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National Economic Council Holds Inaugural Meeting With VP Shettima Presiding

June 15, 2023

By Ayodele Oni

Few hours after its inauguration by President Bola Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima has presided over the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The meeting, being held at the State House Council Chambers on Thursday, is the first since the inauguration of President Bola Tinubu’s administration on May 29.

The vice president, by the provisions of Nigeria’s Constitution, is the chairman of NEC.

The NEC meeting, holds monthly and deliberates on the coordination of the economic planning efforts and economic programmes of the various levels of government.

The council comprises the 36 state governors, the governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Minister of Finance, Secretary to the Government of the Federation and other government officials and agencies whose duties hinge on the economy.

Governors who are old members of the council include Charles Soludo of Anambra, Yahaya Bello of Kogi, Seyi Makinde of Oyo, Duoye Diri of Bayelsa, Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos, and Godwin Obaseki of Edo States.

Others are Umaru Fintiri of Adamawa, Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe, Bala Mohammed of Bauchi, Babagana Zulum of Borno, Hope Uzodinma of Imo, Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo, Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa, Mai Mala Buni of Yobe and Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq of Kwara States.

Newly elected governors are also in attendance. President Tinubu had earlier inaugurated the council before it proceeded with its meeting.

The first major task before the council is deliberation on Palliatives for Nigerians to cushion Effect of the withdrawal of subsidy on petrol.

President Bola Tinubu had last week before the inauguration of the council directed it to kickstart the process of working on interventions to ameliorate the impact of subsidy removal on the people.

Tinubu Appoints Ribadu, Alake, Six Others As Special Advisers; Ribadu Is Special Adviser, Security

Ayodele Oni

June 15, 2023

By Ayodele Oni

President Bola Tinubu has appointed eight Special Advisers.

The Senate had last week approved the appointment of 20 Special Advisers for the President.

Those named in a statement on Thursday by the Director of information, State House, Abiodun Oladunjoye, include a former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Nuhu Ribadu, a retired Assistant Inspector General of Police, AIG, rtd, as Special Adviser on Security, Dele Alake, Special Adviser, Special Duties, Communications and Strategy; Yau Darazo, Special Adviser, Political and Intergovernmental Affairs.

Others are Wale Edun, Special Adviser, Monetary Policies; Mrs. Olu Verheijen, Special Adviser, Energy; and Zachaeus Adedeji Special Adviser, Revenue.

Also named are John Ugochukwu Uwajumogu, Special Adviser, Industry, Trade and Investment and Dr (Mrs.) Salma Ibrahim Anas, Special Adviser, Health.

War Against Corruption: Agbakoba Asks Tinubu To Remove INEC Chairman

Ayodele Oni

June 15, 2023

By Ayodele Oni

The gale of suspensions currently sweeping across allegedly identified suspected corrupt officials who worked with the immediate past President Mohammadu Buhari, should be extended to the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC), a very senior Lawyer has submitted.

Senior Advocate of Nigeria and former President of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Olisa Agbakoba, has asked President Bola Tinubu to remove the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmoud Yakubu.

The senior lawyer, in a statement on Thursday, said the 61-year-old INEC boss must leave office by resignation or removal, otherwise the electoral reform task in Nigeria will be impeded.

In the statement signed on his behalf by his Media Assistant, Niyi Odunmorayo, Agbakoba commended the President for “getting rid” of Godwin Emefiele as the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN); and AbdulRasheed Bawa as the Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

He stated: “Full congratulations go to President Tinubu for getting rid of Emefiele and Bawa and fuel subsidy and forex corruption. Endemic corruption has suffered a massive blow.

“Next door is for the President to dismantle INEC. Everyone will agree that logistically, the 2023 elections are the worst in our history. I do not refer to the merits of the results of the elections.

“Many results are disputed and are in Tribunals. Both petitioners and respondents suffered at the hands of an incompetent INEC.

“As we await rulings from the courts, massive reforms of the electoral framework ought to begin but this means that the INEC Chairman will have to leave office by resignation or removal, otherwise the reform task will be impeded.

“I add very quickly that the suggested reforms have nothing to do with the merits of election results at all. Both winners and losers of the elections were victims of the failure of INEC. Confidence in Nigeria’s democracy will be enhanced by a deep cleansing of INEC.

Former President Muhammadu Buhari appointed Yakubu as INEC chair in November 2015 to succeed Attahiru Jega, who supervised the 2015 general elections. In October 2020, Buhari reappointed Yakubu as the electoral commission boss.

Can Tinubu’s Copycatting Obi Erase The Dirty Spot Of Dented Mandate?

The Source

June 15, 2023

By Edward Musa.

Should Peter Obi and the Labour Party worry at the apparent copycatting of his policies and programs by the tremulous and doddering government of the All Progressives Congress, APC, and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu?

No, they should not, people who rely on others’ work as their sole source of inspiration won’t last in the long run, and worrying about them takes away from focusing on you. The worry really should be on the muddling up of these programs because of the shallow understanding of what it entails.

Especially when such a person has issues with legitimacy, goodwill, and trust from the people.

During the last electioneering period In Nigeria from September 2022 to February 2023, the ruling party’s Presidential candidate, Bola Ahmad Tinubu blatantly shunned all media appearances, refusing to grant a single interview even to explain his manifesto.

Hardly did he take any message to Nigerians as a reason why he should be voted for. The only visible message he kept repeating to the irritation of Nigerians was that he will continue the good work of the immediate past President, Muhammedu Buhari.

Even when he appeared at the Chatham House in London, United Kingdom during the campaign, he had no response to questions and his sides had to come to his rescue answering questions on his behalf.

While Tinubu snubbed and spurned Nigerians disdainfully during the campaigns, Peter Obi seized the stage with his disarming messages, throwing up issues and pragmatically explaining its workings. In every sector of governance, Obi provided a verifiable way to address pertinent issues.

In the turbulent power sector, Obi told Nigerians in practical terms how he intend to solve the perennial problem. He explained how he went to Egypt to study the German firm Seamen that handled their power challenge making Egypt an exporter of power to other countries. During the ChannelsTV Presidential debate which Tinubu snubbed, Obi was there to declare that if South Africa with a population of less than 60 million is generating 58, 095 and yet declared an emergency on power, Nigeria with over 200m people and generating below 5000, should be declaring war on power if he is voted into office.

On subsidy in petroleum products, Obi was unmistaken in his position which dates back to his time as a member of the Presidential Economic Management Team under the Goodluck Jonathan era that he will remove subsidy because it’s an organized crime but will do it in a way that the poor will not suffer. He said he was going to carry the people along showing statistically and empirically what is being generated and how it’s being deployed. Obi even challenged the figure of fuel consumption in the country as unrealistic.

Obi was also brutal on what he would do if elected with the persisting crude oil theft as he exposed it as another organized crime of the people in government. Indeed it was OBI’S exposition that led to the Nigeria Navy and other critical stakeholders coming out to state their roles in the fraud.

The Labour Party’s standard bearer was also forthright on Education describing Education and Health as a critical measure of a nation’s growth and development.

It was all these sector-by-sector explanations of his agenda for Nigeria if elected that endeared Obi to Nigerians across the country. During the campaigns, Obi virtually occupied the stage as a sole candidate with a defined mission while the ruling party flag bearer remained conspicuously missing in action, but possibly as it turned out planning the abracadabra of February 25, 2023, election that has become the darkest day in our democratic journey.

But since his swearing-in on May 29 amidst grumbling and groaning from all corners of our land and beyond, Tinubu said nothing and promised nothing, in fact in a big rally in Kano he just danced at the stage and left without telling the people anything. The only verifiable thing on record he promised Nigerians was to continue the good work of Buhari.

But today he appears to be in a hurry in an unprecedented copycatting of all the things Obi promised Nigeria for which they came out massively to vote for him.

In subsidy removal and the Education sector, Tinubu copiously copied Obi but like in every imitation, if it’s not panadol, it cannot be panadol. in his rush to diminish Obi and win over the obidient adherents, he is not stopping at stealing the mandate but also the programs. He is currently running the country virtually as a sole Administrator. Tinubu’s first meeting with service chiefs was to address the oil theft issue that Obi had unravelled.

Political watchers are looking at the rush by Tinubu to implement OBI’S programs from various angles, one to try and impress on the people to gain the people’s confidence; preparing for an election in case the election tribunal nullifies the election and he is still lucky to be on the ballot if not disqualified; hurrying to distance himself from Buhari to win the people hence the suspension and arrest of the Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele who was Buhari’s man Friday.

The way and manner Tinubu is doing the copycatting clearly exposes him as lacking a sense of self, his actions picture him vividly as one green with envy of Obi as he strives desperately to want what Obi has to win his people.

But what is perhaps not privy to APC and Tinubu is that copycats are rarely successful in the long run, it may seem as if Tinubu is successfully stealing OBI’S gains and deploying them, but hardly will it last.

Should Obi and the Labour Party lose sleep at this calculated attempt to hijack their thoughts and even use it to undermine them.? Yes, they should worry at the shameless imitation going on but must remain confident that the heart of his work cannot be duplicated and that is what Nigerians are yearning for. OBI’S unique hardworking self they saw and admired during the electioneering is what the people are waiting for not an imitation of him.

The truth is that no amount of mimicking or impersonating will erase the dirty spot in Tinubu and APC’s dented mandate. That a thief used his loot for charity does not remove the criminality of his action which is paramount. Let’s wait for God’s time which is the people’s time because a new Nigeria is POssible and Obi is coming. God help us.

Fidelity Bank: Fitch Affirms Lender’s Ratings With Stable Outlook

Tosin Olatokunbo

June 15, 2023

Fitch Ratings has affirmed the Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe-led Fidelity Bank Plc’s credit rating at ‘B-‘ with a stable outlook, according to its recent report. The global rating agency also upgraded the bank’s National Short-Term Rating to ‘F1+(nga)’ from ‘F1(nga)’.

It said the upgrade reflects the improvement in the bank’s local-currency funding profile, as evidenced by the increase in the share of low-cost current and savings accounts in the bank’s customer deposit base to 87.1 percent at the end of the first quarter (1Q2023) from 75 percent in 2021.

According to Fitch, Fidelity Bank’s rating affirmation is driven by its standalone creditworthiness, as expressed by its Viability Rating (VR) of ‘b-‘, reflecting a growing franchise and a low share of impaired loans, as well as good capitalisation and funding.

In Nigeria, banks continue to contend with US dollar shortages and the Central Bank of Nigeria’s, CBN, highly burdensome cash reserve requirement. Fitch expects reform progress under the new administration, including the elimination of fuel subsidies and gradual liberalisation of the naira.

However, Fitch said there is a risk of sharp naira depreciation due to the large disparity between the official and parallel exchange rates. The CBN has increased its policy rate by 700 basis points since April 2022 due to rising inflation.

Fidelity is Nigeria’s sixth-largest bank, representing five percent of domestic banking system assets at end-2022. Strong balance sheet growth in recent years has increased market shares.

“We expect these to increase further but remain below those of the five largest banking groups.”, Fitch said.

Power: Tinubu Moves Against Buhari’s Men

Tosin Olatokunbo

June 15, 2023

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has started cleaning the Augean stables left by his Muhammadu Buhari, his predecessor.

Just barely two weeks in office as president and Commander-in-Chief the former Lagos governor who came to power on May 29, has taken some bold steps to prove that he wants to be his own man.

If anyone is in doubt of this, watchers of the Presidency insist, the indefinite suspension of the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa, by the president on Wednesday, is a pointer that the incumbent has started asserting himself.

Bawa, according to a statement released by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, yesterday, was suspended for abuse of office, including graft allegations against him while he presided over the affairs of the agency.

The statement read, “President Tinubu has approved the indefinite suspension from office of AbdulRasheed Bawa, CON, as the Chairman, Economic, and Financial Crimes Commission to allow for proper investigation into his conduct while in office. This follows weighty allegations of abuse of office leveled against him.

“Mr Bawa has been directed to immediately handover the affairs of his office to the Director, Operations in the Commission, who will oversee the affairs of the Office of the Chairman of the Commission pending the conclusion of the investigation. “

Bawa was directed to handover immediately to the most senior official in the agency.

The president had earlier suspended the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Godwin Emefiele on allegations bordering on terrorism financing and economic sabotage.

Emefiele and Bawa have since been arrested by the Department of State Services, DSS, for further investigations.

The duo was appointed by former President Buhari, and those close to the former government informed the magazine that they enjoyed the confidence of the former Nigerian leader.

Their removal from office, therefore, some say is a pointer that President Tinubu does not want to have anything to do with the legacies left by Buhari, that he wants to be his own man, even though he promised during his inauguration that he would continue where his predecessor stopped.

According to those monitoring what is going on in the polity, this is just the beginning of the president’s plan to weed out some government appointees under Buhari who have lost public trust, particularly, those who have corruption allegations hanging on their necks.

For instance, Bawa, before his suspension was accused by a former governor of Zamfara state, Bello Matawalle of demanding a $2 million bribe from him, to compromise corruption allegations against the former governor.

The former EFCC boss has also been accused of living beyond his means as a government official.

On his part, Emefiele was punished for two major reasons; the botched Naira swap policy, that threw the country into a serious financial crisis early this year, and his involvement in partisan politics contrary to constitutional provisions.

Not a few Nigerians accused Emefiele of deliberately introducing the failed Naira Swap policy, to punish Nigerians after his bid to succeed former President Buhari failed to materialise.

Recall also that Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential candidate at the time accused Emefiele of targeting him with the policy.

Therefore, the removal of Emefiele was not unexpected by those who have followed his trajectory since he became the boss of the government-owned bank in 2014, particularly after Buhari re-appointed him for a second term in office against popular public opinion.

This cannot be said of Bawa who many had thought would manage to remain in office, despite the very serious allegations that he used his office to enrich himself.

But some sources who spoke with the magazine on his suspension, said embattled EFCC boss may have offended some APC stalwarts who wants him punished for his action.

“Apart from Matawalle, other governors and APC bigwigs have reported him to President Tinubu. You remember his problem with Governor Yahaya Bello and former Governor Abdullahi Ganduje. May be, he could have survived under Tinubu, at least for some time, what really nailed the EFCC boss is that he is also not clean,” a Presidency source said

Meanwhile, another source informed the magazine on Thursday that “more heads’ will still roll in government “as the president is planning to bring in those that fit into his agenda.”

Suspended EFCC Chairman, Bawa, Joins Emefiele In DSS Custody, As CP Abba Takes Over

The Source

June 15, 2023

By Gideon Njoku

A couple of hours after President Bola Tinubu suspended, indefinitely, the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa from office, the former Chairman has joined the, also, suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, in the custody of the Department of State Services, DSS.

If Emefiele’s suspension from office and his detention by the DSS were expected, that of Bawa was totally unexpected. The only inkling that, perhaps, ”the groud may not be level” for Bawa was the near-ugly incident which happened between the DSS and EFCC Operatives in the office premises which both had shared for years, but which officially belongs to the DSS.

About 48 hours after the swearing-in of Tinubu as President, Operatives of the DSS blocked Operatives of the EFCC from entering the premises. While the EFCC took the incident very seriously in a statement issued by its Spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, the DSS Spokesperson, Dr Peter Afunanya, casually dismissed it, and asked if it was ever in dispute that the property is that of the DSS.

Within 24 hours of the incident, President Tinubu intervened and asked the DSS to vacate the blocked gate and allow the EFCC entry.

It, therefore, came as a surprise when the President ordered the indefinite suspension of Bawa from office on Wednesday, June 14, 2023.

In a statement from the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation signed by Willie Bassey, Bawa was asked to handover, immediately, to the EFCC Director of Operations who will act as the Chairman until the end of the serious weighty allegations against Bawa.

Within two hours of his suspension, Bawa was invited by the DSS to report to its office. He complied.

According to Afunanya, Bawa’s invitation by the DSS “relates to some investigative activities concerning him.” He, also confirmed that “Bawa arrived a few hours ago.”

Nobody knows, yet, what the allegations against Bawa are for which he is facing investigations. Recall, however, that the immediate past Governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle, had alleged, a few days before the end of his tenure, that Bawa had asked him for bribe to the tune of two million US Dollars to discontinue an investigation against him, Matawalle. He said he had evidence to prove it.

Bawa had denied the allegation in a statement signed by Uwujaren and asked Matawalle for proof. The EFCC was set to take Matawalle into custody as soon as he left office. Ironically, it is Bawa who is now in custody.

There is, also, the other allegation of Bawa traveling to Saudi Arabia for a religious obligation with several members of his family which, allegedly, cost an obscene amount of money, especially, as they, allegedly, all stayed in a posh hotel – Sheraton.

Abba Takes Over from Bawa

Already, the EFCC Director of Operations, Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Umar Abba, has assumed office as the Acting EFCC Chair.

A graduate of Bayero University, Kano, Abba was born on June 22, 1965. He was appointed the EFCC Director of Operations in 2017.

Why President Tinubu Suspended EFCC Chairman, Bawa

Adesina Soyooye

June 14, 2023

By Adesina Soyooye

The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa, has fallen under the sledge hammer of President Bola Tinubu.

The President suspended Bawa indefinitely Wednesday evening with immediate effect.

A statement from the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, signed by William Bassey to the effect reads:

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, has approved the indefinitely suspension from office of Mr AbdulRasheed Bawa, CON, as the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC to allow for proper investigation into his conduct while in office.

“This follows weighty allegations of abuse of office levelled against him.

“Mr Bawa has been directed to hand over the affairs of his office to Director, Operations, in the Commission, who will oversee the affairs of the Office of the Chairman of the Commission, pending the conclusion of the investigation.”

Bawa is the second high profile official from the Muhammadu Buhari Government suspended by President Tinubu. The first was the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr Godwin Emefiele.

Recall that the immediate past Governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle, had accused Bawa of asking him for bribe to the tune of two million US Dollars to stop an investigation against him, an allegation Bawa denied.

The suspended EFCC Chairman was also accused of spending millions of Dollars on a trip to Saudi Arabia with all members of his family for a religious obligation. They all, allegedly stayed at the posh Sheraton Hotels.

Bawa was appointed by Buhari on February 24, 2021 to succeed Ibrahim Magu who was eased out by Buhari after he was suspended. Magu retired from the Police as an Assistant Inspector General of Police.

Breaking: Tinubu Fires EFCC Boss, Bawa

James Orji

June 14, 2023

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has suspended indefinitely the Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, AbdulRasheed Bawa, from office.

According to a statement signed by the Director of Information in the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, the decision was necessary to allow for investigation of the anti-graft boss.

The statement read, “President Tinubu has approved the indefinite suspension from office of AbdulRasheed Bawa, CON, as the Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to allow for proper investigation into his conduct while in office. This follows weighty allegations of abuse of office levelled against him.

The embattled EFCC boss has been directed to hand over to the most senior official in the agency.

Re. Peter Obi and NADECO/Democracy Day-Yet another failed blackmail- Obi-Datti Media Office

The Source

June 14, 2023

The Obi-Datti Media office has said it is aware of a fictitious and scurrilous write-up titled, ‘Peter Obi and NADECO/Democracy Day’. It says there is no iota of truth whatsoever in the narratives contained therein.

In a statement signed by its Head of Media, Diran Onifide, it said Obi was never directly or indirectly involved in the activities of the June 12 struggle.

The statement reads in part:

“While he supported and voted for the late Chief MKO Abiola in 1993, soon after the election he relocated to the United Kingdom with his family where he ran a decent successful business that received encouragement and support from credible finance institutions all over the World because of the integrity and reputation he put in it.

“As of 1993, Obi was not a politician but he came to admire and vote for Abiola through late former Senate President Dr. Chuba Okadigbo whom he was his fan and admirer.

“Even while at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Obi was not into politics as he was more associated as a student-entrepreneur.

“The reputation Obi took in the business that stood him out was what he, later on, took into politics. Before becoming Governor he never worked or held any Government position. He never worked in Nigeria Ports Authority.

“The closest he came to late General Sani Abacha’s Government was when his petition on port inefficiency and congestion made his colleagues in businesses draft him into the special committee on port reform that lasted for just three months.

“Whatever status Obi is enjoying today within and outside the country is due to the high integrity he brought into what he does whether in business or politics.

“After eight years of outstanding governance to the people of Anambra state, where he created a sustainable environment for development by providing basic infrastructure to the people, access to rural agrarian communities, clearing inherited pension and salary arrears of over a 32billion, leaving office not owing any salary, pension, or contractors, and leaving office with huge investments, plus a savings of over $150m and 35millions of naira in various Nigerian banks, Obi stood out as good governance model using Human Development Index, HDI, and was outstanding in millennium Development Goals that attracted International agencies.

“His good governance delivery plus transparency in the deployment of public funds earned him the Governor of the Decade recognition as assessed by editors in the country.

“Since leaving office nearly 10 years ago, Obi continues to say that Anambra state has not bought him a bottle of water because he is not into the after-office largesse that most of his colleagues covet for themselves. This is because he refused to sign into law anything aimed at benefitting personally

Before becoming a state Governor, Obi had emerged as the youngest Nigerian to chair a post-consolidation bank and served in various other firms as director where he was nominated based on his management and fiscal prudence reputation.

“This is the man some hirelings are making fruitless efforts to dent his image by fabricating lies against him including saying that he was against June 12 when he was not even resident in Nigeria during the June 12 imbroglio but leaving in the United Kingdom and could not have been involved as the faceless writer dubiously wanted the gullible public to believe.

“Such brazen sunken story ordinarily should not deserve our response but for the credulous public that May not be privy to these facts. And, because of the level of distortions of facts in the write-up, the mischievous story has no byline.

“Obi-Datti Media office is well aware of the renewed activities of some well-mobilized mercenaries given the arduous task of de-marketing the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi.

“The motive which is well known to us is to dent his profile and diminish his rising profile, which stands him out as one of the most outstanding Nigerian democrats today whose belief in the rule of law and non-violence policy remains remarkable.

“The writer, unable to appreciate the outstanding principles in Obi, tries to equate him with his Principal, who only joined the NADECO struggle as an afterthought and only after fruitless and failed lobby to serve in General Sani Abacha’s Government.

“Since the former Chief Security Officer CSO to the late military Head of state revealed this fact, nobody within his orbit ever tried denying it to avoid unearthing further concrete details.

“Unlike their sponsors, Peter Obi is riding high on his uncommon principles, which remain verifiable. The Obi-Datti Media office will, therefore, like to urge members of the reading public to treat this recent drivel as a malicious effigy of the author’s warped and clever-by-half imagination that should be consigned to the trash when it rightly belongs.”

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