BizDay Nigeria | Latest News, Business, Finance Analysis, Comments and Views

[ayodele]

Utomi, Keyamo, Okwu, others criticise Senate over state of emergency in South-East  Gunmen who kidnapped four journalists in Abia have drastically reduced their ransom demand on Thursday to N30 million, the NUJ said. "We spoke to our colleagues and their kidnappers today (Thursday)," the national secretary of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Usman Leman, told newsmen. "The kidnappers agreed to reduce their ransom demand to N30 million ($200,000, 155,000 euros)." Their initial demand was N250 million. "The journalists are unharmed but they are missing their families and their colleagues.

We are still pleading with their kidnappers to set them free," Leman said. According to Leman, the abductors claimed to have lowered their demand after appeals for their release, with the targeting of the journalists having provoked outrage across the country. Officials and media rights groups, including global organisation Reporters Without Borders, have called for the immediate release of the journalists seized on Sunday in Abia State.

Abia State police spokesman, Ali Okechukwu, said the "rescue operation is still ongoing. Our men are everywhere and we hope to get a tangible result very soon."

He did not give details of the operation. Bayelsa State council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) has joined its voice with other councils, governments, groups and individuals in condemning the kidnap last Sunday of the chairman of the Lagos State council, Wahab Oba and three others.  A statement released by council in Yenagoa on Thursday and signed by the chairman, Tarinyo Akono and the secretary, Samson Opokuma, described the action of the kidnappers as inhuman in a civilised society like Nigeria. 

Kidnappers lower ransom demand for four journalists to N30m

[ayodele]

There are indications that the campaign to ensure that President Goodluck Jonathan contests the 2011 election has taken off. 

BusinessDay investigations reveal that ministers and top aides of the president have been mandated to go to their zones and begin mobilisation to ensure that Jonathan picks the ticket of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) whenever the party holds its national convention later in the year.  The party is yet to fix date for its convention.

Already, Mohammed Abba Aji, the president's special adviser on National Assembly Matters, is the chairman of a pro-Jonathan campaign group called Friends of Democracy. The organisation's director-general is Cairo Ojougboh, another aide of the president, who sometime in the past said Jonathan would contest the 2011 election.  The statement was retracted within 24 hours then with Ojougboh saying he was expressing his personal opinion. 

It was believed that he was reprimanded by the presidency then as betraying a motive that was yet to be unfolded.  Already, Friends of Democracy has begun intense mobilisation for the 2011 aspiration of Jonathan. Its campaign posters are posted all over the federal capital, Abuja, while the organisation has started reaching out to other pro-Jonathan groups in order to harmonise their campaign. The issue of Jonathan contesting the 2011 election has been contentious with a section insisting on a zoning arrangement agreed to on December 2, 2002 at an expanded meeting of the PDP caucus.

Jonathan's camp has been quietly meandering its way to clear the huddles for the president to seek the ticket of the party for next year's election. The first major hurdle Jonathan had to cross was the uncooperative attitude of the former chairman of the party, Vincent Ogbulafor. The resignation of Ogbulafor following his arraignment on corruption charges by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) paved the way for the appointment of Okwesilieze Nwodo as chairman of the party.

Since his emergence as chairman of the party, Nwodo has taken steps which are in favour of Jonathan's 2011 aspiration. The party chairman recently declared that zoning in PDP ceased to exist after the 1999 election which brought former President Olusegun Obasanjo to power. There are also moves to effect reform in the party to whittle down the influence of governors elected on the party's platform in relation to picking the presidential flag bearer of the party for 2011.  The reform will ensure that the number of a governor's aides who will be eligible to be delegates to the party's national convention will reduce. 

Jonathan's camp has also moved to break the ranks of northern politicians who are insisting on zoning.  This has resulted in the split in the position of the northern political elite. While politicians like Iyorchia Ayu and Adamu Ciroma insist on zoning, others like Aminu Bello Masari, Nasir el Rufai, Jerry Gana, Babangida Aliyu and many others have called for a discarding of the zoning arrangement. The resolution of the northern political summit held in Kaduna on Thursday that since Jonathan and the late President Umaru Yar'Adua were elected on the same ticket, there was nothing wrong with Jonathan contesting is an indication that the president has gained a foothold in the north.

2011: Jonathan kicks off campaign

[ayodele]

The real estate sector of the economy has seen a substantial drop in bank lending that hovers between 60 and 70 percent following the credit squeeze in the banking sector. Due more to the on-going banking reform than the global economic recession, the Nigerian banking sector is having serious liquidity challenges. The situation is such that most of the banks appear to have outlawed lending. 

The few that lend are very selective, lending only to individuals and institutions that they like most, especially those that pose minimal risk. Reviewing activities in the real estate sector in the first half of the year, an analyst who did not want to be named, told our correspondent that due to the credit crunch in the banking sector, many banks are not interested in real estate, stressing that the level of lending to the sector has really gone down drastically. 

Bank lending to real estate drops 60% as credit squeeze lingers

[ayodele]

The report by the National Bureau for Statistics (NBS) that the economy grew by 7.2 percent in the first quarter of  2010 is raising eyebrows among experts who say it is illogical for the economy to have grown by such magnitude when key components that drive the economy are looking downward.  Specifically, they identify negative growth in the automobile industry where imports declined by 55 percent, house prices which have remained depressed, and little or no foreign investors trickling in, as factors that make the report unrealistic.

On the contrary, NBS' stance is that the increase in crude oil production as a result of the success of Federal Government's amnesty programme added fresh impetus, and thus, growth, to the real sector. But Bismarck Rewane, renowned economist and chief executive officer of Financial Derivatives Company (FDC), insists that housing, automobile and retail sales, manufacturing output, among others, are examples of proxies used all over the world to measure the level of economic activities.
did not perceive any form of growth in the economy during the first quarter. According to him, the rate of unemployment went up, as many people were laid off in various sectors.

FG's 7% growth report questioned

[ayodele]

The Supreme Court in Abuja today ( Friday, July 16) threw out the suit filed by the ANPP governorship candidate in the April 2007 general election in Niger,  David Umaru, challenging the election of Gov. Babangida Aliyu.   

Umaru had gone to court to determine the validity of the Court of  Appeal's judgment of Feb. 19, 2009, which dismissed his petition and upheld the  election of Aliyu.  The main issue in the tussle is the qualification of Gov. Aliyu to stand for  election as at the time of the said election given regard to his disengagement  processes from the civil service. 

The court was also to determine whether or not, Aliyu was the winner of the  election having regard to the results declared by INEC in the 11 out of the 25  local governments which were in dispute.   The Niger State Legislative and Governorship Elections Petition Tribunal headed  by Justice Suleiman Kawu had dismissed Umaru's petition on the ground that  Aliyu's alleged failure to disengage properly from the civil service 60 days to  the election as required by law was not complained of by Aliyu's employers.   

Following the judgment, Umaru went on appeal. However, on Feb.19, 2009, Justice R. D. Mohammed of the Court of Appeal, struck  out the suit on the ground that the petition was one day late in filing. He denied Umaru's prayer for the court to nullify Aliyu's election because he  did not disengage from the civil service as required by law, the News Agency of  Nigeria reports.  ``The appellant did not keep interest in the case as he did not file the case on  time after the person who was declared winner was announced by INEC,'' he said.

Supreme Court upholds Gov Aliyu Babangida's election

[ayodele]

 The Federal Government requires N32 trillion to deliver world class infrastructure between now and the year  2020. Samshudeen Usman, Minister of National Planning, speaking at a meeting of stakeholders with Vice President Namadi Sambo, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said N13 trillion of that amount is expected to come from the private sector.  Said Usman: "Nigeria needs about N32 trillion to deliver adequate infrastructure as contained in the Vision 20:2020 blueprint, and N13 trillion of that amount is targeted to be raised from the private sector". 

He disclosed that the Ministry of National Planning in its efforts to meet the challenges of saving cost for government and co-ordinating infrastructural development projects between the federal and state governments as well as among the various ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) is collaborating with the Department For International Development (DFID) under the National Infrastructure Advisory Facility (NIAF), to upgrade the existing national infrastructure database and develop a national infrastructure master plan. 

In an earlier remark at the meeting Vice President Namadi Sambo directed the Ministry of Finance to meet with the 36 state governments in preparation for the 2011 budget proposals.  Sambo said the dialogue with the states was important to enable government form strategies for  funding infrastructural development in the country, outside the normal national income.  He said the critical areas requiring substantial funding by government are hydro power projects with Mambila and Zungeru as priority areas with the Gurara Phase II as medium term priority; coal power projects; roads, railways, and airports; various multipurpose dams; information and communication technology (ICT) and projects in the Niger Delta Ministry. 

The Vive President said proper coordination and planning must be embarked upon for government to surmount the challenges of funding projects and  advised that critical projects that will enhance development of infrastructure should be targeted for the sourcing of cheap and concessional funds from the World Bank, the Islamic Development Bank, the African Development Bank, the diverse export and import banks worldwide and the several bilateral agreements entered into by the country across the world.  He noted that with the establishment of the Sovereign Wealth Fund, by the National Economic Council, Nigeria is better positioned to access infrastructural funding from credible international institutions. 

To ensure effective co-ordination and actualisation of these objectives, the Vice President set up a committee headed by Usman to review and present within two weeks, all identified priority projects by theMDAs for further discussions and recommendation to government.  Vice President Sambo expressed concern over the non-existence of a comprehensive national infrastructural database and  urged the National Planning Commission to expedite action on the national infrastructure database and the development of an infrastructural master plan to meet our immediate challenges.

FG needs N32 trn for infrastructure for 2020 plan

[ayodele]

The US insurance giant AIG has agreed to pay $725m (£474m) to settle a long-running fraud case against it.  The settlement is likely to be one of the biggest in US history, following a  class action lawsuit led by three Ohio pension funds.   

They alleged that AIG had engaged in stock price manipulation, anti-competitive  behaviour and accounting fraud between 1999 and 2005. 

That, they say, resulted in shareholders losing millions, reports the BBC. The court now needs to give its approval before payments can be made.  A first payment of $175m is scheduled within days of the court's approval,  however, while AIG is expected to raise the further $550m though the issuing of  new shares.   

AIG is now 80% owned by the US government following a massive bailout of the  company at the height of the financial crisis.   

Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray, who represented the Ohio funds, said  total payouts from AIG to shareholders would now total $1bn, including previous  settlements.   

AIG said it was "pleased to have resolved this matter", adding that it could now  focus on paying back taxpayers the $182bn used to rescue it.

Insurer AIG agrees to massive $725m fraud payout

[ayodele]

One of the kidnappers of  four Lagos journalists has been arrested, President  Goodluck Jonathan has revealed.   

President Jonathan disclosed this at a state dinner organised on his behalf in Akwa Ibom State but did not give details.

"There are some communities where kidnapping is becoming a business. Some very  senior people are involved and we are tracking them." The president observed. 

The four journalists and their driver were kidnapped last Sunday (July 12) at  Umuafouka junction in Obingwa Local Government Council of Abia State. 

Those kidnapped are Wahab Oba, Chairman of the Lagos Council of the Nigeria  Union of   Journalists, Adolphus Okonkwo , Zonal secretary of the union, Sylva Okereke ,  Lagos Council's Assistant Secretary , Shola Oyeyipo and their driver, Azeez  Abdulrauf. Their abductors first demanded a ransome of N250 million, which they lowered to  N150 million and then to N30 million, according to  reports. Meanwhile, Nigerians have continued express outrage at the rising trend of  kidnapping in the country ,saying it breeds insecurity, undermines investor  confidence and is a sign of political failure. 

Nasir el-Rufai, former administrator of the Federal Capital Territory described  the rising trend of  kidnapping in Nigeria as a sign of failure of governance  and of the law enforcement system and said it was growing on account of poor law  enforcement and the collusion of law enforcement officers with criminals. He  added that more and more people were engaging in kidnapping because they were  encouraged by the fact that almost all of those who engaged in it before them  got away scot free and with huge sums of ransom money to the bargain. 

Informed sources attest that the development has crippled trade and industry in  some eastern states including Abia, where the journalists were abducted. It is  also said that many middle class and affluent indegenes of some eastern states  have have repartriated their parents and other close relatives to other states  including Lagos for fear that they might be kidnapped. 

Meanwhile, Ogbonnaya Onovo, the Inspector-General of Police has decried the  spate of criminality in the South-Eastern states of Nigeria, especially the  rising trend of kidnapping.  Onovo made the declaration on Friday in Abakaliki when he paid a courtesy call  on Gov. Martin Elechi of Ebonyi State.   "As someone who comes from this part of the country, I feel embarrassed and  embittered that our youths have desecrated the land by holding their own people  in captivity for ransom."   

I am touring the police commands in the zone to assess the performance of  police personnel and re-strategise in order to bring the situation under control  in the people's interest, he said.

One arrested as Nigerians express outrage over kidnap of journalists