Dickson asks FG to return former Militant, Tompolo’s

The immediate past governor of Bayelsa State, Seriake Dickson, has asked the federal government to return the property it seized from a former Niger Delta militant, Government Ekpemupolo following his acquittal of corruption.

Recall that a Federal High Court, Lagos on Wednesday dismissed the N34 billion fraud case filed by the government against Global West Vessel Specialist Limited, a firm linked to Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo.

But in a statement on Thursday by the media aide to Dickson, Fidelis Sorowei, the former governor also congratulated Tompolo on his victory, adding that the acquittal is for all Niger Deltans.

Dickson also condemned the delay in appointing a substantive coordinator from the region for the Presidential Amnesty Programme. He called on the Federal Government to make the appointment without further delay.

He also called on the Federal Government to implement all resolutions and agreements it reached with the Pan Niger Delta Development Forum on long-term development, security and stability of Niger Delta.

The statement said: “We call on appropriate authorities to hand over the property seized from him (Tompolo) and his company.

“We also reviewed developments and rising tension among ex-agitators in Niger Delta and condemned the delay in appointing the coordinator (of the PAP) and asked for the immediate appointment of a boss for the office.”

Nigeria’s foreign reserves shed $454m in 6 weeks

Nigeria’s foreign reserves depleted by $454 million from $36.572 billion to $36.118 billion in the 45-day period between 1st June and 15th July, latest data from Central Bank of Nigeria’s website showed on Thursday.

The country’s external reserves have been buckling under pressure since the year began, taking a double whammy of dwindling oil receipts from the recent oil crash and disruption of trade and investment caused by the coronavirus pandemic, which led to sharp fall of $9 billion year to 22nd June.

The apex bank stated in its latest monthly report, that of February 2020, the reserves dipped by 0.4 per cent from $36.73 billion in January to $36.6 billion in February, citing forex market intervention and direct payment pressures.

It said the foreign reserves balance could fund goods and services imports for four months or 6.4 months of only goods, based on the fourth quarter of 2019 import data.

The proportion of the country’s external reserves as of February was $330 million (0.9 per cent) for federation reserves, $6.6 billion (18.1 per cent) for the Nigerian government and $29.6 billion (81 per cent).

Godwin Emefiele, the central bank chief, stressed at the regulator’s last Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting the imperative of scaling down reliance on oil revenue through increasing economic diversification and expansion of tax collection efforts.

“Central to the committee’s considerations were the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the oil price shock and the likely short- to medium-term consequences on the Nigerian economy,” he said.

Another meeting of the MPC is due next week.

Okonjo-Iweala thanks Buhari, NASS, ECOWAS for WTO job support

In the spirit of gratitude, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has thanked President Muhammadu Buhari and the leaders of the National Assembly (NASS) for their support towards her World Trade Organisation (WTO) dream. 

Speaking with NAN, the 66-year-old Nigerian-born economist and international development expert also thanked prominent people in Buhari cabinet for their support and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). 

Okonjo-Iweala has been vying for the seat of the director-general of the WTO alongside top candidates from Kenya, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UK, Moldova, Mexico and others. 

Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has expressed gratitude to President Muhammadu Buhari, NASS and others. 

Source: Depositphotos The renowned economist has since enjoined the backing of the president with her nomination approved by Buhari on Thursday, June 4.

 “I want to also thank the Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr Geoffrey Onyeama, the Chief of Staff to the President Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu and the Nigerian ambassadors to Switzerland, WTO as well as the Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva," Iweala said.

 Minister of industry, trade and investment, Adeniyi Adebayo, has inaugurated a campaign strategy team for Iweala in a bid to win the WTO top job. 

Meanwhile, eight candidates battling to become the next head of the WTO would make their pitches before the week runs out, with three days of auditions starting Wednesday, July 15. 

The contenders would make 15-minute presentations to the 164 member states’ representatives at the WTO headquarters in Geneva, before facing a 75-minute grilling over their plans for the global trade body. 

In a related news, Legit.ng reported that former president Goodluck Jonathan has sent a congratulatory message to Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on her appointment as a member of South Africa’s Presidential Economic Advisory Council.

 Okonjo-Iweala served as the coordinating minister for the economy/finance minister under Jonathan's administration. Jonathan, in a message on his official Facebook page, said he has no doubt in his mind that the former minister will excel in the new assignment. 

APC accuses Obaseki’s government of emptying treasury

The political tempo in Edo continues to rise in the south-south state ahead of the gubernatorial election in September as parties throw allegations at their opposition in a bid to gain the heart of the people Now the administration of Governor Godwin Obaseki has been accused of emptying the treasury by sponsoring criminal political activities, fake protests, and campaigns of slander.

In a report by The Nation, the Edo state media campaign council of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who accused the incumbent governor alleged that while the administration while neglected important governance issues, the government was chasing shadows. 

The APC campaign council through its chairman, Prince John Mayaki, on Thursday, July 17, queried the readiness of Obaseki’s administration to heed the warning of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). 

APC is accusing Governor Obaseki’s government of emptying the state's treasury Source: UGC The party questioned if the governor was going to take proactive measures to avert the destruction of belongings areas of the state that are at risk of being flooded. Recall that about 102 local government areas in 28 states across the nation have been alerted of an imminent flood by NEMA.

The agency's director-general, Muhammadu Muhammed, in a statement on Friday, July 10, made it known that from the yearly Seasonal Rainfall Prediction (SRP) and Annual Flood Outlook (AFO) released by the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA), Edo will be one of the affected states. 

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that the ruling PDP in Edo state has accused the candidate of the APC, Osagie Ize-Iyamu, of stealing the simple agenda used by a gubernatorial candidate, Don-Pedro, in 2015. PDP said Ize-Iyamu's agenda for the incoming election was copied from Don-Pedro's Simple agenda in 2015. 

Don-Pedro had in 2015 noted while featuring in a TV programme that he would provide security, infrastructure, manpower development, public/private partnership, leadership by example and employment for the youth of the state. In other news, Obaseki revealed the relationship between him and President Muhammadu Buhari. Obaseki explained that his relationship with President Buhari is that of a father and son. He said that he was on a zoom meeting with the president, during which they engaged on development issues affecting Edo people and Nigerians. Obaseki noted that he and the president also discussed measures to manage the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

COVID-19 - Melinda Gates Calls for More Attention for Women, Girls

Gender advocate and co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Melinda Gates, has called on leaders and policymakers to ensure that women and girls are not left behind in the global response to COVID-19.

According to a statement made available to PREMIUM TIMES, she made the call in a paper she released titled "The Pandemic's Toll on Women and Girls," where she explored how the COVID-19 pandemic has exploited pre-existing inequalities and drastically impacted women's lives and livelihoods.

To recover fully from this pandemic, she said, leaders must respond to the ways that it is affecting men and women differently.

This is as she lists practical policy recommendations that governments should consider in their pandemic response - to improve health systems for women and girls, design more inclusive economic policies, gather better data, and prioritise women's leadership.

Ms Gates described how previous disease outbreaks, including AIDS and Ebola, tended to exploit existing forces of inequality, particularly around gender, systemic racism, and poverty. The broader impacts of these crises, she noted, are having a disproportionate impact on women and girls.

"In Africa, for example, women account for around 40 per cent of COVID-19 cases. However, African women and girls are disproportionately affected by reduced access to health care services and are at greater risk of gender-based violence.

"Women make up the majority of workers in the informal sector, which leaves them at greater risk of losing their income."

Describing the impact of stretched health systems on maternal care, she noted that in low and middle-income countries, cutbacks could claim the lives of up to 113,000 women.

"We know from the past that this threat is real. During the 2014 Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone, the number of mothers and babies who died during or after childbirth was higher than the number of deaths from the Ebola virus.

"That is what epidemics do: they not only overwhelm immune systems; they also overwhelm health system. And because the parts of those systems devoted to caring for women are often the most fragile and underfunded, they collapse first and fastest."

She, therefore, urged policymakers to recognise the opportunity to replace old systems with new and better ones, outlining practical recommendations around health, economics, and decision-making that could help build a more equal and prosperous future.

Her recommendations include making maternal and reproductive healthcare an essential service, protecting the contraceptive supply chain, and using the pandemic as an opportunity to integrate women's healthcare.

The paper also highlights the importance of designing emergency economic relief programmes that reach women who need them the most and ensuring women's voices are included at all levels of decision-making in the response to this crisis.

"This is how we can emerge from the pandemic in all of its dimensions: by recognising that women are not just victims of a broken world; they can be architects of a better one," Ms Gates concluded.

SERAP condemns police raid of Nunieh’s home, says silencing her will not stop probe of NDDC

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has denounced the raid of the home of former Managing Director of the Interim Committee of the Niger-Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Joy Nunieh, by men of the Nigerian Police Force.

The group in a series of posts on its official Twitter page on Thursday said that the harassment meted out on Nunieh was apparently a plan to stop her from speaking out on the corruption in the NDDC.

SERAP also used the medium to call on the police and security agencies to focus on investigating grave allegations of corruption in the NDDC rather than harassing Nunieh.

The post by SERAP reads: “We condemn the harassment and intimidation of Joy Nunieh, former acting MD of NDDC by the Nigeria Police apparently to stop her from speaking out on the grave allegations of grand corruption in NDDC and impunity at the highest level of the agency.

“Nigerian authorities should focus on promptly and thoroughly investigating the grave allegations of corruption she has made instead of harassing and intimidating her for raising these allegations if the authorities are truly committed to fighting corruption in the country.

“Storming Joy Nunieh’s residence and silencing her isn’t going to resolve Nigerians’ concerns over the growing and widespread allegations of corruption and impunity in NDDC,” the tweet added.

This came after the South-South Governors Forum backed moves for the forensic audit of the NDDC ordered by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.

Delta State Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, the Chairman of the South-South Governors Forum in a statement issued on Thursday said that they are convinced that a forensic audit of the commission will set it on a sound corporate governance footing.

The South-South Governors noted that it is their desire to see an NDDC that is fully alive and responsive to its mandate of accelerating infrastructural development of the Niger Delta region.

Drama as Wike Foils Police Attempt to Arrest Nunieh

Omololu Ogunmade, Chuks Okocha, in Abuja, Eromosele Abiodun, Nume Ekeghe in Lagos and Ernest Chinwo in Port Harcourt

There was a mild drama at the Port Harcourt, Rivers State, residence of a former interim Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Ms. Joy Nunieh, as the state Governor, Mr. Nyesom Wike, foiled a bid by the police to arrest her.
A contingent of policemen said to have been deployed in the state from the Force Headquarters, Abuja, had in the wee hours of yesterday invaded Nunieh’s house to arrest her.

The invasion elicited outrage from Wike; a former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, and a lawyer and human rights activist, Ms. Esther Uzoma, who condemned the invasion, with the governor calling on the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Adamu, to probe what he described as an abduction.

The armed policemen besieged her residence on a day she was billed to travel to Abuja to testify before an ad-hoc committee of the House of Representatives investigating alleged corruption in the NDDC.

Nunieh has been engaged in a running battle, leading to recriminations between her and Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, over alleged corruption and mismanagement of resources at the

The armed policemen, who reportedly came in their dozens as early as 4 am yesterday, were said to have surrounded the house and attempted to forcibly gain entrance into the main building.

Nunieh said she had to call the governor when the policemen told her they came to arrest her but could not produce the warrant of arrest.

Wike, who had earlier warned against harm coming the way of Nunieh, rushed to Nunieh’s residence to rescue her.
A video clip of the incident showed security details of Wike escorting Nunieh into the governor’s official car in which she was driven out of her residence.

The armed policemen, who took strategic positions in the compound, were also seen helplessly watching the incident while the governor ordered them to go away.

Nunieh said over 15 policemen surrounded the house and questioned their motive since she said they had no warrant to arrest her.
The Rivers State Police Command, however, denied deploying its personnel in Nunieh’s house. Its Public Relations Officer, Mr. Nnamdi Omoni, a deputy superintendent of police (DSP), told THISDAY that the command had no comment on the incident since the contingent came from the Force Headquarters.

Efforts to get the reaction of the Police High Command yesterday failed as calls and text messages to the cell phone of the Force Public Relations Officer, Mr. Frank Mba, a deputy commissioner of police (DCP), were unanswered at press time. commission.

 Police Wanted to Grab Me Like Common Criminal, Says Nunieh

Recounting her ordeal in the hands of the police, Nunieh alleged that they wanted to grab her like a common criminal but vowed that she would not be cowed by the experience.

She spoke at Government House, Port Harcourt after her rescue by Wike.

She said: “Early this morning around 4 am, I learnt that people were around my gate. I made some calls and I tried to reach the state governor because he told me that if I see any strange movement that I should alert him because he had issued a statement.

“I tried to reach him but his phones were off. Then, I called some people and they said they may not be real policemen, so I should stay. They said they came to take me away and I said for what? So, I asked if they have a warrant of arrest and they said no warrant of arrest. So, I left it.

“At 6 a.m., they broke the gate. Then, Senator Magnus Abe now called me and said he has reached the Commissioner of Police; he said he doesn’t know anything about it. The CP (Commissioner of Police) called me, I sent him my address and he came. They told me the CP was downstairs, but the CP wasn’t down. I think it was the Deputy Commissioner of Police. So, I opened the door and they wanted to grab me; I now pushed back the door, locked it, and went upstairs. I got through to my governor. They tried to break the backdoor, it is a security door and they kept hitting it for over one hour but they couldn’t get access.

“So, my governor came and asked them for the warrant of arrest and why couldn’t they invite me to the police station, as I would have come, instead of coming to take a woman like a common criminal. The governor took me in his car and I am here ‘refugeeing’ in Government House.

“I want to thank His Excellency for keeping to his word that nothing should happen to the daughter of Rivers State. So, here I am in the Government House. I am supposed to be going today to Abuja to make my submissions before the House of Representatives Committee. I am sure it is about that.

“The man that harassed me is at home; the man who stole the money is at home; the man who stole government files is at home; the man who took the money is at home; the man who said I should go and take an oath is at home. It is a criminal offence, it is life imprisonment to take oaths, to even offer me an oath is liable.

“I am sure my lawyers will be working on my next step as we speak. I don’t think that Akpabio can kill me; definitely, he can’t.
But, why do people think that he has a monopoly on violence? I think Akpabio wanted to stop me from giving my submissions before the House of Representatives Committee today. He succeeded but I am sure the House of Representatives will give me another date. Nigerians will hear more.”

Reacting to the incident, Wike said he rescued Nunieh from an attempted abduction and called on the IG to investigate the circumstances that led to the invasion.

Wike said he was on the ground to frustrate the attempted abduction, and berated the ‘self-styled’ armed policemen who claimed to be members of the Inspector-General Monitoring Unit.

The governor said under a civilised society, the proper thing to do was to invite her to answer any allegation.
He added that to storm her residence at such an unholy hour suggested some sinister motive that should not be tolerated.
Wike said: “What has happened today is a disgrace. Who knows what would have happened to her if they had gained access to her main room. I went there personally to see things for myself and rescued her.

“She is supposed to testify before the House of Representatives Committee and here we are having armed men wanting to abduct her.
“We came out to protect our daughter and we will do so to every Rivers citizen. That is the oath of office I swore to. It doesn’t matter the political affiliation. We will not allow anybody to destroy Rivers State.

“It is so unfortunate and I cry for this country concerning the way things are going. They didn’t have a warrant of arrest, but would storm somebody’s house? In fact, the state Commissioner of Police is not aware.

“So, tell me how something will happen in a state and the Commissioner of Police is not aware? They said it’s the Inspector-General Monitoring Unit. So, we have such a unit taking over the responsibility of crime-fighting in a state and the Commissioner of Police is not aware? I can also assume too that the Inspector-General of Police is not aware. He should investigate it.”
The governor also called on governors of states that make up the NDDC to ensure that their citizens do not have a hand in the planned abduction of Nunieh.

Wike stated further: “If there is any allegation of crime against her, I will not back her. But you can’t kill her for no established crime. I don’t know who’s responsible, but whoever is behind it should not take Rivers State for granted because we will fight back.
“From what has happened now, I want to say that Rivers State is fully out. Anybody who is responsible for this attempted abduction of our daughter should know that enough is enough.

“They can’t treat her like a common criminal. I am sure that President Muhammadu Buhari is not aware of this,” he added.
Fani-Kayode also described the siege by policemen at the Nunieh’s residence as cowardly and shameful.

Fani-Kayode commended Wike for arriving at Nunieh’s residence on time to take her to safety, adding that what the governor did reminded him of what former Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayo Fayose, did to save his wife and son when armed men in police uniform conducted an illegal operation against them in Ado Ekiti four years ago.

He said: “I have been reliably informed that the police raid on Joy’s house at 4.00 am was yet another illegal operation and was not backed by a search or arrest warrant or authorised by the Commissioner of Police of Rivers State or the Inspector General of Police.
“It was simply an attempt to abduct her, take her away, and possibly kill her…”

Also, reacting to the incident during an interview on ARISE NEWS Channel, the broadcast arm of THISDAY Newspapers, a renowned lawyer and human rights activist, Ms. Esther Uzoma, said any attempt to embarrass, intimidate or gag a Nigerian woman and any citizen of this country is despicable.

She said: “If Joy Nunieh is scheduled to appear before the House this morning and the Nigerian police have surrounded her house, and indeed made entry therein, it is worrisome. The Nigerian Senate is also exercising their constitutional duty of inquest into ongoing affairs in NDDC. Perhaps this would appear that there is a clash of constitutional function. The Nigerian police are also well within their right to arrest and investigate any citizen who they feel is in breach of the law or about to breach the law.

“However, what we have on hand is the inquest by the National Assembly and the arrest by the police. We see that there are two conflicting constitutional agencies of state carrying out their constitutional duties in collision with each other.

“That is deplorable and if anybody is looking for the sign by the agencies of state as we see them today function at cross purposes. This is a prima facie classic example that they do not function across purposes. They should be aware that Joy Nunieh is scheduled to appear before the House of Representatives it is despicable.”

N2.3trn stimulus package will save MSMEs from collapse –Presidency

The Nigerian government has said the Covid-19 N2.3 trillion stimulus package, forming part of its Economic Sustainability Plan, has among its ambitions a rescue plan for the nation’s Micro Small Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

Tola Adekunle-Johnson, Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on MSMEs, made the disclosure at a live interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Thursday.

Government has been ramping up efforts to provide buffers for economic segments that have taken the heaviest pounding from the coronavirus crisis, with one of its biggest interventions unveiled in the last week of June, a N2.3 trillion lifeline seeking to support Africa’s biggest economy from the disruptions and challenges triggered by the pandemic.

The MSME rescue aid aimed at lessening the impact of the coronavirus shocks on businesses within a three-month period, Adekunle-Johnson said, adding that the president, recognising the significance of MSMEs’ role in job creation and its status as a pivot of economic growth, proposed to avert job losses in the sector.

84 per cent of jobs in Nigeria are provided MSMEs, the Industry, Trade and Investment Ministry said.

The presidential aide stressed that many MSMEs had been striving to since the coronavirus lockdown was first imposed in March, resulting in several job losses and triggering low demand for goods and services.

The stimulus package, according to him, will provide payroll support scheme for MSMEs finding it hard to pay salaries.

Among the preconditions for accessing the payroll support fund is minimum of 10 employees and maximum of 50 on the applying MSME’s payroll. Accounts of eligible applicants will be directly credited for three months.

‘‘For example, for those MSMEs that are into the production of hand sanitisers and nose masks, the Federal Government will be the major off-taker for the products. By such patronage, the proceeds will help them to kick start their production again,” he said.

Hospitality businesses and schools will also be supported with the same three-month payment window extended to them.

Court Dismisses EFCC’s Move Seeking Final Forfeiture Of Saraki’s Properties

A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has dismissed a move by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)  seeking the final forfeiture of two houses in Ilorin, Kwara State, belonging to a former Senate President, Dr Bukola  Saraki.

In his ruling delivered on Thursday, Justice Rilwan Aikawa held that the contention of the EFCC that the property was acquired with illegal funds was based on mere suspicion. He stated that the evidence placed before the court was to the effect that the property was substantially financed with money paid to Saraki as a former governor, in line with the Kwara State Governor and Deputy Governor Payment of Pension Law.

The pension law provides that a two-term governor is entitled to a house within the state upon completion of his second tenure. Justice Aikawa, therefore,  discharged the interim order for forfeiture earlier granted in favour of the EFCC on December 2, 2019, and subsequently dismissed the EFCC’s application for final forfeiture of the property.

In his submission before the court, counsel to the EFCC, Rotimi Oyedepo, said the former Senate President spent N1.09  billion on the two houses, funds which he alleged were stolen from the coffers of Kwara State. The anti-graft agency claimed that it had evidence that Saraki, who was Kwara State governor between 2003 and 2011, diverted not less than N1 billion belonging to the state.

Opposing the application for the final forfeiture of his client’s houses, Saraki’s lawyer, Kehinde Ogunwunmiju, said they were built from his legitimate earnings. Ogunwumiju said N252.2 million out of the N1.09 billion used for developing the property represented what Saraki was paid for the development of a five-bedroom apartment which he was entitled to as a two-term governor of Kwara  State.

He also drew the attention of Justice Aikawa to the Governor and Deputy Governor (Payment of Pension) Law  2010 of  Kwara State, which stipulates that an elected two-term governor of the state is entitled to five and four-bedroom duplexes respectively, at any location of their choice within Kwara State.

The Senior Advocate of Nigeria said rather than allow the state to build the house for him, Saraki chose to collect  N252.2 million so he could add money to it to build a house to his taste.

Naira falls to N470 per dollar at parallel market

The exchange rate of naira closed at N470 to the United States’ dollar at the unofficial parallel market on Wednesday, signalling a 1.1% markdown from that at which it ended trade at the session before, which was N465, data gleaned from forex market intelligence website, ABOKIFX reveals.

Dollar hit its intraday low of N465 and high of N470, eventually settling for the latter as trade wound down.

In the same vein, the local currency eased at the over-the-counter spot market alternatively called the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window or NAFEX where it was quoted weaker at N386.50 against the previous session rate of N386.

Nigeria has come under increasing strain from the International Monetary Fund to shelve its multiple exchange rates regime by unifying rates around the one offered at the I&E segment of the currency market, prompting the central bank, its forex supplier, to undertake two downward rate adjustments of the retail forex market, used by lenders, in the six months to 7th July.

On Wednesday, the foreign exchange turnover at the I&E window expanded by 44.9%, implying a steady recovery in a market long constrained by acute dollar crunch from the coronavirus pandemic as well as plunge in oil revenue, which provides nearly 90% of Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings, following the recent global oil crash.

Volume leapt from the $12.91 million posted on Tuesday to $18.71 million.