₦airaland Forum

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

Barely three weeks after losing his lead vocalist, Mr Dipo Odebode Aderibigbewho, to death, Fuji giant, King Wasiu Ayinde Marshal popularly known as K1 De Ultimate, has lost another member of his band to the cold hands of death.

This time, the popular musician lost his saxophonist, Mr Joel Ajayi, on Sunday, December 9, 2018.

The latest development, as we heard, has left the All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain very shattered.

The deceased had fallen into coma nearly three weeks ago when his colleague gave up the ghost as a result of Hypotension commonĺy called Low Blood Pressure.

Mr Aderibigbewho, according to his family members and personal doctor, had no illness before he submitted to the overwhelming power of death.

Media aide to K1 De Ultimate, Mr Kunle Rasheed, in a Facebook post on Monday confirming the demise of Mr Ajayi, said the musician is pained that despite his effort at bringing the medical situation of late Mr Ajayi under control, he lost the battle to death.

Mr Ajayi, according to Mr Rasheed, was attended to by K1’s personal doctor, Dr Idowu Agarawu, before he opted to be moved to a church for prayers. Despite strong suggestion to seek medical solution to his ailment, he insisted on seeking spititual solution. Unfortuanately, he died at the church premises yesterday the 9th of December 2018.

Due to Sunday’s unfortunate incident, K1 at the moment has cancelled all engagements this week to mourn the departed.

https://businesspost.ng/2018/12/10/k1-de-ultimate-loses-second-band-member-in-nearly-3-weeks-2/

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

Information has it that there is a thickening plot to implicate the key aides of Akwa Ibom State Governor, Mr Udom Emmanuel, with trumped-up accusations of being involved in cult activities as the buildup to the 2019 general elections gathers momentum.

According to what was gathered, the alleged plot is being spearheaded by a top-ranking former chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who recently left to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Akwa Ibom State has turned into a theatre of war, no thanks to the activities of key opposition politicians in the state led by a top politician, who has not hidden his determination to retake control of the political machinery in the state and ensure power swings to his new party at the polls come 2019.

The once peaceful state has been engulfed in an intractable crisis since the defection of the top party man to the extent that the centre can no longer hold.

Everything has allegedly been done by this man and his cohorts in the last few weeks to make the state ungovernable. It is perceived to be a ploy to humiliate the Governor of the state, who has been locked in a battle for the soul of the state since the beginning of the crisis.

It got to a stage that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was deployed in the humiliation process. In the process, Governor Emmanuel was indicted by officers of the anti-graft agency for purportedly withdrawing the sum of N1.7 billion from the state treasury, an accusation which the government has since denied.

The senator representing Uyo Senatorial District at the National Assembly, Mr Bassey Albert Akpan; the Assembly Speaker, Mr Onofiok Luke; and Mr Ekong Samson, Commissioner for Economic Development, Labour and Manpower Planning are among Governor Udom’s aides believed to be pencilled down to be labelled cultists in the latest onslaught.

Others include Transition Committee ex-chairman, Mr Victor Umondak as well as Mr Kenneth Okon and Mr Eno-Obong Uwah, the Senior Special Assistant on Local Government and Youth Groups to the Governor and Executive Chairman, Uyo Capital City Development Authority (UCCDA).

More names included in the hit list include that of Barrister Emmanuel Eno-Idem, PDP National Legal Adviser; Barr. Emmanuel Enoidem; Hon Kelly Okon and Dr Charles Mbong, among others. The strategy is to use the law enforcement officers including the police and DSS to harangue the top aides of the Governor.

https://businesspost.ng/2018/12/10/aibom-2019-plot-to-label-udoms-aides-as-cultists-uncovered/

Market Expect N551b Inflow from Maturing Treasury Bills
https://businesspost.ng/2018/12/10/market-expect-n551b-inflow-from-maturing-treasury-bills/

Q3 201: Nigeria's Economy Expands After 1.81% Rise in GDP
https://businesspost.ng/2018/12/10/q3-2018-nigerias-economy-expands-after-1-81-rise-in-gdp/

By Dipo Olowookere

Mr Femi Afolabi-Brown has finally reacted to the comments made on Wednesday morning by his wife, Mrs Morayo Afolabi-Brown, on the popular breakfast show she anchors on TVC, Your View, which have generated heated reactions among Nigerians.

The TV presenter had said, “I absolutely trust my husband but I won’t take chances and have him bathe my daughter, because whether we like it or not, there is something flying in the air these days that is encouraging imbalance and immoralities.”


But after she was lambasted by Nigerians for her remarks, she used the same platform to apologise to her husband on Friday morning, saying in tears that, “The last 24 hours have been tougher than I expected. My sincere apologies to my husband. I love, trust and respect you! It was an error and I’m really sorry!


“It was not my intention. I love, trust and respect you.

“You do not deserve all the horrible things people have said about you.”

While reacting to the issue late Friday night, Mr Afolabi-Brown said, "You need not fret about what my wife said on TV. My wife never in any way suggested I was a child molester. She stated her trust in her husband, then said she wouldn't allow her husband bath her daughters. Then the most negative of souls twisted her statements and ran with it. But if you notice, the enlightened ones among the commenters understood her message and agreed with her.

"Well, here is my take. I tell my daughters never to let any man put them on his laps, or touch them in certain places, or hold them in certain ways, or even see their unclothedness. I personally extended those rules to myself to reinforce the teaching. That is the modus operandi I have chosen in raising my own daughters. My wife merely spoke on TV as if she made those rules. Her mistake.

"In a nutshell, as long as my wife or a female person is available, I shall never bath any of my daughters. Why should I, for God's sake? Others can be doing that in their own houses, but not in my house."

https://businesspost.ng/2018/12/08/tvcs-morayo-afolabi-browns-husband-speaks-on-wifes-controversial-comments/

Fitch Downgrades Diamond Bank over Solvency, Liquidity Risks
https://businesspost.ng/2018/12/07/fitch-downgrades-diamond-bank-over-solvency-liquidity-risks/

T-Bills Market Bearish as Yields Rise 0.21%
https://businesspost.ng/2018/12/07/t-bills-market-bearish-as-yields-rise-0-21/

CBN Sustains Aggressive OMO Auction, Mops up Fresh N92b
https://businesspost.ng/2018/12/06/cbn-sustains-aggressive-omo-auction-mops-up-fresh-n92b/

By Dipo Olowookere

Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, is the most followed world leader on Instagram with 14.8 million followers. He is closely followed by Indonesian President, Joko Widodo, with 12.2 million followers, who more than doubled his followers over the past 12 months, according to the newly released 2018 World Leaders on Instagram study by leading global communications agency BCW (Burson Cohn & Wolfe). With 10 million followers, the United States President, Mr Donald Trump, is in third position.

Pope Francis is in fourth position with 5.7 million followers, just ahead of Queen Rania of Jordan, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the White House account, each with more than 4 million followers. The UK Royal Family has almost tripled its followers over the past 12 months in large part thanks to the pictures of the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle which increased the account’s followers by 570,000 on May 19, 2018.

The study analyses the activity of the 426 Instagram accounts of heads of state and government and foreign ministers, 100 more than in the 2017 study, using aggregate data from Facebook’s CrowdTangle tool.

As of October 1, 2018, the accounts have a combined total of 98.3 million followers and published 98,372 posts in the past 12 months which have garnered a total of 860.4 million interactions (comments and shares).

U.S. President Donald Trump leads the rankings in terms of total interactions (comments and likes). Over the past 12 months, @realDonaldTrump has garnered more than 218 million interactions, more than three times as many as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has more followers but only 69 million interactions on his 80 photos and videos over the past year. However, considering the number of interactions (comments and likes) per post, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the most effective world leader on Instagram, with each of his 80 posts receiving, on average, 873,302 interactions. Turkey’s President Erdoğan is in second position with 413,934 interactions and Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo’s Instagram posts receive an average of 411,673 interactions per post.

“This third installment of the BCW study shows Instagram has become the social media network where world leaders garner the most interactions,” said Chad Latz, Chief Innovation Officer, BCW. “What is astounding is that the average size of world leaders’ Instagram accounts is less than half the size of their Facebook pages - with five times fewer posts over the past 12 months. However, all Instagram accounts together total 860 million interactions, which is 162 million (23 percent) more than the total interactions on Facebook over the same period.”

The World Leaders on Instagram study also found that 156 of the 193 United Nations member states maintain an official Instagram account, 16 more than in the 2017 study. Ninety-two heads of state, 48 heads of government and 36 foreign ministers maintain personal pages on the platform, which tend to get better engagement than institutional accounts.

Instagram is not the most obvious social network to make sweeping policy statements, however Instagram Stories have become a secondary channel for digital diplomacy, where word leaders meet, greet and tag each other.

Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo is Sub-Saharan Africa’s most followed leader on Instagram with 431 million followers, ahead of Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame and Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari with more than 160,000 followers each.

Also, Jordan’s Queen Rania is the most followed Arab leader with more than 4.8 million followers, surpassing Sheikh Mohammed, the Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, with more than 3.3 million followers.

In addition, Argentina’s President Mauricio Macri is the most followed Latin American leader on Instagram with 880,000 followers ahead of outgoing Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and Paraguay’s Mario Abdo Benítez who each boast more than half a million followers.

The British Royal Family tops the Instagram ranking in the European Union with 3.5 million followers, far ahead of French President Emmanuel Macron, with 1.1 million followers, and Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel with 684,000 followers.

The Information Department of the Government of Brunei is the most active government account, with more than 17 posts per day on average. Imran Khan, Pakistan’s Prime Minister, is in second position with more than 10 posts per day and the Foreign Ministry of Kuwait is the third most prolific with more than eight posts per day.

Since June 2018, 15 percent of the 426 accounts have created Instagram TV (IGTV) channels which allow users to upload up to 60-minute-long videos in vertical format.

https://businesspost.ng/2018/12/05/meet-most-followed-world-leaders-on-instagram/

Fitch Downgrades Union Bank’s National Rating to 'BBB-(nga)'
https://businesspost.ng/2018/12/05/fitch-downgrades-union-banks-national-rating-to-bbb-nga/

Fitch Affirms Fidelity Bank at 'B-'; Outlook Stable
https://businesspost.ng/2018/12/05/fitch-affirms-fidelity-bank-at-b-outlook-stable/

Again, Investors Snub 3-month T-Bills at OMO Auction
https://businesspost.ng/2018/12/05/again-investors-snub-3-month-t-bills-at-omo-auction/

South Africa Exits Recession after 2.2% GDP Growth
https://businesspost.ng/2018/12/04/south-africa-exits-recession-after-2-2-gdp-growth/

Lafarge Africa Board Approves Terms for Proposed N89b Rights Issue
https://businesspost.ng/2018/12/04/lafarge-africa-board-approves-terms-for-proposed-n89b-rights-issue/

T-Bills Yield Rises as CBN Mops up N55b via OMO Auction, Retains Rates
https://businesspost.ng/2018/12/04/t-bills-yield-rises-as-cbn-mops-up-n55b-via-omo-auction-retains-rates/

Qatar to Pull Out of OPEC from January 2019
https://businesspost.ng/2018/12/03/qatar-to-exit-opec-in-january-2019/

Inflows from FAAC, Maturing T-Bills to Boost Liquidity, Ease Rates
https://businesspost.ng/2018/12/03/inflows-from-faac-maturing-t-bills-to-boost-liquidity-ease-rates/

Stock Market to Remain Bearish on Political Uncertainty, Declining Oil Prices
https://businesspost.ng/2018/12/03/stock-market-to-remain-bearish-on-political-uncertainty-declining-oil-prices/

Shareholders Okay CCNN, Kalambaina Merger
https://businesspost.ng/2018/12/03/shareholders-okays-ccnn-kalambaina-merger/

BREAKING: Diamond Bank Restrategises, Gets National Banking Licence
https://businesspost.ng/2018/11/30/diamond-bank-restrategises-gets-national-banking-licence/

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The external reserves of Africa’s largest economy returned to $42 billion after one month it fell below this present level.

Data obtained by Business Post from the online portal of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showed that as at Wednesday, November 2, 2018, the amount left in Nigeria’s foreign reserves was $41.992 billion, approximately $42 billion.

On October 31, 2018, the reserves depleted to $41.995 billion from $42.062 billion the previous day and since then, things have been going badly.

At a point this month, precisely on November 22, the external reserves dropped to $41.523 billion, before starting to pick up since the next day to its present level.

Business Post reports that the decline in the foreign reserves was almost becoming a source of worry for analysts, coupled with the gradual fall in the prices of crude oil in the global market.

Nigeria depends mainly on the sale of the Brent crude oil to earn foreign exchange and at the moment, the commodity goes for $58 per barrel.

For a long time, the CBN, which manages nation’s reserves, has been supporting the Naira with the weekly sale of about $210 million to currency traders in the country.

This has left Naira relatively stable at N363 to a Dollar for a long time at the parallel market until few days ago when the local currency started to lose its value against the Dollar, hitting N370 at the close of transactions yesterday.

With the price of crude oil gradually declining as well as election spendings by politicians ahead of the 2019 polls, there are renewed fears that the Naira will continue to fall.

https://businesspost.ng/2018/11/30/nigerias-external-reserves-climb-back-to-42b/

CBN Raises Rates at OMO Auction as One-Year Bill Hits 14.75%
https://businesspost.ng/2018/11/30/cbn-raises-rates-at-omo-auction-as-one-year-bill-hits-14-75/

Access Bank May Reduce Dividend Payment to Stay Afloat
https://businesspost.ng/2018/11/29/access-bank-may-reduce-dividend-payment-to-stay-afloat/

Zenith Bank Directors Panic Over Possible Loss of $100m
**As Debtor Files for Bankruptcy
https://businesspost.ng/2018/11/29/zenith-bank-directors-panic-over-possible-loss-of-100m/

Stock Market Analysis: Is 'Santa Claus' Rally Imminent?
https://businesspost.ng/2018/11/29/stock-market-analysis-is-santa-claus-rally-imminent/

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian Naira was further weakened at the black market on Wednesday as a result scarcity of the United States Dollars at the market.

Business Post reports that the local currency was exchanged at the segment of the foreign exchange market yesterday at N366 to a Dollar.

The Naira, which was traded at N365 per Dollar on Wednesday morning, jumped to N366 in the afternoon before closing at the same amount at the close of business.

Business Post gathered that the Greenback is becoming scarce at the black market because of huge demand for it.

Also at the parallel market, the local currency lost N2 against the British Pound Sterling to quote at N470, while it remained unchanged against the Euro.

At the Interbank, the Naira remained unchanged to close at N306.80 to the Dollar, while at the Investors and Exporters window, it appreciated by 0.02 percent to settle at N364.15 per Dollar against N364.22/$ it previously closed.

During trading at the market segment, transactions worth $390.15 million were traded in 375 deals.

https://businesspost.ng/2018/11/29/naira-sells-at-n366-as-dollar-scarcity-hits-black-market/

Businessman Loses Billions of Naira, Properties to First Bank
https://businesspost.ng/2018/11/29/businessman-loses-billions-of-naira-properties-to-first-bank/

CBN Lowers Treasury Bills Rates at Primary Market
https://businesspost.ng/2018/11/29/cbn-lowers-treasury-bills-rates-at-primary-market/

Diamond Bank's Solvency Crisis Will Further Worsen—Moody's Warns
**Downgrades Bank’s Ratings
https://businesspost.ng/2018/11/27/diamond-banks-solvency-crisis-will-further-worsen-moodys-warns/

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

There was mild drama at the office of the Edo State Governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki, on Tuesday, as the Governor walked the Managing Director (MD) of the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC), Mrs Funke Osibodu, out of his office for failing to meet obligations to electricity consumers in Edo and throwing the state into darkness for weeks.

This happened when the Governor received members of the Federal House of Representatives Committee on Power led by Mr Daniel Asuquo, who were in Government House, Benin City, on a courtesy visit.

The Governor was surprised to see the BEDC boss, whose name was not on the list of expected guests to Government House, but embedded herself in the National Assembly delegation, to gain access to the Governor, who has been in darkness alongside millions of Edo State residents, for weeks.

Speaking to the delegation after Mrs Osibodu had left the gathering, the Governor said BEDC has continued to fail in collaborating with the state government to provide stable electricity in the state, instead the company has posed as an obstacle to meeting the goal.

“BEDC has been an obstacle all the way. They will not provide electricity and will not allow you to get alternative sources of power. The state will not allow it,” the Governor said.

According to him, “As Governor of Edo State, we have lost confidence in BEDC. We don’t want them here. We are in darkness. Let us remain in darkness until we find people who are capable of delivering electricity. This is our position.”

The Governor said despite the fact that the state generates about 600 to 700 megawatts of electricity, the people are still in darkness, wondering how he is expected to explain the irony to the people, who are well aware that they produce a substantial amount of electricity in the country.

He noted that BEDC has failed to recognise that they have to be patriotic and responsible to the state and the country but instead they have been noncommittal about the issue of power distribution.


“To assist, we set up electricity committee across the local government areas chaired by the Deputy Governor of the state, Mr Philip Shaibu, with BEDC as member to understand the challenge. But BEDC frustrated our resolve to finding a lasting solution to the issue of providing electricity to our people.”

Earlier, Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Power, Mr Daniel Asuquo, said they were in the state for an oversight function on the activities of BEDC and other players in the electricity value chain.

He said Edo State consumes half of daily power supply under the BEDC, noting that the state has the highest number of consumers on the network, which makes it critical to engage with the governor and people of the state on the level of service delivery by players in the value chain.

“We are here to see how to intervene to ensure that you deliver on your electioneering promises to the people of Edo State as you are answerable to them,” Mr Asuquo said.

By Dipo Olowookere

There are strong indications that one of the major shareholders in Diamond Bank Plc, a financial institution on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), may eventually lose up to N20.6 billion or $67.2 million of its investment in the local lender.

Diamond Bank has been struggling lately and there are fears that it could go the way of defunct Skye Bank Plc, which had its operating licence revoked by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in September 2018 for low capital base.

Four years ago, an American firm believed to be the world’s largest private equity group, Carlyle Group, invested heavily in Diamond Bank.

At the time, Diamond Bank organized an operation to raise N50 billion (about $303 million at the exchange rate of N165 for $1 at that time), with Carlyle then acquiring about 4.16 billion shares at N5.80k each (at about N24.1 billion or $146.2 million), becoming the leading individual shareholder in the bank with 17.7 percent of the shares.

But today, with exchange rate at about N306 at the interbank segment of the foreign exchange market, Diamond Bank is only worth 86 kobo per share.

Business Post reports that Carlyle Group has already lost N4.94k per share of its investment in Diamond Bank, resulting in a total of N20.6 billion or $67.2 million.

At the present market value, Carlyle’s participation in Diamond Bank is worth about $11.7 million because the share’s prices never exceeded purchase price and yield per share has been negative.

Instead of the awaited expansion, Diamond Bank sold some of its operations in the West African region, Nigeria excluded, and, its profit kept falling. From N1.43 net profit per share in 2014, it fell to N0.36 due notably to a significant drop in trading revenues and there are fears already that the 2018 financial year could follow the same trend.

Indeed, even though trading revenues are important once again, they are negatively affected by a fall in the net interest margin at the end of the first nine months of 2018.

“Carlyle is very pleased to join the Diamond Bank Group as an investor. Diamond Bank is one of the most recognised retail banks in Nigeria, with a strong corporate culture, best-in-class management team, advanced technology, large retail franchise, and innovative product and service offerings,” Managing Director and Head of West Africa for the Carlyle Sub-Saharan Africa Fund which was the investment vehicle at the time, Geneviève Sangudi, had said four years ago when the firm keyed into the Diamond Bank dream.

But according to Ecofin Agency, things never went as planned for Carlyle Group because of the fall in oil prices and Diamond Bank was already suffering from an important volume of bad debts, which continued to lose value.

A solution: quickly find foreign investors to support the group

In such conditions, Diamond Bank cannot rely on its shareholders and is thus obliged to quickly find a solution to settle an important part of its international bonds that will mature in May 2019 and this is a great challenge since its liquid assets in foreign currency represents 25 percent of the $200 million Eurobond to be settled.

Recently, Moody’s downgraded Diamond Bank’s issuer rating from caa1 to caa3 due to two main reasons; first, there is a great volume of bad debts that the bank is not really able to solve yet; from 42 percent in December 2017, it lost two percent points at the end of the third quarter of 2018 to reach 40 percent.

Secondly, important members of its board resigned, signalling internal management problems. Moody's thinks that this could impact the effort required to solve the bank’s bad debt problems (of which only 20 percent are sufficiently covered).

On November 23, 2018, Diamond Bank’s share gained 7.6 percent points after a week of value loss. It started the week of November 26, 2018, with a loss of 1.26 percent in value.

https://businesspost.ng/2018/11/27/diamond-bank-shareholder-loses-n21b/

This Diamond Bank Shareholder Has Lost N21b
https://businesspost.ng/2018/11/27/diamond-bank-shareholder-loses-n21b/

Debt Repayment by 9mobile Excites Banks' Shareholders
https://businesspost.ng/2018/11/26/debt-repayment-by-9mobile-excites-banks-shareholders/

Recapitalisation: Investor to Acquire Continental Reinsurance
https://businesspost.ng/2018/11/26/recapitalisation-investor-to-acquire-continental-reinsurance/

Nigerian Stocks to Further Succumb to External Shocks This Week
https://businesspost.ng/2018/11/26/nigerian-stocks-to-further-succumb-to-external-shocks-this-week/

Observers Expect CBN to Raise T-Bills Rates to Curb FPIs Outflows
https://businesspost.ng/2018/11/26/observers-expect-cbn-to-raise-t-bills-rates-to-curb-fpis-outflows/

Analysis: Nestle May Pay N35.71 Dividend for FY 2018
https://businesspost.ng/2018/11/25/analysis-nestle-may-pay-n35-71-dividend-for-fy-2018/

One-Year T-Bills Yield Eases to 16.73% as CBN Mops up N200b
https://businesspost.ng/2018/11/24/one-year-t-bills-yield-eases-to-16-73-as-cbn-mops-up-n200b/