NEWS MIRROR

Buhari and Emiefele By Favour Ajibade President Muhammad Buhari has backed the decision by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to design new naira notes and remove the old ones, saying that the nation will gain a lot by doing so.  This is coming on the heels of the reactions by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zanaib Ahmed, that CBN has refused to carry her ministry along on the issue. In a radio interview with Halilu Ahmed Getso, and Kamaluddeen Sani Shawai, President Buhari said reasons given to him by the CBN convinced him that the economy stood to benefit from reduction in inflation, currency counterfeiting and the excess cash in circulation. Similarly, the Senior Special Assistant to the President, (Media & Publicity), Garba Shehu, quoted Buhari as saying that he did not consider the period of three months for the change to the new notes as being short. ”People with illicit money buried under the soil will have a challenge with this but ...

By Akinola Ajibade Amidst volatility in the global energy market, Shell Shell has declared $9.5 billion in earnings from its operations in the third quarter of 2022. This may go up in the subsequent quarters, as  the Oil giant, is about to complete its share buy back programme, a development which would result in an additional $4 billion of distributions.  Shell Plc's  Chief Executive Officer, Ben van Beurden said the company plans to increase the dividend per share (DPS) for the fourth quarter, adding that its would pay the dividend in March 2023, by an expected 15%, subject to Board approval.” Beurden said: “We are delivering robust results at a time of ongoing volatility in global energy markets. “We continue to strengthen Shell’s portfolio through disciplined investment and transform the company for a low-carbon future. At the same time we are working closely with governments and customers to address their short and long-term energy needs,” he stated. He d...

By Akinola Ajibade Contrary to allegations that the Chief Executive officer of Air Peace, Mr Allen Onyema has committed frauds in the United States,  the authorities in U.S has kicked against it. According to A.O. Alegeh & Co Legal Practitioners & Notaries Public, a law firm contracted by Mr. Allen Onyema, the CEO of Air Peace, there was no fraudulent intent in all the Letters of Credit issued by his client. It also declared that the money in the transaction were legitimate and belonged to Onyema. According to the firm,findings by the United States Government and its judgment admitted there was no loss suffered by any bank in the country over the fraudulent allegation leveled against Onyema. The law firm in a statement,said the conclusion of the indictment filed against Ebony Mayfield, an American and a former staff of Springfield Aviation Company, who was accused to have played a key role in an alleged bank fraud case instituted against Onyema on Friday, reveal...

Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited Favour Ajibade Concessioning of Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited to another party or institution would jeopardize plans to revive the firm and further return it to optimal performance, a group has said. The group is made up of Non- Governmental Organisation (NGO) led by its National Coordinator, Mohammed  Bougel Attach and African Citizens Development Foundation ( ACDF).  While the former is led by its National Coordinator, Mohammed Bougel Attach, the latter has Otunba Dele Ajayi-Smith as member. In a statement signed by the duo and made available to News Mirror, the group is not in support to offer the multi-billion dollars Steel company to any other organization, adding that the idea is running contrarily to its objectives. The group further said that its giving support to local investors to turn around the fortunes of the company and therefore must not be conceded to other institutions. The coalition’s position was sequel to mixed re...

Pix 1:NIPPs office in Kuru, Plateau state 2: local governments unbrealla body  By Akinola Nigeria Nigeria's  776 local government councils require  autonomy in order  to operate efficiently as  members of the third-tier adminstrative cadre. The Federal and State Governments respectively,are in the first and second tiers levels, as spelt out in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The above was one of the recommendations arrived at by participants at the two-day conference organised for Local Governments and Public Administrators in Kuru,  Jos, Plateau state,  recently.  The event was organised between October 27- 28, this year and  attended by seventy five participants mainly CILGPAN's members from three Northern states of Borno, Niger and Plateau. The programme, which was at the instance of  the Chartered Institute of Local Government and Public Administration of Nigeria (CILGPAN) and National Ins...

Above: Ministry of Finance headquarters: Below: CBN's building in Abuja By Akinola Ajibade Controversy over the plans to redesign the naira notes has pitched the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zanaib Ahmed and Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria ( CBN) , Mr Godwin Emefiele against one another. CBN has fixed November 15th, this year for the issuance of new N100, N200, N500 and N1000 notes as replacement for the old ones. Subsequently, the apex banking regulatory body is planning to spend N3trillion to mop up the old notes from circulation. The issue has resulted in allegations and counter allegations between the two Federal Government- owned institutions, with CBN saying that it has  followed the law and due process on the matter. The bank's reaction came on the heels of claims by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmad, that her ministry was not carried along by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in the o...

L-R: Savannah Energy's  Head of Human Resources,  Yetunde Onabule, CIPM's Registrar/ Chief Executive, Oluwatoyin Naiwo, and Senior HR Partner, Patience Emmanuel- Onyegu at the event. Accugas Limited, a company, in which Savannah Energy Plc indirectly owned 80 per cent stakes in,  has won the Human Resources ( HR) Best Practice Award for the Energy, Oil and Gas Sector. The firm, a subsidiary of Savannah Energy, won the award during the 54th International Conference and Exhibitions of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management ( CIPM) in Port Harcourt, Rivers state.  Savannah Energy is  the British independent energy focused company, with interest to keenly explore its potentials in the industry for growth.  In a statement made available to News Mirror, by the company,  CIPM is described as  the apex regulatory organisation for the practice of HR in Nigeria.   The statement listed other  CIPM’s statutory man...

Brown  By Akinola Ajibade Seplat Energy Plc, yesterday, recorded an increase in profit before tax by 90.3 per cent to N77.5billion from N38billion year-year-on.  The firm, which was listed in both the Nigerian Stock Exchange ( NSE) Limited and London Stock Exchange ( LSE) respectively  announced this in  its  unaudited results for the nine months ended 30 September this year. In a statement made available to the Newsmirror, the company increased the cash generated year-on-year from its operations by 124.7 per cent from N64.9 billion to N154billion.  Also, Seplat grew its revenue by 34.4 per cent to N258.7bn from N182.7bn year-on-year; as its gross profit soars to N118.5bn from N58.1bn year-on-year, rising by 93.5 per cent.  Expectedly, the feat has put smiles on the  shareholders,  as the company is paying  third quarter dividend of US2.5 cents per share, taking 9M 2022 total to US7.5 cents per share  ($44.1 ...

Nifemi                            Oba Enitan  By Favour Ajibade A Nigerian medical practitioner identified as Bella Nifemi has taken to Twitter to declare her interest to be the wife of the Ooni of Ife . Recall that the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, has been a name on the lips of Nigerians after he went on a marrying spree. He has at the moment, married six women. A medical doctor identified as Bella Nifemi who hails from Ekiti state has now battled for the position of seventh wife. Bella Nifemi has assured the monarch that she will represent the Ekiti community well. According to her, “This is my submission to be Ooni’s 8th (7th) wife. I’m also a Medical Doctor and I will represent Twitter and Ekiti community well”.

By Favour Ajibade Nigeria has enough fuel to sell, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) Chief Executive officer, Mr Farouk Ahmed has said.  This is coming on the heels of the on-going scarcity of petroleum products in the country. He urged Nigerians not to engage in panic buying of petrol, as the country has enough fuel in stock. According to him,the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) and Nigeria National Petroleum Company Ltd. (NNPC) have enough fuel in stock, advising Nigerians not to entertain fears over the issue. He added:“l spoke with the MOMAN’S Executive Secretary this morning and he told me they have sufficient stock.I have directed them to start evacuating the product immediately to filling stations. “NNPC has also confirmed sufficiency and they have commenced evacuation.From now till tomorrow the situation will be back to normal.I don’t know what is happening but we are on top of the situation”. He assu...

By Akinola Ajibade The Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nmandi Kanu, will be N500milion richer soon, if the judgment of the Federal High Court, is anything to go by. The court sitting in Umuahia ordered the Federal Government, to pay IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, the sum of N500 million as damages following his illegal abduction and human rights abuse from Kenya. It also ordered the Federal government to return him to Kenya where he was extradited to Nigeria on June 19,last year. While giving the judgment, Justice E . N Anyadike, up said that the extradition of Kanu from Kenya without recourse to the legal process was a flagrant abuse of his fundamental human rights. He held that the respondent failed to disprove the claims of the applicant that he was arrested, blindfolded, tortured, and chained to the ground for eight days in Kenya before his extradition to Nigeria. Kanu, through his special Counsel, Aloy Ejimakor, had approached the court challenging his extraditio...

CBN's headquarters  By Akinola Ajibade Nigerians will start spending newly redesigned N200, N500 and 1,000 notes as from December 15, 2022, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor,Godwin Emefiele has said. He made this known yesterday ( Wednesday) during a special briefing in Abuja. According to him, the naira notes were redesigned sequel to the approval by the Federal Government. The development, he said, is line with the transition from old notes to new ones, adding that bank charges for cash deposits have been suspended with immediate effect. The new notes, Emiefele said, shall remain legal tender and circulate together until January 31, 2023, when the existing currencies shall seize to be legal tender. He added:“Currency management is a key function of the Central Bank of Nigeria, as enshrined in Section 2 (b) of the CBN Act 2007. Indeed, the integrity of a local legal tender, the efficiency of its supply, as well as its efficacy in the conduct of monetary policy...

By Akinola Ajibade Marketers within Oyo and Ogun states respectively, yesterday, sold petroleum products at  between N195 to N200 per litre, as the scarcity bites harder.  The News Mirror gathered that long queues of motorists resurfaced in major parts of the cities in the two states, a development, which informed the decision of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), which struggled have fuel to raise the pump price to almost N200 per litre. Its Chairman, Ibadan Depot, Mr. Mutiu Bukola, said that marketers are selling fuel at the rate of N200 per litre, because N185 per litre, which they hitherto sold the product was no longer sustainable due to rise in the landing cost of fuel.  Currently,there are long queues of commercial buses, cars and private vehicles at the majority of the petroleum stations in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital. Bukola said that his members would increase the pump price. He said:”We can not buy petroleum in Lag...

By Akinola Ajibade The hike in private depot prices is the root cause  of the increase in the pump prices  of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) in the country, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Vice Chairman in charge of Western Zone, Alhaji Dele Tajudeen, has said. This is coming on the heels of on-going scarcity of the products in Lagos. Tajudeen, while condemning the increase, said that there had been increase in depot price of fuel from N148.17 per litre to N178 per litre since last week. According to him, none of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd. (NNPC) depots has product and the private depots took advantage of the situation  to hike the price. “The only option for our members is to opted for private depots to keep our business moving. “We are totally against the increase because it will affect our profit margins and the masses. “Some private depots who have product, deliberately, refused to sell for reasons best known them,” he...

By Akinola Ajibade Nigeria’s crude oil earnings may increase sharply soon, as Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) resumed export operations at the Forcados Oil Export Terminal, where repair works on the pipeline has been going for some days . The Forcados Export pipeline which has a capacity to export over 400,000 barrels of crude per day was vandalized by crude oil thieves, a development, which has affected the operation of the terminal.  An official of SPDC, who confirmed the development yesterday, under cover said:  “SPDC can confirm that essential repairs at Forcados Oil Terminal are complete and export operations have resumed on October 20, 2022.” Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) had last week stated that the Forcados Oil Terminal will resume export operations by the end of this month when ongoing essential repairs would have been completed. “In addition to the repairs, we are working to remove and clamp theft points on the ...

By Akinola Ajibade  About  500 million people globally would develop heart disease, obesity, diabetes, or other noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) between 2020 and 2030 on account of physical inactivity, the World Health Organisation ( WHO) has said. The global health body, according to its status Report on Physical Activity 2022, warned that governments  may spend $27billion yearly on treatment, if they fail to immediately encourage their citizens to engage in  more physical activity.. It added:”Data from 194 nations demonstrate that, overall, progress is modest and that, in order to boost levels of physical activity, prevent disease, and lessen the load on already overburdened health care systems, countries must speed policy creation and implementation.Less than 50% of countries have a national physical activity policy, of which less than 40% are operational; Only 30% of countries have national physical activity guidelines for all age groups “While nearly ...

By Favour Ajibade  Residents of Adamawa, Yobe, Bornu State in the North Eastern region of Nigeria may witness outbreak of cholera and other waterborne diseases soon, the United States Embassy has said.. It said that people in the three states are likely going to contact the diseases, following the flooding which has submerged communities there. U.S has however, gave out $1million to the flood ravaged states. This, the embassy said, was sequel to the outbreak of the disease in August and September 2022, where at least 7,750 cases were recorded. The embassy, in a statement yesterday ( Thursday) also expressed concern that the current flooding disaster may worsen the situation, noting that already, unusual heavy rainfall resulting in flooding has affected nearly 2.8 million people across the country and “many homes have been damaged or completely destroyed, displacing millions of people.” It added that:”The floods have exacerbated an already critical humanitarian situation...

By Akinola Ajibade  A total of N92.77 billion, approximately one per cent of the N92.23 trillion aggregate credit to the economy, by commercial banks went to the Nigerian manufacturing sector between 2027- 2021.. The development has further worsened the performance of the sector, which has struggled to contribute to the  nation's economy. This has affected governments’ efforts at industrializing Nigeria, over the years, through manufacturing.  While Speaking at the 2nd Adeola Odutola Lecture in commemoration of the 50th Annual General Meeting ( AGM) of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria( MAN,), the President and Chief Executive officer,  Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, said the manufacturing sector has refused to grow, due to paucity of funds.  In a paper titled ‘Agenda Setting for Industrializing Nigeria in the Next Decade’, listed other problems facing the industry to include  acute shortage of forex; dearth of long term funds; poor...

No fewer than 2,000.personnel of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) have been  sacked and prosecuted over corrupt practices in the last seven years, its  Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Hameed Ali, has said.  He said this during the Ministerial Media Briefing organized by the Presidential Communications Team at the Presidential Villa, Abuja today. DG, Customs, Alli According to him,  the sacked officers were found to have been compromised in the course of the discharge of their responsibilities. Meanwhile, he revealed that the Service has so far generated a total sum of N2.14 trillion in 2022, with a target to raise about N3.019 trillion in the same year.  The Customs boss noted that the fight against smuggling has assumed a stiffer and more sophisticated dimension, adding that the agency is procuring additional aircrafts to effectively tackle the menace across the borders with the collaboration of the Nigerian Ai...

A 29-year-old Chinese national, Gang Deng will spend five years in prison over offences bordering on illegal mining and possession of crude materials, a Federal High Court sitting in Ilorin has said. The Ilorin Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) secured the conviction after arraigning Deng alongside his company, Sinuo Xinyang Nigeria Ltd, before the court. Justice Muhammed Sani in his judgment sentenced Deng to five years imprisonment with an option of fine in the sum of N1 million. Sani also ordered that the 25 tons of the mineral recovered from him at the point of arrest be forfeited to the Federal Government. The charge against Deng reads: “That you  Sinuo Xinyang Nigeria Ltd and Gang Deng, sometime in the month of September 2022 at Share, along Tsaragi Road in Edu Local Government Area of Kwara State, within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court, without lawful authority purchased mineral to wit. “25 tons of mineral worth the sum of N2,490...

Benzema Favour Ajibade France International and Real Madrid Superstar, Karim Benzema, has won the Ballon d’Or for 2022. He was awarded the prestigious prize for the best male player in the world after helping Carlo Ancelloti’s side to a memorable La Liga and Champions League double. The Laliga Pichichi winner for 2022 amassed a whopping 44 goals in a stellar season which saw him scoop the prize from fellow contenders such as Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe and Mohammed Salah. This year’s event took place on Monday night at the elegant Théâtre du Chatelet in Paris with pomp and pageantry.  In attendance were the crème de la crème of the footballing society; from Christano Ronaldo, Robert Lewandoski, Alexia Putellas, Son and Kane of Tottenham Hotspur among others. With this victory, the Real Madrid marksman becomes the 66th winner of football’s most coveted individual prize honour, also making him the eighth player from football’s most decorated club to win the Ballon d’Or....

By Akinola Ajibade The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation  (NNPC) will collapse the nation's economy, if it not sold to private investors, who would run it in a more profitable manners, the Kaduna state governor, Nasir Ahmed El-Rufai has said.. He spoke recently on Channels Television Special Programme introduced in order to mark the 7th edition of the annual Kaduna Investment Summit( KADinvest 7.0) .  He said the nation's oil company is not well manage, adding that if the company is not given to investors, who has the prerequisite knowledge to run the firm, the country will come to its knees. He said the Federal Government has failed in the oil and gas business and should therefore stop managing the sector.  While Speaking on the theme of the Summit “Building a Resilient Economy”, El-Rufai said that NNPC has since the beginning of this year, NNPCL has not brought even N20,000 to the Federation Account. According to him, “NNPC is a big problem to Nigeria ...

By Akinola Ajibade Rising cost of operations has claimed the  N106billion generated  by Flour Mills of Nigeria in the second quarter of 2022. This marked 45 per cent increase over N340billion recorded in the first quarter of the year.  Two major cost increases were said to have claimed all the increase in revenue and left after-tax profit flat at N5.5 billion. According to the company's financial reports, its first-quarter operations for the period ended June 2022 show that input and interest expenses grew ahead of sales revenue and prevented the revenue gains from getting down to profit. Input cost rose by over 47 per cent quarter-on-quarter to over N306 billion, representing an increase of N98 billion over the period. That claimed much of the N106 billion increase in sales revenue over the period, which limited the increase in gross profit to 29 per cent, amounting to a little over N33 billion. Also, interest expenses surged upward by 79 per cent or N3.6 billion quarter...

By Akinola Ajibade Millions of residents of Iwaa, Oyo, Obajana, Apata and other communities, which host and border  Dangote Cement Plant in Kogi, North Central Region of Nigeria, were drowned in ecstacy, following the decision by the Federal Government to re- open the plant in the state.  The reason is because the development signals a return of economic activities in those areas, as owners of vehicles, travellers, traders, artisans, students, motorcyclists, applicants, among people, visit those areas for sustenance. The plant, which boasts of 3,500,000 metric tonnes per annum was re- opened by President Muhammed Buhari, who incidentally stands as  Chairman, National Security Council (NCS), an institution charged with the provision and maintenance of the nation's security matters. Subsequently, the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola had last week announced the plans by the government to reopen the plant, which was under locks and keys due to closure by the ...