The immediate past Governor of Anambra State, Chief Willie Obiano, has reportedly, been released by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
Obiano was arrested at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, at about 8.30pm, on Thursday, March 16, 2022.
He was on his way to Houston, Texas, USA, where he has a home, when he was intercepted by Operatives of the Commission, and taken to their Lagos office.
By the arrest, Obiano made history as the first former Governor to be arrested less than 24 hours after he handed over power to his successor. He made history the same day his wife, Ebelechukwu, made history as the first First Lady, to be publicly slapped after she made a public nuisance of herself during the swearing-in ceremony of her husband’s successor.
It is not known, yet, if the former Governor spent the night in the custody of the EFCC, or if he was released Thursday night. It is, also, not known under which conditions he was released.
Unconfirmed sources, however, say he may not be allowed to proceed to the USA, as his travel documents may have been seized by the anti-graft Commission.
Obiano’s arrest was not entirely surprising, even though it was not expected this soon. Just before the Anambra State Governorship election, the EFCC had placed Obiano on its watch list, and informed the Nigeria Immigration Services, accordingly.
Both Obiano and the Anambra State Government under him, had protested the EFCC action then, arguing that it amounted to an intimidation, especially, as Obiano still had immunity, and about four months in office. He had said he was not afraid of the EFCC.
However, not a few people have expressed surprise that Obiano chose to leave the country for Houston the same day he handed over power to his successor, Professor Charles Soludo.
A couple of weeks back, Obiano had said he was not interested in seeking any political office after his Governorship. He said he wanted to take a rest, but had let it be known that his wife, Ebelechukwu Obiano, would be the next Senator, Anambra North.
The federal government borrowed close to N7 trillion last year, the Debt Management Office, DMO has said. The DMO Director General, Patience Oniha disclosed this during a briefing with journalists in Abuja on Thursday, notng that the nation’s debt stock has now risen to N39.556 trillion in 2021 from N32.915 trillion in 2020.
Considering government’s resolve to borrow more this year, analysts insist that the total debt stock before the end of the year could effectively rise to as much as $100 billion or more, less than two decades after the country received debt forgiveness from Paris and London Clubs of Creditors under the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo
Oniha made the revelations barely two days after the minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed said the federal government was planning to raise over $2 billion tBrough Eurobonds to finance a substantial part of this year’s budget, majorly the over N2 trillion fuel subsidy provided in the budget.
The President Muhmmadu Buhari’s administration said it will borrow more despite local and international pressure that the rising debt will soon become unsustainable. The minister said loans are necessary to finance critical infrastructure in the country.
Speaking Oniha said the combined debt of federal and 36 state government, including the FCT stood at N39,556 trillion or $95.779 billion as at December 31, 2021.
The debt “includes new borrowings by the FGN and the sub-nationals. For the FGN, it would be recalled that the 2021 appropriation and supplementary acts, included total new borrowings (from domestic and external sources) of N5.489 trillion to part-finance the deficit.
“Borrowings for this purpose and disbursements by the multilateral and bilateral creditors account for a significant portion of the increase in the debt stock. Increases were also recoMO rded in the debt stock of the states and the FCT,” she said.
Despite the public outrage against accumulation of more debt, the DMO boss said the total public debt stock to gross domestic product, GDP limit of 55 percent set by the World Bank and 70 percent set by the Economic Community of West African Statesm, ECOWAS.
She explained that the federal government is trying to open up more revenue sources to mitigate the debt problems.
According to Oniha, “the new borrowings were raised from diverse sources, primarily through the issuances of the Eurobonds, sovereign , and the FGN bonds. These capital raisings were utilised to finance capital projects and support economic recovery,” she added
“With the total public debt stock to GDP as at December 31, 2021, of 22.47 percent, the debt-to-GDP ratio still remaithin Nigeria’s self-imposed limit of 40 percent. This ratio is prudent when compared to the 55 percent limit advised by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for countries in Nigeria’s peer group, as well as, the ECOWAS convergence ratio of 70 percent.”
Meanwhile, some critics of the administration told the magazine that the manner the Buhari administration is accumulatino foreign debt is surprising bearing in mind that Nigeria is among major oil producing countries in the world.
I don’t know which community bestowed Mrs Ebelechukwu Obiano, the immediate past First Lady of Anambra State, with a chieftaincy title. Cheap as Chieftaincy titles have since become, the community should strip her of it. She does not deserve it, just as she does not deserve other titles bestowed on her, including the ones by Churches. She is a disgrace to those titles, the State, her family, women, and especially, young girls who had looked up to her as a role model. She is a bad Ambassador of women, and has made a public ridicule of the office she occupied for eight years.
If it was when our culture and tradition mattered, women would have trooped out to give Mrs Obiano a deserving disgraceful farewell from the office of the First Lady of Anambra State, and barred her from some community and women meetings.
I don’t know what, perhaps, transpired between her and her husband, Willie Obiano, the immediate past Governor of Anambra State after her despicable public outing. But many a man would keep her out of the “other room” for weeks, and give her space. For, what Mrs Obiano did on Thursday, March 17 in Awka was to rub a tar on her husband, and on every Igbo woman. How did Obiano end up so disgracefully on a day he planned to walk as if springs were attached to his heels?
It was to be a glorious end to an eight-year tenure as the Governor of Anambra State. There, Obiano sat majestically, dressed to the hilt, in the midst of high profile guests. There he sat, heart filled with joy over what he had accomplished which culminated in the ceremony taking place – the swearing in of a successor of the same party with him.
Not many people thought that possible in the months leading to the November 6 Governorship elections. Everything was stacked against him. A number of his cabinet members had deserted him. Party Chieftains deserted him. The climax was his dumping by his Deputy Governor, Dr Nkem Okeke. They all pitched camp with the opposition.
Not a few people thought the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Senator Andy Uba, was going to sweep the polls and send the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, out of office – no matter how good its candidate. But Obiano and APGA prevailed in a landslide. They were helped by the profile of the candidate.
So, on the day of the swearing into office of APGA’s Professor Charles Soludo as Governor, Obiano was hip. Celebrations had been planned. His people had planned to give him and his wife, a rousing welcome to their palatial home in his Aguleri community. But within a twinkle of an eye, all that crumbled.
Shame took over. Disbelief set-in. And, dear readers, I would have given an arm to know what was going through Willie Obiano’s mind.
What happened to him, publicly, on Thursday shouldn’t happen to anybody, let alone a man who, 24 hours earlier, was the most powerful man in Anambra State.
In the full glare of everybody present, and the thousands who followed the event on television, Obiano’s wife showed how disrespectful she is of her husband. She confirmed the stories in the streets of Anambra State that she is the man in the house. That she was the “de facto” Governor of Anambra State. That she has no respect for anybody. That she is wild. Otherwise, how could Mrs Obiano descend to the gutter from the olympian height she had been placed? How could any woman at her level be that irresponsible? My mother of the blessed memory would have summed it up by saying “bath a pig, dress a pig, a pig will always be a pig?”
It started unexpectedly. Soludo’s swearing-in ceremony had been completed, almost. He was about to sign the final documents. Then, all hell broke loose.
An obscenely dressd Ebelechukwu Obiano stepped-in. Wearing her very flamboyantly made pink dress, (or was it a long skirt and blouse) she made a noisy entrance. Some say she came late to the ceremony. Meaning that she breached protocol. She came in after Governor Soludo, the new First Lady, and her husband, Willie, were already seated. They said the entrance to the venue was already closed, but was opened for her. From the video clip I watched, she came in and sat down. Then, in her usual notice-me-or-I- die nature, which manifested in her usual flamboyant appearance, she stood up, just for the sole purpose of emphasising her emperial presence. She ended up making a public nuisance of herself.
Like one being pushed by the wind, the outrageous sleeves of her blouse flaying, she walked up to Ambassador Bianca Ojukwu who sat about five seats away from Mrs Obiano.
Like a “bush woman”, she stood before Bianca, and began to taunt her.
Witnesses say Mrs Obiano asked Bianca what she came to the swearing-in ceremony to do after she had said she would never attend any APGA ceremony, again, and that APGA was never going to win. It was, also, alleged that she called Bianca a witch.
So, you wonder if Mrs Obiano is Professor Soludo, or the National Chairman of APGA. You wonder what stake she has in APGA except that she is Mrs Willie Obiano.
Infuriated, Bianca gave Mrs Obiano a slap she had never received, perhaps, since her adult life. Her headgear off, her hair dishevelled, she looked more like a scarlet Queen than the immediate past First Lady of the State She made for Bianca, but the wife of an Army General, and a daughter of the no-nonsense former Governor of Enugu State, the late Christian Onoh, Bianca was ready for her. The saving grace was that a number of people intervened, and separated both women from tearing each other apart.
Mrs Ebelechukwu Obiano
That was when Mrs Obiano did the unbelievable. She called Bianca, wife of the revered Igbo Leader, Dim Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, a free woman in a crude language.To emphasise her disrespect for her husband, she called Bianca that name before him. Even when her thoroughly embarrassed husband made to keep her in check, she rudely, and violently snatched her hand away from her husband.
For the records, let me say this. Bianca is not free from blame. To, publicly, exchange words with Mrs Obiano was belittling. But to have slapped Mrs Obiano, and gone physical with her, was disrespectful of her late husband’s memory, and that of millions of the Igbo, especially the youths, who literally, worship her. Momentarily, in that madness, Bianca forgot who she is. Dim Odumegwu Ojukwu’s wife. The “First Lady” of the Igbo. A former Nigerian Ambassador. A former Miss Intercontinental. A Lawyer who holds the revered Igbo traditional title, Iyom. No level of provocation should have pushed her to publicly slap Mrs Obiano. She should have controlled herself, especially before such a crowd.
By reacting the way she did, she not only reduced herself before the world, she helped in stealing the thunder from Soludo’s day. Now, nobody is talking about Soludo’s beautiful inauguration speech where he gave hope to the youths, where he promised to revamp the State, where he promised good governance and preached peace. It is the disgraceful incident that everybody is writing on, and talking about. Bianca owes the Igbo a public apology for descending to the level of a physical combat at Soludo’s swearing-in ceremony. She owes Soludo an apology. In more civilised climes, she and Mrs Obiano will be in huge trouble for public nuisance.
But the main bulk of the blame for the shameful incident goes to Mrs Obiano. Her gutter language, her “agbero” carriage, her brazen disrespect for her husband, for the new Governor and his wife, for the crowd gathered, add up to stink to high heavens.
The sad incident may not have been her first. Not a few Anambra people say that is who she is. They say she is wild and power- drunk. Since the incident, a long list of those she, allegedly, slapped within the eight years her husband was Governor, has surfaced. And so is her equally disgraceful spat, outside the country, with Senator Uche Ekwunife. She had called Ekwunife the same derogatory name she called Bianca. Ekwunife did not go physical with Mrs Obiano, but she did not spare her either. She reminded her of how, and why, she got married to Willie Obiano.
Any woman who is fond of labelling another a free woman is a scum. She disrespects every hard working woman. She creates a very wrong impression of women and everything women stand for. Somebody should remind Mrs Obiano of the saying that one judges others by one’s own standards. Most times, the saying rings true.
In Anambra State, many are rejoicing that she received a slap as a farewell gift. Well deserved, they chorus. They are thanking Bianca for putting Mrs Obiano in what they say is her place. While her husband was the Governor, many say, the fear of Mrs Obiano, was the beginning of wisdom. Her words were, allegedly, law.
A couple of Politicians were frustrated, allegedly, on her say so. A couple of them left APGA because of her. And this is the same woman whose husband has told Anambrarians would be going to the Senate, in 2023, to represent Anambra East. Such thoughts should be perished.
Mrs Obiano should be resisted. The character which she exhibited at Professor Soludo’s swearing-in ceremony does not recommend her to the high position of a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Her carriage does not recommend her.
Mrs Ebelechukwu Obiano owes Governor Soludo and the First Lady of the State an apology. She owes Igbo women an apology. She needs to sit back, think, re-evaluate, re-orientate and reinvent herself. The “gra-gra” she exhibited on Thursday was disgraceful, and belittling of the office she occupied. It was a big shame. Best forgotten in any civilised society.
In the midst of our current misery, the Ondo State Governor Rotimi Akeredoluthought we needed something to cheer last week, so he offered a joke, which was telling and disturbing.
In the row between the Governor of Yobe and interim chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mai Mala Buni, and governors who wanted to overthrow him, Akeredolu, who was on the side of the protagonists, reached into the gutter for words to describe his enemies.
He plumbed the depths, far belowthe sepsis reached by the sarcasm of Salihu Lukman,the former director general of the Progressives Governors Forum, and gave gutter language a new lease of life. Akeredolu called governors of his own party, yahoo-yahoo governors.
Let me be clear. I have absolutely no interest in APC’s house of commotion. And if it is true, as is being alleged, that Buni procured court judgements to stall the party’s national convention for the third time since his inexplicably extended tenure, if it is true, as is being alleged, that Buni the referee plans to join the race, if it is true, as has been alleged, that Buni is offering the party’s primaries ticket for sale; in short, if it is true, as is being alleged, that Buniis the party’s problem, then perhaps Akeredolu’s description would be a fitting epitaph.
But Akeredolu being not just a lawyer but a senior advocate and former president of the Bar, knows there is a difference between an allegation and a fact. It’s possible that he was overcome by the poor habit of politicians who hardly talk to make sense. To call governors of his own party yahoo-yahoo, deserves not only the attention of the party but also that of bystanders who should take more than a passing interest in this linguistic slur.
After Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State made an unusual appearance on Channels TV and vowed that Buni may return as Alhaji Buni but certainly not as chairman of the APC, it is possible that Akeredolu may have seized on that premature funeral to make his own obsequies. But in doing so, he described governors of his own party in a language which even the opposition may have been reluctant to deploy.
Are we really hostage to yahoo-yahoo governors?
Yahoo-yahoo, acruel twisting of the search engine, is Nigerian speak for con-artistry; a confidence trickster who earns a living – often outrageously flamboyant living – from transactions guaranteed to leave the other party with the short end of the stick, if not in premium tears.
The ruling APC has 22 governors across Nigeria, but Akeredolu did not name names. He did not say which of them is yahoo-yahoo, but mocking fingers are pointing in the direction of three governors – one in the South east, one in the North central, and the other one in the South west, reflecting a federal character of sorts.
As of the time of writing, Buni, the man who El-Rufai vowed publicly will not return as chairman for causing the inexplicable disappearance of APC’s manhood among other embarrassing misdemeanours is back in the saddle, riding the party’s horse with his team including John Akpanudoedehe the secretary who has resigned and has been reinstated swifter than it takes to say yahoo-yahoo.
From a bystander’s point of view, it is not only Buni’s dramatic comeback and the potential resurgence of the so-called yahoo-yahoo governors that are concerning.Akeredolu’s mudslinging also says something about the ruling party and the political eliteas a whole that is tragically true.
And it is true for a good number of the progressive governors today as it for governors and politicians in the opposition. How, for example, do you describe a governor who upon falling out with his godfather on the eve of an election, goes on his knees just to trade his party’s broom symbol for another party’s umbrella and then after securing reelection, drags and beats his benefactors with the umbrella?
Or a governor who after being elected on the platform of a party, decides in the twilight of his second term, that he must decamp to the ruling party to serve not those who elected and re-elected him in his state, but to ensure the success of his new paymasters in Abuja against whom he had been in opposition for nearly seven years? If that is not yahoo-yahoo, then what is it?
How do you explain the ascension to power of a governor who was not first or second but third by 176,919 votes, but who in spite of thatascended to power through a rare process of judicial iberiberism (apologies to Rochas Okorocha, wannabe pilot and presidential aspirant), and is currently being paraded as the icon of the new politics in the South east?
If it is not yahoo-yahoo, then how come a politician who once said a government that cannot fix power in six months is unfit for office now serves in a government that has been unable to fix power for seven years? And this same government is struggling to guarantee supply of petrol after the country spent $5.8 billion to repair refineries between 2015 and 2020?
It seems that after the temporary relief from drug barons and their yahoo-yahoo cousins who took politics hostage in the 2000s, we’re once again returning to the era when con-artists ruled the roost. And what is more, between the accusers and the accused, it’s increasingly difficult to know who is yahoo-yahoo by politics or yahoo-yahoo by nature.
There are many reasons this resurgence which Akeredolu said has taken hold of the ruling party, is worse than the current low-grade version popular among desperate, young people holed up in many hotels across the country today.
While the police and other crime-fighting agencies can still hope to pursue and rout perpetrators of the low-grade version, what Akeredolu has described is a more dangerous variety.
The perpetrators of yahoo-yahoo in Akeredolu’sclass and party, not only enjoy immunity from prosecution while they are in office, they also have the security agencies at their beck and call. In other words, yahoo-yahoo politicians swindle you and yet reserve the power and resources to protect themselves from being held to account.
If the governor insists that he used the phrase in a more general sense, perhaps as a rallying cry to save his party from falling apart, it would then be fair to insist that indeed not only those accused of backing Buni but perhaps a significant number in the current class of governors fall under this yahoo-yahoo group.
We don’t have to go far for examples. After a week during which power supply has been at a catastrophic low, with many urban households going for days without electricity, not to mention the long petrol queues and run-away inflation, the memes of politicians who swindled voters by making empty promises have flooded the internet.
It would be unfair to write politicians off, especially those in the ruling party, as all scam and no work. Some serious work has been done to rebuild infrastructure, which may take some time to show. But if, for a moment, we set aside Akeredolu’s passion for the regional security network, Amotekun, and forlegalising the sale of Indian hemp it would be interesting to see what his five-year ledger in Ondo looks like.
Even though the governor would like us to believe that con-artistry in his party is limited to Buni’s circle of supporters, the evidence is that it is far more widespread. If it is not political con-artistry, how can a ruling party which promised so much seven years ago leave the country struggling to secure itself, and its citizens bereft, poorer and more divided than they were when the government came to power?
And see how even the management of the party’s convention has shown that yahoo-yahoo is not just an accident but a lifestyle for the party: in less than one week, the same man who was vilified as a political fraud unworthy of the progressive banner is back in charge, and his enemies, including Akeredolu, must now bow at his feet under strict presidential orders.
It’s a Nollywood script written in a London hospital beyond anything that Akeredolu’s genius or sense of humour could have imagined. Yet to think that Buhari who hardly says a word has written two epistles in one week to savehisparty is proof that even the directors of this script are sometimes victims of their own con-artistry.
A most humbling experience indeed. Or does Akeredolu still think it’s a laughing matter?
“More condemnable is even the gutter and vulgar language used by Mrs Obiano to describe her fellow woman who is even a widow. I have always held the view that it is only weak minds that label hardworking women like Bianca with nasty names”
My attention has been drawn to the shameful conduct of the wife of the ex-governor and former first lady of Anambra State, Mrs Ebelechukwu Obiano, who threw decorum away and attacked Her Excellency, Ambassador Bianca Ojukwu at today’s inauguration ceremony and I hereby condemn in very strong terms, this unwarranted attack against H.E Mrs. Bianca Odumegwu Ojukwu, the wife of an illustrious son and our very our own Ikemba.
I wish to add that the act exhibited by the former first lady was indecorous and unbecoming of a woman who had acted as a mother of the state and even desirous of serving in other capacities.
Mrs Ebelechukwu Obiano
More condemnable is even the gutter and vulgar language used by Mrs Obiano to describe her fellow woman, who is even a widow. I have always held the view that it is only weak minds that label hardworking women like Bianca with nasty names such as “ashawo” and it is more unfortunate when a woman, especially one that has been around the corridors of power, is the one hurling such baseless and regretful invectives against a fellow woman.
What the world witnessed today at the swearing in ceremony is utterly disgraceful, unfortunate, crude and should never be emulated by the millions of our young girls and women who often look up to public figures with respect to how they conduct themselves.
Only a few days ago, an innocent woman was publicly paraded naked in the same community our former first lady hails from and one would have thought that rather than showcase this brute nature of fighting and engaging in public fisticuffs with her guest, she should have exerted same energy and fighting spirit in ensuring that Justice is done for that widow.
It saddens me a great deal to see the wife of an illustrious Anambra son, the pride of Ndigbo and an achiever that was once an ambassador of the Federal Republic, being attacked unprovoked and I join all right thinking persons in praying that we never ever record this type of travesty again in our history as a state.
Princess Oduah is the Senator representing Anambra North
In a move to douse the tension and crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Edo, the Party has has inaugurated a three-man Committee to resolve issues within the party to stop it from escalating into a full blown crisis.
A press release signed by the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, stated that Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State was appointed to Chair the committee, which has Governors Ifeanyi Okowa and Bala Mohammed of Delta and Bauchi States respectively as members.
The statement stressed that the constitution of the Committee formed a part of decisions at the just concluded NEC meeting of the party.
The statement reads;
“PDP NEC Constitutes Three-Man Reconciliation Committee for Edo State
“The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has constituted a three-man committee to resolve issues in the Edo State Chapter of our Party.
“This is part of the resolutions reached at the 95th National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the Party held on Wednesday, March 16, 2022.
The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has delved into the crisis rocking the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, in addition to other frantic efforts to reconcile warring parties.
Suspended Chairman of the Lagos State chapter of the NURTW, Musiliu Akinsanya popularly called MC Oluomo, and other members in the state have signified interest to reconcile with the Tajudeen Baruwa-led transport union after announcing their exit from the body barely a week ago.
It was gathered that MC Oluomo and other members signified their intention to reconcile with the National Body by approaching NLC, calling on the Labour Union to wade in and that all processes put in place to end the face-off between the Lagos branch and the leadership in Abuja would be welcomed.
To ensure that the reconciliation is achieved, MC Oluomo and members of the Lagos Chapter Executive that left the Union met with NLC’s Reconciliation Committee chaired by President of Maritime Workers Union, Adewale Adeyanju, who is also a member of the National Trustee of the Congress.
During a closed-door meeting held in Abuja on Wednesday, MC Oluomo and members of his team tabled their grievances before the Reconciliation Committee and assured the Labour Union of their willingness to end the face-off as soon as possible.
After the meeting, the Reconciliation Committee indicated that the leaders of the NURTW would be invited to give all parties a fair hearing but did not indicate when they would be invited.
Through a statement issued after the meeting by NLC, the Labour Union indicated that after separate meetings, a joint discussion would be held for both parties to achieve a final resolution.
It said: “The leadership of the Nigerian Labour Congress has initiated moves to resolve the conflict between the leadership of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and it’s Lagos State Council.
“As part of the process of resolving the conflict, a closed-door meeting was held in Abuja between the executives of the Lagos State Council of the union and Congress reconciliation committee chaired by the president of the Maritime Workers Union who is also the National Trustee of the Nigerian Labour Congress, Comrade Adewale Adeyanju.
“Frank discussions were held and there was optimism that the conflict would be resolved amicably soon. In keeping with the principle of fair hearing, the Adeyanju committee will be meeting with the leadership of NURTW on a date yet to be determined. A joint meeting will thereafter hold for the two parties for the full and final resolution of the conflict”
The crisis rocking the opposition Party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has led to open grumbling among Party faithfuls and Chieftains, who feel they are maltreated and not needed by the Party again.
This is the lot of former Kano State Governor, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, who says the PDP is on the verge of collapse following the crisis rocking it.
The Kwankwasiyya Convener, speaking on Channels Television’s Political Paradigm, said the fate of the Party hangs in the balance if he defects from the Party following the way the Party is being run. He alleged that very few people are taking decisions, stressing that the PDP would crumble if he defected to another political party.
According to him: “There is no question about it. Where are the leaders? Who are the leaders? They will crumble.
“I should be one of the most important individuals in a party like PDP.
“Look at the scenario in the North West during the congress, from the things that were taken to Kano, the vice-chairman of the zone was supposed to be given to me to nominate somebody. Just like it was done in Katsina, (Former Governor Ibrahim) Shema nominated what was allocated to him, in Kaduna (Former Governor Ahmed) Makarfi did that, in Jigawa (Former Governor) Sule Lamido did that, in Kebbi Kabiru Turaki did that, in Sokoto (Governor Aminu) Tambuwal did that.
“It is only in Kano that they thought I was too small to be given that position and that’s what triggered the whole thing, and everybody kept quiet and were so happy that maybe Kwankwaso is not needed in the party.”
It would be recalled that Kwankwaso was the Governor of Kano under the PDP before defecting to the All Progressives Congress, APC, in 2015 alongside some PDP top echelons.
After testing the APC waters, he jumped ship and returned to the PDP where he jostled for the PDP Presidential ticket in 2019. And failed.
The Central Bank of Nigeria’s, CBN efforts towards actualising $200 billion in Foreign Exchange (FX) repatriation from non-oil exports over the next five years have been given a major boost with a recently held workshop for exporters and investors in Akure, Ondo State.
Hosted by leading financial institution, Fidelity Bank Plc, the workshop tagged, Harnessing Export Business Opportunities, CBN RT200 FX Policy: Policy Sensitisation, Emerging Sector Issues & Implications to Business, had in attendance representatives from key stakeholders in the Nigerian financial services and export industries. Also in attendance were representatives from the Nigerian Export and Import Bank (NEXIM), the Cocoa Exporters Association of Nigeria, the Nigerian Export Promotion Council, NEPC amongst others.
Speaking on the need for strategic planning in the non-oil sector, Head of Export and Agric Businesses at Fidelity Bank, Isaiah Ndukwe said the bank is well positioned to advance the CBN policy thrust to reduce the country’s dependence on oil revenue.
He stated that the bank is committed to growing the export business across key sectors of the economy by providing support to exporters. Isaiah emphasized that the new policy will not only reshape exporters’ mindsets, but will also infuse value addition on their commodities, allowing them to earn more forex.
Launched on February 10, 2022 by the apex bank as part of measures to reduce the increasing demand for foreign currency by importers, the RT200 FX Programme has been designed to reduce the excessive pressure on the exchange rate.
With the implementation of this policy, the CBN has stated that the supply of foreign currency to commercial banks will cease by the end of 2022, while investors will be able to generate forex through the RT200 FX Program template that has been designed to strengthen commodity exports.
Commending Fidelity Bank on the sensitization series, an attendee at the event and cocoa farmer, Babatunde Fatimiro said, “In Ondo State today, cocoa has a dedicated agency; this is unprecedented in Nigeria. If you consider the potentials and inclusive advantage as well as economic impact of cocoa production to the Nigerian economy, I have no doubt that cocoa will one day overtake crude oil in terms of economic importance in Nigeria. It is initiatives like this workshop hosted by Fidelity Bank that would help us actualize this quickly and I encourage them not to rest on their oars as they drive to help diversify the economy”.
It would be recalled that Fidelity Bank hosted the first edition of the workshop in Kano State on 21 February 2022 to sensitise entrepreneurs in the region on the implementation and opportunities in the CBN RT200 FX Policy
Fidelity Bank is a full-fledged commercial bank operating in Nigeria with over 6million customers who are serviced across its 250 business offices and digital banking channels.
There are high expectations among the people of Anambra state as Charles Soludo, a renowned Professor of Economics is sworn in as the executive governor of the state.
Soludo, a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN will take over from Willy Obiano whose tenure has expired. The ex CBN governor was recently appointed as a member of President Muhammadu Buhari’s economic team.
He won the governorship election four months ago after defeating his closest rivals Andy Uba of the All Progressives Congress, APC and the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Valentine Ozigbo.
His victory in the keenly contested election has raise hopes among the residents of the state, that the professor who led the biggest commercial banks capitalization in the country while he was CBN Governor over a decade ago, will transform the state.
On his part, Soludo has not left anyone in doubt of his intention to change the political and economic direction of the state.
Following his declaration as the winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC Soludo warned prospective jobseekers who want to work in his government that it will not be job as usual. He said he would change the former dynamics in which people who work as state officials are appointed based on the patronage and who-you-know.
He later directed those interested to work for him to apply through a porter established for that purpose.
His biggest shocker came when he revealed that only 50 people had been invited to attend his inauguration, and that there will not be an elaborate party to usher in his administration against the usual norm.
Some of these actions have, however raised controversy but vintage Soludo seems not to care, what is paramount to him, he said is to deliver the dividends of democracy to Anambra people who elected him.
Speaking on today’s inauguration, the Head, Soludo Media Office, Joe Anatune, said the swearing-in would be low-keyed.
In a statement in Awka, the state’s capital on Wednesday, Anatune said the ceremony would take place at the Government House, Agu-Awka, with few guests in attendance.
He said Soludo will inspect a guard of honour and consequently make his inaugural address to the people of the state, after which he will attend an inter-denominational service.
The governor-elect expressed gratitude to all for the outpouring of goodwill messages as well as the continuous support from well-wishers and numerous supporters within and across the globe.
According to the statement, “the Anambra State Governor-elect,
Prof Chukwuma Soludo, will officially be sworn in on Thursday (today) as the sixth democratically-elected governor of the state.
“Invited guests are expected to be seated by 9am prompt. Similarly, all accredited media houses are to be at the venue before 8am.
“After the official swearing in, Prof Chukwuma Soludo will inspect a guard of honour and consequently makes his inaugural address to the people of Anambra State. Thereafter, an inter-denominational service will hold briefly before the new Governor immediately sets out to work
“Please note this event is strictly low key and devoid of the usual merry-making and unbridled celebrations usually associated with occasions of this nature,” the statement said.
