Dangote Cement Moves To Boost Capacity To 62 MT, Eyes Africa Expansion

Africa's richest man Aliko Dangote is looking to expand cement capacity on the continent by 29 percent to 62 million tons, entrenching his flagship company’s position as the the continent’s biggest producer of the construction material.

The billionaire plans to add six million tons in Nigeria next year, taking volume in Dangote Cement Plc’s home market to 35 million tons, he said in interview on Bloomberg Television. The rest of the expansion is planned mainly in West Africa, including Niger and Cote d’Ivoire.
The 62-year-old told shareholders in June the company plans to open plants in Nigeria that will allow it export clinker to grinding plants in Cameroon and West Africa.
Dangote, who is building one of the world’s biggest refineries in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, in addition to investments in gas and petrochemical plants, said he expects total group revenue to grow to about $30 billion from $4 billion when the plants start operations in the next 2 years.
Thereafter, plans include investing about 60 percent of profit outside Africa, including the U.S. and the U.K.
“Sometimes in Africa you have issues of devaluation,” he said. “We want to really preserve some of the family’s wealth.”
Dangote Cement reported a six percent increase in profit for the six months through June to 119.5 billion naira ($331 million), even as revenue fell three percent to 467.7 billion naira.

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Court Sends Sowore Back To State Secret Police Custody After Arraignment

A Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday ordered the remand of the publisher of Sahara Reporters and convener of #RevolutionNow protest, Omoyele Sowore, and his co-defendant, Olawale Bakare, in the custody of the Department of State Security Service (DSS), pending the hearing of their bail application.

Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu fixed Friday for the hearing of their bail application.
Sowore was arraigned on seven counts of treasonable felony and other sundry offences.
They pleaded not guilty to the seven counts when read to them.
After the defendants took their pleas, the defence lawyer, Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika (SAN), urged the court to allow Sowore to be allowed to continue with the bail earlier granted him by Justice Taiwo Taiwo, on September 24.
The defence lawyer also pleaded that the second defendant be granted fresh bail.
But the judge said since the bail earlier granted Sowore was not predicated on the charges on which he was arraigned on Monday, a fresh bail had to be granted to him.
She added that if she would have to grant them fresh bail, it had to be based on formal written formal bail application and not oral.
She directed them to file formal bail application and then adjourned hearing till Friday.
The application is to be served on the lead prosecuting counsel, Hassan Liman, who indicated that he was going to oppose the application.
The judge earlier dismissed the objection of the defendants’ lawyer to the scheduled arraignment.
Olumide-Fusika had maintained that the arraignment should not be allowed to go on on the grounds that the Department of State Services (DSS), which has been keeping him in custody since August 3, 2019, had not allowed the defendants to consult with their lawyer after the charges were filed.
He added that the court should protect its integrity by refusing to allow the arraignment to proceed when the prosecution continued to disobey the court order made on September 24, 2019, for the release.
But the prosecution led by Hassan Liman urged the court to dismiss the objection insisting that what was more important was that the defendants had been served with the charges.
Liman also said the order for the release of the defendants had lapsed since the defendants had been produced in court for arraignment.

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14 Banks Yet To Account For Nigeria's $7 Bln Forex Reserves

Thirteen years after ex-Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Charles Soludo handed over $7 billion, a portion of the country's external reserves to 14 banks to manage, the money is yet to return to the nation's coffer.

The regulatory bank had in 2006 under the leadership of Soludo allocated a portion of the country's external reserves to the banks and their global asset managers to manage in his bid to diversify the nation forex buffer investment.

The amount handed over to the asset managers accounted for about 18.39 percent of the total external reserves then, which was hitherto kept with foreign banks.

The 14 global asset managers and their local counterparts were Black Rock and Union Bank of Nigeria Plc; J.P. Morgan Chase and Zenith Bank Plc; H.S.B.C and First Bank of Nigeria Plc; BNP Paribas and Intercontinental Bank Plc; UBS and United Bank for Africa Plc; Credit Suisse and IBTC Chartered Bank Plc.
Others were Morgan Stanley and Guaranty Trust Bank Plc; Fortis and Bank PHB Plc; Investec and Fidelity Bank Plc; ABN Amro and Access Bank Plc; Cominvest and Oceanic Bank Plc; ING and Ecobank Plc; Bank of New York and Stanbic Bank Plc; and Crown Agents and Diamond Bank Plc.
Each of the asset managers was allocated $500 million of the external reserves to manage.
Sources in the banking industry confided in our correspondent that the global financial crisis of 2008 and the capital market meltdown of 2009 affected some of the banks.
It was gathered that some of the banks took the fund and in a bid to boost profitability invested massively in capital market instruments through margin loans.
The drive to remain bullish amidst threat of economic meltdown also propelled some of the banks to channel the funds to oil marketers for petroleum products importation without due diligence.
A former Managing Director of a Deposit Money Bank who spoke to our correspondent in confidence said the global financial crisis of 2008 dealt a heavy blow on the balance sheets of many of the banks.
He said some of the banks that collected the $7 billion reserves to manage on behalf of the country never recovered from the crisis, a situation that made repayment difficult.
Some of the banks that were taken over by the apex bank after the stress test of 2009 were Oceanic Bank, Intercontinental Bank Plc, Platinum Habib Bank, FinBank, Afribank, Union Bank Plc.
Out of these banks, three of them namely Bank PHB, Oceanic Bank and Intercontinental Bank benefitted from the management of the $7 billion reserves.
“The banks collected the reserves and some of them such as Intercontinental Bank, Oceanic Bank, Platinum Habib Bank, could not repay because at the dying days of Soludo’s tenure, we even had to create a window which is called Standing Loan Facility.
“This allows banks to access this window and borrow against their assets like treasury bills when they want to address issues relating to liquidity.
“But normally, no bank access SLF unless they have liquidity issues and so any bank you see accessing SLF and staying there means there is a need for a searchlight on that bank. Maybe they have an endemic crisis.
“Those banks became permanent tenants at the SLF – Intercontinental, Oceanic, Habib and others were always there.
“It (SLF) is a very high interest rate that is prohibitive and if you see any bank going there, it’s out of desperation because they have no alternatives.
“So they were all there up to the time (former CBN Governor Lamido) Sanusi took over and conducted that stress test.
“They borrowed money, they raised capital, they took CBN money, they took foreign money and there was pressure for profits and so they became so bullish.
“They invested in the capital market, petroleum importation business and when you invest in petroleum without collateral, if the PPPRA (Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Authority) does not pay, then you don’t have money.”
The source added, “They invested in margin loans and the stock market collapsed in 2008. They invested in housing and housing market collapsed after the 2008 financial crisis.
“So everything went negative for them. They got into crisis and Soludo who was trying to manage them left.
“Sanusi had no sentiment for them and he ordered for a stress test and the stress test was very clear and it found them wanting.”
Another top bank executive told our correspondent that after the stress test of 2010, some of the banks were taken over by the CBN and their toxic assets transferred to the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) for recovery.
The source said the unpaid portion of the reserves constituted the over 5 trillion naira debt currently being recovered by AMCON.
He said some of the debt might not be recovered because the funds were borrowed with fraudulent intentions.
He said, “This money we are talking about constitutes part of the loans inherited by AMCON
“Someone took N1bn from Intercontinental Bank at that time and the name he gave does not exist. It was fake and that facility was used to import petroleum products. The guarantee they gave was fake because the address was invalid, everything was forged.
“So that entire $7 billion may never be recovered, Nigerians have paid the price. We took the heat of over N5tn because of the recklessness of few people and some of them are political actors.”
The circumstance surrounding the management of the $7bn is currently being investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), it was learnt.
In January, a former Deputy Governor of the CBN and then Presidential candidate of the Action Democratic Party, Obadiah Mailafia, was reportedly arrested by security operatives and questioned over the $7 billion.
He had said, “They said there was a policy on CBN in 2006 that some foreign exchanges were given to the banks to manage and the banks now turned around and said the money was a bailout and I should come and explain.
“I told them the policy was made around 2006 October and I left CBN in March 2007 and within that four months, I don’t know what happened. Even my department didn’t handle cash. Those who are managing this department have not been questioned. It is only me.”
Attempts to get comments from the CBN on the status of the $7bn reserves were not successful as the Director Corporate Communications Department, Isaac Okorafor, had yet to respond to inquiries on the issue.

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Pastor Bakare, Southern, Middle Belt Leaders, Seek Update On Osinbajo New Status

The Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF) are demanding that the Federal Government should brief Nigerians on the reasons for stripping Vice President Yemi Osinbajo of some of his statutory responsibilities.

The forum said it was following with keen interest developments in the presidency in the past few days.
In a statement on Sunday, leaders of the forum, Chief Edwin Clark (South South); Chief Ayo Adebanjo (South West); Chief John Nwodo (South East) and Dr. Pogu Bitrus (Middle Belt) maintained that the alleged stripping of the office of the vice president of most functions and responsibilities did not correspond with the declaration of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) governors that “all is well at the seat of power.”
The leaders said: “The office of the vice president today is definitely not what it was two weeks ago. Something is definitely wrong even when we cannot place our fingers on it yet. And this is because of the opaque handling of affairs of a supposed constitutional democracy and open society in a manner reminiscent of a kingdom where things are done according to the whims and caprices of the monarch.”
The forum insisted that Nigeria is running a democracy where the people need to know the ways their lives are being run by those they have hired to do the job.
“Moreover, the multi-ethnic nature of Nigeria and the geo-political balancing of its presidency will make the kind of actions that have been taken against the office of the vice president to attract the usual suspicion of the experiences of the former Chief of General Staff, Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe (rtd), who was unceremoniously relieved of his job by former military President, Gen. Ibrahim Babaginda, and erstwhile Chief of General Staff, Gen. Oladipo Diya, who was arraigned for a phantom coup under the regime of the late military dictator, Gen. Sani Abacha, if there are no explanations to the public.”
The forum added that in this dispensation, in particular, references would be made to the treatment of the immediate past Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen; former Head of Service, Mrs. Winifred Oyo Ita; and now Osinbajo on one hand, and Mr. Abdulrsheed Maina of the Pension Reform Task Force, Prof Usman Yusuf of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State on the other hand.
“In order to preserve the unity of the country therefore, we demand explanation on what is happening to Osinbajo from the presidency, and if no such is forthcoming, his functions should be restored.”
The group also expressed concern over the unusual silence of President Muhammadu Buhari on the development.
“We have equally noticed the unusual quietness of the presidency on the damaging allegations against the vice president. In any normal clime, it should not have taken more than a day for the presidency to dispel the allegations to maintain the moral standing of Osinbajo and the integrity of the administration. We, therefore, demand a statement from the government on the weighty allegations or an investigation to be carried out. We hold our breath until the public is properly briefed.”
Also, the Serving Overseer of the Latter Rain Assembly, Tunde Bakare, urged President Buhari to clear the air on the allegations surrounding the office of Osinbajo .
Addressing the media yesterday, Bakare said it was the moral responsibility of the government to speak on the issue or stop it. He added that the vice president would have the last laugh except he (Osinbajo) had violated his oath.
“My concern presently is that come rain, come shine, Osinbajo must not be disgraced and humiliated out of office except he has truly and flagrantly violated his oath of office, which I find difficult to believe.”
The cleric also denied making any statement to denigrate the office of the vice president or taunt the person of Osinbajo “at this period of his travails.”
“Contrary to the misconceptions and misinformation, the trending video about the 16th presidency was an excerpt from a message titled ‘Be Grateful for Your Blessings (part 3),’ which I preached in this auditorium on Sunday, February 18, 2018. That excerpt was released at this time, a year and seven months after the statements were made, and erroneously associated with recent developments relating to the office of the vice president, suggesting that it was either done by the uninformed, or was a deliberately designed attempt to misinform the public by linking unrelated issues, in order to create divisions where there are none, thereby heating up the polity unnecessarily.”
Bakare also condemned some recent financial policies: “What I do care about is that the Federal Government has slammed a punitive three per cent charge on lodgments into a corporate account of N300,000 and above and also a five per cent charge for withdrawal from corporate accounts of like sums. They further slammed a two per cent charge on all lodgments of N500, 000 and above into a personal account, while adding a charge of three per cent on withdrawals from the same, meaning that if I pay N500, 000 into my personal account, I will automatically be charged N10, 000. The banks will also still charge transaction fees for withdrawals and lodgments, Value Added Tax (VAT) at 7.5 per cent, account maintenance fee, stamp duty and any other fee/charges the banks decide to throw at me. The onslaught is relentless! Nigerians are now to pay to put their money in a bank. They pay to keep it there and they pay to remove it.”
Meanwhile, the leadership the Christians Association of Nigeria (CAN) has defended the group’s visit to Osinbajo on Friday over the 90 billion naira fraud allegation levelled against him, insisting that there is no law that is against their action.
In a statement yesterday in Abuja, Special Assistant (Media and Communication) to the CAN president, Adebayo Oladeji, explained that the association’s leadership visited Osinbajo to hear his side of the story instead of rushing to the press either to condemn him or support him.

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Atiku Says All Is Not Well With Nigeria

Atiku Abubakar, ex-Nigeria Vice President and candidate of the main opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP) in the February 23, 2019 election, Atiku Abubakar, on Monday said all is not well with Nigeria.

In his message on Nigeria’s 59th Independence Anniversary, he said the nation’s founding fathers could never have fathomed that 59 years after birthing the largest black nation on earth, Nigerian would be facing a situation where free press is endangered.
He also said they could not have imagined that the nation’s judiciary would be under attack and that the youths and activists, who should ordinarily be the future of Nigeria, would be facing the threat of arrest and intimidation, should they speak out about the state of the nation.
He, however, called on Nigerians to work for the progress and development of the country and to insist that no one in the country, no matter how highly placed, shall be bigger than the laws of the land.
“I could call for prayers, as others would indeed call for today. I could also call on Nigerians to show more understanding, as indeed many have said in the past and will undoubtedly say again today.
"But I am mindful of the fact that the time for rhetoric has long since passed and now is the time for all lovers of Nigeria to take concrete steps to aid Nigeria’s progress, by not just praying and
showing understanding, but also to take democratic action to ensure that the ideals of our founding fathers – Unity and Faith, Peace and Progress – are not set aside on the altar of tyranny.
“All is not well when judges are persecuted for enforcing the constitutionally guaranteed fundamental human rights of Nigerian citizens. All is not well when Nigeria is now officially the world headquarters for extreme poverty and out-of-school children, yet the cost of maintaining those in government continues to grow, while the needs of the governed are not being met. And certainly, all is no well when the media cannot freely express itself without the fear that those who wield the big stick would use it on them for saying things as they are.
“So, rather than just call for prayers today, I am calling on all Nigerians to believe in Nigeria’s betterment, to work for Nigeria’s betterment, and to insist that no one in Nigeria, no matter how highly placed, shall be bigger than the laws of our land,” Atiku declared
Atiku, however, said it is not all gloom and doom about the nation.
He stated that there is still hope for the country.
He called for more investment in the education of the girl-child and commended the Emir of Kano, Muhammed Sanusi, for his advocacy for the education of the girl-child and the Governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle, for investing in public education.
He also lauded the Chief Executive Officer of Air Peace, Chief Allen Onyema, for his public spiritedness by airlifting from South Africa to Nigeria, free of charge, Nigerians who were victims of the recent xenophobic attacks in South Africa.
Atiku stated that the Nigerian dream is revived when Nigerians put the country first.
He added that Nigerians by so doing also revive ‘Unity and Faith, Peace and Progress,’ which are the ideals that the founding fathers of Nigeria had in mind when they fought for the independence of the country.
According to him, Nigeria belongs to all Nigerians. He stated that Nigerians should all have a role to play in making the nation great.
He said Nigeria should be the beacon of hope, democracy and freedom, to not only the African continent but to the black diaspora, the world over.
He explained that to achieve it, all Nigerians have a duty to support and defend the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria against all enemies, foreign and domestic. He charged all Nigerians to do so.

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Massive Outbreak Of Infections Hit Queens College Lagos, Parents Withdraw Children From School

Just two years after three pupils of Queen’s College, Yaba, Lagos, died from water-borne infections, another related disease has broken out in the school.

Our Correspondent gathered from some parents on Monday that no fewer than 700 pupils had taken permission to go home on health grounds.
The school’s sickbay was said to be overcrowded with pupils, as many were also laid on benches to create extensions.
The PUNCH learnt that more and more parents were being telephoned to come and pick their children as the situation worsened.
This is barely two weeks after the school resumed a new academic session.
A parent drew the attention of our Correspondent to the situation early Monday morning when she called to register her concerns.
The parent, who refused to have her name in print, said she has since withdrawn her child from the school.
She confided that when the PTA chairman visited the sickbay and asked to see the register of affected students, his demand was turned down.
When our Correspondent called the GSM number of the PTA chairman, the call did not go through, as his number was switched off.

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More Than 300 People, Mostly Children, Found In Chains In Nigeria's Kaduna

More than 300 captives, most of them children and many in chains, have been rescued from a building in the northern Nigerian city of Kaduna, a police spokesman said on Friday.

All the children seen by a Reuters reporter at the scene were boys aged from around five to their late teens. Some had their ankles manacled together and others were chained by their legs to large metal hubcaps.
Police said the building housed an Islamic school and that seven people had been arrested in the raid on Thursday. It was not clear how long the children had been held there.
“The state government is currently providing food to the children who are between the ages of five and above,” said Yakubu Sabo, the Kaduna police spokesman.
“We have identified two of the children to have come from Burkina Faso, while most of them were brought by their parents from across mostly northern Nigerian states,” he added.
He said those arrested were teachers at the school.
Reports carried by local media said the captives had been tortured, starved and sexually abused. Reuters was not immediately able to confirm those reports, though sores that appeared consistent with injuries inflicted by a whip were visible on one boy’s back.
Islamic schools, known as Almajiris, are common across the mostly Muslim north of Nigeria - a country that is roughly evenly split between followers of Christianity and Islam.
Parents in northern Nigeria, the poorest part of a country in which most people live on less than $2 a day, often opt to leave their children to board at the schools.
The children have been moved to a temporary camp at a stadium in Kaduna, and would later be moved to another camp in a suburb of the city while attempts are made to find their parents, police said.
Some parents who had already been contacted went to the school to retrieve their children.
“We do not know that they will be put to this kind of harsh condition,” one parent told Reuters.
Islamic schools in Nigeria have for years been dogged by allegations of abuse and accusations that some children have been forced to beg on the streets of northern Nigerian cities.
Earlier this year, the government of President Muhammadu Buhari, himself a Muslim, said it planned to eventually ban the schools, but would not do so immediately. It followed a number of reports in the Nigerian media that the government planned to outlaw such schools.

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Nigeria Secret Police Blocks Court Bailiff From Serving Sowore Court Release Order

Nigeria secret police, the Department of State Service (DSS) twice on Friday blocked a bailiff of the Federal High Court in Abuja from effecting a fresh service of the court order for the release of the convener of #RevolutionNow protest Omowole Sowore.

It was learnt that the bailiff first arrived the DSS headquarters in Abuja, where he (Sowore) had been held since August 3, 2019, around 9.30 a.m. on Friday, but was asked to return by 12 noon when the Director-General of DSS, Yusuf Bichi, would be around.
But it was learnt that the bailiff returned to the DSS headquarters at 12.14 p.m. on Friday, but was denied access.
One of Sowore’s lawyer, Sam Ogala, who was at the main gate of the DSS office during the bailiff’s attempt to serve the security agency, confirmed the development to our correspondent.
Sowore’s legal team led by Femi Falana, had on Thursday expressed shock over DSS’ claim that it had not been served with the order issued by Justice Taiwo Taiwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja granting bail to Sowore.
On Thursday, after DSS’ spokesperson denied that the agency had been served with the court order, Falana said, Ayuba Adam of the Legal Department of the DSS received the court order on behalf of the agency on September 24, 2019 (Tuesday).
The DSS’ denial came after news broke that Sowore’s legal team had commenced a contempt suit against the DSS boss for failing to comply with the court order for Sowore’s release.
The DSS, on August 3, arrested Sowore, the publisher of SaharaReporters and former presidential candidate in the 2019 general elections over his call for a revolution protest scheduled to hold on August 5.
Justice Taiwo, on August 8, granted an ex parte application by the DSS permitting the security agency to keep the activist for 45 days.
The 45 days period expired on Saturday.
Barely 24 hours to the expiration of the 45-day detention order, the Attorney-General of the Federation’s office filed charges of treasonable felony, cybercrime offences and money laundering against him before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
On Tuesday, following Falana’s application, Justice Taiwo ordered the release of Sowore, from the custody of the DSS pending his arraignment in court.
The judge ordered him to submit his passport in the court’s registry as the sole condition for the bail.
Sowore’s lawyers have said that the terms of his bail have since been fulfilled, however, he has yet to be released.

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No Cold War In The Presidency -APC, Govs.

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and its governors have dismissed recent allegations of a cold war within the Presidency as mere rumour and another scheme of opposition mischief makers.

There have been media reports and allegations in the political space of a festering sour relationship between President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in the last few days, indicating that handlers of the president had demanded the resignation of the vice president.
However, during separate media engagements in Abuja on Thursday, the Progressive Governors’ Forum and the national secretariat of the ruling APC dismissed the insinuation, stating that more recent events had proven such as invalid claims.
Speaking during the inauguration of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) Steering Committee on Media and Communication, Lagos Governor, who is also the chairman of the committee, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, said the alleged face-off in the Presidency was just ‘gossip’.
The governor, who was represented by his deputy, Obafemi Hamzat, explained that the Buhari/Osinbajo administration has carried on with its normal duties in the last few days, despite the alleged bad-blood.
“There is no crack. It is in the realm of gossips. By the time they said that, the Vice Presieent went to Zimbabwe to represent this country. It was the prerogative of the president but he nominated him.
“Like I said earlier, it is in the realm of gossips because only on Wednesday, the Vice President presided over the Federal Executive Committee (FEC) meeting which is the highest decision making body in the country. So, we don’t listen to rumours. We deal with facts and the fact is that they are working together. So, it is all rumour and don’t take it that serious,” he said.
Meanwhile, the ruling APC during a media conference at its national secretariat in Abuja, squarely placed the blame for the spread of what it described as “fallacy” on the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP), noting that the ruling party would not abandon its serious national assignments to pay attention to what is not important.
According to the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu: “We have important issues of governance than to continue to respond to fallacies. How do you determine a crack?
“The vice president had been sent out to represent the President at an international event, after PDP saw a crack; the Vice President presided over the FEC meeting just on Wednesday. Is that part of the PDP’s crack? Let us stop this joke. We know we have challenges in this country, let us face these challenges,” he said.
Addressing other issues, Issa-Onilu also accused the PDP of being responsible for some other recent activities, which had been attributed to leaders of the APC, one of which he said was erection of campaign billboards and printing of campaign posters, purportedly in preparation for the 2023 elections.
According to him, the APC is currently preoccupied with solving the myriad of challenges facing the country as well as working to fulfill her campaign promises to Nigerians, adding that the party does not have any room for election thoughts at the moment, but that those who want to distract the party from its task of providing leadership will use anything to do so.
“As a party, we want to state clearly that having won elections convincingly and having been given the mandate to run government for the next four years, our major and only focus now is governance.
“We are not engaging in any other activity a out 2023 elections and wherever you see such (posters) you can be sure it is from mischief makers and of course we know it is part of the strategy of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to continue to take actions to cause distractions for the governing party from focusing on anything that is important to the people of Nigeria which is to deal with the challenges that we are all faced with; the challenges of governance, security, economy and corruption as well as other associated issues. That is what we are focused on.
“So, as a party, we understand that the social contract we have signed with the people of Nigeria with the renewal of our mandate. Whatever poster you might have seen about any of our leaders anywhere in this country is irrelevant to us, we do not have a hand in it and it is not from those leaders. It is strictly part of the strategy of a party that is supposed to provide alternative to our governance model and since they do not have such, the only thing they can do is to continue to throw spanners into the works,” he said.

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Nigerian Govt. Spent 1.5 Trn Naira On Power Sector In Two Years

Nigeria has spent about 1.5 trillion naira in intervention fund to stabilise the power sector in the last two year, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said, leaving Nigerians wondering on the impact such investment has produced on the sector.

Osinbanjo said this at a power sector roundtable hosted by Mainstream Energy Solutions Limited (MESL) at its Kainji Hydropower Plant in Niger State on Tuesday,

The Vice President who was represented by the Minister of Power, Sale Mamman, said “the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved the third round of intervention funding for the sector, with a total of about N1.5 trillion in the last two years.

“However, if the country is to achieve its aim of channelling funding to other critical sectors, it is pertinent that structural reforms be put in place to enable the power sector fund itself sustainably,” Osinbajo said.
The Central Bank of Nigeria in May announced the disbursement of N120.2bn to different electricity distribution companies (DISCOs), power generating companies (GENCOs), service providers and gas companies, in order to address the liquidity and funding challenges facing the sector.
The World Bank announced early this month that it was in talks with the government for a $2.5 billion loan to resolve the problems of the country’s power sector.
The Bank in 2018 approved an estimated $486 million to improve and upgrade electricity transmission’s network of infrastructure and rehabilitate substations and lines in Nigeria.
According to the report, Osibanjo said the President Muhammadu Buhari administration’s goal to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty could only be achieved through ”improving the unresolved challenges in the power sector to drive industrialisation.
“I implore all key power sector players to resolve to think of the solutions to the challenges in the sector,” he said.
The chairman, Board of Directors of MESL, Sani Bello, however, implored the federal government to improve on its monthly payment for energy generation rather than the paltry 15 percent it is getting.
“As of May 2019, we only received 15 percent. I don’t think any GenCo can survive with that,” he noted and urged the government to provide a cost-reflective tariff.
Bello said MESL has made a remarkable improvement in its operation of both Kainji and Jebba hydropower plants since it took over the plants in 2013. with a production double its previous distribution of 300MW six years ago.

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Senate Finance Committee Gets A Week To Consider 2020-2022 MTEF, FSP

Nigeria's upper legislative chamber has sent the government 2020-2022 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) documents to its Committee on Finance and give it one week to conclude work on the paper.

The committee headed by Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola (APC, Lagos West) was given one week to come up with a report.
The Senate had on Wednesday received an executive communication from President Muhammadu Buhari for consideration of the MTEF/FSP.
The 2020–2022 MTEF/FSP was laid by the Senate Leader, Yahaya Abubakar Abdullahi, and referred to the Senate Committee on Finance for legislative work.

“The document is hereby referred to the Senate Committee on Finance for further legislative action and they should lay their report before the Senate on Wednesday next week,” the President of the Senate, Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan said on the floor of the red chamber on Thursday.

Recall that President Buhari had in a letter on the MTEF/FSP stated that key developments of the global and domestic environments were taken into consideration in the preparation of the MTEF/FSP.
“The Government strives to ensure that estimated revenues are not only realistic, but also reasonably challenging in the face of its significantly constrained fiscal space.
“Planned spending has been set at prudent and sustainable levels consistent with government’s overall developmental objectives as set out in the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP).
“Given our shared objective of returning the budget to a predictable January – December fiscal year, with effect from 2020, I hereby forward the 2020/2022 FSP to the Distinguished Senate and trust that it would be extensively considered in order to facilitate the 2020 MTEF budget preparation,” the President said.

Hopefully, the 2020 budget would be presented to the joint session of the National Assembly early next month by the president or his representative.

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UK Judge Grants Nigeria Right Of Appeal On $9 Bln P&ID Case

A United Kingdom judge has granted Nigeria request for a stay of execution on the judgment that would have allowed a private firm to try to seize more than $9 billion in assets from the country.

The Judgment, which came with a condition will enable Nigeria to seek to overturn the early judgment which allows Process & Industrial Developments (P&ID) access to Nigeria assets worth $9 billion.
The court, however, ordered Nigeria to pay $200 million to the court within 60 days to ensure the stay.
The original decision on Aug. 16 converted an arbitration award held by P&ID to a legal judgment, which would allow the British Virgin Islands-based firm to try to seize international assets.
Nigeria’s appeal of this decision, called a “set-aside”, would need to prove there was an error in the ruling.
During Thursday’s proceedings, lawyers representing Nigeria said that the judgment was flawed primarily due to its acceptance that England was the proper seat of the arbitration.
Harry Mantovu QC argued on behalf of Nigeria that the courts, not the arbitration tribunal, should determine this, and that the August ruling ignored Nigeria’s successful application to have the award set aside by the Federal High Court in Lagos.
P&ID did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday’s decision.
The judge’s order said that if Nigeria does not put the $200 million into a court account within 60 days - the minimum amount of time that Mantovu said it would take Nigeria raise the funds from capital markets or internal sources - the stay on seizures would be lifted.

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Economic Advisory Council: Nigeria’s Buhari Courts Market Advice He May Not Heed

A new Economic Advisory Council established by President Muhammadu Buhari could usher the reforms needed to breathe life into Nigeria’s economy during his second term.
That is if the 76-year-old former military ruler listens to them.

Buhari named an eight-member Economic Advisory Council last week to replace a broader team of bureaucrats led by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who under the constitution is the government’s economic policy coordinator.
Business leaders, including Aliko Dangote, the continent’s richest man, applauded the creation of the board to bolster investor confidence.
The council of independent and private individual experts in their own right, which will meet directly with Buhari every quarter, is led by Adedoyin Salami, a central bank board member until 2017 and lecturer at the Lagos Business School, known as a cradle of orthodox economists. 

Other members include former central bank chief Chukwuma Soludo and Bismarck Rewane, an ex-Barclays Plc banker.
“These are known free-market capitalists who have been critical of President Buhari’s economic policies,” said Cheta Nwanze, head of research for Lagos-based SBM Intelligence. “While I’m cautiously optimistic, it remains to be seen really where this will go.”
The first major task will be to convince Buhari to reopen the border with Benin, Nwanze said. Buhari partially closed the frontier in August to halt rampant rice smuggling that his government claims hampers local output, a step business leaders say has disrupted regional trade.
Next on the agenda will be deeper reforms needed to modernize the tax system, eliminate multiple exchange rates and overhaul the oil and power sectors, which the new panel members have urged this and past administrations to do for years.
Convincing Buhari to limit the state’s hand in the economy, could however be a tougher task, Nwanze said.
Government intervention to keep the naira artificially strong and curb imports to foster local production is partly blamed for the slow recovery from a 2016 contraction. With annual economic growth of barely 2.0 percent over the last two years, Nigeria trails smaller neighbors that have some of the world’s fastest-growing economies.
The government has defended its interventions in the economy as the only way to wean the country off oil, encourage local production and lift millions out of poverty. Last year, Nigeria surpassed India as the country in the world with highest number of people living under extreme poverty.
Mixed Signals
Buhari’s economic ideology was shaped during his years as a military ruler between 1983 and 1985, when the state intervened directly in some sectors of the economy. His policies have at times clashed with the more pro-market Osinbajo whose former law firm advised investors on capital market deals. Osinbajo has been in charge of initiatives to attract foreign investors and pushed for the country to sign the Africa Continental Free-Trade Agreement.
“There has clearly been mixed undertones, and we expect the new council to help provide clarity and a middle ground,” said Abiodun Keripe, financial and investment analyst at Troyka Holdings in Lagos. “If the president is able to listen to some of their advice I think we should see a shift.”

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AfDB Plans $500 Mln Green Energy Support Scheme By 2020

The continent major development lender, African Development Bank (AfDB) said it plans to roll out $500 million green baseload scheme by next year aimed at scraping coal power stations across Africa and switch to renewable energy.

President of the Bank, Akinwumi Adesina said the scheme is set to yield five billion dollars of investments that would help African countries’ transition from coal and fossil fuel to renewable energy.
Adesina also pointed out plans for 20 billion dollars of investments in solar and clean energy that would provide the region’s 250 million people with 10,000 MW of electricity.
“There is a reason God gave Africa sunlight,’’ said Adesina.

He revealed the plan during climate talks at the sideline of the ongoing United Nations General Assembly.
Addressing a gathering of leaders and officials from 200 countries in New York, Adesina outlined efforts to shutter coal-fired power plants and build the “largest solar zone in the world” in the arid Sahel belt.
“Coal is the past, and renewable energy is the future. For us at the AfDB, we’re getting out of coal,” Adesina said.
On his part, UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, stressed the need to reduce heat-trapping gas emissions and slow the global rise in temperatures.
“It is still not too late to keep the global rise in temperatures below the benchmark figure of 1.5 degrees Celsius.
“But it will require fundamental transformations in all aspects of society; how we grow food, use land, fuel our transport and power our economies.
“We need to link climate change to a new model of development with less suffering, more justice and harmony between people and the planet,’’ Guterres said.
The UN said that mankind must reduce greenhouse gas emissions to limit global warming to about 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures to stave off the worst-case predictions of scientists.

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African Free Trade Stumbles With Nigerian Blockade Of Benin

Nigeria and Benin are embroiled in a trade dispute two months after signing an agreement to free up the movement of goods and services in Africa.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari ordered the partial closing of its boundary with Benin last month to curb smuggling of rice and other commodities. 

The blockade has had a ripple effect across West Africa, with factories and traders struggling to import key raw materials and having to use alternative routes for their exports, according to the Lagos Chamber of Commerce.
The border restrictions come after Nigeria and Benin in July agreed to join the African Continental Free Trade Area, which targets greater economic integration through the removal of trade barriers and tariffs on 90 percent of commodities. 

The duty-free movement of goods is expected to boost trade in the market of 1.2 billion people, similar in size to India, and a combined gross domestic product of $2.5 trillion.
Trade Barrier
Nigeria is limiting the entry of cargo from its borders with Benin
“Over 80 percent of West African cross-border trade is by road,” said Muda Yusuf, the head of the Lagos business chamber in the Nigerian commercial hub. “The cost is quite enormous and the closure is not sustainable.”
Benin is a key transit route for traders and operates a system that allows landlocked neighboring countries to use its harbors for imports.
The impact of the dispute is being felt as far afield as Ghana, which is separated from Nigeria by Benin and Togo. Manufacturers have complained about the impact on costs, John Defor, research director at the Association of Ghana Industries, said by phone. 

In Nigeria, units of multinational companies including Unilever NV are in talks with the government to find a solution.
The restrictions are the latest taken by Nigeria to protect its foreign-currency reserves by curbing imports. The central bank has restricted access to dollars for the import of more than 40 items from cement to soap, while the government wants Africa’s most populous nation to become self-sufficient in the production of staples such as rice.
Protectionist Policies
Traders and smugglers in Benin have taken advantage of Nigeria’s protectionist policies to import and re-export goods to their bigger neighbor, said Ahmadou Aly Mbaye, an economics professor at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Senegal’s capital, Dakar.
Rice is a good example. Benin, with a population of 11 million that is barely 5 percent of Nigeria’s, is the biggest buyer of the grain from Thailand, the world’s second-largest exporter. 

Official shipments from Thailand to Nigeria have dwindled to almost nothing from more than 1.2 million tons in 2014, while those to Benin have increased by more than half.
“Benin is basically importing for Nigeria,” Mbaye, who is a senior fellow at the Washington D.C.-based Brookings Institution, said by phone. “Protectionism is difficult to implement in a globalized world, because people find ways around it.”
Buhari defended the blockade at a meeting in Japan with Beninese President Patrice Talon at the end of last month. He said Benin and its northern neighbor, Niger, should take “strict and comprehensive measures” to curtail smuggling across their borders.
While Nigeria is committed to the African free-trade deal, the agreement “must not only promote free trade, but legal trade of quality made-in-Africa goods,” Buhari said in a Sept. 20 speech, which a spokesman shared in response to questions.
A spokesman for Talon declined to comment.
Countries which have ratified the African free-trade agreement are expected to start trading with slashed tariffs from July 2020.

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Nigeria To Propose 8.7 Trln Naira Budget For 2020 Fiscal Year

Nigeria may propose a total of 8.7 trillion naira budget for its 2020 fiscal year compared with 8.9 trillion naira approved for the current year.

According to the content of the 2020-2022 MTEF/FSP documents present to the National Assembly by the federal government on Wednesday, the 2020 budget would be pegged on $55 per barrel benchmark, while the country is expected to produce 2.1 million barrels of oil per day in the course of the fiscal year.

The 2019 budget was based on 2.3 mbpd, indicating that the government is having a rethink on its projections to rev up crude oil production.

Nigeria, Africa's largest crude producer is currently battered by huge crude oil theft by organised criminals in the Niger Delta, which sources said include some unscrupulous security agents conspiring with international traders.

A report recently by the National Executive Council (NEC) put the total loss to crude oil theft at $1.35 billion in the first six months of the year.
Nigeria is expecting its economy go grow at 2.93 percent in the course of the year 2020, this is short of projection for 2019 which has substantially remained unmet.
Nigeria real GDP increased from 1.89 percent in the first quarter of 2018 to 2.10 percent in the first quarter of 2019, according to minister of finance, budget and planning the strongest first-quarter growth since 2015.
The economy also grew by 1.94 percent in the second of 2019, with half-year 2019 cumulative GDP growth rate is 2.02 percent.
The 2.18 mbpd crude production output projection for the 2020 budget is seen as a more realistic estimate by the finance minister Zanab Ahmed in view of the country's inability to meet previous output projections in the time past.
"Actual daily crude oil production and exports have been well below budget projections since 2013, despite the installed capacity of up to 2.5 mbpd, for a number of reasons.
"For 2018, actual production was 1.84mbpd and for the first half of 2019 it was 1.86mbpd (base production)" the minister said in a recent presentation on the MTEF.
She said the $55/barrel benchmark for 2020 as against $60/b for 2019 was assumed considering the expected oil glut in 2020, as well as the need to cushion against unexpected price shock.
Ahmed said there are strong indications of an oversupplied in the global crude oil market in 2020.

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PZ Cussions Sees Weak Consumer Confidence Impacting Bottom Line

PZ Cussons Plc said on Wednesday it expects conditions in its key markets to remain challenging for the rest of the first half, as the cosmetics and soap maker reported declining first-quarter revenue in Asia-Pacific and Africa.

The maker of Imperial Leather soap and Carex handwash said its key markets continue to be affected by weak consumer confidence, with the Nigerian economy remaining depressed, uncertainty in the UK, and highly competitive markets in Australia.
Company said it expects its full-year results to be in line with last year, but are “dependent on no further worsening in our key markets, specifically the UK and Nigeria”.
Britons are cutting back on spending as the country’s impending exit from the European Union weighs on sentiment and the economy, while Nigeria’s annual inflation dipped to its lowest in almost four years in August.
The company has been struggling to turn around its African business, which contributes over a third of its revenue, with margins being squeezed amid dwindling demand.
“The UK Personal Care brands were affected by consumer uncertainty and heavy promotional activity, leading to lower revenue,” the company said. Increased promotional expenditure in Australia also led to a drop in revenue.
Australian retailers have also been hammered as a downturn in property prices has consumers spending less.

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BREAKINVIEWS: Nigeria Is Right To Fight $9 Bln Arbitration Claim

As ironies go, it’s up there. Nigeria, spiritual home to the wealthy African prince internet scam, has been relieved of $9 billion by a dead Irishman. 

Yet the case is no laughing matter for Africa’s most populous nation – which faces a crippling economic bill – or the UK-based arbitrators whose ruling looks legally sound but practically ridiculous. Reopening the case to hear the government’s credible but belated claims of fraud is the common-sense solution.
Last month’s ruling that British Virgin Islands-registered Process and Industrial Developments (P&ID) could start seizing Nigerian assets sent shockwaves through Abuja. The award, based on what P&ID claims it would have made, plus interest, from a gas project, is a third of the country’s annual budget and a quarter of foreign reserves.
Even in this context, central bank Governor Godwin Emefiele’s threat to Europe – help us stop this or face a flood of “refugees” due to the economic collapse of a nation of 200 million people – is a touch shrill. 

Yet the continent’s biggest economy is struggling to shake off a 2016 recession. And even if it doesn’t pay a cent to P&ID, whose only public face is a website with no address or telephone number, reneging on arbitration could have a chilling effect on foreign investment.
To a large extent, Nigeria has itself to blame. In the first instance, it should never have signed a 20-year gas contract with now-deceased Irishman Michael Quinn, whose business track record was mainly schmoozing Nigerian generals to win military supply contracts, according to Bloomberg. And when the dispute went to arbitration, it should have laid out Quinn’s CV in all its glory, rather than fluffing its lines in court and ignoring appeals deadlines.
Yet the sorry saga also casts an unflattering light on arbitrators. The judges’ initial award of $6.6 billion may have followed the letter of the law by taking P&ID’s uncontested profit projections at face value. But it makes little practical sense given the difficulties of turning business plans into cash in places like Nigeria. 

That undermines the credibility of a process that should serve as an insurance backstop to foreign projects in exotic jurisdictions. Finding a way to reopen arbitration might involve legal creativity. But it’s the best way to spare Nigeria’s blushes, and the judges’.

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Stop Fixing Federal Roads Again, President Buhari Warns State Governors

State governments which hitherto fix federal roads and thereafter seek refund will no longer enjoy such as President Mohammadu Buhari has said he would no longer refund to states such expenditures.

According to the minister of works and housing, Babatunde Fashola, the president has asked state governors not to fix federal roads if they will eventually demand refund for the rehabilitation.
The Minister made this clarification in Abuja when he appeared before the House of Representatives’ Ad Hoc Committee on Abandoned Federal Government Projects (Works) from 1999 till date
He said the President issued the directive due to the humongous amounts being claimed by the governors after repairing federal roads in their states.
“The states submitted a bill of almost a trillion naira when President Buhari was elected. He asked us to work out what was their entitlement and all of that.
“Ultimately, the BPP (the Bureau of Public Procurement) certified about N44bn – I don’t remember the exact amount now – except for two states; I think Cross River and…there’s another state. They didn’t have the documents at the time, which we have sent back to the President. But the decision to pay those inherited debts, including the ones I contracted as Governor of Lagos, was with the caveat that I should tell the governors to leave his (Buhari’s) roads alone. Those were the directives; I was not the one that took the decision," Fashola said.
He said the president ask him to ‘Tell them not to fix my roads again if they’re going to claim compensation. If you want to fix it and not ask for compensation, send me what you want to do. But if you want compensation, go and mind your business while I mind my business because I have inherited enough debts!’”
Fashola, while responding to the conversation by the Francis Uduyok-led panel that the ministry was overstretching itself by handling 472 road projects at once, said that the incessant demands by lawmakers were partly responsible.
He blamed abandoned projects on incessant budget cut.

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Mothers Who Have Baby Through C-section 'Should Not Give Birth Naturally Next Time To Avoid Risky Complications'

Mothers who try to give birth naturally after having a C-section are more at risk of serious complications, scientists have warned.

Researchers say mothers are safer choosing another Caesarean to avoid harming herself and the baby.
Oxford University academics tracked more than 74,000 births of mothers who had previously had a C-section.
Results showed those who planned a vaginal birth for their next child had higher odds of needing a blood transfusion or being struck down with sepsis.
They were seven times more likely to suffer from uterine rupture, which could cause a stillbirth or the baby needing to be resuscitated.
Gynaecologists have now reassured mothers who have given birth through a C-section that it is safe for them have a vaginal birth.
Women who have a C-section should be counselled about the benefits and harms of their next birth choices, UK clinical guidelines state.
But there isn't a huge amount of evidence for them to draw on, which prompted the researchers to delve into the risk of complications.
The experts reviewed more than 74,000 births in Scotland between 2002 and 2015 of mothers who had previously had at least one C-section.
WHAT ARE THE MEDICAL REASONS FOR A CAESAREAN?
There are various reasons why a doctor may recommend that you have a caesarean section instead of giving birth vaginally.
If you had complications in a previous pregnancy or birth, or in your current pregnancy, you may be advised to have what’s called a planned or elective caesarean, or a planned repeat caesarean.
If you were planning to give birth vaginally, but complications during labour or birth mean that you’re advised to give birth by caesarean, you’ll have what’s called an unplanned or emergency caesarean.
Here are some reasons why doctors may opt for a planned or emergency caesarean, rather than a vaginal birth:
You've already had at least one caesarean section.
Your baby is in a bottom-down, or breech, position.
Your baby is in a sideways (transverse) position or keeps changing its position (unstable lie).
You have a low-lying placenta (placenta praevia).
You have a medical condition, such as heart disease or diabetes.
You have lost a baby in the past, either before or during labour.
You’re expecting twins or more.
Your baby is not growing as well as it should be in your womb.
You have severe pre-eclampsia or eclampsia, making it dangerous to delay the birth.
A total of 45,579 babies were born by planned C-section and 28,464 by attempted vaginal birth.
Some 1.8 percent of women who attempted a normal birth experienced serious complications, according to the findings published in the journal PLOS Medicine.
The rate was more than double the 0.8 percent recorded among those who opted for a C-section.
The odds of uterine rupture was seven times higher, at 0.24 percent compared to 0.04 percent.
The tearing of the uterus can cause the mother to suffer severe bleeding, as well as possibly pushing the baby into a gap in the abdomen where it could suffocate.
The odds of women needing a blood transfusion or developing sepsis was twice as high in the group who attempted a vaginal birth.
While the possibility of suffering an injury needing surgery, such as damage to bladder, bowel or ureter, was three times higher in the vaginal birth group.
Eight percent of women who attempted a normal birth and 6.4 percent who had a C-section suffered complications with their newborns.
Such complications, grouped together, included stillbirth, the baby being admitted to a neonatal unit, or them needing to be resuscitated.
Of the women who had a planned vaginal birth, 71.6 percent were successful. The rest needed an emergency C-section.
They were significantly more likely than those delivered by planned C-section to experience all serious complications.
The experts, led by PhD student Kathryn Fitzpatrick, stated that the overall risk of complications were small for either type of delivery.
The team said mothers should not be afraid of choosing a vaginal birth if they want to and are able to accept the risks.
Andrew Shennan, professor of obstetrics, Kings College London, said: 'We know that, overall, vaginal births are the safest overall, if you can achieve it.
'If a vaginal delivery is attempted after a previous caesarean there is a very small risk of womb rupture and bleeding, which can be safely managed in hospital.'
The increased risk of uterine rupture in women who attempt vaginal birth may be caused by the scar from a previous C-section tearing under the pressure of labour contractions. It may lead to doctors deciding to perform an emergency C-section.
A previous caesarean section has always been recognised by the medical profession as one of the potential risk factors for uterine rupture, the NHS states.
The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists say uterine ruptures strike every one in 200 women who plan vaginal deliveries after a C-section.
Dr Pat O’Brien, consultant obstetrician and spokesperson for the RCOG, said the research provided more useful data to help guide women's choices.
He said: 'A detailed conversation with a woman and her senior obstetrician should take place so she can make an informed choice about the safest way she can plan to give birth and be supported by a team of specialists.
'Women can be assured that in most cases it is possible and safe to have a vaginal birth, or a planned repeat Caesarean birth, after a previous Caesarean birth.'
Elizabeth Duff, a senior policy adviser at The National Childbirth Trust, said: 'This latest research has confirmed that the risks associated with vaginal birth after caesarean and a planned repeat caesarean are low.
'Most women are able to have a vaginal birth safely after a previous caesarean without complications.
'But outcomes will vary and depend on their obstetric history including the reasons behind why they had a C-section in the first place.'
Figures show around one in every four pregnant women in the UK now gives birth through a C-section.
Just 19.7 of babies in Britain were born through C-sections in 2000. In contrast, the figure was 26.2 per cent in 2015.
Experts speculate women are opting for C-sections, even if they don't have medical reasons, in fear of labour pain and believing a C-section is safer.
C-sections can be life-saving interventions for both the mother and her child when complications occur, such as bleeding.
Ms Fitzpatrick said: 'Our findings can be used to counsel and manage women with previous caesarean section and should be considered alongside existing evidence.'

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President Buhari Reshuffles Cabinet, Redeploys Keyamo, Alasoadura

President Mohammadu Buhari has effected a minor cabinet reshuffle, a month after he inaugurated his ministerial team with the redeployment of his former campaign spokesperson, Festus Keyamo to the ministry of Labour and Employment.

The announcement made by the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation noted that Keyamo was moved from the Minister of State for Niger Delta Affairs to replace Tayo Alasoadura as the Minister of State at the labour ministry, while Alasoadura replaced him at the Niger Delta Affairs ministry.
The statement said President Muhammadu Buhari has approved of the swap.
“President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the immediate redeployment of two Ministers of State as follows.
“Mr. Festus Keyamo, Minister of State for Niger Delta Affairs, is to move to Ministry of Labour and Employment as Minister of State.
“Senator Tayo Alasoadura is to move to the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs as Minister of State.
“This redeployment takes effect from today, Tuesday, 24th September 2019.”

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Nigeria’s Central Bank Wants To See Inflation At 9% Before Mulling Rate Cut

* Central bank governor says lower rates may only come in 2020
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is targeting inflation at 9 percent or below before considering cutting its key rate, and that will likely only happen next next year, its governor Godwin Emefiele has said.

“How soon do I see interest rates coming down? I’m not seeing that coming this year,” Emefiele said in an interview with Bloomberg TV in London on Tuesday.
“During the course of 2020 we may be able to see that, but I can’t see that until we begin to see the numbers showing inflation is trending downward.”
The central bank held the monetary policy rate at 13.5 percent last week for the third straight meeting after surprising the market in March with the first cut since 2015.
While inflation in Africa’s largest oil producer has slowed from as high as 18.7 percent in January 2017 to 11 percent in August, it’s been outside the target band of 6 percent to 9 percent for more than four years.
“Unfortunately it’s been sticky coming downwards as soon as it hit about 11 percent,” Emefiele said. “The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) would love to see it at about 9 percent before beginning to aggressively thinking about easing.”

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Why TraderMoni Won AfDB Prize For Financial Inclusion~ Osinbajo

Nigeria's government microcredit scheme to low-income traders is aimed at promoting financial inclusion remain key to the actualization of the promise by President Muhammadu Buhari to lift millions of Nigerians out of poverty, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said on Tuesday.

Osinbajo told bankers at the opening session of the 2019 Annual Conference of Chartered Institute of Bankers that “we are working to lift Nigerians out of poverty and set them on the path to prosperity. We intend to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty over the next 10 years”.
“Financial inclusion of course is the key to realizing so much of what we expect as an economy and the President promised in his June 12 speech to lift 100 million people out of poverty in ten years, that is the commitment of the government of Nigeria.
“We started that journey with our collaboration with the Bank of Industry (BoI) to deliver the GEEP programme, better known as TraderMoni and MarketMoni by providing microcredit to almost 2 million petty traders.
"The Bank of Industry has now brought this huge bottom of the pyramid into the formal financial system and that has been recognized worldwide. Recently the programme won the AfDB prize for financial inclusion because of the work that was done with TraderMoni. This is a huge task," the Vice President said.
“Going forward, we now need to embark on financial training for all of those who have been brought into the net. As you know, when they’re given N10, 000 and they payback, they are given N15, 000, N20, 000 and it goes all the way. But at that point they’re given their BVNs, they’re formally included in the financial system, they’re formally included as formal traders, and so we are able to give them financial training and all that.”
He said for very long, that bottom of the pyramid has been completely excluded and yet informal trade is a significant part of trading that is going on in our country.
“So, there’s a real need out there and we must devise the methods by which those at the bottom of the pyramid can be uplifted and we must look at how we can even resource the entire value chains. What we find is that the petty trader, who just has a trade, is usually selling little bits and pieces from many of the manufacturers or fast-moving products and we found that just by giving them credit, we can resource the whole value chain all the way up.”
Speaking further on what the government intends to do in improving opportunities for those at the bottom of the pyramid, the Vice President said “we’re working with the Bank of Industry, with several players in the market, especially the marketing services people to identify how to work through those value chains so that more of these people can move from petty trading, higher up in the value chain as they’re resourced.”
He urged stakeholders in the banking sector to support government’s efforts in resuscitating the MSMEs and real sectors.
“All of that will depend on what the banking industry is prepared to do, how adaptable the banking industry will be to giving loans, especially microcredit. Everything is changing very quickly.
“We must create good jobs and opportunities. We must rapidly industrialize, we must provide the environment for local businesses, small and large to create wealth and value. We must also address the concerns of young entrepreneurs and startups, and the small traders, the millions at the bottom of the economic value chain, the millions at the bottom of the pyramid, those who sell from their trays and tabletops all over the markets in our country.
“We must develop the housing sector both to provide much needed shelter but also to boost local opportunities in the local building and building materials sectors. We know that we must ramp up our agricultural production, and provide a more efficient farm-to-market value chain, again creating millions of jobs in farming and Agribusiness generally.”

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South Africa Raises $5 Billion In Its Biggest-Ever Eurobond Sale

South Africa raised $5 billion in its biggest Eurobond sale to date, offering returns that compensated investors for increasing fiscal problems.

The deal on Monday was split between a $2 billion 10-year tranche and $3 billion of 30-year notes, yielding 4.85% and 5.75% respectively. The government had planned a $4 billion deal, but issued more after the transaction was 2.7 times oversubscribed, it said in a statement.
Average yields on South Africa’s dollar bonds fell 163 basis points between the start of the year and early September to 4.7%, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s indexes, amid a dovish turn by global central banks. Since then they have climbed to 4.98% as concern mounts over the financial burden of highly-indebted state companies such as Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd.
“Over the last few weeks, South African external bonds have underperformed versus peers, so the cheapening up should raise sufficient interest to compensate for the increasing fiscal concerns,” Trieu Pham, a strategist at ING Groep NV in London, said before the Eurobond sale was completed.
The initial price talk was around 5.25 percent for the 10-year offering and 6.125 percent for the longer securities.
Citigroup Inc., Deutsche Bank AG, Nedbank Group Ltd., Rand Merchant Bank and Standard Bank Group Ltd. were the bookrunners.
South Africa last came to the Eurobond market in May 2018, issuing $2 billion of 12- and 30-year debt. Yields on the latter rose 9 basis points to 5.67 percent by 10:08 a.m. in London on Tuesday.
The government’s 2019 budget stipulated that it would raise the equivalent of $2 billion on international capital markets. A further $2 billion was outstanding from the 2018-19 fiscal year.

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Court Orders Secret Police To Release Sowore

A Federal High Court in Lagos on Tuesday ordered the immediate release of the convener of #RevolutionNow protest, and publisher of Sahara Reporters Omoyele Sowore, from the custody of the Department of State Service, DSS.

Justice Taiwo Taiwo said the activist should be released to his lawyer, Femi Falana, who is to produce him for arraignment whenever he is required.
Falana had told the court that since the detention order has expired and application for renewal has been withdrawn, the court should make a consequential order and release Sowore.
“If the court wants him and i will produce him (Sowore).”
Falana said that the DSS was illegal and not the creation of National Security Act. That it was SSS that was written in that section but the prosecution argued that it was the same but just a semantics.
Falana referred the court to the case of MKO Abiola 1995 vs FG where the appellant was charged with treasonable felony and the court granted him bail even on self recognition.
Falana said he was also charged with treasonable felony and Justice Taiwo Taiwo was the one who defended him and he was granted bail.

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Nigeria Investigates Truecaller Over Violation Of Users' Privacy Rights

Nigeria has commenced investigations into the activities of Truecaller App over alleged violation of the privacy rights of Nigerians.

According to the National Information Technology Development Agency, said members of the public are being informed of the investigation, in line with section 6(f) of the NITDA Act, which empowered the agency to render advisory services on all information technology matters.
The agnecy Director-General, Kashifu Inuwa explained that initial findings revealed that Truecaller’s privacy policy was not in compliance with global laws on data protection, and the Nigerian Data Protection Regulation, in particular.
Findings also revealed that over seven million Nigerians are using the app, a development which NITDA said made it imperative to ‘enlighten the public’ and ‘guide those affected’.
NITDA further disclosed that Truecaller’s privacy policy consists of two sets – one for those in the European Economic Area and the other for those outside it, with Nigeria in the second category.
The agency said there are ‘marked’ differences between the two privacy policies.
The agency added that Nigerian users of the Truecaller App are contracted with Truecaller India.
The statement noted that Truecaller’s operations violated Article 2.1 (b) of the NDPR which required ‎data collection and processing to be accurate, and Article 1.3 (iii), which stipulated that consent must be obtained before collation of personal information.
“By supplementing the personal information of Nigerians without specific consent and accuracy, they are susceptible to a serious invasion of their privacy.
“This has encouraged unscrupulous persons to continue using Nigerian identities to perpetrate fraud,” the statement said.
NITDA added that contrary to the expectation of most users, Truecaller service collects far more information than it needs to provide its primary service.
The agency assured that it would continue to monitor the activities of service providers to ensure that the privacy rights of Nigerians are not violated.

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Atiku Goes To Supreme Court Over Tribunal Judgement On Presidential Election

Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate in the February 23 election has approached the Supreme Court over the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal judgment of September 11.

Both Atiku and PDP are seeking the nullification of the Tribunal's judgment which declared that President Muhammadu Buhari was valid.

On September 11, the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) had refused to grant Atiku and his party their request to quach the election of Buhari due to some irregularities in the February 23, election. 

Last week, Atiku in a Tweet has declared his confidence in the judiciary to give him justice and vowed that he would approach the apex court to redress the injustice done to him.

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Why UN Appoints Dangote, Adesina To Battle Global Malnutrition

Africa's richest man, Aliko Dangote, and the President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Akinwunmi Adesina have been appointed by the United Nations (UN) as part of 27 global leaders to combat malnutrition across the world.

The appointment was made by António Guterres, the secertary-general of the United Nations, as part of the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement committed to fighting malnutrition in all its forms.
According to a statement released by SUN to this effect, the leaders will meet on September 24 to take a decision on the continuation of the SUN Movement into its third phases (2021-2025).
The leaders will also make commitments to achieve its objectives – looking toward the 2020 Tokyo Nutrition for Growth Summit.
One in three people suffer from malnutrition the world over and 149 million girls and boys are stunted, a trend the group is set up to stop and reverse.
The 27 people appointed to the group are:
Akinwumi ADESINA (Nigeria),
President, African Development Bank
Aliko DANGOTE (Nigeria)
Chairman and CEO, Dangote Group
Manal AL ALEM (Jordan), Chef
Reem Ebrahim AL-HASHIMI (UAE),
Cabinet Member and Minister of State for International Cooperation
Mercedes ARÁOZ FERNÁNDEZ (Peru),
Vice-President, Republic of Peru
Inger ASHING (SWEDEN),
CEO, Save the Children International
Cherrie ATILANO (Philippines),
Founder and CEO, Agrea Agricultural Systems Internaional Inc.
Alicia BÁRCENA IBARRA, (Mexico)
Executive Secretary, Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean
David BEASLEY (USA)
Executive Director, World Food Programme
Martin CHUNGONG (Cameroon),
Secretary General, Inter Parliamentary Union
Josefa Leonel CORREIA SACKO (Angola),
Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, African Union Commission
Annette DIXON (New Zealand)
Vice President Human Development, World Bank
Chris ELIAS (United States of America)
President of Global Development, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Shenggen FAN (China),
Director General, International Food Policy Research Institute
Henrietta H. FORE (USA)
Executive Director, UNICEF and Chair of the SUN Movement Lead Group
Sophie HEALY-THOW (Ireland),
Youth Leader
Daniel KABLAN DUNCAN, (Côte d’Ivoire),
Vice President Côte d’Ivoire
Monica Katebe MUSONDA (Zambia),
Founder and CEO, Java Foods
Jakaya KIKWETE (Tanzania)
Former President United Republic of Tanzania, Kikwete Foundation
Shinichi KITAOKA (Japan),
President Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
Maryam MONSEF (Canada),
Minister of International Development and Minister for Women and Gender Equality, Canada
David NABARRO (United Kingdom),
Sustainable Development Facilitator, 4SD
Sania NISHTAR (Pakistan),
Founder and President, Heartfile Foundation
Inia SERUIRATU (Fiji),
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Fiji
Feike SIJBESMA (The Netherlands),
CEO, Royal Dutch DSM
Gunhild Anker STORDALEN (Norway),
Founder and President, EAT Foundation
Gerda VERBURG (The Netherlands),
UN Assistant Secretary-General and Coordinator of the SUN Movement

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Supreme Court Rules Against Boris Johnson, Says Suspending Parliament Illegal

The United Kingdom (UK) Prime Minister Boris Johnson was humiliated in the Supreme Court on Tuesday as judges ruled unanimously he illegally prorogued Parliament in an 'extreme' move to 'frustrate' debate on Brexit with John Bercow grabbing power and pledging to recall MPs with the PM still away in New York.

In an eviscerating judgment President Lady Hale said the Prime Minister's decision to ask the Queen to shut down the Commons for five weeks was 'unlawful, void and of no effect'.
She said: 'The court is bound to conclude therefore that the decision to advise Her Majesty to prorogue was unlawful because it had the effect of frustrating or preventing the ability of Parliament to carry out its constitutional functions', adding: 'Parliament has not been prorogued'.
And in an unprecedented attack on the PM's motives, Lady Hale added: ‘The effect upon the fundamentals of our democracy was extreme. No justification for taking action with such an extreme effect has been put before the court' - but she refused to say if he lied.
Arch-remainer Gina Miller, who helped defeat Mr Johnson, hugged her lawyer Lord Pannick QC in the courtroom as her victory over the Brexiteer Prime Minister was confirmed. Outside in Parliament Square her supporters cheered and chanted: 'Johnson out'.
Jeremy Corbyn has already demanded the Prime Minister's resignation as Mr Johnson woke up 3,500 miles away from London in New York where he will meet with President Donald Trump at the United Nations later.
Johnson has already vowed not to resign from No 10 if he lost the case and is found to have misled Her Majesty - and will now be considering whether he can legally defy the court and ask the Queen to prorogue Parliament again.
Today's extraordinary Supreme Court judgment will have seismic consequences over whether the political power of the Prime Minister built up over centuries can be neutered by the courts.
What happens now that the Supreme Court has ruled that prorogation was unlawful?
The Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that Boris Johnson's prorogation of Parliament was unlawful.
The ruling will have major ramifications for Brexit, the government and the country.
Here's what is likely to happen next:
Lady Hale, the President of the Supreme Court, said that suspending Parliament was 'unlawful, void and of no effect'.
Effectively she said that as a result the order to prorogue Parliament had never actually been made.
'Parliament has not been prorogued,' she said.
Lady Hale said while the court was not entirely certain about what should happen next, it believed it should be up to the Commons Speaker John Bercow and the Lord Speaker to decide how to proceed.
That means when Parliament sits again rests entirely in the hands of Parliament rather than the government.
Bercow responded to the ruling immediately and said that Parliament 'must convene without delay'.
He said he will now consult the leaders of the respective political parties before announcing a final decision on when Parliament will sit again.
However, the expectation will be that MPs and peers will return to Westminster as soon as possible, potentially as soon as tomorrow.
Bercow said: 'I welcome the Supreme Court’s judgement that the prorogation of Parliament was unlawful.
'The judges have rejected the Government’s claim that closing down Parliament for five weeks was merely standard practice to allow for a new Queen’s Speech.
'In reaching their conclusion, they have vindicated the right and duty of Parliament to meet at this crucial time to scrutinise the executive and hold Ministers to account.
'As the embodiment of our Parliamentary democracy, the House of Commons must convene without delay. To this end, I will now consult the party leaders as a matter of urgency.'
Johnson suspended Parliament with the argument that he needed time to prepare a Queen's Speech which had been due to take place on October 14.
Today's ruling effectively destroys that timetable and puts the government back to square one.
Ministers will now have to decide how to proceed, with rumours that Johnson could try to prorogue Parliament again.
Such a move would be incredibly controversial.
Johnson had ruled out resigning in the event of the court ruling prorogation was unlawful.
But he will now face intense pressure to consider his position.
The UK remains on course to leave the EU on October 31 but today's decision means the run up to Halloween will be volatile and fraught with difficulty.
It also delivers a sledgehammer blow to his promise to take Britain out of the EU on October 31 'deal or No Deal' with remainer MPs ready to take control of the process.
Jeremy Corbyn demanded an immediate recall of Parliament and an election to get a 'democratic' government.
He said: 'It shows the PM has acted wrongly in shutting down parliament. It demonstrates a contempt for democracy and an abuse of power.'
Labour's Keir Starmer told reporters in Brighton: 'We should be meeting as soon as we can, we're not closed down. It also means that we won't have a Queen's Speech because the parliamentary session has not been brought to an end.'
The Supreme Court suggested that Parliament can now immediately reconvene - but because of the unprecedented situation is still unclear exactly how this could happen.
Normally with a recall of the Commons the PM has responsibility for triggering MPs to sit again.
But Commons Speaker John Bercow and Lords Speaker Lord Fowler could be ready to declare that that Houses will sit tomorrow – or even later today.

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