The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has dissolved the management board of Skye Bank PLC citing the bank’s inability to meet the deadline of June 30, 2016, giving to the bank to recapitalise.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the bank also resigned, while four non-executive directors were retained and will be replaced by Muhammad Ahmad, a former Central Bank official, a former head of the Pension Commission and former Chairman of First Bank Nigeria.
Also, Tokunbo Abiru, a former executive director at First Bank Nigeria takes over as the new CEO.
The financial regulator, however says that Skye Bank is not distressed but has fallen below the regulated capital adequacy ratio.
Last year, the central bank gave three commercial banks until June 2016 to recapitalise after they failed to hit a minimum capital adequacy rate of 10 percent.
On Monday, Skye Bank shares fell 9.52 percent to 95 kobo as investors sold almost 11 million shares of the lender whose 2015 financial statements are yet to be released to the market.
Ex-militants from Bayelsa and Delta states have staged a protest over delayed payment of their five-month amnesty stipends by the Federal Government.
The protesters initially blocked the Mbiama-Yenagoa section of the East-West Road, a major expressway linking the South-South with other regions of the country.
Many travelers and other road users were stranded for many hours as motorists, commercial drivers and commuters got stuck in the traffic gridlock.
Heavily armed soldiers and other security personnel were present to prevent any breakdown of law and order.
It took the intervention of the Commander of the Joint Force in the Niger Delta, Operation Delta Safe, Rear Admiral Joseph Okojie, for the former agitators to back track and open the road to traffic.
Okojie urged the ex-militants to be patient with authorities, assuring them that their stipends would be paid to them.
Governor Seriake Dickson had on Sunday, July 3, appealed to ex-militants to be calm and exercise patience with the federal government over the delayed stipends, while also calling on the Presidential Amnesty Office to urgently pay whatever was due the ex-agitators.
Reacting to the protest, the Coordinator, Presidential Amnesty Programme, Paul Boroh, a retired Brigadier General, said the delayed stipends of the ex-militants would be paid this week.
Boroh said it would be counterproductive for ex-agitators to take to the streets at a time the government was making serious efforts to resolve some of the issues confronting the programme.
He called on all agitators in the Niger Delta region to shun acts that were inimical to public peace, as such street protests could be hijacked by hoodlums to cause mayhem and discredit the programme.
A Federal High Court sitting in Port-Harcourt has upheld the removal of former Borno State Governor, Ali Modu-Sheriff as the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
Justice Mohammed Liman, delivered the judgment on Monday, declaring that the National Convention that removed Sheriff was legal.
The PDP has been embroiled in internal crisis following the national convention which was held in Port-Harcourt earlier this year, during which Modu-Sheriff was removed as the party’s National Chairman and former Kaduna State Governor, Ahmed Makarfi, was appointed as caretaker chairman.
Modu-Sheriff insisted he remains the party’s National Chairman and even conducted a parallel Governorship primary election in Edo State even after the Makarfi–led faction had earlier held a primary election.
The development left the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in a dilemma as to which of the faction to recognize as authentic.
But the commission told the media it awaits the judgment – which has now been delivered – in order to know which of the two PDP factions to recognize especially with regards to the upcoming governorship elections in Edo and Ondo States.
The governorship election in Edo state has been scheduled to hold on September 10, while that of Ondo will hold in November.
A Federal High Court in Lagos has granted bail in the sum of N250m to two former ministers of the federal republic, Femi Fani-Kayode and Nenadi Usman, who are being tried by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for an alleged fraud of N4.9bn.
Also admitted to bail in the same conditions was one Danjuma Yusuf, who was standing trial alongside the two former ministers.
Justice Muslim Hassan granted the bail with two sureties in like sum, who must possess landed properties within the jurisdiction of the court as well as present evidence of tax clearance in the state.
Justice Hassan also ordered the accused persons to deposit their passports with the court pending the outcome of the case.
The accused were arraigned before Justice Hassan on June 28, on a 17-count of conspiracy, unlawful retention of proceeds of theft and money laundering.
Fani-Kayode, who acted as the Director, Media and Publicity for former President Goodluck Jonathan’s presidential campaign in the 2015 general election, was accused of conspiring with the others to directly and indirectly retain various sums which the EFCC claimed they ought to have reasonably known were proceeds of theft.
The offences were allegedly committed between January 8 and March 25, 2015 in the build-up to the general elections.
But the defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The EFCC says it intends to invite 17 witnesses during the trial.
Justice Hassan adjourned till October 19, 2016 for the prosecution to open its case.
Kano State commissioner for health, Kabir Getso, has disclosed that Kano state records 650,000 cases of pneumonia infection among children annually.
He said available data has also shown that Pneumonia disease claims the lives of over 170,000 children annually in the country.
Getso said there was urgent need to combat the deadly disease so as to save the lives of children
Making the statement while flagging off the Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine, PVC, Getso said if the vaccine is effectively administered on children it is estimated that by the year 2018 about 170,000 children are going to be prevented from losing their lives in the country.
According to him, pneumonia is a deadly communal disease, adding that available statistic has shown that 800,000 children under the age of five years die every year globally.
He said: ”Statistic has also shown that about 170,000 children die annually in the country as a result of contracting pneumonia disease ,is a very important disease ,we need to do everything humanly possible to prevent it from claiming the lives of our children.”
Getso further stated that pneumonia is a disease that affects everybody in the society ,but children under the age of five and elderly were more prone to the disease hence the need to introduced the vaccine .
The vaccine will be administered to children under the age of one year, at the age of six ,ten and 14 weeks respectively, which indicated that children will have it three times in their lifetime.
The Abia State Internal Revenue Service, ASIRS, has clarified that the tax certificate it issued the Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, during his screening for the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP’s governorship primary election in December 2012, was not fake.
Udochukwu Ogbonna, the Executive Chairman of the ASIRS, released a statement on Monday, insisting that the tax certificate issued to Ikpeazu was genuine.
He also added that neither the court nor the plaintiff, Ogah, sought the opinion of the Revenue Board as witness to state the authenticity or otherwise of the tax papers in issue, during the pendency of the subject suit.
Ogbonna in the statement maintained that “the taxes for the years 2011,2012 and 2013 were PAYE taxes deducted at source from his (Ikpeazu’s) personal emoluments by his employers (Abia State Passengers’ Integrated Manifest Scheme and Abia State Environmental Sanitation Authority respectively) and remitted to the service in the relevant tax years,
“That the dates on the tax receipts of the relevant years (2011, 2012 and 2013) did not suggest that they were paid on those dates, but only reflected the date he applied to be issued with the receipts, because that was when he needed them.”
Ogbonna further stated that since the governor’s taxes were deducted by his employers and remitted to the service within the relevant years, it cannot be said to have been paid on the same day, as they were paid as at when due.
“In fact the issue of payment as at when due does not apply to PAYE taxes because the tax payer has no part to play in the deduction and remittance of his PAYE as the same is done by his employer. Where there is failure to deduct and remit PAYE taxes, it is the employer and not the tax payer that is liable.”
The revenue board affirmed that both the Tax Clearance Certificate and the tax receipts referred to in the judgment were the documents of the Abia State Internal Revenue Service as the authority empowered by law to collect tax in the state.
“Finally, we state emphatically for the records and for the attention of the general public that we were never invited (subpoenaed) by the court or the plaintiff, Dr. Uchechukwu Ogah during the pendency of the subject suit that led to the judgment in Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu’s tax matter to state the authenticity or otherwise of the tax papers in issue,” Ogbonna added.
It would be recalled that Justice Okon Abang of the Abuja High Court, on Monday, June 27, sacked Ikpeazu from office over alleged false tax certificate presented before he ran for the April 11, 2015 governorship election and ordered the Independent Electoral Commission, INEC, to immediately issue a Certificate of Return to Uche Ogah, who came second in the primary of the PDP.
Justice Abang had also ruled that the Chief Judge of Abia State, Justice Theresa Uzokwe, do immediately administer the oath of office and swear-in Ogah.
The number of people killed in Sunday’s suicide bomb attack in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, has risen to at least 200, and 225 others were injured.
The government has declared three days of mourning after the huge blast, believed to be the deadliest single bomb attack in Iraq since 2007.
A lorry packed with explosives was detonated in the Karrada district while families were shopping for the holiday marking the end of Ramadan.
Rescuers said whole families had been killed with many people badly burned.
The so-called Islamic State, IS, claimed responsibility for the suicide attack.
Iraqi Prime Minister, Haider al-Abadi was greeted by angry crowds when he visited the mainly Shia Muslim area hours after the bombing. His office said the Prime Minister understood the reaction of residents and would increase security by banning “magic wand” fake bomb detectors and improving vehicle inspections at roads into the city.
The fake bomb detectors, some based on cheap devices for finding golf balls, were sold in large numbers to Iraq by several different fraudsters.
One British businessman, who was later jailed for 10 years, sold more than 6,000 devices to Iraq for up to $40,000 each, but despite warnings that the devices were useless, the Iraqi security forces continued to use them.
As night fell on Sunday, teams of workers were still clearing debris from the site and searching the charred remnants of buildings.
The bombing came a week after Iraqi forces recaptured the city of Falluja from IS.
A second bomb exploded shortly afterwards in another predominantly Shia area north of the capital, killing another five people.
IS, which follows its own extreme version of Sunni Islam, said in an online statement that the attack in Karrada was carried out by an Iraqi member of the group as part of “ongoing security operations”.
The US said on Sunday the attack strengthened its resolve to support Iraqi forces in their fight against IS.
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, has warned airlines operating in the country, especially foreign carriers, to immediately stop the sale of air tickets in the United States dollars and other foreign currencies.
The agency said it has issued notes of warning to the affected airlines and their actions have been declared a violation of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s regulations guiding the cost of production and services in the country.
There were reports that some foreign carriers, since April this year, have been demanding payment for flight tickets only in dollars due to scarcity of foreign exchange in Nigeria.
But the NCAA, through its spokesman, Sam Adurogboye, stated that a situation where foreign airlines operating in the country were declining payments in Naira and insisting on the dollar, was disturbing.
“This act is considered insensitive to passengers who have chosen the airlines for their travels,” Adurogboye stated.
He quoted a CBN circular issued on April 17, 2015 directing that pricing of any product would continue to be in naira only, adding that it was illegal to price or denominate the cost of any product or service, visible or invisible, in any foreign currency.
The NCAA further stated that the action of the international carriers contravened the provisions of the Bilateral Air Services Agreement between Nigeria and other countries as contained in Article 8 (4).
It stated that the agency had written warning letters to errant airlines to immediately comply with the provisions of the BASA and the CBN directive, adding that tickets and services should henceforth be offered to air travellers in naira without further delay.
The NCAA, however, assured the airlines that the Federal Government had taken measures to ameliorate the subsisting foreign exchange issues.
The Police Service Commission has approved the appointment of seven Deputy Inspectors-General of Police, DIGs, to constitute a new management team for the Nigeria Police Force.
Head of Force Public Relations, Ikechukwu Ani, made this known in a statement released late Monday evening.
“The Commission on Monday, approved the appointment of seven Deputy Inspectors-General of Police to man the seven Management Departments of the Force,” he said.
The new DIGs include: Shuaibu Gambo, Department of Finance and Administration; Joshak Habila, Department of Operations; Maigari Dikko, Department of Logistics and Supply; H. M. Dagala, Department of Force Criminal Investigations Department, FCID; Emmanuel Inyang, Department of Training and Development; Ntom Chukwu, Department of Research and Planning; Folusho Adebanjo, Department of ICT.
The commission also approved the appointment of Abdul Bube, an Assistant Inspector General of police, AIG, as the Force Secretary.
The statement added that the appointments have been conveyed to the Inspector-General of Police, IGP, Ibrahim Idris, for implementation.
Mike Okiro, chairman of the Police Service Commission said the officers’ promotion letters will follow in due course.
Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima on Sunday gave a breakdown of donations received on behalf of Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, insisting that a total of N345 million was received as against the rumoured that he had collected billions of Naira.
Borno State, the most affected by the Boko Haram insurgency, has over two million IDPs and gas spent billions of Naira on managing camps and taken care of displaced persons in host communities and rebuilding destroyed settlements.
Addressing journalists in Maiduguri, shortly after returning from Abuja where he met with President Muhammadu Buhari to discuss the issues of internally displaced persons in the state, Shettima stated that only a total of three hundred and forty five million naira (N345m) has been received as cash donation by his administration from May, 2011 when he inherited the Boko Haram crisis to date.
He said: “You see, contrary to wild assumptions that the Borno State Government has received billions of cash donations in local and foreign currencies for the management of Internally Displaced Persons, a lot of Nigerians may be shocked to know that a total of three hundred and forty five million naira (N345m) is the overall amount received as cash donation by our administration from May, 2011 to date.
The governor disclosed the donations received to include: N200 million in four years from the federal government under former President Goodluck Jonathan, N50 million from Lagos State Government in October, 2015, N25 million from Edo State Government in 2013, N20 million from Kano State in 2013, N20 million from Adamawa State in 2013, N10 million from Ekiti State in 2013, N10 million from Osun State in 2013, N5 million from Kaduna State and N5 million from Unity Bank.
He added that a woman who preferred anonymity donated N100,000.
He said while the state was able to receive cash donation of N345 million in total, she was spending N600m every month to cater for IDP’S throughout the Jonathan era.
He however revealed that apart from cash donation, the state was also able to get food and medications from some sources, which include, Kebbi State Government which donated 1,200 bags of rice, Ebonyi State Government gave 5,000 bags of rice, Taraba gave three trucks of highland tea and Gombe gave six trucks of assorted food products via two interventions.
He equally admitted that other groups visited and donated food items in the last five years but certainly not cash to Borno State Government.
He revealed that International partners operate in such a way that they have technical partners that implement their interventions.
Shettima said: “We have received tremendous support from some part of the International community but no foreign country or any International partner within or outside the UN and major world donors gave any cash to our administration from 2011 to date for the purpose of IDPs but rather all donations come in materials like medical supplies, technical support and food items, most of which are directly distributed by the International partners themselves to reach IDPs in different parts of Borno State.
He however admitted that: “If there is one organisation that has given us any cash donation outside the N345m for IDPS, it was the Dangote Foundation which gave Borno N400m but that was not for IDPs, it was an economic empowerment programme for women which the Dangote Group launched in different States including Lagos, Kano, Jigawa, Kogi, Adamawa and Yobe States in which N10,000 each was given to about three or four hundred thousand women across these States I mentioned. The N2b Dangote announced in support of Borno two months ago, we requested that he does not give us cash but building materials worth the amount”.
