In his first reaction to the barrage of criticisms from his friend of four decades, former governor of Ondo state, Dr Olusegun Mimiko has described Governor Rotimi Akeredolu’s administration as anti people.
Mr Akeredolu had berated his predecessor, last week, for abandoning several projects initiated by his predecessor for political reasons, thus compounding the problem of his administration.
Dr Mimiko, who maintained that the time to reply to various allegations levelled against him by Governor Akeredolu has not come, said he would know the stuff he was made of when campaigns for October 10 election take off proper.
Mimiko’s remarks came when he received Deputy Governor Agboola Ajayi at his residence in Ondo town after Ajayi had defected to the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).
Mimiko pointed out that it was an insult to rank his administration with an unprogressive one that does not know what the people need at every particular time.
Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State
According to him, any party or government that will not meet the need of the masses at the point of their yearnings is not a progressive one, adding that ZLP is the only party that loves the masses and assists them to achieve their dreams.
The former governor, who lauded the deputy governor, Agboola Ajayi, described him as a well groomed and seasoned politician saying Ajayi has no behaviour to hide again.
“All his good and bad sides, we know, we do not expect surprises.”
He, however said that the task ahead is challenging adding that nothing good comes easy and thanked everyone supporting the dreams of the incumbent deputy governor to oust his boss.
Earlier, Ajayi had said no progressive politician would go home and sleep when the state was experiencing mis- governance by the current government.
Describing the former governor as an achiever, Ajayi said there is no politician of repute either in the past or present and accros party divide, has not visited Mimiko for blessings.
The deputy governor said he had not joined the party to only contest the gubernatorial election, but to help change the narrative and get governance right in the polity of the state.
Also, the chairman of ZLP, Mr. Joseph Akinlaja said the incumbent government failed in various sectors that Mimiko had succeeded, urging the people to vote ZLP to alleviate their suffering.
Reacting to the former Governor’s remarks, the Commissioner for Information, Mr Donald Ojogo, described both Mimiko and Agboola Ajayi as treacherous
The Commissioner, who spoke on behalf of Governor Akeredolu declared that “we do not consider what the former Governor said as needful of any response. He must say something to calm down and indeed calm the nervousness of his unsuspecting victims.
“We can only sympathise with him because he has come out to remind the people of Ondo State and as well reactivate their consciousness of his almost forgotten past.
“No one without any treacherous content can market a treacherous person.”
In a swift reaction to the sack of the Governor of Bayelsa State Senator Douye Diri by the State’s Election Petition Tribunal, the immediate past Governor, His Excellency, Seriake Dickson, says there is no vacancy in the Government House.
He told Bayelsans that Diri remains the Governor until all Court processes are exhausted, all the way to the Supreme Court.
Urging the people not to worry at all, he admitted it was a temporary set-back, but nothing to lose sleep over, saying in law, the status quo remains.
In a statement signed on his behalf by his Media Adviser, Fidelis Soriwei, he said: ” I urge Bayelsans to remain calm. They shouldn’t misinterpret what took place at the Tribunal on Monday.
“The judgement is a temporary set-back which does not have any effect on the status quo until all processes of appeal are exhausted”
The three-man member Tribunal cancelled the Bayelsa Governorship election based on a case filed by the Action Democratic Party, ADP, a relatively unknown party, that INEC omitted its name on the ballot.
Amid worries of sliding profit, the management of Sterling Bank Plc, last week disclosed that the Deposit Money Bank, DMB is experiencing cash squeeze due to the Cash Reserve Ratio, CRR imposed by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.
Recall that Fitch Ratings, a renowned global ratings agency, few days ago disclosed that the Cash Reserve policy has been having crippling effects on the operations of some commercial banks in the country.
“The Central Bank of Nigeria has been highly interventionist. Where peers like South Africa and Kenya followed the global trend of giving banks more room to lend, Nigeria hasn’t budged. Instead, it stuck with a cash reserve ratio that compels lenders to park 27.5% of their deposits with the central bank,’ Fitch said in its forecast.
Sterling Bank is not finding the situation easy at all, if the report it made available to the NSE, is anything to go by.
What is the problem?
“The liquidity problem, could affect cash on demand by customers thus compounding the reputation of the new generation bank,” according to Olamide Joseph, who insists that “the bank must do more to dispel rumours of vulnerability.”
According to the figures the bank released to the NSE, cumulative customers’ Deposit currently stands at N915.3billion while loans to customers is N615 billion; CRR N215.5 billion and CRR (debit) N93 billion.
“Looking at those figures critically, you can do the calculation to find out whether there’s already a problem or not,” Joseph said.
Suleiman: Laments Cash Problems Due To CRR
CSL, a popular stock broking firm in Lagos recently warned that the 2020 financial year would be one of the worst for the Abubakar Suleiman bank in terms of profit returns.
The prediction came on the crest of the bank’s struggles to impress global rating firms, the flip-flop of its share price at the Nigerian stock Exchange, NSE amidst ravaging COVID 19 which has badly hit the Nigerian financial sector and tumbled banks’ earnings this year, sector analysts say.
Sterling Bank’s share price was down to N120 per share at the close of trading on Friday, far below other tier-two banks in the country.
Fidelity Bank Plc share, for instance, was traded for N173 while FCMB share closed at N192 at the end of Monday trading at the NSE.
Crying out that that its operations have been highly hampered by CRR close watchers of the tier two bank say, has further exposed its vulnerability.
In its 2020 half-year interim results published on the website of the NSE, Sterling Bank said by withholding N215.5 billion in CRR from its coffers it will now struggle to meet customers’ cash demands.
What the CBN has withheld “represent mandatory reserve deposits and are not available for use in the bank’s day-to-day operations,” the management said.
The apex bank on January 23 this year increased its cash reserve requirement, CRR for banks to 27.5 per cent from 22.5 per cent at its new-year monetary policy committee meeting.
CRR is normally used by CBN to control inflation, sometimes applied to checkmate excess cash from being released into circulation.
Sterling Bank Plc is among DMBs that have been struggling to meet the CRR since the beginning of the year, and the CBN has followed up by coming down hard on erring banks, deducting directly from their cash reserves domiciled with the apex Regulator.
This year alone, the CBN has deducted over N93 billion from Sterling bank as penalty for violating the CRR.
“When you add N93 billion to N215 billion, the bank has been limited by over N300 billion in cash that it can make available to its customers. You need no soothsayer to tell you what will happen next: potential and existing customers will only interpret this to mean that the bank does not have enough cash back up and that something is wrong with the bank.
“How do you prove that you are strong if you cannot make cash available to customers on demand; and how can you grow profit when you cannot grant loan facilities to customers because of liquidity issues caused by cash call from CBN? In all of these, customers can begin to smell a rat.
“It’s really a cul-de-sac situation for Sterling Bank,” James Edwards, a business analyst told the magazine.
CSL, has meanwhile, predicted that the 2020 financial year may be worst for the bank as profit could be down as much as 15 per cent.
The lender struggled to earn N10.2 billion pre-tax profit, PBT in the 2019 financial year.
The firm stated that return on equity and assets, ROAE could plunge to at least seven per cent.
CSL said “We Project Pre-tax Profit of N9.0bn (down 15% y/y) and we estimate ROAE of 6.9% in 2020e (FY 2019; 9.8%).”
Also “We do not expect asset quality issues to crystallise in the short term, as we expect the bulk of the loans in the Oil and gas upstream/midstream (c.27% of gross loan) to be restructured,” the firm said.
What this means, for instance, analysts insist, is that huge loans granted to the oil and gas sector are not expected be recovered because of the plunge in prices of crude oil in the international market.
Sterling recorded one of the highest exposures to the oil sector among DMBs in its category.
“This is a bad news for customers, shareholders and potential investors,” Edwards further stated.
CSL stated that the fact that the Suleiman-led bank only managed to pay a meager N864 million dividends to shareholders in 2019, after failing to do so in the 2018, should be of serious concerns to the management and shareholders.
But looking closely at the bank, analysts say, is the bottomline; the serious governance issues affecting the lender
Dapo Ibiyemi, a financial analyst in Lagos said “the bank’s 2019 financial report has opened up many posers on the prudential skills of those running the bank.”
He said the report indicates that the bank recorded a higher running cost in the year under review than those in its category.
“For every N10 made during the period” he said “Sterling Bank spent N8, an indication that 80 per cent of its earnings went into expenses, raising serious doubts about the management’s cost efficiency.”
Also, the bank spent N70.2 billion on Operating cost, according to the 2019 Full year report presented to the NSE.
The Report show that repairs and maintenance, for example, cost the bank N7.3 billion in 2019, when N7 billion has already been incurred in 2018.
Also admin and Office expenses which incurred N5.4 billion in the 2018 FY got another N4 billion in 2019.
Also admin and Office expenses which incurred N5.4 billion in the 2018 FY got another N4 billion in 2019.
Ibiyemi said ” You cannot be living large when your rooftop is leaking.”
Meanwhile, all efforts to get the bank’s response to the issue failed, as calls made to Adeola Adejokun, its spokesman, failed while text message sent to his telephone line was not replied.
Founder of Living Faith Church Worldwide, Popularly known as Winners Chapel, Bishop David Oyedepo, has kicked against the application of the Company and Allied Matters Acts, CAMA, in Churches.
Last week, August 7th, 2020, President Muhammadu Buhari signed CAMA into law. The action is being faulted by Bishop Oyedepo.
Under the law, Religious bodies and Charity organisations will be strictly regulated by the Registrar-General of Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), and a supervising Minister.
CAMA provides that the Commission may, by order, suspend the Trustees of an association, or a religious body, and appoint an interim manager or managers to coordinate its affairs where it reasonably believes that there has been any misconduct or mismanagement, or where the affairs of the association are being run fraudulently or where it is necessary or desirable for the purpose of public interest.
While addressing members of his congregation on Sunday, Oyedepo said such laws were borne out of the government’s jealousy about the prosperity recorded by the Church.
Oyedepo questioned the rationality behind subjecting Churches to the same laws as companies, describing the Church as God’s heritage on earth.
“The Church is God’s heritage on earth. Molest the wife of somebody, and you will see the anger of that person. The Church is the bride of Christ. You know how a strong man is when you tamper with his wife. The Church is the body of Christ. We are under obligation to give warnings to wicked rulers so we could be free from their blood.
“The Church works on the pattern delivered by God not the pattern of man. Government has no power to appoint people over churches. This is a secular nation. The church is the greatest asset of God in this country. Please be warned. Judgment is coming. The Lord says I have been still but now I will arise. Anybody that is in this deal is taking poison. This will never work. I am waiting for a day when anybody will appoint a trustee over this church… You can’t gag anybody. We own this country together.
“It is only in Africa that people who are over 80 years still run around to become president. I know that it is the prosperity of the church that is making them jealous. But I am going to live to see an army of many winners soar greater. In this church shall emerge one of the largest concentration of giats on earth”, he said.
The Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri, will appeal his sack, from office, Monday afternoon, by the Bayelsa State Eletion Tribunal.
An unknown, “inconsequential” party, Action Democratic Party, ADP, had gone to the Tribunal, asking the three-man panel to cancel the Governorship election because the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, omitted its name on the ballot.
The Tribunal granted its request, and asked INEC to hold another election within 90 days.
For Diri and his Deputy, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, it is like successfully swimming an ocean, and getting drowned in a stream.
The same Tribunal, had, three days ago, dismissed three cases against Diri’s election.
Earlier, the Governor had won all the election cases, all the way to the Supreme Court.
A source close to the Governor said the judgement took them by suprise, but said it would be appealed immediately.
The financial state of the University of Lagos, under the sacked Vice Chancellor, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, was rotten, and stank to high heavens. This was part of the many shocking revelations made by the Chairman of the Governing Council, and Pro-Chancellor of the University, Dr Wale Babalakin, SAN.
Ogundipe was sacked last week by the Council, which appointed an Acting Vice Chancellor, Prof Theophilus Soyombo. .
But Ogundipe has rejected his removal, insisting he remained the Vice Chancellor. He is supported by the University’s Senate, ASUU, Students, Association of Vice Chancellors, and the University’s Alumni.
In an unprecedented action, he led a protest on the campus against his removal. He has, also, gone to Court to stop his removal, insisting, like the Alumni did, that he was not given a fair hearing. But Babalakin laughs those off.
Appearing on ARISE Television on Saturday, Babalakin opened a pandora’s box, which revealed the depth of financial recklessness under Ogundipe. And worse. Babalakin said the sacked Vice Chancellor was engaged in forging marks, to the embarrassment of Council.
Describing Prof. Ogundipe as a serial offender, he shocked many when he disclosed: “Like State Governors, Ogundipe was allocating to himself Security Votes, which he never accounted for. He must be the only Vice Chancellor in Nigeria who allocated security votes to himself.”
He also accused the sacked VC of other financial recklessness.
For example, he said,
“Prof Ogundipe spent N49 million renovating his residence which a former Vice Chancellor who had just left in an excellent shape without even mentioning it, not to talk of getting approval.
“It was a committee of the University that discovered it. Prof. Ogundipe, in a very complicit manner, gave N41 million to the Burser to renovate his (Burser’s) premises. The Burser’s house can be built from scratch with N41 million. We struggled to have Prof Ogundipe’s management to give us a proper account.”
“Every single account that has been submitted by Prof. Ogundipe is fraught with fundamental errors. All the accounts were cooked.”
Babalakin gave an example of forgery on the part of Ogundipe.
His words: “Soon after the Council was inaugurated, we were trying to elect a director of works. Ogundipe as the Chairman of the Committee to appoint the director of works, chaired the occasion. When the interview was concluded, all the parties collated their results, and some guy from the Lagos State Polytechnic came first. Ogundipe now went to collate results. When he came back, that candidate came second because Ogundipe had altered the marks.”
The exercise had to be cancelled after it generated a heated debate.
He revealed that Ogundipe had a scandalous reason why he altered the results.
“Ogundipe altered the result to favour a member of staff who had been indicted twice for fraud and total incompetence. It’s in Ogundipe’s interest to surround himself with people who cannot stand up for the truth. Ogundipe should have been removed then because forgery in a university is totally unacceptable.
“But the Alumni, and all the bodies in the University, appealed for Ogundipe, and I told him that where I am coming from, there’s zero tolerance for this. You can’t do this. But the elders also came, and I told them that we were drawing a fundamental line, that we’ll not tolerate this kind of attitude again. From then till he was removed, there was nothing Ogundipe did properly.”
He tore apart Ogundipe’s claim that he was not given a fair hearing, submitting that Ogundipe did not only respond in writing, he also faced a Committee where he spent an hour defending himself. “His narrative is false.”
Babalakin continued: “Let me shock you. A budget that was presented to me as Pro-Chancellor of the University, the amount of internally-generated revenue, and the amount of recurrent expenditure were equal. So, every money that was generated was spent without improving the University. How do you reconcile these kinds of people? The alumni spoke to me on a few occasions. What are you telling me? I should compromise forgery? I should compromise stealing? I should camouflage breach of process? What if there’s a Visitation tomorrow?”
Babalakin, who is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, has a PhD in law, and is a son of a retired Supreme Court Judge, added for good measure : “I am a lawyer. I am not given to making loose statements. Whatever I say, I must be able to back it up. Prof. Ogundipe was accused of financial recklessness, and I can boldly say that you cannot find any action of Ogundipe that followed proper process.”
The Acting Vice Chancellor has since assumed duties.
After parting ways with Turkish Club Side, Trabzonspor Football Club, before the end of the 2019/2020 Season, former Super Eagles Captain, John Obi Mikel is set to return to England.
The former Chelsea Football Club midfielder is to join English Championship Side, Stoke City Football Club.
This will be Mikel’s second stint in the second tier of English football, having played for Middlesbrough Football Club before switching to Trabzonspor in the Turkish League.
The Stoke City stint will be a one-year deal.
Mikel has been a free agent since leaving the Turkish side Trabzonspor, and has never ruled out plans of returning to English football.
The former Lyn Oslo Football Club of Norway playmaker made 249 Premier League appearances for Chelsea in an 11-year spell, which ended when he left Stamford Bridge in 2017.
He won the Champions League and Europa League, two Premier Leagues, three FA Cups and the League Cup with the London side.
Since leaving Chelsea, Mikel has featured for Chinese side Tianjin TEDA, Middlesbrough and Trabzonspor.
He was capped 89 times for Nigeria, helping the Super Eagles win the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, before announcing his retirement from international football last summer.
Championship side Stoke survived relegation with a late fight towards the end of the 2019-20 campaign.
Mikel will join the league of notable Nigerians that have dorned the Stoke City Jersey.
Former Super Eagles Striker, Peter Osaze Odemweingie and Victor Moses played for the Potters, as Stoke City is called.
Also, present Super Eagles midfielder, Etebo Oghenekaro played for the Potters before moving to the Spanish League where he currently plies his trade.
Regimented Jumat service and Sunday worship for Muslims and Christian faithfuls kicked off in Ekiti state last Friday and, today, Sunday respectively.
This is part of the measures to relax stringent measures imposed in the wake of the break out of the dreaded global pandemic, Covid 19.
The steps, announced by the State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, allow religious adherents to observe their worship for two hours, 10.00am to noon on Fridays and Sundays, only, for now.
Persons whose ages are below 16 and above 65, are however barred from attending Churches and Mosques, for now, as they are said to be more prone to the pandemic.
The state task force coordinator on Covid 19, Prof Bolaji Aluko, while shedding light on the measures put in place by the Government explained that the Worship Centres are to ensure that people coming in observe all Covid 19 protocols, which include wearing of face masks, provision of hand sanitizers with not more than 50 worshippers at a time.
Also as from Monday, students in JSS three class are to join their counterparts in SSS three who had resumed since last week, to enable them prepare for their terminal examination.
Dr Aluko revealed that members of the task force have been going round to ensure compliance with laid down guidelines, which has led to sanctions for those that run foul.
According to him, some pharmacy, supermarket and other food institutions, have been sealed for violating various covid 19 guidelines during inspections by the taskforce compliance unit.
He appealed to operators of retail centres and other public places to obey the simple guidelines of usage of infra-red thermometers, functional water sanitizer stands, mask-wearing by all staff and patrons, and social distancing within the premises.
“These guidelines are for the health and safety of all Ekiti residents. The coronavirus pandemic is still with us,” he added.
Ekiti still remains one of the states that have the least record of Covid 19 patients, with two deaths recorded. Among victims of the pandemic are Governor Kayode Fayemi, his Commissioners and Aide
Borno State Governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum has been given Seven days to publicly apologise to President Muhammadu Buhari and the Military for falsely accusing the Military of sabotaging Security in the State.
Zulum had pointedly accused the soldiers of being responsible for the recent attack on his convoy along Baga road, Maiduguri, Borno State Capital. Zulum absolved the sect, and accused the Military of plotting the attack.
But a group, the North East Peace Assembly, NEPA, is outraged over the allegation. It has given the Governor a seven-day ultimatum to render a public apology to President Muhammadu Buhari and the Military. Failure to do so, it warns, means he would be compelled to tell the world about his secret pact with Boko Haram and its sponsors.
This was contained in a statement signed by the group’s leader, Mallam Musa Babangida, on Saturday, following an investigative report which rubbished the governor’s latest allegation that troops had taken over the people’s farmlands, and disrupted agricultural activities in the northeast.
In the statement titled, “Gov. Zulum; reclaim your honour by tendering an unreserved apology to Nigerian Army for consistent defamation of character”, the North East Peace Assembly demanded that Zulum do the needful to redeem his already battered image.
It said the governor is fast “carving a niche for himself as an astute fabricator/inventor of sensational fake news” and Nigerians now perceive him as “one of the many covert forces promoting Boko Haram terrorism in Nigeria”.
“The North East Peace Assembly (NEPA) wishes to animate the conscience of Borno state Gov. Babagana Umara Zulum to claim his honour and dignity for unswervingly portraying himself as a leader who regales in peddling blatant lies on the Army. He must do it within seven days of this publication and upon failure, Nigerians should compel him to tell the rest of the world, the secret pact he has signed with Boko Haram and its sponsors,” the statement reads.
“This reminder and even outright request to Gov. Zulum is prodded by the findings and release of the report of an Investigative Team set up by the Army leadership to verify the authenticity of Zulum’s latest allegations that soldiers in the war front have coercively seized farmlands and fishing rivers from locals and converted same for personal farming and fishing activities.
“For the records, let us remind the disco-ordinated Gov. Zulum that the Nigerian Army under the leadership of Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai is too professionalized and disciplined to engage in such acts of subversions and maltreatment of the same people it has devoted years to exculpate from the shackles of Boko Haram terrorism.
“Additionally, like the falsity of the seizure of farm and fishing enclaves; Gov. Zulum’s hasty conclusions that soldiers were behind the Boko Haram attack on his convoy near Baga is the most absurd, illogical or ridiculous reasoning and conclusion by a leader of his status. Gov. Zulum is fast carving a niche for himself as a purveyor of twisted facts and astute fabricator/inventor of sensational fake news.
“Nigerian troops in the battlefield have never engaged in any act of sabotage or complicity in the counter-insurgency operations; inclusive of Zulum’s wretched farming and fishing allegations and the alleged attack on his convoy by Boko Haram in Borno state. For the umpteenth time, the Special Investigative Panel has exonerated soldiers of any sabotage or complicity as bandied by Gov. Zulum or others before him.”
Beyond mere apology, the group asked the governor to comply and support the fight against insurgency in Borno.
“We strongly believe this is the only alternative at the disposal of Gov. Zulum now and he must bring his head down to comply in the interest of peace. It is only then, Nigerians will know, he is truly committed to the war against insurgency in Borno State.
“However, should Gov. Zulum be obstinate over this plea or fails to tender the apology, it will show clearly that the Governor knows what the rest of Nigerians don’t know about Boko Haram and definitely unhappy that Nigerian troops are in Borno to defend the country.”
National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Prince Uche Secondus has faulted President Muhammadu Buhari’s statement that he would have used the Military to undermine the electoral process in the build up to the 2019 General Elections if he desired.
Secondus described the statement as unfortunate, stressing that it was unbecoming of a President who claim to have gotten majority of the votes in 2015 to insinuate compromising the integrity of his re-election in 2019.
He stated that the statement by Buhari gives credence to allegations that his re-election in 2019 was via the military and the undermining of the democratic process.
“Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh. The basic truth known to all Nigerians was that he used the military to retain power. He did not win the presidential election.”
The PDP National Chairman said it was a sad commentary that Buhari could contemplate using security agencies to undermine the electoral process.
“The presence of the military was more than the voters at the polling stations. Never before had military presence been felt at polling stations as was the case in the 2019 presidential election.”
He added that Nigerians were aware that in the 2019 Presidential election, such despotic and oppressive tactics were deployed to circumvent the electoral process and the wish of the citizens.
“As a party, the PDP hopes this is not a foreplay of what the APC and the Buhari presidency are planning to exert in the Edo and Ondo governorship elections scheduled for September and October 2020, respectively?” he stated.
Secondus also alleged that Nigerians witnessed the overrunning of Ekiti, Osun, Kogi, Bayelsa, and Kano states by APC during elections in those states, using compromised security officials and thugs.
In Kogi State, for instance, he alleged, a police helicopter was used to disperse the electorate, who were on the queue to perform their civic duties on Election Day. He also recalled that Mrs. Salome Abuh, a frontline PDP woman leader, was burnt to death by members of APC in the Kogi State election and till date, no member of the president’s party had been interrogated or arraigned for her murder.
Secondus said Nigerians had never witnessed the level of electoral impunity seen under the Buhari administration.
But the PDP chairman said the president must advise his party to allow INEC to carry out its responsibilities without interference in Edo and Ondo states.
