded top-up gift cards loaded with N10,000 and N5,000 each.

He said the N5 billion used by Mr Abiodun in printing the cards and their cost violated the financing threshold of N1 billion mandated by section 88 of the Electoral Act, 2022.

In a letter dated May 8, signed by Idris Abubakar, the principal staff officer to the IGP, Mr Baba ordered the Ogun police command to investigate the Ogun governor’s alleged multibillion-naira vote-buying.

“Attached herewith is a copy of (a) letter dated 2nd May 2023 received from Ehi Uwaifoh & Co, on the above-underlined subject. The inspector-general of police directs that you deal with the complaint and report findings,” stated the letter. “Accept the assurances of the inspector general of police’s warm regards.”

Mr Abiodun did not respond to calls and messages placed to his known phone number on Sunday.

The governor has yet to appoint a spokesperson since taking office for a second term.

In the petition, Mr Adebutu, who is contesting the victory of the incumbent governor at the governorship election petitions tribunal, listed 16 people suspected to have worked with Mr Abuodun and the APC chairman in Ogun to send heavily armed thugs to attack some PDP supporters and voters.

Peoples Gazette reported how thugs suspected to be loyal to the APC invaded and disrupted the tribunal hearing challenging Mr Abiodun’s victory.

Mr Adebutu had accused the IGP of refusing to investigate his petition on suspected vote-buying and other electoral violence against the Ogun governor, while the command charged him at the Ogun State High Court for allegedly purchasing votes in the election.

In the lawsuit in which Mr Adebutu is charged alongside nine other people, the police claimed the governor was at large.