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Tag: dump

  • Ex-guber aspirant, others dump APC in Edo

    Ex-guber aspirant, others dump APC in Edo

    A former governorship aspirant in All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State and Deputy Director of Buhari Support Group, Mr. Blessing Agbomhere, has defected to Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Agbomhere, who sought APC’s ticket for 2016 rerun for Estako Federal Constituency seat, said he left because the party had changed the promises it made.

    Speaking yesterday at a rally in Fugar, the headquarters of Estako Central Local Government, he said the battle for 2019 was not between APC and PDP, but between APC and Nigerians.

    Agbomhere said: “APC promised change, but it ended up changing the promises. We must bring back PDP because it is the most democratic party.

    “APC does not have anything to offer. The party is destroying our economy. We do not want poverty in this country. Nigerians must unite to remove APC.”

    The state Chairman of PDP, Chief Dan Orbih, who received the defectors, urged PDP members to mobilise young Nigerians who have attained 18 years to obtain permanent voters card.

    He said APC would remain in power if they failed to get voter cards.

    A PDP chieftain, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, said APC won 2015 general election because God wanted Nigerians to see that it had nothing offer.

    He said people had realised that APC was a mistake.

    The Edo State Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Paul Ohonbamu, said no campaign of calumny, no matter how cleverly packaged, could invert the narrative PDP wanted to loot.

    He said the tour by PDP to reincarnate itself was to hoodwink unsuspecting Edo people into believing that they could be trusted.

    “Not even the party’s failed attempt to sensationalise serious issues, such as attacks on Edo people in parts of Edo North by Fulani herdsmen can sway Edo people who have their consciousness intact and appreciate the issues better.

    “The rally has been a monumental failure as usual. Edo PDP has reached the age of menopause. It died in sin and cannot resurrect.

    “Edo people know that the genuineness and innocence of Governor Godwin Obaseki’s motive is unassailable and have named him their ‘Wake and See Governor.’”

  • Girl, lover boy dump 3-week-old baby

    Girl, lover boy dump 3-week-old baby

    A girl and her lover boy who allegedly dumped their three-week-old baby girl by the roadside were yesterday brought before an Upper Area Court 3 in Jos.

    Zainab Yakubu, a 15-year-old pupil, was arraigned with her boyfriend, Abdullahi Ismail, the suspected father of the abandoned child.

    The accused pleaded not guilty to the offence punishable under Sections 97 and 237 of the Penal Code.

    Prosecuting Sergeant Ahmed Labaran told the court that the case was reported to Angwan Rogo Police Station by one Abdulkarim Danbadawai of Angwan Rogo on January 19.

    According to him, the abandoned baby was recovered and brought to the station by Danbadawai.

    The prosecutor alleged that the accused met twice in a hotel at Chobe Junction in Jos after which she became pregnant.

    “The accused’s mother was ashamed of her daughter’s act of indecency and begged her to go to Abuja and stay with a relation until when she delivers,’’ Labaran said.

    He said that after Zainab gave birth to the baby, she brought the child to Jos three weeks later to look for the father.

    Labaran said that on meeting the father, Zainab gave him his child and ran away. The father also dumped the baby instantly and ran away.

    “The poor baby girl was left alone crying before she was picked and brought to the station,’’ Labaran said.

    The Judge, Yahaya Mohammed, ordered the ward head in the area, whose wife just gave birth, to keep the baby under his custody for nursing.

    Mohammed adjourned the case till February 16.

  • Banks dump start-up businesses for private investors

    •Stanbic IBTC restates commitment to SMEs

    Commercial banks are avoiding funding start-up businesses because of high risk associated with such transactions, Head Trade Finance and Enterprise Banking at Stanbic IBTC Bank, Babatunde Akindele has said.

    Speaking during Stanbic IBTC Bank 2017 SME Capacity Building Series held in Lagos, he explained that private or angel investors should fund such enterprises and grow them to full capacity instead of relying on commercial banks.

    He said: “The Angel Investors are designed to fund start-ups. Banks were not designed to fund start-ups. The best we can do is impart business skills on them to enable them grow and add value to the economy. ‘’Stanbic IBTC wants to create employment, stimulate the economy and increase the impact of SMEs on the economy” he said.

    Akindele said the essence of the capacity building is to impact skills on SMEs and enhance  their capabilities. “SMEs remain the lifeblood of any economy. The better our SMEs, the more growth we will see. The idea is to impart skills on owners of SMEs businesses. We are training SMEs operators that are both new, or have been in the business for long,” he said.

    On why it is still difficult for many SMEs to access credit, he said the operators must comply with set lending criteria.

    “All lending come with criteria. We are here to let them understand the principles of business and letting them to meet those principles. We are happy that Nigeria’s Ease of Doing Business Report released by the World Bank showed an improvement. That alone will help boost foreign direct investment to the economy, which the SMEs will benefit from,” he said.

    “SMEs are the livewire of any economy. So the idea is that the better our SMEs become, the better their impact on the economy and the more growth we will experience.

    “It is a priority and that is why we are training people who are new in the business and those who have been in the business for a while. We have different roles in the economy but impacting business skills on small and medium businesses is something we can do and it’s something we are doing right here today,” he said.

    Akindele added that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recognises that there was the need to find ways to work on interest rates for SMEs, which have given rise to a number of intervention funds like the SMEs Fund.

    “The Federal Government has provided funding to banks to lend to SMEs at much lower interest rates and a lot of SMEs are already accessing the funds. All lending comes with criteria and that is part of why we are here to better understand the principles of business to better meeting those criteria,” he added.

    The workshop, which attracted several SME operators, had facilitators drawn from the China Europe International Business School.

    Topics on book keeping, financial management, operations management, digital marketing, customer experience management, local business landscape, among others, were covered.

  • Banks dump pension assets for low-cost funds

    Banks dump pension assets for low-cost funds

    Many commercial banks are dumping their high risk assets, especially pension funds, for low-cost deposits at the retail end of the market, The Nation learnt yesterday.

    They are going for low-cost funds, especially savings and demand deposits, to enable them lend at lower interest rate and make higher margins.

    The  pension funds, under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), grew to about N6.5 trillion at the end of July 2017, with contributors hitting 7. 6 million. The fund rose to about N6.5 trillion from the N6.4 trillion it was in April.

    Under a new regulation on investment of pension fund assets Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) were asked  to invest  pension  funds  to  ensure  safety and maintenance of fair returns.

    The National Pension Commission attaches importance to corporate governance  practices  in  entities  or  specialist  investment funds seeking pension fund investments.

    But not all the pension assets  are kept with banks. Large part of the family is invested in bonds, sukuk, treasury bills, global depository notes and other securities issued by the federal government and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) or their agencies.

    Confirming the banks’ focus a low cost funds, Wema Bank’s Executive Director, Mrs. Folake Sanu said the decline in their  deposit portfolio was a deliberate effort to change the structure of deposit. It is also to give priority to low cost deposits as against term deposits including pension funds.

    She said Wema was targeting low cost funds from the retail-end of the market, insisting that retail is the future of banking.

    “We are trying to manage the high cost of funds that are prevalent in the industry, focusing basically on retail market through savings and current accounts, instead of bloating the deposit base with huge term and time deposits”Mrs. Sanu said.

    She noted that the loan book remained diversified as there were no significant exposures to the upstream oil sub-sector, power sector and foreign currency loans, the areas, which according to his, some banks had issues during the year.

    An industry source explained that the funds with the banks are those under the old pension scheme – mainly parastatals and will remain with interested banks until the last pensioner in that category dies. “Pension for pensioners under the old scheme still goes to the banks as cash receipt through the Pension Transitional Directorate (PTAD), which credits retirees’ bank accounts. Over N300 billion was remitted to the banks in the last few months and the inflow into interested lenders will continue,” the source said.

    The source explained that high net-worth customers can bring say N300 million and be asking for between 10 and 20 per cent interest, but the retail customer walks in with N100,000 and does not mind getting four per cent.

    “Therefore,  if a bank has more of the retail accounts, and is not incurring more cost, it can lend cheaper and make higher profit. Also, high net-worth customers are more demanding, they want one-on-one service which is more costly. You have to deploy manpower to service them. Many of them do not want to read emails, and do not want to complete account opening forms online”.

    Findings showed that six smaller banks recorded N233 billion decline in deposit in the first half of this year as they avoided costly assets due to customers’ demand for higher interest rate on deposits.

    The customers want higher rates, arguing that the benchmark interest rate – Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) has been at 14 per cent for more than two years; banks sometimes pay less than four per cent interest on deposits.

    The federal government is also into the deal. Its Savings Bond, spearheaded by the Debt Management Office (DMO) offering less than 14 per cent to investors as against treasury bills rate of around 18.5 per cent. But by the time treasury bills rate is marked up with risk premium, the cost of the fund will probably be at 20 to 22 per cent.

    “Again, one has to look at the operating environment. If a bank for instance is borrowing at 20 to 22 per cent, how much is it going to lend to customers? So, that’s the challenge many of the banks are facing. Retail is the future. I think about 47 per cent of Nigerians is unbanked. A lot of cash is in the informal sector and banks are going for such funds,” an asset manager who does not want to be quoted said.

    The source added: “Again, there is what we call investors’ apathy. If a bank continues to go to same group of the high net-worth customers for deposits, including those handling the pension funds, it will get tired overtime. The lender is put under pressure based on the level of attention such customers always need. But when it comes to the retail segment of the market, even if two banks are selling the same product, both of them can market the customers comfortably without getting to the same client because the market is so huge.

    “Again, with retail, the sustainability of the funds is more guaranteed. If you have a balance sheet built by fewer number of people, if any of them moves his funds, then the impact will be heavy on the bank. But if you have like 100,000 customers each depositing N10, 000, that will be N1 billion. If 10 of them decide to move their funds, that will be N100, 000 and the bank will not feel the impact. But if you have 100 customers with N50 million each, if one of them pulls out, the impact will be significant,” the source explained.

    Besides, banks are now using Financial Technology (FinTech) to drive savings at the retail end of the market because it saves time and cost given that a customer can open an account with his mobile phone without visiting the bank.

  • Don’t dump refuse in gutters, council chief warns residents

    •Lagos Mainland clears drainage

    Officials and workers of Lagos Mainland Local Government Area will clear the drainage of at least 10 streets in the next few days.

    The sanitation is aimed at reducing malaria and other diseases among the residents.

    The local government administrator, Adedoyin Rojaiye, warned the residents against dumping refuse in the gutters.

    Rojaiye spoke during his tour of the drains where two labourers, who were breaking a slab to erect a pole and make for a more comfortable exit for their hotel building, were accosted.

    He said: “Government just repaired two roads in the local government, among which is Borno Way. I am amazed to see them destroy this facility which the government put up for the people. If they put it up, I will prosecute them. This is because they have all been advised to do everything within the ambit of the law.

    “So, I have informed them that they would be prosecuted accordingly, because I won’t stand seeing a road that has just been fixed to be damaged. I have told them to remove the pole. I am sure they will comply.”

    Our reporter visited three of the streets where the sanitation was being carried out and met the local government workers clearing the drainage of sand and other forms of dirt from the gutters.

    They said this would aid an easy flow of the drains.

    A monitoring team, which comprised the local government’s Sole Administrator, Mr Adedoyin Rojaiye, was at work on Freeman Street, Borno Way and Market Street.

    Rojaiye was joined by the council’s health workers for the sanitation.

    The administrator expressed gratitude to the people for giving him the opportunity to serve them and humanity.

    He said this was a coincidence he considered as a long-time vision and buying into the vision of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode on the safety and cleanliness of the state.

    Rojaiye said he started the sanitation because of the rainy season, which he noted caused the drains to be blocked.

    The administration said the cleanliness of the streets and the gutters would avert floods and the outbreak of epidemic, especially malaria and Lassa fever.

    Mr Ganiyu, a resident of 45 Odaliki Street, said he had monitored the workers since they began the sanitation, adding that it showed the government was working.

    He recalled that hitherto, there was a blockage in the drainage and whenever it rained.

    Ganiyu said the streets got flooded, adding: “With this development, I am sure there will be free flow of water and we, the residents, will maintain this during environmental sanitation and on regular basis, dispose our dirt properly.”

    Lagos Mainland has major markets, such as the popular Oyinbo Market, where the biggest foodstuff market is situated.

    Rojaiye urged the residents to take a cue from his gesture and clean their drainage regularly to ensure a healthier environment.

  • They planned to kill and dump me in the bush —Complainant

    A 29 year-old trader, Udoka Osiaku, who recovered from multiple injuries sustained from brutal beating by five fellow traders: Anayo, Chikodi, Samuel, Friday and Chimezie, has questioned the motive behind the ferocious attack.

    He wondered why he incurred debilitating injuries from the attack when he did not quarrel with any of his colleagues before the incident.

    Narrating his ordeal in the hands of the five traders, he said: “All of us are based in Ifo, a town in Ogun State, where we do our daily business of selling goods. I sell cotton materials.

    “The only thing I know about their leader Anayo is that he is doing everything possible to push me and other traders out of business so that he would be the only person owning all the viable shops, so that no one will compete with him. I am not competing with anybody.

    I was doing well in my business. All of a sudden, I lost my shop as a result of the landlord renovating the house.

    “To still remain in business, I used all the money I had to look for another shop. God being merciful, I got another shop, and as I am trying to stabilise, I had all types of temptation coming to me and affecting my business. I did not believe that my fellow trader can do anything to drive me out of my business. I so much believe in hard work and in God as a Sabbatarian, and that God is my protector and my shield.

    “Despite what I was passing through, I did not know that somebody would be after me. Let me tell you what happened that fateåful day being 9th October, 2015. In the night hour, after close of business, I boarded a keke (tricycle) from my shop at Ifo to Iyana Koka. Along the road where I wanted to alight, I met my friend who I know and people call him ‘190’ as his alias.

    “He (190) started an argument which made us to have misunderstanding. When we were exchanging words, he said he will kill me. He called a friend called Uche who is residing at Pakoto area. I then stopped at Uche’s place to see Uche.

    “Eze Baba Anayo came out and asked me where I was going. I told him that I wanted to see Uche. As I was telling him, Uche came down and asked me to follow him upstairs.

    The compound is owned by Anayo and he is my shop neighbor at Ifo.

    “He pushed me and started beating me. He even ordered his boy Chikodi, who is his manager, Samuel, Friday and Chimezie, to join him in beating me. Chimezie used something he picked up from the ground and hit me on the spinal cord. Chimezie was targeting my eyes with boxing; all were boxing me while Anayo was head butting me.

    Even when his wife could not stand the sight of the beating, she pleaded to them to leave me, asking them what I did that would warrant such treatment.

    “The beating continued until I became unconscious and they carried me to an area along Ibadan-Abeokuta road, a place after Itoli area, just about two towns after Ifo, thinking that I would die, so that, in the morning, people would not know what happened to me or (they) may be saying the wrong thing about what happened to me.

    Though I lost consciousness, I later regained consciousness and became afraid where I was. The man who I did not know and who was standing close to me told me that I was a lucky man.

    “I got a phone call and answered. The man asked me who called me and I told him. He said the man was the person who planned to kill me for ritual purpose. When the caller continued to call me I refused to pick his call again out of fear. When I managed to leave the area I went into hiding for fear of falling into the hands of the alleged suspected ritualists.

    “I returned on Thursday having stayed in hiding for three weeks and six days and started treating myself. Though I have not fully recovered, and the worst injury is the one that touched my spinal cord. I still want to know why they attacked me. To date, I am still confused as to the plan of these people who attacked me.

    “I later managed to go to Ifo police station to lodge a complaint, and the suspects – five of them – were later arrested. We were asked to write statements and I was told that we can still settle, but when I was told that it was one Igbo township traditional ruler that we would go to for settlement, I refused because he had no right to settle a criminal case being handled by police.

    Contacted for comment, the Ogun State Police Command image maker, Muyiwa Adejobi, said it was a case of assault and the suspects would be charged to court as soon as investigation is concluded.

  • Scores dump PDP for APC in Ondo

    Scores dump PDP for APC in Ondo

    Leaders of the Ondo State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and over 600 members in the oil rich Ilaje Local Government Area yesterday defected to the rival All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Led by Prince Glory Okuntade, the defectors said they were leaving PDP, which they described as Egypt, “because of its leadership failure and mismanagement it plunged the state into in the last six years”.

    Besides Okuntade, other leaders of the defectors that dumped the PDP included former political and party office holders.

    They were Timi Olowofoyeku, Dele Asogbon, Ademibo Okuntade and Festus Ademuwagun, Chief Ebini Idowu and Oronla Adebanjo.

    Okuntade, who spoke on behalf of other defectors, said they had nothing to show their supporters for the development that their membership of PDP had brought to them.

    A leader of the party, who was also the state PDP governorship candidate in the last election, Chief Olusola Oke, said it was time for Ilaje sons and daughters to dump the PDP, which has allegedly brought untold hardship to the people.

    His words: “I am ashamed of being a member of a party that has plunged the country into calamity. With the revelation coming out now, I have to apologise to my teeming supporters and Nigerians that my former party brought Nigeria to her knees.”

    Oke, who was a former Legal Adviser of the party, said the change that has taken root at the Federal level would soon berth in the state in next year’s governorship election and the local governments’ poll later in the year.

  • Jonathan’s associate, others dump PDP for APC in Bayelsa

    Jonathan’s associate, others dump PDP for APC in Bayelsa

    •We’ll sweep Dickson out of office

    The Bayelsa State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), yesterday suffered a major setback ahead of the December 5th governorship election in the state.

    The PDP lost hundreds of its members to the APC in a carnival-like reception ceremony held at the state secretariat of the APC in Yenagoa.

    Among those who abandoned the PDP were former political office holders, appointees who served in different capacities in various PDP administrations and past party executive members.

    Also former aides, whose appointments were terminated in controversial circumstances by the incumbent Governor, Mr. Seriake Dickson, were among persons who joined the APC.

    They were led to the APC by a two-time member of the House of Representatives, Mr. Warman Ogoriba, who was denied the PDP ticket in the last general elections.

    Pioneer Majority Leader of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, Mr. Ayiba Glover; former Secretary of the PDP and close associate of President Goodluck Jonathan, Prof. Tarila; former PDP Secretary, Sokari Jackson; former Commissioner for Environment in Dickson’s administration, Mr. Sylvanus Abila and former Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Charles Opuala were among the defectors.

    Others in the train of former political office holders who dumped the PDP are Gesiye Frank-Oputu, Abel Osuo, Nelson Belief, Samuel Boy, William Ofoni, Benjamin Yebouowei, Ayibakoro Nelson and Livingstone Egba among others.

    They were received by a former governor and leader of the APC in the state, Chief Timipre Sylva, in the presence of former Ambassador Felix Oboro, former acting governor, Chief Nestor Binabo, APC state chairman, Tiwe Orunimighe and former deputy and acting governor, Chief Werinipre Seibarugu.

    Sylva, while handing brooms, the symbol of the party, to the defectors, said the APC had come to end divisions in the state.

    Describing the APC as one family, he said he was highly privileged to welcome two persons who became acting governors during his administration to the APC.

    He said the APC would use brooms too sweep Dickson and his PDP government out of the state, adding that the PDP was already dead and was waiting for its funeral.

    He said all the people who matter in the state and the masses had joined the boat of the party, which he said is sailing to the Creek Haven Government House.

    He said with the number of people joining the APC, there is no way the party will not form the next government on February 14, 2016.

    “The APC ship has started sailing and everybody is welcome. It is the ship of unity and if you don’t get inside, you will be marooned. The PDP is dead. This Dickson’s government is dead. It is only waiting for its funeral”, he said.

    Oruminighe, in his welcome address, said he had predicted at the early stages of the APC that the party would form the next government.

    He said the Dickson government was unfriendly and deceitful, questioning the rationale behind the government’s move to reconstitute the Bayelsa volunteers.

    “Dickson has been there since, but he did not talk about Bayelsa volunteer. Now that he wants re-election, he started constituting the volunteers. Don’t be deceived,” he said.

    Referring to the APC as the only platform available in the state, he said the party would eliminate the existing classification of the people into core and fake Ijaw, and assured the new members of a level-playing field, adding that all the privileges available to old members would also extended to them.

    He, however, warned that the supremacy of the party must be upheld at all times.

    Advancing reasons for their defection, Ogoriba said the APC is the light while the PDP represents darkness.

    He said the government of the PDP in the state was based on falsehoods and too many talks without action.

    According to him, the Dickson-led government has ridiculed the people of the stage by building a “monkey bridge and walkway” in the name of a flyover.

    He said while the PDP was claiming to be unruffled by the defections of its members, it was busy calling defectors at night for reconciliation.

    “The APC is a sweet party and we are happy we have been accepted into it. We will subject ourselves to all the authority of the party. We have not come with any ambition. We have come to strengthen the party. With our presence here, the PDP has murdered sleep.”

     

  • Crisis in Falcons’ camp: Coach Okon threatens to dump team

    Crisis in Falcons’ camp: Coach Okon threatens to dump team

    Super Falcons’ Head Coach Edwin Okon has threatened to dump the team if the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) refuses to accord him the respect  given to other senior national team coaches.

    In furtherance of his threat, the coach at the weekend prevented a NFF delegation from addressing the team during one of its training sessions.

    It was gathered that Okon’s displeasure started when he submitted his initial Falcons’ team list of 35 players to the NFF. But the NFF increased the number to 36 by including a goal keeper that excelled during the last Women Federation Cup in Lagos.

    This did not go down well with the coach and he voiced his displeasure over the inclusion of the player.

    To make matters worse, the NFF dropped one of Okon’s backroom staff for insubordination and undermining the authority of the federation.

    Okon was said to have not taken that decision lightly, and he questioned why a decision to drop his backroom staff would be taken without his consent. He was quoted as saying that the NFF should know that he is a senior team coach, and should be treated as such. He threatened to dump the team if the NFF refused to respect him as a such.

    As a way of driving home his displeasure, the Rivers Angels gaffer refused the NFF delegation led by Mrs. Dilichukwu Onyedinma, an executive board member and Chairman of the Nigeria Women Football League, the opportunity to address the players in one of their training sessions on Friday.

    The delegation had arrived at the FIFA Goal Project, Abuja National Stadium  training venue of team at about 3.30pm, but waited till 5.15pm, with the coach insisting that no one would be allowed access to the team until he must have rounded up the training.

    Okon’s attitude drew the irk of the fans and journalists who were covering the training, because he directed the delegation to walk round the pitch to the extreme end  where he was seated to meet him, and discuss whatever they wanted to tell the girls

    The coach, however, called off the training at 5.20pm , five minutes after the delegation had angrily left. Nevertheless, Onyedinma still went ahead to donate N100,000 to the girls for their refreshment before leaving.

  • Players dump Kaduna United

    Players dump Kaduna United

    Relegated Kaduna United will be shopping for new players when they resume playing in the Nigeria National League, as most of their players have left for greener pastures.

    SL10.ng checks at the team camp revealed at least seven regular players from last season have moved on to clubs still campaigning in the Nigeria Premier League.

    Already the trio of Iliya Jibo, Linus Adams and Ibrahim Sisi are close to agreeing moves to FC Taraba and are already in Jalingo training with the team.

    Central defender Peter Ambrose, is currently in the camp of Wikki Tourist and talks are already at an advanced stage regarding his transfer to the newly promoted NPFL team.

    Highly-rated midfielder Peter Onoja is with Lobi stars, while goalkeeper John Shuaibu is presently with Sunshine Stars of Akure.

    All of these departures will hit the newly inaugurated board of the team lead by Sabo Babayaro,  as they bid to return the team back to the top flight of Nigeria football.

    However, the teams main problem appears to be in the area of finances, as players of the team from last season protested last week over unpaid twelve months salaries from last season.