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Sanusi To CBN: Fund BDC To Stabilize The Naira |The Source

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By Akinwale Kasali

Deposed Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, has proffered solution to the already weak Naira.

Bringing his wealth of experience as former Governor of the Apex Bank,  Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, into play, Sanusi emphasised on the need to stabilize the Naira.

He advised the Godwin Emefiele led-CBN to fund the Bureau De Change (BDC) across the country to stabilize the value of the Naira.

Sanusi gave the advice during a webinar tagged ‘’United States of Naira: What Price for Unification’’ which was organised by AZA, a cross-border payment platform and forex trading firm.

He stated that though the BDC is a small percentage of the market, funding it will impact speculation on the country’s currency.

Sanusi who disclosed that the existing gap between the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange (NAFEX) and BDC can be traced to inadequate foreign exchange caused by funding, also noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has led to several economic shocks making speculation difficult for the apex bank.

He said; “I think what the bank is trying to do is bridge that gap and I think moves have been made in general in July that have brought the CBN rate and the NAFEX rates closer. But, the BDC rates remain an outlier.

“It is a small percentage of the market, but it does have an impact on speculation, which is why it is important to fund that market.

“And once the Central Bank has enough money and funds that market, it will probably converge. So, I would not be interested in moving the rates towards N470, for example, but I would like to see a convergence of CBN and NAFEX, which will take care of over 90 percent of the transactions in the market and there is some small funding for BDC rate to bring it back to that level.

“It is what the IMF and the World Bank have asked for. It makes for positive transparency; it makes for clarity of direction; it also reduces the speculative demand for naira. For me, this is the Central Bank finally saying, basically, we will do what the market has been asking for.

“There are lots of the shocks the bank has no control over. It would be a brave governor of the bank who would announce a target rate when he does not know how much is going to come in or what is going to happen to the oil price tomorrow or the day after, and the entire world is going through shocks.

“I think it is extremely important that we recognise that the only clarity that the Central Bank can give at the moment is to say we do plan to converge, and that means the official rate is going to be devalued, but we are not going to do it in a rapid and disorderly manner.

“But, if they want to preserve the value of their currency, there is some virtue in waiting for an orderly unwinding of these backlogs because we must remember that when Covid-19 hit and after the Russia-Saudi fiasco, oil prices went down to $10 a barrel.”

The CBN had adjusted its official rate from N360 to a dollar to N381 to a dollar. But as of Friday, the exchange stood at N379 to a dollar.

Banire: How Religious Hypocrisy Is Drawing Nigeria Back |The Source

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Muiz Banire

By Akinwale Kasali

Former Legal Adviser to the All Progressives Congress, APC, Muiz Banire, SAN, has urged Nigerians to shun religious hypocrisy. He said this hypocrisy has continually polarized the nation and underdeveloped it.

Banire,  Convener of the United Action for Change, UAC, says Nigerians need to stop engaging in acts of religious hypocrisy and devote their energy for productive engagements.

The former Chairman of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, AMCON, made this statement  in his weekly Leadership Series on Sunday.

He decried the attitude of many Nigerians who only prayed without corresponding work.

He wrote, “Nigerians, by their nature, pretendingly pray more than even the people of the origin of the foreign religions.  Little wonder that religious centres have suddenly taken over our industries. Virtually all places of production in the past are now worship centres. The attraction is something I do not intend to deal with here.

“I, however, must not be misconstrued to be suggesting that prayers in any ramification is bad. It is good to pray and I do not only know so but believe so. In fact, it is some people’s opinion that the survival of the country today cannot be divorced from the prayers of some people, that is, the prayers of the genuine ones.

“However, prayer without, industry, character and faith, is a waste of time. That explains, possibly, the continuous poverty of Nigerians notwithstanding the number of hours spent on prayer.

“It is equally the view of others that the time spent on prayers could have been more rewarding for the people if appropriated into production. Whichever way it is viewed, my position is that everything requires moderation and faith.

“I remember when witnesses in court are asked to swear before testifying in courts, most times, they prefer to use either the Quran or the Bible. Ask them to swear in the traditional African way, they run away because they believe the repercussions of that are more potent than that of Islamic or the Christian God.

“Immediately they finish swearing on the Quran or Bible, they resort to lying right from their names. This is a further confirmation of the degree of faith they have in the religions they profess.

“The annoying one is the insistence on prayer before any formal occasion, the essence of which they do not believe. In most of my meetings, I often proceed without prayers on the assumption that if you are faithful, you should have prayed before leaving home and you can personally do your prayer without dragging others into your supposed piety.

“I probably would not have minded if they truly believe in the prayers and not just being hypocritical and ritualistic. I believe we can save time by skipping the item on the agenda.

“In recent times, I have compromised by agreeing to the recitation of the second stanza of our national anthem which I will recommend to all as it is both prayers and expressions of faith in the nation.  Let us stop being hypocritical with prayers and learn how to devote more time to productivity”.

Dr.Muiz Banire also highlighted the problem with the people’s religious insensitivity.

He said, “My great people, you are welcome to our engagement today. My point of contact today is the hypocritical nature of the Nigerian people.

“Without going in-depth into the complex areas of hypocrisy that you can recall in the history of the nation, I will treat us to what appears to be cursory but captures the message intended.

“This is in the area of religiosity or prayer and the Nigerian orientation”, he said.

Insecurity: President Buhari In Closed Door Meeting With North East Governors, Service Chiefs |The Source

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Buhari and Service Chiefs

By Akinwale Kasali

For the umpteenth time, President Muhammadu Buhari is in a meeting with Service Chiefs.

The only difference is that present at the meeting are Governors of the North.

The meeting follows  series of embarrassing    attacks by suspected Boko Haram Insurgents in North Eastern States.

The attacks have triggered accusations and counter accusations, and suspicion between at least one Governor and the military.

The attack on the Borno State Governor, Babagana Umara Zulum, and his convoy  in Maiduguri, shocked the country.

The meeting is believed to be centered around the spate of insecurity in the region.

Zulum, in his reaction to the attack, had accused the military of involvement.

However, the Nigerian Defence Headquarters  denied such claim, while insisting that Boko Haram were responsible for the attack.

The attacks are contnuing in the region.

Traditional Festival Turns Bloody in Ekiti Community; Monarch Escapes Death |The Source

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By Ayodele Oni

One person has been reportedly killed while scores were wounded early Monday at Ire community, Ekiti state, as youths protested the ban on the celebration of the annual Ogun traditional festival.

Already, the traditional ruler of the community, Oba Bobade Adeleke, has fled the Palace, while his car and other valuables were set ablaze.

It was gathered that while security agents were trying to restore peace, the irate youths turned against them leading to the vandalization of one of their operational vehicles.

In the wake of the outbreak of the global pandemic, Covid 19, the Ekiti state government had placed a ban on the celebration of any form of traditional festival by any community that can attract more than 20 persons.

Oba Adeleke, while trying to enforce government directive by advising the Ogun Adherents to observe Covid 19 protocols, met resistance from the youths who insisted on celebrating the festival.

The protest, which started on Sunday, spilled over to Monday and turned bloody during which one person was killed.

According to reports, the traditional ruler had to be whisked away by the people when the angry youths attacked the palace with dangerous weapons.

Ekiti State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Sunday Abutu,  said that police was on top of the matter and that more personnel had already been deployed to restore peace.

Ondo Deputy Governor, Ajayi, Again, Dumps PDP, Picks ZLP Ticket; He Is A Rolling Stone, Many Say |The Source

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Agboola Ajayi

By Ayodele Oni, Akure

At last, Ondo State Deputy Governor, Agboola Ajayi, has emerged a candidate, and  will participate in the October 10 governorship election in the state.

The fact became clearer on Monday following his statement on his Twitter handle that he has resigned his appointment from the People’s Democratic Party, (PDP) and joined the Zenith Labour Party, (ZLP) and immediately given the ticket for the party’s governorship.

A member of ZLP, Mr Rotimi Benjamin, whose name was earlier sent to the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) was dropped to pave way for Ajayi.

The deputy governor, in the message, thanked the national leadership and members of the PDP for their warm reception and acceptance in the short period he was with the party.

He had earlier resigned his membership of All Progressives Congress, (APC) in June and joined the PDP.

He participated in the PDP primary election in July, and was defeated by Mr Eyitayo Jegede, SAN, a former Commissioner in the state.

He also informed the Chairman of the PDP in Apoi Ward  two of Ese-Odo Local Government Area, Festus Oboro, who confirmed receiving Ajayi’s resignation letter 9th of August, 2020.

Reacting to the anticipated departure of Ajayi from its fold, the PDP in the state was confident that it will have no effect on the prospects of victory in the election.

A statement by the publicity secretary of the party, Kennedy Peretei, in Akure reads, “The Peoples Democratic Party in Ondo State has received the exit of Deputy Governor of Ondo State, Agboola Ajayi from the party, from just online publications. As a party, we have not received his letter of resignation but we wish him well in his political journey.

“Agboola Ajayi joined our party on 22nd June, 2020 and participated at the governorship primaries having received waver from the national secretariat of the Party.

“He has abused the welcome and privilege accorded him by our party supporters during his brief stay in the party. He also proved that he is desperate to become the Governor of Ondo State.

“In the days to come, it will dawn on him that, he has squandered whatever was remaining in his good will with this decision.

“However, his exit from the PDP will not affect our prospects of winning the October gubernatorial elections this year. The PDP remains solid, strong and more determined than ever before to win the forthcoming Governorship elections with a credible and competent Candidate in the person of Eyitayo Jegede, SAN.”

Not a few people are laughing at Ajayi, and calling him a rolling stone that gathers no morse, and will never gather any morse.

How can a man jump across three parties within  a couple of weeks? Said an angry PDP member, ”He is in politics for selfish reasons. It is either he becomes a Governor or not. No wonder he didn’t get on with the Governor. He was competing for the office with the Governor. Let him go. He will lose his Local Government.”

Magu: FCMB Says It Posted Millions Into Pastor’s Account |The Source

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Bayo Bernard
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By Fola James

The Managing Director of First City Monument Bank, FCMD, Adam Nuhu has admitted that the tier two bank mistakenly posted N573 million into the account of Pastor Emmanuel Omale, the man of God accused of fronting for embattled former Acting Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Magu.

Magu is currently being probed by the Presidential Committee on Audit of Recovered Assets, PCARA, over corruption related issues and one of the allegations is that he bought some properties in Dubai, UAE with funds Pastor Omale laundered for him.

Adam Nuru, managing director of First City Monument Bank, FCMB, says the bank made an error of posting N573 million into Omale’s church account.

Omale, founder of the Divine Hand of God Prophetic Ministry has however denied the allegations.

But while testifying before PCARA, the Chief Executive officer of FCMB said the N573 million was mistakenly lodged in Omale’s account when the bank carried out Systems Upgrade in 2016.

Nuhu said “On January 16, 2016, we made a return to NFIU which indicated that there was a transaction of an inflow of well over N573million. (N573,228,40),” the bank MD said.This return was said to be in favour of Divine Hand of God Prophetic Ministries Account No 1486743019.

Ibrahim Magu
Magu: Under Probe For Alleged Graft

After that report, we conducted an investigation and discovered that the lodgement which we reported to NFIU was an error.The error was as a result of the fact that we were using a bank application called Pinnacle-7. However, we migrated from that application to a newer version called Pinnacle-10.

Usually, when the bank intends to migrate from one application to another, we utilize weekends to carry out the exercise. The migration involves moving all the balances of customers from the previous application to the new application. The account of the Divine Hand Ministries was moved during that migration.”

FCMB’s chief executive stated that Omale is just one of its numerous customers who have been wrongly credited with unsolicited funds during such upgrades.

According to him “It was that balance of N573million that was wrongly posted as an inflow into Divine Hand Ministries as reported to NFIU. This error was not peculiar to Divine Hand of God Prophetic Ministries alone but was also ascribed to 27 other accounts.”

CAN Warns FG Against Alqaeda, ISWAP Attacks |The Source

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By Fola James

The Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN has warned the federal government to overhaul the nation’s security agencies against the danger posed by terrorist groups such as Alqaeda and ISWAP.

The warning came barely a week after a top USA military commander, urged President Muhammadu Buhari’s to take serious steps to prevent Alqaeda and ISWAP attacks.

The USA military chief said the Nigeria’s Armed Forces have been floundering in the war against terrorism, adding that Nigeria must take the lead before other powers can back her up.

The terrorist groups have been making inroads into the Western Sahara, including Nigeria after a defeat they suffered from military campaigns led by the United States of America, USA and its Western allies.

The two groups have been linked with Boko Haram which controls a swathe of lands in Nigeria’s Sambisa Forest.

But while speaking at an event in Abuja on Sunday, Samson Ayokunle, CAN President said recent events indicate that the terrorist groups posed serious dangers to the country, urging the government to do everything it can to protect Nigerians.

”Just a week ago, Ayorinde said. “ 14 members of a Baptist church in Kogi state were slaughtered overnight. Nobody is safe. These radicals can attack from any angle. The people of this nation deserve to live their lives in maximum security

The government has to up its game. No more excuses and no more sympathies for people that have died. We can’t allow more people to keep dying.”

Niger Delta Youths Demand Akpabio’s Sack As Minister |The Source

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By Ola Samuel

Godswill Akpabio, the Minister of Niger Delta has no respite yet from calls, to President Muhammadu Buhari by many Nigerians to sack him over alleged corruption in the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC.

Akpabio, a former governor of Akwa Ibom state supervises the NDDC and has been fingered in the alleged multi-billion naira sleaze rocking the interventionist agency.

The minister has denied the allegation, notwithstanding he has faced trenchant criticisms from Nigerians who have called on the president to remove him from office.

The latest of such is the Urhobo Youth Assembly, UYA, a group in Delta state who has demanded his sack by President Muhammadu within seven days.

In a letter to the President dated August 7, 2020, signed by Jude Akpore and Frank Onogagamue, President and Secretary respectively, UYA said what is happening in the NDDC has embarrassed the minister and the federal government.

The Urhobo youths said “The entire leadership and members of the Urhobo Youth Assembly drawn from the 24 Kingdoms spread across the eight Urhobo speaking Local Government Councils of Delta Central and our Urhobo brothers in Warri South, Bomadi and Patani rose from a crucial emergency national meeting in Ughelli over the weekend.

The meeting was called principally to review the state of the nation via the high powered corruption that has bedevilled the regional interventionist agency, The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) under the supervision of Chief Godswill Obot Akpabio as minister.

With over 350 youth leaders in attendance, the National President of the UYA, Comrade Jude Akpore briefed the house of the imperatives of ensuring that the Urhobo people with their huge petro-dollar oil and gas resources are not relegated to the back seat when issues that concern the Niger Delta Development are being discussed both at the state and national level.

The Urhobo nation with over 21 flow stations and cumulative production capacity of over six hundred thousand bpd and host to the largest gas plant in Sub-Sahara Africa, the Otorogu gas plant cannot play second fiddle in the nation’s oil and gas politics and developmental stride.”

The youths threw their weight behind President Buhari’s quest to rid the Commission of corruption, because “Generally, the Urhobo Youths with over 700,000 votes have constantly supported your administration anti-corruption drive and we, therefore, cannot see reason why the current happenings at the NDDC where over N81billion have either be stolen or pocketed by some few individuals under the three members kangaroo Interim Management Committee (IMC) should be allowed to continued,” UYA said.

They urged the president to “within the next seven days sack the controversial Minister of Niger Delta Chief Godswill Obot Akpabio, and initiate a thorough process of arresting and prosecuting all those who have looted and diverted funds meant for the development of the oil and gas producing communities of the Niger Delta Region.”

 

August 22 Local Govt Election In Ondo Fraudulent, PDP to Boycott |The Source

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INEC Logo

By Ayodele Oni, Akure

Many stakeholders in the politics of Ondo state are raising questions about the insistence of the State Independent Electoral Commission, (ODSIEC) to conduct local government election now.

The Commission had fixed August 22, less than two weeks from now, for the conduct of the election, which has been postponed twice, since the inception of the present administration in 2016.

Coming less than two months to the October 10 governorship election in the state, according to them, it is ill timed and an attempt by the ruling All Progressives Congress, (APC) to cause confusion.

They also described it as an attempt by the ruling All Progressives Congress, in the state to use the elected Chairmen and cmCouncilors to influence the forthcoming October 10 governorship election.

A time table released by the ODSIEC indicates that preparations for the local government will commence on Tuesday, August, 28,  with training of ad hoc staff to be followed by submission of names of party agents.

The Chairman of the Commission, Yomi Dinakin, disclosed that the last day for campaign is Thursday, 20th August, while the election will hold on Saturday, 22nd August.

But, the State Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party, (PDP), Mr Fatai Adams, said the party will boycott the election, describing it as a rigging plan by APC ahead of October 10 governorship election.

According to him, participating in such an election will be a futile exercise and waste of time when a bigger one is less than two months.

The Chairman pointed out that the PDP does not believe in the credibility of the Ondo State Independent Electoral Commission, saddled with the responsibility of conducting such election, since members are employees of state government.

“The process  will just be an appointment not election where all the ruling APC candidates in the state will be declared winners for all the positions,” he added.

Gunmen Murder Governor Obiano’s SSA on Security |The Source

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Governor Willy Obiano of Anambra State

By Gideon Njoku

Gunmen, suspected to be assassins, have murdered the Senior Special Assistant on Security, to Governor Willy Obiano of Anambra State.

43-year old Azubuike Ekwegbalu was murdered in a most horrendous manner, using a Kitchen knife, at his residence, Sunday morning.

Ekwegbalu lived in the upscale Commissioners’ Quarters, for top Government Officials, thought to be safe, security-wise.

The deceased, who hailed  from Ogbunike was, reportedly, a younger brother to the Governor’s wife.

Confirming the tragic incident, Spokesperson for the Anambra Police Command, Haruna Mohammed, an SP, said one person has been arrested.

According to Mohammed, “On August 9, at about 1.30am, there was a report of alleged murder of one Ekwegbalu, aged 43 years, native of Ogbunike in  Oyi LGA, but resident at the Commissioners Quarters, Awka.

“Following the report  Police detectives attached to ‘B’ Division, Awka, led by the DPO, CSP Emma Ogbuanya,  visited the scene and rushed the victim, who was found in a pool of blood to COOUTH Awka, for medical attention.”

He said he was certified dead by the medical personnel, and his body deposited at the hospital mortuary for autopsy.

A close look at his body, Mohammed said, showed that he was stabbed to death, and the kitchen knife allegedly used, has been recovered.

He, also, confirmed that one suspect, found within the premesis, has been arrested.

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