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Tag: Yemi Osinbajo

  • Oba Oniru lived `life of significance’ – Osinbajo

    The Vice-President, Prof.  Yemi Osinbajo, said in Lagos on Wednesday that Oniru of Iruland, Oba Abiodun Oniru, lived a life of significance and contribution to the nation.

    Osinbajo spoke during a condolence visit to the family of the late monarch at his Victoria Island Palace.

    Oniru died on Monday after a brief illness.

    Aged 82, the traditional ruler is survived by wives and children, among whom are a former Lagos State Commissioner for Waterfront, Adesegun Oniru, and an On-Air personality, Tolu Demuren, also known as Toolz.

    The vice-president said that the late Oniru’s guidance and counsel all the time was impactful.

    “I served in this state as Attorney-General and throughout that period, he was always there for us, always there to support us.

    Read Also: We’re not probing Osinbajo, N-SIP-EFCC

    “So, we are all deeply saddened about his departure and we have all lost a father, we have all lost a dear father.

    “We thank God that he lived a life of significance; he lived a life of serious contribution to our state and the nation.

    “So, on behalf of the Federal Government and President Muhammadu Buhari, I express sincere condolence to the Oniru family and to our state, Lagos State,’’ he said.

    Responding on behalf of the family, Adesegun thanked the vice-president for finding time to come to condole with the family.

    He recalled that while Osinbajo served as the Attorney General of Lagos State, he also served in that cabinet which had contributed a lot to the nation.

    Osinbajo had earlier signed the condolence registrar.

     

  • Osinbajo, Ladipo, others to join ‘Great Legends in Africa’

    VICE President Yemi Osinbajo and some other distinguished Nigerians have been selected to join the league of ‘Great Legends in Africa.’

    In a release signed by the Honours Selecting Committee, the Director, Elation Communications, High Chief Darlinghtyn Momoh Umoru said: “These honours are bestowed only on a few men and women, who must have distinguished themselves by those rare qualities of an icon in their various fields of endeavour.”

    The statement added that those qualities had been identified in recognition of the achievements of the Vice President’s achievements, his beneficial and unsolicited selfless service to humanity and nation building, not just in Nigeria, but in the whole of Africa.

    Consequently, the statement said, VP Osinbajo and a few other men and women, who had equally met the criteria for these honours, would be conferred with the Great Legend in Africa Gold Award at the Nigeria National Merit Award House, popularly called MERIT HOUSE.

    Read Also: Osinbajo to speak today at LCCI policy forum

    Others to be honoured on the occasion include the President General (Worldwide) of the Nigeria Football Supporters Club, Dr. Rafiu Oladipo, who has had an unbeatable record of supporting football as recognised by the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) and the Confederation of African Football (CAF), amongst others.

    Also to be recognised, according to the statement, is Prof. John Bosco Akamnonu, the founding father of Tansian University.

    The event, which is the third in the series, was originally scheduled for September 28, but it will now hold on October 31, the statement added.

    It noted that the epic event would also be used to mark the 10th year anniversary of the organisation.

  • AfCFTA’ll open new vistas to banking sector, says Osinbajo

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo yesterday said the signing of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement(AfCTA) offered Nigeria great opportunities to extend its banking and financial services across Africa.

    He spoke at the 12th Annual Banking and Finance Conference 2019 of the Chartered Institute of Bankers (CIBN)  in Abuja.

    The two-day conference had: The Future of the Nigerian Banking Industry-360 as its theme.

    Osinbajo said there was also need for Nigeria to boost her exports which could not be achieved without improving infrastructure.

    He said:”With the signing by the President of AfCTA, there are great opportunities and challenges.

    “We  have great opportunities to  extend the reach of our banking and financial services across Africa where we are making waves, and export more where we are exporting, especially in fast moving goods, cement and now fintech .

    “But we must improve infrastructure to expand our manufacturing base, and produce cheaper; this is crucial because we are also the target market for all Africa.

    “We are faced with the threat of smuggling; we will now have to contend with the threat of dumping.

    “This is why the current stage of negotiations on the AfCTA is crucial;  I think the sum and substance of what I am saying is that, our financial service sector now has to redefine itself.’’

    He said efforts needed to be made to  lend to Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and the entire real sector.

    He said  the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had been in partnership with some banks and had successfully given loans to almost one million farmers under the Anchor Borrowers Programme but the need was far greater.

    According to him, there are  series of measures the Federal Government has taken to unlock lending to critical, labour intensive sectors of the economy.

    “In agriculture, we have seen how the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) has given the banking industry greater confidence to unlock new capital for Agropreneurs by de-risking value chains across the nation.

    “The immediate dividend of enhanced agricultural productivity is the sharp increase in the population of employed and banked Nigerians,” Osinbajo said.

    He said reducing the nation’s foreign exchange expenditure on food imports would be expended on its extensive infrastructure development and social investment programmes for further job creation and enhanced financial inclusion.

    “ We are leveraging the success, knowledge and experience of our work in NIRSAL to fundamentally reform the Solid Minerals Development Fund (SMDF).”

    According to Osinbajo, it is also de-risk chains in the solid minerals sector with a risk-sharing mechanism, to secure lending from the banking sector for private capital to in-flow and build new allied industries.

    “We have been in discussions with the national Pension Commission (PENCOM) on de-risking pension funds to enable lending for infrastructure development.’’

    The vice president said financial inclusion was key to realising  President Muhammadu Buhari’s promise to lift 100 million people out of poverty in 10 years.

    He said  the journey of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty started with collaboration with the Bank of Industry(BoI) to deliver the Government Enterprises and Empowerment Programme(GEEP)– Tradermoni and Marketmoni.

    He said that after emerging from a recession, Nigeria had attained a reasonable measure of macroeconomic stability.

    Earlier, in his address of welcome, CIBN’s President, Uche Olowu, said that the conference was symbolic and significant to CIBN and Nigeria in two great ways’.

    He said it marked the 125th anniversary of the emergence of banking in Nigeria.

    Olowu said it was also coming exactly a week after the 23rd World Conference on Banking Institutes hosted by the London Institute of Banking and Finance.

    In his remarks, CBN President, Godwin Emefiele, said that 21st-century banking was digital and had come to stay in Nigeria.

    Represented by Dr Joseph Nnanna, Deputy Governor, Economic Policy Directorate, CBN, Emefiele urged the Nigerian banking system to be alive to its responsibility, reminding them that the days of arm-chair banking were over.

     

  • Osinbajo, British, French ambassadors for UNILAG International Week

    Vice President Prof Yemi Osinbajo, British High Commissioner to Nigeria Catriona Laing and French ambassador Jerome Pasquier will lead other eminent personalities to the maiden edition of University of Lagos International Week

    The event, scheduled to hold between October 13 and 16, is themed: Education in a Connected World.

    A statement by the university said expected delegates include members of the diplomatic community, African education policy makers , representatives of Nigerian and international education institutions, leading Academicians, members of industry and development partners as well as members of the University Alumni.

    Universities from the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, European Union, Asia as well as many African countries will join the UNILAG and other local universities to discuss how education will help shape the future of Nigeria.

    Read Also: Nigeria bound to succeed, says Osinbajo

    Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) Executive Secretary Prof Suleiman Elias Bogoro will deliver a keynote address.

    UNILAG Vice Chancellor Prof Oluwatoyin Ogundipe is the Chief Host.

    The week, according to the institution, will be both an academic and policy-driven.

    “It is organised to address the requirements of educating students effectively in the 21st century. The objectives of the program are: to provide a forum for cross fertilisation of ideas between industry and academia, between institutions from the global north and south as well as within the global south on the place of Nigeria in the fourth industrial revolution; to promote the African Union objective of a more integrated Africa and provide a platform to discuss strategies that could assist Nigeria benefit from the opportunities provided by education in a connected world,” the statement said.

  • Nigerians better together, division no option, says Osinbajo

    VICE President Yemi Osinbajo said on Saturday that it was very important for Nigeria to remain as a nation than to  split into parts.

    Speaking in Osogbo while delivering the eighth convocation lecture of the Osun State University, he said, “Rather than promoting division, Nigerians should continue to promote unity and togetherness.”

    He spoke on the theme “Six decades of chequered nationhood: Nigeria still holds the key to Africa’s development.” He said, “It is not true that our diversity is an impediment to our sustainability; our strength is in our size. Great nations are those that stay together despite their diversity.

    “Going our separate ways will not solve our problems; staying together will be of great benefit to us. Nigeria still holds the key to Africa’s development and remains a regional champion.

    “Our manifest destiny is to lead Africa and the world, so we must be united. Nigeria’s outstanding endowments are facing challenges, but the nation must follow the path that made other nations great.”

    He emphasized the need for Nigeria to embrace merit over quota in appointments, and also invest in human development capital.

    The Vice President said that President Muhammadu Buhari was doing everything possible to lift Nigerians out of poverty.

    Read Also: Nigeria bound to succeed, says Osinbajo

    According to him, “The Federal Government is investing in infrastructure, agriculture, education, power, technology, innovation and social investment programmes to empower Nigerians.

    “On a daily basis, the Federal Government feeds 9.5 million children under its National School Feeding Programme in 26 states in the country.

    “Already, 520 Nigerians have been engaged under the N-Power programme, while tradermoni programme to empower petty traders is still ongoing,” he said.

    Osinbajo also said that the Buhari led-administration would continue to fight against corruption to move Nigeria forward.

    He said that the menace was fighting back, but declared that its kicks would not deter government’s resolve to flush it.

    In his remarks, Gov. Gboyega Oyetola urged the graduating students to be good ambassadors of the university wherever they found themselves.

    Prof. Labode Popoola, the Vice-Chancellor of the University, in his speech, said that 49 students made First Class, while 670 had Second Class Upper.

    He said that 892 students made Second Class Lower, 194 Third Class, while nine graduated with Pass degrees.

    Interior Minister Rauf Aregbesola, Mr Jim Ovia, CEO Zenith Bank, Mr Wale Babalakin, Chairman, University of Lagos Governing Council, and Mrs. Nike Okundaye, CEO Nike Gallery, bagged honorary degrees at the ceremony.

  • Osinbajo lauds Emmanuel’s industrialisation agenda

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has lauded the efforts of Governor Udom Emmanuel in industrialisation and has declared Akwa Ibom State as his second home.

    During the commencement of commissioning of projects with the Flour Mill Factory in Onna as first, Osinbajo, who was impressed with the pace of growth in the state, congratulated Governor Udom Emmanuel for his strides and described the Flour Mill factory as a product of foresight.

    The Vice President, who is in the State to inaugurate three landmark projects to mark the 32nd anniversary of its creation, said he was satisfied with Emmanuel for sharing in the vision of rapid transformation in the state.

    Read Also: Nigeria bound to succeed, says Osinbajo

    “I want to commend the Governor for providing world class infrastructure and for attracting investors to this state. Your people are warm and hospitable and that’s why a lot of investors come here. I am from Ogun State, but whenever I think of a second home, I come to Akwa Ibom.

    “I was in this State in the last two years to commission the Syringe factory. That was a very thoughtful and foresighting project and today I am here to commission another even more foresighting projects,” Osinbajo said.

    While welcoming the Vice President to the Flour Mill, Emmanuel thanked Prof. Osinbajo for rising above biases, a message his administration has preached through the Dakkada creed.

  • N614b bailout: Governors reject repayment plan

    GOVERNORS have rejected the Federal Government’s template to refund the N614 billion bailout cash to states during the 2015-2017 economic crisis.

    They have offered to refund N70 million per state, per month over a 20-year period instead of the N225 million monthly payback per state, which the Federal Government proposed, sources said yesterday.

    According to the governors, paying back N225 million each would cut deeply into the finances of states.

    The governors stated their position at Thursday’s meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC), chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

    As a result of the disagreement, the commencement date of the deduction has not been fixed.

    The governors, who said  they were ready to commence repayment, insisted, however, that it should not start until a proper reconciliation is done.

    Each state is expected to refund about N17.5billion to the Federal Government. Only Lagos State did not obtain the loan.

    The Federal Government gave the conditional budget support facility to the states through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in 2017.

    A top source at the meeting said: “The NEC agreed that the states must refund the N614 billion. This is not in dispute at all. But the template brought forward by the Federal Government was rejected by NEC members

    “The governors based their calculation on the clause in the agreement with the Federal Government before the N614 billion bailout was given to them as a loan.

    “They said the government wanted the cash paid back in 20 years. They insisted that the rules cannot be changed midway.”

    A governor, who spoke in confidence said: “We also pleaded with the Federal Government to stay action on the effective date of the deduction until a proper reconciliation of how much each state owes is concluded.

    “There are a lot of indices to be taken into consideration. We have some outstanding cash with the Federal Government too.

    “A reconciliation is headed by Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State. We will wait till the committee submits its report before determining when the refund will start.”

    At a pre-NEC meeting on Wednesday in Abuja, the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Dr.  Kayode Fayemi, said states were not against paying back the loans, but there must be proper book keeping.

    He said: “If you borrow, you pay. We are never averse to payment of loans that we took under legal environment and we don’t want a situation that will put our financial and banking system into jeopardy.

    “However, governors believe that we are ready to pay, we also have a duty to ensure a reconciliation of account as far as moneys owed to states may be concerned and that is the process that is ongoing.

    “It is a storm in a tea cup. When we read about governors refusing to pay it is not true…we don’t have such an issue, we are ready to pay”.

    The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, hinted of plans to deduct the refund from source.

    Mrs. Ahmed, who spoke at a Public Consultative Forum on the draft 2020-2022 Medium Term Expenditure Framework in Abuja, said  the deduction will commence from this month.

    She said the repayment will be deducted from the affected states’ allocations during the next Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting.

    The FAAc meeting held yesterday with the three tiers of government sharing N720 billion.

    NGF condemns invasion of governor’s home

    At their meeting on Wednesday, the NGF condemned the invasion of the home of some governors by security agencies.

    Fayemi, who also read the communiqué at the end of the meeting, described the action as an “indirect violation of the immunity of the governors.”

    He said the forum discussed the issue with President Muhammadu Buhari and the Inspector -General (IG) Mohammed Adamau.

    The communiqué  said: “The Forum was briefed by the Chairman, Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State on the meeting between the Forum and the President first, and later the Inspector General of Police on the unlawful invasion of some governors’ residences, in direct violation of the immunity of the governors.”

    He said the governors “pledged to continue to collaborate with journalists, especially around the issues of security when they work in hostile environment.”

    The Forum also received a briefing on the status of the World Bank -Assisted State Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability Program for results (SFTAS).

    “The team from the World Bank assured the Forum that all assessments now imply that states have improved in transparency ratings over the last quarter.

    ”The Forum received, in session, the new Country Director of the World Bank, Shubham Chaudhuri, whose tour of duty commences on 1st of October, 2019. He replaces Ben Masoud after his four-year tenure in Nigeria.

    “The Forum received a presentation from Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NIMET) advising that the country should expect above average rainfall which has already resulted in severe flooding in many states.

    “The Forum listened to a presentation by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), which highlighted the issues around inadequate transmission and sought governors’ commitment to improve the power situation in the country. The Forum resolved to partner TCN to improve power supply nationwide.”

    Those in attendance were governors Babatunde Sanwo-Olu (Lagos), Samuel Ortom (Benue), Bala Mohammed (Bauchi), Henry Seriake Dickson (Bayela), Abubakar Badaru, (Jigawa), Ifeanyi Okowa (Delta), Emeka Ihedioha (Imo), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), Aminu Masari (Katsina) and Bello Matawalle (Zamfara).

    The deputy governors who came for the session were from  Nasarawa and Kaduna states.

     

  • N481b lost to oil theft

    NIGERIA lost 22.6 million barrels of oil to petroleum pipeline vandalism and crude oil theft in the first half of this year, the National Economic Council (NEC) heard on Thursday.

    The value was estimated at $1.35 billion (about N481.95 billion), according to Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki, who briefed State House reporters at the end of the 97th NEC meeting in Abuja. He was with Governors Dave Umahi (Ebonyi) and Inuwa Yahaya (Gombe).

    Thursday’s NEC meeting was chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

    If the loss is not checked, Obaseki said Nigeria would lose $2.7 billion by the end of the year. And to check the trend, he said his committee recommended to the Council the need to restructure the maintenance and ownership of pipelines across the country.

    The recommendations, he said, also include the prosecution of criminals and training of special judges to handle the cases.

    He said the committee also recommended that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) should endeavour to engage the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) to track the countries benefiting from the stolen crude oil.

    According to him, the Council resolved that the recommendations should be forwarded to President Muhammadu Buhari, who is the Minister of Petroleum.

    Obaseki said: “The 13-member ad-Hoc Committee, which is chaired by me, submitted its report to the NEC today. The committee was constituted to address the impact of vandalism, oil theft, illegal bunkering on oil production. It was also to check the effectiveness of the activities of the joint task force and other security agencies in curbing the menace of oil theft; and also to consider the setting up of a special court to prosecute offenders amongst others.

    “The terms of reference of the ad hoc committee include restoring and sustaining the four major trunk pipelines, which moves crude oil to the terminals, to access the challenges and draw up a road map to guide further actions towards finding a lasting solution towards the problem.

    “The committee could co-opt individuals to facilitate its work and we are supposed to update council regularly.”

    On the findings of the committee, he said: “The committee discovered that there were huge losses. In fact, the NNPC reported to the committee that the 22.6 million barrels of crude oil valued at approximately $1.35 billion was lost during the first half of this year.

    “And if this situation is not contained by the end of the year, we would have lost in excess of $2.7 billion.

    “The losses that were recorded in the first half of the year were broken down as follows: The Nembe creek trunk-line lost 9.2 million barrel, the Trans-Niger pipeline lost 8.6 million barrel, the Trans-Focadoes Pipeline lost 3.9 million barrel, Trans-Escravos pipe we lost 877,000 barrel.”

    He said the committee decried the prevailing governance structure of the pipeline in which no one is held accountable whenever breaches and losses occur.

    “The slow and inadequate prosecution of thieves, despite numerous arrests and seizures”, he noted, “have continued to encourage the menace.”

    He also said that the absence of petroleum products’ filling stations in most of the oil-producing communities around the Niger Delta have made them resort to illegal bunkering and illegal refineries.

    Obaseki also said that huge internal and external market of stolen products exist across the west coast of Africa and the sub-region.

    He added: “Therefore, the ad-hoc committee made the following recommendations:

    • That there is need to restructure the maintenance and ownership of oil pipelines as a way of tackling the perpetrators of crude and other products.
    • That we should have a legal framework that will ensure that criminals are duly prosecuted, imprisoned and their assets confiscated.
    • That there should be special courts to try offenders and also have a special legal task force to coordinate the prosecution of arrested offenders as well as train special judges to handle cases of oil theft.
    • That NNPC should be encouraged to engage with the National Intelligence agency (NIA) to identify the markets for stolen petroleum products across the continent.
    • That the governors of the oil-producing states should set up actions to develop the communities that are most prone and through which these pipelines run with their 13 per cent derivation allocation as well as implement programmes that will be impactful and make life easy for the people.

    “It noted that the NDDC (Niger Delta Development Commission), which has the mandate to undertake development in the region, should be restructured to perform its role better.

    “That they should emphasis creating employment opportunities for youths in the region.

    “That the proposed funding arrangement to be jointly funded by the federal, states and the oil companies to ensure the communities through which these pipeline traverse get some benefits to encourage them to protect these lines.”

    On resolutions, he said: “Therefore, council resolved as follows: That recommendations should be presented to the president, who is also the minister of petroleum, for the final decision for implementation.

    “The chairman of council also asked the NNPC to make a presentation to council on the state of PMS and other products which are smuggled across the borders.”

    Umahi, who is chair of the committee on the herders/farmers crisis, said that his panel proposed a N100 billion budget for the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP) in the report it submitted to the Council.

    While participation by states is voluntary, Umahi said the Federal Government would contribute 80 per cent of the budget and interested states would provide 20 of the budget, the land and other logistics.

    He said: “As the chairman sub-committee on herders/farmers crisis, NEC was today (yesterday) briefed. The committee presented a National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP) 2019-2028 today.

    “The plan is not targeted only on cows, but a holistic strategy to address animal husbandry. The plan has six pillars through which it aims to transform the livestock production system in Nigeria along market oriented value chain while ensuring an atmosphere of peace and justice.

    “The six key pillars include: economic development (investment), conflict resolution, justice and peace, humanitarian relief and early recovery (that is to IDPs), human capital development and cross-cutting issues such as gender, youth, research and information and strategic communication.”

    The committee, he said, proposed the implementation of guidelines to guide the Federal Government and states.

    “N100 billion budget was proposed to support the project. Federal Government is to contribute 80 percent in grant to support the project while states will contribute land, project implementation structure, personnel and 20 percent cost of the project.

    “Council resolved today that there is need to look at the trans-human West African protocol. You cannot allow such movement of cattle without registration and monitoring.

    “Council emphasised the need to continue to establish the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP), a creation of NEC and state governors and, of course, minister of agriculture is also a member of this committee and minister of interior is also a member, and it is entirely distinct from RUGA.

    “NEC adopted the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP) January 18, 2019 and it is a creation of national economic council of course in liaison with the federal government.

    “States will determine whether or not to participate. Federal government did not impose this plan, participation remains voluntary. What we are talking about is National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP) which is a product of NEC in liaison with federal government.”

    Ruling out foreigners from benefiting from the plan, he said: “Our budget did not include non-Nigerians and so, I am not aware if the governor said so and It’s possible you did not hear the governor very well, but there is no way we can make our programme which the Federal Government will put eighty percent and the States will put twenty percent and then we are now going to accommodate non Nigerians, it’s not part of the programme.

    “And of course, what we have said here is that they would have to review our ECOWAS protocol and see what we can do about that.

    “Of fact, we commend the Federal Government for any reason they closed the borders, and this is the kind of thing we are looking for. While we are trying to reposition this programme, there will be temporary restrain for such. NEC did not make any budget to accommodate non Nigerians. This is very important.”

    Inuwa said that governors requested for clarification from the Council chair (vice president), on the relationship between NEC and the newly formed Economic Advisory Council (NEC).

    According to him, Prof Osinbajo explained that those councils are advisory for the benefit of Mr. President and that while NEC is established by the constitution, they are to complement one another.

    “He (Osinbajo) added that NEC could be briefed regularly on the activities of the Economic Advisory Council with the permission of Mr. President”, Inuwa said.

    The Secretary to the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), Dr Jumoke Oduwole, according to Gombe State Governor, gave an update on the enabling business environment and informed the council that the current reforms in African countries as contained in the African Development Bank Economic Outlook report released in January 2019 and in the World Bank Ease of Doing Business 2019.

    He said Nigeria is ranked 146 with micro, small and medium enterprises making up to 90 percent of businesses in Nigeria.

    “And that the economic recovery and growth plan 2017-2020, which has three broad objectives which includes restoring growth, investing in people and building a competitive economy, has positioned Nigeria as a force in building a competitive economy.

    “The committee was mandated to take Nigeria to top 100 in the 2020 World Bank ease of doing business index.

    “It is also mandated to achieve the required political buy-ins across all arms and levels of government. PEBEC in the past three years achieved the following:

    • Moved up 24 places in the World Bank ease of doing business ranking
    • 32 states, led by Kaduna, Enugu, Abia, Lagos and Anambra have improved in their ease of doing business environment.
    • Independent survey adjudged Nigeria as impactful in terms of procedures and time of doing businesses.”

  • AMCON: Taking loan recovery to the next level

    There has been noticeable rise in positive responses from obligors since the constitution of the task force on recovery of AMCON debt under the office of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo SAN and the subsequent signing of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (Amendment No. 2) Act 2019 by President Muhammadu Buhari last month.

    Finally, the jinx is broken at AMCON, so to speak. Now the corporation is singing a new melody. It is a far cry from the singsong of yesteryears; of complaints that it was finding it difficult to get its obligors to honour their obligation by paying their outstanding debts.

    No doubt the amended law is working; big names are coming forward with genuine commitment to repay their debt and indeed paying. Donald Duke, former governor of Cross Rivers State, it was reported, is one big name that recently paid up his debt. AMCON had gone to court and obtained an order on the ex-governor’s choice Ikoyi property over a huge debt of over N500 million. The media has since reported on the settlement.

    What has changed significantly since the signing of the new law is the speed with which the courts are responding to AMCON’s application to take over the properties of recalcitrant obligors. Before now, all manners of judicial technicalities delayed the processes thereby slowing the pace of recovery.

    Another interesting fact is the amount of powers the law gave AMCON. For example, the amended Act empowers the recovery agency to access the financial details of debtors. It empowers AMCON to by-pass any legal or procedural restriction, specifically those protecting banking details of debtors, and get unhindered access to their bank records. The agency can now place bank accounts of debtors under surveillance and can now establish the location of debtors’ funds at home or in the Diaspora. The law also empowers AMCON to furnish government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) with a list of debtors and advises government not to do business with such defaulting companies.

    One of the earliest tests of the law was the case of ABC Orjiako, the chairman of SEPLAT Petroleum Development Company. A Federal High Court in Abuja presided by Justice Taiwo Taiwo granted AMCON’s application to take over large portions of his assets as chairman in addition to granting order to AMCON to take over of the assets of two of Orjiako’s affiliate companies, Shebah Exploration & Production Company Limited and Allenne Limited. The court order affected all movable and immovable assets of the two companies, including the oil production facilities and other assets belonging to Shebah Exploration & Production Company Limited and located in and around Ukpokiti Oil Field. The court order, issued on August 15, was accompanied with the letters to the managing directors of over 20 commercial and merchant banks in the country where Dr. Orjiako and his allies have accounts.

    The court order also gave the receiver/manager of AMCON judicial protection to take over the assets of Shebah Exploration and Production Company Limited for the purpose of liquidating its outstanding indebtedness to AMCON.

    The wrath of the law is seen in the way the court order not only authorized the AMCON to take over the assets of the companies but it also authorized the receiver/manager to take over Ojiako’s property in Parkview Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos, and Maryland in the United States as well as London, United Kingdom.

    These blitzkriegs have shocked and awed the obligor community in Nigeria and beyond and has since sent them running to AMCON with genuine out-of-court settlement propositions. It seems the amended Act came along with the long-awaited tonic needed to recover from the feverish hold of the obligors, whose total obligation is more than what Nigeria borrowed from world financial institutions in recent past.

    Until the signing of the new law, the names of individuals behind the N5 trillion debt portfolios were almost held in secret. Today such names can be published. Their cover has been blown. Today we know the details of persons and companies owing the nation some N5 trillion. We even know that 20% of the defaulters owe 65% of the money in question. Nigerians are grateful to AMCON and the federal government for starting the debt recovery blitzkrieg from the top 20 debtors. The law that was drafted to guard the powers that be has been amended to work for the interest of the Nigerian populace.

    Pampered individuals lurking in corridors of power are no longer untouchable.

    Lest we forget, the debtors AMCON is dealing with now have passed through all the three stages of a normal debt recovery process.  They failed to settle their debts with their initial creditors’ internal collectors (bank loan recovery teams) referred to as first-party agency, which is the first stage in the process. The second stage is when a third party is introduced to play the role of debt collector. The third stage is for the original creditor to write off the debt and sell it, which is where AMCON came in.

    AMCON has acquired the Non-Performing Loans of the banks using taxpayers’ money; so, it is in the national interest that it recovers these loans from the debtors and in such a way that it can return profit on its purchase. To do otherwise would be to short-change toiling Nigerian taxpayers.

    Part of the AMCON’s mandate is to assist eligible financial institutions to efficiently dispose of eligible bank assets; efficiently manage and dispose of eligible bank assets acquired by it; and obtain the best achievable financial returns on eligible bank assets or other assets acquired by it. In the course of implementing its mandate, AMCON has bought huge toxic bank assets and injected huge amounts of funds to save the country’s financial system from systemic collapse. But its successes in stabilizing the financial system will not be fully celebrated until it is able to recover those debts owed it by individuals and companies.

    NO doubt, AMCON MD/CEO, Ahmed Lawan Kuru and his management team, with the support of the Board, have shown that they are up to the task. What started as a strategy to use the powers of other financial crime institutions has now quickly metamorphosed into renewed fighting powers for AMCON through the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (Amendment No. 2) Act 2019. So far the federal government has displayed the required political will needed for the debt recovery efforts must succeed and the judiciary is in concert too.

    The debt recovery effort has a positive multiplier effect as we have started seeing from the news that last month AMCON refunded N282.5m to the Zamfara State government after property belonging to the state were auctioned in a move to recover debts owed by the former administration of Abdulaziz Yari.

    The multiplier effect should be double-aged. While people like Governor Matawalle of Zamfara are happy with the results of recovery efforts, AMCON should also be concerned with determining whether there was foul play with bank officials in the approving the loans that turned out to be non-performing in the first instance. Criminal connivance should not be ruled out in such matter. Deliberate overvaluing of collaterals is a common feature of non-performing loans years after they have been approved. And where such deliberate breaches of risk management protocols are established, penalties should be meted on the culprits to serve as deterrence those currently in the system.

    With the amended AMCON Act in force, and from what we have started seeing of its implementation, especially by the courts of competent jurisdiction, very soon the table will turn for common good.

    From all indications, it does appear the past years that AMCON suffered lean recoveries due to “recalcitrance” on the part of the obligors will soon give way to one astonishing fat year. This is because the over N1.2 trillion recovered during its years in existence will give way to N3.8 trillion projected to be recovered in the coming year. When that happens, it will be the most phenomenal debt recovery effort ever seen in Nigeria’s history.

     

    • Hassan, a financial analyst wrote from Abuja.

  • The Cow and Cowry

    IN the beginning was the land, and the land was with the people and the land was god. No one up till today, in spite of the sophisticates of technology and commerce, has been able to do it in. It has duelled men and with men, and men with it, and there is no effort that people ever made that was without the land.  When we fly, we come down to it alive, lame or dead; or when we paddle through roaring waters, we berth for peace. When it is all over, it has never lost appetite to swallow and digest the end of all flesh.

    It is the light of society even when we try to make light of it. Out of it we feed, on it we walk, from it we fly, for it we war and worry. Also, we make routes and in Nigeria, it has had its own tumults called the herdsmen and farmers.

    With a new government policy, it seems we are making peace with the land. It is perhaps the cowry, the mystique to cow the herd. When the idea was first propounded, the earth shook. They called it RUGA, and the storm was the name, not the idea. Or shall we say the name was the idea. RUGA is an Hausa word, and if it meant anything to those who did not like it, it was that the Hausa-Fulani in high places wanted to take over southern communities.

    Who would not think so when the whole idea was to call them RUGA in Kano and call them RUGA in Sapele or Onitsha. Did the locals not have their language? It came across as a hegemonic gambit and frowned at by those who did not call farm or cattle in the Hausa language.

    Meanwhile, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo was at the head of another project known as the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP), and had to scramble to dissociate himself from RUGA. It became a name-tainting gamble to stand in Abuja and be tarred with the RUGA brush. Not I, said the vice president as though an echo of the bird in Wole Soyinka’s Death And The King’s Horseman.

    RUGA signified a ranch, but once you called it RUGA, it was a Hausa-Fulani ranch. Language can make the difference between war and peace, joy and suffering. It is a project of power. Literary and political theorists like Michel Foucault call it the rhetoric of discourse. It was language nationalism, and it is a sentiment that can change a meek man into a warrior.

    So, President Muhammadu Buhari cancelled it. So the Osinbajo project, working with others, became the saving face. But it was a project the north wanted, and the north only. Another man who had to confront the bear is the governor of Plateau State who is also the chairman of the Northern Governors Forum. It became clear that Governor Simon Lalong would have to expand his affairs as governor to the tempest of the region.

    But Governior Lalong now abides as governor in a relatively quiescent time, having confronted the apocalypse of the herder’s menace. He had set a template that made Plateau an oasis when others burned. Then the template fell into error from sabotage and it quickly found it feet after many dead. His solution, an envy and copycat of some neighbouring states, makes a case for him to lead his fellow governors at this time of unease in his region. As they say, cometh the hour, cometh the man.

    As one of the key figures working on with the vice president on NLTP committee, he had to bring the experience of the mechanics and politics. When he agreed on bringing ranching to his state, some forces opposed because they saw it has Fulanisation. But what he was doing was to revive a dead project long before he became governor. In fact, the existence of reserves dated back to the military era, to the colleagues of Jeremiah Useni, who got flunked in the last governorship polls.

    He had set up a 12-man committee headed by Prof Ochapa Onazi and members that included traditional rulers, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI), as well as civil society organisations. This group recommended ranching. They were to revive the eight reserves in the state. But it turned out the army had appropriated the lands and only two reserves at Wase and Kanam survived the onslaught.

    The new project will encompass not only cows but also hens, goats, cocks, pigs, et al. It is a new way for peace, if we are ready for it. What this means is that herders don’t have to go about from place to place. Their cows will not moo into farms and munch the riches.

    If this works, it will be a historic shift. If the herders see their nomadic life as not only economic but also cultural, the NLTP project is fundamental, at least in the north. So what happens to the cattle and the argument that the cow cannot survive anything but a nomadic life. Obviously, it made no sense. The cow can be sedentary. It can sit, mull and moo.

    The cow will not mystify the grand poet John P. Clark, who in his famous poem, Fulani Cattle, wondered “what secret hope or knowledge/ locked in your hump away from man/ imbues you with courage/ so mute and fierce and wan/ That, not demurring nor kicking/ you go to the house of slaughter?”

    With Prof Osinbajo and Lalong working together, shall we not see this as the first major seed in putting to an end the suspicion? We still need to know the details. How is it going to be funded? Governor Lalong says it will be piloted by the federal government but it is essentially a local affair. Ironically the whole story started in the Jonathan era, and it had budgeted N100 billion. The Plateau State Governor clarified that the Buhari administration did not allocate N100 billion towards the dream.

    Peace is the first condition for prosperity. Governor Lalong with his colleagues just launched a mall in Kaduna as part of the effort to turn the north into post-crisis place. But Lalong knows that this is no easy venture. His experience in Plateau knows that to reconcile, you must watch. If he has been able to do it in Plateau, he has the challenge to do it all over north, especially with the bandits abroad in bushes and highways. the goons are rattling Governor Masari of Katsina State who heads the committee whose report is expected soon on security.

    The northern crisis has lingered too long. Lalong seems poised for success. So are all Nigerians.

     

    The Old man at Sea

     

    TO be old in Nigeria is to bleed and die alone. That explains the pensions system. It is tragic that most states are not interested in the lives and welfare of our senior citizens. Barely a third of the states pay pensions in the country. Rochas Okorocha, for all of his noise and flamboyant talk, has not been able to deny the charge that he did not pay pensioners when he was in office, even though he still would not yield government properties. For 77 months most of them did not get paid. Governor Emeka Ihedioha is undergoing a biometric investigation of those who are really elders. Preliminary report shows that there are ghost old men and women. Governor Ihedioha wants to know them and start payment immediately.

    His team is taking the data and combing everywhere. Old men should not be taken for granted. Gone are the days of communal joy when the old depended on the young. The rise of the city with individualism has alienated our senior citizens. They can hardly feed or enjoy healthcare. Hence the playwright, Tennessee Williams noted in his play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, that “you can be young without money, but you cannot be old without money.” Kudos Ihedioha.