Access Bank, a subsidiary of Access Holdings, has increased its controlling stake in the fintech company, E-tranzact, to 37.56 per cent as of December 2022.
Ripples Nigeria gathered that Access Bank acquired 1.87 billion shares in E-tranzact last year, increasing its ownership stake in the fintech from 23.8 per cent in 2021.
As of April 28, Access Bank’s investment in E-tranzact is worth N12.43 billion, up from N5.68 billion held in the fintech company in 2021.
The share acquisition was revealed in E-tranzact’s first quarter (Q1) report for 2023. Although Access Holdings, in its Q1 report, said it didn’t receive a dividend for the investment.
Access Holdings revealed that existing investment in Etranzact was initially recognised in the books under equity instruments measured at Fair value through profit or loss, but “At the point of increasing the stakes of the Group in Etranzact by means of the Right issue, the existing shares were reclasified to investment in associates at their fair value,” Access Holdings said.
The financial institution stated further: “The Group holds an equity interest of 3,455,729,217 ordinary shares of 50k each in E-tranzact International Plc as at 31 December 2022, representing 37.56% equity participation in the company. No dividend income was received from ETRAN during the year.
“The group’s effective ownership in ETRAN increased from 23.8% in 2021 to37.56% in 2022 as the Group acquired more shares from the company. The proportion of the Bank’s interest is the same as the proportion of voting rights. As at 31st December, the fair value of the Bank’s investment was N12.1Bn.
“There are published price quotations for the associate on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. There are no significant restrictions on the ability of the associates to transfer funds to the group in the form of cash dividends, or repayments of loans or advances. The associate was accounted for using the equity method at the Group level.
“The Group exercises significant influence in E-tranzact International Limited by virtue of its more than 20% shareholding in the entity and the representation of one director on the board of the company and significant participation in the company’s operating and financial policies.”
[RipplesNigeria]
Global leaders are gathering in South Korea to discuss contemporary challenges to global well-being and ways to advance toward a “world culture of peace,” the Universal Peace Federation (UPF) has announced.
The UPF Peace Summit 2023 will be held between May 2 and 6, with events in Seoul and nearby areas. Delegations from more than 150 countries, including heads of state, first ladies, and government leaders, will join parliamentarians, religious leaders, media professionals, business leaders, and academicians to explore prospects for greater regional cooperation and increased efforts toward peacebuilding.
“We stand at a critical juncture in history, with rising threats to peace emerging across the globe; our awareness of this unstable context underscores the importance of our work during Peace Summit 2023,” said Dr. Thomas G. Walsh, Chairman of UPF International. The events will be live-streamed from South Korea, beginning at 9:30 a.m. KST on May 3, and will be accessible simultaneously in time zones around the world and in different languages. In the United States, the Opening Plenary will begin on May 2 at 8:30 p.m. EDT and 5:30 p.m. PDT and can be viewed here: https://media.peacelink.live/
A highlight of this year’s Summit is the inauguration of a new initiative called the International Elders Roundtable. This global project is designed to capture the wisdom and experience of elders to establish peace and stability in the society and the nation.
“Youth and adults have vision and enthusiasm, but elders provide a path through their experience and knowledge. Hence, for there to be eternal peace and prosperity, there must be cooperation between elders, adults, and youth in our society,” said H.E. Maithripala Sirisena, former president of Sri Lanka, who was at planning meetings for the Elders initiative.
Peace Summit 2023 regional sessions will focus on peacebuilding in North America, Asia Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. There is a track for youth and students, as well as breakout sessions around UPF’s seven primary associations.
Laureates of the Sunhak Peace Prize will speak at a special luncheon in their honor.
A major UPF project, Think Tank 2022, focuses on bringing peace to the Korean Peninsula, East Asia, and the Indo-Pacific Rim Region. On May 4, at 9:00 a.m. KST, a session featuring Dr. Michael Pillsbury, former senior fellow, and director for Chinese strategy at the Hudson Institute, will be among those to address the topic of peace in the Indo-Pacific.
Additional highlights are celebrations around the 80th birthday of UPF Co-Founder Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon on Friday, May 5. As part of that celebration, Dr. Moon will officiate a Culture of Peace Dedication Ceremony at the new Cheon Won Gung building. This huge multimedia exhibit hall and the temple are intended to be a “homeland for the world and hometown of the heart for all people,” UPF’s late Co-Founder Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon said in 1997.
Peace Summit 2023 is part of UPF’s ongoing series of peacebuilding activities, which are held under the theme of mutual prosperity, interdependence, and shared universal values. UPF, an NGO in General Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, is known for its Rally of Hope series, the International Leadership Conference series, and, since early 2021, the Forum series of Think Tank 2022. The latter project was created to engage more than 2,000 global thought leaders on how to achieve a breakthrough for peace on the Korean Peninsula. (Details about Think Tank 2022 Forums can be found at UPF.org.)
As part of Peace Summit 2023, organizers will convene several high-level sessions around the work of UPF’s peacebuilding associations. These include: the International Summit Council for Peace (ISCP) and the International Association of First Ladies for Peace (IAFLP); the International Association of Parliamentarians for Peace (IAPP); the Interreligious Association for Peace and Development (IAPD); the International Association for Peace and Economic Development (IAED) and International Media Association for Peace (IMAP)
Others are the International Association of Academicians for Peace (IAAP); the International Association of Arts and Culture for Peace (IAACP).
[DailyIndependent]
The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) has denied accusations of ethnic bias during the evacuation of stranded Nigerians in Sudan
NIDCOM, Chaired by Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has been accused of preventing Igbos from boarding buses hired by the Federal Government to evacuate stranded Nigerians from the war-torn Khartoum in Sudan.
However, in a statement on Tuesday, the Commission described the allegation as a fabricated lie.
It said, “Reports from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs staff on ground in Khartoum, indicated that when the boarding of buses began, the situation was so chaotic that some people (including Non-Nigerians) jumped in violently, some with daggers, through the windows.
“To bring sanity and to abide by the instruction of the Minister of Foreign Affairs that priority should be given to women, children and students, the officials started calling them according to states in alphabetical order, beginning with Abia State.
“Reports from Sudan indicate that all who converged at the prescribed locations were to be picked up, have all been moved in 40 buses either towards Port Sudan or towards Egyptian borders”.
The Commission, however, said, “If some arrived after the stipulated time or did not show up at the point of pick up, they can’t blame it on anyone.”
[Nation]
The former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has been accused of working with his allies to frustrate the victory of President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu during the February 25 presidential election.
The South-South Zonal Organising Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, Blessing Agbomhere, who stated this also accused the recently sacked the Zonal Chairman of the party, Victor Giadom, of not supporting Tinubu’s campaign.
He insisted that Giadom will no longer act in that capacity after a vote of no confidence was passed on him and the ex-zonal secretary, Ita Udosen, PUNCH reports.
Agbomhere has now taken over as the Acting Zonal Chairman of the party.
‘Lamidi Apapa, Other Agents Paid To Distort Everything’ – Peter Obi Speaks On LP Crisis
WITHIN NIGERIA recalls that Giadom was removed on Sunday after five zonal officers of the party, at a special meeting in Port Harcourt, moved against Giadom and Udosen, citing their running of the zone like a personal fiefdom, failure to call for meetings, among others, as reasons for their removal.
Justifying the decision to sack Giadom, Agbomhere added, “The zonal officers of the South-South had their extraordinary meeting, and, in that meeting, we are eight officers in the zone, all of us were present. The constitution requires that we call for a zonal meeting at least once every quarter and for almost six months now, he (Giadom) has not called for a meeting. He has been running the party alone and doing whatever he likes with the party. Every attempt to make the secretary call for a meeting also failed. He and the secretary are running the party together, without carrying the other six executive members of the zone along.
“Even after the elections were over, there have been a series of petitions and suspensions from across the states in the region. The zone is supposed to set up a committee that would receive these petitions, do fact-finding to find out what is wrong and find a way to resolve these issues in the zone but Giadom allowed the zone to be enveloped in internal disputations because he does not care.
He also accused Giadom of abandoning his duties as the chairman of the zone and also not supporting Tinubu’s campaign.
As the National Working Committee of the party meets on Wednesday, Agbomhere said a letter notifying the leadership of the party would be transmitted informing it of development in the zone. When that is done, the NWC being “A higher committee than the one that took that decision, is to set up a fact-finding committee. After their findings, they can then make a pronouncement of either supporting our position or otherwise.”
Speaking on Tinubu’s readiness for governance, Agbomhere said, “despite the fact that I cannot guarantee that Asiwaju can run 100km in an hour, I can confirm that Asiwaju and Shettima have 100 ideas to rescue Nigeria and set her on the path of greatness within the first 100 days in office. This is why we keep supporting him. We are ready to fight anybody bent on frustrating democracy in Nigeria. This is the first time in Nigeria that we will be having a pure democrat coming to occupy the office of the president in Nigeria. Asiwaju is not in the league of Rotimi Amaechi and Victor Giadom; he is in the league of Obafemi Awolowo and Lee Kuan Yew,” Agbomhere stressed.
Former Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, has claimed that Nigeria lost by not having the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo as the President of the country.
Sanusi said the failure of the political system to throw Osinbajo up as president has made Nigeria worse off.
He stated these on Monday while speaking at a book launch titled: “Osinbajo Strides: Defining Moments of an Innovative Leader.”
Recalls that Osinbajo lost the All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential primaries in 2022 to the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, said that Osinbajo was one of those in the current administration willing to debate any matter and yield superior argument.
“And I dare say, we all agree that Nigeria is worse off for not having someone like him (Osinbajo) as president, but I do hope that he will be available to serve and to advise and to put in his best for the country and continue to do.
Sanusi said, “So I’m sure he will, in whatever capacity he finds himself in the future, and maybe we’ll still be lucky to have him lead us at some point or take some leadership role as a statesman.”
President-elect Bola Tinubu’s son Seyi has been alleged to have bought a London mansion previously owned by Kolawole Aluko whom the Nigerian government was investigating for fraud.
Seyi reportedly bought the house in 2017 for $10.8m through his firm, Bloomberg reports.
The report, citing previously unreported UK company documents, said the property, acquired by Seyi’s firm was part of the biggest corruption scandals the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari was seeking to probe.
The foreign news medium said the documents show that Seyi, 37, is “the main shareholder of Aranda Overseas Corp., an offshore company that paid £9million ($10.8 million) to Deutsche Bank for the property in north London in late 2017.”
“The private three-floor residence in St. John’s Wood — a district favored by American bankers — is equipped with an eight-car driveway, two gardens, electric gates and a gym,” the report said.
It further said that at the time of the purchase, Nigerian government was seeking to arrest Aluko, the house’s former owner, accusing him of fleeing while owing the country an oil-trading debt worth more than $1.5 billion.
“The state was also attempting to confiscate the upscale real estate and other assets it suspected had been acquired by the businessman, Kolawole Aluko, with the profits of crime,” the report said.
It also said the documents did not suggest Tinubu was personally involved in the acquisition of the UK property in 2017, noting that Buhari visited him there in August 2021.
Bloomberg said Tinubu’s spokesman and Seyi did not respond to emails, phone calls and text messages seeking comment. It also said a British lawyer listed as Aranda’s agent in the UK declined to comment citing confidentiality rules.
The report noted that Buhari’s administration initiated legal cases against former minister of petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke and two businessmen — Aluko and Olajide Omokore — who won lucrative contracts during her tenure.
The US government said in a 2017 forfeiture lawsuit filed in Texas that the pair bribed the minister by funding her “lavish” lifestyle and failed to pay the state energy company for most of the crude they received.
The report further stated, “Alison-Madueke, who is based in London, has denied the allegations. She is challenging multiple forfeiture orders issued by Nigerian courts and has accused the anti-corruption agency of blocking her efforts to defend herself in criminal proceedings.
“In June 2016, a federal judge in the capital, Abuja, granted a request by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to seize more than a dozen properties that Aluko had acquired in Nigeria and abroad, including the one in St. John’s Wood. That forfeiture order was still in force when Tinubu’s son bought the house out of receivership 16 months later.
The ruling was made on an interim basis pending the conclusion of an investigation into Aluko that was still ongoing as of at least the end of 2018, according to court filings. Aluko can’t comment on the forfeiture case because it is still “sub-judice,” his lawyer Tokunbo Jaiye-Agoro said by email.”
President Muhammadu Buhari has reappointed Abike Dabiri-Erewa as Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) for a second term.
Her reappointment was announced in a letter from the President to the Senate, in which he asked the Senate to confirm her reappointment.
President Buhari also requested that the Senate confirm the appointment of six federal commissioners of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) to fill existing vacancies in the states.
Ayogu Eze, Peter Okpara, Hauwa Aliyu, Rajiya Ayuba, Kolawole Adebola, and Ismailia Agaka are the nominees.
May Day: Kaduna governor-elect, Uba Sani promises to run workers’ friendly Administration
Meanwhile, the red chamber has charged its interior committee with investigating the circumstances that have caused the Nigeria Immigration Service to delay the issuance and renewal of passports.
The Senate has also asked its interior committee to investigate the Nigeria Immigration Service’s contract for passport printing.
Following a motion by Senator Uche Ekwunife, who stated that Nigerians are facing hardship and stress in obtaining passports, the Senate issued these directives to its Interior Committee at the resumption of plenary on Tuesday.
..says ‘I’m not a religious bigot’
Peter Obi, presidential candidate for Labour Party (LP) in the last general election has admitted having a private telephone conversation with founder of Living Faith Church Worldwide, David Oyedepo.
Obi, who disclosed this while speaking on Arise Television as a featured guest on Monday night, however, debunked describing the presidential poll as a ‘religious war’.
Recall that Tribune Online reported a leaked conversation allegedly between Peter Obi and Bishop Oyedepo, where the former was heard pleading with the cleric to help sway support and votes of Christians in southwestern states and Kogi.
In the leaked audio conversation which was said to have taken place before February 25 presidential election, Peter Obi was heard describing the poll as a ‘religious war that must be won’, and why the release of the audio gathered a series of backlashes and criticisms for the former Anambra state governor.
But speaking with Arise TV on Monday night, Obi, responding to a question on whether the phone call christened ‘Yes Daddy’ actually took place, admitted having a private conversation with the Bishop to beg him for support, stating however, that he never described the poll as ‘religious war’.
He said, “Call it whatever you want to call it. Whatever anyone wants to make of it. I am not a religious bigot. Do you think I can just pick a phone and say ‘religious war’? No, I was even begging the bishop to help me ask his people to vote, which was what I was doing for six months – begging. I wasn’t saying ‘catch him’, ‘kill him’, ‘force it’. I was even begging. That shows that I continued to look for votes by begging. There were so many things we tried to do but they were not okay.”
Speaking further, the LP standard-bearer stressed that he was never a religious bigot, adding that no non-muslim governor has ever sent more people to Mecca than he did as a governor.
“Let me tell you. Those who have been trying to manipulate Nigerians have been doing it. But it is coming to an end. The people they have been manipulating are dying of hunger. They will soon know who is the religious or tribal bigot. I am not one. I have just given you an example of how I built mosques. Till today, no non-Muslim governor has sent more people to Mecca than me.
“I can never say it (poll) is a religious war. Because it is not. There was a conversation. But I never said it was a religious war. What for? I am surrounded by people. If there was ever an instance where the presidential candidate and his deputy work as brothers, it is me and Datti. And I know and we never stop talking about it.
“For the first time in the history of Nigeria, we have a presidential candidate, running mate and party chairman who were born after Nigeria’s Independence. We must save this country and he (Datti) knows my commitment to it. I can’t do all these with the background of religious war,” he added.
A newly wedded bride, Samantha Miller, was killed by a drunk driver who slammed into the newlywed’s golf cart on a South Carolina beach, authorities disclosed on Monday.
According to the Charleston County coroner’s office, the 34-year-old who had just gotten married hours earlier died in the wreck which left three others in the golf cart injured, including the groom, who is hospitalised and in critical condition.
The Guardian reported that the groom’s mother has created a GoFundMe page to pay for her daughter-in-law’s funeral and her son’s medical bills.
It included a photo of the newlyweds running under sparklers just before the crash, which caused the golf cart to roll over several times.
Data retrieved from the suspect, Jamie Lee Komoroski’s rental car indicated she was driving 65 mph (105 km/h), and only briefly hit the brakes before she struck the golf cart around 10 pm Friday on Folly Beach, investigators said.
Gilreath said the golf cart had lights and was legal to drive at night.
The speed limit on the island near Charleston is 25 mph (40 km/h).
Komoroski, 25, was charged with reckless vehicular homicide and three counts of driving under the influence causing death. She faces up to 25 years in prison on each count.
The suspect remained in the Charleston County jail on Monday afternoon and records did not indicate if she had a lawyer
Private school owners in the country have cried out to both federal and state governments over the increasing cost of running schools, describing the situation as killing.
National President of the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools(NAPPS), Yomi Otubela, gave this remark, on Monday, in his message to commemorate this year’s Workers’ Day.
He said apart from the high cost of living, which owners of private schools and workers contend with just like every other Nigerian across sectors, private school are still battling with multiple taxations and levies imposed by the government.
He added that another problem facing them is the high cost of borrowing from banks, saying many of them could not access loans due to high-interest rates and this is greatly affecting their operations.
While asking governments to see private schools as partners rather than as business ventures to collect taxes from, Otubela said governments should also consider giving them special grants from their annual budgets to serve as palliative to run their schools.
He equally urged the government to improve the security situation in the country including around schools while on their part, would not relax in ensuring their schools are safe and also improve the conditions of service of their workers.
He said it is only when workers are happy that they would be able to add meaningful values to teaching and learning in schools.
More...
Some Nigerians fleeing the war in Sudan have arrived at Port Sudan ahead of their journey home.
The cheering news was shared on Tuesday morning as other buses conveying Nigerians are expected at Port Sudan.
Arrangements have already been concluded by the Federal Government for their airlifting home by the Nigerian Air Force, Azman Air and Air Peace, with Air Peace offering its service free.
According to available information, the first batch of Nigerians being moved by the Federal Government from the war-torn Sudan to arrive in Port Sudan were the nine whose bus got spoilt along the way and had to sleep at an RSF checkpoint.
The Eagle Online recalls that the front tyre of one of the buses exploded close to the RSF checkpoint.
They then joined another bus sent by the transport company, which left nine places for them in the bus.
On their way, they learnt the rest of the students had been held up somewhere after the city of Atbara, but they were not affected as they proceeded to Port Sudan unhindered.
At Port Sudan, they met about 40 Nigerian students, some with their families.
These 40 students made their own arrangements to leave their accommodations and proceeded directly to Port Sudan.
They were said to be from Madani, a city south of Khartoum in neighbouring Jazeera State.
Those evacuated from Sudan by the Federal Government took off from Khartoum, the capital of Sudan.
[EagleOnline]
The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has insisted that its members have the right to demand for better conditions of service.
This is coming on the heels of a statement credited to the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige that the doctors are suffering from “entitlement mentality.”
Speaking on Arise TV on Monday, Ngige accused the association of having an entitlement mentality.
“If the NARD, who we have been managing their matter…We are giving them everything they want, including their Medical Resident Training Fund; we are paying them, even when in training, paying them full salary, paying them all the allowances and you decided that we have not done enough. Like I said before, you have an option to go. It is left for the education ministry and the health ministry to fashion out what they can do.
“The entitlements syndrome, the sense of entitlement is too much in this country and like I said earlier, you obey the law you look odd, you apply the law, you look odd or you are a wicked man. I don’t have any apologies for whatever I have done in the management of trade disputes.”
However, the NARD, responding through its Secretary-General, Dr Chikezie Kelechi, in an interview with PUNCH, said, “We do not have an entitlement mentality and our demands are not absurd. Every association deserves the right to ask for an increment in salary.
“The Medical Residency Training Fund has been there and has been paid about three times now. It is paid once a year and it was approved in 2017 and did not take effect until about three years ago. Even in those three years, every time it is paid, there is a threat of a strike. The government does not ordinarily want to pay and these monies are appropriated but there is this unwillingness to pay. Every year, there has to be a threat of strike for them to pay.
“We are tired of getting the government to do what they are supposed to do naturally. The first round of update courses for the year has been done, the first round of exams for the year has been concluded and these monies were not paid. So, what is he saying?”
The Federal Government was given two weeks by NARD on Saturday to comply with its demands or risk industrial unrest.
The Consolidated Medical Salary Structure must be immediately increased by 200 percent of the existing gross physician salary, according to the doctors.
The doctors also demand that the law that would require recent medical and dental graduates to perform five years of mandatory service in Nigeria before receiving a full licence to practise be immediately withdrawn.
[NationalDaily]
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has disclosed that about one hundred and twenty shops were affected by the recent inferno at Bodija market.
NEMA added that over 200 people were also affected.
The agency made these disclosures on Tuesday.
DAILY POST recalls that a fire incident occurred at the plank section of Bodija market last Tuesday.
South West Zonal Coordinator of NEMA, Mr. Saheed Akiode told DAILY POST on Tuesday that the agency conducted an assessment at the market and discovered that 120 shops were affected.
He added that the assessment revealed that over 200 people were also affected.
He maintained that 3 electric poles, 1 motor bike, generator set and ply machines were destroyed.
Akiode said, “The NEMA South West Zonal Office conducted a post-disaster assessment of the fire incident in Bodija International Market, Ibadan North LGA of Oyo State, on 1st May, 2023.
“The assessment team was received by the chairman of the plank market Mr Waliyu Adewale. He briefed the team on the impact of the disaster on the traders and appealed to NEMA to come to the aid of the affected traders.
“The disaster affected over (120) one hundred and twenty shops and over (200) two hundred persons, 3 electric poles, 1 motor bike, generator set and ply machines were destroyed
“The assessment was successfully conducted by NEMA officials”.
The Commandant of Zamfara State Anti-Thuggery Agency, Bello Bakyasuwa has escaped gunmen attack on his way to Kaduna from Gusau, the Zamfara State capital.
In a statement signed and issued to newsmen on Tuesday, Bakyasuwa said he was attacked by the heavily armed men along Kaduna-Zaria Road on Thursday evening.
Bakyasuwa, a retired soldier said, ”I narrowly escaped death, last Four days on my way to Kaduna along Funtua-Zaria.
“I am currently on hospital bed, my life is in danger, I am facing incessant attacks by suspected sponsored gunmen.”
Bakyasuwa stressed that when he left Gusau to Kaduna in his Hilux car, he noticed that there were two Hilux cars and BMW vehicle coming behind him.
He said, “I was not comfortable with the vehicles coming behind me, as such, I stopped at Yankara security checkpoint and the vehicles passed me.”
“I continued with my journey and after I passed Funtua town around 8:30 pm, I noticed that the Hilux and BMW vehicles were chasing me and eventually the BMW vehicle double crossed and forcefully stopped me on the road.
“The people inside the vehicles just started shooting at my vehicle and we spent few minutes exchanging fire with them.
“I jumped out of my car as a result of which I sustained dislocation in my leg and injuries on my face.
”But the hired killers continued shooting, I was able to escape and run into the bush with blood coming out of my body,” Bakyasuwa narrated
He maintained that he was lucky to be rescued by the police who arrived at the place on hearing the gunshots.
He said, “When the police arrived at the scene, they quickly rescued me and took me to a ne Primary Health Care of one nearby village.
“After receiving treatment in the clinic I slept in the village and in the morning my driver who met me in the village took me to Kaduna for further treatment.”
Bakyasuwa said his Hilux vehicle was seriously damaged as a result of several gunshots.
Bakyasuwa lamented that a few months ago, some gunmen had also attacked his driver in Gusau town on his way from Command Guest-Inn to Anguwar Gwaza where they seized his office Hilux vehicle.
He called on the security agencies to come to his aid, adding that his life was in danger.
[Channels TV]