THE disaggregation of the data of candidates across the 28 states participating in the 2023 Nigeria governorship election.
SVB run: Seven major Nigerian banks at risk – Expert
FOLLOWING the recent collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in the United States of America, an economic expert, Kazeem Bello, has hinted that “seven major banks in Nigeria” could be struck by the “wave of storm that will sweep banks and other financial institutions in the U.S. as it manifests.”
Just on Monday, March 13, another major regional bank, Signature Bank, was wound up by the U.S. authorities.
To avert the impending crisis, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Godwin Emefiele, has asked the African central banks to tighten their regulatory frameworks.
Emefiele raised the alert at the opening of the 2023 African Central Bank Conference held at the Global Leadership Center, Johannesburg, South Africa on Wednesday, March 15.
He warned that African central banks and other financial sector regulators needed to draw lessons from the SVB collapse by playing their regulatory and supervisory roles effectively to forestall any run on banks in their respective jurisdictions.
The SVB’s astonishing fall began on Friday, March 10, when its customers rushed to draw down their accounts all at once in a destabilising event known as a bank run.
According to a report by the Cable News Network (CNN), SVB provided financing for almost half of the United States venture-backed technology and health care companies. This is the largest failure of a U.S. bank since Washington Mutual in 2008, during the Great Recession.
Bello, who is the chief executive officer/principal partner at Afrique Capital and Equity Funds Limited in New York, told The ICIR that “about seven major Nigeria’s banks already known in the global banking terrain or financial circles are running seriously below their distress parity lines.”
Bello, a global development economist, did not disclose the banks, but stressed, “They are technically distressed, and they are just floating, waiting to be buried as we speak.”
He believed that the scorching naira redesign policy of the CBN would eventually expose the banks once depositors were able to pull their money out when the current abnormal financial landscape subsides.
“Those banks and others will see a massive deposit run,” he said, as he explained that customers would, in both the short and medium terms, resort to holding cash at home or out of the traditional banking system.
“We shall see more Naira being held outside the banking industry on a massive scale never before due to the usual phobia people are nurturing that when something happens in Nigeria, there is always a tendency that it will happen again.
“More traders and rural population people will resort to holding more cash until we are able to see confidence built in the system by the CBN and the banking system,” Bello added.
A lecturer at the Department of Finance, University of Lagos, Abu Noruwa, also told The ICIR that there was a need to regulate the Nigerian banking system for effective and efficient performance.
Noruwa argued that “tightening the regulations” was not the best word but a good regulatory framework to ensure total compliance.
“The regulatory frameworks or the laws are already in place, but there is the need to ensure full compliance,” he said, adding, “When the rules of the game or regulatory frameworks are not followed or complied with, the end result is devastating to both the banking industry or individual, and the economy generally.”
There are so many consequences for not following the regulations or rules and procedures of the system, the lecturer warned.
Investors lose N313bn as negative sentiment widens on NGX
THE Nigeria stock market steeped further on Thursday, March 16, as market capitalisation fell to N29.92 trillion from N30.23 trillion at the close of the day’s trading, leaving investors to lose a total of N313.02 billion.
The benchmark index, known as the All-Share Index, also declined by 1.04 per cent to close lower at 54,915.61 basis points as investors continued to pull their money out of quoted companies.
Market data showed that the Year-to-Date gain of the domestic bourse fell to 7.15 per cent even as the market breadth printed on the negative as 25 quoted companies’ shares fell relative to eight companies that gained.
The 4.95 per cent decline to N236 in the share price of MTN Nigeria Communications partly accounted for the weak performance witnessed in the equities market on Thursday.
At the close of the day’s trading at the floor of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), sustained sell-offs recorded on banking stocks further dragged the index down.
The bearing sentiment, market analysts say, contributed to a depressed stock market session saw Ecobank Transnational Incorporated lost 10 per cent to close at N10.80; FBN Holdings shed 2.73 per cent to close at N10.70; Fidelity Bank dipped 2.72 per cent to close at N5.01; while Guaranty Trust Holding Company moderated by 1.20 per cent to close at N24.70.
Performance across the sub-sector was generally bearish, except for the NGX oil/gas index, which closed flat. The NGX banking, insurance, consumer goods, and industrial indices rose by 1.00 per cent to 432.13 basis points; 0.36 per cent to 175.50 basis points; 0.17 per cent to 703.12 basis points; and 0.10 per cent to 2,551.32 basis points, respectively.
In the broad and narrow markets, the NGX Premium, NGX Mainboard, and NGX-30 indices decreased by 206 bps, 28 bps, and 117 bps, respectively.
Trading activity also dipped with total deals moderating by 10.72 per cent to 3,489 trades; volume 24.23 per cent to 137.29 million units; and value 55.66 per cent to N1.51 billion, respectively.
Transnational Corporation of Nigeria traded as the most active stock in volume, with 26.08 million shares worth N33.98 million and changing hands in 113 deals.
Meanwhile, the naira depreciated against the green beg by 0.20 per cent at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) foreign exchange window to N462.00 from N461.09, while at the parallel market (black market), it appreciated by 0.53 per cent to N750 from N754.
How poor weather almost crashes Aero flight carrying scores on route Abuja-Lagos
AN AERO Contractor flight 2124 escaped a crash en route Abuja-Lagos on Wednesday, March 16, while inbound Lagos State.
Carrying, at least, 80 passengers, the flight experienced much turbulence from a heavy cloud, eventually resulting in a downpour.
READ ALSO:
Aero Contractors plans return to commercial operations
Aero Contractors shuts down operations
DSS director’s wife stops Kano gov candidate from boarding flight
Passengers overwhelmed with fear screamed and called on God to save them from impending doom through different means as the aircraft’s wings flapped raucously.
Many called ‘Jesus’, and others shouted ‘Allah’ as the hope of escaping death waned.
The incident happened between 4:25pm and 4:40pm.
Awojebe Akinwale was the flight’s captain. Elated passengers praised his team when the flight eventually landed at about 4:45pm.
The cabin crew and the captain’s co-pilot beamed with smiles as they watched the passengers disembark.
The ICIR reporter, who was on the flight, noted that the aircraft spent about one hour 20 minutes in the air instead of the one hour indicated in the flight schedule.
One of the passengers, Mrs Ugwu Divine, a Lagos resident, said, “This is my second time experiencing this turbulence. But today’s experience was more. I was terrified, but the pilots did justice to the situation. I thank God for everything. As I talk to you, I am still feeling the shock in my body. It was just God and the pilot.”
Another passenger, Agnes Kayode, said, “I was very scared when the crisis started. Immediately after the turbulence started, I developed a running stomach. I was so scared that I thought everything was over.”
Similarly, Cynthia Titilayo, a passenger on the flight, said she was scared because she had never experienced such a crisis all her life.
Meanwhile, a male passenger, a pastor, who identified himself as Njoku, told The ICIR he was not afraid because God “is on the throne.” The reporter sat beside Njoku and saw him pray noisily during the turbulence.
Aero Contractor relaunched its services last December after it suspended operations over financial crisis.
We are better prepared for gubernatorial elections – Rivers Police
THE Rivers State Police Command has said its officials are better prepared to handle security issues which may arise from the forthcoming governorship and state house of assembly elections slated for Saturday, March 18.
Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Elections, Kayode Egbetokun disclosed this during a press briefing on Thursday, March 16.
READ ALSO:
Why INEC rescheduled Governorship, State Assembly elections
NNPP calls for cancellation of presidential, NASS elections
INEC concludes reconfiguration of BVAS for state elections
Police promise violence-free elections
“The three-week period that we had between the last election and now have been utilised to cross our t’s and dot our i’s in preparing for this election. We, therefore, look forward to a better election on Saturday,” he said.
He stated that disruption of the process would not be tolerated as the Command had massively deployed officials ahead of the elections.
“You will recall that 3 weeks ago, exactly on the 25th of February, the presidential and National Assembly elections were conducted in this state just as in other states of the Federation. It wasn’t a perfect election, but it was a successful election.
“In Rivers state, there were pockets of incidents that were reported which the police and other security agents responded to as quickly as possible.
“By this Saturday, we’ll be having our gubernatorial and house of assembly elections in this state. I want to assure you that the synergy that is existing between the police and other sister agencies in this state will be taken advantage of in this election,” he said.
Results of the presidential and National Assembly elections in Rivers state have been faulted by many, including Civil Society Organisation (CSO), Yiaga Africa.
The CSO described the results as inconsistent with their observations of the exercise.
The presidential and National Assembly elections in the state was also marred by incidents of violence.
However, Egbetokun noted that relevant laws would be enforced by the police to ensure peaceful and successful elections.
“We are not going to take anything for granted. All persons who are criminally minded and who may want to come out and disrupt this election are hereby warned to have a change of mind,” Egbetokun said.
READ ALSO:
- Guber poll: Kano NNPP accuses DSS of intimidation
- DSS files terrorism charges against four suspects in Abeokuta
- Thomson Reuters Foundation offers Kurt Schork awards
- Nigerian boy who went viral for dancing ballet in rain meets Queen Consort
- Lagos: INEC says it did not drop ad-hoc staff from South-East, South-South
He urged citizens to come out and vote for their preferred candidates, adding that the police would provide level playground during the exercise.
He also said restriction of movement during the elections, would be strictly enforced.
The Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba ordered the restriction of vehicular movement on roads, waterways and other channels of transportation across all states where governorship and House of Assembly elections will be conducted on Thursday March 16.
Tension as Sanwo-Olu, Rhodes-Vivour, Adediran battle for Lagos governorship seat
The Lagos State governorship election holds on Saturday, March 18, with the incumbent Babajide Sanwo-Olu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), AbdulAzeez Adediran of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour of the Labour Party (LP) the leading contenders for the seat. The ICIR’s Temitayo Odunlami examines the tension-soaked build-up to the election and the chances of the three front-seat candidates.
THE stakes have gone higher in the electoral race to the Lagos State governor’s office at Alausa, Ikeja. The governorship election holds on Saturday, March 18, and it is a no-brainer that it will be contested among Babajide Sanwo-Olu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdul-Azeez Olajide Adediran of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour of the Labour Party (LP). Other candidates do not stand even a scintilla of a fighting chance.
The APC is a bigger version of the ‘progressives’ camp that has held the state in its grip since 1999. Since the president-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, governed the state from 1999 to 2007, he has not only ensured that the party he leads controls the state, he has been directly involved in picking who would be governor.
Until now, Tinubu had had it relatively easy to control the governorship election, even when former president Olusegun Obasanjo vowed his “do-or-die” politicking in the 2003 and 2007 elections. The Alliance for Democracy (AD), and later the Action Congress (AC) and Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), with Tinubu as a leader, had always conveniently dumped the PDP in the governorship elections in what were purely two-way races. Other parties were inconspicuous. But the sudden emergence of the LP seems to be altering the configuration for Saturday’s election.
How the AD (AC, ACN, APC) dominated PDP in previous elections in Lagos
In the 1999 governorship election, Tinubu, contesting on the AD platform, defeated Dapo Sarumi of the PDP, polling 841,732 votes to Sarumi’s 184,900.
The PDP, with Obasanjo pushing for the party to completely take over the South-West, put up a stronger showing in the 2003 governorship election in Lagos State. The party’s Funso Williams garnered 740,506 votes, but could not do enough to unseat Tinubu, who polled 911,613 votes to return. Lagos State was the only one the PDP was unable to snatch from the AD in the South-West, a development that would begin to unravel Tinubu as an emerging political strategist to watch.
Before the 2007 governorship election in the state, Tinubu had departed the AD to form the AC. It was on this new platform that he picked his Chief of Staff, Babatunde Fashola, to run for governorship to succeed him. Fashola won the election with 599,300, edging PDP’s Musiliu Obanikoro, who got 383,956 votes.
By 2011, the AC had metamorphosed into the ACN, on which platform Fashola ran for a return to office. He won convincingly, polling 1,509,113 votes against PDP’s Ade Dosunmu’s 300,450 votes.
Again, the ACN would assume another political identity after merging with the Congress for Political Change (CPC), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) to form the APC.
It was on the APC ticket that Akinwunmi Ambode, another Tinubu nominee, contested the 2015 governorship election. Ambode won the election with 811,994 votes to succeed Fashola, beating Jimi Agbaje of the PDP, who had 659,788 votes.
APC leaders in Lagos state would not give Ambode a second term opportunity for the 2019 governorship election, and in his stead, they picked Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who emerged winner with 739,445 votes, defeating Agbaje, who contested for the second consecutive time on the PDP name and got 206,141 votes.
2023 Lagos governorship election and the LP factor
The tables may have turned. The governorship election in Lagos state on March 18 is expected to be fundamentally different from the two-horse race it had been since 1999. From the blues, Rhodes-Vivour has jumped into the mix, thanks to the frontline showing of the LP in Lagos state in the presidential election of February 25.
Before that election, PDP’s Adediran, popularly called Jandor, was naturally expected to be the one to give Sanwo-Olu a run for his money in the governorship election on Saturday. But the result that the LP flaunted in the presidential election would seem to have rewritten that expectation, as the influence of the presidential candidate of the LP, Peter Obi, among the huge Igbo population in state loomed large.
In the election, Obi scored 582,454 to lead in the state, while APC’s Tinubu polled 572,606 to follow closely. Atiku gathered 75,750 votes to trail a distant third.
Factors that will determine voting pattern
For Sanwo-Olu and Rhodes-Vivour, the voting pattern is well cut out for them. As it happened for Obi in the presidential election, the ethnicity question will subsist in Saturday’s governorship election for the LP candidate in Lagos state. The Igbo’s have gained in confidence arising from the presidential election result and cannot but be thinking it is not impossible to position the LP, which they have now widely adopted as their choice political party, in Alausa.
Many Igbo engaged in businesses worth millions and billions of naira in the state cannot but be imagining now what advantages a Rhodes-Vivour as governor can confer on them.
A major complaint of business people, small and big, in the state is the multiple taxes that both local and state governments in Lagos impose on them, as well as the numerous illegal dues touts force them to pay. Many dealers and traders are hoping that a change of the old political order in the state would bring some relief.
“Yes, I am an Igbo man. But besides that is the suffering I go through in the hands of touts and government tax agents in the market. I pray for a change of government.
“The LP governorship candidate is a young man. I am sure he will change many wrong things in Lagos State,” a spare parts trader at the Ladipo market, Mushin, Uche Sunday, told The ICIR.
Rhodes-Vivour may, however, not receive the kind of blanket Igbo support that Obi got in the state. Apart from the fact that some Igbo elements are disinclined to invest the level of energy they put into the Obi campaign into the governorship version for Rhodes-Vivour, some Igbo groups have pledged their support for Sanwo-Olu in the election on Saturday.
On Thursday, March 2, the leadership of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo in Lagos state addressed journalists to express their support for the APC candidate.
At the briefing, the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo in the state, Sunday Ossai, said the organisation would be working to ensure Sanwo-Olu’s victory “because the governor represents everything Ndigbo needs to prosper and execute their businesses and professional calling”.
Also, the Women Leader of the body, Jane Okoro, told Sanwo-Olu at the event that it would be mobilising its entire women structure across the state to support his re-election.
Another group of Igbo citizens in the state, which called itself Concerned Ndigbo, also addressed the press on Monday, March 6, to declare its members’ support for Sanwo-Olu in the election. The co-ordinator of the organization, Chibunna Ubawuike, together with its patron, Ikechukwu Ijede, and secretary, Ozoemena Nliam, said the group would be supporting Sanwo-Olu because his administration “has not been discriminatory” in his performance in Lagos State.
“Sanwo-Olu has made tremendous and integrated development, as well as performance in various sectors, while turning Lagos into a construction site with massive infrastructural gains, which had brought about investments, while building a cordial relationship with the Igbos, hence the need to vote for him,” Ubawuike said.
Much earlier, in December 2022, a coalition of Igbo groups in Lagos state under the umbrella of G50 had pledged their support for Sanwo-Olu.
The group said it had already inaugurated a campaign council it tagged the ‘Ndigbo Integrated Campaign Council for Babajide Sanwo-Olu Committee (NICCBS)’ for the purpose.
The coalition’s coordinator, Festus Uchenna, told newsmen at a briefing on December 26, “G50 comprises all Igbo in Lagos, men and women, market people and artisans. We have the two factions of the Ohaneze Ndigbo in Lagos here. What is happening here is a consolidation of all the Igbo living in Lagos to consolidate and give Sanwo-Olu our bloc vote.”
Sunday, the Ladipo spare parts merchant, however, pooh-poohed this flurry of support for Sanwo-Olu, saying it was mere “drama.”
To him, “Don’t mind them. On Saturday, many of them will vote for Obi’s candidate in the Lagos governorship election.”
Rhodes-Vivour is not unlikely to be negatively affected by a strong split in Christian votes in the state, which worked extensively for Obi in the presidential election. With Sanwo-Olu and his wife also Christians, the votes from that religion would be split along individual preferences, rather than on any religious sentiment for a particular candidate. This, it is believed, would substantially slash into the votes that Obi garnered on February 25.
The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) in Lagos state, which boasts a large followership in the state, and whose members mostly voted for Obi in the presidential election, has anyway publicly declared its support for Sanwo-Olu.
Leaders of the PFN met in Ikeja, the state capital, on Friday, March 3, to endorse the incumbent for a second term.
The PFN chairman in the state, Enyinnaya Okwuonu, told journalists after the meeting that “though the Fellowship would not want to be partisan, and without prejudice to other contestants, Sanwo-Olu deserves a second term to complete the good works he has started in Lagos.”
Also, the Lagos PFN’s secretary, Mahmood Akindejoye, urged all Christians to be united in supporting Sanwo-Olu for a second-term bid.
The LP candidate may be getting a large number of his votes from young voters, who are still angry about what they condemned as Sanwo-Olu’s role in the October 2020 #EndSARS protest in Lagos.
During the protest at the Lekki tollgate, where youths had massed to demonstrate their anger at police brutality, soldiers had been called in. The soldiers resorted to shooting the helpless protesters, and there were casualties.
Although the Federal and Lagos state governments maintain there was no fatality or few, the youths and human rights organisations have insisted the soldiers did kill some protesters.
The irate youths continue to hold Sanwo-Olu responsible as inviting soldiers to mow the protesters. They are also angry with Tinubu, who is unarguably the godfather of Lagos politics, and who they allege pulls the state’s financial strings. Moreover, the youths charge that Tinubu, it is, who encourages the exploitation of commercial vehicle drivers by a notorious motor park unionist, Musiliu Akinsanya, widely known as MC Oluomo. Commercial vehicle drivers are compelled to pass the burden of tolls that Oluomo’s enforcers impose on them to commuters, resulting in high transport fares.
Consequent upon that tragedy, youths in the state mobilised massively to obtain their voter cards focused on one goal: oust the APC. They expressed their unalloyed support for Obi, and gave it practical vent in the presidential election. It is widely held that votes by the youths assisted Obi in collecting huge votes even in local governments like Somolu, Alimoso and Ikeja, where there are not so many Igbo residents and were hitherto known to be Tinubu’s political strongholds.
If the youths come out to vote on Saturday, March 11 at the governorship election in large numbers as they did on February 25, Rhodes-Vivour should be expecting a significant number of votes from that quarter. But whether that number, plus the support he would be getting from other sympathisers, would be massive enough to offset whatever votes Sanwo-Olu would be throwing at him, can only be known after voting.
What chances has PDP governorship candidate with the Igbo votes LP swing?
The normally Number 2 constant in the governorship election calculus in Lagos State appears to be losing that grip. Going by recent developments, the PDP could just be battling for inconsequential relevance in the governorship election on Saturday.
The reason is obvious. From 1999, the Lagos PDP has been relying mostly on Igbo bloc votes to ruffle the ruling party. However, with the Igbo shifting their support to the LP in the 2023 elections, the PDP fish has suddenly found itself abandoned by the water.
The PDP’s degeneration in the state was evident in the measly number of votes Atiku Abubakar scooped in the presidential election, with Obi and Tinubu condemning him to an also-ran.
The cause of the PDP’s governorship candidate, Adediran, is not helped by his rejection by the party’s leading lights in the state, Olabode George and Kofoworola Akerele-Bucknor, who was Tinubu’s deputy for a while when he was the state governor. The two PDP chiefs had expressed their support for Rhodes-Vivour, as they pursue their frenetic desire to upend Tinubu in the battle to control the state.
Adediran, in an interview on Wednesday, March 15 on Arise TV, monitored by Ripples Nigeria, lampooned George for supporting the LP candidate for the election.
He said George had become angry with him because he decided to pick his own preference, actress Funke Akindele as his running mate, rather than Rhodes-Vivour, who George had picked for him. Rhodes-Vivour had defected to the LP after Adediran overlooked him for the deputy governorship candidature.
“I was able to clinch the ticket without the support of godfatherism. And after, Bode George sold Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour to me, but I refused as I left APC because of godfatherism. I cannot condone that in PDP,” he said.
Admitting his lonesome plight towards the election, the PDP governorship candidate said, “What is happening is that I am fighting without any godfathers. Chief Bode George is always sabotaging the efforts of PDP candidates in every election cycle.”
Compounding Adediran’s situation is the defection, this week, of a key member of the PDP in the state, Ade Dosunmu, to the APC to support Sanwo-Olu’s reelection bid.
Dosunmu, the PDP governorship candidate in the 2011 election, crossed to the APC along with the chairman of the Elders Committee of the LP in Lagos State, Sunbo Onitiri, as well as with the chairmen of 12 other political parties in the state, who also said they would be supporting Sanwo-Olu.
Can an alliance nick it for Rhodes-Vivour?
As disclosed by Adediran, there have been talks between him and Obi on a possible alliance between the PDP and the LP, with the suggestion from the latter that he steps down for Rhodes-Vivour.
The PDP candidate, however, promptly dismissed such a thought, fearing that a pending court case against Rhodes-Vivour could eventually turn out against him and ultimately render the whole alliance unworthy.
Adediran said during the interview, “I told Obi that I don’t have a problem with an alliance. But I told them we need to put our best foot forward. Analyse us. Rhodes-Vivour has a Supreme Court case, which might work against us, and we cannot go into this election because of these cases.”
If Adediran was referring to himself as the “best foot forward”, it would be hard for Obi to accede to his suggestion, given the height the LP believes it has climbed in Lagos politics.
“The LP is now the beautiful bride in Lagos politics, not the PDP. If any of the two will be stepping down for the other, it has to be the PDP. The LP would be politically naive to give in to the PDP,” a political scientist and researcher, Kelvin Adewale, said.
But then, the election is still more than 24 hours away, and within even an hour, anything can happen in politics. Can the two opposition parties agree to put aside their ego as they dream to unseat Sanwo-Olu? Time is ticking.
Police promise violence-free elections
AHEAD of the Governorship and House of Assembly elections scheduled for Saturday, March 18, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has assured Nigerians of enhanced security and violence-free polls.
Spokesperson of the NPF, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, gave the assurance in an interview with The ICIR on Thursday, March 16.
Adejobi assured that the force had analysed all known threats and is ready to curb electoral violence.
READ ALSO:
Police promise violence-free elections
Court orders Lagos, Police to pay N5m to driver assaulted during #EndSARS anniversary
CSOs protest arrest of NYSC member suspected of exposing police brutality
Police confirm attack on Abuja estate, nine kidnapped
“We have done our deployment based on our threat analysis and improved in some areas of strategy, logistics and operations. We are fully prepared and good to go.
“We will be out to curb electoral violence, and arrest whoever violates electoral act and other criminal laws of our land,” Adejobi said.
This is coming on the heels of various incidents of electoral violence that characterised the just concluded Presidential and National Assembly election held on February 25.
In Kano, the House of Reps majority, Alhassan Doguwa, was arrested for murder and electoral violence.
He was accused of alleged involvement in the murder of three persons during the elections.
According to reports, Doguwa, a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), is suspected of having led an attack on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) office in his constituency, which resulted in the death of three people.
It was alleged that the INEC official declared Doguwa winner of the election at gunpoint.
Also, in Dekna, Kogi State, thugs attacked Polling Unit 25 and injured some INEC officials and a voter.
Some people also got injured when youths disrupted the election process in the Nyong Nyong area in Plateau State’s Kanam Local Government Area.
In Akwa Ibom, arguments between two people led to the scattering and burning of electoral materials at Lutheran Primary School, Atai Nto Obo, Etim Ekpo, LGA.
Armed men disrupted voting in Akinyele, Aguda Surulere areas of Lagos and took away the ballot boxes and papers.
Party supporters also clashed at Angwa- Jama in Lokoja, Kogi State.
Governorship election: IGP orders restriction on movement
THE INSPECTOR-General of Police, Usman Baba has ordered the restriction of vehicular movement on roads, waterways and other channels of transportation across all states where governorship and House of Assembly elections will be conducted on Saturday, March 18.
The police chief made this known through a statement signed by the Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, on Thursday, March 16.
READ ALSO:
Police promise violence-free elections
Presidential election petition: I have confidence in judiciary — Peter Obi
INEC commences distribution of election materials in Lagos, Oyo
INEC cautions politicians ahead guber polls, says election not war
The statement explained that the restriction of vehicular movement will be between 12:00 am to 6:00 pm on Saturday.
The directive was not applicable to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
“Sequel to the forthcoming Gubernatorial and State Houses of Assembly elections scheduled to hold on the 18th of March, 2023, the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba, CFR, has ordered the restriction of all forms of vehicular movement on roads, waterways, and other forms of transportation, from 12 am to 6 pm on election day in all states where elections will be conducted with the exception of those on essential services such as INEC Officials, Electoral Observers, Accredited Media and Observers, Ambulances responding to medical emergencies, firefighters, etc,” the statement reads.
The IGP also barred all state-established security outfits and privately-owned outfits like the Benue State Community Volunteer Guards, the Amotekun Corps, Ebubeagu, and others from participating in security management during the election.
“Similarly, the IGP reiterates the ban on all security aides to VIPs and escorts from accompanying their principals and politicians to polling booths and collation centres during the election.
“State-established and owned security outfits/organizations, quasi-security units, and privately-owned guard and security outfits are also barred from participating in election security management.”
The IGP, however, urged all citizens to be law-abiding and ensure they exercise their franchise unhindered.
Guber poll: Kano NNPP accuses DSS of intimidation
THE New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) in Kano State has accused the Department of State Security (DSS) of intimidation ahead of the Saturday, March 18 governorship election.
The party said the DSS was intimidating and arresting its members in a bid to undermine its chances in the governorship poll.
READ ALSO:
Court grants Bauchi PDP, NNPP leave to inspect election materials
NNPP calls for cancellation of presidential, NASS elections
2023: NNPP says Kwankwaso won’t step down for ailing presidential candidates
Timing of shutdown of NNPP Borno office wrong – Zulum
The NNPP flagbearer for the Kano North Senatorial seat in the just concluded election, Abdullahi Baffa Bichi, made the allegation while addressing journalists in Kano on Thursday, March 16.
Bichi said the DSS Director in Kano State Alhasan Muhammad was due for retirement 15 years ago but was kept in Kano at the behest of Governor Abdullahi Ganduje to assist the All Progressives Congress (APC) in winning the governorship election.
He said the NNPP had shelved its earlier decision to stage a protest against the director.
Bichi accused the Kano state governor of using the DSS director in 2019 to subvert the will of the people.
“But as law-abiding, patriotic and peaceful people and responsible citizens, and having received a letter from the police notifying us of that all rallies and processions and protests should be put on hold, we have agreed to do so.
“We are putting the protest on hold because higher authorities from Abuja have reached out to our party and assured us that all necessary steps have been taken to address our grievances,” he added.
He added that the party had information that the DSS had made plans to use some youths to penetrate the Party and cause a breach of peace during the protest.
“So to change it, they need to bring in tactical teams. They are been given assignments to go and cause trouble there. Those teams are in Kano and been kept in the hotel and what they called safe houses.
“They (tactical team) are going to do nothing but to subvert the will of the people. We have raised alarm about this, and we have written to the Commander in Chief over this. But we know that they can not change the will of God, and we know that a people united can never be defeated.
“Kano people are United, and our unity is our strength; they cannot defeat a united Kano people, united NNPP,” Bichi said.
He insisted that Muhammad was due for retirement and called on all authorities concerned to save the state from what he termed machinations and mischief of the DSS director.
Attempts to speak to Muhammad were unsuccessful as he did not pick up his call nor respond to messages sent to his phone.
AfDB, partners invest $618m to grow Nigeria’s creative enterprises
THE African Development Bank (AfDB) and some partners have officially launched a new Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises (iDICE) programme, with investments worth a total of $618 million.
The initiative, launched on March 14, is expected to attract direct investments in more than 200 technology and creative start-ups, and provide non-financial services to about 450 digital technology, small and medium enterprises.
READ ALSO:
AfDB’s Adesina seeks bold reforms, projects 4% GDP growth for Africa
AfDB’s Adesina seeks bonds commitment from Africans in diaspora
AfDB confirms $1bn support to Nigeria’s 20,500 MSMEs
AfDB approves $134m loan to boost local food production in Nigeria
With a potential to generate $6.4 billion into Nigeria’s economy, iDICE is expected to create six million new jobs for young Nigerians.
Speaking at the launch event in Abuja, Nigeria’s Vice President Yemi Osinbajo emphasised the importance of a coordinated approach to innovation across Africa.
“Government must provide more support for start-ups and small businesses, and investors must provide more funding,” Osinbajo said.
The African Development Bank Group is the largest funder of iDICE, providing $170 million.
The French government, through the Agence Française de Développement, is a key partner in the project and will contribute €100 million ($116 million), while the Islamic Development Bank, pending approval from its board, is expected to provide $70 million.
Accordingly, the Nigerian government, through its executing agency, the Bank of Industry (BoI), will provide $45 million in counterpart funding. Other institutional and private sector investors are also expected to provide additional funding for the implementation of the strategic initiative.
At the official launch of the project, AfDB’s President Akinwumi Adesina stressed the need to leverage the huge potential of iDICE for sustainable job creation and economic transformation.
“We are retooling Nigeria to be more competitive in an increasingly digital world. We are creating hope for a new Nigeria, driven by the power of the youth,” Adesina said.
He remarked that the AfDB expected the iDICE model to be rolled out in other regional member countries through its Youth Entrepreneurship Investment Bank initiative, which he said would be designed to create a financial and non-financial services ecosystem to support start-ups run by young Africans, and to create jobs.
The French Ambassador to Nigeria, Emmanuelle Blatmann, said at the event that the digital technology and creative industries had enormous potential to create jobs and spur economic growth in Nigeria.
“The iDICE programme is designed to support young entrepreneurs and innovators who are driving these industries forward,” Blatmann said.
Through iDICE, around 175,000 young people, including university students, will gain direct access to technology to build creative skills, stimulate innovation, and help new businesses to flourish.
iDICE will help consolidate Nigeria’s leadership position as Africa’s pre-eminent hub for young entrepreneurs and start-up investments. In 2022, African start-ups raised $5.4 billion, with Nigerian companies receiving the largest share of $1.2 billion.
It will also enhance regulatory policy frameworks such as the 2022 Start-up Act, provide access to financing through the creation of a DICE Fund, an independently managed venture capital fund; and mobilise over $217 million in investment capital.
The fund will also provide technical resources to de-risk digital and creative companies at a scale and sustainable manner.