The managing Director/ chief executive officer of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, Ade Adeyemi has disclosed that his management would invest more in virtual banking platforms, rather than expand the bank’s branches across the country.
Adeyemi told Nairametrics that the bank is determined to use agency network and digital platforms as means of being able to distribute banking services to customers, which he said, are preferred method of delivering banking services to people as the brand going into the future.
According to him “Those are the things that informed our decision, and some of these branches were not profitable. Some of them were weak and that was the basis on which we made the decision to close those branches and merge their activities with some other branches that are existing in agreement with the Central Bank of Nigeria.”
He said the bank has contributed immensely to the efforts of governments in those countries, where it operates, in revamping the economy following the COVID 19 headwinds.
“We also understood that one thing is to have palliatives, the other is to make sure that the people are aware of what they need to do to be able to avoid catching COVID-19 in terms of radio, television and other awareness programme.
“Again, we participated in ensuring that, that is done, to be able to engage people to make sure they don’t contract COVID-19. The third thing was stepping back and working with our client because in the developed world the government was able to provide money to the corporations, the government was able to follow up, where people get paid for sitting at home.”.
“We also ensure that we work with the African Union around the concept of micro, small and medium scale enterprises, MSMEs where we usually put a lot of money aside to be able to support MSMEs across the continent. And we actually did training in these countries grooming a lot of people that will be able to have access to, not just finances but access to organisational structure and training.
“So all of those things were things we felt we needed to do as a player in the continent. And of course some of our governments wanted to put money in the hand of the poor and they didn’t want to give cash to them because cash became vehicle of transmission and we were able to quickly create accounts for those people and be able to transmit money into those systems.”
Former Governor of Osun state now Minister of Interior, Mr Rauf Aregbesola, said on Monday, in Akure, Ondo state capital, that his relationship with Governor Rotimi Akeredolu in the past was bad.
Aregbesola, who was in Ondo State for the commissioning of newly acquired fire fighting vehicles, said his personal presence to commission the vehicle was to further assure Governor Akeredolu that whatever that had happened between them in the past has been buried in the past.
The immediate past Governor of Osun explained that a lot had transpired between him and Governor Akeredolu.
But now, he is ready to mend fences as he assured that irrespective of their differences in the past, “the past has now remained in the past”.
Aregbesola and Akeredolu had a running battle during the 2016 Governorship election when the Minister of Interior, allegedly, supported and financed Olusola Oke of the Alliance for Democracy, (AD) against Akeredolu, who later won the election.
The Minister, who was in Ondo State for the commissioning of newly acquired fire fighting vehicle in Akure, the state capital, said his personal presence to commission the vehicle was to further assure Governor Akeredolu that whatever that has happened between them in the past was purely politics.
Describing Akeredolu as his personal lawyer before his emergence as Governor, Aregbesola said Ondo State was his home having spent the first 18 years of his life in the Sunshine State.
Commissioning the fire fighting vehicles, Aregbesola warned that fire is a very deadly act, while urging the people to be careful in handling any appliances and other variables that can cause fire.
He further urged the people to be committed to preventing and mitigating fire incidents, adding that it was more reasonable and safer to prevent it.
Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum, Governor John Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, has called for the immediate replacement of the nation’s Security Service Chiefs, following the height of insecurity the nation is undergoing, most especially in the North East where the menace of Boko Haram Insurgents is on the rise.
Speaking on Channels TV’s Sunday Politics with Seun Okinbaloye, Fayemi argued that the morale of those who should have been in the leadership positions in our security architecture are at the lowest ebb because our Dervice Chiefs are still holding sway.
Fayemi stressed, though cautiously, though our present Service Chiefs who happen to be the longest serving, so far, are clearly bereft of ideas and cannot bring much to the table again.
He also canvassed for a total overhaul of the nation’s security architecture and the present mode of fighting insurgency and terrorism war which is currently proving to be an onerous task for the Nigerian Army and other security agencies in the country.
The People’s Democratic Party, (PDP) in Ondo state has insisted that Governor Rotimi Akeredolu did not win the October 10 Governorship election.
This was contained in a statement on Sunday, in Akure, by the publicity secretary of PDP, Kenedy Peretei.
The assertion is coming just as the Ondo gubernatorial election petitions tribunal will hold its Inaugural sitting in Akure on Tuesday.
Justice Umar Abubakar, leading two other Justices will hear the petition filed by Eyitayo Jegede, SAN against Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN who was declared winner of the October 10, 2020 Election by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Election Tribunals are established pursuant to section 285 of the Nigerian 1999 Constitution ( as Amended)and section 133 of the Electoral Act 2011( as Amended) to address disputes arising from Elections.
Eyitayo Jegede, the Candidate of the PDP dragged the All Progressives Congress (APC) Candidate, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN before the Tribunal to answer for perceived infractions on the laws of the land.
Dr. Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN is leading a team of legal luminaries to prosecute the legal fireworks.
The PDP statement explained that the grounds of the petition include that; Oluwarotimi Akeredolu was not validly nominated by his party, the APC.
“By the provisions of section 183 of the 1999 Constitution, a serving Governor of a State( in this case, Yobe State Governor Mai Mala Buni) cannot serve as the National Chairman of APC at the same time to nominate Akeredolu as Candidate of their Party for the Ondo Elections.
“Section 183 states “The Governor shall not, during the period when he holds office, hold any other executive office or paid employment in any capacity whatsover”.
“In other words, Akeredolu was not validly nominated and as such APC had no candidate for the Ondo Election.
“Article 17 section iv of the APC Constitution also provides that, any official of the party cannot simultaneously occupy any other executive office in government.
“It states “No officer in any organ of the party shall hold executive position office in government concurrently”.
Again Buni ran foul of this provision.
“Another ground is that the election was marred with violence in some local governments as well as over voting in other areas.
“These are some of the grounds that Jegede is relying on and asking the Tribunal to declare him as the validly elected Governor of Ondo State.”
The APC, through its spokesman, Steve Otaloro, said PDP is chasing shadow with its candidate’s petition, saying the people of the state have spoken.
”The Peoples Democratic Party,(PDP) recently released a Press Statement which can best be described as a sour and unpalatable Pot Pourri of lies, inaccuracies, false accusations and allegations on why they’re challenging the re-election and overwhelming Victory of our Governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, in the October 10, 2020 Ondo State guber election, at the tribunal
“Ordinarily our esteemed Party, the APC would not have responded to it but for its tendencies to mislead the unsuspecting Public and hinder the return of peace and harmony to the Sunshine State!
“However as a responsible Party, ever conscious of the need to always adhere strictly to existing Political Ethics, our response shall be expressed with caution and modesty so that we do not run foul of the law in making references to a case which is already before a properly constituted Tribunal.”
After eight months, German Airline, Lufthansa, finally resumes flights into Lagos and Abuja. This comes since after the close-down of the Airspace due to the COVID 19 pandemic.
International flights had been suspended due to the lock-down, and the Nigerian airspace is being opened gradually. The last batch of opening involves European airlines. Lufthansa is one.
With this resumption, the airline also resumes eight entries a week flying into Abuja and Lagos. The Port Harcourt route had long been terminated on grounds of over use of IAITA quota.
Regulatory authorities, however, insist on strict observance of COVID 19 protocols. This becomes imperative given the fact that currently, Germany is experiencing the second wave of the pandemic.
‘’Lufthansa always was, and will stay dedicated to Nigeria, one of our key markets in Africa. As we have received the final permission to reopen our flight operations, we are happy to be the first airline to reconnect Nigeria directly to the centre of Europe and onward to all other continents.”
“We offer a considerable number of flights to the US and Canada, allowing our Nigerian guests to have family members and friends again at reach throughout the world. Health and safety continues to be our top priority and we are committed to maintain a strict adherence to hygiene regulations for all our flights,” Adenike Macaulay, General Manager Nigeria & Equatorial Guinea Lufthansa Group Airlines, was reported to have said.
It will first begin a three day a week trial – Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays – before returning to full flight schedule of five days a week, excluding Tuesdays and Sundays.
Every passenger must show evidence pf PCR test at least 120 hours before departure from Frankfurt, the destination hub. Returnees to Nigeria are expected to self-isolate for seven days after returning to the country.
COVID 19 protocols like mask wearing and social distancing are expected to be followed when inside the aircraft.
Governor Godwin Emefiele of the Central bank of Nigeria, CBN has disclosed that the N150 billion Targeted Credit Facility, TCF, a credit arrangement meant to support households and businesses, hit by the corona virus pandemic has been drawn down by beneficiaries
The development has now made the apex bank to increase the facility to N300 billion to give opportunities to more households and businesses.
The CBN stated this in a report titled ‘Response by the Monetary and Fiscal Authorities to COVID-19’.
Emefiele said“The increase is to accommodate many more beneficiaries and boost consumer expenditure which should positively impact output growth.
“Given the impact on COVID-19 on key economic variables earlier mentioned, the fiscal and monetary authorities took unprecedented measures to prevent any long-term damage to the growth prospects of our economy.”
The apex bank governor said the fund is already being disbursed to qualified households and small businesses through the NIRSAL Micro Finance bank, adding that at least N149 billion has been disbursed to over beneficiaries..
The TCF guidelines provide that eligible small business can get as much as N25 million while qualified households can receive a maximum of N3 million each.
The CBN governor also stated that, the decision to strengthen the Loan to Deposit ratio, LDR has paid off, as it has resulted in significant rise in loans provided by financial institutions to their customers.
He said “Total gross credit rose by over 21 percent over the past year, from N15.5 trillion to N19.54 trillion. The apex bank, he added has also disbursed Agri- Business/Small and Medium Enterprise Investment Scheme, AGSMEIS (N92.90 billion to 24,702 beneficiaries), Anchor Borrowers Program, ABP by the sum of N164.91 billion to 954,279 beneficiaries.”
Recall also that the apex bank, at the break of COVID 19, created credit facilities for many sectors in the economy to help them recover from the shock created by the pandemic. For instance, over N700 billion was set aside for the manufacturing sector to boost production.
The managing director/ chief executive officer of Guarantee Trust Bank, GT Bank Plc Segun Agbaje has disclosed that investors stand to gain more in the Holding company, assuring shareholders of the bank that their shares will be maintained in the new structure, because the management has no plans to embark on any share restructuring.
Agbaje said “I am delighted over the approval by shareholders for the holding company and I assure the investors of a more rewarding future. The bank will not embark on any share reconstruction as the same number of shares they have with the bank will be maintained.
“Under the new structure, existing shareholders of GTBank would be migrated to Guaranty Trust Holdings via a share-for-share exchange between the shareholders of GT Bank and GT Holdings.”
He explained that the GT Bank holding company will create an operating model that would profitably grow the bank’s presence in the market for commercial banking and non-banking financial services in order to achieve the aspiration to be the dominant financial services group.
The shareholders of the bank, on Friday, gave approval to the company for the transfer of the 29,431,179,224 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each in the issued and paid-up share capital to Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc.
This was done in exchange for the allotment of 29,431,179,224 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each to the shareholders in the same proportion to their shareholding in the bank credited as fully paid without any further act or deed.
The shareholders are now happy that going into the future, their interests have been well taken care of, so they have nothing to fear.
Expressing members’ excitement over the planned restructuring, the founder, Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria, ISAN, Sir Sunny Nwosu, said the shareholders are excited because the arrangement the bank has put in place is devoid of complexities.
Nwosu said the Agbaje –led management can be trusted to steer the holdco successfully as it has done with the Bank.
“We are excited about the development because we are going to get value as everything we have would be transferred to the holding company. There will be no manipulation as a result of reconstruction that usually leads to fractional shares,” he said.
The President, Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Boniface Okezie, also commended the management because “GTBank has over the years proven to be a force and leading initiator of revolutionary advancement and technology based development in the nation’s banking industry and we look forward to the growth and advancement it is sure to bring into the new business areas it will be taking on with the Holdco structure.
“The arrangement where all existing shares of the bank would be transferred entirely to the Holdco in the name of the beneficial owners is good, while the same number of units and percentage would be held in the new entity, is commendable”, he stated.
If anybody was looking for how the Igbo destroy some of their best, the shame going on in Ebonyi State is a good example.
The shame and bad blood were fully displayed on page 43 of ThisDay, 4th December, 2020. They came in the form of a full page letter, addressed to the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, signed by Mr Joseph Ekumankama.
The advert was mean. Its contents condescending. Former President of the Senate/ Former Secretary to the Federation, SGF, Anyim Pius Anyim was the target.
By way of introduction, Ekumankama is the Ebonyi State Commissioner for Investment and Abuja Liaison. Double- barrelled office! Big deal!!
So you ask:
Why would a serving State Commissioner spend about N800,000 (Eight Hundred Thousand Naira or more, from his personal (?) pocket on such a demeaning advertisement?
Joseph Ekumankama
Here is the story.
As were many other prominent Nigerians, especially, politically exposed Nigerians, Anyim, was invited by the EFCC to clear some grey areas during an investigation into a couple of things that took place under his watch as the SGF. Anyim was in that office during the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan.
As is usual with the EFCC, depending on the case before it, he was detained, and needed to be released on bail. Not surprising, Anyim turned to his State Government/Governor for that. He was right.
Here is why.
Aside from the fact that it was what many others did, he had a more compelling reason to turn to his State. For a number of years, Anyim, from same Ebonyi State as Commissioner Ekumankama, was the highest political office holder in the South-east.
During the President Olusegun Obasanjo Government, he was the President of the Senate. And was Secretary to the FG during the Jonathan Government.
But here is the clincher.
Anyim was, to a large extent, instrumental to the emergence, as Governor, of Ekumankama’s boss, Dave Umahi.
Nobody gave Umahi a chance. Former Governor of Ebonyi State, Martin Elechi, whose Deputy Umahi was, did not want him as his successor. In Nigeria, it is rare for a Deputy Governor to succeed his boss. So,
Dave Umahi
Elechi’s preference was former Minister for Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu. And even though Chukwu was good to go, Anyim, former Senator Sam Egwu, and a couple of others saw to it that Chukwu was dumped for Umahi. It was politics at its most high-wired.
So, Ekumankama stood bail for Anyim by proxy. Take it that it was the Ebonyi State Government that took Anyim on bail, using the Commissioner as a front.
But things have since gone awry.
Umahi and a number of those who supported him, including Anyim and Egwu, have fallen out. And Umahi has since decamped to the APC, a party where his heart has been for, at least, five years. So, the ante has gone up.
The Governor has been threatening fire and brimstone, especially, against Anyim. He has sacked everybody “sackable” in his Government, associated with Anyim -from Local Government, to Boards, to just everywhere.
And he has threatened some more.
He would deal with Anyim, decisively, and would fight to a finish. It would be the last fight Anyim and co. will fight, he once threatened. He said they were angry with him because even though all of them, including Anyim, had planned to decamp to the APC together, he outsmarted them, and went to see Presiden Buhari alone. He is like air, he boasted.
Anyim had his own say too.
According to him, in an open letter, in response to Umahi, which he copied Mr President, the IGP, and the DG, DSS, the Governor threatened to kill him. Anyim, also alleged the Governor boasted that the EFCC would deal with him, all because he did not defect to the APC with Mr. Governor.
But even then, Anyim did not quite, forcefully, deny he had planned to defect to the APC with Umahi. What he said was that when the Governor visited him a day after his (the Governor’s) defection to the APC, and pleaded with him (Anyim) to, also, defect so that others would join him, he told the Governor that the manner of the Governor’s defection, has made it difficult for others to follow. Get the point? But that is a story for another day.
However, if Umahi threatened Anyim with the EFCC, he has set it in motion now.
In the said advertisement in ThisDay, Umahi’s Commissioner published a letter he wrote to the EFCC, withdrawing the bail he signed for Anyim. The letter dripped of insults directed at Anyim. It dripped of meanness.
He based his withdrawal on two things – first the political rumblings in his state which has pitched his Principal, Umahi, against Anyim, and second, flowing from that, the Senator-Ali Ndume and Abdulrashid Maina bail tango.
He told Nigerians, in case they had forgotten, that Anyim was once arrested and detained by the EFCC. He told Nigerians that it took his benevolence to get Anyim released, on bail, from EFCC detention. Big deal.
But, that was not all.
He remembered the sad incident between Senator Ali Ndume and Abdulrashid Maina who jumped bail and put Ndume in trouble. So? Ekumankama didn’t want to be an Ndume, in case Anyim jumped bail, and becomes a fugitive.
Here are the implications of what Commissioner Ekumankama did.
Anyim Pius Anyim
By going ahead to advertise his letter to EFCC, he wanted a public disgrace of Anyim.
By withdrawing from the surety he stood for Anyim, he wants the EFCC to go after Anyim. He wants the EFCC to pull Anyim in, detain him, until he arranges for a new Surety. When the EFCC does that, his boss, Umahi, would have scored a point against Anyim.
And here is what Commissioner Ekumankama would gain: a permanent appointment in Umahi’s government. The good boy. He wants to be a Commissioner forever. For that, he had to embark on a public disgrace of Anyim without a blink of the eye.
But Commissioner Ekumankama forgot something. He forgot tomorrow. He has behaved as if there is no tomorrow. He behaved as if there will be no tomorrow.
But there is always a tomorrow. When that tomorrow comes, what will Ekumankama do? Where will he be?
Let me make a guess.
He will become a pawn in a political chess board – Anyim and Umahi’s political chess board. What if Anyim and Umahi, as often happens, ends up again in one bed. What will be Ekumankama’s fate?
But there is something to say about the unfortunate incident between Anyim and Umahi. It confirms what other people think of the Igbo. They say the Igbo, are capable, always, of selling their brothers for ten a kobo.
Example: It was Umahi who hit the roof when Peter Obi was picked as Atiku Abubakar’s running mate during the 2015 Presidential elections. He attacked that choice for not being consulted. And there is now this:
Since Umahi defected to the APC from the PDP, he has done nothing else but embark on a gradual diminishing of Anyim. It is as if that is Umahi’s ticket to the Presidency. Sad, very sad.
It has been finally been confirmed that flambouyant International Business man/ Politician, Chief Harry Akande, died of a heart attack, occasioned by COVID-19. He died in the early hours of Saturday, December 5 , 2020.
Announcing his death, his son, Olumide, said they were still struggling to make sense out of it.
He is correct. For, Akande contracted COVID-19 in a an ironic manner just last week. The disease was passed-on to him by one of his domestic staff members, who tasted positive to it.
In an emotional tribute, his long-time friend and lawyer, A.J Owonikoko, SAN, said Chief Akande was taken to hospital on November 30, on showing signs of COVID-19.
He wrote: “One of his domestic staff brought in covid last week and got almost everybody in the household infected when routine weekly tests were conducted last Saturday.”
He said the Chief began to show signs of sickness on November 30, and was taken to the hospital. But by Wednesday, Akande, who he described as a dogged fighter, showed signs of recovery, and everybody around him was happy. Unfortunately, there was a sudden turn-around.
Early Saturday morning, the Chief suffered a heart attack, and quickly passed on.
It is not known if there are other members of the family who are in the hospital suffering from COVID-19. But based on what Owonikoko said, many other members of the family contracted the disease.
Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, described Akande’s death as a tragedy.
Born on March 3, 1943, Akande was 77 years old when he died.
Married to the lovely Tolulope for over 36 years, the marriage produced four children – Olumide, Foluke, Atinuke, and Olawunmi.
Olumide, the only son of Billionaire Harry Akande, says there is no sense in the death of his father, lamenting that he was struggling to make sense of the sad situation.
Chief Harry Akande, an international businessman and a two-time Presidential aspirant, died Saturday morning, 5th December, 2020.
Unconfirmed reports say Chief Akande, the Agba Oye of Ibadanland, died of complications related to COVID-19.
However, Olumide, who is married to Nollywood Star actress, Dakore Egbuson, in a release announcing his father’s passing, said the family’s matriarch died after a brief illness.
In a statement titled: Chief Harry Ayaode Akande, Agba Oye of Ibadanland, March 3, 1943 December 5, 2020 Olumide wrote: “In the early hours of December 5, 2020, our patriarch, Chief Harry Ayaole Akande, passed away following a brief illness.
“Chief Akande was a businessman of international repute whose legacy and influence cut across continents.
“But by far, his greatest passion was for a better Nigeria that guarantee equity and justice for all. It is our fervent prayer that this will be a reality in the not too distant future.
“‘His passing is a huge shock to his immediate & extended family, friends and associates. We are all grappling to make some sense of it.”
If Chief Akande, indeed, died of COVID-19, he joined other high profile Nigerians who died of the pandemic.
They include, but not limited to former Governor of Oyo State, Senators Abiola Ajimobi, and Senator Buruji Kasamu.
